☔️ AccuWeather Rainfall Climate Analysis

🔥 Wildfire Smoke Could Kill 1.4 Million Per Year By 2100

Two new studies were recently published on the impacts of wildfire smoke inhalation. One study suggests that wildfire smoke is expected to kill as many as 1.4 million people each year by the end of the century if planet-heating emissions are not curbed. A second study found a similar spike in wildfire smoke deaths, suggesting more than 70,000 people in the United States alone are expected to pass by 2050 at the current rate of warming. Breathing in smoke from burning forests is thought to be about 10 times more toxic than inhaling other air pollution given off by the burning of fossil fuels, with scientists recently warning the impact of this pollution has been severely underestimated in terms of its impact upon our health. The climate crisis is the driving force behind the trend of larger, fiercer fires. More warming and higher fuel aridity means that the vegetation gets drier, therefore leading to higher wildfire risks.

Oliver Milman, The Guardian

☔️ AccuWeather Rainfall Climate Analysis

A new climate analysis from AccuWeather revealed that flooding events in the United States are significantly increasing despite no apparent change in annual precipitation amounts. In their analysis of 60 years of data, they found that heavier downpours are rising, with the number of days with 1 inch or more of rain up approximately 9% since 1965. The study also found that the number of extreme precipitation events has doubled, and daily 4-inch rain events have increased about 70% since 1965. The number of hours per year with 1 inch or more of rain have nearly tripled since 1985. These increases have the potential to impact numerous industries, including the potential for future crop delays, pest surges and lower yields in agriculture. For infrastructure, storm drains, culverts and roads built for 20th-century averages will become increasingly overwhelmed. Heavier rainfall episodes are contributing to billion-dollar disasters, insurance losses and public health risks.

AccuWeather

🇨🇳 China Announces New Climate Goals

China, the world’s largest carbon-producing nation, recently announced new climate goals to cut emissions. At the United Nations’ high-level climate summit, more than 100 world leaders of nations that are responsible for about two-thirds of world’s emissions gathered to talk about the increased urgency and the need for stronger efforts to curb the amount of heat-trapping gases. Chinese president Xi Jinping announced China would aim to cut emissions by 7% to 10% by 2035. China currently produces more than 31% of the world’s carbon dioxide emissions. President Xi pledged that China would increase its wind and solar power sixfold from 2020 levels, make pollution-free vehicles mainstream and “basically establish a climate adaptive society.”

Seth Borenstein and Melina Walling, Associated Press