News
UN climate negotiations end on shaky geopolitical ground, but I see reasons for hope
Shannon Gibson, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences
The 2024 United Nations climate talks wrapped up two days late, with an ending fitting that of a geopolitical reality TV show, complete with walkouts and recriminations.
Countries agreed on a new climate finance target on Nov. 24, 2024, promising to provide at least US$300 billion annually by 2035 to help developing countries build clean energy systems. But it was far less than the $1.3 trillion vulnerable countries were calling for.
The conference also delayed a debate over how to move forward on a 2023 agreement for all countries to contribute to “transitioning away from fossil fuels” and to submit climate pledges aligned with the 1.5C limit.
Some people may be ready to write the epitaph for global progress against climate change. But as someone who teaches global environmental politics and has followed international climate talks for years, I see both practical and moral reasons to remain hopeful.
The battle to keep the 1.5 C goal alive
In 2015, the world’s nations agreed as part of the Paris climate accord to limit global warming to 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit), with an aspirational target of 1.5 C (2.7 F). This target is important, but sometimes confusing. It is rooted in science, but it is not a singular “tipping point.”
As the planet warms beyond 1.5 C, multiple large-scale climate shifts will become more likely.
Ocean circulation is already slowing, coral reefs face increasingly common mass bleaching events as the oceans heat up, and Arctic permafrost is thawing, releasing greenhouse gases that further fuel climate change. Rising temperatures are also fueling increasingly frequent and more damaging heat waves, droughts, wildfires and flooding that put human lives and livelihoods at risk.
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Recognizing these risks, the Paris Agreement was widely heralded, and many countries have made progress in lowering their emissions in the decade since. However, not all countries are pulling their weight.
In 2023, the U.N. acknowledged that the countries’ current commitments for addressing climate change, known as nationally determined contributions, or NDCs, would still result in a catastrophic 2.5 C to 2.9 C (4.5 F to 5.2 F) of warming by 2100.
The World Meteorological Organization issued a “red alert” in November 2024 that the world is on track to overshoot the 1.5 C goal this year. It notes that this overshoot can be temporary – if countries take greater action.
How the world can still meet the Paris goals
Countries can still turn the tide on climate change.
The outcomes of the 2023 climate talks provided a road map for countries to increase their efforts toward net-zero emissions:
- Triple renewable energy capacity globally.
- Accelerate a phasedown of coal power.
- Transition away from fossil fuels.
- Accelerate zero-emissions and low-emissions technologies.
- Cut methane and other noncarbon dioxide emissions.
- Reduce emissions from road transport.
- Phase out inefficient fossil fuel subsidies.
Many countries are making progress on this transition.
Among developed countries, Norway is on track to phase out of fossil fuel vehicle sales in 2025. China has become a leader in renewable energy. It pledged in 2020 to double its renewable energy capacity by 2030, and, thanks to solar power deployment, it expects to complete that goal in half the time.
Other nations, including the U.K., Greece and Denmark, have embarked on major efforts to scale down coal power, with Portugal being the first to hit zero coal.
An important mechanism of the Paris Agreement is the expectation that countries will ratchet up their commitments every five years. The deadline for these new climate goals is early 2025, and some countries have gotten a head start.
Brazil announced its new climate commitments during the climate conference, pledging to reduce emissions 67% by 2035. The United Arab Emirates submitted a commitment to reduce its emissions by 47% compared with its 2019 baseline emissions. Other countries signaled their intentions in high-level statements. Belgium announced a doubling of its climate finance contribution.
These new announcements are a good sign of continued global support for the Paris Agreement goals.
Additionally, the conference made progress on agreements to reduce non-CO₂ emissions, namely methane, nitrous oxide and hydrofluorocarbons – also known as climate change “super pollutants” because of their extreme global warming potential.
Why the Paris Agreement will survive a second Trump presidency
There is no doubt that Donald Trump returning as U.S. president will pose significant roadblocks to efforts to slow climate change. As a candidate, he talked about throttling back U.S. efforts, including cutting funding for clean energy and eliminating regulations on the fossil fuel industry.
But efforts to deal with climate change are bigger than one person or even one country.
While Trump has declared that he will pull the U.S. out of the international Paris Agreement again, influential people are advising him to reconsider. Exxon Mobil CEO Darren Woods argued that a U.S. withdrawal would leave a hole at the global negotiating table.
Even if Trump does pull the U.S. out of the treaty, which he can do after a one-year waiting period, that doesn’t mean pro-climate actions in the U.S. will simply stop or that the agreement will fall apart.
There are commonsense business reasons to push climate efforts forward, starting with the fact that clean energy is now cheaper than fossil fuels in much of the world. Nearly 1 in 5 vehicles sold in 2023 globally were electric. In the U.S., heat pump sales are beating gas furnaces for the third straight year. https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/levelized-cost-of-energy?tab=chart
A withdrawal from the Paris Agreement also does not prevent states and cities from continuing their progress against climate change.
In fact, after Trump announced he would withdraw the U.S. from the agreement in 2017, several U.S. states doubled down on their climate commitments. Hawaii, for example, passed legislation to be “Paris compliant” and get to net-negative emissions, meaning it will sequester more emissions than it emits.
California continues to report falling emissions even with a growing economy. The state sued several large oil and gas companies for deceiving the public about climate change.
Moreover, a U.S. retreat from the Paris Agreement would not be an embargo on individual actions. Engineers and scientists will continue to create innovative technology to reduce emissions and slow climate change, and corporations will reap the economic benefits of energy efficiency and clean energy market leadership.
This acknowledgment has given rise to calls for a blend of optimism and pragmatism.
Looking ahead to 2025
Next year’s COP30, to be held in Brazil, is important because countries face a deadline for setting new targets. Overall, their current policies still fall short of the 1.5 C goal.
Calls for greater commitments are not just optimistic, they are economically and morally compelling.
For one, the future cost of inaction now is greater than the cost of action, so concerted decisions to delay emissions cuts now will only harm countries in the future.
Morally, the international community has a responsibility to mitigate suffering. This is the very nature of long-held international norms and laws, such as the “responsibility to protect,” and reiterated in Pope Francis’ calls for global environmental responsibility.
While the climate will breach the 1.5 C warming limit, every fraction of a degree matters. I believe it is crucial that countries, states, business leaders and people everywhere continue the shift toward cleaner energy to minimize the impact.
Researchers Emerson Damiano and Lauren Segal, students in environmental studies at the University of Southern California, contributed to this article.
Shannon Gibson, Associate Professor of International Relations and Environmental Studies, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
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Automotive
Gas prices have a $5 tipping point: New research shows when Americans start looking at EVs
Gas prices have a $5 tipping point: New research shows when Americans start looking at EVs
(Tiffany Miller for Hyundai) There is a moment at the gas pump when the number staring back at you stops feeling routine.
You expect the total to land somewhere familiar. And then, one day, it doesn’t. Not dramatically higher. Just high enough to feel different. Enough to make you pause before tapping your card.
According to new research from Hyundai Motor America, that moment is not hypothetical. For more than a third of American drivers, it has already happened. And for many, once it does, something shifts that does not quite shift back.
For 42% of Americans, pulling up to a pump now brings frustration or outright dread. Most have made peace with the routine, even if 39% describe their gas spend as “frustrating but expected.”
The experience at the pump hasn’t changed. The emotional weight of it has.
Most drivers have a number in their head where the math shifts. For 23% of those surveyed, $5 per gallon is where they would seriously start considering alternatives to a gas-powered vehicle. Not everyone will be moved by price, and 29% say they would not consider alternatives based on gas costs at all. But for a meaningful share of Americans, the tipping point is specific. It is a number on a sign, and many have seen it before.
More than one-third of Americans surveyed say a recent fill-up has already prompted them to research electric vehicles, and 23% say it has happened more than once.
What comes next is rarely dramatic. Some compare models or brands. Some search online. Some find themselves on an automaker’s website, further along than they expected to be. Most do not act on this impulse right away. But for a growing number, the pump is where the question starts.
The shift is real but uneven. If gas prices rose significantly and stayed high, 46% of those surveyed say they would be likely to seriously research an EV. Yet most Americans are still somewhere between curious and committed.
The pitch for electric vehicles is simple. Never stop for gas again. Nearly half of Americans say they would absolutely take that deal.
The transition is not frictionless. Charging access and range anxiety remain the top concern for 28% of potential buyers, and simple comfort with the status quo runs just as deep.
The desire to leave the pump behind is real. So is everything standing in the way.
The move toward electric vehicles is often framed as a long-term decision made with spreadsheets and incentive calculators, but for many Americans, it begins somewhere smaller. A routine fuel stop. A number that lands differently. A moment of hesitation before the receipt prints.
Methodology
Hyundai Motor America commissioned Atomik Research to conduct an online survey of 1,000 adults throughout the United States. The margin of error is plus or minus 3 percentage points at a 95% confidence level. Fieldwork was conducted between April 3 and April 6, 2026.
Atomik Research, part of 4media group, is a creative market research agency.
Photo courtesy of Shutterstock (woman at gas pump)
SOURCE:
Hyundai
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health and wellness
Warmer temps bring soaring tick populations – here’s how to stay safe from Lyme disease
Tick bites are rising in 2026. Learn where Lyme disease is spreading, early symptoms like the bull’s-eye rash, treatment options, and practical ways to prevent tick bites.
Lakshmi Chauhan, University of Colorado Anschutz
Spring’s warmer weather lures people outdoors – and into possible contact with ticks that spread Lyme disease.
Already, the 2026 tick season is booming. On April 23, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warned that emergency room visits due to tick bites are at their highest level since 2017. That may portend an especially severe season for Lyme disease and other tick-borne illnesses.
State health departments reported more than 89,000 cases of Lyme disease in 2023, the last year for which data is available. But public health experts believe that close to 500,000 people in the U.S. get Lyme disease every year.
As an infectious disease doctor with experience treating some of this infection’s long-term outcomes, I know that Lyme disease can be tricky because people often don’t notice tick bites and may overlook early symptoms of an infection. But left untreated, the infection can cause serious lingering – and even permanent – health issues.
Here’s what you need to know about Lyme disease to stay safe this season:
What causes Lyme disease?
Lyme disease, named after the Connecticut town where the disease was first identified in 1975, is caused by a group of bacteria called Borrelia – most often, the species Borrelia burgdorferi.
Deer ticks – also called black-legged ticks, and members of a group called Ixodes – transmit the disease after feeding on an infected animal, usually a bird, mouse or deer. When they then bite a person, they can transmit the bacteria into the person’s bloodstream.
Usually, the tick must attach for 24-48 hours to transmit the bacteria causing Lyme disease.
Where and when does Lyme disease occur?
Lyme disease can occur in most regions where deer ticks live.
These ticks are most active in late spring, summer and fall – usually April to November in most regions. They emerge when the temperature is above freezing. In years when winter is shorter, ticks can emerge earlier. And they may be active year-round in regions where freezing temperatures are rare.
Approximately 90% of U.S. cases are reported from states in the Northeast, mid-Atlantic from Virginia to eastern Canada, and Upper Midwest regions including Wisconsin, Michigan and Minnesota. A few cases occasionally pop up in California, Oregon and Washington.
Since 1995, the incidence of Lyme disease in the U.S. has almost doubled.
Warmer weather and changes in rainfall patterns now allow ticks to survive in new regions of the country – and for longer periods. But even in regions where ticks lived before, Lyme disease has become more common due to increases in deer populations. As woodland areas are increasingly being developed, it may be bringing the habitat of deer and mice closer to people, increasing the risk of transmission.
Lyme disease symptoms to watch for
Early symptoms of Lyme disease – fever, muscle aches and fatigue – generally emerge within three to 30 days after a tick bite. Another classic symptom in the first month is a target or bull’s eye rash at the site of tick bite, which occurs in about 70% to 80% of cases.
Other rashes following a tick bite can also occur. Some may be due to irritation from the bite, and not necessarily an infection.
If you know you’ve had a tick bite and experience flu-like symptoms – or if you see a bull’s-eye rash, whether you know you were bitten or not – it’s important to check with your healthcare provider about whether you should be treated with antibiotics.
A blood test for antibodies can help confirm the infection, but it can sometimes yield a false negative result, particularly in the first couple of weeks of the disease.
In most people, the rash goes away on its own. However, treatment may shorten its duration and is important for preventing other symptoms. A two- to four-week course of antibiotics can generally treat Lyme disease. Severe cases might require intravenous antibiotics.
A promising new vaccine for Lyme disease is currently being tested. In March 2026, Pfizer, the pharmaceutical company developing it, announced that in a late-stage study, the vaccine prevented the disease in 70% of people who received it.
Later Lyme symptoms
If left untreated, the bacteria that causes Lyme can spread, potentially causing longer-term symptoms. About 60% of people who get Lyme disease and don’t treat it can develop arthritis.
In rare cases, Lyme disease can also affect the heart and the nervous system. Inflammation in the brain or the tissues surrounding it, called meninges, can cause headaches and neck pain, as well as balance issues and memory and behavior changes. It can also cause nerve damage that results in numbness, tingling and muscle weakness.
These symptoms can appear right away or much later – sometimes months to years after infection. And in cases where the disease wasn’t promptly treated, late-stage symptoms can linger even after antibiotics kill the bacteria.
Scientists don’t fully understand why, but one intriguing study found that some particles from the bacteria’s cell wall leak into the joints and can persist after treatment, spurring ongoing inflammation and arthritis symptoms.
Another reason for Lyme’s long-term effects is that it can trigger autoimmune disease, which is when the immune system attacks its own cells. What’s more, because the nervous system may be particularly sensitive to damage caused by the bacteria and related inflammation, it may take an especially long time to heal. In some situations, the damage could be permanent.
Preventing Lyme disease
Until a vaccine becomes available, there are steps you and your family can take to help protect against Lyme disease:
- Use tick and insect repellents such as DEET and picaridin, which can be applied to skin, and permethrin, which is sprayed onto clothing, to keep ticks at bay. Treating clothing with permethrin may be especially beneficial, since the substance withstands several washes.
- Wear long-sleeve shirts and pants while you are gardening, hiking or walking through grass or woods to prevent tick bites. Wearing light-colored clothes makes ticks more visible, and tucking your pants into your socks can also prevent the little buggers from traveling from your pants, shoes and socks onto your legs.
- Remove your outdoor clothes immediately. Washing and drying clothes at high temperature can help kill any ticks that managed to hitch a ride. And a quick shower immediately after spending time outdoors can wash ticks off the skin before they have a chance to attach.
- If you spend time outdoors, perform daily tick checks, paying special attention to warm areas like your armpits, neck, ears and underwear line. If you find a tick attached, pull it off with tweezers, holding them perpendicular to the skin.
- If you find a tick that may have been on the skin for more than 36 hours, ask your healthcare provider whether a dose of preventive antibiotics – generally given within 72 hours of the bite – would be appropriate.
Lakshmi Chauhan, Associate Professor of Infectious Disease Medicine, University of Colorado Anschutz
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
News
Money Management: The Importance of Financial Literacy
You may have mastered the core subjects like math and grammar in school, but financial literacy – or understanding the basics of money management in order to help you make better financial decisions – often goes overlooked before adulthood. It’s not so much a course of study as it is a plan of action. When you understand how to earn, save, spend and invest wisely, you aren’t just building a stable future for yourself, but your family and community as well.
Last Updated on May 11, 2026 by Daily News Staff
(Feature Impact) You may have mastered the core subjects like math and grammar in school, but financial literacy – or understanding the basics of money management in order to help you make better financial decisions – often goes overlooked before adulthood. It’s not so much a course of study as it is a plan of action.
Financial literacy in the United States has remained stagnant at generally low levels for several years, according to research from TIAA Institute and the Global Financial Literacy Excellence Center, with even lower levels among Gen Z. Yet greater financial literacy – including key aspects such as goal-setting, budgeting, saving, credit management and investing – is strongly linked to better financial outcomes, including lower rates of debt constraint and financial fragility.
While emboldening yourself to understand financial terms can be a little overwhelming at first, once you have a grasp of basic concepts you can begin to get a handle on your money and make better financial decisions. Simply put: When you understand how to earn, save, spend and invest wisely, you aren’t just building a stable future for yourself, but your family and community as well.
From nonprofit partnerships to volunteer-led programs and fee online resources, Schwab and its employees help millions of people every year build the knowledge and confidence to take charge of their financial futures by serving as board members, mentors, role models and educators.
Because financial health is a lifelong journey, the earlier people learn vital money skills, the better. That’s why the financial advisory services provider develops education programs geared toward kids that continue into adulthood, helping people no matter where they are on their journeys.
Talk Money
It’s never too early to start a conversation about financial literacy. Having teens identify goals that are important to them – such as concert tickets or a first car – can kickstart coversations about money. Working with your child (and a financial advisor, if necessary) on a plan for saving to realize those goals can serve as a jumping off point. After achieving some success, their enthusiasm may grow, which is a powerful motivator to keep saving.
Support School Initiatives and Programs
Outreach programs that empower young people to make smart financial decisions is key to a bright future. Programs like Money Matters – Schwab’s flagship financial education program utilized by the Boys & Girls Clubs of America – gives young people hands-on experience with all aspects of money and investing.
This example, and others, don’t just include program funding – they build partnerships that create impact and opportunity with national collaborations that reach more than 17 million youth annually, empowering young people with the tools and confidence to make smart financial decisions for life.
Spread the Financial Love
Championing financial literacy empowers everyone – individuals, families and communities. By serving as a board member, mentor, role model or educator to help bring financial literacy to others in your community, you can supply the tools and knowledge to lead programs that focus on giving back, empowering future generations in countless ways.
To learn more about financial literacy and find resources to empower your local community, visit SchwabMoneywise.com.
Photo courtesy of Shutterstock
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