FIRST LOOK: 

Today, Climate Central launched the Climate Shift Index, the world’s first tool to quantify the impact of climate change on local weather in real time. Based on peer-reviewed science, the Climate Shift Index offers a clear and accessible way for communicators, including weathercasters and other media professionals, to explain climate change connections to local conditions as they happen.

Reporting on climate change can change people’s minds, briefly: A study to be published later this week finds accurate science reporting can make American beliefs about the climate crisis more accurate, and increase support for governmental action, but only briefly. The change in beliefs can quickly erode when people are exposed to misinformation or coverage skeptical of climate change. “Even factually accurate science reporting recedes from people’s frame of reference very quickly,” study author Thomas Wood told Ohio State News. The study found accurate reporting on climate change had positive effects on all groups, including Republicans and those who originally rejected the fact that human activity is rapidly changing the climate. These results suggest the media plays a key role in Americans’ beliefs and attitudes about climate change, and the need for “people [to] hear the same accurate messages about climate change again and again. If they only hear it once, it recedes very quickly,” according to Wood. (Ohio State News, Earth.com, The Guardian)  

Heat wave to bring temps above 100 for 20 percent of people in US: About 70 percent of the US population will deal with temperatures in the 90s this week, and more than 55 million Americans are predicted to face triple-digit highs with overnight lows remaining in the upper 70s to lower 80s. Over 100 daily high temperature records are expected to be broken amid the latest heat wave, as climate change continues to make the trend of extreme summer heat the new normal. In the 1960s, Americans experienced an average of two heat waves a year, but by the 2010s, the average increased to six per year, according to the EPA. June 2021 was the warmest in the Lower 48 since records began more than a century ago, Alex Lamers, a meteorologist for the Weather Prediction Center, told CNN. Hundreds of thousands of people, including around 180,000 people in Ohio, are still dealing with power outages caused by above average temperatures, and the spiking temperatures could portend wildfire concerns or “flash droughts” across the country. (CNN 1, CNN 2, Washington Post $, The Guardian $, Axios)

War derails European plans to stop using coal: The deteriorating market for methane gas in Europe is forcing countries like the UK, Austria, and Germany to return to coal-fired power to prevent an energy supply crisis. Russian-gas company Gazprom recently limited the flow of methane gas from Russia to Germany and the rest of Europe via the Nord Stream 1 pipeline, and it is unknown when those flows will return to normal levels. Gazprom blamed maintenance issues for the reduction, but European leaders are calling the move a political tactic by Russian President Putin. European policymakers are now scrambling for extra shipments of methane gas, but the prolonged outage at the Freeport LNG plant in Texas has made fewer cargoes available from the US, which Europe was relying on to fill storage tanks before winter comes. (CNBC, New York Times $,TIME $, Bloomberg 1 $, (Bloomberg 2 $, Bloomberg 3 $)

CLIMATE DIPLOMACY: Bonn climate talks: Key outcomes from the June 2022 UN climate conference (Carbon Brief), US and Chinese businesses should team up to tackle climate change, says former US treasury secretary Paulson (South China Morning Post)

CLIMATE LITIGATION: Republican drive to tilt courts against climate action reaches a crucial moment (New York Times $), The government set a colossal wildfire. What are victims owed? (New York Times $)

CITIES AND STATES: A conversation with a woman who promotes renewable energy in rural communities (Yale Climate Connections), The Wyoming Climate Summit will focus on Indigenous knowledge and green energy (Wyoming Public Media)

WHITE HOUSE: Biden team sees climate ‘emergency,’ but powers are limited (Washington Post $)

IMPACTS: This year’s extreme weather is just getting started (Wired)

HEAT: Sweltering streets: Hundreds of homeless die in extreme heat (AP), Spain, Germany battle wildfires amid unusual heat wave (AP), Western Europeans wilt in early summer heatwave, compounding climate change fears (CNN), Historic June heat wave smashes records in Europe (Washington Post $), Marker of climate change: Europe swelters in record-breaking June heatwave (Carbon Brief)

DROUGHT: Another La Niña fall means US drought will get even worse (Gizmodo), As water crisis worsens on Colorado River, an urgent call for Western states to ‘act now’ (LA Times $)

FLOODS: Heaviest rain in 60 years hits southern China, as experts warn extreme weather will only get worse (CNN), China hit by floods and heat waves in climate double whammy (Bloomberg $), Millions stranded as heavy flooding sweeps through Bangladesh and India (Washington Post $), Ruinous flooding in India and Bangladesh kills at least 116 (New York Times $), Dozens dead, thousands homeless in Bangladesh, India floods (AP)

WILDFIRES: Wildfire near Arizona’s Kitt Peak less than half contained (AP), Arizona fires sweep land rich with ancient sites, artifacts (AP), Wildfire in New Jersey may become largest in 15 years, officials says (Washington Post $), A wildfire year (New York Times $)

BUILDINGS: Net-zero rules set to send cost of new homes and extensions soaring (The Guardian), Florida homeowners to pay higher premiums as reinsurers see risks and pull back (Wall Street Journal $)

FASHION: Model Lily Cole wants everyone to have a climate education (Bloomberg $), Mushroom leather: Lab-grown biomaterials challenge animal hides in the fashion world (CBS News)

OIL & GAS: Biden says he’s considering gas tax holiday as admin targets July 4 announcement (CNBC), Can natural gas be used to create power with fewer emissions? (New York Times $), U.S. natural-gas exporter completes first deal with German buyer (Wall Street Journal $)

SOLAR: Philippines closer to adding one of world’s top solar sites (Bloomberg $)

HYDROGEN: What 18 independent studies all concluded about the use of hydrogen for heating (Recharge News), Volvo says it has started testing trucks with fuel cells powered by hydrogen (CNBC), Markets bring Italy’s hydrogen IPO back to Earth (Reuters)

EVs: How GM, Ford and Tesla are tackling the national EV charging challenge (CNBC), Red flags for forced labor found in China’s car battery supply chain (New York Times $), GM and Ford, driving to beat Tesla, turn on each other (Wall Street Journal $)

ACTIVISM: New brand of activist takes aim at Ukraine war and climate crisis, together (New York Times $), Justice or overreach?: As crucial test looms, Big Greens are under fire (Politico), Youths sue European governments over fossil fuel energy pact (Reuters)

CAPITALISM: Can we trust capitalism to solve climate change? (Tech Crunch), Corporate America seeks to halt SEC climate rule (FT $), You've likely been affected by climate change. Your long-term finances might be, too (NPR)

FORESTS: Forests or business - who wins when companies pay to protect trees? (Thomson Reuters Foundation)

FUNGI: Friendly fungi help forests fight climate change (BBC)

MOSS: Is moss a climate change superhero in disguise? (Forbes)

PREPPERS: Some people are turning to survival training to prepare for climate change (Yale Climate Connections)

INTERNATIONAL: Colombia’s first Black vice president brings climate focus (Bloomberg $), Spain, Colombia’s new president Gustavo Petro pledges to keep fossil fuels in the ground (Climate Home), Canadians’ $100 billion oil and gas problem (Grist)

• Climate change contributes to the Black maternal health crisis (Maria Lopez-Nunez, Michellene Davis and Jaye Wilson, NJ.com op-ed)

• To stop climate change, regulate carbon as a toxic substance (Eugene Robinson, Washington Post, op-ed $)

• Semiconductor dependency imperils American security (Graham Allison and Eric Schmidt, Wall Street Journal op-ed $)

• Summer is turning into the deadliest season (Kimberly R. Miner, The Hill op-ed)

• The climate crisis is hitting the planet’s working classes the hardest and they know it (Jeff Sparrow, The Guardian op-ed $)

• Don’t endanger aquatic ecosystems in the name of solving climate change (Roger Berkowitz and Sarah Schumann, Boston Globe op-ed $)

Gizmodo Collects Meta Discussion Of Facebook's Climate Disinfo Failures As Platform Devolves Into Billboard For Disinformation 

Following recent-ish revelations that Meta used a front group to run a disinformation campaign on Facebook opposing regulations the company publicly supported, and last year's news that Meta allows climate-denying-election-stealers to run rampant on Facebook because the company is run by climate denying election-stealer Joel Kaplan, one might wonder what's left to expose about a website that's quickly becoming little more than a billboard for disinformation.  

A piece from Gizmodo last week highlighted all the different climate conversations that were leaked in the Facebook Papers documents, and while there weren't necessarily game-changing bombshells, there were some amusing moments from Facebook staff worth calling out. 

For example, Facebook uses its Climate Science Information Center as a shield against allegations that its algorithm amplifies climate disinformation, but Facebook's own internal reporting found, per Gizmodo, that "the site was an unambiguous failure" because "in the U.S. alone, two-thirds of users forgot the center even existed" when asked if they remembered visiting. Facebook has a clear problem with trust in the U.S., as "Americans were uniquely distrustful of information when they knew that it came from Facebook." 

Another fun nugget is confirmation that given Facebook staff  weren't getting any answers from Facebook leadership, embarrassing the company in the media is the only thing leadership responds to. The leaked coverage in the press is "frustrating to read," one commenter said, "and puts me into a really awkward position where I have to side with leakers. Since we still haven't got an internal response about the last incident, it appears that the pressure from the outside is indeed the only way to get an answer or drive any meaningful change." Sounds right to us! 

The discussions also reveal that, perhaps unsurprisingly, former GOP operative turned Facebook's actual boss Joel Kaplan isn't the only one who thinks disinformation is fine on the platform. It also shows that many others disagree. 

A particular issue is coverage of Facebook overturning fact checks and creating loopholes for disinformation to spread as long as it's categorized as opinion content. "What The F****!" one rightfully outraged employee self-censored, "[a]re we not seeing in real time the impact of letting science mis- information ravage our country? Our Fact Checking systems mean nothing if they can just be overruled." Fact check: true! 

But then a giant doofus undercuts the fact checks of climate disinfo, saying they are "by people that do climate change work for a living. While they have good experience maybe, they also have a conflict of interest in that they make their livings arguing the opposite viewpoint."

Not to be biased, but wouldn't the people whose livelihoods depend on spreading climate disinformation also have just as significant a bias to complain about fact checks being biased?

No, apparently bias only works one way at Facebook: in favor of climate disinformation. Employees discussed an example of Facebook failing to enforce its policies and overruling a fact check of climate disinfo, and that a climate fact check was "biased" because the companies "stakeholders" (who employees wanted to know the identity of) consider it "opinion and a debate within the scientific community." 

As a result, one person had "already been sent [an article about the problem] a few times by former academics colleagues who work on climate change misinfo. They are livid." 

We sure were! But here's the fun part - one of the employees is "married to one of those climate change misinfo academics and got a lot of side-eye this morning." Ouch, not only is Facebook breaking brains, democracy, and the climate, now it's also causing marital strife!? 

It's not just personal feelings and marriages either, another person said they "would like an answer to this and as a sales person on the front lines with Microsoft, I am also being asked about this by my clients. What happened in this particular case and in other climate related reversals? What is the point of having independent fact checkers if we intervene?" 

Finally, there's a great discussion about how climate change is absolutely an immediate harm, on par with COVID-19, and should therefore be treated with similar scrutiny, which was not unanimous, but showed that there are certainly some climate-conscious Facebook staffers. 

In fact, one, on the last of 33 pages, stole our heart! 

Hey guys, check it out: I hear that the Tobacco Institute has some experts ready to weigh in that cigarettes don't cause cancer, and some ‘stakeholders’ view this as a ‘debate within the scientific community’. Does Joel Kaplan know about this? I'm sure he'll need to weigh in.

So dear, sweet, well-meaning and climate-concerned employees at Facebook and Meta (and any other platform), and/or any of your spouses who may be reading this and feeling like "pressure from the outside" is the only way "to drive meaningful change" at the company: Please get in touch! We'd love to chat!

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