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Catchup
Catchup: March-May 2024
Economic damage from climate change six times worse than thought: A 1C increase in global temperature leads to a 12% decline in world gross domestic product, researchers have found — report — The Guardian UK ● — 17 May 2024 (LINK)
— A 3C tempe
— A 3C temperature increase will cause "precipitous declines in output, capital and consumption that exceed 50% by 2100" the paper states. This economic loss is so severe that it is "comparable to the economic damage caused by fighting a war domestically and permanently", it adds. "There will still be some economic growth happening but by the end of the century people may well be 50% poorer than they would've been if it wasn't for climate change."
Thirsty in paradise: Water crises are a growing problem across the Caribbean islands: Trinidad worst drought in recent memory, Dominica, Grenada, Jamaica, St. Vincent, St. Kitts, Barbados — theconversation.com — 13 May 2024 (LINK)
Revolutionary new drug could extend human lifespans by 30%, study finds — thebrighterside.news — 13 May 2024 (LINK)
Scientists explain how blood types differ in impact — thebrighterside.news — 12 May 2024 (LINK)
Renewables covered 95% of Portugal's power needs last month — euronews — 10 May 2024 (LINK)
Over 76% of world’s top climate scientists expect global heating to blast past 1.5C target to at least 2C: Guardian survey — ground.news main source: Guardian, 7 media reports — 8 May 2024 (LINK)
Planet is headed for at least 2.5C of heating with disastrous results for humanity, poll of hundreds of scientists finds — Guardian — (LINK)
Ember think tank: renewable power reaches record 30% of global electricity: mainly hydro — ground.news: 51 media reports — 8 May 2024 (LINK)
Groundbreaking research reveals the hidden cause of Parkinson's disease: "For the first time, we can show that mitochondria, the vital energy producers within brain cells, particularly neurons, undergo damage, leading to disruptions in mitochondrial DNA. This initiates and spreads the disease like a wildfire through the brain" — thebrighterside.news — 9 May 2024 (LINK)
— Described as a "chronic ailment" disrupting the central nervous system, Parkinson's impacts over 10 million individuals worldwide.
Switzerland records 600 MW of subsidized photovoltaic projects in Q1 — pv-magazine — 7 May 2024 (LINK)
Copernicus: Switzerland says it can't afford to take part in EU climate change monitoring programme — euronews.com — 2 May 2024 (LINK)
Europe had worst wine harvest in 62 years: climate change + impacts blamed: wine consumption also at its lowest level since 1996 because of price increases from inflation and a sharp drop in wine drinking in China due to economic slowdown — euronews — 26 April 2024 (LINK)
While most of the world still runs on dirty fossil fuels, Costa Rica has generated nearly all of its electricity from renewable sources of energy for nearly a decade — it's still not enough... (For comparison, the US generates just over 20 percent of its electricity from renewable sources) — theverge — 24 April 2024 (LINK)
— "In the winter, like a six-month period from June to December, many of the hydropower plants get surplus flows. That's when we have low wind, but we have more hydropower. And then in the summer, like from December to May perhaps, we get low hydropower, so the other sources of energy complement that electricity supply — mainly wind power, biomass, and geothermal."
"In the long term, what we see is an increase in hydropower production — but in the west and south of the country, mainly because rains will get heavier, more intense in that region. We’ve got a problem because hydropower does not have the same variability as solar wind. So, if we get more solar and more wind, our system will have more variability."
Question: There has been opposition to large hydroelectric dams because they harm river ecosystems and displace people from their homes. How do you think about those risks?
"From the start of the project, we get the communities and all the stakeholders involved in the project. We know that perhaps this will be a little more expensive. However, with this perspective the project will be held with lower risk and we can fulfill our environmental and social requirements."
Ocean floor a 'reservoir' of plastic pollution, world-first study finds — ground.news: 20 media reports — 5 April 2024 (LINK)
Researchers from EPFL and HES-SO Valais Wallis have published a study emphasizing the importance of local energy solutions, and the role of decentralized photovoltaic systems for community empowerment in a more sustainable energy future for Switzerland: this could reduce annual system costs by 10% and elevate self-consumption rates to 68%. — see_link — 5 April 2024 (LINK)
— "With an investment of 1260 CHF/year per capita in local energy communities, districts can produce about half of the total energy needs of Switzerland by using around 60% of the available roof surface."
TED-Ed video: What happens if we do nothing about the climate crisis? From 28 March — kottke.org — 10 April 2024 (LINK)
— Summer days exceed 40 degrees in London and 45 degrees in Delhi, as extreme heat waves are now 8 to 9 times more common. These high temperatures prompt widespread blackouts, as power grids struggle to keep up with the energy demands needed to properly cool homes. Ambulance sirens blare through the night, carrying patients suffering from heatstroke, dehydration, and exhaustion. The southwestern United States, southern Africa, and eastern Australia experience longer, more frequent, and more severe droughts.
The Philippines, Indonesia, and Japan face more frequent heavy rainfall as rising temperatures cause water to evaporate faster, and trap more water in the atmosphere. As the weather becomes more erratic, some communities are unable to keep pace with rebuilding what's constantly destroyed.
The ILO's new 'living wage' definition: What it is and how it could change lives — weforum.org — 9 April 2024 (LINK)
— ILO 15 March 2024: "The wage level that is necessary to afford a decent standard of living for workers and their families, taking into account the country circumstances and calculated for the work performed during the normal hours of work".
The agreement says that the estimation of living wages should follow a number of principles, including the usage of evidence-based methodologies and robust data, consultations with workers' and employers' organizations, transparency, public availability, and the consideration of regional and local contexts and socio-economic and cultural realities.
