Last Tuesday, technology companies Microsoft and Salesforce each announced they are putting tens of millions of dollars into new projects aimed at pulling carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere, the latest in a string of Big Tech investments into carbon dioxide removal, or CDR. Tech companies are supporting a range of CDR approaches, from forestry to futuristic machinery that sucks CO2 from the air and pumps it under the ground. Climate scientists say that in addition to reducing emissions of greenhouse gases, the world will need CDR if we are to avoid the most dangerous levels of climate change. Better Planet spoke with some researchers about the status of CDR and why tech companies are leading the way in private sector funding. 

In a sign of the surge in solar power’s growth around the world, total output from global solar generation hit a record peak on the summer solstice Thursday. The clean-energy think tank Ember calculated that on the longest day of the year for the Northern Hemisphere, solar power provided roughly a fifth of the world’s total electricity needs, an increase from about 16 percent on the previous year’s solstice. Ember’s report also showed which countries are producing the most solar and which have the greatest potential to get more power from the sun.   

In climate news elsewhere, early summer heat waves have gripped portions of the planet in a sobering reminder of what’s at stake with the climate challenge. USA Today reported that heat in the Middle East took a deadly toll on pilgrims during the Hajj to Mecca. More than 1,300 deaths were reported among those making the pilgrimage to the holy city in Saudi Arabia, where temperatures climbed to more than 124 degrees Fahrenheit.  

And the AP reported that climate scientists determined that the heat wave that gripped Mexico and parts of the southwestern U.S. this month was made much more likely by human-caused climate change. World Weather Attribution, a group of international scientists, found that the mid-June heat wave was made 35 times more likely by the heat-trapping effects of greenhouse gases. Last year was the warmest on record for the planet, and each month so far in 2024 has set global temperature records.  

Stay with Better Planet for the latest on the effects of climate change and emerging solutions. Later this week, we’ll learn how Boston is becoming a hub for climate-related technology with a $1 billion bet on clean-energy R&D.