Desertification

By Catherine Early | – ( China Dialogue ) – A “crisis footing” is needed to conserve, restore and use land sustainably, according to a major report that warns of food supply disruptions, forced migration and rapid biodiversity loss. Unless countries scale up action, there will also be a higher risk of zoonotic diseases like […]

Climate Crisis

Climate Crisis: Hoover Dam’s Lake Mead, Water and Electricity Source for West, May become a Dead Pool

The Conversation

By Robert Glennon, University of Arizona | – Journalists reporting on the status and future of the Colorado River are increasingly using the phrase “dead pool.” It sounds ominous. And it is. Dead pool occurs when water in a reservoir drops so low that it can’t flow downstream from the dam. The biggest concerns are […]

Climate Crisis

Climate-Driven Drought has risen 29% this Century, will create 216 mn. Refugees by 2050: UN

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The UN Convention to Combat Desertification issued a new report, “Drought in Numbers 2022 on Friday, warning of the dangers of the climate emergency for further desertification and wildfires and massive loss of human life. “The report warns that The number and duration of droughts has increased by 29 percent […]

Climate Crisis

Southwest Megadrought: Climate-Driven Drop in Lake Powell could Leave Residents with no Water or Electricity

Cronkite News Arizona PBS

By Autriya Maneshni (Cronkite News ) PHOENIX – Water levels on Lake Powell, the second largest reservoir in the U.S., have dropped below 3,525 feet – a critical level that threatens water supplies and hydroelectricity for millions of people. The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation had predicted the threshold wouldn’t be reached until August. The reservoir’s […]

Agriculture

UN Climate Panel: 50% of Species have fled toward Poles, as Extinctions and Food and Water Shortages Burgeon

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has issued its 2022 report and the scientists have bad news for us. This report is far more pessimistic than its predecessors. The climate emergency is being caused by humans burning coal, petroleum and methane gas for electricity and heating and cooling buildings. […]

Climate Crisis

Climate data reveals a hottest, driest Southwest in 1,200 Years, with more extremes possible

Cronkite News Arizona PBS

By Alexia Stanbridge | – ( Cronkite News ) – WASHINGTON – The megadrought that’s gripped Arizona and the Southwest since 2000 is the driest in more than 1,200 years, and it is likely to continue for the near future, according to a new report. Those findings, published Monday in the journal Nature Climate Change, […]

Agriculture

With fewer animals to spread their seeds, plants could have trouble adapting to climate change

The Conversation

By Evan Fricke, Alejandro Ordonez, Haldre Rogers, and Jens-Christian Svenning | – Picture a mature, broad-branched tree like an oak, maple or fig. How does it reproduce so that its offspring don’t grow up in its shadow, fighting for light? The answer is seed dispersal. Plants have evolved many strategies for spreading their seeds away […]

Climate Crisis

Avoiding water bankruptcy in the Southwest: What the US and Iran can learn from each other

The Conversation

By Mojtaba Sadegh, Ali Mirchi, Amir AghaKouchak and Kaveh Madani | – The 2021 water year ends on Sept. 30, and it was another hot, dry year in the western U.S., with almost the entire region in drought. Reservoirs vital for farms, communities and hydropower have fallen to dangerous lows. The biggest blow came in […]

Climate Crisis

UN: Climate-Driven Extreme Weather Disasters since 1970 increased 5-Fold, costing Trillions

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The World Meteorological Organization and the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction have issued a report finding that in the past 50 years, 11,000 droughts, storms, extreme temperature and other extreme weather events have accounted for 50 percent of all disasters and three-fourths of known economic losses, totaling $3.64 […]