By Paul Bierman, University of Vermont, and Tammy Rittenour, Utah State University | – About 400,000 years ago, large parts of Greenland were ice-free. Scrubby tundra basked in the Sun’s rays on the island’s northwest highlands. Evidence suggests that a forest of spruce trees, buzzing with insects, covered the southern part of Greenland. Global sea […]
As Global Heat Waves Break Records in Mideast and Elsewhere, How Hot it too Hot for us Humans?
By W. Larry Kenney, Penn State; Daniel Vecellio, Penn State; Rachel Cottle, Penn State; and S. Tony Wolf, Penn State | – (The Conversation) – Extreme heat has been breaking records across Europe, Asia and North America, with millions of people sweltering in heat and humidity well above “normal” for days on end. Death Valley […]
Did the Anthropocene Era of Human-Caused Climate Change Start in 1950 – or Much Earlier? Why the Debate Matters
By Noel Castree, University of Technology Sydney | – (The Conversation) – It made world news last week when a small lake in Canada was chosen as the “Golden Spike” – the location where the emergence of the Anthropocene is most clear. The Anthropocene is the proposed new geological epoch defined by humanity’s impact on […]
Climate Crisis: Northern Europe faces biggest relative Increase in Uncomfortable Heat and Air Conditioning will only make things Worse
By Jesus Lizana, University of Oxford; Nicole Miranda, University of Oxford; and Radhika Khosla, University of Oxford | – Limiting the global temperature rise to 1.5℃ is getting harder. A recent UN report even stated that there is now “no credible pathway” to achieve this goal. Our planet has entered uncharted territory, with all kinds […]
This Year’s El Niño, a Preview of Global Heating to Come, Will Affect Wheat and Global Food Supply
By David Ubilava, University of Sydney | – The World Meteorological Organization has declared the onset of the first El Niño event in seven years. It estimates 90% probability the climatic phenomenon, involving an unusual warming of the Pacific Ocean, will develop through 2023, and be of moderate strength. El Niño events bring hotter, drier […]
Corals are starting to Bleach as Global Ocean Temperatures hit Record Highs
By Ian Enochs, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration | – The water off South Florida is over 90 degrees Fahrenheit (32 Celsius) in mid-July, and scientists are already seeing signs of coral bleaching off Central and South America. Particularly concerning is how early in the summer we are seeing these high ocean temperatures. If the […]
Climate Change is Increasing Stress on Thousands of Aging Dams across the US
By Hiba Baroud, Vanderbilt University | – Heavy rainfall in the Northeast on June 9-11, 2023, generated widespread flooding, particularly in New York’s Hudson Valley and in Vermont. One major concern was the Wrightsville Dam, built in 1935 on the Winooski River north of Vermont’s capital city, Montpelier. The reservoir behind the dam rose to […]
What it means that El Niño is coming on Top of a long-term Trend of Human-driven Global Heating
By David Armstrong McKay, Stockholm University | – (The Conversation) – The UN World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) has confirmed it: El Niño conditions have arrived and are expected to become moderate to strong as they develop over the coming year. El Niño is the hot phase of a natural fluctuation in the Earth’s climate system […]
Turkey’s Erdogan abruptly lifts veto on Sweden in NATO: What it means for the Alliance and Ukraine War
Simon J Smith, Staffordshire University and Jordan Becker, United States Military Academy West Point | – In a surprise move, Turkey has ended its veto on Sweden joining Nato, thereby removing all the barriers to its membership of the military alliance. Hungary quickly followed suit and, as a result of the two countries’ support, a […]