June 2026 Climate Update

RCAT
June 29, 2026
June 2026 Climate Update
 
Climate in the news:
  1. How the current Super El Nino could trigger famine.  We can't have ever increasing heat and reliable crop production.
  2. Sea level rise is swallowing US farmland. This is not a "one-off", it is a worsening trend.
  3. Europe has deadly heat already. They are currently recording the highest temps ever recorded there.  In this heat, everyone who has them runs their A/C.  This stresses the grid and causes some power outages and stops the A/C, with potentially life-threatening impacts. This can happen in the US, like Seattle heatwave deaths in 2021.
  4. UN warns of crisis in the oceans. "The coming decade is decisive: without rapid, coordinated global action, ocean health will continue to decline, threatening climate stability, biodiversity resilience, food security, livelihoods and the well-being of billions,"
 
Climate education:
  1. Simple steps to stop people from dying in the heat
 
Good climate news:
  1. Arizona ranks number two in new battery capacity.  Arizona is proving to be a national leader in utility-scale energy storage capacity, with the second-highest amount installed so far this year and one of the highest amounts in total.
  2. China plug-in cars make up 60% of sales. This is good for the environment, but  they are leaving the US in the dust.  
  3. Australia is having a battery boom, along with solar.   Australia installed as many home batteries in the second half of 2025 as in the previous five years combined! This pairs perfectly with rooftop solar, and Australia’s also a world leader there, with one in three homes in the country now generating their own clean power.  They are leaving us in the dust.  It doesn't have to be this way.
Things we can all do to help preserve a livable world for future generations:
  1. Elections matter.  This fall's election is enormously important for the future of climate action and democracy preservation.  Please campaign for, donate to and vote for candidates promising climate action.  If we do not want an ever hotter world for our kids/grandkids, this is the election to give it your all.
  2. Talk to friends and family about climate and item #1 above.
  3. Make your home/car upgrade priority list, so when you can, you are ready to go electric.