Currently in Austin — October 18, 2023: Warmer temps return

The weather, currently.

Wednesday kicks off with an early morning low near 50 before the mercury creeps back up to a high near 85 on a sunny afternoon. Wednesday night will be mostly clear, with a low around 59.

Light winds from the south will carry away our memories of last weekend’s pleasant daytime highs before we heard the unpleasant rumors of a steady increase in temperatures and a return to the mid-90s later this week. The sun is now setting before 7 p.m., so enjoy the twilight time until daylight saving time ends on November 5th.

-Anne Hebert

What you need to know, currently.

The UN Climate Change Conference, COP28, is about a month and a half away. However, after last year's conference — which emphasized Climate Finances — wealthy nations are still falling far behind on financial commitments.

The majority of these promises are already overdue. In 2009 wealthy nations promised to pay $100 billion per year in climate finance to the Global South by 2020.

Earlier this month the UN's main fund created to support these goals — the Green Climate Fund — announced that it had raised $9.3 billion, falling short of a $10 billion target. This comes nowhere near the $200-$250 billion the UN estimates developing nations will actually need each year by 2030.

The US and China, the globe's two largest polluters, failed to contribute to the fund at all.

At least years COP, held in Egypt, countries also agreed to create a “Loss and Damage Fund.” A fund where wealthy nations would contribute funds to assist developing nations as they recover from inevitable climate disasters, i.e. loss and damages.

Almost a year later, there is no clear path forward for the creation or execution of this fund.

— Abbie Veitch

What you can do, currently.

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One of my favorite organizations, Mutual Aid Disaster Relief, serves as a hub of mutual aid efforts focused on climate action in emergencies — like hurricane season. Find mutual aid network near you and join, or donate to support existing networks: