Climate Action

April 13, 2021

Climate change will hit ‘endemic’ plants and animals the hardest, study warns

AYESHA TANDON

Plants and animals that only live in one region – known as “endemic” species – are expected to be “consistently more adversely impacted” by climate change than their less specialised counterparts, new research shows.

April 13, 2021

Florida is full of invasive species. They’re coming for the rest of us.

James Chapin

Climate Action, Economic Impacts

Rest easy: You are safe from the Burmese python. The invasive constrictors show little interest in moving beyond the Florida Everglades, where they are eating their way through the food web. It’s no surprise that they get more attention than other invasive species — a snake that grows up to 20 feet long and can theoretically ingest a small human makes for good headlines. But the pythons are mostly limited to that South Florida sawgrass. Unless you live next door, you will not cross paths with one anytime soon.

April 13, 2021

Climate mapping can point to danger spots where new pest threatens Africa’s cycads

Kanle Satishchandra Nitin, Sjirk Geerts

Climate Action, Climate Change, Economic Impacts

Cycads, the world’s oldest seed-producing plants, are facing extinction. Africa is home to a variety of cycad species and South Africa is regarded as a global hotspot for cycad diversity. One of the most prominent cycad taxa, the genus Encephalartos, is endemic to Africa and is categorised as “critically endangered” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. This status indicates that if no conservation actions are taken, it may be wiped off this earth in the near future.

April 1, 2021

Rising Seas Threaten an American Institution: The 30-Year Mortgage

Christopher Flavelle

Climate Action, Climate Change, risk, risk factor

WASHINGTON — Up and down the coastline, rising seas and climate change are transforming a fixture of American homeownership that dates back generations: the classic 30-year mortgage. Home buyers are increasingly using mortgages that make it easier for them to stop making their monthly payments and walk away from the loan if the home floods or becomes unsellable or unlivable. More banks are getting buyers in coastal areas to make bigger down payments — often as much as 40 percent of the purchase price, up from the traditional 20 percent — a sign that lenders have awakened to climate dangers and want to put less of their own money at risk.

April 1, 2021

Installing Solar Panels Over Canals Could Save California Gallons of Water

Climate Action, Climate Change, Renewable Energy, Solar Photovoltaic

Installing solar panels over California’s network of water canals could save the state an estimated 63 billion gallons of water and produce 13 gigawatts of renewable power every year, according to a feasibility study published in Nature Sustainability. California moves more water than any other system in the world, with 75% of the state’s available water in its northern third and the southern two-thirds accounting for 80% of the state’s demand. Covering the canals with solar panels would reduce evaporation by shading the canals from the sun (along with the co-benefit of reducing canal-choking plant growth) and the cooling effects of the water could boost solar panel efficiency.

March 30, 2021

Lake heatwaves will be ‘hotter and longer’ by the end of the century

AYESHA TANDON

Climate Modelling, Climate Action, Climate Change, Climate Risk Reporting, risk

Climate change is causing “lake heatwaves” to become more frequent, intense and long-lasting, a new study warns. The research, published in Nature, finds that lake heatwaves could become between three and 12 times longer by the end of this century – and between 0.3C and 1.7C hotter. The authors warn that, as lake temperatures increase, heatwaves of the past “will no longer be extreme and will become the new normal”. In some cases, even under a low-emissions scenario, there will be lakes that reach a “permanent heatwave state” by the end of the century.

March 29, 2021

NGFS Offers Climate Risk Guidance for Central Bank Monetary Operations

Sanday Chongo Kabange

Climate Action, Climate Change, Economic Impacts

The report outlines nine options for central banks to adjust their operational frameworks for monetary policy to account for climate-related risks. The NGFS (Network for Greening the Financial System), a group of 89 central banks and financial supervisors formed to support the Paris climate goals, has published a report outlining nine options for central banks to factor climate-related risks into their monetary operations. “Under all possible scenarios, climate-related risks will have consequences for the economic outlook, for the financial system in which central banks operate and, thus, for the conduct of monetary policy,” the report says. “The timing and severity of these consequences depend on how swift and effective transition policies are.”

March 26, 2021

What if the Perfect Climate Fix Can’t Arrive in Time?

Clement Mahoudeau/AFP/Getty Images

Climate Goals, Climate Action, Climate Change, Climate Hub

Climate professionals snap into action upon reading Bloomberg Green’s exclusive reveal of this surprise modern marvel. These experts don their black horned-rim glasses, reach for their slide rules and get to work projecting the impact that a breakthrough cheaper than coal will have on global greenhouse gas emissions.

March 26, 2021

Once-in-a-century UK wildfire threats could happen most years by end of century

Climate Action, Climate Change

Extremely hot and dry conditions that currently put parts of the UK in the most severe danger of wildfires once a century could happen every other year in a few decades’ time due to climate change, new research has revealed. A study, led by the University of Reading, predicting how the danger of wildfires will increase in future showed that parts of eastern and southern England may be at the very highest danger level on nearly four days per year on average by 2080 with high emissions, compared to once every 50-100 years currently.

March 26, 2021

Modeling the economic impact of climate change

Arik Pelkey

David Silverman/Getty Images