By Piers Forster, University of Leeds | – Greenhouse gas emissions are at an all-time high, with yearly emissions equivalent to 54 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide. Humanity has caused surface temperatures to warm by 1.14°C since the late 1800s – and this warming is increasing at an unprecedented rate of over 0.2°C per decade. […]
Jada Pinkett Smith’s Black Cleopatra Stirred Controversy, but What about the Forgotten Queens of Ancient Nubia?
By Yasmin Moll, University of Michigan | – Jada Pinkett Smith’s new Netflix documentary series on Cleopatra aims to spotlight powerful African queens. “We don’t often get to see or hear stories about Black queens, and that was really important for me, as well as for my daughter, and just for my community to be […]
Using electric water Heaters to store renewable Energy could do the work of 2 million home Batteries – and save us Billions
By David Roche, University of Technology Sydney | – Australia’s energy transition is well under way. Some 3 million households have rooftop solar and sales of medium-sized electric cars are surging. But as we work towards fully electric households powered by renewable energy, have we overlooked a key enabling technology, the humble electric water heater? […]
Sudan conflict: how China and Russia are involved and the differences between them
By Marcel Plichta, University of St Andrews and Mateja Peter, University of St Andrews | – As clashes continue between the Sudanese military and rapid support forces, the current and historic role of foreign governments in Sudanese affairs is under close examination. Unsurprisingly, the Sudan conflict has amplified concerns from the US and other countries […]
Wildfire Smoke can Harm Human Health, Even when the Fire is Distant
By Christopher T. Migliaccio, University of Montana | (The Conversation) – Smoke from more than 100 wildfires burning across Canada has been rolling into North American cities far from the flames. New York City and Detroit were both listed among the five most polluted cities in the world because of the fires on June 7, […]
How Saudi Arabia came to be at the Centre of a global Golf Merger
By David Rowe, Western Sydney University | – Professional golf – and increasingly world sport – is caught in a sand trap. Not the familiar hazard between fairway and green, but the Middle Eastern desert producing enormous quantities of fossil fuels. The resulting riches are being diverted into sport, disrupting its traditional Western dominance. The […]
Arctic Ocean could be Ice-Free in summer by 2030s, with Global, Damaging and Dangerous Consequences
By Jonathan Bamber, University of Bristol | – (The Conversation) – The Arctic Ocean could be ice-free in summer by the 2030s, even if we do a good job of reducing emissions between now and then. That’s the worrying conclusion of a new study in Nature Communications. Predictions of an ice-free Arctic Ocean have a […]
Israeli Protesters fear for the Future of their Country’s precarious LGBTQ Rights Revolution
By Orit Avishai, Fordham University | – Demonstrations against the Israeli government’s efforts to radically overhaul the country’s judicial system have become a weekly occurrence. Often rainbow pride banners pop with color amid the sea of blue and white national flags. LGBTQ allies are hardly the only groups protesting the new government: Secular Jews, liberals […]
Time to Dial it Back: We Humans have Exceeded the Boundaries of 80% of the Planet’s Key Systems
By Steven J Lade, Australian National University; Ben Stewart-Koster, Griffith University; Stuart Bunn, Griffith University; Syezlin Hasan, Griffith University; Xuemei Bai, Australian National University | – (The Conversation) – People once believed the planet could always accommodate us. That the resilience of the Earth system meant nature would always provide. But we now know this […]