Electric cars reach top spot

Fully electric cars outsold both petrol and diesel cars in August, claiming a record 24.9 per cent share of Australia’s new car market as high fuel prices continued to nudge consumers toward an electric future. 

The news, reported in The Driven podcast, offered a welcome ray of sunshine in a week that also brought home to us the sudden and catastrophic realities of living in a warming world.

As Nepal’s collapsed glacier delivered a devastating climate wake up call, closer to home the Guardian reported on the premature end of the Australian snow season for many resorts, heavily impacting the mountain communities that rely on this seasonal influx of visitors. 

Adding to the weight of the week came a report from the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) which revealed that the global temperature rise now looks likely to cross 1.5°C, pushing climate risks and impacts to dangerous new heights.

The "Limiting Overshoot" report urges immediate global action to reverse this from a lasting trend toward a ‘peak and decline’ pathway.

The UNEP writes:

"Global temperature increases are projected to cross 1.5°C within the next few years. Temperatures beyond 1.5°C will have increased and irreversible risks, including more extreme weather, rising sea levels, loss of ecosystems, threats to food and water security, and impacts on health and infrastructure, and more." 

It urges all countries to take "immediate action to significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions, enhance adaptation and resilience, and responsibly invest in solutions that can help lower temperatures”.

One of the fast track solutions that has previously been highlighted by UNEP is limiting the release of methane, which has a far greater heating capacity and a much shorter life in the atmosphere than carbon emissions. A global methane pledge established at COP26 was established to address this urgent problem.