Climate Breakdown

Hear the episode here: https://www.spreaker.com/user/14101666/episode-07-ms-barton-from-beyond-extreme Broken Planet Headlines 7 1.   Beginning with recent science, a study published in the journal Environmental Research Letters finds that the share of premature deaths in the U.S. caused by soot and other local pollution is now coming predominantly from gas-fired power plants, wood stoves and industrial wood-pellet burners rather than from coal.  The study covered the decade from 2008 through 2017 and found that by 2017 early deaths from gas-fired emissions alone were higher than those from coal in at least 19 states.  Industrial boilers and commercial buildings saw decreases in coal and oil impacts but these were essentially replaced by increases in biomass pollution.  Soot, also known as fine particulate matter, is tied to higher risk of strokes, lung cancer and other health conditions.  Gas-power plants and infrastructure is most likely to be located in lo...

Hear the episode here: https://www.spreaker.com/user/14101666/episode-06-redlight-pinellas-bruce-birth Broken Planet Headlines 6 1.   Beginning with recent science, a new report from the UN Environment Program suggests that rapid action to cut methane emissions could shave 0.3 degrees Celcius off global temperatures by 2045.  The Global Methane Assessment details measures targeting agriculture, fossil fuel production and the waste industry that could cut current emissions by almost half by the end of this decade. A report last month from the UN's World Meteorological Association found that the world was 1.2 degrees above a 19th century baseline while the Paris Agreement commits signatories to keeping global temperatures below 1.5 degrees.  Methane is a potent warming gas but only remains in the atmosphere for around a decade before breaking down.  Last month the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration reported that methane emissions in 2020 showed th...