How Climate Change Is Choking the Air We Breathe - Lethal Heating Editor BDA

Key Impacts on Air Quality

Ground-level ozone EPA: Ozone Pollution Bushfire smoke & PM2.5 Nature: Wildfire Emissions Pollen season length PNAS: Pollen Trends Respiratory & cardiac risk WHO: Air Pollution & Health Emergency visits & mortality Lancet: Climate & Health

Warming Planet, Dirtier Skies

As global temperatures rise, the impact is becoming more tangible and more breathable. 

Climate change is worsening air quality across continents, with elevated ground-level ozone, increased bushfire smoke, and extended pollen seasons now threatening public health and burdening healthcare systems worldwide. 

From asthma spikes to cardiovascular strain, the consequences are no longer abstract. 

They are in our lungs.

Heat Fuels Ground-Level Ozone

Ground-level ozone, unlike the protective ozone layer high in the stratosphere, forms when sunlight triggers reactions between nitrogen oxides (NOx) and volatile organic compounds (VOCs). 

These emissions, primarily from vehicles, power plants, and industrial processes, become more reactive in hotter weather. 

The result is a toxic, invisible smog layer worsened by climate change.

 According to the U.S. EPA¹, climate-driven temperature increases could raise ozone concentrations by 1–5 parts per billion over the next 50 years in some regions.

Bushfires Amplify Air Pollution

Longer, hotter summers are fueling wildfires across North America, Australia, and Southern Europe.

The 2019–2020 Black Summer fires in Australia released 715 million tonnes of CO₂ into the atmosphere, along with fine particulate matter (PM2.5) that penetrates deep into the lungs². 

A 2021 study in Nature showed that wildfires are becoming a dominant source of air pollution in the western U.S., with consequences reaching as far as the East Coast.

Pollen Seasons Are Getting Longer

In addition to pollutants, the warming climate is extending pollen seasons and increasing allergen concentrations. 

A 2021 study published in PNAS³ found that pollen seasons in North America have lengthened by 20 days since 1990 and pollen loads have increased by 21%. 

For people with allergies or asthma, this represents a serious health risk that now starts earlier in the year and lasts longer than before.

Health Impacts Multiply

Poor air quality from climate-linked sources increases the risk of respiratory infections, asthma attacks, heart disease, and premature death. 

Children, the elderly, and people with pre-existing health conditions are the most vulnerable. 

According to the World Health Organization⁴, seven million people die prematurely each year from air pollution—many in regions now experiencing additional burdens from climate change.

Global Responses Remain Uneven

While some nations have implemented early-warning systems and air quality alerts, others lag behind.

Policies that limit fossil fuel use, promote electric transport, and manage forest fire risk could reduce pollution and save lives. 

But international cooperation remains inconsistent, and adaptation funding often fails to reach the countries most at risk.

Solutions Must Be Systemic

Experts agree that systemic change is needed. 

Phasing out coal, improving urban air monitoring, planting climate-resilient greenery, and enforcing stricter vehicle emissions standards are all part of the equation. 

Without urgent action, air quality is set to decline even further, with climate change as both the accelerant and the trigger.

Links

1. U.S. EPA – Ground-Level Ozone Pollution
2. Nature – Increasing Wildfire Influence on Western U.S. Air Quality
3. PNAS – Climate Change is Increasing Pollen Loads in North America
4. WHO – Ambient Air Pollution and Health

How Marine Heatwaves Are Spreading Across the Globe

                        Marine Heatwaves
Periods of abnormally high sea surface temperatures are becoming more frequent and intense due to climate change.
These events can have devastating effects on marine ecosystems, leading to coral bleaching, shifts in species distributions, and disruptions to fisheries.

What Are Marine Heatwaves?

A marine heatwave is defined as a period during which water temperatures are abnormally warm for the time of year, persisting for days to months.

These events can span thousands of kilometres and affect various depths in the ocean. 

They are driven by factors such as ocean currents, atmospheric conditions, and human-induced climate change.

Global Impact

Recent studies have shown that marine heatwaves are occurring more frequently across the globe.

Notable events include:

• The 2011 marine heatwave off Western Australia, which led to a rapid dieback of kelp forests.
• The 2015–2016 "Blob" in the Northeast Pacific, a prolonged warm water event that disrupted marine life.
• The 2016 heatwave in the Great Barrier Reef, resulting in widespread coral bleaching.

Consequences for Marine Life

Marine heatwaves can lead to:

• Coral bleaching and reef degradation.
• Shifts in species distributions, affecting biodiversity.
• Disruptions to fisheries and local economies dependent on marine resources.

What Can Be Done?

Mitigating the effects of marine heatwaves involves:

• Reducing greenhouse gas emissions to combat climate change.
• Implementing marine protected areas to enhance ecosystem resilience.
• Monitoring ocean temperatures to provide early warnings for marine heatwave events.

Links

• The New York Times – See How Marine Heat Waves Are Spreading Across the Globe (2025)
• NOAA – Ocean Heatwaves
• Nature Climate Change – Increasing marine heatwaves under global warming
• Nature Climate Change – Western Australia’s 2011 Marine Heatwave
• Nature Climate Change – The ‘Blob’ in the Northeast Pacific
• Nature – Global warming and recurrent mass bleaching of corals
• IPCC Special Report on the Ocean and Cryosphere in a Changing Climate
• Scientific American – Marine Heat Waves Are Deadly and Getting Worse

Climate Change: Time to Watch and Act

Australia’s weather is becoming increasingly extreme due to climate change, which amplifies natural climate drivers like El Niño and La Niña. These shifts are causing hotter droughts, heavier rains, longer fire seasons, and more intense storms. Since 1910, Australia has warmed by 1.5°C, increasing atmospheric moisture and energy. The future holds more heatwaves, bushfires, floods, and environmental loss. Urgent emissions cuts and a transition to solar and wind power are essential to limit warming and avoid escalating climate disasters.

Since the Industrial Revolution, over 1.5 trillion tons of CO₂ have been emitted, with 51 billion tons added yearly. China, the U.S., and the EU are the largest current emitters, but historically the West bears the greatest responsibility. Per capita emissions remain highest in wealthy nations like Australia and the U.S. Climate change disproportionately harms poorer countries, despite their smaller footprints. Rich nations must lead with innovation and funding, but global cooperation is essential. Everyone must act decisively—and urgently—to achieve net-zero.

As climate chaos accelerates, the world edges past 1.5°C, risking irreversible disasters. Fossil fuel industries embed their infrastructure deeper, backed by authoritarian leaders like Trump and enablers in liberal governments. False solutions like “overshoot” delay urgent action by betting on unproven carbon capture. Real climate action demands dismantling fossil fuel production, yet capitalism clings to profit over survival. The video argues for confronting fossil capital directly before catastrophic tipping points make recovery impossible.

In 2025, climate change is accelerating due to record fossil fuel emissions and weakening carbon sinks like oceans, soils, and forests. The Met Office reports CO₂ levels at 424 ppm—50% higher than pre-industrial times. Last year saw the fastest-ever rise, driven by wildfires and warming oceans. 2025 marks the critical 10-year review of the Paris Agreement, where nations must submit concrete climate action plans. Despite slight emission slowdowns, experts warn urgent global efforts are needed to avoid worsening extreme weather.

Earth's climate has always changed due to natural cycles like the Milankovitch orbital variations, which trigger ice ages. These changes are then amplified by carbon dioxide, creating feedback loops. However, today’s warming isn’t natural—human activity has added 50% more CO₂ than in past warm periods, breaking the natural cycle. The current rate of warming is unprecedented, faster than any in Earth’s history, and already causing major disruptions. Scientists confirm fossil fuels are the driver—and we still have time to act.

REVIEW: Global Climate News - Lethal Heating Editor BDA

Key Points
Reforestation's limited cooling effect UN Ocean Conference commences in Nice Prince William advocates for ocean protection EU advised against weakening climate targets May 2025 global temperature anomaly recorded

Climate change is accelerating. Forest research and ocean health conferences stress the need for immediate climate action.

Can Planting Trees Cool the Planet?

A recent study in Communications Earth & Environment looked at what would happen if we restored Earth’s forests to how they were before the industrial era. 

That means planting trees over about 4.6 million square miles of land.

The researchers found that doing this could cool the planet by about 0.34°C. The cooling happens in part because trees release natural chemicals (BVOCs) that help lower temperatures.

But the scientists also said this isn’t enough. Reforestation helps, but it won’t undo the warming already caused by greenhouse gas emissions. Lead author Bob Allen said we still need to cut those emissions in a big way.^[1]

Protecting the Oceans: A Global Gathering

On World Oceans Day, thousands of people from around the world came to Nice, France, for the United Nations Ocean Conference. The event began with a parade of research ships sailing into the Bay of Angels.

The goal of the meeting is to protect our oceans. Oceans are under threat from rising temperatures, plastic waste, and overfishing. 

A big focus this year is the 2023 High Seas Treaty. If enough countries sign it, the treaty could create protected zones in the open ocean, areas beyond any one country’s control.^[2]

Prince William Speaks Up for the Sea

Prince William made headlines at the Blue Economy and Finance Forum in Monaco. Speaking to world leaders, he urged them to take urgent action to protect marine life.

He reminded the audience that oceans cover 70% of Earth, provide half the oxygen we breathe, and support more than 3 billion people. Yet, only 3% of ocean waters are protected today.

His speech ties in with his Earthshot Prize work, which rewards practical solutions to environmental problems.^[3]

Europe Debates Climate Targets

In Europe, scientists are urging leaders not to back down on climate goals. 

The EU’s climate advisory board says the bloc should stick to its plan to cut emissions by 90% by 2040 (compared to 1990 levels).

Some EU governments want to weaken the plan or use carbon credits from other countries to meet their goals. But experts say this could slow down investments in clean energy and new technologies at home.^[4]

May Brings a Slight Cooling

There’s a bit of good news. May 2025 was slightly cooler than the past few months. 

The global average temperature was 1.393°C above pre-industrial levels. 

That’s still high, but it’s the first time since June 2023 that we’ve stayed below 1.4°C.^[5]

Footnotes

1. Reforestation's Limited Cooling Effect: Washington Post
2. UN Ocean Conference Commences in Nice: AP News
3. Prince William Advocates for Ocean Protection: People
4. EU Advised Against Weakening Climate Targets: Reuters
5. May 2025 Global Temperature Anomaly Recorded: Climate and Economy

REVIEW Australia’s Climate Crossroads: Fires, Floods, and a Wake-Up Call - Lethal Heating Editor BDA

Key Points
Flooding in Queensland forces evacuations Koalas suffer during inland NSW heatwave Federal emissions target review announced UN report criticises adaptation preparedness

From inundated Queensland communities to wildlife collapses in inland NSW, the first week of June 2025 showed how climate extremes are becoming routine in Australia. 

Meanwhile, scrutiny mounted over the nation's climate policy, emissions goals, and preparedness for worsening conditions.

Queensland Floods Displace Hundreds

Torrential rainfall caused widespread flooding along Queensland's central coast between June 2–4, with towns including Mackay, Sarina, and Rockhampton seeing over 300mm of rain in two days. 

The Bureau of Meteorology attributed the deluge to a stalled tropical trough intensified by elevated sea surface temperatures [1].

Queensland Fire and Emergency Services issued multiple evacuation orders, and dozens of schools were closed. Infrastructure damage was still being assessed as floodwaters receded by week's end [2].

Koalas Suffer in NSW Autumn Heat

While Queensland endured floods, parts of western New South Wales sweltered under record-breaking early winter heat. 

Bourke, Cobar, and Walgett experienced temperatures 10–12°C above average. 

The NSW Wildlife Information, Rescue and Education Service (WIRES) reported a sharp increase in emergency koala rescues, with many suffering dehydration and heat stress [3].

A 2022 study by the University of Sydney previously warned that koalas in inland regions face “critical risk” from heatwaves exceeding 35°C, which are now occurring later into the year [4].

Federal Emissions Targets Under Review

Climate Change and Energy Minister Chris Bowen announced a public consultation process to review Australia’s 2035 emissions reduction targets, in accordance with international obligations under the Paris Agreement [5].

Climate Council head of policy Jennifer Rayner welcomed the move but noted that Australia remains “off track” to meet its 2030 goals due to continued gas expansion and weak transport emissions standards [6].

UN Critiques National Adaptation Strategy

On June 6, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) released its Adaptation Gap Report 2025, which included a case study on Australia. 

The report found that Australia’s National Adaptation Plan “lacks coherence and measurable targets,” and highlighted insufficient coordination across federal, state, and local governments [7].

The Insurance Council of Australia also warned this week that insurance premiums in vulnerable areas—especially flood zones—could become “unaffordable for many Australians” without major infrastructure investments [8].

Finally ...

The first week of June underscored Australia’s dual challenge: adapting to a harsher climate while reducing emissions that fuel it. 

As scientists, insurers, and international bodies sound alarms, pressure is mounting for the Albanese government to move faster on both fronts. 

For many Australians, from farmers to firefighters, the cost of delay is already clear.

Sources

1. ABC News – BOM Blames Trough, Sea Temps for Queensland Floods
2. Queensland Fire and Emergency Services – June 2025 Flood Response
3. WIRES – Koalas Rescued in Inland NSW Heatwave
4. University of Sydney – Heatwaves Put Inland Koalas at Critical Risk
5. Department of Climate Change – 2035 Emissions Targets Review
6. Climate Council – Australia Off Track for 2030 Goals
7. UNEP – Adaptation Gap Report 2025: Australia Chapter
8. Insurance Council of Australia – June 2025 Media Statement

Labor accused of ‘gaslighting’ Australians on climate crisis as fossil fuel projects keep getting approved

The Guardian - Lisa Cox Environment and climate correspondent

‘They offer sympathy and then just go and approve massive fossil fuel projects anyway,’ one advocate says

The environment minister, Murray Watt, who announced provisional approval for the extension of Woodside’s project to 2070 with ‘strict conditions’, and the prime minister, Anthony Albanese. Composite: Victoria Hart/AAP/Getty images

Australian federal and state governments have approved a wave of fossil fuel developments over the past six weeks, sparking accusations Anthony Albanese and other leaders are “gaslighting” the public – claiming they take the climate crisis seriously while pushing up emissions.

Peter Dunn, a former commissioner of emergency services for the Australian Capital Territory, says the Albanese government is “trashing its integrity” and has “lost their licence to lead, days after the election”.

Dunn, a member of Emergency Leaders for Climate Action who lived through the 2003 Canberra bushfires and the catastrophic 2019 fires at Lake Conjola on the New South Wales south coast, is furious about the government’s decision to greenlight Woodside’s extension of the North West Shelf gas processing plant.

“I’m bloody angry, bitterly disappointed, and I see a government that I was really hopeful for doing great things trashing its integrity,” he says.

“That’s the thing that’s really got me worked up at the moment – because there is no integrity in what I’m seeing [from the government] in the climate space whatsoever … You lose your integrity, you lose your licence to lead. They just lost their licence to lead, days after the election.”

Federal and state governments and agencies have approved several fossil fuel projects since April, ranging from large developments to smaller extensions.

They include the production operations for Santos’ Barossa offshore gas project off the Northern Territory, two coalmine extensions in NSW, Viva Energy’s floating gas terminal in Geelong, and nine new areas for gas exploration in Queensland. Decisions for other major projects are looming.

On 22 May, Albanese and the NSW premier, Chris Minns, travelled to Maitland to get a better grasp of the scale of the flood disaster extending from the NSW Hunter up to Coffs Harbour.

The prime minister told communities “You are not alone”, acknowledging that due to climate change “tragically, we’re seeing more extreme weather events”.

Six days later, the environment minister, Murray Watt, a former minister for emergency management, announced provisional approval for the extension of Woodside’s project to 2070 with “strict conditions”. A final decision is due soon.

When asked before the widely anticipated announcement how giving Woodside the green light aligned with Labor’s climate commitments, Albanese said last week “It is net zero, not zero” and “You don’t change a transition with warm thoughts”.

“I was really upset when I heard the prime minister say it’s net zero not actual zero,” says Serena Joyner, the chief executive of Bushfire Survivors for Climate Action.

 “It’s gaslighting, because you have to actually reduce emissions or climate change will just run away.

“It’s a cognitive disconnect.”

Joyner lives in the Blue Mountains, another region badly hit by the 2019-20 black summer fires. She estimates her family has a few years left in the area before they will have to move due to the difficulty of insuring as bushfire risk grows, driven by the climate disaster.

Bushfire Survivors for Climate Action (BSCA) was formed in 2018 to help ordinary people affected by climate-fuelled disasters engage with leaders. The group has spent years meeting with MPs, repeatedly sharing their stories and trauma to highlight the urgent need for climate policy action, which Joyner says brings a heavy emotional toll.

She says the early weeks of the re-elected Albanese government have led to “a reassessment of how to engage, because what we’ve been doing with Labor in the last couple of years, it’s hard to see how it’s working”.

“Being cooperative and playing nice with Labor isn’t getting us anywhere,” she says.

“We’re an organisation that works very hard to be reasonable, sensible: we don’t go to rallies, we don’t go to protests. We have meetings with politicians and tell them our stories.

“They offer sympathy and then just go and approve massive fossil fuel projects anyway.”

BSCA member Angela Frimberger says when governments approve new fossil fuel developments and expansions “climate-affected people want to know what governments are thinking, and do they care about their problems at all”.

“You just want to sit across a table from them and say, ‘What do you think is going to happen?’,” she says.

Frimberger lives on the edge of Lake Innes, south of Port Macquarie, on a property she and her family manage for biodiversity conservation.

Their house survived black summer but fire tore through half of the habitat, which they have since worked to regenerate and restore. The fires were followed by floods in 2022 and then the record-breaking event of May this year.

Days before Watt announced his North West Shelf decision, a soaked Frimberger stood in the rain filming a video for BSCA’s social media pages, saying: “It’s happening again, another unprecedented event” and “Minister Watt, please remember those of us out here”.

She says she was “devastated that our government would do this while reeling from a current disaster and still struggling to recover from past disasters”.

“The government is approving projects such that regular people like me have to pay the cost,” she says.

Georgina Woods is the head of research and investigations for the Lock the Gate Alliance, a national organisation that developed out of community opposition to fracking proposals. She says people feeling the effects of climate change are frightened about what the approval of new fossil fuel projects means for them.

“The business model of coal and gas companies is based on demand assumptions that are wholly inconsistent with preventing catastrophic levels of global warming,” Woods says.

“By giving these companies approval to expand their operations, the Australian government is telling all of us it expects this outcome too.”

North West Shelf gas extension will deliver 
‘almost nothing’ to Australia’s public purse
Read more

A government spokesperson said that “only Labor has a concrete, real plan to see our emissions reduce while ensuring our economy continues to grow”.

“As we’ve consistently said – gas has an important role to play in the transition as the ultimate backstop for renewables,” they said.

The government pointed to climate action during its first term, including reforms to the safeguard mechanism, which they said had “already begun to work”.

“This [North West Shelf] project is subject to those reforms, which means this plant is required to bring their emissions down each year and reach net zero by 2050 under the safeguard mechanism.”

Links

• North West Shelf gas extension approved until 2070
• Climate advocates devastated after Woodside North West Shelf project approved until 2070
• No one committed to Paris goals can seriously argue Woodside’s LNG project should operate until 2070 
• Pilbara Traditional Owner launches Federal Court bid to block North West Shelf approval 
• Merchants of Death
• Denialism and its impact on climate policy
• Australia’s gas expansion and the carbon budget

Merchants of Death

Pearls and Irritations - Julian Cribb

In extending the life of Australia’s North West Shelf gas project till 2070, the federal and WA Governments have knowingly signed the death warrants of four million human beings.

Author Julian Cribb AM is an Australian science writer and author of six books on the human existential emergency. His latest book is “How to Fix a Broken Planet” (Cambridge University Press, 2023)

When a small child is confronted with a reality it does not like, it covers its eyes. Australia’s politicians, Labor, Liberal and National, are no better. 

In this country, and others, there is a powerful political consensus to deny the reality they have been informed about in countless, tested, scientific reports. 

This is a consensus to ignore the truth in favour of a manufactured political fantasy that will, ultimately, destroy Australia as a nation, along with most other countries, as global food and water systems collapse and chaos ensues.

Denial of reality is today an acknowledged form of psychosis, a universal mental illness, if you like. It occurs whenever “seemingly intelligent and sane adults vehemently deny truths despite a body of irrefutable evidence”. It infects politics in particular, in both democracies and autocracies.

While its more extreme forms are on daily display in countries such as Russia, the US, North Korea and Israel, the political process everywhere is to some degree contaminated by it.

Thanks to this global hallucination, between now and 2070, Australia will release an extra 78 billion petajoules of methane — euphemistically known as “natural gas” — with the warm approval of almost every government and most politicians.

Further, Australia plans to mine another 75 billion tonnes of coal, whose carbon emissions will in turn will claim a further 75 million human lives.

This calculation is based on the “ thousand tonne rule", which estimates that for every thousand tonnes of fossil fuels mined, the resulting climate chaos kills one person somewhere on Earth.

Climate deaths due to storms, floods, heatwaves, droughts, wildfires, disease and starvation are thought to average about a million a year at present, rising by 250,000 a year between now and 2050, according to the UN World Health Organisation. WHO warns that climate is a “threat multiplier” that nullifies the benefits of advanced healthcare, nutrition and clean water even in advanced countries. In other words, the death toll will rise exponentially as climate chaos accelerates.

That one small country should knowingly encompass more human deaths than World War II is an abomination. That it should do so while pretending, like a small child hiding its eyes, that there is nothing here to see is a stark metric of the moral turpitude of our governing class. No politician can pretend they have not been warned of the consequences of their actions. The warnings have come, thick and fast and ever stronger, for more than 50 years.

According to the World Meteorological Office, there is a 70% chance that between now and 2030, average global temperatures will exceed 1.5-degrees Celsius above pre-fossil fuel levels. The limit set by the 2015 Paris Agreement to avert catastrophe will be shattered. The world could suffer its first +2 degree year by 2029.

At present rates, by 2100, the world will be +3.5 degrees if we implement all the pledged climate measures – and +4.5 degrees if we don’t. Bear in mind that all global heating predictions so far have been overtaken by reality much sooner than expected.

Global temperatures averaging +3-4 degrees Celsius are significant because that is the point at which worldwide crop failures and food system collapse become unavoidable. 

There will also be catastrophic water scarcity in many heavily populated or drier regions, including Australia. But also the Middle East, South Asia, North Asia, Central Asia, Central America, the US and southern Europe.

With the failure in the global food system comes failure in governments worldwide. And with that comes war, both civil and international. We know that much from history. With those events comes the collapse in the global economic system, which is based on imaginary “wealth” in any case. And with that, the refugee tsunami will swell into billions.

So opening up a few new gas wells, oil wells or coalfields is no longer a trivial act, or something to celebrate. It is an act of calculated, premediated, mass murder – and nobody who retains a shred of rationality can deny that. It unleashes incalculable horrors on society worldwide, from which Australians, and especially our children, will not be exempt.

It is a declaration of war on our grandchildren, ensuring for them a world that is functionally uninhabitable for centuries to come.

From now on every fossil fuel project proposed in Australia must be accompanied by a human impact statement, estimating the number of lives it will end or ruin, the consequences for food, water and peace – to set against the big dollar claims of greedy miners, politicians and media.

Australia, which proudly played a key role in helping to establish the United Nations and Declaration of Human Rights in the 1940s, cannot, must not, be implicated in the ongoing act of human auto-genocide.

Instead of being merchants of death, we must reclaim our former ideals, as leaders of a caring, peaceful and sustainable world to bequeath to our descendants.

Footnotes

• North West Shelf gas extension approved until 2070 – The Guardian
• IPCC Sixth Assessment Report – Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
• Climate Change Risk Assessment 2021 – Chatham House
• Denialism and its impact on climate policy – National Institutes of Health
• Australia’s gas expansion and the carbon budget – Climate Analytics
• Australia Energy Policy Review 2023 – IEA
• The Thousand Tonne Rule and climate mortality – The Lancet Planetary Health
• Climate Change and Health – World Health Organization
• Climate Threats to Global Health – WHO Climate Report
• 70% chance of exceeding 1.5°C by 2030 – World Meteorological Organization
• Tracking Global Temperature Rise – NOAA Climate.gov
• Emissions Gap Report 2023 – UNEP
• Climate models underestimate actual warming – Nature
• Risk of multiple breadbasket failures – Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
• World Water Development Report 2023 – UN Water
• Climate and Conflict – Council on Foreign Relations
• Climate Change and Displacement – UNHCR