A rapid attribution study has found that the “heat dome” causing scorching temperatures across north Africa and western Europe – including at the Paris Olympics – would have been “impossible” without human-caused global warming, the Guardian reports. Scientists at the World Weather Attribution (WWA) group found that climate change had pushed the heatwave’s temperatures 2.5C to 3.3C hotter, the newspaper says, adding: “Such an event would not have happened in the world before global heating but is now expected about once a decade, they said. Continued emissions of heat-trapping carbon dioxide will make them even more frequent, the researchers warned.” The Straits Times quotes Dr Friederike Otto, senior lecturer in climate science at the Grantham Institute at Imperial College London, and one of the WWA founders, who said that “yesterday, climate change crashed the Olympics”. Otto, who is also a Carbon Brief contributing editor, added: “The world watched athletes swelter. If the atmosphere wasn’t overloaded with emissions from burning fossil fuel, Paris would have been about 3C cooler and much safer for sport.”

Away from the Olympics, soaring temperatures have “punished” parts of Europe and North Africa, says the Toronto Star in its coverage, “triggering wildfires in Portugal and pushing the thermostat well above 40C in Spain and Greece”. In Morocco, “at least 21 people have died as the heat in some parts of the country hit 48C”, the outlet says, adding that experts say this estimate “is likely a dramatic undercount”. Meanwhile, there is continued coverage of the heat at the Olympics by Scientific American and CBC News, while the Conversation looks at whether the Olympics can “survive the climate crisis”.

The European Union plans to “pressure emerging economies such as China to contribute funding for climate action in developing nations” at COP28 in Baku in November, according to a document seen by Politico. The outlet continues: “Financing is at the center of this year’s United Nations climate conference…with developing countries clamouring for a significant increase in funds to help them cut emissions and prepare for the consequences of global warming. The current funding pledge of $100bn a year – which runs until 2025 and needs to be replaced with a new target at COP29 – is financed by countries classified as industrialised when the UN climate treaty was drawn up in 1992. The EU is the largest contributor and intends to continue providing funding, but wants countries that have become wealthier in the past three decades to chip in as well, according to a draft of the bloc’s COP29 position obtained by Politico. In the document, dated 26 July, the EU calls for an expansion of the target’s ‘contributor base’ reflecting the ‘evolving nature of respective capabilities’ since the 1990s…The statement does not mention a specific country, but European diplomats and officials have sought to push Beijing in particular to contribute funding, given China has not only become the world’s second-largest economy but also the top emitter of planet-warming greenhouse gases.” The state-supporting newspaper China Daily carries an “exclusive interview” with COP29 president-designate Mukhtar Babayev, who “expressed gratitude for China’s climate leadership and emphasised his country’s willingness to collaborate with China in addressing the concerns of developing nations during COP29”. It adds: “He also expressed gratitude toward China for urging developed countries to accelerate the implementation of their climate finance commitments to developing nations at the G20 meetings this spring.”

Separately, China’s National Energy Administration (NEA) says that China’s newly added renewable energy power generation installations reached 134 gigawatts (GW) in the first six months of 2024, an increase of 24% year-on-year, accounting for 88% of the country’s new power capacity, reports energy news outlet BJX News. Another BJX News article quotes Zhang Xing, the spokesperson of the NEA, saying that, due to the “prolonged high temperatures” this summer, 17 “provincial grids” have reached “new historical peaks” in electricity load. The National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), China’s top economic planner, said at a press conference that it is “essential” to guarantee the “safe and stable” supply of electricity during peak periods this year, a third BJX News reports.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment (MEE) has released a new draft on the country’s utilisation of “low-concentration” coal mine methane (CMM), BJX news reports. China climate policy analyst Liu Hongqiao says in a Twitter post that the MEE’s move, which is a “part of methodology update of the China Certified Emission Reduction (CCER)”, could be a “changemaker”. Economic news outlet Jiemian reports the world’s first “thorium-based molten salt reactor nuclear power plant” will start construction in China next year.

Elsewhere, Nikkei Asia carries an article on its “big story” page, saying that Southeast Asia’s solar industry, along with other “green sectors”, is now “dominated to a large extent by Chinese companies that are often seeking ways around Western tariffs”. The news outlet adds that many countries in the region, including Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam and Indonesia, are “moving to raise barriers to cheap Chinese goods”. The Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post (SCMP) reports that two separate scientific studies, one by China and the other by an international team, have both “identified discrepancies in estimates of the vital southern ocean carbon sink”, which underscores “what could be a significant gap in mainstream climate modelling”. An article published by the Economist says that China is seeking to explore deep-sea mining, which will “cement” the “substantial advantage” the country already has in the “the supply chains of clean-energy industries”. (See Carbon Brief’s new Q&A on deep-sea mining.)

Finally, China Daily carries a comment article by Liu Junguo, president of North China University of Water Resources and Electric Power, arguing that China needs to “build a robust and sustainable water network” in the face of “increasing frequency of extreme weather events and the escalating challenge of water scarcity”. Extreme Temperatures Around The World says in a Twitter post that some parts of Xinjiang province in northwestern China could reach 49.5C on Wednesday. Local media Tianshan reports that the average temperature across Xinjiang in August this year is expected to be 1.1-2.5C higher than “usual”.

Research using aerial surveys suggests that US oil and gas basins are emitting around four times more methane than federal regulators have estimated, reports Reuters. Researchers carried out 32 flights between June and October 2023 using jet aircraft equipped with a spectrometer to measure methane emissions over 12 oil and gas basins, the newswire explains. The data, published by the Environmental Defense Fund and partners including Google, BAE Systems and the New Zealand Space Agency, suggests that the average emissions rate across the basins is 7.5m metric tonnes per year, the article says: “EDF said that result was an emissions-rate about four times what the Environmental Protection Agency estimates. EPA derives its estimates mainly from industry reports to a database.” The findings also show that “the observed emissions rate was eight times higher than the target adopted by 50 companies at the COP28 climate summit in Dubai to limit their methane emissions intensity to no more than 0.2% by 2030”, the newswire says. The researchers “said the data amounted to the most comprehensive report on US oil and gas methane emissions conducted to date and represented a wake-up call to industry, which was not doing enough to fix leaks from equipment and eliminate flaring and venting of gas”, reports the Financial Times.

In other US news, there is continued coverage of extreme heat and wildfires in western states. The Associated Press reports that “a person was killed in one of several wildfires threatening heavily populated areas of the Colorado foothills, authorities said Wednesday, as almost 100 large blazes burned across the western US”. The New York Times reports that “a wet winter and spring, which allowed vegetation to grow quickly, followed by record-breaking heat across much of the west have led to textbook fire-burning conditions”, adding: “Climate change has been making heatwaves in the region more intense and longer.” The Los Angeles Times reports that “another heatwave and more monsoonal thunderstorms are expected to increase wildfire danger in California over the weekend and into next week”. Finally, the Los Angeles Times also reports on new analysis by the California Department of Water Resources suggesting that “climate change threatens to dramatically shrink the amount of water California can deliver over the next 20 years and could reduce supplies available from the State Water Project by up to 23%”.

In continuing coverage of the torrential rains and landslides in India, the Associated Press reports that “hopes of finding more than 180 missing people alive waned as rescue workers searched through mud and debris for a third day”. Torrents of mud and water “swept through tea estates and villages in hilly areas in the district early Tuesday”, the newswire says, which “flattened houses and destroyed bridges, and rescuers had to pull out people stuck under mud and debris”. The article quotes Kerala’s top elected official, Pinarayi Vijayan, who said: “This is one of the worst natural calamities Kerala state has ever witnessed.” At least 194 people have died, the article says, adding: “The rescue work was challenging in a forested, hilly area while more rain fell…Nearly 40 bodies were found downstream after being swept some 30km down the Chaliyar River from the area in Wayanad district where the main landslides occurred.”

Meanwhile, Reuters reports that “at least 11 people died after heavy rain lashed various parts of northern India on Thursday and more than 250 people were missing after downpours in the Himalayas, including pilgrims stranded on a famous pilgrimage route”. It adds: “Torrential rains, which, along with unabated construction have frequently triggered deadly flash floods and landslides in the mountains of India and neighbouring Pakistan and Nepal over the past few years, have been attributed to climate change.” The Hindu says that more rains are expected in New Delhi today “after heavy showers inundated large parts of the city, choking key stretches with unending traffic and leaving people stranded as roads resembled rivers”. The Hindustan Times and Times of India have further coverage, while the Independent says at least five people have died in the region around the capital.

Colombia and Brazil will meet with the 17 most biodiverse countries at the UN Assembly in New York in September, Colombia’s El Espectador reports. The newspaper adds that environment ministers from Colombia and Brazil gathered last week to address a financing mechanism for rainforests, proposed by Brazil at COP28 last year, and initiatives to protect the Amazon, but they also addressed the countries’ expectations for the COP16 biodiversity negotiations to be held in Colombia later this year. Brazil committed “to be a strategic partner for Colombia” to organise and promote the summit, the outlet notes. It comes as the Guardian reports that a d”issident rebel group has backed down from its threat to disrupt” COP16.

Meanwhile, Brazil’s Folha de São Paulo reports that the state Acre has declared an emergency due to a drought. The newspaper points out that Brazil’s Amazon region has been experiencing “drought, rainfall deficit, erosion and forest fires”, while rivers are expected to remain low until November. According to a state government decree, the outlet adds, water shortages have largely impacted Indigenous villages, which are at risk of isolation due to the low navigability of rivers. 

Separately, Peru’s El Comercio reports on the four South American countries that have pledged to phase out gasoline-powered cars in the coming decades. Citing data from Stasista, the outlet indicates that Chile is set to “eliminate” such vehicles by 2035; while Colombia, Paraguay and Uruguay will do the same by 2040. Finally, in a commentary for Mexico’s Excélsior, Natalia Lever, branch manager for Latin America at the Climate Reality Project, writes that only Argentina and Brazil have net-zero targets for 2050, but both countries, in addition to Mexico, do not have commitments to phase out coal, oil and gas by 2030. She calls on citizens to participate in the “Our Common Challenge” campaign ahead of the G20 annual meeting to be held in Rio in November.

Shell has reported a second-quarter profit of $6.3bn, a 19% drop from the previous three months but above forecasts, says Reuters. The company points to weaker earnings from refining and liquefied natural gas, the newswire adds, but will nonetheless buy back a further $3.5bn of its shares over the next three months. Bloomberg reports: “Shell is the last of the European majors to report their results, and like its peers the company’s profits were underpinned by crude prices that averaged about $85 a barrel during the second quarter. The performance underlines how crucial the core oil business remains for these firms, despite efforts in recent years to develop strategies to diversify and decarbonise.”

In related news, Bloomberg reports that members of the oil and gas industry have warned that changes to the UK’s windfall tax regime will accelerate the decline of the North Sea. Earlier this week, chancellor Rachel Reeves outlined plans to raise the energy profits levy by three percentage points and end a 29% investment allowance, the newswire explains. The article quotes EnQuest, one of the region’s largest independent producers, who said: “The latest set of changes display a lack of appreciation for the maturity of the North Sea as a production basin…The measures announced will accelerate the decline of domestic oil and gas production.” The Daily Telegraph reports that the UK’s offshore production “dropped to a record low of 34m tonnes in 2023, down 11% on 2022”. It notes that “Britain imported almost 41% of its energy in 2023”, up from 37% in 2022. The Daily Telegraph also reports – in an article by the same journalist – on “why the UK will be forced to rely on foreign oil imports to fill up at the petrol forecourts”. 

In an article for Climate Home News, Dr Youba Sokona – an energy and sustainable development expert from Mali – says that the next assessment report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) “can and must be ready in time for the second global stocktake (GST)”. As the IPCC meets this week in Sofia to agree timescales for its seventh assessment cycle, Sokona says the reports play “a pivotal role in assessing climate change science and informing government decisions”. As such, they should be “a primary input for the GST” – a “key element of the Paris Agreement, designed to evaluate the world’s progress towards long-term climate goals”. Sokona, who was a vice chair on the IPCC’s sixth assessment cycle, continues: “As an IPCC author from the global south, I believe that ensuring the IPCC cycle aligns with GST timelines is crucial for maintaining the integrity of international climate cooperation. Efforts to enhance the inclusion of developing country voices should be prioritised over inordinate delays, which could risk the irrelevance of the IPCC report for the second GST – taking place in 2028.” Sokona argues that “time constraints may lead to some compromises, but it is better to minimise these than to forego IPCC input entirely”, adding: “The IPCC must ensure its assessments are available in time for the second GST to maintain its relevance and impact on global climate policy-making.” Concerns that producing the reports more quickly risks a lack of representation of underrepresented communities are “legitimate”, says Sokona, but they “can be better addressed by redoubling efforts to enhance these voices in the IPCC, rather than through delay”. He concludes: “Ensuring timely IPCC input to the second GST is essential for effective global action on climate change and for the voices of developing countries to be adequately represented.”

New research reveals a varied landscape beneath an Antarctic ice shelf that has been impacted by basal melting – ice thinning due to melting and drainage. The researchers use an unmanned, underwater vehicle with a multibeam sonar to create high-resolution maps of the underside of the Dotson Ice Shelf in west Antarctica. The maps show the imprint left behind by ice shelf basal melting, revealing “enigmatic teardrop-shaped indentations that result from boundary-layer flow rotation” and “full-thickness ice fractures”. The researchers conclude that the data “can offer the key missing insights required to improve modelled projections of ice shelf melt and sea level rise”.

A new “brief communication” paper finds that Just Energy Transition Partnerships (JETPs) – deals between countries to boost decarbonisation – can aid efforts to meet global climate targets. The researchers use a global energy system model to assess the energy and emissions targets in these partnerships. They quantify three policy pathways up to 2030 for the “large coal-reliant economies” of South Africa, Indonesia and Vietnam. The study results show a “greater alignment with a global 1.5C trajectory” with JETPs, “indicating a promising route for international collaboration to keep Paris Agreement goals within reach”. The researchers note, however, that achieving a 1.5C pathway “will require scaling up initial JETP goals’ ambition”.