Axios Homepage

Global warming is happening so fast that scientists now say we'll cross a crucial temperature threshold as early as 2030 — up to a decade sooner than previously thought — according to a sweeping new UN-sponsored review of climate science published Monday.

The big picture: Atmospheric CO2 concentrations were higher in 2019 than at any time in at least 2 million years, and the past 50 years saw the fastest temperature increases in at least 2,000 years, according to the new assessment by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

A sweeping United Nations-sponsored review of climate science published Monday projected that the world will cross a crucial temperature threshold as early as 2030 — up to a decade sooner than previously thought.

Why it matters: Warming is affecting every area of the globe, the report notes, and extreme weather events are becoming more common and severe contributing to a more volatile world.

Facebook's leaders know they have to demonstrate accountability to the world, but they're determined to do so on their own terms and timetable.

Why it matters: Since the 2018 Cambridge Analytica affair, Facebook has moved to provide more transparency and oversight, but its programs are limited, selective and slow, leaving journalists and scholars as the de facto whistleblowers for problems on its platform.

Self-driving vehicles may be loaded with sensors and artificial intelligence, but they're limited without a really good map.

Why it matters: High-definition maps are critical to the safe, wide-scale deployment of autonomous vehicles. More accurate than satellite-based GPS, they provide richly detailed models of the operating environment and important context to help AVs avoid mistakes.

Apple's plan to detect images of child sexual abuse on iPhones and to shield some underage users of Messages from receiving explicit images has touched off the latest round of a perennial debate over prioritizing law enforcement or user privacy.

Why it matters: There's increasing pressure on giant tech platforms to flag illegal behavior and remove harmful content. But smartphones are also powerful tools of surveillance that are increasingly employed by authoritarian governments and invasive marketers to target users around the world.

President Biden has appointed close former adviser Amos Hochstein as a State Department energy envoy charged with implementing a U.S.-Germany deal allowing the Nord Stream 2 pipeline to be completed, sources familiar with the decision tell Axios.

Why it matters: Hochstein has been a leading voice against Nord Stream 2, a strategic and financial priority for the Kremlin that will allow Russia to bypass Ukraine and deliver gas directly to the heart of Europe.

America is increasingly reliant on data coming from other countries or from drug companies about the coronavirus vaccines' effectiveness over time, particularly when it comes to the Delta variant.

Between the lines: Top Biden officials are growing frustrated with the lack of internal visibility into data being collected by the CDC, particularly as they try to deal with Delta's spread.

Forecasters are warning Americans to brace for another extreme heat wave this week, as 107 large wildfires burn across nearly 2.3 million acres of the U.S. West.

Driving the news: "Widespread air quality alerts and scattered Red Flag Warnings stretch from the Northwest and Northern Rockies to the High Plains, as well as throughout parts of central California," the National Weather Service said Sunday.

Authorities continued to search into the night for four people missing in California's historic Dixie Fire, as wildfires raged across the West.

Driving the news: Those unaccounted for were all from the fire-devastated town of Greenville, per a statement from the Plumas County Sheriff's office Sunday. The Dixie Fire is the largest blaze burning in the U.S. and the second-biggest wildfire in the state's history, a Cal Fire spokesperson told Axios.

Melissa DeRosa, the top aide to New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D), announced Sunday night that she's resigning from her role as secretary to the governor.

Why it matters: DeRosa's resignation comes days after N.Y. Attorney General Letitia James office released a report finding that Cuomo sexually harassed multiple women. DeRosa was mentioned multiple times in the report. Cuomo's attorneys have denounced James' findings.

A federal judge in Miami granted Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings a preliminary injunction on Sunday night in its lawsuit challenging Florida's vaccine passports ban.

Why it matters: Per a statement from Norwegian, U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams' order will allow the cruise line giant to "operate in the safest way possible with 100% vaccination of all guests and crew when sailing from Florida ports."