Current conditions: More than 130,000 people on the East Coast are without power after a weekend storm • Freakishly strong winds killed at least 13 people in Argentina • China’s deep freeze continues to defy forecasters’ expectations.
THE TOP FIVE
1. Australia’s Queensland flooded by lingering tropical storm
The remnants of Tropical Cyclone Jasper brought intense rain and flooding to several towns in Australia’s northeastern region of Queensland. About 24 inches of rain fell on the city of Cairns in a span of 40 hours, which is more than triple the December average, according to Reuters. At least 12,000 people are without power, and officials are worried residents could lose access to drinking water. Rescue teams responded to more than 350 callouts. “We have people stuck on roofs there that have been there all night,” says Queensland Premier Steven Miles.
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Jasper slammed into the area last week as a Category 2 storm, and the rains haven’t let up since. “We see a lot of natural disasters and this is just about the worst I can remember," Miles
told ABC Television. On the other side of the country, in New South Wales, firefighters battled against more than 50 raging bushfires made worse by an intense heatwave.
2. Canada to crack down on new combustion-engine car sales
All new vehicles sold in Canada must be zero-emissions vehicles starting in 2035, Reuters reports, citing an anonymous government official. The new regulations, called the Electric Vehicle Availability Standard, are expected to be announced this week. The official says there will be a gradual transition starting in 2026, when zero-emissions vehicles must represent 20% of all new car sales, increasing to 60% in 2030 and 100% in 2035. In the U.S., President Biden wants to bring in tailpipe emissions rules that would “effectively compel automakers to ensure two out of every three cars and light trucks sold in 2032 are electric models,” Bloomberg explains. Republicans in the House stand opposed to the regulations.
3. Panama Canal to allow more daily crossings – for now
Better-than-expected November rain means the Panama Canal can slightly increase the number of ships it allows through the passage each day, Bloomberg reports. The canal is one of the world’s busiest shipping routes, but a record drought in the region has made for low water levels, forcing the canal to cut daily crossings in recent months. Currently 22 ships are allowed through per day, down from 36. Thanks to the November rain the number will go up to 24, at least for now. The number was set to go down sharply to 18 in February of next year.
4. U.S. flood-related migration is creating ‘Climate Abandonment Areas’
More than 3 million Americans have relocated to avoid flood risk over the last two decades or so, according to a new
report by data nonprofit First Street Foundation. The analysis underscores the extent to which climate migration is already happening in America, albeit on a hyper-local level. People are moving short distances within their own cities, creating “Climate Abandonment Areas” – whole neighborhoods that are seeing large population losses due to flooding caused by climate change.
Over the next 30 years, more neighborhoods are expected to become Climate Abandonment Areas, and their population losses will grow. “The downstream implications of this are massive and impact property values, neighborhood composition, and commercial viability both positively and negatively,” says Dr. Jeremy Porter, Head of Climate Implications Research at the First Street Foundation. Climate change is causing an increase in extreme weather, and floods are the most common and widespread weather-related natural disaster.
5. Major companies are cutting their corporate air travel emissions
About half of the world’s biggest companies have managed to keep their air-travel emissions low in the years following the pandemic slowdown, according to new analysis. The advocacy group Transport and Environment looked at the emissions from 217 major global companies and found for about 104 of them, air travel emissions remain down by at least 50% compared to pre-COVID levels. The group says this “shows the feasibility of a shift towards less flying, more rail travel, and the increased use of virtual meetings.” The largest emissions reductions came from technology giant SAP (down 86%), pharmaceutical company Pfizer (down 78%), and consulting group PwC (down 76%).
THE KICKER
A Nissan Ariya EV recently become the
first vehicle ever to drive from the North Pole to the South Pole.
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A chart showing last year's spike in blackouts from major weather events.EIA
