China's net-zero pledges are starting to look like a fantasy as the emissions of the world's biggest polluter keep rising

Open this photo in gallery: Smoke rising from chimneys during an organized media tour in Shaanxi, China on April 26.TINGSHU WANG/Reuters The blast-furnace heat this summer in large parts of the world, including the Mediterranean countries, the Southern United States and China has delivered fresh urgency to the notion of net-zero emissions. The International Energy Agency says achieving net zero by 2050 is the only way to give us an "even chance" of limiting the rise in global average temperature to 1.5 C. All bets are off for our sorry planet after two degrees, with predictions of biblical horrors ranging…