GoKawiil
Tech News
The Washington Post reports that Amazon and other cloud/AI companies are building new large gas-fired power plants to run data centers, locking in emissions for decades. Amazon's own carbon footprint hit 80.85 million metric tons last year, 58% higher than when it pledged to cut emissions, putting it far off the Paris Agreement trajectory that would require a 43% cut below 2019 levels by 2030.
A Sierra Club report cited by Bloomberg estimates that planned AI data centers in the US could increase power-sector carbon emissions by 618 million metric tons between 2025 and 2030, a 42% jump that would push 2030 emissions to 2.1 billion metric tons. The group also estimates off-grid power sources built to supply data centers directly could add another 460 million metric tons, roughly Mexico's annual emissions.
Research shows the Amazon rainforest has shifted from being a net absorber of carbon dioxide to a net emitter, largely due to human-driven deforestation and land degradation. The region, historically credited with storing billions of tons of CO2, is now releasing more carbon than it captures.
The United Nations Environmental Programme has for the first time acknowledged that the 2015 Paris Agreement target of limiting warming to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels can no longer be met. UNEP's new framework instead focuses on minimizing both the duration and magnitude of overshoot past that threshold, requiring steep near-term emissions cuts alongside large-scale removal of hundreds of gigatonnes of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere before 2100.
A new UN Environment Programme report finds global warming is now projected to reach 2.2°F (1.2°C) above current temperatures if countries meet their pledges, worse than last year's forecast. The report attributes this partly to the US formally withdrawing from the Paris Agreement and says US emissions rose by 133 megatons of CO2 equivalent in 2025, far more than any other nation, driven by higher electricity demand and increased coal power use.
Researchers from the CARBAM project analyzed 15 years of aircraft-based CO2 and CO measurements across four Amazon basin sites, collecting over 1,000 vertical atmospheric profiles. The data indicate that carbon emissions from the Amazon region are primarily caused by human activities, with drought periods intensifying these emissions.
A Canadian startup, PermaC, has tested an insulating blanket made of woody materials and natural fibers on rapidly eroding permafrost in Canada's Northwest Territories. The method aims to prevent further thaw and reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the soil. If successful, this approach could offer a new way to directly address permafrost-related emissions amid climate change.
New analysis argues that the 2008 financial crisis marked a turning point in the US's relationship between economic growth and fossil fuel consumption, echoing a pattern earlier seen in Sweden. Since 1996 Sweden's carbon emissions have fallen by a third from their peak even as its GDP more than doubled, demonstrating that growth and emissions can be 'decoupled' over decades. The analysis cites this long-running Swedish trend as evidence that similar decoupling has since taken hold in the US economy.
New climate research finds that greenhouse gas emissions released after the 2015 Paris Agreement have intensified the severity of heatwaves across Europe. The findings attribute part of the recent extreme heat events to continued fossil fuel output following the accord's adoption.
Amazon's chief sustainability officer Kara Hurst said at an Axios event that the company does not yet know exactly how it will reach its target of net-zero carbon emissions by 2040. She said Amazon remains committed to the goal, citing its position as one of the largest corporate buyers of clean energy with 42 gigawatts in its portfolio, while acknowledging emissions reduction requires cooperation from suppliers and governments across many sectors.
Rivian's newly released 2025 impact report shows the R2 Performance model produces roughly half the lifetime greenhouse gas emissions of its original 2022 R1 vehicles, hitting a target the company had set for 2030. Rivian credits the result to design choices around aerodynamics, vehicle weight, manufacturing efficiency, and unconventional materials like paper-waste-derived surfacing sourced from Nordic forests. The R2 also reportedly emits 58 percent less over its lifetime than a comparable gasoline vehicle.
MEK, a branding agency in Melbourne, Australia, found that its website generated more carbon emissions than the average webpage and decided to rebuild it. The redesign involved removing duplicated HTML tags and switching to a new, more efficient font to shrink its digital footprint.