This week’s updates cut across technology, science, policy, and lived experience—but they point to the same underlying shift. Climate change is no longer just an environmental issue; it is actively reshaping the systems that underpin how we produce energy, manage resources, govern risk, and sustain livelihoods.

On the technology side, new tools—from AI-driven planning models to vehicle-to-grid systems—are expanding what’s possible, even as rising emissions and infrastructure limits expose their constraints. In science, researchers are uncovering deeper changes in how ecosystems function, from soil biodiversity loss to shifts in water systems and plant survival strategies. Meanwhile, policy is becoming more fragmented and contested, with parallel efforts emerging outside traditional frameworks even as institutions continue to adapt in practice. And on the ground, the impacts are increasingly direct—affecting food prices, human-wildlife interactions, and even long-standing social norms in vulnerable communities.

Taken together, these stories show a transition that is uneven, complex, and still unfolding—where adaptation, innovation, and disruption are happening all at once.

Climate Technology

Machine learning tool pinpoints optimal locations for tree planting, offering a powerful tool for climate mitigation

“The study shows that, with a targeted selection of afforestation sites, river flooding could be reduced by up to 43% with a median reduction of 3.1%. Random selection only leads to flood reduction in a few cases and has mostly no effect. Optimized afforestation also curbs evapotranspiration, the transfer of water from plants to the atmosphere, reducing water loss and thereby preserving available groundwater by up to 60%, a critical save, given the growing need to conserve water in a changing climate. The combined effects lead to a “sweet spot” of optimal afforestation between 40% and 80%.” (Phys.org)

Carbon Removal Industry Reels as Microsoft Retreats

“Microsoft was one of the first big companies to make an ambitious climate pledge. Then in 2020, the company said it intended to remove “all the carbon the company has emitted either directly or by electrical consumption since it was founded in 1975.” But as big tech companies, including Microsoft, have raced to build data centers for artificial intelligence, their emissions have increased in recent years, making it harder to achieve those goals.” (The New York Times)

Common Asian plant in Brazil shows potential for removing microplastics from water

“We showed that the saline extract from the seeds performs similarly to aluminum sulfate, which is used in treatment plants to coagulate water containing microplastics. In more alkaline waters, it performed even better than the chemical product,” says Gabrielle Batista, the first author of the study. She conducted the research as part of her master’s degree in the Post-Graduate Program in Civil and Environmental Engineering (PPGECA) at the Bauru School of Engineering (FEB) at UNESP.” (Phys.org)

New Georgia map tool offers local climate change insight

“Historically, [climate models are] locked into these huge global data sets,” said Georgia Tech professor Bill Drummond, who developed the maps and studies local and regional planning. “But we’re getting more and more tools to bring them out and bring them down to the local level, so that we can start to understand what it means at the county level or the city level.” That could be key for local planning, which typically relies on past data to predict future conditions. But that approach assumes that it will rain about as much in a given location as it has in the past, or that temperatures will fall into the same general range — but because of climate change, Drummond said, those assumptions no longer hold up.” (The Macon Melody)

Electric vehicle owners could earn thousands by supporting power grid

“At least 90 per cent of the electricity generation being built today is renewable. But solar and wind farms produce electricity only when the sun is shining and the wind is blowing, so the power supply will fluctuate more. A pilot project in the US state of Delaware has shown that owners of electric vehicles (EVs) could make thousands of dollars each year by allowing their parked cars to serve as part of a giant collective battery that stores electricity when there is high supply and distributes it when there is high demand.” (New Scientist)

Responsible AI: AI in Climate Change Fight on Earth Day

“When it comes to environmental concerns, the global focus is moving from awareness to action. One of the most effective tools driving this change is Artificial Intelligence (AI). It is helping us understand nature’s early warning signals and, moreimportantly, take timely decisions to reduce environmental damage.” (deccanherald.com)

Climate Science

Harnessing DNA to Combat Climate Change: The Future of Ecosystem Restoration

“Scientists are working to close the gap with an emerging discipline called conservation genomics: sequencing an organism’s complete genetic blueprint to pinpoint individuals with traits suite to survive drought, disease and other climate extremes, then using that information to guide restoration.” (Times of India)

Study: One in five soil species face extinction

“These hidden microbial worlds are the building blocks of nature. They keep our farmland healthy, fuel our food systems, help hold climate-altering carbon and make life as we know it possible. Now, scientists warn, that world is in danger of collapsing before we even fully understand it. A new study from Conservation International and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) says that one in five assessed soil-dependent species is threatened with extinction — and that figure may only scratch the surface.” (Conservation International)

Warmer winters and snow drought may threaten western US water by speeding flows

“The research can help inform future water management decisions. While the timing of water release relative to snowpack has long informed water planning, understanding how long it takes for water to travel through a landscape is not well understood and is important, especially at a time of increasing weather disturbances and extreme conditions.” (Phys.org)

How primitive plants evolved to survive Earth’s most catastrophic extinction event

“If the world experiences sustained extreme heat, plant communities may shift toward species that are better able to tolerate high temperatures and water stress.” Lycophytes are spore-bearing vascular plants (a type of plant characterized by the presence of tissues for transporting water and nutrients). There are more than 1,200 species of the plant still in existence. They can survive in many places but are most diverse in tropical regions.” (Phys.org)

Climate Policy

Aligning climate change mitigation strategies with policy objectives beyond cost savings

“Optimal climate change mitigation pathways have historically focused on achieving emissions reductions while ensuring cost efficiency. However, the broader impacts of climate action are also important for policymakers and stakeholders. We developed a method that enables mitigation pathways to be defined based on their impact on multiple United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).” (Nature Climate Change)

Ending EPA’s Endangerment Finding Won’t End Climate Change Regulation

“An EPA victory in disclaiming its own authority to regulate in this area is far from a certainty. The U.S. Supreme Court already found in 2007 that, under the unambiguous language of the Clean Air Act, greenhouse gases are “air pollutants.” EPA’s prior regulation of greenhouse gas emissions rested on its “endangerment finding”—its conclusion that those emissions were a significant enough “danger to public health” to trigger EPA’s duty to regulate. EPA’s proposed rule to reverse its endangerment finding thus relied heavily on a U.S. Department of Energy study suggesting that greenhouse gas regulation would have little impact on global climate change.” (The Regulatory Review)

In Florida, The Pentagon Is Still Preparing Key Base for Climate Change

“Storms like Michael are becoming more powerful and damaging as the world warms, and many military installations are exposed to them and other climate hazards. Still, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth vowed last year that the Pentagon wouldn’t do any “climate change crap” on his watch. Biden-era climate action plans were scrapped, and the 2025 National Security Strategy invoked climate change only to label it a “disastrous” ideology. Hegseth canceled nearly 100 research studies related to global warming and security, which experts say will compound the loss of climate knowledge across the federal government under President Donald Trump.” (Bloomberg)

Foundation advocates joint action against climate change in Africa

“A non-governmental organisation (NGO), People, Planet and Peace Foundation, has advocated a joint action among Africa countries to curb climate change within the continent. Mr. Olatunji Francisco, the Lead, Climate Beyond Borders Caravan, an initiative of the Foundation, made the call in an interview on Tuesday, April 21, 2026, in Abuja. Francisco said that a unified African voice in global climate action was achievable and essential for climate justice, equity, and the sustainability of the continent.” (EnviroNews)

Climate change conference on fossil fuels kicks off in Colombia this week

“Don’t expect nations to leave signing treaties to immediately phase out coal and oil. Instead, Santa Marta’s tangible deliverables include financing mechanisms from global south experts, scientific roadmaps, and a menu of solutions to present at COP31 in Turkey this November. A second conference already scheduled for Tuvalu next year shows this is a movement, not a moment. The real test: whether a coalition of the willing can crack what consensus processes couldn’t, building proof that climate change action accelerates when deadlock-breakers seize control. As Claudio Angelo from Brazil’s Observatório do Clima warned, “The climate crisis is slipping down government priority lists.” Santa Marta must reverse that slide.” (Art Threat)

Climate Impact

Climate Change Is Here—and America’s Most Marginalized Communities Are on the Front

“This accelerating pace of more frequent and intense storms mirrors the findings of a recent Center for American Progress climate disasters report: Warming ocean temperatures and rising seas are intensifying tropical storms, increasing rainfall, magnifying storm surge, and driving up both human and economic costs. What were once considered rare, extreme events are becoming more frequent and far more destructive, with costs measured not only in damaged buildings and broken infrastructure, but also in health risks, displacement, and longer, more inequitable recoveries.” (Center for American Progress)

Climate change increases human-wildlife encounters in Georgia

“Climate change is altering habitats, shifting species ranges and pushing animals closer to human-populated areas in search of food and water. As climate change intersects with rapid urbanization in Georgia, it intensifies pressure on ecosystems, leading to more frequent — and often negative — interactions between humans and native wildlife, according to the National Institutes of Health.” (The Augusta Chronicle)

Democrats May Believe Climate Change Is Real. They Don’t Act Like It.

“The new study comes as climate change has largely fallen out of political debates across much of the West. In response to the more than a month-long closure of the Strait of Hormuz, liberal and right-wing governments alike doubled down on coal, oil, and gas in the name of energy security. The mood in the U.S. might best be described as climate nihilism: Climate-denying Republicans are gutting climate rules and doing everything in their power to punish renewables and expand fossil fuel production; Democrats who championed their climate bona fides just a few years ago are quietly rolling back both laws and rhetoric about reducing emissions.” (The New Republic)

Kenyan women defy fishing taboos as climate change threatens Lake Victoria

“On productive days when fish are plentiful, boat owners at Kagwel Beach can earn between 6,000 and 8,000 Kenyan shillings (approximately $46 to $62). Crew members earn between 500 and 800 shillings ($3.88 to $6.20), and traders, including fishmongers, can earn up to 1,000 shillings ($7.75), according to Wilson Onjolo, Seme subcounty fisheries officer. This represents substantially more than the 500 shillings the women earned daily as fishmongers buying fish from male fishermen.” (Al Jazeera)

Coffee Prices To Rise Due To Climate Change: GlobalData

“Rising temperatures and extreme weather changes are affecting coffee cultivation and reducing yields, increasing uncertainty across the supply chain. GlobalData added that for hot coffee manufacturers, ready-to-drink brands, and café chains, climate disruption is a procurement and operations challenge, not just a farming issue. Traditional growing regions are becoming less suitable, with 75% of global coffee production exposed to an additional 57 days of extreme heat annually, according to estimates from Climate Central.” (ESM Magazine)

What stands out to me in this set is how uneven the response to climate change feels right now. The science is getting clearer—from shifting greenhouse gas behavior to changing weather patterns—but policy signals are moving in different directions, and in some cases, pulling back altogether. At the same time, the impacts are becoming harder to ignore. Water shortages are outpacing conservation efforts, extreme weather is intensifying, and communities are being pushed into difficult choices. Even here in Kenya, we’re starting to feel how interconnected it all is—fuel shortages and rising prices linked to global conflict are a reminder that climate, energy, and geopolitics don’t operate separately. It’s all happening at once, and not always in sync.

Climate Science

Climate Change Is Altering a Key Greenhouse Gas in a Way Scientists Didn’t Expect

“Nitrous oxide ranks as the third most important long-lived greenhouse gas after carbon dioxide and methane, and it is now the leading ozone-depleting substance linked to human activity. The study shows that estimating future N2O levels requires more than accounting for emissions from agriculture, industry, and natural sources. It also depends on how climate change alters the stratosphere, where this gas is broken down. This atmospheric region extends from about 10 to 50 kilometers above Earth’s surface.” (SciTechDaily.com)

Simple vineyard growing practice impacts soil microbiome deep below surface

“In this study, we show the effects of groundcover extend below the surface rooting zone and may have widespread implications for below-ground ecological trajectories,” Hayden Bock said. “Because vineyard soil microbes influence vine health, performance and can operate as a reservoir of microbes for above-ground tissues—the stems, leaves and grapes—adopting under-vine groundcovers may provide a biology-driven means for combining production goals with soil-health stewardship.” (Phys.org)

Climate Change Is Warming US Unevenly

“Instead of the entire country warming evenly, different regions are changing in different parts of the temperature spectrum. This is showing up the most in the West. Western states are seeing more intense heat, which means higher highs during the hottest days. Across the North, scientists say, cities are losing the number of cold extremes and increasing the number of warmer nights. Yet, some places are warming across the board, and others are showing very little warming at all. Climate change isn’t an even distribution of heat, but highly variable depending on your geographic location.” (Weather.com)

Why we fail to notice climate change

Scientists used to believe that once hurricanes got strong enough, wildfires destructive enough, droughts frequent enough and so on, that people would wake up to the threat of climate change. Not so much, research shows. (ScienceNews)

Climate Policy

Head of EPA praises conservative group for opposing government action on climate change

“Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin delivered the keynote speech at a Wednesday meeting of the Heartland Institute, a group that challenges the overwhelming scientific consensus on climate change’s harmful impacts and the need to curb greenhouse gas emissions that cause it. “It’s controversial that we won’t sign up for the script that the world is imminently about to end,” Zeldin said at the group’s 16th International Conference on Climate Change in Washington. “Today, all of you gathered here in D.C. is a moment to celebrate. It is a day to celebrate vindication.” (Anchorage Daily News)

Climate change mitigation: reducing emissions | In-depth topics

In the past decades, the EU took firm action against climate change, resulting in a more than 37% drop in EU emissions in 2023 compared with 1990 levels. This is mainly a result of a growing use of renewable energy and decreased use of carbon-intensive fossil fuels. Improvements in energy efficiency and structural changes in the economy also contributed to meeting these goals. (European Environment Agency (EAA)

Climate Change: The Silent Casualty of War

“The US-Israel-Iran War has emitted large greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere, setting the scene for accelerated climate change impacts in the Middle East going into the future. The use of military equipment and strikes on oil facilities and other infrastructure in the region has resulted in dire environmental, agricultural, and public health consequences. Land fertility, water safety, air quality, and food security have all been threatened throughout the duration of this war. The closure of the Strait of Hormuz has led to an energy crisis with the price of oil exceeding US$100 per barrel. Additionally, with Middle East airspace essentially a no-fly zone, aviation and shipping reroutes are expected to increase emissions, as well as travel times and fuel consumption.” (ORF Middle East)

Big Tech talks less about climate change in era of AI data centers

“The explosive growth of data centers to support the AI surge is “calling into question” whether the major tech companies—Google, Meta, Microsoft, Apple, and Amazon—can meet their pledges to reduce emissions, according to a 2025 corporate responsibility report from the NewClimate Institute. Already, companies are reporting emissions increases in their annual sustainability reports.” (Fast Company)

Climate Impact

A Super El Niño is coming. Here’s how a hotter ocean could change the weather near you

“Get ready to hear a lot more about El Niño during the next several months — and maybe even longer — as the infamous climate cycle returns again, developing and intensifying in the Pacific Ocean near the equator. If it forms as expected, this El Niño will redraw global weather maps, sparking flooding for some and drought and wildfires for others — all while simultaneously speeding up the pace of global warming.” (CNN)

Heat Wipes Out Western Snowpack, Raising Fears of Summer Drought

“After the warmest winter on record for many states and a blistering March heat wave that left almost no snow in parts of the American West, the region is facing a summer of serious wildfire risks and a drought that could force broad water restrictions. New measurements this month show most of the Mountain West won’t be able to rely on melting snow, the region’s largest water source, because there’s hardly any snowpack there. And while some rain is forecast in the coming weeks, any spring precipitation will likely be too little, too late, scientists said.” (The New York Times)

Water conservation works, but climate change is outpacing it: Phoenix, Denver and Las Vegas offer a glimpse of the future

“The Colorado River provides drinking water to nearly 40 million people and irrigation for over 5.5 million acres of cropland. But it has experienced a significant drop in water availability in recent decades due in part to rising demand for water and a long-running megadrought in the Southwest. “ (The Conversation)

Climate change doesn’t care about your bandwidth

“There is no scientific doubt that climate change contributes to bigger, fiercer wildfires and other extreme ecological events, and there is no scientific doubt that the primary cause of climate change is the human combustion of fossil fuels. Yet government policies, especially as guided by MAGA priorities, reject the science. In February, the Trump administration revoked the so-called endangerment finding, which recognized the dangers of greenhouse gas emissions and allowed climate regulations under the Clean Air Act. The administration is forcing coal-fired power generation in Colorado to persist past a planned retirement date, apparently to accommodate coal business interests.” (Colorado Newsline)

See also our article: Science Doesn’t Care What The Politicians Are Saying

How climate change is forcing more Kenyan girls into early marriage

It recently started to rain, but it is not yet clear if it will be enough to sustain local herds, as all too often, the water has quickly dried up, leaving the grass to wither. But it is not only the livelihood of local farmers and nomadic herders that is threatened when goats and sheep die due to lack of food and water - it also puts the future of children, and girls in particular, in jeopardy. Their schooling often ends early during prolonged periods of drought because their families need them to search for water and firewood at ever-greater distances and their parents can no longer send them to school. (Yahoo.com)

Flooding in Chicago Worsens as Climate Change Intensifies

“Chicago’s sewer system was designed to handle just 2 inches of rain in 24 hours, but climate change has increased the likelihood of storms that can drop over 8.5 inches in the same timeframe. This has overwhelmed the city’s sewer network, including the Deep Tunnel project, leading to sewage backups and flooding in homes and businesses. Damage estimates have skyrocketed to billions of dollars in the past 20 years, with the 2023 storm alone flooding tens of thousands of homes on the West and South Sides.” (Chicago Today)

What stands out to me in this set is how quickly progress and pressure are moving side by side. On one hand, we’re seeing real innovation—from methane capture to new energy systems and creative climate solutions. But at the same time, the energy demands of AI, shifting corporate priorities, and renewed reliance on fossil fuels are complicating that progress. Policy signals aren’t exactly steady either, with cuts to research and changes to regulation reshaping the direction of climate action. And then there’s the impact layer—rising costs, longer wildfire seasons, and growing strain on communities. It all points to a climate landscape that isn’t moving in a straight line, but evolving in multiple directions at once.

Climate Technology

Cow manure digesters really do cut methane—unless they leak

“Digesters are widely seen as a key climate solution. By sealing manure ponds and capturing the gas they produce, these systems convert methane into usable fuel instead of allowing it to escape into the atmosphere where it has a tremendous effect on the climate.” (Phys.org)

Google to tap into gas plant for AI datacenter in sharp turn from climate goals

“Google has long been a climate leader in the tech sector. In 2020, it set an ambitious net-zero emissions goal to use carbon-free energy across all operations by 2030. It has invested in wind, solar, geothermal and nuclear energy projects. But as Google has focused more on AI and its high-energy needs, the company’s emissions commitments have softened.” (The Guardian)

American nuclear power plants are seeking a new role amid climate change and the development of artificial intelligence.

“For decades after that the industry survived rather than grew. Today the U.S. operates 94 reactors, providing about 20% of the country’s electricity generation. Most of them are peers of the 1970s, licensed for 40 years of operation. They are now being extended to 80 years and even beyond — and that in itself is a small revolution. “Solar power, wind, and batteries must scale as fast as possible. But even that will not be enough. That’s why we need tools like nuclear energy,” says one expert (mezha.net)

New Ideas in the Climate Change Fight

“This device, called the Underwater Zooplankton Enhancement Light Array or UZELA for short, is an autonomous underwater light that draws in nearby zooplankton for coral to eat. The study found that running the device in a location for just one hour a night increased local coral feeding rates by 10 to 50-fold, compared to areas without the device. It helped strengthen both healthy coral and already bleached corals by bringing its food closer. These efforts are important because coral reefs are vital to keeping erosion at bay, sustaining the fishing industry, and generating tourism. The Great Barrier Reef, for instance, is home to 1,625 species of fish, and even more crustaceans, turtles, rays, and other sea creatures.” (Earth Day)

Climate Science

Misbehaviour dominates GHG emissions from food loss and waste

“Food loss and waste (FLW) generates ~19% of global anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions, yet its determinants and mitigation potential remain insufficiently understood. To address this, we develop a mechanistic framework that disaggregates FLW emissions into those driven by techno-economic constraints, surplus production and mis-consumption, with the latter two constituting misbehaviour-driven emissions.” (Nature Climate Change)

Enhancing drinking water yield in shear-assisted freeze desalination

“Recently, a new desalination method known as freeze desalination has gained great attention. It desalinates seawater by freezing it, during which salt ions are apt to be repelled by ice crystals and remain in the liquid phase. The ice formed in this method contains less salt compared with the original seawater. If the ion rejection rate, which is the percentage of salt ions in the liquid phase, reaches 98.2% or higher, the salt concentration in the ice can meet the drinking water standards set by the WHO. Freeze desalination consumes less energy compared with thermal distillation because the latent heat of freezing is only 1/7 of that for evaporating seawater. As it is membrane free, it does not require complex maintenance.” (ScienceDirect)

• See also our article about Flocean, a pioneer of subsea desalination!

Climate Policy

Trump’s Budget May Target Climate Programs. Here’s What Survived the Last Cuts.

“Mr. Trump’s new proposed budget is expected to be made public on Friday, and climate advocates said they were bracing for steep new cuts to environmental programs. The White House declined to comment on the budget but noted that Mr. Trump had already eliminated his top targets, like federal support for wind, solar and other renewable energy.” (The New York Times)

Forest Service Will Close Research Stations That Study Wildfire Risk

“Many of the research facilities are at universities where Forest Service scientists have access to laboratories and computers or at experimental forests where scientists can monitor the effects of environmental changes over long periods of time. They also investigate logging techniques, endangered plant and animal species, and how forests grow back after devastating fires.” (The New York Times)

EPA reverses long-standing climate change finding, stripping its own ability to regulate emissions

“We are officially terminating the so-called endangerment finding, a disastrous Obama-era policy,” Trump said at a news conference. “This determination had no basis in fact — none whatsoever. And it had no basis in law. On the contrary, over the generations, fossil fuels have saved millions of lives and lifted billions of people out of poverty all over the world.” (NBC News)

Climate Impact

The US is now paying more than any other country for climate change damage, study suggests

“After the US, the EU was estimated to have endured the second-largest economic hit, valued at $6.4 trillion (£4.8 trillion). This is despite being the third biggest emitter (causing $6.42 trillion, or £4.85 trillion, of damage), coming after China at $8.7 trillion (£6.5 trillion). In comparison, the scientists estimated that the UK had caused $1.1 trillion (£830 billion) of damage and experienced $880 billion (£660 billion) in losses.” (BBC Science Focus Magazine)

Longer wildfire seasons pose an increasing threat for species under climate change

“Our research shows that wildfires pose an ever-increasing threat to biodiversity. We find that nearly 84% of species vulnerable to wildfires will face a higher risk by the end of this century,” says Xiaoye Yang, a researcher at the University of Gothenburg and the study’s lead author.” (Phys.org)

Climate change worsening rural conditions

“Climate change is no longer a distant threat, warned Mozambican President Daniel Chapo on Monday. Speaking in the flood stricken district of Guija, in the southern province of Gaza, Chapo said climate change “is a reality worsening the vulnerability of our productive system and of our rural communities”. Much of Mozambique, particularly the southern provinces, faced devastating flooding in January and again in March. The floods, said Chapo, “compromised harvests, affected livestock and fisheries and endangered the livelihoods of hundreds of thousands of families”. (aimnews.org)

How climate change is driving floods across continents

“Floods have surged across parts of Africa, Asia, Europe, the Middle East and the Americas in 2026, underscoring how interconnected climate extremes are affecting vulnerable communities around the world. Scientists, emergency agencies and meteorological services report multiple overlapping flood disasters, from coastal deluges to river overflows, reflecting broader changes in the Earth’s climate system.” (News.az)

$900 a year: That’s how much climate change costs the average U.S. household

“Most significant are the consequences for housing: Climate-related natural disasters cause large spikes in home insurance premiums, even rendering some properties uninsurable. These costs alone average more than $600 each year to U.S. households, amounting to more than $1,000 for the highest-cost decile. This is due in part to insurance companies developing sophisticated models to project potential harm, which means even households lucky enough to have avoided natural disasters so far may see their premiums increase if they are considered at risk.” (wbur.org)

Across technology, policy, and natural systems, the climate landscape is becoming more interconnected. AI is improving how cities function and how water is managed, while new energy storage approaches are expanding what clean infrastructure can look like. At the same time, ecosystems—from wetlands to forests—are playing a critical role in absorbing carbon and supporting resilience. But rising energy demand, shifting food systems, intensifying wildfires, and growing economic risks highlight a parallel trend: the challenges are evolving just as quickly as the solutions.

Climate Companies

A grid-scale battery company we have written glowingly about in the past, EnerVenue, announced on March 31 that it had named Henning Rath, a seasoned green tech executive, as the company’s new CEO, replacing the start-up period’s CEO, Jorg Heinemann. (See our prior coverage here: December 2020, September 2021, May 2023, August 2024)

In addition, the company announced that it had closed a $300 million extension to its Series B fundraising round. The extension round was led by Full Vision Capital with participation from one of EnerVenue’s earlier strategic investors, Aramco Ventures.

The company plans to use the funds to build a new 250MWh high-volume production line in Changzhou, China. I had reached out to Heinemann more than a year ago when I heard that the firm had closed its Kentucky gigafactory and sold it to a Canadian lithium-ion battery manufacturer. We will reach out again to the company to solicit comment on the strategy change.

Climate Technology

How Do You Measure Snow From Space? First, Climb a Mountain.

“A new satellite could transform how water is studied worldwide. But to help unlock its capabilities, scientists first needed to take critical measurements on a mountaintop.” (The New York Times)

AI Can Slow Climate Change By Helping Urban Planners Design Smarter Cities

“Accordingly, Helsinki researchers are using AI to improve traffic infrastructure to streamline smooth commutes, reduce emissions, and improve air quality. But how do they do it, at a fundamental level? Through reinforcement learning. For perspective, imagine an AI entity driving around a virtual city. It tries many different routes then receives digital reinforcement when it achieves set goals — and penalties when it doesn’t. AI agents can now do this at ever-greater scales and speeds to assess city-wide efficiency: “An urban environment involves a vast number of interacting effects. AI can help address such complex problems and the combined effects of multiple factors. This is work that humans cannot perform unaided.” (Orbital Today)

World’s largest battery made of sand powers an entire town and could be the key to solving climate change

“The sand battery is a more sustainable method of powering the town’s district heat network because it reduces combustion. The battery itself is essentially just sand, a steel container and air circulation, meaning that no rare minerals - such as the type used in lithium batteries - are used. In contrast, sand is widely available in supply and is not toxic. The material also has a long lifespan, meaning that it should be able to operate for decades to come with very minimal performance loss.” (UNILAD Tech)

• See our coverage on Thermal Energy Storage pioneer Kraftblock.

Tajikistan Manages Water with AI Innovation

“In water management, AI already provides practical tools, such as satellite monitoring, to map glaciers, river basins and water flows more accurately. UN agencies in Tajikistan are supporting the Government in leveraging these digital tools to improve climate resilience. A recent example is the “Glacier Lifelines” virtual reality equipment provided to Tajik scientists, which visualises glacier changes and their impacts.” (UN Sustainable Development Group)

Big tech was embracing clean energy and turning a corner on climate change. Then AI data centers arrived

“Tech companies bought record amounts of clean energy in 2024 and 2025, according to the Clean Energy Buyers Association. But total emissions have gone up over roughly the first five years of their climate commitments, according to companies’ sustainability reports. Google’s emissions jumped nearly 50%. Amazon’s rose by 33%, Microsoft’s more than 23% and Meta’s more than 60%. Data centers used about 4.6% of total U.S. electricity in 2024, a share that could nearly triple by 2028, according to government estimates. Some analysts predict nationwide electricity use to rise as much as 20% in the next decade, with data centers a big reason.” (Fortune)

• See also: CTVR Newsfeed for September 14, 2025

Climate Science

‘Ghost forests’ could be key to understanding coastal resilience to climate change

“Rising sea levels are contributing to a phenomenon called “ghost forests,” which are groups of dead and dying standing trees that have been drowned by intruding saltwater. And all along the eastern U.S. where there used to be vibrant green trees, clusters of bare gray trunks appear. Now, researchers say studying how water cycles through ghost forests may hold the key to understanding how coastal forest ecosystems respond to climate change.” (Phys.org)

Everglades restoration also helps reduce the impacts of climate change, study finds

“The study concluded that carbon sequestration in the Everglades increased between 2003 and 2020 by 18%. The watershed is responsible for the drinking water of millions of Floridians and spans much of the state, encompassing the Kissimmee River, Lake Okeechobee, sawgrass marshes to the south and Florida Bay, at the peninsula’s southernmost tip. A $27 billion restoration effort is among the most ambitious of its kind in human history.” (The InvadingSea)

The Secret Of How Beaver Dams Help Earth

“New research shows beaver dams and wetlands in Switzerland are creating carbon sinks that trap up to 146 tons of greenhouse gases annually. Nearly hunted to extinction, Eurasian beavers have been reintroduced in the wild. Scientists estimate these restored environments could offset nearly 2% of Switzerland’s carbon output. The study suggests nature-based solutions like beaver restoration could play a significant role in fighting climate change.” (The Weather Channel)

How Carbon Sinks in Nature Fight Climate Change: Forests, Oceans, Forest Sinks & Blue Carbon Explained

“Forest sinks anchor Carbon Sinks in Nature on terrestrial landscapes, harboring over 650 billion tons of carbon—twice the atmosphere’s total. Mature trees act as long-term vaults, with trunks and branches accumulating 50-200 tons per hectare in ancient stands like those in the Amazon or Congo Basin. Soil layers beneath often double that figure, as roots, fallen leaves, and microbial activity bind carbon into humus that resists breakdown.” (Nature World News)

Climate Policy

Maryland high court rejects localities’ plea for climate change damages

“To hold the defendants responsible for foreign activity would necessarily require them to internalize the costs of climate change, which, in turn, would presumably affect the price and production of fossil fuels abroad,” Maryland Justice Brynja Booth wrote for the majority. “It would also bypass the various diplomatic channels that the United States uses to address this issue, such as the U.N. framework and the Paris agreement.” (Courthouse News Service)

Stressed US grid forcing data centers to get more flexible

“To ‌ease concerns about ⁠rising costs and power outages, data center investors and energy suppliers say the massive server warehouses will need to show that they can pull back on their energy use when utilities or grid operators ask them to, an electric industry practice known as “demand response.” “Demand response has to be part of the solution,” said Matt O’Connor, Chief Investment Officer of International Energy at Carlyle, which develops and invests in data centers.” (Reuters)

Legislation to provide climate change scholarships dies in Wisconsin

“The bills would, if enacted, have created a program to award “scholarships to resident students who are enrolled in an institution of higher education [in Wisconsin] and who are engaged in studies directly related to programs preparing the students for careers in occupational areas addressing or responding to climate change.” (National center for Science Education)

Vermont Hits Back at Trump’s Effort to Block ‘Climate Superfund’ Law

“The Justice Department and the state of Vermont faced off in a federal courtroom on Monday over the state’s landmark 2024 “climate superfund” law, which will require fossil fuel companies to pay for the mounting costs of climate change. The law would make fuel companies help pay for damages caused by climate change. The administration argues it’s unconstitutional. Vermont’s law takes its name from the federal Superfund program, created in the 1980s by requiring polluters to help pay to clean up land, such as old industrial sites, that has been contaminated with hazardous materials.” (The New York Times)

Climate Impact

‘It got everyone’s attention:’ Why fires in the Plains are a troubling signal

“Wildfires are ripping across the Great Plains, and other flare-ups are popping up in Arizona and Colorado remarkably early in the season...Pete Curran, a staff meteorologist for Watch Duty, a nonprofit that tracks wildfires live and sends updates to users in real time, and former chief of the Orange County Fire Department, put it bluntly: ‘We are scared s---less.’” (The Washington Post)

Farmers markets adjust as climate change extends growing season

“Across the globe, climate change is affecting water levels, insect populations and migration patterns, as well as growing conditions. Researchers with the International Food Policy Research Institute project suitable croplands for corn, potatoes, rice and wheat will shift radically within the next 25 years; in some cases, farmers will be forced to plant new crops. Closer to home, the effects are being felt in grocery stores and farmers markets. As seasons shift, farmers bring different foods to market, while grocers use industrial methods to extend seasonality.” (The Seattle Times)

Past CO₂ emissions may drive far bigger future economic losses

“Emissions tied to the production and use of oil between 1988 and 2015 by Saudi Aramco, the world’s single largest corporate emitter, resulted in $3 trillion in global damages by 2020, the study found. If those emissions remain in the atmosphere through the end of the century, the damage could rise more than 20-fold to $64 trillion.” (Phys.org)

Climate change is altering Saharan dust – and Europe is downwind

“The relationship between a warming planet and dust is complex. On one hand, rising temperatures dry out soils and accelerate desertification, making it far easier for wind to dislodge fine particles. For Europe, the impact is not just aesthetic. Saharan dust can substantially degrade air quality, pushing levels of invisible particulate matter beyond health guidelines. These fine particles, known as PM10, can penetrate deep into the lungs, triggering asthma and cardiovascular issues. In Spain and Italy, modelling studies suggest Saharan dust may account for up to 44% of deaths linked to PM10 pollution.” (The Conversation)

Carbon capture in rural South Africa: projects show how fighting climate change can create rural jobs – research

“We found that the rural carbon capture and storage projects we studied not only helped mitigate global warming. They also created lasting jobs and restored ecosystems. Our research also found that communities were more willing to participate in carbon capture and storage projects when they saw immediate livelihood gains.” (The Conversation)

England sewage spills nearly halved in 2025 due mostly to drier weather

“In 2025, there were 1.9 million hours of sewage spilled, compared to 3.6 million hours the year before. England, like the rest of the UK, has a combined sewage network which means that both rain and sewage enter the same system. Ageing infrastructure coupled with increased populations and more intense rainfall events due to climate change have pushed the system to its limit. Rainfall was 24% lower last year as the country experienced one of its driest starts to the year, even though the winter saw heavy rain.” (BBC.com)

The war in the Middle East continues to rage and all the while, our climate continues its inexorable change.

In addition to news from a listed climate tech company we cover, Origin Materials, we have a selection of sometimes horrifying, sometimes hopeful stories this week. I was particularly interested in academic research showing that plowing fields sets up the physical conditions that are perfect for flooding and soil erosion (see the Climate Impact section). One more reason for farmers to use no-till methods such as those discussed in our article Regenified Is Creating The Framework We Need To Save The Planet.

Climate Companies

West Sacramento bottle-cap manufacturer to cut staff by 'little more than half'

Origin Materials (ORGN) a company we featured in several articles (here and here) is struggling to cut costs as implementation of its PET bottle cap manufacturing lines is taking more time and money than it had originally expected. The company announced it would cut about half its California employees, equating to just over 35% of its global employees. The company announced this move will shrink operating expenses by around 25%.

Origin has developed revolutionary technology that enables plastic to be manufactured from wood chips. Building out production capacity for the bioplastics became much more expensive than the company planned, so the management team leveraged their understanding of plastics to switch gears. The firm developed a process to manufacture easy-to-recycle PET bottlecaps, a feat that had never before been acheived. Alas, it’s even hard to get this less ambitious business started. We are still rooting for the company and think that if it can scale this business, generate cash, and build out its biomaterials business, it is a company that could change the world. (MSN)

Climate Technology

Light-activated material offers new approach to carbon dioxide conversion

“Unlike other existing systems, the process does not require precious metals or added chemicals that are consumed during the reaction. It also avoids producing large amounts of hydrogen instead of useful carbon-based products. The new system uses only light, water and CO₂, and produces one single valuable product. Prof Sihai Yang, said, “Our research is still at a fundamental stage, but the findings provide a clear blueprint for designing next-generation catalysts that turn waste CO₂ into useful chemicals.” (Phys.org)

Using cow dung for sustainable carbon dioxide capture

“Cow dung is renewable in nature and available in large quantities daily in countries like India, where cattle are widely raised. In many rural areas, cow dung is commonly used as fertilizer and cooking fuel. In this study, it emerges as a high-value biomass precursor for producing advanced functional materials aimed at environmental remediation.” (Phys.org)

AI model improves flood forecasting with higher accuracy than current methods

“The knowledge-guided approach allows the model to learn from real-world data while still respecting the fundamental laws of hydrology,” said Vipin Kumar, Regents Professor in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering and a senior author on the papers. “This is not just about improving statistical accuracy. It is about providing reliable, actionable forecasts that emergency managers and forecasters can trust when making high-stakes decisions.” (Phys.org)

Carbon Capture Technology Is Helping This Pub Make Beer

“To curtail global warming, carbon dioxide will need to be managed like any other waste stream, and direct air capture will most likely play a role in that, said Matthew Realff, a chemical engineer at the Georgia Institute of Technology who is not involved with the brewery. “D.A.C. creates the option to not only address current and future emissions,” he said, “but also to address our historical additions of CO2 to the atmosphere.” (The New York Times)

Climate Science

Pig farms produce a strong gas that harms climate and ozone

“Once ammonia gas leaves pig farm buildings and manure piles, wind carries it downwind and drops it back onto nearby land. In soil, ammonia quickly converts into ammonium, a dissolved nitrogen form that microbes can readily use. Near large farms, this steady nitrogen input can gradually shift soil chemistry, even in nearby areas that remain uncultivated. As microbes process that extra nitrogen, they can produce nitrous oxide – a powerful greenhouse gas. Over a 100-year period, the United Nations estimates that nitrous oxide traps about 298 times more heat than carbon dioxide per pound.” (Earth.com)

The Planet’s Warning Signs Are Flashing Red

“For much of the 20th century, scientists warned that burning fossil fuels relentlessly would lead to an intense rise in global heat. But temperatures climbed only gradually at first, even though we use more fossil fuels each year. So many of the worst effects seemed distant and manageable.” (The New York Times)

How soil microbes may control the future of our planet

“One of the most potentially troubling findings was that during droughts, microbes managed to break down some of the most stable soil carbon that scientists previously thought was locked away in the ground for centuries. That means a warming planet could trigger a massive release of ancient carbon we once considered safe.” (Phys.org)

Groundbreaking climate change study says beavers have big impact

“By slowing water, trapping sediments, and expanding wetlands, the beavers turn streams into powerful carbon “sinks,” which are a key part of the planet’s carbon cycle. Carbon dioxide is the greenhouse gas most responsible for human-caused global warming.” (USA Today)

Climate Policy

Florida Legislature again blocks action on climate change

“The Legislature finds that net zero policies, carbon taxes and assessments, and emission trading programs are detrimental to this state’s energy security and economic interests and inconsistent with the energy policy and the environmental policy of this state,” the bill says. The Sierra Club calls it “one of the most sweeping and preemptive restrictions on local energy freedom in recent years. And it’s all at the behest of one really rich guy.” (Florida Phoenix)

24 States Sue E.P.A. Over Climate Change Decision

“The states are arguing that the Environmental Protection Agency acted illegally when it rescinded a 2009 scientific conclusion that carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases threaten public health and welfare. That determination, known as the endangerment finding, formed the legal basis for the E.P.A. to regulate emissions from automobile tailpipes, power plant smokestacks, oil and gas wells, and other sources.” (The New York Times)

Conflict in the Middle East underlines trend to shift away from fossil fuels, says climate change expert

“The reduction in global supply causes prices to go up,” said Kathryn Harrison, a political science professor at the University of British Columbia specializing in environmental and climate change policy. Harrison said the conflict in the Middle East highlights an underlying trend to shift away from fossil fuels. “Until we do, the world is just going to keep warming and that is going to be a source of a lot of pain and a lot of instability, in terms of unpredictable weather, wildfires, flooding, but also geopolitical instability,” said Harrison. (Capital Daily)

Climate Impact

Climate change intensified global heat exposure, study finds

“Nearly 225 million people experienced 30 or more days of risky heat linked to climate change, with 81 percent of those affected living in Africa. The analysis states that human-induced warming-primarily driven by the burning of coal, oil and methane gas-has increased both the frequency and intensity of extreme heat globally” (The Himalayan Times)

Carbon dioxide levels are higher than humans have ever experienced. It could be changing our blood chemistry

“Average blood bicarbonate levels have increased by 7% since 1999, closely tracking the rise of in atmospheric carbon dioxide over the same period, according to the study, published last month in the journal Air Quality, Atmosphere and Health. If these trends continue, bicarbonate in human blood could “reach unhealthy levels” within the next 50 years, the study concluded.” (CNN)

Climate Change Is Exacerbating Africa’s Health Challenges

“Climate change is driving cholera cases in various African countries, particularly in Mozambique, which was hit by two tropical cyclones earlier this year that caused widespread flooding, according to Dr Yap Boum of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention. Meanwhile, two tropical cyclones in Madagascar resulted in the deaths of 600 people, the displacement of 180,000 others and the destruction of over 120,000 houses. Madagascar is one of the countries worst-affected by cyclones in Africa, and the intensity of these is increasing with climate change.” (Health Policy watch)

Earthquake scientists reveal how overplowing weakens soil at experimental farm

“Tiling is supposed to create holes for water to reach the roots of plants but it breaks these small channels in the soil instead, causing rain to pool on the surface and form a muddy crust. Over time, this can increase erosion and flood risk. The researchers observed this phenomenon in detail using seismological methods.” (Phys.org)

Why some regions are winning the fight against groundwater depletion

“Aquifers are like groundwater bank accounts replenished by deposits from rain, snowmelt and surface infiltration. Right now, there are a lot of dangerously low balances. We can address these by changing our lifestyle and consumption; in other words, enacting policies and creating infrastructure to reduce the demand on groundwater. We can also get a side hustle. Alternative water sources can offset groundwater demand or even be deposited back into our account through aquifer recharge.” (Phys.org)

Another busy week in climate news. As war pushes oil prices higher, reminding us how fragile global energy systems can be, researchers are exploring everything from experimental ocean carbon removal to fungi that may influence cloud formation. New studies suggest global warming may be accelerating, while communities are already feeling the consequences—from overheating cities to the stark contrast of drought in Somalia and flooding in neighboring Kenya.

Climate Technology

Scientists pump 65,000 liters of chemicals into the ocean to stop global warming

“In theory, the novel approach could solve two problems at once by locking away excess CO2 from the atmosphere and diluting the oceans’ rising acidity. With approval from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and engagement with local fishers, scientists from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution poured alkaline chemicals into the ocean 50 miles (80 km) off the Massachusetts coast. They then used cutting–edge technology, including autonomous gliders, long–range autonomous underwater vehicles and shipboard sensors to track the spreading chemicals. Over the next few days, the scientists measured 10 tons of carbon entering the water as the pH increased from 7.95 to 8.3 – matching pre–industrial levels.” (MSN.com)

Climate Science

Fantastic fungi found with ability to freeze water

“If we learn how to cheaply produce enough of this fungal protein, then we could put that into clouds and make cloud seeding much safer,” said Boris Vinatzer, professor in the School of Plant and Environmental Sciences.” (Phys.org)

Regenerative grazing study reveals trade-offs for sheep farmers

“Some farmers increase their soil carbon to reduce emissions. But we found that increased methane emissions by having more animals on their land offset the reduction in carbon dioxide emissions associated with improved soil carbon,” Professor Harrison said.” (Phys.org)

Earth’s days are getting longer due to climate change: study

“Researchers say rising sea levels caused by melting ice are slowing the planet’s rotation, stretching the length of day by tiny fractions of a second. While the change is almost impossible to feel in daily life, scientists say the rate at which it’s happening is unlike anything seen in millions of years.” (CTV News)

Why global warming is accelerating and what it means for the future

“Temperatures over the past three years have been even higher than expected, provoking a debate among scientists. Almost everyone agrees that global warming has accelerated. But some researchers say it is speeding up even more than climate models show, while others argue that the surge in temperatures is due to natural fluctuations that will soon go away. Depending on who is right, we could have even less time than we thought to avoid or adapt to catastrophic impacts.” (New Scientist)

Everglades Restoration Also Helps Save the Planet from Climate Change, Study Finds

“The study concluded that carbon sequestration in the Everglades increased between 2003 and 2020 by 18 percent. The watershed is responsible for the drinking water of millions of Floridians and spans much of the state, encompassing the Kissimmee River, Lake Okeechobee, sawgrass marshes to the south and Florida Bay, at the peninsula’s southernmost tip.” (Inside Climate News)

Climate Policy

Climate policies: The swing voters that determine their fate

“Among those surveyed, 36% are supporters, in favor of most climate proposals, and 21% are opposers, largely against climate proposals. But, a large group, 33% of respondents, are the conditional middle, who are much more flexible, form their opinion based on the individual climate policy itself, and do not have a predetermined disposition for or against it.” (Phys.org)

Policy interactions reshape the outcomes of carbon pricing policies

“With 51 countries now implementing carbon pricing, approximately 28% of global emissions are affected. In the absence of evidence-based guidance on policy mix design, there is a substantial risk that the mitigation potential of carbon pricing will not be fully realized. Without a systematic understanding of these interactions, governments risk deploying ‘cluttered’ portfolios that weaken price signals, drain public coffers and undermine market credibility.” (Nature Climate Change)

Former defense leaders say oil wars threaten our security, and climate change deepens the danger

“We call on the Australian government to accelerate the transition to clean, domestic energy. Rapidly expanding renewable energy – including wind, solar, batteries, hydro and renewable fuels produced in Australia – and electrifying our transport system with home-grown energy will strengthen Australia’s security, reduce exposure to global energy shocks and help limit the escalating risks driven by climate change.” (Pearls and Irritations)

Why scrapping Labour’s climate change policies has made the oil crisis worse

“But in the midst of an oil crisis where the fragility of international supply lines and the instability of the Middle East is on full display you would wish that our Government had started weaning us off oil, rather than increasing our dependence, even if this also has a beneficial effect on our climate response. As an example dumping the clean car discount scheme. Labour’s scheme was dramatically improving the sustainability of the country’s car fleet. When National trashed the scheme the number of electric vehicles coming into the country plummeted.” (The Standard)

Climate Impact

What Colorado’s mountain lakes can tell scientists about climate change

“According to Farruggia, this type of monitoring and data could help answer questions about how this winter’s historically low snowpack in Colorado could impact mountain lakes. “For example, we found that some lakes in this dataset are strongly influenced by precipitation, and will be especially sensitive to an extreme snowpack, meaning they will likely experience more change as a result of an extreme snowpack,” she said. “Insights like this can help natural resource managers understand which ecosystems may be most at risk and adapt their management for a changing climate.” (Postindependent.com)

London homes overheating due to climate change, experts warn

“Extreme heat is becoming an increasing issue in London, with more than a 10th of the 3,271 UK-wide heat-related deaths in 2022 in the capital, according to City Hall. It says this is due to the city’s increasing density of buildings and roads leading to the “urban heat island” effect. City Hall is currently drafting London’s Heat Risk Delivery Plan, which could include “cool spaces” around the city, thousands of water refill points and plans to plant thousands more trees.” (BBC.com)

Under the same sky, climate change brings drought to Somalia and floods to Kenya

“In large parts of Somalia, drought grips communities that have faced years of failed rains. Wells are shrinking, grazing land has turned brittle and many families rely on aid deliveries. But a few hundred kilometres to the south, a different kind of disaster is unfolding. In Kenya, heavy rains have triggered floods that have swept through villages, submerged roads and killed residents in low-lying areas. While one country prays for rain, their neighbours pray for it to stop.” (rfi)

See also our article Two Tales of One City

Climate Change Is Fueling A Chronic Health Crisis

“According to Dialogue Earth, local organizers in Zhuhai, China, started hearing the same thing again and again from residents: their arthritis pain got worse when stormy weather rolled in. What sounds like a small community pattern now connects to a much bigger global warning. A study cited in the reporting found a major rise in arthritis worldwide between 1990 and 2020, while other researchers have linked climate pressure to asthma, allergies, and other inflammatory conditions.” (One Green Planet)

From underwater data centers powered by integrated wind turbines to sending desalinated water from California to Las Vegas and Phoenix—it is clear that climate tech ventures are trying to square the circle of resource overuse.

But the story that stood out to me the most this week was a scientific paper estimating that our carbon emissions are twice what the carrying capacity of our planet will bear. In 1972, a report called “Limits to Growth” attempted to model our planet’s economic and ecological system using the state-of-the-art computing power at the time. The report estimated that, on the pace we were at that time, civilization was headed for a population collapse sometime around the mid 21st century, driven by resource overuse and, crucially, an excess of pollution.

Close to home, in Erik’s part of the world—the Upper Midwest of North America—spring temperatures that are several degrees warmer than historical due to climate change threaten damaging weather. In Virginia’s neck of the woods—East Africa—climate change-attributed flooding is giving rise to increased cases of serious diseases.

Climate Technology

Floating Wind Turbines Host Data Centers Underwater

“San Francisco–based offshore wind-power developer Aikido Technologies... announced its plans to start housing data centers in the underwater tanks that keep its turbine platforms afloat. The turbines will supply the power for the servers, and onboard batteries and grid connection will provide backup.” (IEEE Spectrum)

How California could use desalination to help with Colorado River woes

“With desert cities like Phoenix and Tucson bracing for their allotments of Colorado River water to be slashed dramatically, San Diego County’s water agency could for the first time sell some of its water to other states by drawing on its ample supplies from the nation’s largest desalination plant.” (Los Angeles Times)

Climate Science

Carbon emissions now more than double the planetary boundary, analysis finds

“Earth is not infinite. Pollution beyond certain levels threatens the climate and ecosystems. To prevent this, scientists have proposed planetary boundaries, defining the safe operating limits of the Earth system... ‘When carbon emissions are compared using the same framework as nitrogen pollution, the severity of climate change becomes much clearer...’” (Phys.org)

Ocean temperatures may be protecting Earth from a planet-wide drought

“Ocean temperature patterns help prevent droughts from striking the entire planet at the same time. By creating shifting regional drought ‘hubs,’ climate cycles like El Niño limit global crop risk and may provide early warning signals for food security.” (ScienceDaily)

The “Wet-Gets-Wetter” Response to Climate Change Does Not Always Apply

“On very large scales, the precipitation response to warming is sometimes summarized as the “wet gets wetter and the dry gets drier.” A recent scientific paper by Sokol, et al. suggests that this pattern might not hold true for some regions, especially the Walker circulation in the Western and Eastern Pacific. (Eos.org)

Microbes hitchhiking on marine snow could limit how deep carbon sinks

“The findings, which appear this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, could explain how calcium carbonate dissolves in shallow layers of the ocean, where scientists had assumed it should remain intact. The results could also change scientists’ understanding of how quickly the ocean can sequester carbon from the atmosphere.” (Phys.org)

How farming perennial plants can help us in times of climate change, food insecurity and social division

“Perennial plants invest more energy in developing their root systems than their annual counterparts, allowing them to regenerate and persist. Not only can they be an abundant source of food, the way they are grown minimizes climate-warming emissions.” (Phys.org)

Climate Policy

California pushes for statewide water-conservation plan in fight against climate change

“Climate change is reshaping life in California through historic droughts and record storms that threaten the farms that feed the nation, communities that depend on reliable water, and the environment we all share,” Gov. Gavin Newsom said in a news release on Feb. 25. “The 2028 Water Plan is a commitment to every Californian that we will capture, store, and conserve the water our state — the 4th largest economy in the world — needs to thrive, no matter what climate change throws at us.” (Times of San Diego)

Climate change education legislation in Virginia advances further

“Specifically, the bill would require the board to “make available to each local school board instructional materials on climate change and environmental literacy that are based on and include peer-reviewed scientific sources” and also to “develop, adopt, and make available to each model school board model policies and procedures ... pertaining to the selection of instructional materials on climate change and environmental literacy.” (National Center for Science Education)

Reaching net zero by 2050 ‘cheaper for UK than one fossil fuel crisis’

“Renewable energy is much more efficient than fossil fuels, as well as being more difficult for foreign governments to interrupt. People will also benefit from warmer homes, cleaner air, more active travel and healthier diets, with less red meat – representing about £2bn to £8bn in savings a year to the NHS and individuals.” (The Guardian)

Climate Impact

Climate change is worsening water crisis for Canada’s largest First Nations population

“Six Nations of the Grand River is one of the most highly populated Indigenous communities in Canada with around 29,000 residents. A primary source of water is from the McKenzie Creek... According to a recent study, Ontario’s McKenzie Creek watershed is likely to face increasing levels of water scarcity throughout the rest of the century.” (Great lakes Now)

Human-caused climate change fuels early spring heat contributing to increasing severe weather risk across the central United States

“March is coming in like a lion across the central and eastern U.S. with severe weather and widespread abnormal warmth. Climate Central analysis shows that the unusually warm early springtime temperatures forecast for March 6, up to 34°F above-average across the Upper Midwest, are at least twice as likely due to human-caused climate change. The climate change-fueled spring warmth will also help increase the risk for severe weather across the Central Plains, potentially leading to strong thunderstorms, large hail, and tornadoes.” (Climate Central)

Climate change may not end skiing. But it will make it more exclusive

“Each winter, locals and tourists together support a sector that accounts for roughly €12 billion (about £10 billion) – that’s 0.5% of Italy’s national GDP, and a far higher percentage of the economy in mountain regions. Winter sports have become a major employer, as communities that once depended on seasonal farming and agriculture have progressively shifted to tourism. Yet the climate conditions that made this possible are changing.” (The Conversation)

Climate Change Alters Tanzania’s Disease Landscape: Rising Health Threats

“The changing weather patterns are already triggering a surge in respiratory infections after floods, alongside outbreaks of dengue fever, cholera and malaria — even in regions that once rarely experienced such diseases. In late February, Tanzania’s health authorities urged the public to exercise caution as cases of respiratory infections, including influenza and COVID-19, began rising alongside mosquito-borne dengue fever.” (Down To Earth)

As the Iran conflict pushes oil prices higher, energy security is once again dominating the conversation. Higher prices can dampen demand at the margins, which may slow emissions temporarily. But market shocks are not the same as structural decarbonization.

Writing this from Kenya, where fuel costs quickly filter into transport and food prices, the impact of energy price volatility is visceral. Yet climate pressures continue to tighten regardless of oil markets. This week’s updates reflect that tension: technological advances in geothermal and batteries, deeper scientific insight into carbon storage and wildfire risk, and mounting evidence of health and disaster impacts. Markets react. The climate system moves inexorably in the direction of the forces acting on it.

Climate Technology

Lasers and drones assess health of world forests and help track climate change

“By providing ground-based measurements, this work is also helping improve satellite-based forest monitoring, which is used to track how forests are responding to climate change. Satellite missions can use the study’s benchmark data to refine their algorithms and improve global biomass mapping.” (Phys.org)

See also our article about a company using satellites to measure forest health: Space Intelligence Brings Rigor To Forest-Based Carbon Credits

Earth’s heat to produce electricity for homes in UK clean energy first

‘This project is a genuine game-changer. For the first time, we’re tapping into ‘always-on’ green power in the UK, providing a steady stream of clean, home-grown energy,’ said an Octopus spokesperson.” (BBC News)

See also our article about this US company that uses AI to revolutionize the discovery of geothermal energy: Digging Deep for Clean Energy

Technological improvements in EV batteries offset climate-induced durability challenges

“Electric vehicles (EVs) are key to transportation decarbonization, yet their battery performance and longevity are vulnerable to temperature extremes, which will be affected by climate change. Battery technology advancements moderate this vulnerability, a dynamic rarely captured in technology assessments under future climates. “ (Nature Climate Change)

See also our article about an Ohio-based company that has a novel solution to both recycling lithium-ion batteries and building better ones: Xerion: Out Of Stealth Mode With A Major Battery Breakthrough

Climate Science

With the Ocean Included, the Social Cost of Carbon Doubles

“Climate change is having a clear effect on ocean elements, regardless of whether those elements are included in calculating the social cost of carbon. As greenhouse gas emissions rise, marine chemistry is changing, and oceans are heating up, leading to interrelated phenomena, including ocean acidification, a loss of coral reefs, extreme weather events, and ecological imbalances. “ (Eos)

• See also our article explaining the social cost of carbon: The Cost To Civilization Of Mispricing Carbon Is Enormous

Ants capture carbon dioxide from the air and turn it into armour

“Fungus-farming ants forage for vegetation to feed cultivated fungi that are grown inside their colonies. In turn, the fungi serve as the primary food source for the ants. The high density of ants and fungi can result in high concentrations of CO2 inside the nests.” (New Scientist)

Heat relief means higher emissions: How air conditioning complicates 1.5°C goals

“As global temperatures rise, we risk being locked into an ‘arms race’ where defending ourselves against extreme heat is causing the issue to get worse. The world must transition quickly to cleaner, more efficient cooling technologies—while ensuring fair access to cooling, especially for vulnerable populations.” (Phys.org)

Modern twist on wildfire management methods has a bonus feature that protects water supplies

“One way to limit the risk and severity of wildfires is forest thinning, where foresters shred and mulch small trees, shrubs, and dense understory brush, create gaps between tree crowns, and remove those species least resistant to fire. This can simultaneously promote biodiversity by admitting light into the understory and increase habitat complexity.” (Phys.org)

Permafrost is key to carbon storage. That makes northern wildfires even more dangerous

“‘It’s a call that we really have to take this seriously—the more fires there are, the more rapidly permafrost is going to thaw,’ Mack said. ‘Maybe we need to think about slowing down these natural fires. It would buy us time while we figure out other solutions to decarbonize the atmosphere.’” (Phys.org)

Climate Policy

Virginia just took a big step toward confronting climate change

“Under this multi-state market-based program, power plants must buy an allowance for every ton of carbon they emit. The supply of allowances decreases over time. The revenues generated by Virginia’s sale of these allowances flow back to the state to fund energy efficiency programs for low-income households and projects to make communities more resilient to floods.” (Southern Environmental Law Center)

Helping Trees—and a City—Outrace Climate Change

“In Louisville, assisted migration involves planting tree species native to the area, such as the mighty bur oak, which can grow to over 100 feet tall, but sourcing them from further south and west in their North American range. Some species are different there, more suited to a hotter and harsher environment.” (Inside Climate News

Climate Impact

Climate change fueled deadly rainstorms in Morocco, Iberia

“‘This is exactly what climate change looks like: weather patterns that used to be more manageable are now turning into more dangerous disasters,’ said Friederike Otto, a climate scientist at Imperial College London who also worked on the study.’” (The New Arab)

Human-caused climate change increases ‘fire weather days’, scientists say

“In 1979 and for the next 15 years, the world averaged 22 synchronous fire weather days a year for flames that stayed within large global regions, the study found. In 2023 and 2024, it was up to more than 60 days a year… The researchers didn’t look at actual fires, but the weather conditions: warm, with strong winds and dry air and ground.” (The Star)

Climate Change Doesn’t Just Disrupt Ecosystems: It Harms Human Health Too

“[E]nvironmental harm has serious, documented health effects. From the lungs to the heart, these poor outcomes fall on historically marginalized groups… It should come as no surprise then, that climate change causes adverse health outcomes for racialized communities; in India, the United States, Canada, and beyond.” (The Concordian)

Reading through news stories this week, I can’t help but think that the climate landscape looks like a wrestling match between nature, technology, infrastructure, and political will.

Writing this in Kenya adds poignancy to my perspective on this epochal struggle. The long rainy season has arrived earlier than expected, disrupting the timing of crop planting with heavy rainfall and flood risk across several regions.

And while we are drowning in the south, parts of northern Kenya continue to face severe drought pressure. Climate change here in Africa is not a distant projection, but a daily balancing act between too much and too little.

Climate Companies

Veolia Launches Workforce Academy to Address Water Sector Talent Gap

A company we covered here on CTVR, Veolia, a multinational environmental services company, has launched an online training platform designed to help build the next generation of water and wastewater professionals called the Veolia Workforce Academy. Veolia says its initiative is prompted by a growing labor shortage in U.S. water utilities, where more than 30% of workers are nearing retirement age and the industry needs over 10,000 new workers annually. The move signals how climate adaptation increasingly depends on human capital, not just hardware, as utilities modernize aging systems and scale resilience.

You can learn more about Veolia’s Workforce Academy here. Read about a Veolia municipal solar projects in Municipalities Love Solar Farms Even If Trump Doesn’t and about the market for desalination infrastructure (where Veolia is a major player) in Investing In The Life-Saving Technology Of Desalination.

Climate Technology

AI Data Centers Study High-Temperature Superconductors

“Microsoft...is extolling the potential virtues of high-temperature superconductors (HTS) as a replacement for copper wiring. According to the company, HTS can improve energy efficiency by reducing transmission losses, increasing the resiliency of electrical grids, and limiting the impact of data centers on communities by reducing the amount of space required to move power. (IEEE Spectrum)

Read our coverage of one company competing in the HTS space in Transitioning To A Smarter Grid: AMSC

AI data centre surge would put UK’s climate change targets at risk

“The data centres needed to power the government’s artificial intelligence revolution would use more electricity than the entire country consumes at its peak...Ofgem, the energy regulator, has disclosed that about 140 data centres have come forward for grid connections, requiring 50 gigawatts of capacity at peak time. By contrast, Britain’s peak demand on a recent day was 45GW.” (The Times)

Big Tech will only partly dissolve AI water risk

“The Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory...estimated that U.S. data centres directly consumed around 66 billion litres in 2023, whereas the indirect effect through energy consumption was 800 billion litres. (Reuters)

Read our coverage of a company that circulates water in closed systems to drastically reduce the amount of cooling water needed then uses the waste heat to provide warmth to surrounding communities in Nexalus has a Cool Solution to Lower Data Center Energy Consumption

Spain Leans on Gas to Stabilize Grid After Historic Blackout

“In late April 2025, the worst blackout Europe has ever seen in modern times, when Spain and Portugal were left without electricity for hours, was a wake-up call for the EU – and the rest of the world – that regardless of booming renewable energy capacity installations, power supply will not be secure unless grids are capable and flexible enough to accommodate clean energy and meet rising demand.” (OilPrice.com)

• Read our article, What The Spanish Blackout Says About Renewable Energy In The U.S.

Study reveals hidden climate impact of digital industries

A new study...shows that digital industries [N.B. hardware, IT services, and communications infrastructure] were responsible for about 4.1% of global greenhouse gas emissions in 2021. The bulk of these emissions were not captured by existing emissions accounting standards or official climate assessments. (Phys.org)

Turning high-emissions waste into fertilizer: Catalyst boosts urea production by coupling CO₂ with nitrogen pollutants

“UNSW [University of New South Wales, Australia] engineers have tackled a longstanding problem at the heart of global agriculture: how to make urea for fertilizer without the intensity of emissions associated with fossil-fuel-powered factories.” (Phys.org)

Climate Science

Climate change is accelerating but nature is slowing down

“The rate at which species are replaced in local habitats, known as “turnover,” has not increased. Instead, it has slowed significantly. Dr. Emmanuel Nwankwo, the study’s lead author, described the shift this way: ‘Nature functions like a self-repairing engine, constantly swapping out old parts for new ones. But we found this engine is now grinding to a halt.’” (ScienceDaily)

Extreme events and river biodiversity under climate change

“The impacts of Extreme Climate Events (ECEs) in rivers are often exacerbated by underlying or interacting stressors, such as land-use change or pollution, and can intensify, or be intensified by, biological invasions. Recovery from ECEs can vary widely from weeks to multiple years, if ever, depending on the specifics of the event and the biodiversity metric of interest.” (Nature Reviews Biodiversity)

Aerosols can make clouds cool: Climate change in the Arctic

“To be clear, the warming effect of greenhouse gases is larger than the cooling effect of aerosols on clouds, but if it was not for aerosols, Earth would be even warmer than it already is... [aerosols] don’t travel the planet and linger in the atmosphere for years or centuries like gases. Instead, aerosols may remain airborne for less than a week, so their effects are primarily local.” (Times of San Diego)

Climate Policy

EPA Sued to Stop It From Abandoning Climate Change Regulation

“This suit is likely the first of several to challenge the agency’s actions. State attorneys general for Massachusetts and Colorado also immediately threatened legal action after President Donald Trump and EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin made the joint repeal announcement last week.” (NOTUS – News of the United States)

Trump claims his pollution rollback will save Americans money – but climate change is raising household costs

“When Trump announced he was revoking the US’s 2009 “endangerment finding”, which set out how greenhouse gas buildup harms human health and wellbeing, he said the move would save Americans “trillions of dollars”. But climate change shows up directly in household budgets as pressures converge. These pressures could include insurance becoming unaffordable or even unavailable, which can then have knock-on effects on property values. On top of that, utility costs can creep up, wages may become less reliable, and retirement savings are exposed to climate-driven shocks.” (The Conversation)

How killing the endangerment finding will hurt the AI industry

“Taking out endangerment...basically guts the ability of the Environmental Protection Agency to issue or enforce regulations to limit greenhouse gases from factories and manufacturing plants to automobiles... But aside from some minor impacts on auto companies,... most of what Trump’s move does is simply paralyze the manufacturing industry—including future data centers—with legal uncertainty.” (Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists)

U.S. Tells International Energy Agency to Drop Its Focus on Climate Change

“‘We don’t need a net zero scenario, that’s ridiculous, it’s not going to happen,’ Mr. Wright, a former gas executive, said on Tuesday at a side event during the agency’s annual meeting of energy ministers in Paris. He said he wanted the agency to ‘focus on energy security,’ but added that ‘if they insist that it’s so dominated and infused with climate stuff, then we’re out.’” (The New York Times)

Adapting to Climate Change across Canada

“While Canada cannot meaningfully influence the nature or pace of global climate change, Canadians can take adaptive actions to minimize and manage its likely impacts within Canada. This study looks at what adaptation may look like through examples in Canadian provinces that have dealt with climate-change-like extreme weather events in the past.” (Fraser Institute)

Climate Impact

America’s health will decline with repeal of climate change finding

“For Illinois alone, this decision could amount to $29 billion dollars in health harms in the next 30 years, according to an analysis by the Environmental Defense Fund... This will mean premature deaths, asthma attacks, emergency room and hospital admissions and lost days of school and work. For the United States, the human toll could reach up to $500 billion. This is not the kind of legacy that leads to greatness.” (Chicago Sun-Times)

Valencia’s deadly flood still haunts Spain. Would it have happened in a fossil fuel-free world?

“A new study, published in the science journal Nature Communications, has found that human-made climate change from burning fossil fuels made Valencia’s flooding worse. [The researchers] concluded that there was a 21 per cent increase in the rainfall rate over a critical six-hour period, a 56 per cent increase in the area with rainfall more than 180 millimetres, and a 19 per cent increase in total rainfall in the Júcar River basin due to rising temperatures.” (Euro News)

Heat, drought and division: Climate change in the borderlands

“Overextraction of central water sources, including the Colorado River and Rio Grande, is having significant impacts on the agricultural and livestock sectors… Unsustainable water usage has led to the Colorado River Basin losing 27.8 million acre-feet of groundwater since 2005, and the Rio Grande’s natural flow has been depleted by 85%.” (Mexico News Daily)

Grasslands Could Shrink by Half As Climate Change Intensifies

“Grasslands supporting over one billion grazing animals could shrink by 36–50% by the end of the century due to climate change, threatening global food systems. Low-income countries, particularly in Africa, will be hardest hit, jeopardizing food security, livelihoods, and the global livestock industry.” (Earth.org)

This week, we responded to readers’ suggestions and changed the way we are arranging our stories. Starting this week, everything is in four sections—Climate Tech, Climate Science, Climate Policy, and Climate Impact—please let us know how you like the new structure! We are continuing to build on this framework and have some exciting additions planned for the near future. Stay tuned!

In Climate Tech, I kept thinking about how much of the conversation has shifted from innovation to endurance. Renewables, batteries, and grid upgrades are moving forward, but extreme weather keeps reminding us that the infrastructure we’re building to solve the problem is also exposed to it. There’s something sobering about realizing that resilience is becoming just as important as speed.

The Climate Science stories carried a weight of their own this week. From offshore wind altering ocean currents to the Amazon briefly turning into a carbon source during drought, the research felt less theoretical and more like a running commentary on a system already under strain. Even the heatwave discussions had that sense of urgency that’s hard to ignore once you sit with the data.

Policy coverage was harder to read without a reaction. Hearing about the endangerment finding being set aside honestly stopped me for a moment, and the debates around AI’s climate claims and workforce education made me think about how unevenly the transition is unfolding, depending on where you look.

And in Climate Impact, the stories hit closer to the ground. Wildfires, biodiversity risks for businesses, and the growing likelihood of dust storms in the Eastern Mediterranean weren’t abstract warnings; they felt like reminders that adaptation is already happening, whether we’re ready or not.

What stayed with me most this week was how interconnected everything felt. The science informs the tech, the policy shapes the pace, and the impacts are already visible. It no longer feels like separate conversations; it feels like one long, evolving story.

Climate Tech

Do Renewables Make Climate Change Worse?

“The kernel of truth is simple: extreme weather is hitting renewable projects hard. Hailstorms shred solar panels, wildfires threaten transmission lines, and heatwaves stress grids that now carry more variable generation. Insurers and project developers are rightly worried. But these are climate impacts on renewables, not climate impacts caused by renewables. The weather is punishing the infrastructure we are building to fix the problem.” (EVWorld.com)

Ford Will Make a Play for a Different Battery Market

“Converting the factory might help Ford avoid the costs of maintaining an unused plant and tap into the fast-growing demand for storage batteries. “I’m confident that they can compete,” Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, a Democrat, said in an interview. “The demand is enormous.” (New York Times)

See also CTVR’s coverage of an innovative battery company with a non-lithium-ion chemistry that I especially like for grid storage: EnerVenue: The Batteries We Need For Grid-Scale Storage

The rate case for grid resilience: Why climate change isn’t just about storms

“As heat and precipitation baselines shift, they create a “silent derating” of grid assets — eroding efficiency, increasing fault rates and driving up operating expenditures long before a named storm ever makes landfall…Under a ‘business as usual’ climate scenario (RCP 8.5), climate hazards threaten to erode 30.57% of the portfolio’s gross value by 2050.” (Utility Dive)

Climate Science

Extreme rainfall is worsening algal blooms along South Korea’s coast

“This process is known as eutrophication, a term describing the enrichment of water with nutrients that stimulate plant and algal growth. Algae form the base of marine food webs, but excessive growth can lead to harmful algal blooms that can deplete oxygen in the water, release toxins, and disrupt fisheries and marine life.” (Phys.org)

Offshore wind farms change ocean current patterns, simulations show

“By 2050, offshore wind power capacity in the North Sea is set to increase more than tenfold. Researchers at the Helmholtz Center Hereon have analyzed the long-term overall impact of this large number of wind farms on the hydrodynamics of the North Sea for the first time. They found that the current pattern could change on a large scale. The study highlights approaches for minimizing potential risks to the environment at an early stage.” (Phys.org)

Amazon rainforest flipped to carbon source during 2023 extreme drought, study shows

“‘[W]e calculated that the Amazon became a source of carbon emissions in 2023; it released between 10 and 170 million tons of carbon, rather than absorbing it,’ says group leader Dr. Botia and first author of the study published in the journal AGU Advances.” (Phys.org)

Global Heatwaves Intensifying – Climate Change’s Role in Extreme Temperatures

“Extreme temperatures in global heatwaves push human physiology to its limits, particularly when conditions exceed wet-bulb temperatures of 35°C, where sweat evaporation—the body’s primary cooling mechanism—ceases to function effectively.” (Nature World News)

See also CTVR’s explanation of wet-bulb temperature: But It's a Dry Heat

Climate Policy

The EPA revokes a key legal underpinning in fighting climate change

“Environmental groups described the move as the single biggest attack in U.S. history against federal authority to address climate change. Evidence backing up the endangerment finding has only grown stronger in the 17 years since it was approved, they said.” (The Associated Press)

Obama says US ‘less safe’ after Trump repeals landmark climate finding

“Today, the Trump administration repealed the endangerment finding: the ruling that served as the basis for limits on tailpipe emissions and power plant rules,” Obama said in a statement on X. ‘Without it, we’ll be less safe, less healthy and less able to fight climate change — all so the fossil fuel industry can make even more money.’” (USA Today)

Is AI really fighting climate change? Experts weigh in on big tech’s ‘greenwashing’

“In reality, generative AI models have led to an increasing surge in data centers, which in turn guzzling high water and energy demands…According to a study published in the journal Patterns, data centres alone may have emitted between 32.6 million and 79.7 million tonnes of carbon dioxide in 2025, which is roughly equivalent to the annual emissions of a small European country.” (The News International)

The greening of career education: US students learn new skills as climate crisis intensifies

“Even as Donald Trump declares climate change a “hoax” and cuts funding to fight it, school systems in both blue and red states are adding classes in fields like clean energy and infusing environmental sustainability lessons in construction, culinary and other career pathways, as part of an effort to prepare students for a workplace altered by climate change.” (The Guardian)

Climate Impact

Climate change set the stage for devastating wildfires in Argentina and Chile, study finds

“January blazes in Chile killed 23, destroyed over 1,000 structures, and burned 174 square miles in Argentina, including a UNESCO World Heritage site. Argentina’s budget cuts to firefighting under President Javier Milei may have weakened the country’s ability to respond to the crisis.” (Los Angeles Times)

Nature loss could spell extinction for businesses

“A major new report…by Ipbes (Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services), is based on contributions from leading scientists and approved by 150 governments. Businesses can either lead the way or ‘ultimately risk extinction... both of species in nature, but potentially also their own’, said co-author Matt Jones, from the UN World Conservation Monitoring Centre in Cambridge.” (BBC News)

Climate change likely to bring more dust storms, earlier in the year, expert says

“A Hebrew University expert warned Monday that dust storms like those that carpeted Israel over the weekend are likely to become more common and start earlier as a result of climate change.” (The Times of Israel)

This week’s stories highlight how climate change is reshaping both natural systems and the infrastructure that supports daily life. On Wednesday, February 4, just before the Milan Cortina 2026 Olympics opening ceremony was held, an article caught our eye that showed how rising temperatures are steadily narrowing the number of cities capable of hosting the Winter Olympics.

On Friday, February 6, there was a story in Scientific American about AI-based monitoring tools being used by utilities to reduce wildfire risks by improving detection along transmission lines. This ties into research we have published in the past—See that story below for links to our research about two innovative U.S. climate tech firms.

Two of our contributors are African, so the story on Sunday, February 8 about an academic study connecting recent El Niño conditions to rapid sea-level increases along African coastlines, stood out to us and underscored how short-term climate variability can amplify longer-term trends.

On Monday, February 9, we found a story warning that climate change could significantly reduce areas suitable for livestock farming by the end of the century. See that story for a worrying link to another article we featured in the January 25 CTVR Update.

I died a little inside when I started hearing that the White House was preparing to set aside the “Endangerment Finding.” You can read about that in the stories from Tuesday, February 10.

Across regions and sectors, the stories point to a shared reality: climate change is steadily influencing how infrastructure performs, how economies plan, and how societies prepare for the future.

We are also adding hashtags to our stories to help you get to the news in which you’re most interested. Leave us a comment to let us know if this is helpful!

Wednesday, February 4

Climate change threatens the Winter Olympics—even snowmaking won’t save it - Scientific American

#ClimateImpact

“The average daytime temperature of Winter Games host cities in February has increased steadily since those first events in Chamonix, rising from 33 degrees Fahrenheit (0.4 Celsius) in the 1920s-1950s to 46 F (7.8 C) in the early 21st century.” 

Forest soils increasingly extract methane from the atmosphere, long-term study reveals – Phys.org

#ClimateScience

“…forest soils in southwestern Germany absorb large amounts of methane from the atmosphere—especially when annual rainfall decreases and temperatures rise.”

Trump Administration Is Delaying Hundreds of Wind and Solar Projects - The New York Times

#ClimatePolicy

“…the wind farm soon became a casualty of President Trump’s efforts to slow — and sometimes revoke — federal approvals for wind and solar projects. A key environmental review of Jackalope [N.B. large wind farm project] by the Interior Department was stalled for months, and the project is now effectively dead. Similar stories are unfolding nationwide.”

Thursday, February 5

Maps show where winter has been harshest and when it will get warmer - The Washington Post

#ClimateScience

“Across the planet, about 75 percent of land and ocean has experienced above-average temperatures this winter, excluding a swath from Alaska to Canada and the northern contiguous states where the cold has been vicious.”

Goodbye EV sales mandate, hello purchase rebates. Carney shakes up Canada’s auto industry - CBC News

#ClimatePolicy

“We’re tightening by twofold our GHG emissions standards and we’re giving the industry the flexibility how they achieve that, whether through plug-in hybrids, EVs, more efficient ICE [internal-combustion engine] vehicles.”

Friday, February 6

How new AI technology is helping detect and prevent wildfires - Scientific American

#ClimateTech

“From vegetation scans to 360-degree smoke detectors, new tools are trying to shine a light on the most dangerously dark areas of the electric grid.”

See also our coverage of Buzz Solutions (AI-assisted monitoring of transmission and distribution lines) and Line Vision (AI-assisted “Dynamic Line Ratings” for transmission lines).

Disaster can sway votes but won’t deliver climate action, study shows – Phys.org

#ClimatePolicy

“A new study shows that, despite fires, floods and record heat, most Australians do not change their behavior or beliefs in response to climate change—except in a narrow window following a disaster.”

Saturday, February 7

What’s Up With This Big Freeze? Some Scientists See Climate Change Link - The New York Times

#ClimateScience

An MIT scientist thinks that the warming Arctic can stretch the polar vortex, disrupting the jet stream and causing extreme cold in the East. Other climate scientists are not convinced.

Climate ‘fingerprints’ mark human activity from the top of the atmosphere to the bottom of the ocean – Phys.org

#ClimateScience

“…the climate is…changing from the top of the atmosphere to the bottom of the ocean. And there is a clear fingerprint of humanity’s role in causing these changes through greenhouse gas emissions…”

Sunday, February 8

2023–2024 El Niño triggered record-breaking sea level spike along African coastlines, study finds – Phys.org

#ClimateScience

“The 2023–2024 El Niño alone contributed 2.34 centimeters to global sea-level rise in just a single two-year period. This anomaly accounted for approximately 19% of the total increase observed over the 32-year satellite record since 1993.”

From Fishing Nets to Furniture: Turning Ocean Plastic Into Usable Products - The New York Times

#CircularEconomy

“When most people think of ocean waste, they often picture mounds of plastic that wash up on the sandy beaches of remote islands in the Pacific. But environmentalists face a hidden scourge in abandoned fishing nets that drift beneath the waves and blanket the ocean floor…

“Now, some start-ups are trying to tackle the problem by recycling the nets into commercial products that will appeal to consumers interested in saving the oceans and companies eager to prove they are environmentally friendly.”

Monday, February 9

Climate change could halve areas suitable for cattle, sheep and goat farming by 2100 - Phys.org

#ClimateImpact

“This shift away from what we’re identifying as the safe climatic space really challenges the efficacy of adaptation strategies that have been used in places such as Africa in times of hardship, such as switching species or migrating herds. The changes are just too big for that…”

Tuesday, February 10

Trump set to gut US climate change policy and environmental regulations: White House official - The Washington Post

#ClimatePolicy

“Lee Zeldin, a former Republican congressman who was tapped by President Donald Trump to lead EPA last year, has criticized his predecessors in Democratic administrations, saying they were ‘willing to bankrupt the country’ in an effort to combat climate change.”

China’s emissions policies are helping climate change but also creating a new problem - Phys.org

#ClimatePolicy

“Using an Earth system model combined with recent chemical observations obtained by research aircraft from the Asian summer monsoon region, the researchers estimate that Chinese emissions reductions between 2010 and 2020 lowered sulfate aerosol concentrations by more than 20% over the North Pacific and by more than 7% near the tropics. These declines increased global net radiative forcing by around 0.10–0.15 watts per square meter, with regional impacts up to six times stronger.”

Old EV batteries could meet most of China’s energy storage needs - New Scientist

#GridStorage

“Renewable energy generation slackens when the wind doesn’t blow and the sun doesn’t shine, which can lead to a shortage at times of peak demand, like mornings and evenings and the winter months. Gas and coal plants typically fill that gap. But countries like China, the US, the UK and Australia are building huge amounts of grid storage based on batteries that can save renewable energy for later use.”

Several of this week’s stories point to the same underlying tension: systems designed for stability are being pushed by increasingly volatile climate conditions. On Wednesday, January 28, reporting from New York highlighted how rising temperatures are already affecting major bridges, even those rebuilt in the last two decades. That same day, coverage from across Africa showed how drought in the east and flooding in the south can unfold almost simultaneously.

By Thursday, January 29, new research confirmed that climate change intensified the deadly floods in southern Africa, reinforcing on-the-ground reporting from Mozambique on the scale of displacement and infrastructure loss. As the week progressed, pressure on energy systems became more visible. On Friday, January 30, warnings about worsening power-grid reliability pointed to rising strain on electricity networks.

That theme resurfaced on Tuesday, February 3, when reporting showed how power grid delays in Europe are already shaping investment decisions, with data center expansion tied directly to access to stable, reliable electricity. Together, these stories suggest a broader pattern: climate impacts are no longer isolated events, but forces that increasingly influence infrastructure, energy systems, and where economic activity can realistically take place.

Wednesday, January 28

Climate change is eating away at NYC bridges - City & State New York

“The Third Avenue Bridge in the Bronx isn’t on the list of New York’s most deficient bridges, having undergone a complete rebuild in 2005 after a $118 million investment, according to the New York City Department of Transportation. It’s a swing bridge, which spins around a central axis like a carousel, creating a space through which taller boats can pass.”

Warming may increase mangrove methane emissions—but these forests remain powerful carbon sinks - Phys.org

“Mangrove forests play an important role in the global carbon cycle, particularly within the marine carbon system. Growing along tropical and subtropical coastlines, these salt-tolerant trees are among nature’s most efficient “blue carbon” sinks, capturing and burying vast amounts of carbon dioxide that would otherwise warm Earth’s atmosphere. Much of this carbon is stored in thick, waterlogged soils, where it can remain locked away for centuries, making mangroves a major contributor to long-term coastal carbon sequestration.”

See also our most recent CTVR Newsfeed, which goes in depth into this story.

Drought in the east, floods in the south: Africa battered by climate change | Climate Crisis News - Al Jazeera

“Covering extreme drought and massive flooding in a matter of weeks shows one reporter the toll of the climate crisis.”

Thursday, January 29

Climate change worsened rains and floods which killed dozens in southern Africa, study shows - The Star

“Human-caused climate change worsened the recent torrential rains and floods which devastated parts of southern Africa, killing more than 100 people and displacing over 300,000.”

Agriculture is both victim and contributor of climate change. Here’s how plant breeding can help turn the tide - Genetic Literacy Project

“A growing global population is putting unprecedented pressure on agricultural systems. To meet rising food demand, farmers are often forced to expand cultivation into new areas. Yet suitable arable land is shrinking due to urbanization, land degradation, and desertification. This tension drives agriculture deeper into natural ecosystems, accelerating deforestation.”

See also our story Conventional Farming Is Killing Us And Our Planet.

Climate change, electric vehicles and Delta tunnel among the focuses of gubernatorial candidate forum - Los Angeles Times

“Democratic gubernatorial candidates highlighted how climate policy must address affordability, particularly the cost electric vehicles compared with gas-fueled cars.”

Mozambique floods: ‘The water took everything’ - BBC News

“A rescue operation is under way in Mozambique following weeks of severe flooding that have affected nearly 700,000 people in the central and southern regions of the country.”

Friday, January 30

Asia is one of the world’s least insured places, even as it’s battered by climate change - Fortune

A lack of insurance coverage in Southeast Asia threatens an increasingly important hub for supply chains, as the region is battered by tropical storms, major flooding, and other natural disasters.

Grids Are Surviving the Storm. But the Next 5 Years Could Be Rough. - The New York Times

A group that monitors the U.S. electricity system warns that grid reliability is “worsening” and blackout risks are rising for millions of people.

Land-intensive carbon removal requires better siting to protect biodiversity, study warns - Phys.org

“New research looks at carbon dioxide removal—where carbon is absorbed from the atmosphere and stored—and finds that large-scale reliance on land-based methods, such as planting forests or bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS), can protect biodiversity by avoiding climate impacts, but could also compete with biodiversity protection unless site selection criteria are refined.”

Saturday, January 31

Role of Renewable Energy in Mitigating Climate Change as part of Saudi Vision 2030 - Energy News Beat

“Eni, an Italian multinational energy giant headquartered in Rome, in its latest 2022 report has outlined the main outcomes and objectives in the energy transition pathways for a number of African countries. It described Eni’s contribution to a just transition that ensures access to efficient and sustainable energy, sharing the social and economic benefits of the path towards net zero emissions by 2050 with employees, suppliers, communities, and customers with an inclusive and transparent approach.”

Climate Change Could Add Over 120 Million Malaria Cases in Africa by 2050, Study Warns - DNE Africa

“A major new scientific study has warned that climate change could sharply increase malaria infections and deaths across Africa in the coming decades — not only because of rising temperatures, but mainly due to floods and storms that disrupt health systems and malaria control efforts.”

King Charles praised for approach to climate change during documentary premier - GBNews

“King Charles has been praised for his commitment to climate change by Hollywood actors during the premiere of his new documentary on Amazon Prime. The screening was held at Windsor Castle in Berkshire on Thursday, with several stars joining the royals for the production.”

Sunday, February 1

Plastic pollution promotes hazardous water conditions, new study finds - Phys.org

“Excess amounts of nutrient input from land sources into aquatic environments, such as agricultural runoff and waste discharge, typically have been blamed as the source of harmful algae blooms. But data from a new study by University of California San Diego researchers reveals that petroleum-based plastic pollution may be amplifying these problems by removing the animals that keep algae in check.”

A ‘Historic’ Snowfall Hits the Carolinas - The New York Times

“Blanketed beaches. Frozen suburbs. Football fields buried in snow. Everywhere in the region, people felt the storm, which caused two deaths.”

How Climate Change Is Burning Kenya’s Outdoor Workers – Eurasia Review

“Research shows that while darker skin offers protection against sun-related skin cancer, Black Africans still face serious risks that many people don’t know about. When skin cancer does develop in Black people, it usually appears in unexpected places, under fingernails, on the palms of hands, or soles of feet, rather than sun-exposed areas. Because patients and doctors often don’t expect skin cancer in these locations, it’s frequently caught too late.”

Monday, February 2

Best time to travel is no longer fixed as climate change reshapes holiday planning - The Economic Times

“Holiday travel: From Srinagar floods to global heatwaves, climate volatility is disrupting travel seasons worldwide, forcing travellers and tour operators to rethink the ‘best time to visit’ and prioritise flexibility, local insights and sustainable planning.”

Removing livestock from grasslands could compromise long-term soil carbon storage - Phys.org

“Removing sheep and other livestock entirely from upland grasslands—a strategy often promoted as a way to boost carbon storage and tackle climate change—may actually reduce the most stable forms of soil carbon, according to new research.”

See our coverage of a now defunct company called Blue Nest Beef showed that improved livestock grazing protocols can bring insects and birds back to fields.

Tuesday, February 3

Power grid delays challenge Amazon’s data center expansion in Europe - Reuters

“Energy intensive industries have urged the European Union to invest more in grids, warning that a fast connection to stable, reliable power networks is a key criteria for investments in new industrial sites in Europe.”

From sea to soil: Molecular changes suggest how algae evolved into plants - Phys.org

“The carotenoid stabilizes the structure and improves the efficiency of light adsorption of blue-green light, which is abundant in the deep-sea environment,” Professor Fujii explained.

Trump’s Fed chair pick could lead shift on climate change - Semafor

“Kevin Warsh faces a tricky path to actually taking up the Fed leadership but were he to take charge, he may lead a major shift in how the Fed views climate: In a speech last year, he said the bank should avoid addressing the “politically charged” issue of climate change.”

A few stories stood out to me this week. The research about the importance of the largest trees in the Peruvian Amazon for carbon sequestration and current regulations that incentivize loggers to cut them down was particularly frustrating (Monday, January 26).

For someone who has done a lot of thinking about the social cost of carbon, seeing the report of research suggesting that most analyses of SCC significantly underestimate damage to the seas from climate change was eye-opening (Friday, January 23).

In other news, Donald Trump wants to eat his cake and eat it too. He’s anxious to gobble up Greenland’s resources (Saturday, January 24) but doesn’t want visitors to Ft. Sumter to know that it may soon be inundated (Thursday, January 22).

In corporate news, Zanskar, a company we featured in a December 2025 article, announced it had raised a $115 million series C round (Wednesday, January 21) and I am watching for more news about Donut Labs, a Finnish company that claims it has developed a truly amazing solid state battery (Wednesday, January 21).

Wednesday, January 21, 2026

Zanskar raises $115M Series C Following Record-Setting Year of Geothermal Discoverie - Substack

“Zanskar will use the funding to expand its AI discovery platform and to begin building geothermal power plants at sites it has discovered within its multi-gigawatt geothermal pipeline.”

See also our article about Zanskar’s exciting new technology that may spark a new geothermal renaissance in the U.S.

Climate change fuels disasters, but deaths don’t add up – Phys.org

“Overall, mortality from extreme weather disasters has fallen over recent decades. But the picture varies by hazard and region: heat waves have become deadlier, while people in low-income nations are far more at risk than elsewhere…It is ‘very clear’ that extreme heat is becoming deadlier, said Theodore Keeping, researcher at Imperial College London.”

Verge Motorcycles says it has made first EV with a solid-state battery - The Washington Post

“New batteries in electric vehicles could store more energy, charge faster and last longer, while lowering fire risk”

Thursday, January 22

Zambia and Zimbabwe Push Forward with Controversial Hydro Project Amid Climate Concerns - Down to Earth

“The $4.5 billion project aims to generate 2,400 MW, but declining water levels due to climate change raise doubts about its viability.”

National Park Service Removes Sign on Climate Change From Fort Sumter - The New York Times

“In 2016, the Park Service worked with researchers at Western Carolina University to study the park’s exposure to the effects of climate change, including sea level rise, coastal erosion, flooding and storm surge.

The findings were grim: The researchers classified more than a dozen structures in the park as highly vulnerable to the ravages of global warming. They found that it would cost more than $1.1 billion to replace all of these structures, including buildings, docks, roads and parking lots.”

Climate change eclipses La Niña cooling in Australia to drive extreme heatwave and heightened fire risk – World Weather Attribution

“From 5–10 January 2026, south-eastern Australia experienced its most severe heatwave since 2019–20. Temperatures exceeded 40°C (104°F) in major cities including Melbourne and Sydney, with even hotter conditions across regional Victoria and New South Wales.”

Friday, January 23

Climate Change Is Quietly Transforming the World’s Richest Forest - SciTechDaily

“A new study published in Nature Ecology and Evolution finds that tree diversity across the tropical forests of the Andes and Amazon has shifted significantly in recent decades as a result of global environmental change.”

Ocean damage nearly doubles the cost of climate change - The Invading Sea

“The global cost of greenhouse gas emissions are nearly double what scientists previously thought, according to a study published this month by researchers at the University of California San Diego’s Scripps Institution of Oceanography.

It is the first time a social cost of carbon (SCC) assessment — a key measure of economic harm caused by climate change — has included damages to the ocean.”

See also our article about the social cost of carbon—a seldom discussed but very important measure.

Saturday, January 24

Ministers blocked publication of report warning that climate change could cause ‘global competition for food’ and trigger nuclear war in Asia - Morning Star

“The study, reportedly held back by Number 10 [N.B. the Prime Minister of the U.K.’s office] last autumn for being too negative, also highlights the potential for a massive increase in climate refugees.”

How climate change put Greenland in Donald Trump’s sight - The Scotsman

“Global warming is transforming Greenland at an astonishing pace, revealing valuable mineral deposits and opening up new trade routes in the seas around it.”

Sunday, January 25

Why Nature-Based Solutions (NbS) matter to tackle climate change - The Daily Observer

“NbS do not replace technological or engineered solutions. Rather, they complement grey infrastructure by leveraging natural processes to deliver multiple co-benefits-often at lower cost and with greater long-term sustainability.”

See our article on U.K. firm, Space Intelligence, which is applying satellite technology and AI to measure the effectiveness of NbS programs.

Nigerian farmers talk about how climate change is affecting staple food crops – and what can help - The Conversation

“Climate change remains one of the most critical challenges confronting Nigeria’s farming sector. The country’s agriculture is mainly rain-fed (not irrigated). This makes it highly vulnerable to changes in climate and extreme weather events such as prolonged droughts, erratic rainfall, flooding, and rising temperatures.”

Monday, January 26

To reach net-zero, reverse current policy and protect the largest trees in the Amazon, say scientists - Phys.org

“The authors [of a study of tree species in the Peruvian Amazon] concluded that current regulations are strongly counterproductive, as they prioritize the selective logging of the very trees that store the most carbon. Instead, they recommend changing forest policies to prioritize the protection of large trees as a key condition for achieving net-zero emissions by 2050.”

How Does Climate Change Affect Winter Storms? - The New York Times

“A warmer atmosphere has the potential to hold more moisture, which can contribute to heavier precipitation in any season, scientists say.”

Tuesday, January 26

Judge Revives Wind Farm That Trump Halted Off Martha’s Vineyard - The New York Times

“A federal judge on Tuesday ruled that construction could continue on a $4.5 billion wind farm off the coast of Martha’s Vineyard, Mass., striking down the Trump administration’s decision to halt work on the nearly complete project.”

California’s Highway 1 fighting a losing battle against climate change - Los Angeles Times

“Scientists warn that climate change intensifies hazards that affect this roadway — stronger storms, higher seas and more intense wildfires — making future closures more likely along California’s iconic, 650-mile highway.”

Microsoft Pledged to Save Water. In the A.I. Era, It Expects Water Use to Soar. - The New York Times

“Driven by the artificial intelligence frenzy, Microsoft is internally projecting that water use at its data centers will more than double by 2030 from 2020, including in places that face shortages.”

See also our story about Nexalus, an Irish startup that uses specially designed shrouds to cool computer chips, then recycles the hot water to local municipalities for district heating.

We are changing up our Update column to provide a summary of important climate news and advances from the world of climate tech.

This week, my eyes caught on several stories in particular. In the middle of last week, several outlets reported that with 2025’s anomalous heat (despite what should be a round of cooling from La Nina), the global average temperature over the last three years has hit the Paris Agreement target of 1.5 degrees above baseline.

Much to my chagrin, there were also some interesting stories about how banks and investors have retreated from climate-related targets.

And more recently, a U.N. report has shown that global freshwater resources are depleted to the extent that the world is suffering from a state of “water bankruptcy.”

Monday, January 12

Under Trump, U.S. Adds Fuel to a Heating Planet - The New York Times

“The president’s embrace of fossil fuels and withdrawal from the global fight against climate change will make it hard to keep warming at safe levels, scientists said.”

Sinking boreal trees in the deep Arctic Ocean could remove billions of tons of carbon each year – Phys.org

“A recent paper published in the journal npj Climate Action proposes a novel nature-inspired solution, which is to sink timber from boreal forests deep into the Arctic Ocean.”

See also our story about U.K.-based Seafields for a better way to implement this idea.

Tuesday, January 13

What to know about the world’s great climate collapse - Axios

“The climate agenda's fall from grace over the past year has been stunning — in speed, scale and scope.”

What is the global water cycle and how is it amplifying climate disasters? – Phys.org

“[C]ommunities in north Queensland have been lashed by heavy rain and flash flooding from ex-tropical Cyclone Koji. This is the seventh cyclone so far this season… These floods and fires are not simply isolated weather extremes, but signs of a water cycle that is being increasingly destabilized by global warming.”

Microsoft rolls out initiative to limit data-center power costs, water use impact - Reuters

“Microsoft said it will pay utility rates high enough to cover its power costs and work with local utilities to expand supply when needed for its data centers.

It also pledged to replenish more water than its data centers consume, saying it would start publishing water-use information for each data center region in the U.S., along with its progress on replenishment.”

Wednesday, January 14

A Stealth Heat Tax Has Already Cost Americans $1 Trillion - Bloomberg

“A hotter planet is making life more expensive due to climate change, with temperature changes alone cutting US incomes by 12% on average between 2000 and 2019.”

The Climate Question That Economists Cannot Answer - The Atlantic

“Models can predict catastrophic or modest damages from climate change, but not which of these futures is coming.”

Global warming reaches 1.4C after third-hottest year on record – POLITICO

“The world is rapidly closing in on the 1.5 degrees Celsius warming limit that serves as a threshold for ever more dangerous climate change, European scientists have warned.”

Thursday, January 15

Lithium-ion batteries could last longer with chemical tweak - New Scientist

“It's difficult to form a protective coating that prolongs battery life at the battery's cathode, but there may be a low-cost chemical solution”

Trump to Direct Key US Grid Operator to Hold Emergency Auction - Bloomberg

“President Donald Trump and US Northeastern state governors agreed to push for an emergency wholesale electricity auction to compel technology companies to fund new power plants.”

Friday, January 16

Global power struggles over the ocean’s finite resources call for creative diplomacy - Phys.org

“As global competition intensifies and climate change accelerates, the world’s oceans are also becoming the front line of 21st-century geopolitics. How policymakers handle these challenges will affect food supplies, the price of goods and national security.”

Tiny titans of recovery: Fossil burrows reveal resilient micro-ecosystem after global mass extinction - Phys.org

“An international team of scientists from South Africa, Canada, France and the UK has uncovered fossil evidence of a tiny ecosystem that helped kick-start the recovery of Earth's oceans after a global mass extinction.”

Saturday, January 17

How Wall Street Turned Its Back on Climate Change - The New York Times

“Six years after the financial industry pledged to use trillions to fight climate change and reshape finance, its efforts have largely collapsed.”

The $2 Rental Batteries Helping to Power South Africa - The New York Times

“The batteries offer an affordable system for those who lack reliable power and the money to buy their own solar panels.”

Sunday, January 18

Norway’s oil fund defends push to water down net zero - Financial Times

“The $2tn oil fund told the FT it feared companies could back away from the idea of science-backed climate targets unless they were allowed to emit more greenhouse gases while still claiming to be working towards those goals.”

Why Climate Change Blind Spots Are Becoming Balance Sheet Liabilities - Forbes

“According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, physical climate risks such as extreme heat, flooding and storms are already causing direct economic losses across sectors, particularly where infrastructure and supply chains were designed for a more stable climate.”

A Broader Conversation On Climate Change And AI - Forbes

“The more we polarize AI within the climate conversation, or treat it as a panacea, the more we ignore the fact that AI’s climate legacy is not predetermined, but shaped by human choices.”

Monday, January 19

Climate Change Drives Growing Water Challenges Across Africa - fundsforNGOs News

“Securing reliable water supplies has long been a challenge across Africa, and the situation is expected to worsen as droughts grow more frequent and severe.”

AI helps reveal global surge in floating algae - Phys.org

“For the first time and with help from artificial intelligence, researchers have conducted a comprehensive study of global floating algae and found that blooms are expanding across the ocean.”

Google: Why AI is Key to Alleviating Climate Change Impacts - AI Magazine

“The tech giant has launched NeuralGCM, an open-source hybrid atmospheric model that merges machine learning capabilities with traditional physics to deliver rapid and precise global atmospheric simulations.”

Tuesday, January 20

Water ‘Bankruptcy’ Era Has Begun for Billions, Scientists Say - Bloomberg

“A new United Nations report says humans have depleted freshwater systems to the point they can’t recover, marking a new era of ‘global water bankruptcy’.”

See also our reporting on Flocean, a Norwegian subsea desalination startup.

China Southern Power Grid Plans Record $26 Billion Spend in 2026 - Bloomberg

“State-owned China Southern Power Grid Co. plans to lift its annual spending to a record 180 billion yuan ($26 billion) this year, as Beijing pushes to modernize its grids to accommodate renewable energy growth.”

ESS Tech (GWH) Quarterly Earnings

We’ve been following ESS Tech, a long-duration energy storage company using iron flow battery technology, for more than a year now. We were originally drawn to its ability to transform intermittent renewable energy into reliable baseload power by storing energy using commonly available materials: iron, salt, and water. That matters because industry-standard lithium-ion batteries are expensive, are mainly manufactured by a geopolitical rival (China), are costly to the environment in both construction and disposal, and have an annoying tendency to catch fire. ESS’s iron flow batteries can cycle unlimited times without capacity degradation over 25+ years with no fire risk, because their chemistry doesn’t allow for thermal runaway like lithium.

For all the potential I see in ESS’s technology, the company has a record of underdelivering financially, and I and many of its investors are frustrated that the happy talk coming from the C-suite seems unsubstantiated by commercial wins.

Learn more about ESS Tech here, here and here. Paid subscribers can read an institutional Venture Review on ESS here.

4Q25 Earnings Review

ESS delivered 3Q25 revenue of $0.2 million, down from $0.4 million year over year, as the company transitions to its Energy Base product line. Cash stood at $3.5 million as of September 30, 2025. Gross loss improved to $4.7 million from $12.4 million in Q3 2024. Adjusted EBITDA loss narrowed 62% to $7.1 million from $18.9 million. Operating expenses fell to $5.1 million from $11.3 million year over year. Operating cash burn decreased approximately 50% from Q2 2025 but was still around $6 million per quarter—higher than its cash reserves at quarter-end.

To stay afloat, the company secured a $40 million convertible debt facility with Yorkville Advisors and completed a $25 million equity agreement, raising $21.4 million in October after the close of the quarter. ESS also launched a $75 million at-the-market equity issuance program with Yorkville, BMO, Canaccord, Needham, and Stifel.

The company says that its Energy Base line scales duration independently up to 22 hours versus 8-10 hours for the Energy Center product line, while still offering the technical, tax credit, and sourcing advantages inherent in its water-salt-iron design and domestic manufacturing.

The firm also announced that it now manufactures only the Iron Core—battery modules, rebalancing systems, and electrical cabinets—while partners handle balance-of-system equipment and installation, focusing manufacturing investment on core components rather than complete system integration.

ESS is commissioning its second automated manufacturing line, expected online in the second half of 2026. With both lines operational, capacity will exceed 6,000 power transfer cabinets annually, with space for ten additional lines. Automated manufacturing increased labor productivity two to three times.

As CTVR reported in our October 18 Update, the only recent client announcement was a 5MW/50MWh pilot project for the Salt River Project, a utility in Phoenix, Arizona. As we mentioned in that article, the touting of such a small project as a “win” in ESS’s earnings announcement is frustrating considering the size of lithium-ion facilities being commissioned by other manufacturers.

Management plans to hold an Investor Day in January 2026 but provided no revenue guidance for 2026 or 2027 in the 3Q25 earnings.

You can find the results and presentation deck at ESS’s Investor Relations site.

Origin’s founders figured out how to create PET plastics using organic waste like wood shavings from lumber mills. Commercialization of this biotransformation technology hit a capex wall the company could not climb, so it has shifted to using its understanding of the mechanical properties of PET to commercialize manufacturing of PET bottle caps.

PET bottle caps may not sound like a big deal, but this was always considered an impossible feat by the packaging industry. From a sustainability perspective, PET bottle caps will make plastic recycling processes much more efficient, contributing to higher quality recycled plastics and lowering demand for newly mined hydrocarbons. Learn more about Origin Materials here and here. Paid subscribers can read an institutional Venture Review on Origin here.

3Q25 Earnings Summary

Origin (ORGN) reported Q3 2025 revenue of $4.7 million, down from $8.2 million in the prior year. The decline reflects the planned wind-down of its legacy supply chain activation program as the company shifts focus entirely to PET cap commercialization. Cash, cash equivalents, and marketable securities stood at $54.3 million as of September 30, 2025.

Operating expenses fell to $17.1 million from $32.5 million year-over-year, driven mainly by a $15.0 million drop in non-cash asset impairment charges and a $1.8 million reduction in research and development expenses. Net loss improved to $16.4 million from $36.8 million in Q3 2024, while adjusted EBITDA loss was essentially flat at $11.6 million.

On the financing front, Origin secured a convertible debt facility with an initial $15 million coming in by end of November, with the option to draw up to $90 million total as needed. The company also signed a non-binding term sheet for $20 million in equipment financing, bringing total CapFormer equipment financing capacity to around $30 million across five production lines.

The company reported that the CapFormer rollout is tracking to plan. Origin started production on its first line back in February 2025 and says that it expects to finish Factory Acceptance Testing through Line 6 by year-end. Completion of Lines 7 and 8 have now been pushed to Q1 2027 to better manage capital deployment. The company plans to have eight to ten lines running by end of 2026 to hit adjusted EBITDA run-rate breakeven in 2027.

On the commercial side, Berlin Packaging—a distributor with over 100 locations globally—placed its first order in October 2025. Origin’s PET 1881 caps went into California stores in August for flat water, which the company believes are the only beverage products currently on the market with PET caps. Over half the water brands in Origin’s qualification pipeline are also potential carbonated soft drink (CSD) customers.

The technology made some headway this quarter with successful testing of impact resistance and multi-day heated horizontal stress resistance—both critical for CSD qualification. Origin plans to roll these features into a single cap design in upcoming production trials. Their PET caps offer several advantages over standard HDPE/PP closures: better recyclability, superior barrier properties for oxygen and CO₂, potential to enlarge diameter, lighter weight, compatibility with 100% recycled content, and optical clarity.

Origin held its financial guidance steady: $20-30 million revenue expected in 2026, $100-200 million in 2027, and run-rate breakeven by 2027. The company also noted that its strategic review with RBC Capital Markets is moving along with productive engagement. In October, Origin settled shareholder litigation with no finding of liability, fully covered by insurance.

Read more on Origin’s Q3 2025 results in the company’s earnings release.

We’ve been following Energy Vault Holdings, a grid-scale energy storage company transitioning from project developer to independent power producer. The company reported its third-quarter 2025 earnings and announced a significant change in its business model.

Energy Vault delivered Q3 revenue of $33.3 million, a 27-fold increase year-over-year and roughly three times higher than Q2 2025’s $8.5 million, though this came in just below analyst expectations. The growth came from projects in Australia and initial revenue from Asset Vault, the company’s new build-own-operate platform.

Gross profit hit $9.0 million, implying a 27.0% gross margin, down from 40.3% in Q3 2024, reflecting the change in margin profile of owning and operating assets versus pure project development. Adjusted EBITDA loss narrowed 59% to $6.0 million from a $14.7 million loss in Q3 2024. Adjusted operating expenses remained flat quarter-over-quarter at $16.2 million, as cost controls offset new expenses from Asset Vault and the expansion into Australia. Cash stood at $61.9 million (including $29.2 million in restricted cash) as of September 30, up 7% from the prior quarter.

Asset Vault, the core of Energy Vault’s strategy shift, secured commitments of up to $300 million in preferred equity and $75 million in corporate debenture financing to build and operate storage infrastructure without diluting shareholders. The company now has 340 MW of projects in operation or under construction through Asset Vault, expected to generate around $40 million in recurring EBITDA. Two projects—the 8.5 MW/293 MWh Calistoga facility and the 57 MW/114 MWh Cross Trails facility—entered service this quarter with $35 million in combined project financing.

Fund 1 of Asset Vault targets facilities with 1.3 to 1.7 GW of capacity (3.7 to 4.5 GWh) with a capital deployment of $1.1 to $1.3 billion. The company estimates this will generate $100-150 million in EBITDA by the end of 2029, with projects benefiting from 20-year lifespans, long-term offtake contracts, and roughly 80% EBITDA margins.

The commercial pipeline continues to grow. Revenue backlog hit $920 million as of September 30—up 112% year-to-date—while the developed pipeline of shortlisted and awarded projects stands at 8.7 GWh, worth $2.1 billion. Since its 2022 IPO, Energy Vault has executed 2.0 GWh of projects representing $583 million in recognized revenue.

Energy Vault reaffirmed 2025 guidance: $200-250 million revenue, 14-16% gross margin, and $75-100 million ending cash. The company also scored in the 98th percentile on S&P Global’s ESG assessment—the highest in the energy storage segment—and is integrating sustainability tracking into its Vault Manager software using locational marginal emissions (LMEs) data.

Read more on Energy Vault’s Q3 2025 results in the company’s earnings. To read our previous coverage of the company, click here.

Public Companies (NRGV, LNZA)

Energy Vault Secures $250M Framework Deal for Balkan Energy Storage Expansion

CTVR readers tracking grid-scale storage will want to note Energy Vault’s latest move: a Framework Supply Agreement with EU Green Energy to deploy up to 1.8 GWh of battery energy storage systems across the Balkans over the next four years.

The first project under the agreement is a 100 MW / 400 MWh installation in Albania, with Phase 1 (50 MW / 200 MWh) targeting commercial operation in Q3 2026. The project will utilize Energy Vault’s B-VAULT hardware platform and VaultOS energy management system to support the integration of renewable energy across Albania, Kosovo, North Macedonia, and Montenegro.

The deal brings Energy Vault’s B-VAULT portfolio to over 2 GWh of deployed or contracted systems globally. The Albanian installation is pending final legislative approval, with Phase 2 expected online by Q1 2027.

To read the full announcement, click here. To read our coverage of Energy Vault’s technology platform, click here.

LanzaTech Secures €40 Million EU Grant to Deploy Integrated CCUS System at Norwegian Smelter

CTVR readers will recall LanzaTech, the company that converts industrial emissions into ethanol through biofermentation. The company has secured a €40 million grant from the EU’s Innovation Fund for a project in Norway that combines carbon capture, utilization, and storage in a single integrated system. LanzaTech will deploy its second-generation bioreactor at Eramet Norway’s manganese smelter in Porsgrunn to produce around 8 million U.S. gallons of ethanol per year from the smelter’s furnace gases.

The project aims for a 97% reduction in emissions—approximately 1.7 million tons of CO2 annually, with the captured CO2 being stored permanently in the North Sea. The ethanol produced can be used as a feedstock for sustainable aviation fuel and other chemicals. LanzaTech currently operates six commercial facilities and is backed by Enova SF, Norway’s government-owned energy efficiency enterprise. Read more on LanzaTech’s EU grant here, and for our previous coverage of the company, click here.

Private Company

Carbon Clean and Samsung E&A Partner to Scale Modular Carbon Capture Systems

We’ve written about Carbon Clean, a UK-based company that has developed modular carbon capture technology to make industrial decarbonization more accessible. We’ve been tracking Carbon Clean’s CycloneCC technology, and now the company has formed a strategic alliance with Samsung E&A to accelerate global deployment of its systems.

Carbon Clean’s CycloneCC C1 Series units are up to 50% smaller than traditional carbon capture systems, with a 70% reduction in height and 35% less steel required. Each unit can capture up to 100,000 metric tons of CO2 annually for industrial emitters with CO2 concentrations between 3% to 20%. Samsung E&A brings its AHEAD execution model, which uses off-site construction and design automation to shorten project timelines and reduce costs. The two companies previously collaborated on projects with Aramco and MODEC earlier this year.

Read more on the partnership here, and for our coverage of Carbon Clean, click here.

Public Companies

ESS Tech Secures USD 40 Million in New Funding from Yorkville

We’ve been covering ESS Tech, the US company that develops iron flow long-duration energy storage systems, and the company just announced it has secured $40 million in new funding from YA II PN Ltd, an investment fund managed by Yorkville Advisors Global. ESS says the financing includes $30 million upfront, with an additional $10 million available upon execution of an at-the-market sales agreement with Yorkville Securities, structured as a one-year promissory note.

This is actually the latest in a series of deals with Yorkville—back in July, they closed a $31-million insider-led package. The funding comes as ESS Tech has been working to get things back on track after facing some challenges earlier this year that threatened its Wilsonville facility. However, the company says it has since brought on new leadership and landed some contracts, including a 50-MWh project with the Salt River Project that we covered in last week’s Newsfeed. Read more on ESS Tech’s funding here, and for our coverage of the company, click here.

Private Companies

Viridi’s Fail-Safe Battery Technology Recognized with Innovation Award Nomination

If you’ve been following our coverage of Viridi, the fail-safe battery energy storage company, you’ll be happy to hear that on October 9, the company was nominated as a finalist for the Small Business Innovator of the Year award by the Northeast Renewable Energy Coalition at Massachusetts Clean Energy Week 2025. Viridi’s battery technology focuses on anti-propagation design to reduce fire risk, and its systems are currently deployed at locations including the DOE’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the Hauptman-Woodward Medical Research Institute’s 600kWh indoor energy system. Read more on Viridi’s nomination here, and for our coverage of the company, click here.

Arenko Expands Battery Optimization Platform to U.S., Germany, and Ireland

Arenko, a UK firm that has developed software tools to optimize energy storage and delivery from battery energy storage systems onto the grid, has announced the successful launch of its international expansion program, moving into the United States, Germany, and Ireland. On October 21, Arenko released the news that its AI-enabled Nimbus platform is now live across six operational battery storage sites in these markets. The platform is crunching through 5 billion data points daily, supporting three Texas-based sites (30MW total), the 22MW Cremzow project in Germany, and several assets backing up Ireland’s grid. This follows the company’s successful fundraising effort earlier this year that brought in £9 million more of investment money. Read more on Arenko’s expansion here, and catch up on our previous coverage here.

Public Companies

ESS Tech Announces… Another Small Pilot?!

ESS Inc. (GWH) just announced a 10-year deal with Phoenix-area utility, the Salt River Project, to supply it with a five-megawatt (MW), 50 megawatt-hour (MWh) battery system.

The pilot project, named New Horizon, will be built at SRP’s Copper Crossing Energy and Research Center in Florence, Arizona.

To put this news into context, in March 2024, SRP announced that it was teaming with NextEra to install a 1 GWh installation at the Sonoran Energy Center—a project 20 times larger than the New Horizon project that ESS just announced. ESS management has been talking for a year now about how the Honeywell relationship with is leading to GW-scale project discussions. Now the company announces a 5-MW pilot? I can understand the frustration of ESS investors! Despite what I consider pretty tepid news, the stock is up over 230% in the last month. Read more on ESS’s Salt River Project agreement here, and for our journalistic coverage of the company, click here. To read our Venture Review of ESS, click here (subscribers and patrons only).

Private Companies

Regenified Boosts Regenerative Banking in the City of London

If you’ve been following our coverage of Regenified, an independent verifier of regenerative agriculture practices co-founded by Gabe Brown of Kiss the Ground and Common Ground fame, you’ll be happy to hear that on October 8, the company hosted its first-ever Regenerative Capital Market Day at the London Stock Exchange. The event brought together senior leaders from pension funds, banks, insurers, and asset managers including Barclays, which recently launched its Farm Transition Finance Program. This program offers reduced rates for farmers participating in regenerative agricultural methods verified by Regenified. Read more on Regenified’s Capital Market Day here, and for our coverage of the company, click here.

Xerion Earns TIME Magazine’s Best Inventions Recognition

We’ve written about Xerion, an Ohio-based company that has developed a novel way to refine critical minerals and deposit materials on battery anodes and cathodes. We’ve been talking about Xerion’s DirectPlate technology for a few years now and it’s satisfying to know that TIME Magazine is finally hip to what the company is doing. TIME named Xerion to a spot on TIME’s Best Inventions of 2025 list.

At their Dayton facility, Xerion says it has hit pilot-scale production of 99% pure refined cobalt metal and have also demonstrated that the technology works for gallium refinement as well. This is a big deal considering that China currently dominates both markets, controlling over 70% of global cobalt refinement and 98% of gallium refinement. Read more on Xerion’s TIME recognition here, and for our coverage of the company, click here.

Flocean Earns TIME Magazine’s Best Inventions Recognition

CTVR readers were ahead of the curve with Flocean—a Norwegian startup that is pioneering the use of subsea desalination modules to cut both costs and carbon emissions. TIME named Flocean to a spot on its Best Inventions for 2025 list along with Xerion.

TIME selected winners based on originality, effectiveness, ambition, and real-world impact across industries like healthcare, AI, and critical supply chain technologies.

To read the TIME announcement, click here. To read our journalistic coverage of Flocean click here. To read our Venture Review of Flocean, click here (subscribers and patrons only).