Just as a new study says that ocean warming is much worse than previously thought, there are growing fears that Brazil’s new President Jair Bolsonaro will further worsen global climate change by authorizing the Amazon’s mass deforestation.
Bolsonaro’s name came up during my interview with Zeke Hausfather, one of the leading authors of the recent Science magazine article warning that oceans are heating up 40 percent faster than a United Nations climate panel estimated five years ago.
The article, which warned that, among other things, ocean warming will accelerate sea-level rise and lead to stronger hurricanes, made headlines around the world in recent days.
When I asked Hausfather why oceans are warming faster than anticipated, he said that China is now burning about as much coal as the rest of the world combined. China and the United States are the world’s leading polluters, with China taking the lead in recent years, he said.