Climate Killing Bumblebees –Most Critical Climate News 5/3/24
There may be a way Florida can partially protect itself from climate changes that could keep most of its coast from flooding According to Inside Climate News, what is known as The Wildlife Corridor could be a buffer to the effects of global warming. A state law created it. Today, the corridor as about 10 million acres protected by the state government. Eight million acres are not. The scientist who looked at ways this area of land could protect the state’s population concluded, “Undeveloped land and floodplains act as sponges during the violent deluges we experience with hurricanes and tropical storms. The land holds rainwater and slows it down, whereas paved and developed areas rush rainwater downstream, creating more intense flooding.” Climatecrisis247 believes that landowners and developers will not cooperate to finish creating this buffer. The study said, “Local municipalities will need to somehow change their development mindset, too, in order to push for compact development.” Even with financial incentives, the profits from building out areas where developers can make money on the growing population represent too much revenue for the financiers who make billions of dollars in the process.
Climate News –US Needs 200 Nuclear Reactors
Climate Crisis –100 Tornadoes
The world has its first electric-powered container ship. According to Semafor, The Greenwater 01 — powered by a main 50,000 kilowatt-hour battery — is almost 400 feet long, capable of around 12 mph, and aims to save 8,600 pounds of fuel per 100 nautical miles, cutting carbon dioxide emissions by 12 tonnes, the South China Morning Post reported.” The ship has zero emissions. Climatecrisis247 believes it may take years, if not longer, to develop fleets of these ships, just as it may take a long time to build electric commercial planes. It is not clear whether vessels of this kind can make money, and who might make the large investment necessary.
Bumblebee Deaths
The bumblebee population may be declining because of climate change. According to Technology Networks, “Bumblebees are critical pollinators, and many species are in decline — but we don’t fully understand why. Now scientists have suggested that a major contributor may be to global warming compromising climate control in the nests which house bumblebees’ social colonies.” Climatecrisis247 believes this is one more example of how the climate crisis is killing off hundreds, if not thousands of species, a process that is not likely to end.
Insurance Disappears
The climate crisis is driving up home insurance rates across the country. According to the Statesman Journal, “Insurers are retreating from markets in hurricane-prone North Carolina and western states like Oregon, Colorado, and Arizona that have struggled with increasingly frequent and destructive wildfires in recent years.” Climatecrisis247 believes this trend is not new. Homeowners in some areas of the Florida coast cannot get insurance at all. This is causing home prices to plunge, and a migration of people away from these areas.
