There is a song playing in my head as I write this – Edwin Star’s 1970 release ‘War’. The Chorus is on repeat in my mind:
War. huh.
What is it good for?
Absolutely nothing, say it again.
I want to make sure that we are all absolutely clear about the impact war has on our planet, about how war accelerates climate change, and about how war prevents us from taking action by diverting resources. War—covert and otherwise—hastens the destruction of the planet. Some facts:
- Estimates of global military emissions suggest it makes up to 5.5% of total global emissions, more than double that of the civil aviation sector.
- Compared to country emissions, the global military would rank as the fourth biggest polluter, with total emissions bigger than that of Russia.
- The biggest greenhouse gas emitters – today and historically – are also the biggest military spenders. This is not an accident but is integral to the way fossil fuel development and expansion has always been tied to military expansion.
- In 2022, the US military reported that it generated an estimated 48 million metric tonnes of CO2.
- Military spending is continually prioritized over climate action spending. In 2022, global military spending reached $2208 billion (yep that’s more than 2 trillion). That figure is just shy of the $2400 Billion needed for all the UN Climate Convention financing (mitigation, adaptation, and loss and damage), and so much more that what has actually been committed.
- The U.S., the largest historic emitter of planet-heating emissions, offered a mere $17 million to the Loss and Damage Fund. Meanwhile, U.S. fossil fuel industry subsidies surged to $7 trillion in 2022. U.S. military aid to Israel and Ukraine climbed into the billions this fall as well.
- The planet-warming emissions generated during the first two months of the war on Gaza were greater than the annual carbon footprint of more than 20 of the world’s most climate-vulnerable nations, new research reveals. Almost half of those emissions come from U.S. cargo planes flying military supplies to Israel.
- The environmental situation in Gaza is now catastrophic, as much of the farmland, energy and water infrastructure has been destroyed or polluted, with devastating health implications probably for decades to come, experts have warned.
I have a poster in my kitchen that says “War is not healthy for children and other living things.” Indeed. Life on this planet as we know it, is being threatened by the military industrial complex – the emissions, the destruction, the displacement of millions and the political influence it holds. It is time for all of us climate change champions and climate justice advocates to demand a stop to the war machine, while we still can and before it is too late.
Demand a ceasefire now.
Demand the redistribution of public resources and a just green transition. We the people of the world have the solutions. We just need conflict free zones and the resources to repair and implement, ensuring a just and abundant world for all.
Susan Phillips
Executive Director
The post Wars are in the way of Climate Justice appeared first on Climate Generation.
The odds of a new global temperature record being set within the next five years have increased further, as the return of the El Niño weather pattern could make 2027 the hottest year ever, the UN’s weather agency has warned.
The World Meteorological Organization (WMO)’s annual update predicts an 86% chance that at least one year between 2026 and 2030 will surpass 2024 as the warmest year on record – up from 80% in last year’s forecast.
Global average temperatures reached 1.55C above pre-industrial levels in 2024, when the last El Niño event supercharged human-made warming primarily caused by the greenhouse gas emissions generated through burning fossil fuels.
El Niño to supercharge heat in 2027
Meteorologists expect El Niño – the natural climate phenomenon characterised by unusually warm sea-surface temperatures in the eastern Pacific Ocean – to start developing as early as this month. Some forecasters say that this time around the event could become particularly powerful.
Leon Hermanson, the lead author of the WMO report, said the prediction of El Niño for the second half of 2026 “increases the chances of the following year, 2027, being the next record-breaking year”.
Researchers warn that a strong El Niño risks supercharging extreme weather conditions, contributing to more severe wildfires and droughts in some regions and storms and floods in others.
Scientists warn El Niño could intensify climate extremes in 2026
The UN agency says there is a 91% chance that the key 1.5C warming threshold will be temporarily exceeded again for at least one year between 2026 and 2030. An overshoot in a single year does not mean that the most ambitious global warming goal enshrined in the Paris Agreement has been lost. But the UN conceded last year that a “multi-decadal” breach is very likely to happen within the next decade.
‘Astonishing’ early heatwave in Europe
Western Europe has already been gripped by an early-season heatwave this month, with countries including the UK, France and Ireland recording their hottest May temperatures ever.
“Temperatures on this scale were once exceptional even at the height of summer,” said Friederike Otto, professor of climate science at Imperial College London. “Seeing 35C in the UK during spring is absolutely astonishing, but the science is very clear – climate change makes these heatwaves hotter, longer, and far more frequent”.
She added that “temperature records will continue to tumble until we fundamentally halt global emissions and reach net zero”.
In India, extreme heat in recent weeks has also threatened mango and other crops and pushed up power demand to an all-time high as people switch on air-conditioning, while pilgrims in Mecca have conducted their rituals during the annual Hajj pilgrimage in scorching temperatures.
The post El Niño expected to bring next record-hot year as soon as 2027 appeared first on Climate Home News.
El Niño expected to bring next record-hot year as soon as 2027
Climate Change
Pennsylvania’s Governor Has a Plan to Make Data Centers Bring Their Own Energy. Now Comes the Hard Part.
Making AI data centers cover the costs of their energy use requires help from legislators and others beyond Gov. Josh Shapiro’s reach.
For months, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro promised a plan to blunt fast-rising energy costs in the state by pushing power-hungry AI data centers to pay their own way. Now his office has formally released details on how he intends to turn BYOE—“bring your own energy”—into more than just a slogan.
Bo French prevailed over incumbent Jim Wright after a primary campaign focused more on Islamophobia and deportations than oil and gas regulation.
Bo French has won the Republican nomination to help run a little-known but influential regulatory office in Texas that oversees the state’s oil and gas industry.
Hardline Conservative Wins Republican Primary for Texas Oil and Gas Regulator
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