Wildfire Emissions Are Skyrocketing

Current conditions: Fire weather in California has prompted intentional power cuts for more than 5,000 PG&E customers • Large parts of central and northern Italy are flooded after heavy rains • The eastern U.S. will see “tranquil and near seasonable” weather this weekend.

THE TOP FIVE

1. Forest fire CO2 emissions have skyrocketed since 2001

Carbon emissions from forest fires have risen by 60% in two decades, according to a new study published in the journal Science. “We had to check the calculations because it’s such a big number,” Matthew Jones, the lead author of the report and a physical geographer at the University of East Anglia in England, told The New York Times. “It’s revealed something quite staggering.” The research specifically links this trend to climate change, which is creating hotter, drier conditions. Emissions from boreal forest fires in Canada and Siberia saw a particularly large increase between 2001 and 2023. In one type of boreal forest, emissions nearly tripled. The rise in emissions from forests – which normally serve as large carbon sinks – “poses a major challenge for global targets to tackle climate change,” the researchers said.

2. NFL stadiums could see huge losses from climate disasters

NFL stadiums across the country could suffer $11 billion in losses by 2050 due to climate-related disasters, according to a new report from climate risk analysis firm Climate X. The report ranks 30 stadiums based on their vulnerability to extreme weather events. MetLife Stadium in New Jersey ranks highest, with damages exceeding $5.6 billion by 2050. California’s SoFi Stadium and Arizona’s State Farm Stadium are also highly exposed. It’s worth noting that the Climate X analysis uses a “high-emissions” scenario that would see temperatures rise by 4.3 degrees Celsius by 2100. The International Energy Agency estimates we’re more on track to see about 2.4 degrees Celsius of warming by the end of the century.

3. Biden administration approves large Fervo geothermal project

The Interior Department yesterday announced the approval of Fervo’s Cape Geothermal Power Project in Utah. The project could generate up to 2 gigawatts of electricity, which would supply power to more than 2 million homes. Fervo’s enhanced geothermal system works by injecting water into hot rock beneath Earth’s surface and using the heated water to generate electricity.

In government funding news, the Department of Energy on Friday announced $2 billion for 38 grid transmission projects across 42 states. This is the the third round of awards from the Grid Resilience and Innovation Partnerships Program. The DOE estimates these projects will create 6,000 jobs and support 7.5 gigawatts of capacity.

4. Coral bleaching crisis worsens

More than three-quarters (77%) of all the coral reef areas on the planet have experienced heat stress that can trigger coral bleaching since February 2023, representing the largest mass bleaching event ever recorded, Reuters reported. “This event is still increasing in spatial extent and we’ve broken the previous record by more than 11% in about half the amount of time,” said NOAA Coral Reef Watch coordinator Derek Manzello. “This could potentially have serious ramifications for the ultimate response of these reefs to these bleaching events.” Researchers have called for an emergency session on coral bleaching to be held at the UN COP16 biodiversity summit in Colombia, which starts on October 21.

5. Study finds widespread climate anxiety among young Americans

Climate change is causing “widespread distress” among America’s young people, according to a new study published in The Lancet that is the first of its kind to focus on the U.S. The researchers surveyed some 15,800 people between the ages of 16 and 25 and found that:

• 85% of respondents reported being worried about the climate crisis.
• For nearly 60% of respondents, those worries were rated as extreme.
• More than 40% said the climate crisis was affecting their mental health.
• Three quarters expressed feeling afraid of the future.
• 70% said climate change will influence where they choose to live.
• More than half of the respondents expressed hesitancy to have children due to climate change.

“These effects may intensify, across the political spectrum, as exposure to climate-related severe weather events increases,” the authors said. The state-by-state breakdown of how concerned people feel is quite interesting:

The Lancet

THE KICKER

New York State has reached its goal of installing 6 gigawatts of distributed solar generation one year ahead of schedule.

Editor's note: An earlier version of this article inaccurately described the generating capacity of the Fervo project in item number three. It has since been corrected. We regret the error.