By Elizabeth C. Tippett | – Billionaire and former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg received a lot of flak at the Feb. 19 Democratic debate for his refusal to release employees who sued his company from nondisclosure agreements. He admitted to having a “few nondisclosure agreements,” after Sen. Elizabeth Warren challenged him over the […]
New Findings: 251.9 Million Years Ago Rapid Climate Change from CO2 Wiped out 90% of Species
By Jennifer Botha | – The end-Permian mass extinction is considered to be the most devastating biotic event in the history of life on Earth – it caused dramatic losses in global biodiversity, both in water and on land. About 90% of marine and 70% of terrestrial (land) species went extinct. This event may have […]
In Syria’s Idlib, Turkey is trying to play middle man between Russia and the US – with little success
By Umut Korkut and Tarik Basbugoglu | – The recent turn of events in Idlib, an opposition stronghold in north-western Syria undergoing bombardment by the Syrian military, has put Turkey in a difficult position. Since the end of January, Syrian regime forces have killed 13 Turkish soldiers who were monitoring a tense ceasefire in Idlib. […]
The unexpected link between the ozone hole and Arctic warming
By Karen Smith | – One of the earliest climate model predictions of how human-made climate change would affect our planet showed that the Arctic would warm about two to three times more than the global average. Forty years later, this “Arctic amplification” has been observed firsthand. Record-breaking Arctic warming and the dramatic decline of […]
Countering climate denialism requires taking on right-wing populism. Here’s how
By Richard Calland | – History may in due course record 2019 as the year in which the penny finally dropped about the climate emergency humanity faces. A sense of urgency was triggered last year by both Swedish teenage climate activist Greta Thunberg’s courage in challenging world leaders to take the crisis seriously, and the […]
The Contribution of Indigenous People to Fighting Climate Change is Hanging by a Thread in Bolivia
By Iokiñe Rodríguez and Mirna Inturias | – Earth’s forests oxygenate the atmosphere and store vast quantities of planet-warming carbon dioxide (CO₂). But research suggests that the health of these vast ecosystems in large part depends on the work of indigenous people. Indigenous territories and protected areas cover 52% of the Amazon forest and store […]
Ancient Antarctic ice melt caused extreme sea level rise 129,000 years ago – and it could happen again
By Chris Fogwill, Chris Turney, and Zoë Thomas | – Rising global temperatures and warming ocean waters are causing one of the world’s coldest places to melt. While we know that human activity is causing climate change and driving rapid changes in Antarctica, the potential impacts that a warmer world would have on this region […]
Rich v. Poor: New York faces Climate Crisis, But Bangladesh Faces Climate Apocalypse
By Saleh Ahmed | – Unpredictable weather and climate patterns recently prompted New York Times columnist Paul Krugman to proclaim in January 2020 that “Apocalypse will become the new normal.” Extreme storms, tides and other awful surprises the world has experienced in recent years suggest that Krugman could be right. July 2019 registered the hottest […]
Gulf Arab Women Are entering the Public Sphere, but must Navigate between Modernity and a Changing Society
By Alainna Liloia | – Arab women, long relegated to the private sphere by law and social custom, are gaining new access to public life. All countries of the Arab Gulf now have workforce “nationalization policies” that aim to reduce dependency on migrant labor by getting more women into the workforce. Saudi Arabia set a […]