Humans have a god complex

Hi friend,

I’ve spent the past week researching plastic pollution, and it’s a rabbit hole that runs deep.

This week’s newsletter was supposed to share what I learnt, but I’m still getting my head around it, and this is already late, so maybe next week.

Until then, you can read about China’s journey to the centre of the Earth to pillage and plunder untapped resources, plans to spray carbon over the Amazon rainforest when emissions are already at their highest, and a worsening ecological disaster in Ukraine.

My hope in and for humanity is dwindling, but at least there are skateboarding bulldogs.

— Tarryn ✌️

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This week's climate and sustainability news worth noting

🇨🇳 China National Petroleum Corp is digging a 10,000-metre-deep hole into the Earth as part of the country’s efforts to "expand underground research". The drilling is expected to last 457 days and cut through 10 continental strata, which are the various layers of the Earth. Once complete, the hole will reach down into the cretaceous system; rocks in that layer date back more than 140 million years. The project is based in the Xinjiang region, which is the largest oil and gas-producing area in the country. It seems the plundering of the Earth's resources shows no signs of slowing.

😷 About 1,700 tons of carbon dioxide is emitted into the atmosphere every second, a record high that’s accelerating global warming, 50 top scientists have warned. From 2013 to 2022, "human-induced warming has been increasing at an unprecedented rate of over 0.2°C per decade. At this rate, the carbon budget" — the amount of greenhouse gases humanity can emit without exceeding 1.5°C warming — "will likely be exhausted in only a few years". There might be some good news, however. Another study found that if nations like the US and the EU fully commit to and ‘turbocharge’ their net zero targets, it could be enough to stabilise global warming to around 1.7-1.8°C within the century. This would be in the vicinity of the Paris Agreement's "well below 2°C" target, even if 1.5°C would still remain out of reach.

🌡️ The US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has declared that an El Nino is officially underway and could bring extreme weather around the world, including tropical cyclones, drought, and wildfires. Scientists say this year looks particularly worrying. The last time an El Nino was in full swing, in 2016, the world saw its hottest year on record. Meteorologists expect that this El Nino, coupled with excess warming from climate change and warmer sea surface temperatures, will see the world grapple with record-high temperatures that could supercharge extreme weather.

🌊 The Kakhovka dam breach is being described as Ukraine’s ‘worst ecological disaster since Chornobyl’. The country’s public prosecutor is investigating a possible case of “ecocide” and blames Russia for deliberately blasting the dam's main concrete barrier. The incident has forced the evacuation of thousands of people, flooded national parks, and jeopardised water supplies to millions of people. It may pose a long-term danger to Europe’s biggest nuclear plant, Zaporizhzhia, and could also spread agro toxins and petrochemicals into the Black Sea.

🤝 Australia and Vietnam have signed a A$105 million agreement to help Vietnam decarbonise its economy.

🌌 The increased use of light-emitting diodes (LED) and other forms of lighting is brightening the night sky at a dramatic rate and blinding our view of the stars. In 2016, astronomers reported that the Milky Way was no longer visible to a third of humanity and light pollution has worsened considerably since then. At its current rate, most of the major constellations will be indecipherable in 20 years, which means the next generation may never see a sky full of stars.

🌀 Wild weather: Smoke from wildfires in Canada darkened the skies over New York City, with air quality levels reaching hazardous conditions (like I said last week, pollution is killing us). Flooding in Haiti leaves at least 42 dead and thousands displaced.

And in business news

❌ Most of the world’s biggest companies have done almost nothing in the past five years to cut their planet-heating pollution enough to avoid catastrophic climate change. These companies are, in fact, either more likely to contribute to extreme levels of warming or are not disclosing their greenhouse gas emissions at all. The findings from ESG Book, a leading sustainability data provider, says just 22% of the world’s 500 biggest public companies by market value are aligned with the Paris Agreement.

✅ After 27 years, BP has ended its sponsorship of the British Museum in a move hailed as a “massive victory” by environmental campaigners.

❎ The UK’s advertising watchdog has banned an advertising campaign from Shell on greenwashing grounds, saying it may lead viewers to overestimate its investment in clean energy.

🏦 The Institutional Investors Group on Climate Change (IIGCC) has developed a new standard, setting out their expectations for credible net zero plans in the banking sector. Under the standard, banks can assess their long-term net zero commitments and interim targets, as well as their exposure to high-carbon sectors, their strategies for engaging to drive decarbonisation in these sectors, and their investments in climate solutions and engagement with green policymaking.

Well, that's interesting

Researchers are spraying carbon dioxide into the Amazon rainforest to better understand how it responds to climate change.

It seems counterintuitive to put MORE carbon into the atmosphere, but AmazonFACE aims to test the forest's ability to sequester carbon dioxide and help scientists understand whether the region has a tipping point that could throw it into a state of irreversible decline.

The technology can change the surrounding environment of growing plants in a way that replicates future levels of CO2, and I'm not sure how I feel about that.

Meanwhile, other researchers have developed an algorithm that projects the future of vegetation in the Amazon, presenting scenarios for forest transformation driven by climate change. Initial findings show that a 50% drop in rainfall could increase diversity but lower the level of carbon storage.

The main finding was that including diversity in vegetation models improves their ability to project ecosystem responses to climate change and enhances their credibility.

If we have technology that can simulate practically anything, do we really need to spray more CO2 into the already choking Amazon?

One small thing you can do.

Buying someone flowers? Get them a plant instead.

Better yet, grow the plant yourself for an added personal touch.

A bunch of roses will eventually die. A rose bush is a gift that keeps on giving.

Because lots of little actions combined can add up to something remarkable.

I'll leave you on this happy note...

Chowder, the skateboarding bulldog.

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