Sucking carbon from the sky

FOLLOW US SUBSCRIBE   One author of a new United Nations climate report warns of "an existential crisis" and "permanent" changes to human civilization as seas rise, get warmer and more acidic at a faster pace than previously predicted. The damage, he says, has already been done. —Josh Petri   "You have stolen my dreams and my childhood with your empty words. People are suffering, people are dying, entire ecosystems are collapsing. We are at the beginning of a mass extinction and all you can talk about is money and fairy tales of endless economic growth. How dare you!" —Greta Thunberg, a teenage environmental activist, in a speech at the UN Global Climate Action Summit in New York.     Top stories President Donald Trump, who scheduled an appearance at a religious freedom event at the same time as the climate summit, made a surprise appearance at the UN. He left after 15 minutes. He did, however, find time to mock 16-year-old Greta Thunberg. LVMH Chairman and billionaire Bernard Arnault assailed the teen as well, calling her warnings about the climate crisis "demoralizing for young people" while arguing "we still need growth."  Global warming-induced droughts threaten to affect more than half of the world's wheat fields, driving up the cost of bread and causing political upheaval.  The battle against climate change, so far, has focused on cutting carbon emissions. The next solution may be sucking carbon from the sky. In the U.S., more than 25 million tons of plastic ends up in landfills every year. Polypropylene—the rigid plastic favored for deodorant containers and shampoo bottles—is one of the biggest culprits. Just 3% of it gets recycled (compared with about 29% for polyethylene terephthalate soda bottles) because of technical problems. Now a scientist at Procter & Gamble thinks he's solved all of them: All he had to do was get rid of the smell.   What we've been reading One-third of the world's arable land is used to grow feed for livestock, which contribute 14.5% of global emissions. There's no way around it: Meat is environmentally unsustainable. Impossible Foods says it's found the solution. Greta Thunberg isn't the only climate activist being bullied on Twitter. The leaders of a new movement pushing back against leaders unwilling to face the looming catastrophe are mostly young women. And they are routinely insulted, hacked and abused online. Some questions are just better than others. Take this one: How much is a whale worth? The world's largest mammals sequester huge amounts of carbon, which makes a powerful economic case for protecting them. Each one may be worth millions of dollars. Sponsor Content by Iberdola Iberdrola has been leading the energy transition since 2001. We are a world leader in producing clean, green wind power. Today, Iberdrola supplies energy to over 100 million people across the world. Find out more about why we saw value in decarbonising before others did.     You received this message because you are subscribed to the Bloomberg Climate Changed newsletter.     Unsubscribe | Bloomberg.com | Contact Us Bloomberg L.P. 731 Lexington, New York, NY, 10022