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Every Mississippi Beach Is Closed Due to Toxic Algae

EcoWatch – Algae Blooms

Every Mississippi Beach Is Closed Due to Toxic Algae

By Jordan Davidson July 8, 2019

CrackerClips / iStock / Getty Images Plus

If you’re looking to cool off in the waters of Mississippi’s Gulf Coast, think again.

A toxic algal bloom has made the waters dangerous to humans and their pets. The Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality has shut down swimming at all of its beaches due to a blue-green harmful algal bloom, according to CNN.

Toxic algae are dangerous to touch and poisonous when swallowed. It can cause rashes, stomach cramps, nausea, diarrhea and vomiting, the state agency warned.

While the sand on the beaches is still open, the state’s DEQ said beachgoers should avoid water contact or consumption of anything from the waters “until further notice,” as CNN reported. The agency also advised anyone exposed to the water to wash with soap and water and to not eat fish or any other seafood taken from affected areas.

The blooms are not technically algae, but cyanobacteria — aquatic and photosynthetic bacteria. Many things, including changes in water temperature and fertilizer run-off, can trigger its bloom. Once the conditions are right for the cyanobacteria to spawn rapidly, they produce harmful toxins, as The Week reported.

“I had a feeling it was going this way. Water always flows west to east,” Pascagoula resident Bill Kenan told Biloxi ABC affiliate WLOX. “It just keeps going and going and going. I don’t know if it’s ever going to get better. I hope it does.”

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said that the climate crisis and increases in nutrient levels of bodies of water due to fertilizer run-off are potentially causing harmful algal blooms to occur more often and in areas not previously affected, ABC News reported. Warmer waters with a marked increase in surface temperature or a change in sea currents are particularly susceptible to the bloom. A harmful algal bloom can look like foam, scum or mats on the surface of water and can be different colors, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

This bloom was triggered in part by the opening of the Bonnet Carre spillway in Louisiana, which introduced an excessive amount of freshwater to the coastline, according to the Jackson Clarion-Ledger.

The spillway was opened to offset a rising Mississippi River that experienced massive swelling after an especially wet winter that caused flooding in along the river’s coastlines.

The spillway is expected to close mid-July after the river’s waters recede. Experts believe its closure will prompt the algae bloom to dissipate. “Once they close the structure, conditions will start to change pretty quickly,” said John Lopez, of Lake Pontchartrain Basin Foundation, a conservation organization that monitors water conditions throughout the Gulf Coast region, as reported by CBS New Orleans.

That prognosis will offer little relief to residents and tourists along the Mississippi Gulf Coast where temperatures will hover in the mid-90’s all week.

The President’s Latest Rant About Wildfires Is Mind-Numbingly Stupid

Esquire

The President’s Latest Rant About Wildfires Is Mind-Numbingly Stupid

What an embarrassing end for our species.

By Jack Holmes July 9, 2019

GETTY IMAGES

It’s important to remember that, as the climate crisis deepens and we begin to feel some of its most disastrous effects—more powerful storms, raging wildfires, massive floods, searing drought—we’ve seen fit to elect as president a guy who knows nothing about anything and cares less. Donald Trump, American president, has a primal sense of what motivates people, of how to identify their weaknesses, and of how the media functions. But he knows absolutely nothing about any actual field of study, and he is not by any account a “reader.” His operating principle is to start with a conclusion about the world, then find a way to justify it. If that means repeating some nonsense over and over again until enough people believe it, then so be it.

Exhibit Z came to us yesterday in an appearance at the White House, when the world’s most powerful man got going about wildfires. “You don’t have to have any forest fires,” you see, but nobody knew about forest management before he came along and told them, you know, and forest management means “cleaning” the forests, which are dirty, unlike in other countries—”forest nations”—where they do the forest management and they don’t have the wildfires. Not like California, anyway, whose governor he talked to and told about the forest management, which the governor had never heard of about a year ago, and then he mocked the idea, but now he agrees with President Smokey. Also, many tremendous things are happening and a lot of people are looking at it.

This is so unbelievably dumb and insane, and it is a measure of how much we’ve lost touch with reality as a nation that we scarcely even comment on it anymore. The president is ranting about cleaning the forests and how there could be zero wildfires, as if wildfires are not a natural part of forest ecosystems that have spun out of control, perhaps because the human race has thrown things off-balance by pumping carbon dioxide into the atmosphere for more than a century.

More to the point, the president did not somehow invent forest management. It has its own page on the U.S. Forest Service website. He just made this up and kept saying it, and will keep saying it until he thinks people believe it. (Meanwhile, the “forest nation” whose leader he referenced talking to is likely Finland, whose citizens roundly mocked the president last time he trotted this out.) As a true bullshitter, he convinces himself it’s all true along the way.

This is, after all, a guy who just got caught retweeting a meme featuring a fake quote Ronald Reagan supposedly (read: never) said about him. You’d think you would be able to remember whether or not a former president said something about you, but observable reality is not at all relevant to Donald Trump. Will people believe it? Will it make them like me, and think I’m smart and strong? Say it.

The first African woman to receive the Nobel prize.

Brut Nature

May 22, 2019

She was theC. Here is the extraordinary story of Wangari Maathai, one of the world’s most important ecologist.

Portrait of Wangari Maathai

She was the first African woman to receive the Nobel prize. Here is the extraordinary story of Wangari Maathai, one of the world's most important ecologist.

Posted by Brut nature on Wednesday, May 22, 2019

Algae blooms. Iguanas headed north. That’s climate change.

Tampa Bay Times – Editorial

Algae blooms. Iguanas headed north. That’s climate change. | Editorial

Alarm bells that a warming climate is impacting the Sunshine State.

July 5, 2019

An aerial photo shows blue-green algae enveloping an area along the St. Lucie River in 2016. Algae has been spotted in Gulfport and Treasure Island in recent weeks. Associated Press (2016).

It’s been a tough week for anyone who cares about Florida’s environment and the effects of climate change. First, we learned that blue-green algae is infecting waterways in Treasure Island and Gulfport. There’s no way to know exactly what caused the most recent outbreak of the foul smelling ooze, but it’s a good bet we brought this on ourselves, or at least helped make it worse. Whether it’s leaky septic tanks, runoff from our lawns or too much farm waste flowing into waterways, we’ve created conditions ripe for algae to take hold. And don’t forget that a 2014 Climate Assessment Report predicted more blooms in Florida as the globe warms.

In recent years, massive algae blooms contaminated the St. Lucie and Caloosahatchee rivers, which flow from they highly polluted Lake Okeechobee. The algae choked ecosystems and killed fish and other marine life. Fishing guides, retailers and other businesses that rely on the rivers lost money. Aerial images of the bright green menace were beamed around the world, hardly the best advertisement for a state that relies heavily on tourism.

Algae blooms can happen naturally, without human help. But there’s growing evidence that we are providing fuel for more blooms that grow larger and stick around longer. We shouldn’t think of that as a new normal, another reality of living in Florida that we can’t do anything about. We can and we should. Gov. Ron DeSantis took a good first step recently by creating the Blue-Green Algae Task Force. But it can’t be window dressing. The task force needs to come up with practical solutions. This is not the time for partisan bickering.

This week we also learned how roseate spoonbills have adapted to the changing climate by migrating away from South Florida and into central and north Florida, Georgia and South Carolina. While the spoonbills have so-far thrived, the same article reiterated that 40 percent of the Earth’s 10,000 bird species are in decline, thanks in large part to human interference.

A separate report came out about how green iguanas have moved further north in Florida thanks to a warming planet. The invasive species already plague several south Florida counties. Their digging causes erosion and undermines water control projects including canals and sea walls. Green iguanas are such a scourge that the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission encourages homeowners to kill any that wander onto their property.

Finally, an analysis of satellite imagery showed that sprawling mats of sargassum seaweed floating in the Atlantic are much more prevalent than before 2011. Reports of sargassum-clogged oceans date back to at least Christopher Columbus, but something has changed in recent years, the researchers concluded. They correlated the sargassum explosion to an increase in fertilizer used on farms that continue to replace the Amazon rainforest. Florida’s beach communities should expect more of the seaweed, which stinks as it decays, they said.

Too many of Florida’s leaders have been slow to react to climate change and the assault on the state’s environment. Too many denied anything was happening before moving onto the equally absurd notion that humans have little or no influence on the changes. That’s dangerous thinking, and fortunately it seems to be on the decline in Tallahassee. The state must be cleared-eyed about the environmental realities. This week’s news highlights why.

Four Florida beaches post health warnings for water quality

Tampa Bay Times – The Buzz

Four Florida beaches post health warnings for water quality

None are in Tampa Bay, however beaches in Hernando and Pasco tested for elevated levels of bacteria that could pose risks if the water quality continues to decline.

By Mary Ellen Klas July 3, 2019

Sign at the entrance to Robert J. Strickland Memorial Park in Hudson. It’s better known as Hudson Beach Park. [CAROLYN EDDS | Times]

TALLAHASSEE — On one of the busiest beach weekends of the year in Florida, the state Department of Health warns that four Florida beaches — including three in Sarasota County — pose health hazards for beach goers because of high fecal levels.

“Water at this site may pose increased risk of infectious disease particularly for susceptible individuals,’’ the agency warns in a nondescript notice on its Healthy Beaches web site, which lists water test results for the sites the state tests.

Although the agency lists only one beach as receiving a health advisory, a review of the water sample reports by the Times/Herald found that four health advisories have been issued: one at the Panama City Beach Access in Bay County and three others in Sarasota County: Brohard Park, Lido Casino Beach and Venice Beach.

The warnings come a year after toxic algal blooms closed beaches across the state during the Fourth of July weekend and beyond. So, if there is any good news to the warnings this year, state regulators reported on Wednesday that “there are currently no known algal blooms affecting Florida beaches.”

But at the four beaches in which advisories have been issued, contamination from flesh-eating bacteria is now a new concern. In the last month, two cases of life-threatening infections have been reported from Florida waters .

A 77-year-old woman from Ellenton fell and scraped her leg while walking on Anna Maria Island and died two weeks later because of an infection from a flesh-eating bacteria. The report came just weeks after the mother of a 12-year-old Indiana girl wrote on Facebook that she believes her daughter contracted the same infection during a trip to Destin in early June.

Both are believed to have suffered from “necrotizing fasciitis,” an infection caused by bacteria that stops blood circulation and causes tissue to die and skin to decay. The infection, although rare, can come from different strains of bacteria found in the water and on sand, health officials say.

It is called “flesh-eating” because the infection progresses rapidly. In April, two men reported cases of necrotizing fasciitis in Tampa Bay after spending time on the water.

When the Department of Health issues an advisory, it means that water samples have been tested and re-tested to confirm that the bacteria levels are dangerous and the water is too contaminated to enter.

“These indicate that contact with the water at this site may pose increased risk of infectious disease particularly for susceptible individuals,“ DOH said on its Healthy Beaches web site. State officials are warning people to stay away from swimming in these waters with a wound or cut, and to refrain from eating uncooked seafood.

The Department of Health samples the water in dozens of beaches in the state’s 26 coastal counties and relies on the public to check its web site to get the word out. The agency posts data “in real-time to the DOH Healthy Beaches webpage,” and posts advisory signs at the beach and sends out media alerts, said Brad Dalton, spokesperson for the Florida Department of Health.

According to the most recent water samples, 16 beaches in 11 counties — including in Miami-Dade and Broward counties — have elevated levels of bacteria that could pose risks if the water quality continues to decline.

In Miami-Dade, Dog Beach on the south side of Virginia Key Beach has tested as having “poor” or high levels of bacteria, with 70.5 parts per 100 ml of marine water on July 1. Oleta State Park also tested as having moderately elevated levels with between 35.5 to 70.4 per 100 ml.

In Broward, two beaches — Dania Beach and Commercial Boulevard Pier — tested for higher levels of bacteria. Monroe County hasn’t had its beaches tested since June 25, according to the Department of Health, and all received a good rating.

But new information won’t be updated until after the weekend, Dalton said.

“Lab tests take 24 hours to incubate after sampling and delivery time; thus the process takes two consecutive days to collect sample and get lab results, so it is unlikely any testing will be done over the holiday or on the weekend,’’ he said.

Beaches with high bacteria levels

Miami Dade — one poor, one moderate:

• Dog Beach (Virginia Key Beach, South side) tested as having poor levels of 70.5 per 100 ml of marine water on July 1.

• Oleta State Park tested as having moderately elevated levels – between 35.5 to 70.4 on July 1.

Broward — two moderate:

• Dania Beach — tested as having moderately elevated levels — between 35.5 to 70.4 on July 1.

• Commercial Boulevard Pier — tested as having moderately elevated levels — between 35.5 to 70.4 on June 17.

Bay — one health advisory:

• Panama City Beach Access — tested as having poor levels of 70.5 per 100 ml of marine water on June 24 and again on July 2. An advisory has been issued.

Collier — one moderate:

• Hideaway Beach — tested as having moderately elevated levels — between 35.5 to 70.4 on June 19.

Escambia — two moderate:

• Sanders Beach — tested as having moderately elevated levels — between 35.5 to 70.4 on July 1.

• Bayou Texar — tested as having moderately elevated levels — between 35.5 to 70.4 on June 24.

Flagler — one moderate:

• North Flagler Pier — tested as having moderately elevated levels — between 35.5 to 70.4 on June 18.

Franklin — one moderate;

• St. George Island at 11th St. — tested as having moderately elevated levels — between 35.5 to 70.4 on June 24.

Hernando — one moderate:

• Pine Island Beach — tested as having moderately elevated levels — between 35.5 to 70.4 on June 18.

Martin — one moderate:

• Jensen Beach — tested as having moderately elevated levels — between 35.5 to 70.4 on June 17.

Okaloosa — three moderate:

• Henderson Park Beach — tested as having moderately elevated levels — between 35.5 to 70.4 on June 24.

• Lincoln Park — tested as having moderately elevated levels — between 35.5 to 70.4 on June 24.

• Rocky Bayou State Park —tested as having moderately elevated levels — between 35.5 to 70.4 on June 24, an improvement over its poor test on June 10.

Pasco — one poor:

• Robert J. Strickland Beach — tested as having poor levels of 70.5 per 100 ml of marine water on June 24 and it was listed as moderate on July 1.

Sarasota — 3 beach advisories:

• Brohard Park — tested as having poor levels of 70.5 per 100 ml of marine water on July 1 and again on July 2, an advisory has been issued.

• Lido Casino Beach — tested as having poor levels of 70.5 per 100 ml of marine water on July 1 and again on July 2, an advisory has been issued.

• Venice Beach — Tested as having poor levels of 70.5 per 100 ml of marine water on July 1 and again on July 2, an advisory has been issued.

Wakulla — one moderate:

• Mash’s Island — tested as having moderately elevated levels — between 35.5 to 70.4 on June 24.

Mary Ellen Klas: Miami Herald Tallahassee bureau chief, co-bureau chief of Herald/Times bureau

Anchorage was 90 degrees on July 4. That’s not a typo

CNN

Anchorage was 90 degrees on July 4. That’s not a typo

By Monica Garrett and Susan Scutti, CNN July 5, 2019

daily weather forecast severe weather July 4th_00000000

The temperature at the airport was 90 degrees Thursday, besting June 14, 1969, for the highest mark ever recorded in the city, according to the National Weather Service.

More than a third of the US will reach 90 degrees on Independence Day

Across south Alaska, the mercury was expected to rise to record or near-record levels on the nation’s 243rd birthday and continue at above-average levels through next week, the National Weather Service reports.

Last month was the warmest June on record, with an average temperature of 60.5 degrees — 5.3 above average, according to the National Weather Service Anchorage, whose records for this location date to 1954 (66 total Junes). June marks the 16th consecutive month in which average temperatures ranged above normal.

“All 30 days in June had above average temperatures,” the service noted.

Meanwhile, a large upper-level high pressure system is building over Alaska and will draw warm air from the south and blow winds offshore — in the opposite direction of “sea breezes,” which bring cooler air from over the ocean to the land, the Weather Service predicts.

Alaska’s warming ocean is putting food and jobs at risk, scientists say

As the high pressure shifts out of southern Alaska, cooling sea breezes will return on Friday afternoon, allowing temperatures to drop slightly, at least along the coast. Over the weekend and into next week, thermometer readings are expected to fall in the region, even if temperatures remain above average.

June was the driest on record, with 0.06 inches of rain. (Normal monthly precipitation in June is 0.97 inches, so June received just 6% of its normal precipitation.) This ends a two-month streak with above-average precipitation, the weather service noted.

The state remains ripe for wildfires, spurring the Alaska State Fire Marshal’s Office to ban the sale and use of fireworks in certain areas, including Fairbanks North Star borough, the Kenai Peninsula Borough, the Matanuska-Susitna Borough and the Northern Panhandle.

Dozens of dead seals washed up on the coast of Alaska

Fires are a concern for Alaskans every year, but warm dry weather patterns caused heavy smoke and cloud from the Swan Lake Fire to affect the Anchorage area and Kenai Peninsula this week, according to the Alaska Interagency Coordination Center.

Smoke from the smoldering fire, which was started by lightning on June 5 in the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge, will continue to affect the peninsula into the weekend, the center reports. Smoke contains many substances, including carbon dioxide and particulate matter, that may contribute to poor health.

As of Independence Day, the Alaska Interagency Coordination Center estimates that wildfire has burned 634,000 Alaskan acres, which is significantly but not dramatically more than is typical for this point in the season, Rich Thoman, an Alaska climate specialist with the Alaska Center for Climate Assessment & Policy, noted in a holiday tweet.

Fire, rain and heat are not the only issues influencing the state: Ice cover across Alaska, which normally lasts through the end of May, disappeared in March, according to the Alaska Center for Climate Assessment and Policy:

Rick Thoman: The northern Bering Sea near Alaska during May & June has never been warmer than this year. Six of the ten warmest May-Junes in the past 120 years have been the past six years. Community and ecosystem impacts continue.

Southerly winds in the Bering Sea have melted ice at an alarming rate, driving temperatures up, said climatologist Brian Brettschneider of the International Arctic Research Center. Ocean temperatures in the region have never been this high, and communities in northern and western Alaska have seen temperatures close to June records.

Atmospheric patterns have also placed Alaska in an unlucky spot this year, Brettschneider noted.

“Next year, the winds could turn northerly. That tends to mask a warming signal,” said Brettschneider, who believes that the planet is warming long-term. “What is happening in coastal Alaska is what is coming in one sense for everybody else. Changes are happening, and changes will be magnified.”

CNN’s Dave Alsup contributed to this report.

Correction: A previous version of this report incorrectly stated the geographic area covered by Thursday’s temperature record. Ninety degrees is the highest mark recorded in the city of Anchorage, not the entire state. This update also corrects the number of years since the United States became a nation.

This drone is removing waste from the sea!

Video – World Economic Forum

July 4, 2019

On the hunt for ocean waste.

🔎 Learn more: https://wef.ch/2NsK32Q

This drone is removing trash from the sea in Dubai

On the hunt for ocean waste.🔎 Learn more: https://wef.ch/2NsK32Q

Posted by Video – World Economic Forum on Thursday, July 4, 2019

This is why the ocean is key to protecting our planet against climate change

Climate Reality

This is why the ocean is key to protecting our planet against climate change

This is why the ocean is key to protecting our planet against climate change

This is why the ocean is key to protecting our planet against climate change

Posted by Climate Reality on Friday, May 17, 2019

Are parts of India becoming too hot for humans?

CNN

Are parts of India becoming too hot for humans?

By Shekhar Chandra, CNN July 3, 2019

Shekhar Chandra is a Ph.D. Candidate in Public Policy, at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

(CNN)Intense heat waves have killed more than 100 people in India this summer and are predicted to worsen in coming years, creating apossiblehumanitarian crisis as large parts of the country potentially become too hot to be inhabitable.

Heat waves in India usually take place between March and July and abate once the monsoon rains arrive. But in recent years these hot spells have become more intense, more frequent and longer.

India is among the countries expected to be worst affected by the impacts of climate crisis, according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

Experts at MIT say that even if the world succeeds in cutting carbon emissions, limiting the predicted rise in average global temperatures, parts of India will become so hot they will test the limits of human survivability.

“The future of heat waves is looking worse even with significant mitigation of climate change, and much worse without mitigation,” said Elfatih Eltahir, a professor of hydrology and climate at MIT.

A mirage shimmers in New Delhi on June 10, 2019.

When the heat rises

The Indian government declares a heat wave when temperatures reach at least 4.5 degrees Celsius (8.1 Fahrenheit) above the “normal” temperature for that area for at least two days. A heat wave becomes “severe” when temperatures climb to 6.4 degrees Celsius (11.5 Fahrenheit) above normal for at least two days.

Thresholds for heat waves, therefore, differ across the country — in the capital New Delhi, a heat wave is declared after two consecutive days of temperatures of at least 45 degrees Celsius (113 Fahrenheit).

Last year, there were 484 official heat waves across India, up from 21 in 2010. During that period, more than 5,000 people died.This year’s figures show little respite.

In June, Delhi hit temperatures of 48 degrees Celsius (118 Fahrenheit), the highest ever recorded in that month. West of the capital, Churu in Rajasthan nearly broke the country’s heat record with a high of 50.6 Celsius (123 Fahrenheit).

India’s poorest state, Bihar, closed all schools, colleges and coaching centers for five days after severe heat killed more than 100 people. The closures were accompanied by warnings to stay indoors during the hottest part of the day, an unrealistic order for millions of people who needed to work outdoors to earn money.

And forecasters believe it’s only going to get worse.

“In a nutshell, future heatwaves are likely to engulf in the whole of India,” said AK Sahai and Sushmita Joseph, of the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology, in Pune in an email.

Arctic ice faces trouble from above and below

Arctic ice faces trouble from above and below .

Survivability

India’s situation is not unique. Many places around the world have endured heat waves so far this year, including parts of Spain, China, Nepal and Zimbabwe.

To examine the question of future survivability of heat waves in South Asia, MIT researchers looked at two scenarios presented by the IPCC: The first is that global average surface temperatures will rise by 4.5 degrees Celsius by the end of the century. The second is the more optimistic prediction of an average increase of 2.25 degrees Celsius. Both exceed the Paris Agreement target to keep the global average temperature rise by 2100 to below 2 degrees Celsius.

Under the more optimistic prediction, researchers found that no parts of South Asia would exceed the limits of survivability by the year 2100.

However, it was a different story under the hotter scenario, which assumes global emissions continue on their current path.

An Indian man uses a towel to wipe the sweat on his face on a hot and humid summer day in Hyderabad, India, on June 3, 2019.

In that case, researchers found that the limits of survivability would be exceeded in a few locations in India’s Chota Nagpur Plateau, in the northeast of the country, and Bangladesh.

And they would come close to being exceeded in most of South Asia, including the fertile Ganges River valley, India’s northeast and eastern coast, northern Sri Lanka, and the Indus Valley of Pakistan.

Survivability was based on what is called “wet bulb temperature” — a combined metric of humidity and the outside temperature.

When the wet bulb reaches 35°C it becomes impossible for humans to cool their bodies through sweating, hence it indicates the survival temperature for humans. A few hours of exposure to these wet bulb conditions leads to death, even for the fittest of humans.

The places in India where it could become more difficult to survive overlap with already highly vulnerable areas, said Eun Soon, assistant professor at Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, who also took part in the MIT study.

That is, places with dense populations and poor economies that rely heavily on fishing and agriculture. They include cities like Patna and Lucknow in northeastern India, home to more than 4 million people combined.

“If we continue to produce the greenhouse gases at the current pace, one of the most populous regions in the world will not avoid the high risk of the deadly heat wave, facing an upper limit on human heat tolerance,” she said.

What is the government doing about it?

India is still in the initial stages of developing a robust nationwide Heat Action Plan.

The Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) is working with state health departments to create an early warning system that would notify millions of people by text message about ways to stay cool, when heat waves hit.

The city of Ahmedabad, in Gujarat, introduced the country’s first action plan in 2013, and its text messages, extra drinking stations and advice to keep out of the sun are credited with saving more than 2,000 lives. At the same time, India is seeking long-term solutions.

A signatory to the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement, the country has pledged to cuts its carbon emissions by 33% to 35% below 2005 levels by 2030.

Last month, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s administration announced plans to add 500 gigawatts of renewable energy to the country’s power grid by 2030. By that year, renewable energy should account for at least 40% of India’s installed power capacity. The country is also planting forests to help mop up carbon emissions.

Climate Action Tracker, a site that analyzes countries’ progress, says India is making good headway but could do more by reducing its reliance on coal power stations.

A report by India’s Central Electricity Authority released this week found that coal power could still account for half of India’s power generation in 2030, despite the country’s investments in solar power.

Given the more frequent heat waves and dire future predictions, capping a rise in global temperatures could very well turn out to be India’s most important challenge in decades ahead.

The survivability of more than a billion people is at stake.

Correction: This story has been updated to reflect the correct temperature in Fahrenheit.

BP Says Some of Its Oil ‘Won’t See the Light of Day’

Bloomberg

BP Says Some of Its Oil ‘Won’t See the Light of Day’

Kelly Gilblom, Bloomberg July 3, 2019

(Bloomberg) — Oil companies are under increasing pressure to bring fuel to market faster and cheaper, leading BP Plc to conclude some of its resources “won’t see the light of day,” according to its head of strategy.

Some of the “more complicated to extract” resources in the British oil major’s portfolio may have to be sold or stay in the ground, said Dominic Emery, the company’s group head of strategy. They’re going to be too expensive and too time-consuming to get out, and the industry is under pressure to shorten the duration and size of projects, he said.

Part of the shift is due to climate change, which has caused investors to pressure BP to stick to lower-carbon projects. It’s also due to an oil price that’s half what it was five years ago, meaning some projects “simply don’t make money.”

“There are classes of resources that are kind of much further out and more complicated to extract,” Emery said in an interview. “There’s no doubt that some of those resources won’t come out the ground.”

Emery didn’t quantify the volume of BP’s resources that may stay put. The oil major said in an investor presentation last year it has 25 billion barrels of resources, 40% of which have been “booked and proved.” Emery said only unproved oil resources are at risk of being stranded.

While he also didn’t clarify which resources are the most complicated to extract, research from consultants Rystad Energy AS and Wood Mackenzie Ltd. tend to point to ultra-deepwater, remote or extremely carbon-heavy projects, such as oil sands, as the longest-term and most expensive.

A report from Wood Mackenzie showed that under a business-as-usual scenario, the call on oil that hasn’t yet been discovered will reach 16 million barrels a day by 2040. In that context, current spending on exploration “looks about right” to meet demand.

However, under a scenario where the world cuts carbon from the energy system faster, the adoption of electric vehicles, biofuels and other competing energy sources may cut two-thirds of that oil demand. The report recommended companies stick to projects with shorter time horizons.

To cope with the risk, BP has limited exploration spending and is mostly focused on investing in shale and fields near existing infrastructure, Emery said. He added that it isn’t necessarily the end for oil mega-projects, but there will probably be fewer of them in the future.

BP’s position reflects spending in the industry overall, which slowed down sharply after an oil-price crash in 2014 and has plateaued over the past three years, according to data compiled by Bloomberg Intelligence.

In May, BP agreed to a request from its shareholders for greater detail on how each new capital investment decision is in line with the Paris climate accord, an international agreement that seeks to limit global warming to less than 2 degrees Celsius. During its annual general meeting, some shareholders suggested they’re pushing behind-the-scenes for BP to stick to cheaper projects. Cost can be a proxy, albeit imperfect, for projects that have a lower carbon intensity.

Emery said BP “has been working on that over the last few months” to fulfill the request and will share some initial results later this year.

(Updates with information on industry spending in 10th paragraph.)

To contact the reporter on this story: Kelly Gilblom in London at kgilblom@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: James Herron at jherron9@bloomberg.net, Helen Robertson, Alaric Nightingale