Thanks, From Your Newsletter Anchor
Newsletter Climate Forwards lead writer is handing over the reins. She shared her parting thoughts. Happy summer, friends. Today, I wrap up my turn at helming this newsletter. So, this is a thank-you card. I became a climate reporter after many years as an international correspondent because I could see how the climate crisis was affecting everything from how people farm to how nations realign geopolitics. Its why I chose to anchor this newsletter for you. I wanted to show you, in short, bite-size pieces, not just the perils of global warming, but who is doing what to address it. I wanted to share with you the amazing work of my colleagues. I wanted to walk us through sometimes impenetrable debates and explain, simply, how it matters for everyday people in our everyday lives. I wrote from a place of neither hope nor despair, exactly, but from the perspective of an OK-now-what-do-we-do pragmatist. So, for nearly a year and a half, backed up by Douglas Alteen, Manuela Andreoni, Claire ONeill, Adam Pasick and many others who popped in to help, Team Climate Forward has unpacked things like obtuse climate negotiations in Sharm el Sheikh as I described in my postcard) and the of my lifetime (plus tips on how U.S. residents can take advantage of ). We covered the news of and teased out the of unusually warm weather in Europe (Winter is trolling the Kremlin, I wrote). You came with me on road trips with The Teenager, once to , another time through . You sent us your stories about the around you. You told us about in your families. Some of you wanted to know why we werent writing about population growth. . And showed you why thats not really a big problem. You sent us kind notes. You complained. I read all of it. It made me a better journalist. Sometimes, it moved me. Thank you. Ive learned three things from my Climate Forward experience. One, its impossible to look away from the climate crisis. The burning of fossil fuels is scorching even the countries that burn a lot of them, like the United States. The latest, most terrifying example came last month, with people in suffering in dangerous, record heat. There is little doubt that its amplified by . Two, we are living in a time of big change. No longer is the global economy powered only by coal, oil and gas. Solar power is expanding faster than even its champions had imagined. Every automaker in the United States is rolling out electric vehicles. Electric heat pumps are proliferating in Europe. Of course, the change isnt fast enough. Greenhouse gas emissions are climbing dangerously. But two things can be true at the same time. The challenge of writing about climate change is to hold both in your brain. Three, the people who are changing their everyday lives most aggressively are those who arent responsible for the problem of climate change. Ive shared their stories with you, from South Korea to Bangladesh to Uganda. Sometimes, their strategies work. Sometimes they dont, with perilous consequences. This is perhaps the most important lesson for me, which I tried to distill in a . As a climate journalist, I get asked a perennial question by my fellow Americans: What do I do in the face of a crisis so big and complicated? I wrote. The answer I witnessed on a recent reporting trip to East and Southern Africa: everything. This is what I want to write more about in the coming months. The everything. First, Im going to take a long summer break. The pace of the newsletter has kept my fast-think brain very fit. But my slow-think brain is real flabby. When Im back, Ill take on , traveling and writing about how people are in the face of the climate crisis. Spoiler alert: Expect to read . To keep my fast-thinking muscles in shape, Ill jump in to offer climate analysis on . Now, I pass the baton into the able hands of David Gelles, whose voice youve times in the newsletter. Lucky for you, Manuela Andreoni (read her essay ) will continue writing for Climate Forward. Thanks again for coming along on this ride with me. The past three days were very likely the hottest in Earths modern history, and we may be heading into a . John Kerry, President Bidens climate envoy, said he would travel to China next week to restart negotiations after a . Negotiators from nearly all countries reached a provisional agreement aimed at eliminating greenhouse emissions from . Wildfires in Canada have upended oil and gas operations, dampened tourism and imposed uncounted . Countries are experimenting with distributing small sums of cash to help their poorest citizens protect themselves and their homes . Michigan has long been a laggard when it comes to climate action, but disruptions caused by global warming appear to be . A federal agency approved the construction of 98 wind turbine generators off the coast of New Jersey. Its a major step in President Bidens . In The Heat Will Kill You First, Jeff Goodell documents the . The Atlantic explained why Antarctica is the last place . From The Associated Press: The United States decided to make it easier for scientists to relocate plants and animals outside their native ecosystems as a . Smith Island, in Maryland, could soon be wiped off the map by rising seas. But according to The Washington Post, . Grist interviewed experts who say hackers are targeting E.V. chargers. Most breaches are innocuous, but more elaborate plots could bring down . There werent supposed to be any wolves in New York State. When a hunter shot one near Cooperstown in 2021, it opened a new front in the wars over what might be Americas most beloved and reviled predator. Some conservationists say the episode proved that wolves are making a comeback and that government agencies need to do more to . is The Timess international climate correspondent. She has also covered the Middle East, West Africa and South Asia and is the author of the book, The End of Karma: Hope and Fury Among Indias Young.