The Earth’s ability to absorb carbon may be exhausted much sooner than thought

 

JEFFREY ST. CLAIR 

+ A bracing new report in Nature warns that the Earth’s ability to absorb carbon may be exhausted much sooner than thought: “Researchers report that Earth can safely store around 1,460 gigatonnes of carbon dioxide (GtCO₂) — a number much lower than the 10,000–40,000 GtCO₂ often cited in previous studies.”

+ According to OXFAM, the deepening drought in East Africa is worse than the one that devastated the region in 2011, when huge herds of cattle, sheep and goats were completely wiped out and 750,000 people perished from starvation and lack of water. Herder Mahmoud Ciroobey from Kalsheikh in Somaliland:

This drought is slowly killing everything. First, it “swept away” the land and the pastures; then it “swept away” the animals, which first became weaker and weaker and eventually died. Soon, it is going to “sweep away” people. People are sick with flu, diarrhoea, and measles. If they don’t get food, clean water, and medicines, they will die like their animals.

+ Decade after decade, the dry season in the Amazon rainforest has been getting longer and drier. A new study published in Nature Communications found that about 75 percent of the decrease in rainfall is directly linked to deforestation. In the first six months of 2025, Brazilian officials reported a 27 percent increase in tree loss nationwide over the same period last year.

+ The air quality in Squamish, British Columbia  (30 miles north of Vancouver) hit 800 on Wednesday. An AQI between 200 and 300 is considered “very unhealthy. An AQI above 300 is considered “hazardous.” An AQI of 800 is almost unbreathable.