Bitcoin could be as bad for the planet as meat; US supports climate reparations at COP27; the destruction of Pampa and +

🌱 US supports climate reparations negotiations at COP27

The United States has decided to support formal United Nations (UN) negotiations on possible compensation and assistance to countries suffering devastation from storms, floods and droughts made worse by climate changes, government officials said this Wednesday (19)system. (Bloomberg*)

The decision adds to an increasing focus on what diplomats call “losses and damages”, a mechanism by which rich nations responsible for the majority of carbon emissions planet warming can address the climate damage suffered by developing countries. 

Contudo, as autoridades disseram que os negociadores americanos na cúpula climática da ONU no próximo mês no Egito estão desencorajando qualquer impulso explícito por nova ajuda ou financiamento em um item da agenda que enquadra as negociações. Isso colocaria os EUA em desacordo com um grande grupo de nações vulneráveis ​​que serão lideradas nas negociações pelo Paquistão, where floods left more than 1.700 people dead and caused around US$40 billion in losses.

💲 Bitcoin could be as bad for the planet as meat

The climate impact of Bitcoin mining is comparable to that of raising cattle or burning gasoline when taken as a proportion of market value, according to researchers at the University of New Mexico in the United States.

The mining of cryptocurrencies consumes a lot of energy, as it requires highly specialized computers – and most of the electricity used is generated by burning fossil fuels that warm the planet.

The climate-related economic damage caused by Bitcoin mining exceeded its market value on 6,4% of days traded between 2016 and 2021, according to the article published in the scientific journal Scientific Reports. (🇬🇧)

The study calculated the climate cost of Bitcoin mining relative to its average market price and compared it to other commodities such as crude oil, gold or beef. This means that the results do not reflect the total emissions of these industries, which would be much higher, but their relative impact.

The climate impact of gold mining is just 4% of its average market price in an average year, compared to 35% for the cryptocurrency Bitcoin. And the environmental impact has grown as the cryptocurrency market has matured, questionI monitor the overall sustainability of the sector.

♻️ Wemove: Braskem's ecosystem that prometransform the way we deal with plastic waste

Among the initiatives presented is the technology – under development – ​​that will enable the production of plastics and chemicals using a circular process with a reduction in carbon dioxide (CO2) compared to the traditional model of advanced recycling.

🍃 Pampa is increasingly distant from its original configuration, says MapBiomas

In the last 37 years, the biome has lost the equivalent of 70 times the area of ​​the municipality of Porto Alegre/RS. Currently, Pampa has more anthropized areas, that is, modified by human action, than native vegetation.

In 1985, native vegetation areas occupied 61,3% of Pampa, in 2021 this share was 43,2% – almost the same as agricultural areas, which already occupy 41,6% of the biome. There was a loss of 29,5% of native vegetation between 1985 and 2021 alone, being accentuated in the last two decades. The data are from most recent MapBiomas survey on land use and occupation in the biome, covering a period of 37 years.

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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.

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