Opinion:
¶ “Vacations As We Know It Are Over” • Terrified tourists on holidays in the Greek Islands this week came face-to-face with the future. The widespread and extreme weather conditions across southern Europe this summer are a wake-up call – a reminder that not even our vacations are insulated from the growing consequences of global heating. [CNN]
Vacation (Asad Photo Maldives, Pexels)
¶ “It’s The Summer Of Changed Climate. Get Used To It” • Here’s a hot take on the summer of 2023: The climate you grew up in is gone, replaced by something new and changing, but also fixedly different, where the Atlantic Ocean can hit hot-tub temperature, heat is a recurring public health concern, and people will have to adapt their way of living. [CNN]
¶ “Jennifer Sensiba: Why Is Chevy Bringing The Bolt Back?” • In a recent press release, Chevrolet announced that they’re bringing the Bolt back. Here, I want to cover some background, what we know so far, and why they’re doing this. Long story short: this is yet another example of EVs winning over consumers, despite considerable headwinds! [CleanTechnica]
2022 Chevy Bolt (Greg Gjerdingen, CC-BY-SA 2.0)
Science and Technology:
¶ “Green Hydrogen Gets Greener With Record-Breaking Solar Device” • Rice University engineers have created a device that “turns sunlight into hydrogen” with a record-breaking level of efficiency. The device integrates innovative halide perovskite semiconductors with electrocatalysts in a single, durable, cost-effective and scalable device. [Oil Price]
World:
¶ “Europe Fires: How Canadair Pilots Battle The Mediterranean Blazes” • Amphibious Canadairs operate by scooping up water from either a lake or the sea and releasing it over fires. The vital role of these aircraft in particular was brutally highlighted last week when two pilots were killed fighting blazes on the Greek island of Evia. [BBC]
Canadair dropping water (Chiara Guercio, Unsplash)
¶ “Antarctica Is Missing An Argentina-Sized Amount Of Sea Ice, And Scientists Are Scrambling To Figure Out Why” • Much of the Northern Hemisphere is suffering record-breaking summer heat waves, but in the Antarctic winter, another terrifying climate record is being broken: The ice is 1.6 million sq km (0.6 million sq mi) below the record low set in 2022. [CNN]
¶ “July 2023 Set To Be Hottest Month On Record” • “According to the data released today, July has already seen the hottest three-week period ever recorded; the three hottest days on record; and the highest-ever ocean temperatures for this time of year,” UN Secretary-General António Guterres told journalists at the UN headquarters in New York. [CleanTechnica]
Sea surface temps (Copernicus Climate Change Service at ECMWF)
¶ “The New Gold Rush In The Era Of Clean Energy” • Global investment in critical minerals increased by 30% in 2022, after a rise of 20% the year before. This was largely due to governments pushing a shift away from fossil fuels to renewable alternatives, which has fuelled the development of new renewable energy projects around the globe. [Oil Price]
¶ “Every Home On Steep 75-House New Hillside Site Above Matlock To Have Solar Panels” • Detailed plans to build 75 homes on a flood-hit site on the steep hillside in Derbyshire have been submitted to the Derbyshire Dales District Council. Every home would be given an EV charging point, solar panels, and solar hot water. [Derby Telegraph]
Home site (Image by Honey & Nineteen47)
US:
¶ “DOE Launches First-Ever ‘Cleanup To Clean Energy’ Initiative To Explore Generating Clean Energy On DOE-Owned Lands” • The US DOE kicked off its “Cleanup to Clean Energy” initiative, an effort to repurpose parts of DOE-owned lands that were used previously in the nation’s nuclear weapons program into the sites of clean-energy generation. [energy.gov]
¶ “State Added 13,000 Clean-Energy Jobs In Past Year” • A report from Climate Power says that Arizona has added almost 13,000 clean-energy jobs in the past year from private investment. This number is good enough for the seventh place among states and evidence that the state is becoming a “powerhouse” for clean energy and EV production. [AZPM News]
Arizona (Mason Field, Unsplash)
¶ “Greenlink Power Poles On Collision Course With Treasures At Tule Springs Fossil Beds, Protectors Say” • Greenlink West is a $2.5 billion transmission line that will carry electricity from solar farms planned in the Nevada desert to cities. But Protectors of Tule Springs says there’s evidence of “significant” fossils in a park right in the project’s way. [8NewsNow.com]
¶ “Feds Clear Plant Vogtle To Fuel Second New Nuclear Reactor For Customers” • Federal regulators have approved plans to load radioactive fuel into a second new nuclear reactor in Georgia. The NRC said that Georgia Power Company and its co-owners can begin loading fuel into unit 4 at Plant Vogtle, southeast of Augusta. [Alabama Public Radio]
Have an enchantingly lovely day.
geoharvey 