📝 35th Annual State of the Climate Report Released

🎯 EU Nearly on Track to Meet Climate Target by 2030

The European Union is currently on track to be just shy of its main climate target for 2030, which is to reduce its net greenhouse gas emissions by 55%. The EU expects to be within one percentage point of the legally-binding goal by the end of the decade. Between 1990 and 2023, the EU had reduced its emissions by 37%, while the economy had grown nearly 70%. They cited strong progress in the energy sector, with renewable sources comprising 24% of EU energy as of 2023. Agriculture and transportation are among the sectors lagging behind in the reduction of GHGs. They plan to propose a 2040 climate target, but the proposal has been delayed by months due to political pushback.

Kate Abnett, Reuters

🌳 Humans are Losing Touch with Nature

A recent study by a professor at the University of Derby found that people’s connection to nature has declined by more than 60% since 1800, almost exactly mirroring the disappearance of nature words such as river, moss, and blossom from books. The professor says that nature connectedness is now accepted as the key root cause of the current environmental crisis we face. Computer modeling predicts that levels of nature connectedness will continue to decline unless there are far-reaching policy changes and societal changes, starting with introducing children to nature at a young age. The study suggests that cities may need to be 10 times greener to reverse declines in nature connection. One study found that people spent on average just four minutes and 36 seconds in natural spaces each day. Spending more time in nature is vitally important to our mental health, it unites people, and brings more awareness to the natural crises in the world.

Patrick Barkham, The Guardian

📝 35th Annual State of the Climate Report Released

On Thursday, the 35th annual State of the Climate report was released. It is an international review of the world’s climate based on contributions from 589 scientists in 58 countries. Notable findings from the report include the following: Earth’s greenhouse gas concentrations were the highest ever on record in 2024. A new annual global surface temperature record was set for the second year in a row. The water cycle continued to intensify, with water evaporation from land reaching one of the highest annual values ever on record. El Nino contributed to record-high sea surface temperatures. Ocean heat and global sea level were the highest on record. The Arctic saw near-record warmth. Antarctica saw continued low sea ice following record lows in 2023. For the second consecutive year, all 58 global reference glaciers across five continents lost mass, resulting in the greatest average ice loss ever. Tropical cyclone activity was below average, but storms still set records around the globe.

American Meteorological Society