China has never been so hot, a cloud of smoke spreads across Brazil and the world and +

☀️ China has never been so hot

China had the month of Hottest August since records began, reported this Tuesday (6) the state press.

The average temperature last month – at a national level – was 22,4º, around 1,2º above normal, reported the public channel CCTV.

In August, southern China faced what scientists consider one of the most severe heat waves in world history, during which parts of Sichuan province and the major city of Chongqing recorded temperatures above 40º for several days.

A total of 267 weather stations across the country equaled or broke heat records for the month of August, according to CCTV.

It was also the third driest August on record in China, with 23,1% less rainfall than average.

“The average number of days of intense heat was abnormally high and regional processes of high temperatures continue to impact our country,” added the broadcaster.

🔥 Smoke from fires covers Brazil and reaches neighboring countries

Images recorded by the Goes-16 geostationary satellite, on Monday (5), show that a “cloud of smoke” – caused by the fires – spread across the north of Brazil and neighboring countries.

Fires in the Amazon flare up in early September

The Brazilian Amazon accounted for more than two thirds of the total fires recorded in September 2021 in just 4 days, after a new record in August, according to data from the National Institute for Space Research (Inpe).

According to the images, the states affected by the dispersion of pollutants are: Acre, Amazonas, Rondônia, Roraima, Mato Grosso and Pará.

The National Institute for Space Research (Inpe) reports that the area covered by smoke covers around 5 million km².

???? Norway presents itself as future CO 'cemetery'₂ European

In the town of Øygarden, an island close to Bergen (western Norway), a terminal – still under construction – will receive tons of carbon dioxide (CO₂) liquefied. The carbon will be transported from the rest of Europe by boat, after being captured from industrial smokestacks.

There, the CO₂ It will be injected – through a pipeline – into geological cavities located 2.600 meters below the seabed with the aim of remaining there indefinitely.

It is “the first freely accessible transport and storage infrastructure in the world, allowing any emitter that has captured their CO emissions₂ provide that CO₂ for safe handling, transport and permanent storage”, project director Sverre Overå told AFP.

Although in the past it was considered a technically complicated and costly solution, carbon capture and storage is increasingly in vogue given the difficulties of reducing greenhouse gas emissions, despite the climate urgency to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. global warming.

Even though CO storage₂ Although it is not a miracle solution against warming, some experts consider the Norwegian project a necessary tool to slow it down.

Among environmental activists, this technology is not unanimous. Some fear that it will serve as an excuse to prolong the exploration of fossil fuels, that it will absorb investments that could be destined for renewable energy or that a leak will occur.

“We have always been against carbon capture and storage, but, due to inaction in the face of the climate crisis, it is increasingly difficult to maintain this position”, explains Halvard Raavand, representative of Greenpeace Norway, to AFP.

“Public money would be better invested in solutions that we know are effective and that could reduce the electricity bills of ordinary citizens, such as thermal insulation of homes and the use of solar panels”, he says.

Read also

How does deforestation in the Amazon contribute to climate change?

The role played by the planet's forests in absorbing carbon has been a key factor in preventing faster rates of climate change. In this sense, the Amazon – the largest tropical forest in the world – has a fundamental role to play. O Curto explains why protecting the Amazon from rampant deforestation is a matter of survival.

The Amazon is experiencing lack of governance and destruction, and all of humanity can pay for it, says institute

Ane Alencar, director of Science at the Amazon Environmental Research Institute (IPAM), denounces non-compliance with the law and the indiscriminate occupation of public lands, in addition to the lack of government control to contain gangs operating in the region. “There needs to be a clash of command in these areas to show that the federal government and state governments have control of the territory.”

O Curto Verde is a daily summary of what you need to know about the environment, sustainability and other topics linked to our survival and that of the planet.

(With AFP)

(🚥): may require registration and/or signature 

(🇬🇧): content in English

(*): content in other languages ​​is translated by Google Tradutor