Current conditions: Phoenix saw record high temperatures on Tuesday for the second day in a row • A freak hail storm turned a city in the south of Spain into a winter wonderland • Widespread bleaching has been recorded at Australia’s two World Heritage-listed coral reefs after an intense marine heatwave.
THE TOP FIVE
1. South Korea grapples with worst wildfires in years
At least 24 people have been killed and more than 27,000 evacuated in South Korea as the country faces some of its worst wildfires in history. Some 200 buildings have been damaged, including two ancient Buddhist temples. The blazes broke out on Friday in the country’s southeast and have spread rapidly in the days since, fueled by high winds and dry weather. Lee Byung-doo, a forest disaster expert at the National Institute of Forest Science, told Reuters that climate change was driving more frequent wildfires across the globe. “We have to admit large-scale wildfires are going to increase and for that we need more resources and trained manpower,” he said. Indeed, a rapid analysis from European researchers concluded that recent wildfires in Japan and South Korea “have been fueled by meteorological conditions likely strengthened by human-driven climate change.” More than 10,000 firefighters and at least 87 helicopters have been deployed to bring the fires under control. The largest is about 70% contained.
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2. China to add more industries to its carbon market
China plans to add about 1,500 steel, aluminum, and cement companies to its carbon market this year, according to the environment ministry. As of now, only power companies are included in the system, which was launched in 2021 and requires firms to buy carbon credits to cover their emissions. But the expansion has been in the works for a while, and will cover about 60% of China’s total emissions. The country will eventually rope in other industries such as building materials, chemicals, and aviation to account for about 75% of total emissions. The newly added industries will have softer emissions rules to begin with, with caps only coming into place in 2027. This delay will “ease the financial burden on the new entrants,” Bloomberg noted.
3. Rivian is spinning off a new micromobility company
Rivian officially spun off a new micromobility company today aimed at helping people switch to small electric vehicles (think bikes, scooters, or golf carts) for short daily journeys. Rivian said the new company, called Also, has raised a $105 million Series B funding round. Also’s CEO Chris Yu told Heatmap’s Katie Brigham that owning a car and owning a smaller EV are not mutually exclusive. “If I’m taking my family to Yosemite on the weekend, I want to use my Rivian R1S, but for my daily school runs, probably not,” Yu said. Also’s flagship product is set to launch in the U.S. and Europe early next year, and will be followed by consumer and commercial products for the Asian and South American markets, though the company hasn’t yet said what these products will be.
4. Report: Global renewables growth falling short of 2030 goal
A new report on 2024 renewable power trends has both good news and bad news: While the world added more renewables last year than ever before, we’re still not on track to triple capacity by 2030. According to the International Renewable Energy Agency, 585 gigawatts of renewable energy capacity was installed in 2024, “the largest increase in renewable energy capacity to date.” Renewables accounted for about 93% of all global power additions, with solar alone making up three-quarters of the installations. But “current growth rates indicate the world is not on track to triple installed renewable power capacity to 11 TW by 2030,” said IRENA’s international director general, Francesco La Camera. “With just 6 years remaining to meet the goal adopted at COP28 to triple installed renewable power capacity by 2030, the world now needs additions in excess of 1,120 GW each year for the rest of this decade to keep the world on a 1.5 degrees Celsius pathway.”
5. Trump is still holding up FEMA funds, despite court order
In case you missed it: The Federal Emergency Management Agency has continued to withhold millions of dollars from states for disaster recovery, relief, and preparedness despite a district court’s order from March 6 calling on the administration to release the funds. As Heatmap’s Emily Pontecorvo reported, among the more than 200 FEMA grants to states that remain frozen are a case management program for survivors of the 2023 Maui wildfires, emergency readiness projects in Oregon, and flood hazard mitigation in Colorado, according to a motion filed on Monday in the lawsuit State of New York v. Trump. The motion was filed the day after Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said her department would move to “eliminate” FEMA during a cabinet meeting.
States say the lack of access to funding is going to start disrupting crucial programs. “If Hawaii doesn’t start receiving reimbursements for its federally-funded case management program by March 31, for example, it will be forced to immediately discontinue its work helping more than 4,000 wildfire survivors create tailored disaster recovery plans and navigate recovery resources,” Pontecorvo wrote.
THE KICKER
Nissan confirmed that its Leaf EV is making a comeback, but this time it will be an SUV. The car will be available in the U.S. sometime in the next year. No word yet on pricing. The company showed off the vehicle for the first time today:
Nissan
Nissan
