A lawsuit in the United States has placed major oil industry corporations at the center of a debate about climate change. Multnomah County, located in Oregon, alleges that the industry should be held responsible for damages caused by a heatwave that resulted in 69 deaths.
According to The New York Times, the lawsuit, valued at $50 billion (approximately R$ 270 billion), accuses oil companies of downplaying the risks inherent in global warming. Filed in 2023, this action targets energy sector companies, arguing that a heatwave that occurred five years prior is linked both to fossil fuel industry activities and to campaigns that allegedly diminished public perception of environmental impacts.
This case is part of a series of challenges brought by municipal and state administrations in the United States against gas and oil companies. The distinguishing feature of this action is the attempt to assign responsibility to specific companies for an extreme weather event. The county contends that the companies should be liable for concealing crucial information about the dangers of global warming. Conversely, the companies argue that such lawsuits aim to establish regulations on greenhouse gas emissions, which they claim is the jurisdiction of the federal government.
The main elements under discussion include the allegation that oil companies contributed to exacerbating climate effects, the attempt to link the companies to a specific heatwave, the debate over campaigns that supposedly softened environmental risks, and the general discussion about who should bear responsibility for the consequences of climate change.
The visibility of the action led lawyer Roger Worthington, representing Multnomah County, to appear before the House Judiciary Committee to provide clarification. Republican members of the committee are investigating possible links between those involved in climate lawsuits and the Environmental Law Institute, an organization that provides educational material for judges. Worthington denied any irregularities, stating that the investigation's goal would be to weaken actions against fossil fuel companies.
Chevron also contested the studies used in the lawsuit, alleging that Worthington had participated in the research without disclosing this involvement. The lawyer clarified that he only assisted in funding a study but did not participate in the research or the editing of the content. While energy companies strive to halt the proceedings, the county insists that the sector must cover the damages resulting from decades of what it considers misleading disclosure. Worthington compared the current litigation to previous cases involving asbestos companies, stating: 'With fossil fuels, we are just getting started.' This case, originating in Portland, establishes a new front in environmental legal battles, as local governments have begun seeking financial compensation from companies for damages linked to extreme events. The decision may influence other similar actions in the United States, especially in attempting to answer the growing question in courts: can energy companies be held directly responsible for the effects of a warming planet?
Researchers from the Max Planck Institute of Chemistry identified methane concentrations in the Amazon that significantly exceed the estimates provided by climate and Earth system models. In certain areas of wetlands, recorded emissions reached up to four times the value calculated by the models. These findings were published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters in July 2026.
Linda Ort, an atmospheric chemist and lead author, led the international study. The team dedicated two months, spanning from December 2022 to January 2023, to collect data. This period is notable for coinciding with the transition between the dry and rainy seasons in the region, a time when biomass burning generally does not occur, minimizing the impact of human activities on measurements.
Although methane emissions tend to be higher during the rainy season and lower in the dry season, the two months of collection represent an approximation of the annual average emissions from wetlands.
During the collection period, the background level of methane in the atmosphere was around 1.907 parts per billion (ppb). Since then, this value has shown an increase. On average, the methane levels measured above this atmospheric background were about twice as high as the values predicted by the models.
It was observed that the difference between measured and modeled data increases as altitude decreases. However, at altitudes of six kilometers or more, the data align well with the models, which Ort attributes to the efficient mixing of methane in the atmosphere at those heights, allowing the models to correctly represent air mass transport. At levels closer to the surface, however, the models show failures.
By analyzing different types of wetlands, scientists found higher emissions: 26% more in river deltas, 19% more in reservoirs, and 13% more in frequently flooded river areas, compared to previous projections.
Measurements were taken using sensors installed on the HALO research aircraft, which operated at altitudes ranging from 200 meters above the tree canopy to over 14 kilometers. At more than seven thousand measurement points, a specific absorption spectrometer for HALO was used, designed to detect methane accurately even under low atmospheric pressures found at high altitudes.
For the analysis, the Amazonian area was segmented into grid cells of 0.1 degree by 0.1 degree, which constitutes a high resolution for emission mapping. To correlate the methane measured in the air with its sources on the ground, the team applied an atmospheric transport model to track air masses to the corresponding grid cell. Subsequently, a NASA ensemble model was used to estimate the wetlands, complemented by a complex numerical method to calculate the actual amounts of methane release.
A factor contributing to the data limitation in the region is the persistence of cloud cover, which hinders satellite observations, coupled with the low frequency of terrestrial measurements in the tropics. Ort told Phys.org that the results indicate the existence of numerous underestimated methane sources in tropical wetlands, such as the Amazon rainforest, emphasizing the need for more data to refine these points and improve climate and Earth system models.
Eric Kort, director of the Department of Atmospheric Chemistry at the Max Planck Institute of Chemistry and co-author of the study, endorsed this assessment, stating that to determine the global methane balance reliably, more measurements are needed, not only in the Amazon but also in other tropical regions with little information, such as Central Africa and Southeast Asia.
Methane is a potent greenhouse gas whose atmospheric concentration has increased drastically in recent decades. Approximately 65% of global emissions originate from anthropogenic sources, coming from sectors such as agriculture, fossil fuel production and consumption, and waste management. The remaining 35% comes from natural processes.
This gas is generated in large volumes by the decomposition of organic matter, such as dead leaves and plants, carried out by aquatic microorganisms. Wetlands represent the main natural source of methane to the atmosphere, as do reservoirs, where the flooding of large forest areas for hydroelectric power causes methane release through the decomposition of submerged organic matter. Despite this, there are still major doubts about the total volume of methane coming from wetlands and how these emissions might intensify in response to climate change.
An expert group of the Union's Ministry of Environment recommended giving the 'green light' to the Naying hydroelectric power station with a capacity of 1000 MW. This decision paves the way for obtaining other permits and commencing construction of this 'run-of-the-river' type project on the Siom river in the Siang and Shi-Yomi districts, near the border between India and China, in the state of Arunachal Pradesh.
The Environmental Clearance (EC) for this project has been pending for a long time. Construction will be carried out by the North Eastern Electric Power Corporation with an estimated cost of 11,835 crore rupees over an area of 470 hectares, which will significantly boost renewable energy production in the region.
The ministry's expert evaluation committee approved the EC at its 57th meeting, held on June 29-30, setting several mandatory conditions. Although 12 villages will be affected due to land acquisition for various parts of the project, the panel accepted the project initiator's detailed plan regarding assistance and rehabilitation for displaced families.
In its conditional approval, the panel stated that 'land acquired for the project must be properly compensated in accordance with the prevailing guidelines of the state government and the provisions of the Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013.' The project initiator must now obtain forest use permission under the Forest (Conservation) Act of 1986, if applicable. However, the meeting minutes published on Monday stated that no component of the project is located in any declared protected area.
