“Climate breakdown has begun. Our climate is imploding faster than we can cope,” UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres. (Source: 2024 Likely to be Hottest Year on Record, Phys.org, September 6, 2023)

A report from the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR) released by the Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting in Berlin in the spring of 2023 reveals how surprisingly fast the icy continent is changing and its impact on the world. At current levels of global warming, the planet is already committed to approximately 16 inches of global sea level rise, “which turns what was once considered a one in 100-year coastal flood event into an annual one.” (Source: Report: Antarctic is Changing Dramatically with Global Consequences, Phys.org, June 13, 2023)

Annual 100-year coastal flooding events puts one billion people at annual risks of losing homes, coastlines, and port facilities… every year! Maybe build sea walls… everywhere, worldwide? After all, sea level rise is not going to stop on its own. In fact, already, according to the Miami Herald: “Many of the main roads in the Florida Keys could be under water as soon as 2025.” (Source: Some Keys Roads Will Flood by 2025 Due to Sea Rise, Fixing Them Could Cost $750 Million, Miami Herald, Oct. 21, 2021)

Moreover, the 33rd annual State of the Climate Report published in the Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society/Boulder discusses the vast extremes in Antarctica, which interestingly mirror similar climate extremes throughout the planet. It seems that climate change/global heating is synchronized throughout the world, which is likely a first of wide-spread implications, none positive.

The West Antarctic Ice Sheet has experienced “enhanced warming” and is starting to lose ice much more rapidly than scientists ever expected at this early juncture. Meanwhile, in the heart of the continent, temperatures blew past all records, 79°F (44°C) higher than average March temperatures; a weather station recorded a balmy 14.7°F in the interior where temperatures on average run -71°F.

Of even more concern, an Antarctic heat wave occurred during the transition period from summer to winter when the temperature always drops rapidly, but that normalized behavior looks to be gone for now.

Like the rest of the planet, Antarctica experiences heat waves as well as intense unprecedented precipitation via atmospheric rivers, which in the north regions of the planet turn into massive, destructive flooding. Antarctica had a tripling of normalized snowfall. Thus, a new concern is future atmospheric rivers bringing enhanced heat causing more rapid melt and/or rain that gooses sea levels well beyond current expectations. Atmospheric rivers in Antarctica bring a new threat of indeterminate dimensions to sea level rise. Importantly, “Antarctica is the driest continent on Earth. The rare snowfall events on the cold Antarctic continent usually come from so-called atmospheric rivers (ARs)… they only occur a few days per year.” (Source: Contribution of Atmospheric Rivers to Antarctic Precipitation, Geophysical Research Letters, September 7, 2022) Antarctica just had a tripling of normal snowfall as climate change extends abnormalities to the southern-most regions of the planet.

The Antarctica issue will likely get worse as highlighted by a new report claiming that the pace of CO2 concentration has increased three-fold, due mostly to burning fossil fuels, the primary force behind global warming. (Source: State of the Climate Report, US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) The NOAA report noted that CO2 levels are: (1) 50% higher than pre-industrial (2) the highest in the modern atmospheric record (3) the highest in the paleoclimate records over the past 800,000 years. And annual growth in global mean carbon dioxide, when averaged across the last decade, “has tripled since the 1960s.” Averaged annual growth over a decade that triples is flat-out fast.

The NOAA report emphasizes the fact that the world is running too warm aka: hot. China, for example, endured “the worst heat wave ever recorded anywhere in the world in 2022,” disrupting major sectors of the country. The massive heatwave caused widespread power shortages and disrupted key food and industrial supply chains. Coincidentally, China’s economy is on the ropes in a big way, hmm.

As for 2023, Pigs, Rabbits and Fish Are Dying from Searing Temperatures in China, CNN Business News, June 2, 2023, as wheat fields flood with the heaviest rainfall in a decade. Radical climate change officially erupted in China with many large cities hitting 40°C (104°F) and staying there for some time.

Chinese leader Xi Jinping is focusing on food security, as quoted in Qiushi, the Communist Party’s main theoretical journal: “Once something’s wrong with agriculture, our bowls will be held in someone else’s hands, and we’ll have to depend on others for food. How can we achieve modernization in that case?” Ibid.

According to the EU’s Copernicus Climate Change Service, the past eight years are the hottest on record with 2023 set to be hotter than any of them, the hottest year in human history, whilst 20% of global land gets hit hard by drought. Excessive heat is hitting everywhere, e.g., the Swiss Alps lost a record 6% of volume in one year. Consider that rate over another decade, or two, and what remains?

Copernicus’ Update, September 2023: Antarctic sea ice remained at a record low for the time of year with a monthly value 12% below average, which is “by far the largest anomaly for August since satellite observations began in the 1970s.” How many more 12% below averages does it take to throw a wrench into predictions of 16 inches of sea level rise already baked into the cake? And that’s just for starters based upon what’s been happening so far.

The El Niño Threat – it’s going to get worse

The El Niño weather phenomenon, which increases heat in the southern Pacific and spreads across the world has only just begun. Scientists say its worst effects will be felt at the end of 2023, into 2024 and possibly beyond. Unfortunately, with the world climate system now synchronized and determined by global warming’s impact, it’s highly probable that Antarctica will get hit even harder, especially West Antarctica, which has been notoriously labeled “fragile.”

According to Mark Maslin, a professor of climatology at University College London: “2023 is the year that climate records were not just broken but smashed… extreme weather events are now common and getting worse every year—this is a wakeup call to international leaders.” (Source: 2023 Likely to be Hottest Year on Record, Phys,org, September 6, 2023).

“Global warming continues because we have not stopped burning fossil fuels—it is that simple,” Friederike Otto, climate scientist, Imperial College London, Ibid.

Meanwhile, with great anticipation, COP28 is in bright flashing lights: The largest, the most extravagant, the most anticipated, the most attended, the most world leader photo-ops (100+). the most private jets, the most golden embroidered structures, the favorite playground of petrostates, the 2023 United Nations Climate Change Conference or Conference of the Parties of the UNFCCC, more commonly referred to as COP28, will be the 28th United Nations Climate Change conference, held from November 30 until December 12, 2023, at the Expo City, Dubai.

It’s fair to say that COP28 will be confronted with the most challenging, the most tumultuous climate system in human history.

What will 80,000 attendees at a fossil fuel-hosted climate conference come up with?

Robert Hunziker is a journalist from Los Angeles

 

Countercurrents is answerable only to our readers. Support honest journalism because we have no PLANET B. Become a Patron at Patreon Subscribe to our Telegram channel

GET COUNTERCURRENTS DAILY NEWSLETTER STRAIGHT TO YOUR INBOX

 

https://countercurrents.org/2023/09/antarctica-hits-records-as-global-heat-looms-large-for-2024/

 

 

READ FROM TOP.

 

SEE ALSO: https://yourdemocracy.net/drupal/node/26175

 

 

 

FREE JULIAN ASSANGE NOW....

 

 

As Skies Turn Orange, Media Still Hesitate to Mention What’s Changing Climate OLIVIA RIGGIO

 

 

Skies on the US’s East Coast turned an apocalyptic orange in early June, as wildfire smoke from Canada blew south. On Wednesday, June 7, New York City’s air quality ranked the worst in the world, with an Air Quality Index rating of more than 400 out of 500—deemed “hazardous” for any individual.

Scientists expect forest fires to increase with the advance of climate disruption—mainly driven by fossil fuel consumption. Hotter, dryer weather, an increase in the type of brush that fuels these fires, and more frequent lightning strikes all contribute to this outcome (NOAA, 8/8/22; UN, 2/23/22; PNAS, 11/1/21; International Journal of Wildland Fire, 8/10/09).

Short-term exposure to fine particulate matter in wildfire smoke can cause nose, throat and lung irritation, as well as worsening underlying conditions like asthma and heart disease. Over months or years, this exposure can increase chances of chronic bronchitis, as well as hospital admissions and deaths due to conditions like lung cancer and heart disease. In Delhi, India, which typically has the worst air quality in the world, pollution takes an average of nine years off residents’ life expectancy (Democracy Now!, 6/8/23).

With a sepia hue and the smell of a campfire engulfing the East Coast, the immediate effects of human-caused climate change seemed as concrete as they had ever been. But on US TV news, viewers were more likely to hear climate denial than reporting that made the essential connection between fossil fuel consumption and worsening wildfires—if they heard mention of climate change at all.

A minority mentioned climate

Searching the Nexis news database for transcripts from June 5–9 on ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, Fox and MSNBC, FAIR found 115 news segments that mentioned the forest fires and their effect on air quality. Of those 115 segments, only 44 (38%) mentioned climate change’s role.

(FAIR defined a “segment” as any portion of a news show that discussed the wildfire pollution. Brief top-of-show or pre-commercial mentions that previewed segments airing later in the show were counted as part of the segments they referred to. When shows included more than one segment covering wildfire pollution, each was counted separately.)

Outlets varied widely in attention to the wildfire pollution issue: The broadcast outlets ranged from 20 segments at CBS to 10 at ABC and three at NBC. Among cable outlets, CNN had 55 segments, Fox had 23 and MSNBC four. (Note: Nexis relies on outlets to submit content, and submission policies vary among outlets.)

At MSNBC, it was mentioned in three out of four segments (75%), and in two out of three segments (67%) on NBC. Climate change was mentioned in 48% of segments at Fox, 40% at ABC and CNN, and 10% at CBS.

Even when outlets mentioned climate change, the detail and usefulness of the information varied greatly.

Only seven wildfire pollution segments (6% of all 115 segments) named or even alluded to fossil fuels—by far the largest contributor to climate change—in a way that did not engage in climate denial. By disconnecting climate change causes and consequences, media outlets shield the fossil fuel industry and the politicians who aid and abet them from accountability, and avoid discussions about urgently needed action.

 

Passing mentions

Of the 44 segments that mentioned climate change in relation to wildfire pollution, 10 did so only in passing, with no detail as to how, exactly, climate change increases the risk, severity and duration of such fires.

For instance, CNN Tonight (6/6/23) referred to the air quality in New York City as a “climate crisis,” but went no further into discussing how the broader climate crisis is exacerbating events like these.

CNN’s Poppy Harlow (This Morning, 6/8/23) remarked on how “important it is that we focus on climate change and all that is happening,” but said nothing else to direct the audience’s focus in that direction.

ABC also had two passing mentions, as when World News Tonight (6/7/23) aired a soundbite from White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre describing the smoke as “yet another alarming example of the ways in which the climate crisis is disturbing our lives and our communities.” Then the segment ended.

Though a passing mention is better than no mention at all, tossing in the term “climate change” does very little to help audiences understand how climate disruption exacerbates events like these, or to explain the human causes of the climate crisis. This silence deprives viewers of any conversation about potential climate solutions or mitigations, leaving them only with confusion and fear.

Climate denial

Ten segments in the study period engaged in outright climate change denial, either mocking or attempting to debunk climate change with pseudo-science. These segments were less helpful than not mentioning climate change at all, actively discouraging people from taking action to ameliorate the climate catastrophe.

CNN aired an interview with Mike Pence (CNN Live Event, 6/7/23), who claimed climate change isn’t happening “as dramatically as the radical environmentalists like to present,” and that the solution is “expanding American energy and natural gas.” He faced no pushback for his scientifically illiterate response.

But Fox led in climate disinformation, with nine denialist segments. Jesse Watters (6/7/23) offered a typical example:

A liberal in Canada goes camping, starts a forest fire, smokes out America, and they tell us to pay Elon Musk. But, is manmade global warming causing Canadian forest fires? Why don’t you open a history book, and you’ll learn about New England’s Dark Day. It happened in 1780, long before the Industrial Revolution. Dark clouds stretched from Maine to New Jersey, blotting out the sun…. That dark cloud in 1780 was from Canadian wildfires, 240 years ago. Can’t blame that on climate change. Everybody was riding horses.

And you might be surprised to find out, over the last 100 years, there have been less wildfires, not more. The Wall Street Journal says in the early 1900s, about 4% of land worldwide burned every year. By 2021, that was down to 2.5%. So, instead of obsessing over climate change, they should take a look at forest management and making sure Canadian campers listen to Smokey the Bear.

The Wall Street Journal op-ed (10/27/21) Watters cited is by a climate denialist, and misleadingly only takes into account the metric of land burned, ignoring factors like the severity and frequency of more recent fires, and the likelihood of land burned trending back upward (WWF International, 2020). The World Resources Institute (8/17/22) found that forest fires burned nearly twice as much tree coverage globally in 2021 than it did in 2001.

Forest fire ‘hysteria’

Blaming fires solely on poor forest management despite clear links to climate change was a common tactic at Fox (The Five, 6/7/23; see Media Matters, 6/9/23). Laura Ingraham (Ingraham Angle, 6/9/23) argued that because forest fires are “so normal that Canada’s government website has a page…devoted to educating the public about them,” that concern over these out-of-control fires is “hysteria.”

In reality, Canada is having its worst-ever wildfire season (Bloomberg, 6/7/23). In early June, more than 200 wildfires burned across Canada, accompanied in some areas by record heat. More than half were out of control (Washington Post, 6/3/23).

Earlier in the week (6/7/23), Ingraham’s guest, Steve Milloy of the conservative, climate-denying Energy and Environment Legal Institute, claimed that “there’s no health risk” from wildfire smoke (not true), and that there are no public health emergencies in countries like India and China due to their low air quality. (Also a lie—air pollution was responsible for nearly 18% of deaths in India in 2019, and causes an estimated 2 million deaths in China per year.) He argued that wildfire smoke is “natural” and “not because of climate change.”

Fox also applied its typical red-scare tactics, saying climate concern is “about socialism” (Hannity, 6/7/23), and that “the climate crazies are trying to use a Canadian forest fire as yet another excuse to take your freedom, take your power and take your money” (Ingraham Angle, 6/7/23).

Meanwhile, Fox misled viewers that mainstream media coverage of the fires was rife with discussions about the climate crisis. On The Five (6/7/23), Greg Gutfeld complained: “So, already, the media is blaming climate change. ABC is connecting it to climate change. USA Today asked if the fires were actually caused by climate change.”

If only centrist corporate outlets were as committed to offering climate crisis context as Fox is to promoting climate change denial.

Explanatory mentions

Twelve other segments that mentioned climate change offered slightly better than a passing mention, explaining things like how a warmer and drier climate exacerbates these fires, or how events like these will worsen as the climate crisis continues. But these segments did not allude to the reality that climate change is caused by people.

Some of these segments included the sparest of explanations, as when ABC’s Rob Marciano (World News Tonight, 6/7/23) briefly mentioned “climate change with the extra warmth” amplifying the fires, and potentially contributing to weather systems that kept the smoke hanging over the northeastern US.

Three mentions  (The Lead, 6/8/23; Situation Room, 6/8/23; CNN Newsroom, 6/9/23) were of the same brief soundbite, from Daniel Westervelt, anti-pollution adviser to the US State Department, warning, “With increasing climate change and increasing warming, we can expect more and more of these kind of wildfires to continue.”

CNN climate correspondent Bill Weir (Erin Burnett Outfront, 6/7/23) offered perhaps the most thorough explanation of how the climate crisis worsens wildfires, demonstrating the connection to the melting ice in the Arctic:

The Arctic, the northern top of the planet, has been warming up four times faster than the rest of the planet. When I do those reports, I can almost hear the viewers’ eyes glazing over. Like, what do I care about what happens in the Arctic?

This is directly related to that. There was a heat anomaly in May over Canada, looked like a giant red blob of paint where they had temperatures in the high 90s, way sooner than is normal, that dries things out, one lightning strike sets that off like a tinderbox. And that’s why there’s over 100 fires burning in central Quebec.

And then the weather patterns connect us. Now, we’re breathing the results of a climate in crisis.

Weir went on to briefly mention the “cost of doing nothing”; however, he was referring entirely to the economic impact of people not being able to leave their homes on poor air quality days. While he thoroughly explained the connection between a warming planet and devastating wildfires, he did not elaborate on the human causes—nor the human solutions—to the climate crisis.

Human-caused—but how?

Five of the 44 segments that mentioned climate change did point to human responsibility for climate change, either directly or by mentioning the need to reduce emissions. But these segments did not reference fossil fuels, which are the main way humans are changing the climate and the major source of greenhouse gas emissions.

Thus Fox (Special Report, 6/7/23) aired a soundbite of New York City Mayor Eric Adams saying, “We must continue to draw down emissions,” without remarking on Adams’ comment.

On CNN Newsroom (6/9/23), climate scientist Zeke Hausefather said briefly, “I hope it will serve as a wake-up call that we need to cut emissions and reduce the impacts of this going forward.”

Other segments that described or alluded to the climate crisis as human-caused without mentioning fossil fuels included CNN‘s Lead (6/7/23), MSNBC‘s All In (6/7/23) and CNN This Morning (6/8/23).

The fossil fuel distinction is important, especially because the industry has spent billions to confuse the public on its environmental impact. In the early 2000s, a PR firm for BP coined the term “carbon footprint,” diverting the blame of the climate crisis onto individual citizens and away from these greedy corporations. We can sip our iced coffee out of paper straws all we want, but unless the world’s economies immediately and drastically cut fossil fuels, the planet is headed to far exceed the 1.5°C rise scientists have warned about (Amnesty International, 3/20/23).

Acknowledging ‘Addiction to oil’

All of the segments that took the crucial next step of connecting the wildfires to fossil fuel emissions—seven in all—appeared on cable news networks.

On MSNBC’s The Reidout (6/7/23), host Joy Reid called out the world’s “unrelenting dependence on oil,” warning that

we will suffer the consequences, as the planet we live on and that our children and grandchildren will inherit becomes even more dangerous to live in.

Environmentalist Bill McKibben appeared on CNN Newsroom (6/8/23) to link the poor quality of New York’s air to the dire situations facing people across the world as a result of fossil fuel–driven pollution:

It’s terrible in New York right now, and we shouldn’t make light of it. But it’s precisely how most people across much of the world live every single day. That’s why nine million people a year—one death in five on this planet—comes from the effects of breathing fossil fuel combustion.

Beyond fear-mongering, McKibbon offered a solution:

The good news is we have an easy fix. We now live on a planet where the cheapest way to produce power is to point a sheet of glass at the sun. We should be in an all-out effort to move to renewable energy and to save energy so we don’t have to use as much of it.

In another segment that day,  CNN Newsroom (6/8/23) discussed the American Lung Association’s report that stated 90,000 lives would be saved if the US could electrify its vehicle fleet by 2050. “That doesn’t account for the prevalence of wildfire smoke now more common on a planet heated up by fossil fuels,” CNN chief climate correspondent Weir reported.

This data was mentioned in two other CNN segments (Anderson Cooper 360 Degrees, 6/7/23; CNN Newsroom, 6/8/23).

Elsewhere, Weir (This Morning, 6/8/23) attributed India’s poor air quality to coal burning, unchecked motor regulations and the burning of agricultural fields.

And on his MSNBC show (Alex Wagner Tonight, 6/7/23), Alex Wagner called out Republican efforts to defend a household source of fossil fuel emissions even as the wildfires demonstrated the dire effects of unchecked climate disruption:

House Republicans had an agenda item on the topic of air quality, but it had nothing to do with combating climate change. They were taking a vote on protecting gas stoves.

Solutions-based journalism

When the best mainstream TV news outlets have to offer during an environmental and public health crisis is seven mentions of the key cause that needs to be urgently addressed, there’s little for the public to gain.

In a recent segment on Democracy Now! (6/30/23), Genevieve Guenther, author and director of End Climate Silence, emphasized the importance of these connections, advocating for all reporters to be educated on the climate crisis, regardless of the beat they cover. “You need to connect the dots from what you’re reporting to the climate crisis, and then through the climate crisis to the use of fossil fuels that is heating up our planet,” she said.

It is necessary to go beyond cursory headlines to name what is responsible, not to further fear and complicity, but because doing so allows us to offer solutions. We live in a time where, despite Big Oil’s tireless efforts to confuse the public, renewable energy is cheaper—and by many measures, more efficient—than fossil fuels (ASAP Science, 9/9/20).

A 2022 study shows that news framing that centers credible responses to climate problems were associated with confidence in one’s ability to make changes and more support for collective action (Environmental Communication, 11/11/22). If apocalyptic air enveloping major news headquarters hundreds of miles away from record-setting fires doesn’t prompt these necessary conversations, what will?

Research assistance: Lara-Nour Walton and Brandon Warner

https://fair.org/home/as-skies-turn-orange-media-still-hesitate-to-mention-whats-changing-climate/

 

READ FROM TOP.

  

FREE JULIAN ASSANGE NOW....

 

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EfL7vInt944

We didn’t have the GREEN thing back then

 

READ FROM TOP.

  

FREE JULIAN ASSANGE NOW....

 

Deviating from Paris

By MICHAEL P. WALSH | China Daily Global

 

The time for the world to accelerate its efforts to limit global warming to 1.5 C is now

The air pollution challenges we face are immense. Recent studies indicate that in 2019 more than six million people died prematurely because of exposure to air pollution, the fourth-leading cause of premature death. There are many pollution sources of course, but vehicles stand out because they emit their pollution in the breathing zone of people.

Traffic is also one of the major contributors to climate change which is already having devastating effects around the world — fires, floods, more intense storms, and extreme heat waves, to cite a few recent examples. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) noted: "Widespread and rapid changes in the atmosphere, ocean, cryosphere, and biosphere have occurred. Human-caused climate change is already affecting many weather and climate extremes in every region across the globe. This has led to widespread adverse impacts and related losses and damages to nature and people."

Increasingly, we are seeing clear linkages between urban air pollution and climate change. For example, just a few months ago, New York recorded some of the worst air pollution ever recorded in the city. And remarkably it was not caused by local pollution sources but rather by out-of-control forest fires in Canada resulting from climate change.

Fortunately, emissions of particles, nitrogen oxides and hydrocarbons from new vehicles are coming down. China, which began to seriously address vehicle emissions 10 years later than Europe, now produces new cars that are cleaner than new cars produced in Europe due to tighter evaporative emissions control and more advanced diagnostic technology.

And regarding climate change, China has pledged that it will peak its carbon emissions before 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality before 2060. Perhaps even more importantly, China has nurtured the development of the technology which is the key to solving the transportation challenge in both urban air pollution and global warming — new energy vehicles.

Ten or 15 years ago, we were struggling to create a market for electric cars in the United States. In fact, as far back as 1990, the California Air Resources Board (CARB) mandated the introduction of battery electric vehicles, the so-called zero emissions vehicle (ZEV) mandate, but this had only limited success until recently.

NEVs if fueled by green electricity produced by renewable energy are inherently clean; they emit no tailpipe emissions, thereby potentially solving the transportation contribution to both urban air pollution and climate change. (We will still need to address problems such as tire and brake wear which are not related to combustion.)

China has also launched a series of policies to promote the sale of NEVs and has rapidly become the largest producer as well as the largest market in the world for these vehicles. The measures include purchase subsidies, tax exemptions, infrastructure construction, and privileges in vehicle registration from the lottery system that cities such as Beijing have put in place to constrain the growth in the number of polluting vehicles.

In 2022, China's market for NEVs reached 26 percent of total new vehicle sales, leading big markets in the world.

Fortunately, the rest of the world is trying to catch up. The EU is aiming to have 100 percent of light duty vehicle sales by 2035 to be zero emissions vehicles. Already in 2022, 22 percent of its car sales were ZEVs. California has also announced its intention to have 100 percent of new light duty vehicle sales be zero emissions by 2035; 17 other states in the US have signed up to follow California down this same path. The US EPA has recently proposed a rule that would likely result in 67 percent of all new cars and 46 percent of medium duty trucks being battery electric or fuel cells by 2032. Progress is also occurring with heavy duty vehicles and engines in China. China's Clean Diesel Action Plan requires the share of freight transportation volume by road transportation to be reduced. China emphasizes transportation structure adjustments, featured by road to rail and road to waterway which are much cleaner modes of goods movement. Further, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment has implemented the so-called environmental protection performance classification system, which assigns each company with an environmental protection performance grade (A, B, C, D). Grade A companies do not need to stop or reduce production during high pollution days while grade B, C and D companies will need to stop or reduce production to a certain extent during high pollution days. There are many factors taken into consideration when assigning the grade to each company, and the share of clean transportation modals (such as railways and waterways) and NEV deployments are important factors. In key ports, 80 percent of ore and coke should be transported by rail, water, enclosed belt conveyor or NEVs; in major coal provinces, 90 percent of ore and coke that is transported more than 500 kilometers should be transported by rail and rail should be available in at least 70 percent of key ports by 2025. As a result, port cities with heavy industries, such as Tangshan, have emerged as market leaders for zero-emission heavy vehicles.

Once again, however, both the EU and California are planning more aggressive steps. The EU will require 100 percent zero emissions heavy duty vehicles by 2040 and California by 2036.

What does all this mean for China going forward? Considering China's historical global leadership on new energy vehicles and the crisis the planet is facing regarding climate change, I recommend that China accelerate the pace of phasing out the sale of vehicles with internal combustion engines. As a planet, we are not on track to achieve the target agreed in Paris of limiting warming to 1.5 C and must accelerate our efforts. We truly are facing a crisis and risk reaching a tipping point which could accelerate the damage, perhaps irreversibly. As noted in the latest report by the IPCC, "there is a rapidly closing window of opportunity to secure a livable and sustainable future for all". The time for action is now.

The author is a board member emeritus at the International Council on Clean Transportation in Washington DC and a recipient of the Friendship Award of the Chinese Government. The author contributed this article to China Watch, a think tank powered by China Daily. The views do not necessarily reflect those of China Daily.

Contact the editor at editor@chinawatch.cn.

 

https://www.chinadaily.com.cn/a/202310/23/WS6535b77ba31090682a5ea093.html

 

READ FROM TOP.

 

FREE JULIAN ASSANGE NOW....