The Highest Temperatures on Earth

In 2010, the most-common value of near-surface air temperature was near 25 °C and a thin tail reached to 50 °C (albeit with very few points above 40 °C). Confirmed temperatures over 50 C had not occurred till then. 

Only five days ago, one of the top-three highest temperatures ever measured on the planet at any time has been recorded at California - 54.4 C. Some climatologists consider 53.88 C readings recorded in California on June 30, 2013, and in Kuwait and Pakistan in 2016 and 2017, respectively, as the highest ever reliably measured on the planet.

A study projects that if greenhouse gas emissions continue at a high rate, temperatures in parts of northeastern India and most of Bangladesh will exceed a deadly threshold during seasonal heat waves. Extreme heat waves that now happen once every 25 years will become annual events with temperatures close to the threshold for several weeks each year, which could lead to famine and mass migration.

California is a world leader in fighting climate change..

I had noticed headlines saying china was taking far reaching steps for climate change and was becoming a world leader in that area. Among the headlines was this one in 2017 : China is to stop or delay work on 151 planned and under-construction coal plants. But then I read through a recent article that said china was actually on track to add 25 % to its existing capacity to mine coal ! Given China has about half the world’s coal power capacity, the country’s coal policies have an outsized effect. This development is threatening to “seriously undermine” global climate goals, researchers have warned.

But I also read great news : In Sep this year, California Governor Jerry Brown issued an executive order calling for the entire California economy to become carbon-neutral by 2045. That is a big deal - California's economy has surpassed that of the United Kingdom to become the world's fifth largest.

Brown’s executive order directs the California Air Resources Board to work with relevant state agencies to develop a framework for implementation and accounting of progress toward statewide carbon neutrality. While state agencies can figure out a plan to achieve carbon neutrality, the state legislature will have to pass laws to implement that plan.

California cap-and-trade program, launched in 2013, is one of a suite of major policies the state is already using to lower its greenhouse gas emissions. California’s program is the fourth largest in the world, following the cap-and-trade programs of the European Union, the Republic of Korea, and the Chinese province of Guangdong.  In addition to driving emission cuts in one of the world’s largest economies, California’s program provides critical experience in creating and managing an economy-wide cap-and-trade system.

Transportation accounts for the biggest chunk of Califonria's emissions at 41%. Brown has been pushing for a transition to electric cars, signing another executive order earlier this year setting a goal of 5 million electric vehicles on the road by 2030.

Agriculture and forestry account for another 8% of California’s greenhouse gas emissions. The state is already launching a Healthy Soils Initiative to increase carbon sequestration via farming. For example, one pilot project is monitoring how much carbon will be stored by clover planted between trees at an almond orchard. The University of California at Davis is also conducting experiments to evaluate how changing livestock feed can reduce methane emissions from cattle.