World’s Largest EV Company–Climate Crisis AM Edition 3/27/24
China’s BYD passed Tesla in total worldwide EV sales in the final quarter of 2023, selling 526,000 cars in the period. According to The Wall Street Journal, BYD’s net income for the period was $1.2 billion, up 19% from the same period a year ago. Climatecrisis247 believes that much of the lead it has taken over Tesla is because of sales in its home market of China, which is the largest car market in the world by far. On the other hand, Tesla sells cars in China, the US, and the EU. Car industry executives worry about what will happen if BYD can sell its vehicles in these markets because their retail prices are as low as $10,000.
EV Challenge –The Tire Problem
Oil Companies –Walk Away From Climate
The price of cocoa has topped $10,000 per metric ton, its highest level in history and more than double what it was at the start of the year. Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana produce about 60% of the world’s cocoa in West Africa. Drought and diseased trees have caused much of the trouble. Ghana has also lost the funding needed to grow and harvest the commodity, according to Bloomberg. Paul Joules, a commodities analyst at Rabobank, told CNBC, “The worst is still yet to come.” Climatecrisis247 believes this is part of a much larger global pattern. Climate change has damaged crops around the world. The UN’s World Food Program reports that drought, cyclones, wildfires, and hurricanes have decimated the agriculture sectors in several countries, including many of the poorest in Africa. Even US crop yields have been hurt by drought and heavy rains.
Government Help On Floods
Should governments help people who live in areas threatened by climate change? The Palm Beach Post thinks so. It believes that the State of Florida should financially help condo residents along the state’s water front. “Florida lawmakers have failed to create an environment where insurers can thrive without see-sawing between gouging on premiums and deserting the state altogether,” the paper reports. Climatecrisis247 sees this as part of a pattern. People move to areas where climate change has made living nearly impossible, financially or physically. They expect the government to help them. Most governments do not have the resources to do so, particularly as the results of climate change make stores more powerful.
Wine Damage
The effects of climate change on wine growers are part of an analysis in the journal Nature. Titled “Climate change impacts and adaptations of wine production,” the study looks at grape yield and wine quality. “About 90% of traditional wine regions in coastal and lowland regions of Spain, Italy, Greece and southern California could be at risk of disappearing by the end of the century because of excessive drought and more frequent heatwaves with climate change,” the authors wrote. Climatecrisis247 sees this as part of a long list of crop and agriculture problems created by climate change, and one that will almost certainly not be reversed. As global warming quickens, there are no resources to help farmers with any commodity damaged or threatened by heat, drought, heavy rain, or floods.
