Tri samostatné poveternostné udalosti v nasledujúcich mesiacoch by mohli viesť k roztopeniu chodníkov v preplňovaných horúčavách. A mohol by dokonca prekonať nárast horúčav o 40 stupňov Celzia, ktorý zaznamenal historicky najvyššiu teplotu vo Veľkej Británii, keď bola krajina uvedená do varovania pred extrémnymi horúčavami. Superteplý výbuch by mohol začať už v máji a môže trvať týždne, predpovedajú meteorológovia. m Dale, meteorológ britskej meteorologickej služby, povedal, že značky „sú už tu“. V predpovedi povedal: „Po dosť mizernom začiatku jari sme oneskorení v horúcom období. „Pozeráme sa na faktory, vrátane El Niňo, ktoré môžu ovplyvniť počasie v celej Európe,“ dodal. Vlna horúčav závisí od toho, či sa dostaneme južne alebo juhovýchodne v správnom čase. El Niňo sa vyskytuje, keď oceánske prúdy spomaľujú – alebo cúvajú – čo spôsobuje prudký nárast teplôt z Južnej Ameriky. Met Office vo svojom dlhodobom výhľade hovorí, že existuje jedna z troch (alebo 35 percent) šanca, že leto vo Veľkej Británii bude teplejšie ako priemer. To je dvojnásobné percento oproti norme.

(HELEN BENNICKE)

Consortium partners of the Greensand project, consider the new seismic monitoring technology developed specifically for this project to be successful because frequent seismic monitoring is essential for safe and permanent storage of CO2. The new technology ensures more frequent control of the Nini West field in the North Sea while achieving less impact on the environment and climate, the project consortium claims. A wide range of consortium members, including the French company SpotLight, are behind the newly developed technology. "After the first CO2 storage, it was important for us to demonstrate the efficiency and flexibility of our monitoring solution. Among other things, we did this because we were able to quickly perform the first monitoring of the tank and thus obtain important information about where the stored CO2 is located in the tank. "The operation was very successful because we collected high-quality data with regard to safety and effectiveness. This enables the Greensand project to set new standards for CCS oversight.” he said Habib al Khatib, CEO of SpotLight. We remind you that on March 8, 2023, the Greensand project achieved a significant milestone with the first ever injection of CO2 into the North Sea. (Amir Garanović)

Beef + Lamb New Zealand (B + LNZ) commissioned a report on international emissions trading systems and forestry to examine the relationship between emissions pricing and forestry in other countries. The study looks at how other countries are using 'offsets' under the Emissions Trading System (ETS) to transition to using less fossil fuels. A key finding was that New Zealand and Kazakhstan are the only countries that allow 100% offsets in their carbon pricing mechanism. While Kazakhstan theoretically allows 100% compensation, individual companies must apply for compensation on a project-by-project basis and in practice no cases of forestry compensation can be found. With New Zealand allowing 100 % offsets and full forest participation in the New Zealand ETS, the carbon market and forestry sectors are intricately linked, with the ability to significantly influence the other. The European Union and the United Kingdom do not allow carbon offsets in their ETS, while China, South Korea, and the US states of Washington, North Carolina, and California allow offsets below five percent. Meanwhile, Mexico and Taiwan, along with the Canadian province of Quebec, allow compensation of 10 percent, and other areas such as Tokyo up to 33 percent. While other countries enforce strict limits and requirements to ensure that offsets deliver various benefits, New Zealand has no set targets for reducing emissions from fossil fuel use or any limits on how many offsets can be made through the ETS to meet the change targets climate.

Atmospheric rivers -- long, concentrated streams of moisture in the sky -- are a key factor in the complex conditions that are accelerating the melting of glaciers over northern Greenland, according to new research from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Led by Kyle Mattingly, a researcher at UW-Madison's Space Science and Engineering Center, a new study of moisture rivers over Greenland was published in Nature Communications. Atmospheric rivers, sometimes stretching for thousands of kilometers, carry moisture from the tropics to other parts of the world. They are an essential part of the global weather cycle and can bring needed rains to drought-stricken areas. However, they can also contribute to dangerous flooding. "The Greenland ice sheet has seen an acceleration of glacier melt over the past 30 years," says Mattingly. "Our research shows the major influences that atmospheric rivers can have on the northeastern part of the ice sheet." Greenland is covered by an ice sheet 3,000 meters (9,800 feet) thick, which contains enough water to raise sea levels by 7 meters, or 23 feet. For millennia, it has played an important role in regulating the Earth's temperature and climate, but this stability is threatened by climate change. The warming conditions begin with atmospheric rivers that form on the northwest side of Greenland and move eastward, creating what are known as Foehn winds. Wind commonly occurs when moist air meets a change in elevation, such as a mountain or steep Greenlandic coastline. As this moist air rises, it condenses and may precipitate as rain or snow, releasing heat into the atmosphere. Now warmer and drier, air continues to flow across the ice sheet and back to the northeast side of Greenland. (Eric Verbeten, University of Wisconsin-Madison)

The Irish Farmers' Association (IFA) will host a meeting on the proposed EU Nature Restoration Act and re-irrigation proposals next week. Farmers will be informed at the meeting about the objectives and obligations set out in the proposed regulation and what they could potentially mean for affected farmers. The meeting will be attended by representatives from the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage and the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM). Secretary of State for Housing, Local Government and Heritage Malcolm Noonan will address the meeting online. To the proposed the law stipulates that by the year 20 the range of terrestrial and marine habitats and species must cover at least 2030 % of EU land and sea and by 2050 all ecosystems in need of restoration. The law, which is a key element of the EU's biodiversity strategy, could have far-reaching consequences for Irish agriculture and is a serious concern for farmers and rural communities, IFA president Tim Cullinan said. (Rubinand Freibergová)

The researchers used data from previous publications to answer the question of why Arctic sea ice is responding to climate change much faster and more clearly than Antarctic sea ice, which has remained relatively stable according to long-term studies monitoring sea ice patterns in the Antarctic region. Their results were published in the journal Ocean-Land-Atmosphere Research. “The differences in responses are explained by geographical, climatic and meteorological differences between the two regions. Arctic sea ice is located in the polar region and is surrounded by land, while Antarctic sea ice is located far from the polar region outside the Antarctic Circle," said Mohammed Shokr, first author of the paper. Antarctic sea ice is still affected in the form of calving (the formation of glaciers by the splitting of glaciers) and ice shelf melting, just not as rapidly as Arctic sea ice appears to be melting and thinning on an annual cycle. This naturally leads to more debate about the associated warming in the Arctic, where its effects are more immediately visible due to population density in the Northern Hemisphere. "Arctic sea ice is expected to mimic the seasonal behavior of Antarctic sea ice, namely, it forms in winter and almost completely disappears in summer," said Yufang Ye, an author and researcher at Sun Yat-sen University. Seasonal melting of Arctic sea ice and Antarctic ice shelves can vary depending on atmospheric and oceanic conditions, which can lead to less desirable effects on transportation, economics, and weather. Both regions have melting occurrences, but they occur for different reasons. This would suggest that each problem has the potential for its own answer, and that the two problems should not necessarily be viewed through the same lens. (according to Ocean-Land-Atmosphere Research (OLAR)

Europe has exported a destructive forestry model to the world, but now has a chance to stop it at home, which EU countries must ensure is properly implemented, writes Kelsey Perlman.

Kelsey Perlman is a forest and climate activist at the forestry NGO Fern. Over the past 50 years, the forestry model that has unspeakably damaged nature and the climate has spread its tentacles around the world from the heart of Europe. The industrial forestry model, dominant for decades in Scandinavia and other parts of Europe, is based on 18th century Prussian/Saxon forestry methods. The main principle is economic efficiency. It achieves this by maximizing the yields of one species of tree to produce skeletal monocultures. In this way, resilient, diverse natural forests are cut down and replaced by managed uniform plantations. It's a forestry model supported by many national governments around the world – and one that has led to the collapse of carbon sinks, widespread biodiversity loss and declining forestry employment in the last decade, particularly in the European Union. This shift to monocultures has been so far-reaching that people in many parts of the world barely remember what a real forest is. A chance for change - Now Europe, which has exported industrialized clear-cut logging, can slow it down at home. The European Union is currently negotiating the first comprehensive continent-wide ecosystem restoration law for its member states to "bring back nature across Europe, from farmland and seas to forests and urban environments". The Nature Restoration Act will require EU governments to reverse the alarming environmental damage that has left more than 80% of Europe's habitats in poor condition. As such, the new law offers a unique chance for the EU to turn away from a clear-cut forestry model and instead adopt one that benefits nature while protecting Europe's rapidly shrinking old-growth forests. (Kelsey Perlman, EURACTIV)

These are the arguments of the big beef titans to convince consumers that eating meat has a negligible impact on the planet:

It's a hard, disgusting and disorienting truth: if we're serious about avoiding the worst-case scenarios of the climate crisis, people – especially those living in wealthier countries – need to consume less animal products. But for the corporate titans who stand at the top of the nearly trillion-dollar global meat industry, this slight change is an existential threat, and so they are telling the truth about the full climate impacts of animal agriculture. In the Guardian's review of dozens of articles, op-eds, fact sheets, blog posts, informational videos, educational resources and social media reports, several themes emerged repeatedly. In total, this vast body of industry-funded reporting perpetuates five myths that suggest that beef production is not a problem for the climate and that reducing consumption will not help—and may even hurt—environmental progress. Myth 1: fossil fuels are the only real problem to solve: "What we eat is important to the environment to some extent, but it pales in comparison to what we drive or how we use energy," Frank Mitloehner, a UC Davis animal scientist who works with the beef industry to research and reporting for industry publication Meatingplace. "Then have a burger. Just make sure you walk to the restaurant." (Joe Fassler, The Guardian)

To deal with climate change, many of us need to reduce our carbon footprint. But what does a truly low-carbon lifestyle look like – and can it really be achieved through personal choice alone?

As 2020 drew to a close, Carys Mainprize set herself a challenge for the year ahead: spend the next 12 months living off two tons of carbon, an amount equivalent to about half the annual emissions of an average US gasoline car. It was not an easy challenge. Mainprize lives in the UK, where average annual consumption per person exceeds four times its target: 8.5 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e), which is a measure that includes CO2, methane and other greenhouse gases. Mainprize, a communications officer at a climate non-profit, began researching the carbon footprint of everything she could. She wanted to see what it would take – and whether it would even be possible – to live in the UK with a personal carbon contribution roughly similar to what we will all have to achieve in the next decade, to avoid the worst effects of climate change. Surveys show that many people want to get involved in climate action, but putting very low-carbon living into practice can be tricky: it can mean changing several aspects of everyday life, especially for the wealthier parts of society. But experiments like Mainprize could help show the rest of us the way forward, what a sustainable society might really look like – and the wider changes we need to get there. So what would the world look like if those of us who currently emit far more could manage to reduce our emissions to safer levels? Challenging climate: In some ways, two tons is an arbitrary number. After some research, Mainprize decided that this would be a decently ambitious goal. In his carbon footprint book How Bad Are Bananas, researcher Mike Berners-Lee suggests readers could now aim for a five-tonne lifestyle, which he says would already be "a big step" for most in the UK forward”. (Jocelyn Timperley, BBC)

Sea surface temperatures are rising rapidly in the eastern Pacific Ocean, likely signaling a strong and rapid start to El Niño this summer.

El Niño could be stronger and faster than expected this summer if current sea surface temperature trends continue in the coming weeks. Experts have long expected to see warmer-than-normal temperatures in the eastern equatorial Pacific this summer, heralding the start of an El Niño that could affect Canada's summer and the approaching hurricane season. Uncertainty surrounding the strength and timing of El Niño's onset has made its effects on this summer's weather somewhat questionable. With confidence growing, here's a look at how the pattern could affect Canada's weather in the coming months. El Niño and La Niña describe periods of abnormal water temperatures in the Pacific Ocean off the west coast of South America. We have been in the colder grips of La Niña for three consecutive winters. This lengthy spell recently ended and it appears we are quickly heading towards warmer than normal El Niño sea surface temperatures. Monthly outlook of the US Climate Prediction Center of April called for better-than-even odds that an El Niño would develop by this summer, with uncertainty over how fast or how strong such a pattern would develop in the coming months. But things have gotten a lot bigger since then. (Denis Mersereau, The Weather Network)

Most of us know that if we want to stand a chance in the fight against the climate crisis, we need to limit our carbon emissions. "The climate emergency is a race we are losing, but it is a race we can win," said UN Secretary-General António Guterres. The race is certainly on, but do we fully understand the impact of our daily travel on the environment? In other words, how carbon literate are we? Prime Time took to the streets of Ballydehob in West Cork to find out. Levi's Corner House pub is the focal point of the Ballydehob Jazz Festival. It is run by festival organizers Joe O'Leary and his partner Caroline O'Donnell. The couple are acutely aware of the challenges people living outside of Ireland's major cities have in accessing sustainable modes of transport. With buses running infrequently, Caroline says getting to Ballydehob is a "convoluted journey". Caroline told Prime Time: "We're limited by public transport options if you look at it from a sustainability point of view because you want to do it with the smallest carbon footprint." Joe says it took a friend five hours to get from Cork City to Ballydehob. One regular bus from Cork to Skibbereen has been cancelled. He had to wait an hour for another bus to take him the short 10-mile journey from Skibbereen to Ballydehob. Joe added that most people cannot afford electric cars. Like most rural towns and villages, Ballydehob does not have a public charging station for electric cars.

(Would Conor McMorrow, Prime Time)

Once upon a time, I dated a man who seemed perfectly normal to me… until he wasn't. Everything seemed fine until he showed me a photo of an ex-fiancée that he occasionally brought up in conversation. It got me thinking: “He still loves his ex, right?” She looked almost identical to me, and that scared me. Shortly after he saw the picture, he started comparing me to her. It was uncomfortable—really uncomfortable. Pretty soon I started to get the vibe that I was a replacement for his ex. This hunch stopped being a floating theory when he called her name in bed, and that was the exact moment I dumped him. Looking back, I realize that what he wanted was his ex and that he was a serious Carbon Dater. What is Carbon Dater? He is a person who tends to date people who look like carbon copies of their exes. They are looking to date someone who is like their ex as a way to live in the past and try to make the future they wanted with their ex.  (Ossiana Tepfenhart)

As the European Union ramps up efforts to meet its targets under the Paris climate change agreement, the bloc's proposed Carbon Border Offset Mechanism (CBAM) offers the tantalizing promise of cleaner industry and reduced emissions both within and beyond its borders. By pricing the carbon dioxide emitted during the production of certain imports, the system aims to level the playing field between businesses in the EU and third countries and to prevent so-called "carbon leakage" - the movement of industries with high carbon emissions to countries with weaker environmental standards. A key aim of CBAM is to create "own resources" for the bloc: the EU expects the mechanism to raise around €10 billion ($11 billion) a year by the time it is fully implemented in 2030, earmarked to pay off the bloc's debt for post-pandemic recovery. Perhaps more importantly, CBAM will have global implications. While the mechanism could speed up the green transition by effectively exporting the EU's tough climate targets, it could also adversely affect developing economies, particularly in Africa. One of the main concerns is that CBAM, which officially begins its transition phase in October 2023 and will initially only cover cement, iron and steel, aluminium, fertilisers, electricity and hydrogen, could significantly increase the cost of exports to the EU. This would be particularly problematic for African economies, which already face some of the highest trade barriers in the world and often rely heavily on exports to fuel growth. David Luke, a professor at the London School of Economics who specializes in African trade policy, recently warned that the CBAM tax could reduce African exports to the bloc by almost 6%. More broadly, the tariff may have a disproportionate impact on countries with weaker economies and limited infrastructure. Insufficient capacity to meet the EU's strict carbon standards would put these countries at a competitive disadvantage and further widen the economic gap with the bloc. Analysis by the Center for Global Development found that Mozambique's GDP, for example, could plausibly fall by 1.6% as the country sent more than half of its aluminum exports to the EU in 2019.

Google has already been monetizing videos on YouTube this month that promote misinformation about the climate crisis, according to new findings. A report released Tuesday by the Coalition Climate Action Against Disinformation (CAAD) highlights 100 videos with blatant lies about the climate crisis that Google has been advertising on. The videos deny that the climate crisis is caused by greenhouse gas emissions released into the atmosphere by burning fossil fuels, despite overwhelming scientific evidence and consensus that this is the case. In addition, the report also found another 100 videos with misleading content about how to fight climate change. The content included misinformation such as false arguments that nothing can be done about the climate crisis, or support for alleged solutions that are in fact ineffective and distract from the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions by large companies.

Telegraph Money sa na to pozrie bližšie, od solárnych až po tepelné čerpadlá a elektrické autá. Britskí majitelia domov a vodiči sú pod tlakom, aby výrazne znížili svoje emisie, a to vďaka veľkej dekarbonizačnej politike vlády a návrhom na dosiahnutie čistej nuly do roku 2050. Koncept čistej nuly vychádza z odporúčania Výboru pre zmenu klímy, nezávislého poradcu vlády pre životné prostredie, v máji 2019. Pred dosiahnutím čistého nulového cieľa mala Británia právne záväzný cieľ znížiť do roku 2025 emisie skleníkových plynov o 80 % v porovnaní s úrovňami z roku 1990. Nový cieľ zníženia emisií o 100 % do roku 2050 sa stal právne záväzným v roku 2019 ako súčasť novely zákona o zmene klímy z roku 2008. Historicky veľa nákladov na uhlík znášal priemysel, ale existujú obavy, že vláda čoraz viac preberá zodpovednosť za čistú nulu na obyčajných ľudí – pričom ponúka málo stimulov. To môže znamenať, že musíme financovať našu vlastnú dekarbonizáciu, ale to sa uprostred krízy životných nákladov ľahšie povie, ako urobí. Napríklad prechod na elektrické vozidlo (EV) môže byť kľúčovou súčasťou snahy Spojeného kráľovstva dosiahnuť čistú nulu, no nový rodinný elektromobil by mohol ľahko stáť 25 000 libier. Podobne zlepšenie energetickej účinnosti nehnuteľnosti pomocou tepelných čerpadiel alebo solárnych panelov môže byť často spojené s päťcifernou cenou (hoci s potenciálne dlhodobými ziskami). Tu sa Telegraph Money bližšie pozrie na to, čo zahŕňa prijatie vládnych iniciatív netto zero a koľko vás môžu stáť. (Esther Shaw, The Telegraph)

Je dobré mať na pamäti svoju uhlíkovú stopu. Je však tiež dôležité si uvedomiť, že samotná myšlienka individuálnej „uhlíkovej stopy“ bola vynájdená BP, masívnou ropnou spoločnosťou. Existuje slávna karikatúra z roku 2016 od Matta Borsa, ktorá sa odvtedy stala memom, v ktorej stredoveký roľník hovorí: „Mali by sme trochu zlepšiť spoločnosť.“ Samoľúby muž, ktorý sa snaží chytiť roľníka pri pokrytectve, odpovedá: „A predsa sa zúčastňuješ spoločnosti! Zvedavý!“ Pokiaľ ide o klimatické zmeny, príliš veľa z nás si osvojilo samoľúby. Možno si zatiaľ nemôžeme dovoliť kúpiť elektromobil alebo tepelné čerpadlo. Možno sa len nedokážeme prinútiť prestať jesť mäso alebo prestať cestovať na dlhé vzdialenosti. Možno sme niekedy leniví ohľadom recyklácie. Môžeme sa obávať zmeny klímy a chceme niečo zmeniť. Ale po rokoch, keď sme boli oklamaní našimi „uhlíkovými stopami“, môžeme mať pocit, že sme príliš beznádejne kompromitovaní na to, aby sme urobili niečo dobré. Som tu, aby som ti povedal, aby si na seba nebol príliš tvrdý. Áno, zameranie sa na jednotlivé uhlíkové stopy odvádza pozornosť od potreby vykonať zásadné zmeny tam, kde to môže mať najväčší vplyv: na úrovni podnikov a vlád. Nadpolovičná väčšina ľudí v tejto krajine chce opatrenia v oblasti zmeny klímy, ale príliš veľa z nás sa o to bojí požiadať. „Uhlíková stopa spotrebiteľov spôsobuje, že ľudia sú takí úzkostliví a vinní, že majú pocit, že nemajú právo vyjadriť, čo si myslia, pretože si myslia, že sú priamo zodpovední za zmenu klímy,“ Miranda Massie, zakladateľka Climate Museum v New Yorku, ktorá sa snaží ľudí inšpirovať k individuálnemu konaniu, uviedla v rozhovore. „To bol majstrovský ťah kresleného darebáctva.“ Tim McDonnell zo Semaforu nedávno poznamenal, že zmena správania spotrebiteľov má potenciál ukrojiť 5 % z globálnych emisií. Zverejnil tabuľku založenú na výskume Diany Ivano vej z Leeds University a ďalších, ktorá ukazuje, do akej miery môžu voľby individuálnej spotreby ušetriť uhlík. Pomocou jej údajov som vytvoril podobnú vlastnú: Osoba, ktorá odovzdá svoje plynové SUV repo-manovi; prestane jesť zvieratá a mliečne výrobky; vzdá sa ročnej dovolenky v Grécku; inštaluje tepelné čerpadlo a solárne panely; a pošle svojho psa preč na peknú farmu v severnej časti štátu, kde môže behať a hrať sa, čím ušetrí až šesť ton oxidu uhličitého ročne. (Mark Gongloff, Pittsburg Post-Gasette)

Facts are a key element of informed decision-making. And not just any facts, the best facts that are most connected to reality are needed to make the best decision. One more thing: "alternative" facts only exist in alternate universes, so use them at your intergalactic peril. Verra, "the world's leading carbon standard for the fast-growing $2 billion voluntary [carbon] offset market," appears to have been doing this for years, The Guardian reported on January 18. According to the paper, the research found that "the more than 90 % (rainforest) offset credits wrapped by Verra and bought by green-lovers like Shell, Disney and Gucci "are likely to be 'phantom credits' and do not represent real carbon reductions." Specifically, this means that the "94 % credits" that Verra sold to "internationally renowned companies" had "no climate benefit" at all. Furthermore, The Guardian continued: “The threat to forests was overestimated by about 400 % for the Verra projects. Big Biz was not alone. Even angst-ridden grunge bands jumped on the CO2 bandwagon: Pearl Jam was among the "…organizations that bought Verra-endorsed rainforest offerings." The findings hit experts like Barbara Haya, director of the Berkeley Carbon Trading Project, like a hammer. After all, The Guardian reported, Haya "has been researching carbon credits for 20 years in the hope of finding a way to make the system work." "The implications of this analysis are huge," she told the paper. "Companies use credits to claim emissions reductions, when most of these credits do not represent emissions reductions at all." Huge, sure, but they mirror what others have found whenever forest carbon offsets are explored as a means of clearing the conscience of corporate CO2 creators. For example, when a ProPublica reporter dug into forest CO2 offsets four years ago, she found—spoiler alert—the same sorry results that The Guardian found earlier this year. (Alan Guebert, Farm and dairy)

Keeping tree diversity intact in many Canadian forests over the long term can help increase carbon sequestration and mitigate climate change, according to a new University of Alberta study. A study published in Nature is the first of its kind to show the sustained benefits of tree diversity at a large spatial scale for soil carbon and nitrogen storage. It reinforces the importance of protecting biodiversity in forests, says Xinli Chen, lead author of the paper and a postdoctoral fellow in the Faculty of Agricultural, Biological and Environmental Sciences. "Preserving tree diversity is a valuable tool in mitigating climate change, especially in increasing soil carbon storage," he says. Although it has already been established that increased carbon and nitrogen storage in soil can help mitigate the effects of climate change and maintain soil fertility, stocks of both elements have been substantially depleted globally due to factors such as forest fires, deforestation and land-use change, he noted. Maintaining and promoting tree diversity in forests can help increase soil carbon and nitrogen levels. The researchers analyzed the Canadian National Forest Inventory database and used statistical modeling to provide new evidence for a link between greater tree diversity and higher soil carbon and nitrogen accumulation in natural forest ecosystems at decadal timescales, meaning timescales of more than 10 years or longer. The work, carried out in collaboration with scientists from Canada, Japan and the United States, confirms the collective findings of previous experiments. Specifically, the research showed that over the long term, equalizing the number of tree species in natural forests would increase carbon and nitrogen in the organic soil layer by 30 and 43 percent, respectively. (Bev Betkowski, University of Alberta, PhysOrg)

New York je prvým štátom v krajine, ktorý zakázal zemný plyn a iné fosílne palivá vo väčšine nových budov – veľká výhra pre zástancov klímy, ale krok, ktorý by mohol vyvolať potlačenie záujmov fosílnych palív. Guvernérka Kathy Hochul a demokratickí zákonodarcovia, ktorí kontrolujú newyorský Senát a zhromaždenie, čelia rastúcemu tlaku zo strany ekologických zástancov a voličov zameraných na klímu, ktorí v utorok neskoro večer schválili nový štátny rozpočet vo výške 229 miliárd dolárov obsahujúci ustanovenie. Zákon zakazuje plynové sporáky, pece a vykurovanie propánom a účinne podporuje používanie zariadení šetrných k životnému prostrediu, ako sú tepelné čerpadlá a indukčné kachle vo väčšine nových obytných budov v celom štáte. Vyžaduje si to plne elektrické vykurovanie a varenie v nových budovách kratších ako sedem poschodí do roku 2026 a pre vyššie budovy do roku 2029. Štátny rozpočet nezakazuje plyn vo všetkých nových budovách – existujú výnimky pre veľké komerčné a priemyselné budovy, ako sú napríklad obchody, nemocnice, práčovne a reštaurácie. Ale vplyv na nové obytné budovy by mohol byť významný. Podľa správy z roku 2022 budovy tvoria 32 % emisií otepľujúcich planétu v štáte New York. Metán, hlavná zložka zemného plynu používaného na palivo pre kachle a vykurovanie domácností, má v prvých dvoch desaťročiach viac ako 80-krát väčšiu otepľovaciu silu ako oxid uhličitý v prvých dvoch desaťročiach, keď je v atmosfére. Z tohto dôvodu sa vedci zúžili na fosílne palivá ako na spôsob, ako rýchlo znížiť znečistenie otepľujúce planétu. Niekoľko štúdií tiež zistilo, že plynové sporáky sú zodpovedné za ťažké zdravotné stavy vrátane astmy. Schválenie zákona prichádza po tom, čo komentáre federálneho úradníka k plynovým sporákom vyvolali kontroverziu začiatkom tohto roka. Richard Trumka Jr., americký komisár pre bezpečnosť spotrebných výrobkov, spustil búrku, keď v januári povedal, že plynové sporáky sú významným zdrojom vnútorného znečistenia spojeného s detskou astmou, a navrhol, že agentúra by mohla pracovať na ich zákaze v nových domácnostiach. Trumka neskôr svoje vyhlásenie objasnil a povedal, že agentúra „neplánuje vchádzať do niečích domovov a odnášať veci, ktoré tam už sú“. (Rachel Ramirez a Ella Nilsen, CNN)