Sign In or Create an Account.

By continuing, you agree to the Terms of Service and acknowledge our Privacy Policy

Climate

Climate Change Made Dubai’s Deluge Worse

On a new World Weather Attribution report, falling battery prices, and another energy milestone for California.

Briefing image.
Biden’s Plan to Jumpstart Offshore Wind
Heatmap Illustration/Getty Images

Current conditions: Flash floods killed at least 155 people in Tanzania • Dry conditions are spawning dust devils in western Canada • Ongoing thunderstorms are set to pummel the central U.S. with hail and possible sporadic tornadoes through the weekend.

THE TOP FIVE

1. Climate change worsened Dubai flooding

Rising global temperatures due to carbon dioxide buildup in the atmosphere exacerbated the deadly flooding in Dubai earlier this month, scientists at the international research initiative World Weather Attribution concluded. Much of the United Arab Emirates lacks drainage infrastructure because rain there is so infrequent, and the unrelenting downpour that inundated the country on April 14 and 15 — toppling its 24-hour rainfall record — came on the heels of a stormy March. The latest report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change determined that bouts of intense rainfall are likely to become more common in the Arabian Peninsula.

While the researchers evaluating April’s flood event weren’t able to determine the precise extent to which it had been influenced by climate change, they’re confident that rising temperatures in the ocean and the atmosphere played a role. “While multiple reasons could explain the absence of a trend in our model results,” they wrote, “we have no alternative explanation for a trend in observations other than the expectation of heavy rainfall increasing in a warmer climate.” Experts have challenged early reports that cloud seeding efforts in the UAE were responsible for the unprecedented amounts of rain, and the WWA researchers concluded they did not have “significant influence.”

People walk along an flooded highway on April 18, 2024 in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. People walk along an flooded highway on April 18, 2024 in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Photo by Francois Nel/Getty Images

2. California achieves new battery milestones

California has officially surpassed 10,000 megawatts of battery storage capacity, Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office announced Thursday. The state, which leads the nation in installed battery storage, has added almost 4,000 megawatts of storage capacity to the grid in 2024 alone. And it set another storage record last week when batteries briefly became the state’s top source of power. Though Newsom celebrated the progress California has made in building out battery capacity, he also acknowledged that the current level of storage won’t be enough to fully prevent blackouts during heat waves. California aims to install another 42,000 megawatts of battery storage to meet its goal of 100% clean energy by 2045. “We have a lot of work to do still in moving this transition, with the kind of stability that’s required,” Newsom told reporters on Thursday.

3. Battery storage is on pace to become more accessible

Speaking of California, the International Energy Agency expects the cost of building battery storage to plummet in the coming years, aiding the global transition to renewable energy. In its Batteries and Secure Energy Transitions report, released Thursday, the IEA projects that the price of lithium-ion batteries will decline 40% by 2030, and will continue dropping beyond that point thanks to a combination of innovation and the adoption of cheaper grid-scale battery technologies. For the world to meet its renewable energy targets while maintaining the reliability of the grid, energy storage capacity will need to increase six-fold by 2030, according to the report. Decisions made by policymakers and regulators will also shape the rate of battery adoption worldwide.

“The combination of solar PV and batteries is today competitive with new coal plants in India. And just in the next few years, it will be cheaper than new coal in China and gas-fired power in the United States. Batteries are changing the game before our eyes,” IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol said in a statement.

4. Biden takes aim at fossil fuels in federal buildings

In a move that was mostly overshadowed by its new emissions limits for coal and gas power plants, the Biden administration this week also established new standards intended to eliminate fossil fuels from federal buildings. The Department of Energy will require agencies to reduce fossil fuel use in new buildings and major renovations by 90% from fiscal years 2025 to 2029, and bar such projects from using fossil fuels at all starting in 2030. The rule is part of the administration’s push to achieve net-zero carbon emissions across all federal buildings by 2045. “The Biden-Harris Administration is practicing what we preach. Just as we are helping households and businesses across the nation save money by saving energy, we are doing the same in our own federal buildings,” Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm said in a statement.

5. Conservation is working to preserve biodiversity

Conservation measures are successfully slowing the rate of global biodiversity loss, according to a study published in the journal Science on Thursday. The metaanalysis of previous research on the impacts of conservation found that establishing and maintaining protected areas, removing invasive species, preserving ecosystems and combatting habitat destruction led to a significant decline in biodiversity loss, and sometimes an improvement in total biodiversity, even amid the worsening effects of climate change. The study also indicated that conservation actions are frequently “highly effective.” The results suggest that ecosystems around the world could benefit from scaling up conservation efforts.

“If you look only at the trend of species declines, it would be easy to think that we’re failing to protect biodiversity, but you would not be looking at the full picture,” said Penny Langhammer, an adjunct professor of biology at Arizona State University and the study’s lead author, in a news release. “What we show with this paper is that conservation is, in fact, working to halt and reverse biodiversity loss.”

THE KICKER

“We want China’s economy to grow,” but “the way China grows matters.” — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke to reporters after a meeting in Beijing with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday. While’s China’s support for Russia in its war with Ukraine was top of the agenda, the two also discussed what the Biden administration sees as unfair trade practices that flood the market with cheap electric vehicles and solar panels.

You’re out of free articles.

Subscribe today to experience Heatmap’s expert analysis 
of climate change, clean energy, and sustainability.
To continue reading
Create a free account or sign in to unlock more free articles.
or
Please enter an email address
By continuing, you agree to the Terms of Service and acknowledge our Privacy Policy
Climate Tech

Climate Tech Is Facing a ‘Moment of Truth’

The uncertainty created by Trump’s erratic policymaking could not have come at a worse time for the industry.

Cliimate tech.
Heatmap Illustration/Getty Images

This is the second story in a Heatmap series on the “green freeze” under Trump.

Climate tech investment rode to record highs during the Biden administration, supercharged by a surge in ESG investing and net-zero commitments, the passage of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and Inflation Reduction Act, and at least initially, low interest rates. Though the market had already dropped somewhat from its recent peak, climate tech investors told me that the Trump administration is now shepherding in a detrimental overcorrection. The president’s fossil fuel-friendly rhetoric, dubiously legal IIJA and IRA funding freezes, and aggressive tariffs, have left climate tech startups in the worst possible place: a state of deep uncertainty.

Keep reading...Show less
Blue
Energy

AM Briefing: Overheard at CERAWeek

On the energy secretary’s keynote, Ontario’s electricity surcharge, and record solar power

CERAWeek Loves Chris Wright
Heatmap Illustration/Getty Images

Current conditions: Critical fire weather returns to New Mexico and Texas and will remain through Saturday • Sharks have been spotted in flooded canals along Australia’s Gold Coast after Cyclone Alfred dropped more than two feet of rain • A tanker carrying jet fuel is still burning after it collided with a cargo ship in the North Sea yesterday. The ship was transporting toxic chemicals that could devastate ecosystems along England’s northeast coast.

THE TOP FIVE

1. Chris Wright says climate change is a ‘side effect of building the modern world’

In a keynote speech at the energy industry’s annual CERAWeek conference, Energy Secretary Chris Wright told executives and policymakers that the Trump administration sees climate change as “a side effect of building the modern world,” and said that “everything in life involves trade-offs." He pledged to “end the Biden administration’s irrational, quasi-religious policies on climate change” and insisted he’s not a climate change denier, but rather a “climate realist.” According toThe New York Times, “Mr. Wright’s speech was greeted with enthusiastic applause.” Wright also reportedly told fossil fuel bosses he intended to speed up permitting for their projects.

Keep reading...Show less
Yellow
Energy

The Stupidly Easy Way to Make Heat Pumps More Affordable

Turns out, when you reduce electricity rates for heat pump owners, more people buy heat pumps.

A heat pump and money.
Heatmap Illustration/Getty Images

One of the most significant actions a person can take to fight climate change is to swap out their fossil fuel-fired furnace or boiler for electric heat pumps. But while rebates and other subsidies can help defray the up-front cost of the switch, the price of electricity relative to natural gas is still a major deterrent in many places. Lower emissions for higher monthly bills is not much of a tradeoff.

Could the solution be as simple as utilities giving heat pump users a discounted rate in the winter?

Keep reading...Show less
Green