rom the United States passing one of its most significant climate bills to Europe's continuing battle with wildfires and droughts, here are the top climate stories from this week.
1. Biden signs the Inflation Reduction Act into law
US President Joe Biden signed the Inflation Reduction Act 2022 into law on August 17. Considered landmark legislation to aid the US' move away from fossil fuels, the law will, among other things, help invest in low-emission sources of energy, aid electric utilities switch to lower-emission sources of energy and encourage Americans to buy electric vehicles through tax credits.
Joe Biden@JoeBiden
United States government official
The Inflation Reduction Act will help save money on prescription drugs, cut health care premiums, cut energy costs, take aggressive action on climate, and make large corporations pay their fair share in taxes. We got it done.
According to the New York Times, the bill invests $370 billion in spending and tax credits in low-emission forms of energy to fight climate change. It is aimed at helping the United States cut greenhouse gas emissions by an estimated 40% below 2005 levels by 2030. That would put the country within striking distance of Biden’s goal of cutting emissions at least 50% over that time period.
2. China issues first national drought alert
China has issued its first national drought alert of the year as authorities battle forest fires and mobilise specialist teams to protect crops from scorching temperatures across the Yangtze river basin, reported Reuters.
A ship navigates along the Jialing River near its meeting with the Yangtze River in southwestern China's Chongqing Municipality, Aug. 19, 2022. (AP)
The national 'yellow alert', issued late on Thursday, comes after regions from Sichuan in the southwest to Shanghai in the Yangtze delta have experienced weeks of extreme heat, with government officials repeatedly citing global climate change as the cause. The alert is two notches short of the most serious warning on Beijing's scale.
3. 'Spanish Stonehenge' emerges from drought-hit dam
A brutal summer has caused havoc for many in rural Spain, but one unexpected side-effect of the country's worst drought in decades has delighted archaeologists — the emergence of a prehistoric stone circle in a dam whose waterline has receded, says a Reuters report.
Officially known as the Dolmen of Guadalperal but dubbed the Spanish Stonehenge, the circle of dozens of megalithic stones is believed to date back to 5000 BC. It currently sits fully exposed in one corner of the Valdecanas reservoir, in the central province of Caceres, where authorities say the water level has dropped to 28% of capacity.
4. Wildfires in Europe, Algeria
Spain, Portugal and France in Europe and Algeria in Africa have seen massive wildfires, abetted by windy conditions and droughts brought on by below-normal levels of rainfall.