Notices by CelloMom On Cars (cellomomoncars@mastodon.social)

"The dangerous 32C heat that will be endured by people in the south-east of England on Saturday will have been made 100 times more likely by the climate crisis, scientists have calculated.

The heat is expected to cause premature deaths, particularly among older and vulnerable people. More than 10,000 people died before their time in summer heatwaves between 2020 and 2024."

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/jun/20/england-weekend-heatwave-worse-climate-crisis

"A persistent and growing marine heatwave is gripping the region, with “severe” and “extreme” conditions emerging off southeastern Spain and northern Morocco.

Marine scientists warn that the unfolding situation could bring devastating impacts for biodiversity, fisheries, aquaculture, and even weather patterns across southern Europe and North Africa."

https://www.euronews.com/green/2025/07/01/record-breaking-sea-temperatures-in-the-mediterranean-spark-fresh-warnings-from-scientists

Marine #heatwave in Mediterranean

"Areas in dark red indicate temperatures more than 5°C above the seasonal average"

https://www.copernicus.eu/en/media/image-day-gallery/intense-marine-heatwave-hits-western-mediterranean-sea

"France swelters under summer's first heatwave: 'It's impossible to sleep before 3 am'

"Temperatures have neared or exceeded 35°C in several parts of France, often running 10°C to 15°C above seasonal averages. On Saturday, the heat is expected to intensify, reaching up to 40°C in parts of the South and West."

https://www.lemonde.fr/en/environment/article/2025/06/21/france-swelters-under-summer-s-first-heatwave-it-s-impossible-to-sleep-before-3-am_6742575_114.html#

"Temperatures are forecast to peak at 34 degrees Celsius (93 degrees Fahrenheit) in parts of eastern #England on Saturday following a week of unusually warm weather, according to the Met Office.

It’s expected to be even hotter in #France, where forecasters said temperatures are likely to reach 38 C (100 F) in western and southern parts of the country."

https://apnews.com/article/hot-summer-weather-europe-britain-aaca201f598dedd0f3ac0e66df9733d9
#heatwave

Link between heat in the air and soil moisture:

"These Copernicus #Sentinel2 images, acquired on 22 June and 2 July 2025, show the impact of the heatwave on soil moisture in the agricultural landscape surrounding Châlons-en-Champagne in northern France.

The Normalised Difference Moisture Index (NDMI) reveals a stark contrast: blue areas, indicating wetter soils, shrink noticeably, while yellow and red tones, signs of dry or stressed land, expand rapidly over the ten-day period."

"International food delivery platform Glovo has suspended a heatwave bonus for its couriers in Italy, after criticism from labour unions and politicians.
Glovo recently introduced the bonus, worth just a few euro cents per delivery and rising in step with temperatures, to compensate riders working during extreme heat.

However, unions argued it effectively incentivized couriers to take risks during hazardous weather, rather than protecting their health."

https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/sustainable-finance-reporting/glovo-suspends-contested-heatwave-bonus-couriers-italy-2025-07-03/

" Four people died in Spain, two in France and two in Italy as an early summer heatwave continued to grip much of Europe .

"In the coming days, we'll see the consequences, particularly on the most vulnerable, and I'm thinking particularly of the elderly," she said.

Swiss utility Axpo shut down one reactor unit at the Beznau nuclear power plant and halved output at another on Tuesday because of the high temperature of river water."

https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/climate-energy/two-die-spain-wildfire-two-deaths-france-european-heatwave-2025-07-02/

"Germany will carry out emergency repairs on its autobahn this weekend after #ExtremeHeat in recent days blew up large chunks of concrete along key stretches of the highway."

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-07-04/germany-s-autobahn-cracks-after-heat-wave-hits-europe

"Heatwaves are becoming more frequent in Europe, putting electricity grids under severe stress. Complementing the vast volumes of solar, solutions like clean flexibility and interconnection can help maintain grid stability."

https://ember-energy.org/latest-insights/heat-and-power-impacts-of-the-2025-heatwave-in-europe/

"Fire evacuations in Greece and Turkey while temperatures in Spain and Portugal hit 46C."

And rivers will be running low this summer, with consequences for shipping, power generation, and agriculture.

https://www.ft.com/content/6390eb2c-6415-4a53-bcfa-ea086dc2ef02

"Up to 94% of marine species and 70% of terrestrial vertebrate families were wiped out. Tropical forests – which served, as they do today, as important carbon sinks that helped regulate the planet’s temperature – also experienced massive declines.

The decline of tropical forests locked Earth in a hothouse state, confirming scientists’ suspicion that when our planet’s climate crosses certain “tipping points”, truly catastrophic ecological collapse can follow."

https://theconversation.com/around-250-million-years-ago-earth-was-near-lifeless-and-locked-in-a-hothouse-state-now-scientists-know-why-260203

The ‘Great Dying’ wiped out 90% of life, then came 5 million years of lethal heat. New fossils explain why

"The loss of vegetation during the mass extinction event significantly reduced the planet’s ability to store carbon, meaning very high levels remained in the atmosphere.

The study ... shows what might happen if rapid global warming causes the planet’s rainforests to collapse in the future — a tipping point scientists are very concerned about."

https://www.cnn.com/2025/07/02/climate/great-dying-extinction-tipping-point-tropical-forests

Here is the research paper,
"Energy costs of communicating with AI"

https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/communication/articles/10.3389/fcomm.2025.1572947/full

Thanks to @Ciclop for the link.

"Researchers in Germany tested 14 large language model (LLM) AI systems by asking them both free-response and multiple-choice questions. Complex questions produced up to six times more carbon dioxide emissions than questions with concise answers.
In addition, “smarter” LLMs with more reasoning abilities produced up to 50 times more carbon emissions than simpler systems to answer the same question, the study reported."

https://www.cnn.com/2025/06/22/climate/ai-prompt-carbon-emissions-environment-wellness

"Analysis by MIT Technology Review provides an unprecedented and comprehensive look at how much energy the AI industry uses—down to a single query—to trace where its carbon footprint stands now, and where it’s headed

The latest reports show that 4.4% of all the energy in the US now goes toward data centers.
Individuals may end up footing some of the bill for this AI revolution."

https://www.technologyreview.com/2025/05/20/1116327/ai-energy-usage-climate-footprint-big-tech/

"Google’s carbon emissions have soared by 51% since 2019 as [ "AI" ] hampers the tech company’s efforts to go green.

The International Energy Agency estimates that datacentres’ total electricity consumption could double from 2022 levels to 1,000TWh (terawatt hours) in 2026, approximately Japan’s level of electricity demand. AI will result in datacentres using 4.5% of global energy generation by 2030, according to calculations by the research firm SemiAnalysis."

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2025/jun/27/google-emissions-ai-electricity-demand-derail-efforts-green

"Blood-sucking ticks that trigger a bizarre allergy to meat in the people they bite are exploding in number and spreading across the US.

Lone star ticks have taken advantage of rising temperatures by the human-caused climate crisis to expand from their heartland in the south-east US to areas previously too cold for them, in recent years marching as far north as New York and even Maine, as well as pushing westwards."

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jun/29/lone-star-ticks-increase-climate-crisis

Memorable quote:

"Lone star ticks are aggressive and can speedily follow a human target if they detect them. “They will hunt you, they are like a cross between a lentil and a velociraptor,” said Sharon Pitcairn Forsyth, a conservationist who lives in the Washington DC area."

A lentil and a velociraptor. Dang.
Anyway, learn how to stay away from them.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jun/29/lone-star-ticks-increase-climate-crisis

Much climate news remains behind paywalls.
(But climate denying news tends to be freely accessible).

"The vast majority of Americans (83%) say they have not paid for news in the past year, according to a Pew Research Center survey conducted in March.

At the same time, 74% run into paywalls at least sometimes when they are looking for news online. "

https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2025/06/24/few-americans-pay-for-news-when-they-encounter-paywalls/