1.5C challenge looms View Online [[link removed]] | Subscribe now [[link removed]]Powered byKnow better. Do better.Climate. Change.News from the ground, in a warming world

By Megan Rowling [[link removed]] | Acting Climate Editor

Hot earth

This year's sweltering, fire-ridden summer in the northern hemisphere hasn't allowed for much calm on the climate news front before the diplomatic storm kicks off again in September, starting with the Africa Climate Summit in Nairobi and the U.N. chief's Climate Ambition Summit in New York.

We'll also get a technical paper from the U.N. climate secretariat outlining how governments are doing so far on their promises and plans to cut climate-heating emissions under the Paris Agreement. The expected verdict is: could do (far) better.

As with the last two COP climate summits, this year's COP28 in Dubai will be given the unenviable - and increasingly difficult - task of keeping alive the Paris Agreement's 1.5C global warming limit.

A woman drinks water from a mug on a hot summer day in New Delhi, India June 9, 2023. REUTERS/Anushree Fadnavis

The World Meteorological Organization has said we're likely to pop up above it for a full year in the next four to five years, with the current El Nino pushing global temperatures higher too. That wouldn't, the agency says, mean the Paris goal has been lost since it refers to warming staying at 1.5C for longer (we don't know how long exactly).

Still, as Alister Doyle reveals, for close to 3 billion people on the ground, the 1.5C discussion may be redundant [[link removed]] in practice because they are experiencing local warming of that level or higher now.

"Many people are living in areas that have already warmed more than 1.5C, and ... the main reason for this is that the land warms faster than the oceans," explains Robert Rohde, chief scientist at Berkeley Earth.

That's making life pretty uncomfortable, especially across large swathes of Europe and Asia - as you can see from the map below - although those living in coastal cities get at least some relief from cooling sea breezes.

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Saline soils

Along the southern coast of Bangladesh, however, times are tough for local farmers threatened by the impacts of climate change, our reporter Md. Tahmid Zami found.

They are striving to boost their resilience to rising salinity in the soil and water by growing salt-tolerant crops and turning to innovative agriculture techniques. Many also rely on livestock - mainly cows and goats - for income and food. Yet concerns are growing about how those animals will cope with worsening salinity, rising temperatures and dwindling water.

The answer may lie partly with hardier sheep and a farming technique called "sorjan" [[link removed]] - which involves planting vegetables on elevated ridges around an area that stores rainwater for the dry season.

Bangladesh, well-respected among climate researchers for its prowess in community-level adaptation, is also stepping up efforts to cope with worsening floods [[link removed]], as Tahmid outlines in this explainer drawing on a new study from the LSE's Grantham Research Institute and the UK-based Centre for Climate Change Economics and Policy.

A shepherd brings a flock of sheep owned by Josna Ray, a farmer from Dacope, Khulna, Bangladesh, August 16, 2023, Thomson Reuters Foundation/Md. Tahmid Zami

Fossil fuel funding

Another September moment that could make a difference to the pace of global warming is the G20 leaders’ summit in Delhi - though ministers' meetings have so far yielded decidedly tepid outcomes on climate action and energy transition.

Back in 2009, the G20 pledged to phase out "inefficient" fossil fuel subsidies [[link removed]] - and yet a new report last week showed that has been an abject failure so far, with government financial support for dirty energy rising to a record $1.4 trillion in 2022 in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Researchers say G20 nations should define what they mean by "inefficient" subsidies - and then set a date for ending their backing for coal, oil and gas (the G7 says it will do so by 2025). G20 host India has made quite good progress on this in recent years - and so could encourage others to get on board, reports Bhasker Tripathi.

I, for one, don’t count maths among my strengths - but surely anyone can see that governments pumping trillions into fossil fuels isn't going to help citizens already feeling the heat from warming of 1.5C or more.

See you next week,

Megan

This week's top picks 100 days to COP28: Can it deliver climate action? [[link removed]]

Concerns grow that the summit, hosted by a fossil fuel nation, may fall short for the communities worst-hit by climate devastation

'Global boiling': Billions already suffer in heat over 1.5C limit [[link removed]]

Many people live with temperatures above the Paris Agreement's ceiling for global warming as land heats faster than the oceans

Hawaii wildfires expose need for resilience in a polycrisis world [[link removed]]

Disasters like the Lahaina fire are a wake-up call revealing how unprepared we are to face simultaneous threats in a warming world

How fossil fuel subsidies are hurting the energy transition [[link removed]]

After agreeing in 2009 to phase out dirty energy subsidies, G20 nations pumped $1.4 trillion into supporting fossil fuel use in 2022

Bangladesh confronts growing threat of warming-driven floods [[link removed]]

Heavier rainfall and melting glaciers bring deadly floods from the north to the south, raising the need for protection

First crops, now animals: Climate change hurts Bangladesh farmers [[link removed]]

Bangladeshi farmers are adapting to deal with worsening salinity and climate change, yet fears are growing for their livestock

Loss and damage fund must deliver climate justice to communities [[link removed]]

Those suffering the worst from climate change need a say in how a new fund to help them is run – and direct access to its resources

Read all of our coverage here [[link removed]] Editor's pick What are the environmental costs of AI? [[link removed]]

Artificial intelligence uses a lot of energy and water, posing climate concerns for tech giants like Google and Microsoft

[[link removed]]Discover more Nature [[link removed]] Climate Risks [[link removed]] Net Zero [[link removed]] Just Transition [[link removed]] Climate Justice [[link removed]] Green Cities [[link removed]] Thank you for reading!

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