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• Due to rising temperatures and climate change, small-scale coffee farmers in Colombia are increasingly planting cacao.
• Cacao faces fewer immediate challenges compared to coffee, which is prone to pests and diseases, and can integrate well into agroforestry systems. However, agronomists warn that the switch to cacao can lead to clearing forests and increasing chemical inputs in order to expand existing plantations.
• Higher profits, the high prices of cacao in the market, and the increasing expenses needed to manage coffee crops are also factors pushing small-scale farmers towards the switch.
• Although coffee remains Colombia’s most important agricultural product, cacao is emerging not just as an alternative, but as a defining crop in Colombia’s evolving agricultural future, say agronomists.

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Per the author:

Also in jeopardy: Engineering + IT support for N-Wave, NOAA's internet + network provider. N-Wave transmits weather forecasting data. Internal email warns of "significant service disruptions” if contracts aren't extended.

Edit:

Since this was published, there has apparently been a bit of a reprieve as word got out about how bad this would be

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Title & subtitle from the article version of this newsletter; linking the newsletter version above because it's not paywalled.

Nuclear always comes up when discussing the energy transition but renewables seem to be a much more popular consideration. Can nuclear energy help us towards a greener future or is it a long dead dream?

For many California residents, the Los Angeles wildfires earlier this year were the latest and most searing example of the devastating effects of climate change. Some estimates have pegged the damages and economic losses from the fires at more than $250 billion.

• The carbon storage capacity of forests is widely recognized as a crucial factor in curbing global warming and preventing climate catastrophe.
• But a new study finds that the future potential for forest CO2 storage is being overestimated, with global forest health (along with the ability of forests to go on storing carbon) vulnerable to increasing disturbances including wildfires, disease, pests and deforestation.
• Scientists argue that the very real threat of declining forest carbon storage capacity necessitates far faster decarbonization efforts, along with urgent action to monitor and conserve forests, and prevent widespread deforestation.
• Delaying action by as little as five years could incur huge economic costs and jeopardize climate goals, researchers found.

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Reports predict global heating will bring catastrophes and that air conditioning market could grow by 41%

For context, cement (and concrete) are ~8% of global emissions.