Extreme Heat

By Abrahm Lustgarten | – ( Propublica) – Climate change is remapping where humans can exist on the planet. As optimum conditions shift away from the equator and toward the poles, more than 600 million people have already been stranded outside of a crucial environmental niche that scientists say best supports life. By late this […]

Climate Crisis

Wildfire Smoke can Harm Human Health, Even when the Fire is Distant

The Conversation

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, […]

Climate Crisis

Climate Crisis: North America gets its own Mideast-Style Khamsin, courtesy Freak Canadian Smokestorm

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Not only Toronto in Canada but New York, Washington, D.C. and other cities of the US northeast got a taste of the Middle Eastern Khamsin on Wednesday. Of course, we had our own, North American twist on it, since ours was not a sandstorm but a “smokestorm.” Some 400 wildfires […]

CO2

Carbon Dioxide in our Atmosphere hits High not seen for Millions of Years, threatening Accelerated Global Heating

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) announced Monday that parts per million of carbon dioxide in our planet’s atmosphere averaged 424 ppm in the month of May, reaching a level not seen for millions of years. In May 2022 it was only 421 ppm so this is a tremendous […]

Arctic

Arctic Ocean could be Ice-Free in summer by 2030s, with Global, Damaging and Dangerous Consequences

The Conversation

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 […]

Climate Crisis

Why is 104 °F (40°C) is bearable in a Desert but Lethal in the Tropics

The Conversation

By Alan Thomas Kennedy-Asser, University of Bristol; Dann Mitchell, University of Bristol; and Eunice Lo, University of Bristol | – (The Conversation) – This year, even before the northern hemisphere hot season began, temperature records were being shattered. Spain for instance saw temperatures in April (38.8°C [101.8 °F]) that would be out of the ordinary […]

Afghanistan

The Water Wars Begin: Did Climate Change contribute to Saturday’s Deadly Iran-Afghan Border Clash over Helmand River?

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Iran’s Tasnim News Agency reports that on Saturday deadly clashes broke out between Iranian border guards in the Zabul district of Sistan and Baluchistant Province and their opposite numbers on the Afghanistan side in the Keng District of Nimruz Province. Tasnim wrote, “Conscript “Mehdi Ahmadi” was martyred while guarding the […]

Climate Crisis

Global Heating could make it too Hot for a Third of Humanity by 2080 – 2100

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – A lot of studies have focused on the economic cost of global heating, caused by humans burning fossil fuels. A new study in Nature Sustainability “Quantifying the human cost of global warming,” by Timothy M. Lenton et al. instead concentrates on what heating will mean for the lives of human […]

Climate Crisis

The Hottest Days are warming twice as fast as the Average Summer Temperature in Northwest Europe

The Conversation

By Matthew Patterson, University of Oxford | – (The Conversation) – On July 19 2022, the UK experienced its highest ever temperature. At 40.3℃ [104.5°F] (Coningsby, Lincolnshire), the temperature surpassed the previous record of 38.7℃ [101.6°F] (Cambridge) – a record that had been set a mere three years previously. My new study shows that this […]