[GWSG] Emissions plateauing?; high seas treaty; H2 a shuck; adapting cities; hamburgers vs. the Paris goals

[Tilley, Al]

1. Global energy emissions of CO2 fell to .6% last year, down from 6% in 2021. We will need to see drops of 7% a year for the rest of this decade to meet our goal of halving emissions so that we will have a good chance of limiting heating to 1.5C. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/mar/02/co2-emissions-may-be-starting-to-plateau-global-energy-watchdog-iea

2. The UN has successfully negotiated a treaty to make it possible to protect regions of the high seas, bringing the goal within reach of conserving 30% of the land and ocean by 2030.  https://phys.org/news/2023-03-states-historic-high-seas.html
The BBC has a succinct and colorfully illustrated story on the treaty. https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-64815782?utm_source=cbnewsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_term=2023-03-06&utm_campaign=Daily+Briefing+06+03+2023

3. The Guardian explains why hydrogen as a fuel is best not developed—and they don’t appear to know that it is an indirect greenhouse gas. Not only is H2 as a fuel a shuck, but it is also a dangerous shuck. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/mar/07/hydrogen-clean-fuel-climate-crisis-explainer

4. An assessment of the climate adaptation plans of European cities offers a framework for developing and evaluating plans. About 50% of the cities in the survey have plans, and they are improving over previous attempts. Sofia, Bulgaria, and Ireland’s Galway and Dublin achieved the highest scores.  https://www.carbonbrief.org/guest-post-how-climate-adaptation-plans-for-european-cities-are-gradually-getting-better/?utm_source=cbnewsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_term=2023-03-07&utm_campaign=Daily+Briefing+07+03+2023

5. An article in Nature Climate Change foresees .7-.9C of additional heat by 2100 driven by choices of food consumption. That is enough to compromise the Paris targets. The figure could be reduced 75% by choosing less foods which produce methane: red meats, rice, and dairy. Beef is the worst contributor by far to added heat. Crucial factors other than choice of a healthy diet are production practices and food waste disposal. https://phys.org/news/2023-03-global-food-emissions-imperil-paris.html

6. The Nature article above is open access. The first paragraph of the article derives a figure for agricultural contributions to current warming of 15%; however, it does not take land use into account. The discussion concludes that “our analysis clearly demonstrates that current dietary production and consumption patterns are incompatible with sustaining a growing population while pursuing a secure climate future. Fortunately, compelling mitigation options are available to address this challenge.”  https://www.nature.com/articles/s41558-023-01605-8?utm_source=cbnewsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_term=2023-03-07&utm_campaign=Daily+Briefing+07+03+2023

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