Green Corridors, Electric Muscle Cars, and Biodiversity Loss
The harm cars cause goes well beyond emissions, a new study finds.
New pollution-disclosure rules have been tempered by the SEC (they were originally pretty stern, now they no longer include Scope 3 emissions—though businesses are still threatening to sue over them).
The environmental costs of AI are soaring, but mostly in private (on that note).
America is using a lot more power than it did even a few years ago (due in large part to the deployment of more manufacturing capacity, data centers, and artificial intelligence-related infrastructure:
Sea levels are rising, but cities are also sinking (which is causing different sorts of problems, alongside all the new flooding).
How a Colombian city cooled dramatically in just three years (tldr: lots of nice looking green corridors).
Microplastics are showing up in every part of the human body we test (all the ecosystems we inhabit, too).
Mega-fires are raging through the Amazon Rainforest (due to extreme drought in the usually wet region):
Climate-conscious travelers are jumpstarting Europe’s sleeper trains (more of these please!).
The US just had its hottest winter on record.
The Chevy Blazer EV is returning to market (after it was pulled for all sorts of issues), and at a lower price point (though still not cheap).
Nissan’s dropping app support for its original Leaf EV (which includes things like keyfob functions and being able to remotely control the car’s temperature…which seems like not a great choice by the company and its reputation?).
EV tech’s getting wild in China, where competition is fierce:
In China, electric vehicles with built-in fridges and even in-car karaoke systems are considered passé. Instead, carmakers are turning to increasingly novel add-ons from beds to cooktops to boost sluggish sales.
Top EV makers are facing a slowdown in demand at home as consumers curb spending, just as geopolitical tensions with major Western economies cloud the outlook for exports. Meanwhile for smaller players, the ability to think creatively is core to their survival, with the cut-throat industry bracing for a likely wave of consolidation as China looks to rein in the excesses left behind by years of generous subsidies.
EV taxes are popping up in conservative US states, less so in more liberal ones.
Another electric muscle car hits the market: the Dodge Charger Daytona EV.
For all its failings, Tesla is kind of carrying the US EV market (in terms of sales, but also infrastructure like chargers).
A piece on “last-chance tourism,” which is sad but likely to become more common as natural things we took for granted change and disappear.
The Netherlands generated more of its electricity from solar than any other European country in 2023:
Uber has launched an “emissions savings” feature to help users make greener choices.
Winter-proof cells for batteries are a thing, and Korean car companies are deploying them to ease customer concerns about battery depletion in the cold (which can be substantial).
Restored coral reefs can grow as fast as healthy reefs (good news!).
BYD has been killing it in China, but less so (so far, at least) in other markets it’s entered.
China’s tech giant Xiaomi is getting in on the action, too, though, introducing its own line of EVs:
In Germany, Burger King has lowered the price on its plant-based offerings just enough so they’re cheaper than their meat products (a symbolic gesture, but possibly a meaningful one).
And Russia’s invasion of Ukraine will reportedly cause a lot of biodiversity loss, globally, because Ukraine is a breadbasket country (it usually produces a lot of food the world consumes), and because they’re not able to grow and export as many crops while being invaded, and that’ll require other countries convert their non-agricultural land into agricultural land to fill the gap, reducing biodiversity as a consequence: