Solar panels at the Golmud solar park in China Qilai Shen/Panos
Heatwaves on land and at sea. Melting ice. Wildfires. This shocking year of weather extremes has brought home the reality of climate change, but it is also building the political momentum to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. “The upside is a lot of people are going, ‘Holy mackerel, what is going on here?’ ” says Jennifer Francis at the Woodwell Climate Research Center in Massachusetts.
That sense of urgency is reflected in the unprecedented scale and speed of decarbonisation in many countries across the world. This year is expected to see…
