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Lessons in (fifth-grade) chemistry: Earth 'has a fever' from burning fossil fuels

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Sunday, September 15, 2024

What do you think of when you hear the words climate change, Brittany Jefferson asked her fifth-graders. She moved around her classroom at Silver Lake’s Citizens of the World Charter School making eye contact with each student as she talked.“World is getting hotter,” someone shouted.“Man-made,” another volunteered.“More water in the oceans.”With her class now on topic, Jefferson dimmed the lights and flipped on a slideshow she’d created with data on rising temperatures. Even though summer break was nearing, her students were attentive. Earth “has a fever” from burning fossil fuels, she told her students, noting that climate change affects poor people disproportionately. Ira Lefelt answers a question in Brittany Jefferson’s class at Citizens of the World Charter School. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times) The science class ended with her reading aloud a picture book on environmental damage from fossil fuels.Introduced to climate change as a teenager when she watched Al Gore’s documentary “An Inconvenient Truth,” Jefferson was a classroom teacher when she came to believe the next generation, including many of her students, were clueless about the crisis.Initially, in small ways, she began including the idea of caring for the natural world in her classroom. When the kids responded, she grew more ambitious for her students at the Title I school, where 55% of the students qualify for free or reduced-priced lunches. Our Climate Change Challenge Creating their own curriculum California wants climate education for its students. Meet some of the teachers, schools and nonprofits making it happen. Climate lessons were available online at Subject to Climate. But they weren’t always the right fit, so Jefferson created her own during personal time on evenings and weekends. During the COVID-19 pandemic, she teamed up with the two other fifth-grade teachers at her school to create comprehensive climate lessons that could be incorporated in every subject they taught. “The administration was supportive of what we did,” Jefferson said.No matter the subject, if she could relate it to the degrading environment, she said, her students tuned in.For a language arts lesson on persuasion, she gave her class the details of the then-pending Willow oil drilling project in Alaska. Using that information, students wrote letters to President Biden either supporting or opposing the project, and she mailed the packet of letters to the White House.For a math lesson, her class studied the Great Pacific Garbage Patch in the North Pacific Ocean. How many Californias would fit into that area? How many New Jerseys? Colorados? For a math lesson, Brittany Jefferson’s class studied the Great Pacific Garbage Patch in the North Pacific Ocean. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times) After five years, working hundreds of hours to create climate-oriented curriculum, Jefferson left the classroom before the start of the 2024-25 school year. She plans to work full time creating lessons that develop climate literacy in grade-school students.Through her network of teachers, she said she’s confident that, at least in Los Angeles, there is interest in developing climate literacy at all levels. She’s hoping some of the lessons she is creating will find their way into those classrooms.

Here's what happened when a fifth-grade teacher teamed with colleagues to create comprehensive climate lessons that could be incorporated in every subject they taught.

“World is getting hotter,” someone shouted.

“Man-made,” another volunteered.

“More water in the oceans.”

With her class now on topic, Jefferson dimmed the lights and flipped on a slideshow she’d created with data on rising temperatures. Even though summer break was nearing, her students were attentive. Earth “has a fever” from burning fossil fuels, she told her students, noting that climate change affects poor people disproportionately.

A fifth-grade student answering a question

The science class ended with her reading aloud a picture book on environmental damage from fossil fuels.

Introduced to climate change as a teenager when she watched Al Gore’s documentary “An Inconvenient Truth,” Jefferson was a classroom teacher when she came to believe the next generation, including many of her students, were clueless about the crisis.

Initially, in small ways, she began including the idea of caring for the natural world in her classroom. When the kids responded, she grew more ambitious for her students at the Title I school, where 55% of the students qualify for free or reduced-priced lunches.

Our Climate Change Challenge

Creating their own curriculum

California wants climate education for its students. Meet some of the teachers, schools and nonprofits making it happen.

Climate lessons were available online at Subject to Climate. But they weren’t always the right fit, so Jefferson created her own during personal time on evenings and weekends. During the COVID-19 pandemic, she teamed up with the two other fifth-grade teachers at her school to create comprehensive climate lessons that could be incorporated in every subject they taught. “The administration was supportive of what we did,” Jefferson said.

No matter the subject, if she could relate it to the degrading environment, she said, her students tuned in.

For a language arts lesson on persuasion, she gave her class the details of the then-pending Willow oil drilling project in Alaska. Using that information, students wrote letters to President Biden either supporting or opposing the project, and she mailed the packet of letters to the White House.

For a math lesson, her class studied the Great Pacific Garbage Patch in the North Pacific Ocean. How many Californias would fit into that area? How many New Jerseys? Colorados?

After five years, working hundreds of hours to create climate-oriented curriculum, Jefferson left the classroom before the start of the 2024-25 school year. She plans to work full time creating lessons that develop climate literacy in grade-school students.

Through her network of teachers, she said she’s confident that, at least in Los Angeles, there is interest in developing climate literacy at all levels. She’s hoping some of the lessons she is creating will find their way into those classrooms.

Read the full story here.

Photos courtesy of

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Mark Carney sets his sights on Trudeau's legacy

The prime minister’s first budget revisits a decade of Liberal policy on climate, taxes and the public service.

OTTAWA — Canada’s prime minister unveiled his first federal budget plan on Tuesday, a long-awaited moment in the annual cycle of Canadian politics when Ottawa tells the country how it wants to spend hundreds of billions of taxpayer dollars.And with that plan, Mark Carney is openly dismantling parts of Justin Trudeau's legacy — an ongoing project in service to economic growth and a more muscular Canada.Carney’s ambitious blueprint aims to slim down the federal public service that ballooned under Trudeau’s watch, while spending tens of billions on national defense and billions more on trade, transport and health infrastructure.The plan also sets its sights on reworking, winding down or eliminating various climate, energy and tax policies that helped define Trudeau's decade in power.Farees Nathoo, a former director of parliamentary affairs and issues management to then-Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland, said the budget stands out from the Trudeau era because of its policy focus and fiscal discipline."The budget quite tactically conveys Prime Minister Carney’s economic policy and puts forward a new brand — including by very explicitly differentiating himself from some of Mr. Trudeau’s hallmark commitments," said Nathoo, who is now vice president of strategy and risk at Enterprise Canada. "Carney is focused on infrastructure, housing, defense and productivity."But Carney is skating on thin parliamentary ice. His Liberal government is two seats short of a majority in the House of Commons, and will need the support of at least one opposition party to approve the fiscal plan and avoid an election.Carney is also fending off a Conservative Party that nearly won power after Trudeau's departure — and NDP and Bloc Québécois MPs who've threatened to vote against his budget.Trudeau, we hardly knew yeThe budget book is peppered with reminders that this is no longer Trudeau's Ottawa. The former PM brought in ambitious social programs, including child care, pharma care and dental care. He also prioritized climate and energy programs and regulations that reshaped Canada's effort to curb emissions, and raised the bar for resource project approvals.Carney preserved most of those measures, but not everything made the cut.Gone is a decade-long effort to plant 2 billion trees — a pledge first made in 2019 that struggled mightily to keep pace with planting goals.And federal workers are in for anxious times.Carney's plan notes the federal bureaucracy ballooned by 40 percent during the 10 years Trudeau was in power, an "unsustainable" pace that has "left federal finances strained." Departments and agencies are planning to shed roughly 10 percent of the workforce — "about 40,000 positions."In a stark departure from the former PM's aims, fine print in the budget acknowledges that men will disproportionately benefit from some proposals.Trudeau came to power on a promise to infuse gender equality into government operations.He famously explained that his front bench featured an equal number of men and women "because it's 2015." Ten years later, Carney has maintained that parity.But he's also proposing measures that, by the government's own admission, favor men.One example: The government will eliminate a Trudeau-era luxury tax on aircraft and boats, which an annex at the back of the budget documents takes time to explain will favor buyers who are "disproportionately higher income and primarily men."A shift on climate changeCarney's first order of business in office was using a Sharpie to zero out an unpopular consumer carbon price that he called "divisive."Carney is not getting rid of an industrial price on carbon that has Conservatives howling, nor is he moving to repeal a tanker ban on the West Coast or controversial environmental assessment regulations.The government is, though, hinting at winding down an oil and gas emissions cap that Alberta Premier Danielle Smith has for years claimed is a drag on industry — one of several climate-focused measures that soured relations between Smith and Trudeau.The government didn't exactly promise to eliminate the cap, but it signaled a suite of other emission reduction policies could make it unnecessary.The budget document claims carbon markets, methane regulations and carbon capture technology could render an emissions cap redundant, "as it would have marginal value in reducing emissions."Smith has joined industry voices in railing against anti-“greenwashing” provisions that penalize companies that make false or misleading environmental claims. Smith says the law poses a threat to free speech.Carney intends to amend part of that law, which is "creating investment uncertainty and having the opposite of the desired effect."Earlier this year, Carney also paused a Trudeau-era push to mandate the sale of electric vehicles. The budget documents promise "next steps … in the coming weeks."In 2022, when German then-Chancellor Olaf Scholz visited Canada, Trudeau took heat for raising doubts about the "business case" for LNG exports to Germany.The government is now renewing an expired measure that allowed LNG companies to write off the depreciated cost of liquefaction equipment. That measure, in place as of Wednesday only for "low-carbon" facilities, is meant to "accelerate the type of business investment that will drive productivity growth in Canada."Hey America, this one's for youCarney is also ratcheting up defense spending as an olive branch to a Trump administration that demanded NATO members bulk up their contributions to the alliance.Trudeau eventually promised to spend the NATO benchmark of 2 percent of GDP by 2030. Earlier this year, Carney promised to hit it by March — and then agreed to meet NATO's new 5-percent minimum by 2035.In another nod across the border, Americans who own property in Canada will also welcome the government's plans to cancel a 1 percent annual tax on the value of "vacant or underused" properties.Former Rep. Brian Higgins, a Democrat who represented part of Buffalo, New York, long railed against the levy. He argued it unfairly punished Americans — and he even advocated for retaliation.The budget documents acknowledge the group of taxpayers who will benefit from the axed measure "likely includes a high percentage of non-resident, non-Canadians."

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Vietnam Rethinks Its Flood Strategy as Climate Change Drives Storms and Devastation

Vietnam is rethinking how it copes with floods after a year of relentless storms has collapsed hillsides and turned streets into rivers

HANOI, Vietnam (AP) — Vietnam is rethinking how it copes with floods after a year of relentless storms collapsed hillsides and left vast parts of cities under water. From mapping high-risk areas to reimagining “sponge cities” that can absorb and release water naturally, Vietnam is investing billions to adapt to what experts call a new era of climate extremes. Under a national master plan running through 2030, the government has pledged more than $6 billion to build early-warning systems and move communities out of danger. In smaller cities like Vinh in central Vietnam, these ideas are taking shape. Drainage networks are expanding, flood basins are being carved and riverbanks turned into green spaces that can absorb and then drain off after heavy rains. An onslaught of storms this year has underscored the urgency of that work: Ragasa, Bualoi, Matmo — each carved its own path of ruin. Record rainfall turned streets into rivers and sent slopes sliding, with barely any time for the land to recover between storms. As Typhoon Kalmaegi was gathering strength on its path toward Vietnam this week, scientists warned it may not be the last. It's a glimpse of the country’s climate future — warmer seas fueling storms that form faster, linger longer, and dump heavier rain, hitting the poorest communities hardest.“Vietnam and its neighbors are on the front lines of climate disruption,” said Benjamin Horton, a professor of earth science at City University of Hong Kong. Climate change is reshaping Vietnam’s storm season Scientists say the succession of storms battering Vietnam is not a fluke but part of a broader shift in how storms behave on a warming planet. Vietnam usually faces about a dozen storms a year, but the 2025 cluster was a “clear signal” of global warming, said Horton.Ocean waters are now nearly 1 degree Celsius (33.8 degrees Fahrenheit) warmer than before the industrial era. So storms carry more moisture. The economic toll has been severe for Vietnam, a developing country that wants to become rich by 2045. Floods routinely disrupt farming, fisheries, and factories — the backbone of its economy. State media estimate extreme weather has cost the country $1.4 billion in 2025.Vietnam estimates it will need to spend $55 billion–$92 billion in this decade to manage and adapt to the impacts of climate change. Vietnam’s cities aren’t built for climate shocks About 18 million people, nearly a fifth of Vietnam’s population, live in its two biggest cities, Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. Both are on river deltas that once served as natural buffers against flooding. But as concrete spread over wetlands and farmlands, the cities lost their capacity to absorb downpours.Flooding in Hanoi in October lingered for nearly a week in some neighborhoods. The city of over 8 million has outgrown its infrastructure and its colonial-era drainage system failed as streets turned into brown canals. Motorbikes sputtered in waist-deep water and the Red River’s levees were tested.Vegetable seller Dang Thuan's home flooded knee-deep, spoiling her stock. Her neighborhood used to have several ponds, but they were filled in to build houses and roads. Now the water has nowhere to go.“We can’t afford to move,” she said, “So every time it rains hard, we just wait and hope.”In 1986-1996, the decade coinciding with ‘Doi Moi’ economic reforms that unleashed a construction boom, Hanoi lost nearly two-thirds of water bodies in its four core urban districts, according to a study by Kyoto University's Center for Southeast Asian Studies. Between 2015 and 2020, it lost water bodies spanning the area of 285 soccer fields, state media have reported.More than three-quarters of Hanoi’s area — including much of its densely populated core — is at risk of flooding, according to a 2024 study. Flooding in the city can’t be solved by building more, said Hong Ngoc Nguyen, lead author of the study and an environmental engineer at the Japanese consultancy Nippon Koei.“We can’t control the water,” she said, pointing to Singapore’s shift from concrete canals to greener riverbanks that slow and hold stormwater instead of rushing it away. A global problem with lessons in nature The idea of designing cities to “live with water” is gaining traction globally, including in Vietnam. Vietnam's recent floods have sparked a wider conversation about how cities should deal with storms. The former director of the National Institute of Urban and Rural Planning, Ngo Trung Hai, told the state-run newspaper Hanoi Times that the city must learn to live with heavy rainfall and adopt long-term strategies. European business associations have urged Vietnam’s financial capital Ho Chi Minh City to adopt a “sponge city” approach.Real estate developers have faced criticism in state media for improper building practices, such as building on low-lying land or roads unconnected to storm sewer systems and treating water bodies as “landscape features” rather than ways to drain storm water.Some of Vietnam’s biggest property developers have begun to adapt. In the coastal tourism hub of Nha Trang, the Sun Group is building a new township modeled as a “sponge city” with wetlands covering 60 hectares (148 acres), designed to store and reuse rainwater to reduce flooding and absorb heat.City planners must account for future climate risks, said Anna Beswick, who studies climate adaptation at the London School of Economics.“If we plan based on past experience, we won’t be resilient in the future,” she said.The Associated Press’ climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.Photos You Should See – Oct. 2025

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Ancient Greeks and Romans knew harming the environment could change the climate

They worried deeply about the impact climate change would have on us as individuals, and on broader society.

Universal History Archive / Contributor/GettyHumans have known about, thought about and worried about climate change for millennia. Since at least the fourth century BC, the ancient Greeks and Romans recognised that the climate changes over time and that human activity can cause it. They worried deeply about the impact it would have on us as individuals, and on broader society. The earliest mention of climate change? Greek writer Theophrastus of Eresus (who lived roughly from 372 BCE to 282 BCE) was a student of Aristotle. He is sometimes credited with the earliest reference to climate change. In his treatise On Winds, Theophrastus notes people in Crete recognised their climate had changed over the centuries: [they say] that now the winters are longer and more snow falls, presenting as proof the fact that the mountains once had been inhabited and bore crops, both grain and fruit-tree, the land having been planted and cultivated. For there are vast plains among the Idaean mountains and among others, none of which are farmed now because they do not bear (crops). But once, as was said, they were in fact settled, for which reason indeed the island was full of people, as heavy rains occurred at that time, whereas much snow and wintery weather did not occur. It’s unclear how accurate Theophrastus’ account of Crete’s climate might be or what time period is meant by the word “once”. Modern scientific studies suggest that from 8000 BCE to 600 BCE Crete experienced various alternations of climate, for example from humid and warm to dry and warm to cold and humid, while in the time when Theophrastus was writing the climate is meant to have been relatively warm and dry. Theophrastus’ observation shows people handed down information about climate change from generation to generation. Ancient awareness of the role of humans in climate change In ancient Greek and Roman times, some were even aware that human actions could contribute to changes in climate. The Roman aristocrat Pliny the Elder (23/24-79 CE) wrote a work titled Natural History, in which he gave examples of human induced climate change. In one passage, Pliny noted that in the district of Larisa in Thessaly the emptying of a lake has lowered the temperature of the district. According to Pliny, because of this change of climate: olives which used to grow there before have disappeared, also the vines have begun to be nipped (by frost), which did not occur before. Pliny noted this kind of change caused by human activity had happened elsewhere in Greece: The city of Aenos, since the river Maritza was brought near to it, has experienced an increase of warmth and the district round Philippi altered its climate when its land under cultivation was drained. Ancient awareness of long-term climate changes Ancient Greeks and Romans understood the climate is not static over time. The Roman writer Columella (active around 50 CE) noted in his work On Agriculture that climate change had been mentioned by earlier writers: For I have found that many authorities […] were convinced that with the long passing of the ages, weather and climate undergo a change. Columella refers to the Roman writer Saserna (who was active in the early first century BCE). Saserna had observed how: Regions which formerly, because of the unremitting severity of winter, could not safeguard any shoot of the vine or the olive planted in them, now that the earlier coldness has abated and the weather is becoming more clement, produce olive harvests and the vintages of Bacchus (wine) in the greatest abundance. Saserna did not, however, attribute these long-term climactic changes to human activity. He suggested they were caused by the position of the Earth in relation to the Sun and the other planets, writing that: The position of the heavens has changed. Ancient responses to climate change Greek and Roman writers sometimes complained about the destruction being done to the environment. Roman writer Pliny the Elder said that: We taint the rivers and the elements of nature, and the air itself, which is the main support of life, we turn into a medium for the destruction of life. However, most ancient authors tended not to link environmental damage or pollution with climate change as much as we do today. The exception is when they talk about the draining of lakes or diversions of rivers, which worried many. Some ancient leaders, such as Roman emperor Nerva, took action to clean up the environment. Universal Images Group/Getty Ancient authors did, however, see protection of the environment as a serious concern. Their view was making the environment unhealthy would make people unhealthy, too. For example, the physician Galen (129-216 CE) said that in his time the Tiber River in Rome was so polluted that it was not safe to eat fish caught there. Nonetheless, many people ate the fish, got sick, and died. The main pollution sources were sewage and rubbish. Some ancient leaders took action to clean up the environment. For instance, the Roman emperor Nerva (who ruled 96-98 CE) undertook construction works that caused the appearance of the city to be “clean and altered” and made the air “purer”, according to the Roman writer Frontinus. What the modern world can learn Ancient Greek and Roman writings reveal ancient concerns about our negative impact on the environment. They show that places once rich and fertile later became desolate and barren. Although the Greeks and Romans linked environmental harm with climate change to a more limited extent than we do today, they nevertheless knew harming the environment could change the climate. This, they understood, can ultimately bring harm to ourselves personally and to our societies as a whole. Konstantine Panegyres does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

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The Ideal Shower Is This Many Minutes Long, According To Experts

Here’s what your skin, the planet and your wallet wish you knew.

The more stressed some of us get, the more we can find ourselves wanting to double (or triple) down on our self-care routines. Case in point: the “everything shower.” It all started on TikTok, and now the platform is exploding with people demonstrating hours-long shower sessions that include exfoliation, shaving, hair masks, body scrubs, face masks, oils, serums and more. The appeal, in large part, lies with the fact that it’s a way to take control of one small part of your life, when so much else seems out of control.It’s a little bit washing up, a little bit spa treatment and a whole lot performative wellness ritual — and even more water. Many everything shower proponents describe it as a reset after a hard week and a way to “start over” with a scrupulously groomed body, head to toe. They sing the praises of time spent focused just on themselves, tending to each square inch of flesh and treating themselves with kindness and devotion.But is it a little too much? Should our skin be under running water for such a long period of time? And what about a long shower’s impact on our increasingly drought-ridden planet? Here’s what science-based experts, not TikTok influencers, have to say about the everything shower trend. Cleansing our skin is important, but stripping it can be detrimental.You need to keep your skin clean for all sorts of reasons, said dermatologist Dr. Nada Elbuluk, a professor of clinical dermatology at the University of Southern California. “Cleansing is important for removing dirt, dead skin cells and other contaminants that we may come into contact with throughout the day, such as bacteria, viruses and fungi,” she added. FG Trade via Getty ImagesKeep it to five minutes, sir.You should make sure you’re keeping “hot spots” clean, said dermatologist Dr. Mojgan Hosseinipour: “There are a few areas you should always wash daily, including armpits, groin, feet and face, because those accumulate sweat, bacteria and oil more quickly.” Hosseinipour also recommended showering after every workout, and possibly more frequently if you live in a hot and humid climate or are prone to sweating and body acne.But overdoing it is a strong “no” from these doctors. “Overwashing the skin may strip natural oils and lead to excessive dryness,” Elbuluk said. “Avoid hot water, too, because the hotter water is, and the longer the exposure to it, the more it ultimately dries out the skin.”“My motto is: keep it simple,” Hosseinipour said. “Occasionally adding a few extra steps to create a spa-like self-care experience can be enjoyable, but regularly taking an everything shower isn’t necessary. My main concern lies with exfoliation, because excessive scrubbing or over-exfoliating can cause redness, dryness and itching, and it can even damage the skin barrier. A gentle, consistent routine is far more beneficial for long-term skin health.”In summary, an everything shower might make you feel like a brand-new person, but it can also leave your skin barrier feeling prematurely old and excessively dehydrated, which is pretty much the exact opposite of what you were hoping to accomplish. The environmental impact is significant.With droughts and water shortages increasing globally, long showers also raise real sustainability concerns. Reducing the length of your shower doesn’t just protect your skin, but also results in fewer gallons being drawn from overstressed reservoirs and less energy being used to heat and pump that water. Significant water shortages are already an issue for some parts of the world, and many of us can anticipate that the situation will have a negative impact on our lives in the near future. The United Nations projects that within just five years, global demand for freshwater will exceed supply by 40%. The need for water is increasing, thanks to the emergence of “megadroughts” that have recently affected the West Coast, southern Europe, and sub-Saharan Africa. Reducing the time you spend in the shower may seem like a small act, but enough of us taking action together can reduce community demand on fragile freshwater systems and the energy required to treat, heat and move that water to our homes. In the United States, for example, the average shower lasts for 7.8 minutes and uses approximately 15.8 gallons of water, according to the nonprofit organization Alliance for Water Efficiency. The organization states that the duration of the shower has a direct impact on water usage. If you’re doing a full-blown 30- to 45-minute “everything shower,” you could be burning through 75 to 110 gallons of water. Every time. That’s basically the equivalent of running three loads of laundry for just one shower.Many of us act as though water appears like magic when we turn on a faucet, but the city you live in has to pump, treat and distribute every gallon, which is an energy-intensive process. The EPA estimates that water and wastewater treatment often consumes 30 to 40% of a city’s total energy consumption. Wasting water doesn’t just affect your own household’s water and heating bill — it also puts a strain on your area’s systems and reserves. Shorter showers save you money.Acting to help the planet can also have a positive impact on your monthly energy and water bills, too. According to the EPA, the average American family of four uses approximately 400 gallons of water per day, so any way to reduce that amount can make a significant difference. Cutting your shower time from a typical 10-minute one to five minutes saves roughly 10 to 12 gallons each time.Besides saving on water, shorter showers save on the energy needed to heat the water you’re using, so less time spent under warm or hot water is a savings of fuel, as well. Research has shown that reducing shower durations from six to 10 minutes to four minutes can lead to energy savings ranging from 0.1 to 3.8 kilowatt-hours (kWh) per person per day. These shorter showers represented a combined water and energy cost savings of between $37 and $500 per household per year.So, how long should a shower be? “In general, dermatologists recommend no more than 5 to 10 minutes of warm water exposure per day for showers,” Elbuluk said. If you have atopic dermatitis and/or very dry skin, you may want to stay closer to, or under, the 5-minute point.From an environmental standpoint, taking shorter showers, around five minutes, is considered an effective way to conserve water. Can you stick to a five-minute shower routine? If you prep everything before turning on the water, including getting out shampoo and locating your washcloth or scrubber, it’s more than possible. If you have to wait for hot water to reach the shower before you can step in, you can save even more water by collecting that initial “run off” of cold water in a bucket for watering plants. If you need to do more than a quick shampoo, conditioner and body wash, turn the water off while you shave or deep condition.YourSupportMakes The StoryYour SupportFuelsOur MissionYour SupportFuelsOur MissionJoin Those Who Make It PossibleHuffPost stands apart because we report for the people, not the powerful. Our journalism is fearless, inclusive, and unfiltered. Join the membership program and help strengthen news that puts people first.We remain committed to providing you with the unflinching, fact-based journalism everyone deserves.Thank you again for your support along the way. We’re truly grateful for readers like you! Your initial support helped get us here and bolstered our newsroom, which kept us strong during uncertain times. Now as we continue, we need your help more than ever. We hope you will join us once again.We remain committed to providing you with the unflinching, fact-based journalism everyone deserves.Thank you again for your support along the way. We’re truly grateful for readers like you! Your initial support helped get us here and bolstered our newsroom, which kept us strong during uncertain times. Now as we continue, we need your help more than ever. We hope you will join us once again.Support HuffPostAlready a member? Log in to hide these messages.Some environmentally conscious folks set a five-minute timer as soon as they turn on the faucet, or sing a few choruses of their favorite song, timed in advance. One British energy company has even issued a “Short Shower Playlist” of tunes that run no longer than five minutes. With a little focus and some preplanning, you may be able to turn an “out in five” shower into a win-win for your skin, your household expenses and the planet.

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Global emissions on pace to exceed Paris goals despite progress: UN report

The world is still on track to exceed the Paris Agreement’s warming goals, though it has made some progress since last year, according to a new report from the United Nations. The report found that if the plans submitted by nations around the world are followed, global warming will be limited to between 2.3 degrees Celsius and 2.5 degrees Celsius, or 4.14 and 4.5 degrees Fahrenheit. That 2.3 to 2.5 degree estimate is down from last year’s report, under which national plans would have resulted in 2.6 to 2.8 degrees Celsius of warming. If actual policies are followed, which tend to fall short of national goals, the world is expected to warm by 2.8 Celsius, 5.04 degrees Fahrenheit. That warming is considered an average temperature on the Earth’s surface: The temperature change experienced on land may be higher. Under the Paris Agreement, countries around the world have called for limiting warming to 2 degrees celsius as part of an effort to limit the worsening extreme weather caused by climate change. The report comes as the Trump administration is poised to withdraw from the Paris Agreement, and will be decoupled from its commitment in next year’s report, as the withdrawal will become effective next year. This will result in a 0.1 degree Celsius, or 0.18 degree Fahrenheit, increase in next year’s estimate, the report said. The estimates are based on emissions cuts stemming from country pledges and while the U.S. exit may mean there are fewer climate commitments on the books, this doesn’t necessarily mean that the accompanying emissions increases will actually occur. The State Department “does not support” the report, per a statement included in a footnote. “The United States does not support the Emissions Gap Report,” the U.S. government said. “It is the policy of the United States that international environmental agreements must not unduly or unfairly burden the United States. Accordingly, the U.S. Department of State notified the UN Secretary-General of the U.S. withdrawal from the Paris Agreement on January 27.”

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The Day She Stole The Sun

In 2019, after years of severe drought, Australia endured an unprecedented bushfire crisis. The fires spanned almost the entire length of the country… and one small village on the New South Wales South Coast was hit by the full force of its destruction. The village became a national symbol for resilience and unbreakable Australian spirit. Told by the people who were there, this is not a story about tragedy, it’s a story about community. This is the story of Cobargo.

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Lessons in (fifth-grade) chemistry: Earth 'has a fever' from burning fossil fuels

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Lessons in (fifth-grade) chemistry: Earth 'has a fever' from burning fossil fuels

Related News

Mark Carney sets his sights on Trudeau's legacy

Vietnam Rethinks Its Flood Strategy as Climate Change Drives Storms and Devastation

Ancient Greeks and Romans knew harming the environment could change the climate

The Ideal Shower Is This Many Minutes Long, According To Experts

Global emissions on pace to exceed Paris goals despite progress: UN report

Suggested Viewing

A Low Carbon Future for China’s Furnace Cities

The Day She Stole The Sun

Talking Trees

Resilience

Sustainable Living with Patrick Lang

Join us to forgea sustainable future

sign up for our mailing list to stay informed on the latest films and environmental headlines.

Join us to forge
a sustainable future