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| Welcome! This week, angry ocean clouds and cabbage palmettos on the run. But first, do you know where your EV battery came from? | |  | | Electric cars are slashing emissions from transportation, but building an EV takes bauxite, the ore to produce aluminum — and lots of it. Not to mention cobalt, nickel, manganese, lithium and other minerals inside its 900-pound battery block. | | All those minerals must come from somewhere, and "you always will have some trade-offs," said Sergey Paltsev, a senior research scientist at MIT. "There is no magic solution." In countries rich in these metals, such as Guinea, those trade-offs can be severe, inflicting suffering on local communities, as The Washington Post explores in Clean Cars, Hidden Toll, a new series on the human and environmental costs of the EV supply chain. | | Bauxite exports from Guinea, home to the world's largest reserves of the mineral, have soared almost fivefold since 2015. For the country, bauxite has created thousands of jobs and millions of dollars in annual tax revenue. But in the Boké region of Guinea, where much of the mining occurs, it has turned rivers orange, polluting locals' primary source of water and sustenance. The companies involved offered little compensation. Explore this interactive to see where other essential EV battery materials come from: | |  | | Harry Stevens/The Washington Post | | By the end of the century, cabbage palmettos — the state tree of Florida and South Carolina — could thrive in D.C., while Fraser firs — popular as Christmas trees — could die out. Use the Climate Lab's interactive tool to look up how trees near you could change. | | | Asperitas clouds in New Hampshire on Sunday morning. (Crystal Lee) | | Chaotic clouds resembling a roaring, angry ocean took over the New Hampshire sky this week. Called "asperitas," they are triggered by atmospheric turbulence, writes the Capital Weather Gang's Matthew Cappucci. "The sky was completely covered all around us," Crystal Lee, who captured the moment, wrote in a Facebook message. "A sight we have never witnessed before. [It was] magical and beautiful." | |  | | Did you know that Apple's Siri can ID plants? I did not. But many of you pointed that out after reading my last column. I'd still stick with the top four identifiers from my column. Siri serves in a pinch, but Seek, Merlin, Pl@ntNet and iNaturalist are more accurate, and can advance our scientific knowledge. In addition, many of you noted that some of the species I mentioned are exotics and invasive. That's true. Most of the plants in my (very disturbed) urban backyard were planted or imported. But now that I know, I'm clearing out the bramble, buying native seed packets and seeing how I can restore a little patch of coastal California. That's what Ronda is doing in her neck of the woods. She found some lovely native trees like black cherry and roughleaf dogwood struggling to grow beneath invasive Japanese honeysuckle and Callery pear. "I am inundated with invasive plants," she writes. "I ID the bad stuff (and the good!) … Slowly clearing out the bad." Also, it's No Mow May. Leave your lawn mower in the garage and spend your weekend having fun. The pollinators and beneficial insects will thank you. | |  | | From The Post: In the American West, data centers are fighting with local communities over water. A neat and trim lawn is deadly to many pollinators: The No Mow movement is here to save them. One-third of all oceanic plastic waste comes from the Philippines. This photo essay explores life in Manila, a capital swallowed by plastic waste. The EPA is preparing rules that will force fossil fuel power plants to burn hydrogen or capture their carbon emissions by 2040. | | From elsewhere: Floating wind farms are setting sail, but Reuters reports there are rough seas ahead. A third of this year's show gardens at the Chelsea Flower Show will feature weeds rebranded as "resilient plants," the Guardian reports. | |  |  | | Miska likes roses, but romping in native wildflowers is her favorite. Try "meadowscaping" with wildflowers native to your region. Clear some invasives, and get your seeds here. | | Was this email forwarded to you? Sign up here to get The Climate Coach in your inbox every Tuesday and Thursday. | | See you next Tuesday, Michael Coren, Climate Coach | | | | | | | | | |
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