Extreme Heat

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The Associated Press reports that the Conger/Glenzer ice shelf in East Antarctica has collapsed. The event was caught on satellite video, and it is the first such collapse known to have occurred on the east coast of Antarctica, which had been thought to be more stable and less affected by […]

Climate Crisis

Largest American Wind Farm ever Built all-at-Once Opens in Oklahoma, Saves Customers $1 Billion over Fossil fuels

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – This week, American Electric Power (AEP), which operates in several states, inaugurated what it called the largest wind farm in the US ever built all at once. That is, there are larger wind facilities, but they were actually a congeries of several projects built over many years. The nearly 1 […]

Climate Crisis

American Exceptionalism is the Wrong Lens for our Massive Carbon Dioxide Emissions

Tomdispatch

By Aviva Chomsky | – Three years after the end of World War II, diplomat George Kennan outlined the challenges the country faced this way: “We have about 50% of the world’s wealth, but only 6.3% of its population. In this situation, we cannot fail to be the object of envy and resentment. Our real […]

Climate Crisis

Will war in Ukraine hasten the end of fossil fuels in the West?

The Conversation

By Jack Marley | – Four weeks have passed since Russian troops invaded Ukraine. To impede the onslaught of Vladimir Putin’s war machine, countries in the EU and elsewhere have announced measures to cut imports of fuel and energy from Russia, draining the coffers of the world’s largest exporter of gas and its third-largest supplier […]

Climate Crisis

Industrialized Nations must stop Producing Fossil Fuels by 2034 to keep Climate from Going Tropical and Chaotic

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Scientists Dan Calverley and Kevin Anderson at Manchester University have brought out a new report looking hard at what would have to be done for us to have a 50/50 chance of keeping the increase in the average temperature of the earth’s surface to 2.7 degrees F. (1.5C) over preindustrial […]

Climate Crisis

SEC proposes far-reaching climate disclosure rules for companies – here’s where the rules may be vulnerable to legal challenges

The Conversation

By Daniel E. Walters, Penn State; and William M. Manson, Penn State | – The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission released its long-awaited proposal to require companies to disclose their climate risks to investors, and it’s arguably the most significant action on climate change yet under the Biden administration. SEC Commissioner Allison Herren Lee called […]

Climate Crisis

From Drought to Deluge: Those Who Contribute the Least to the Climate Crisis Suffer the Most

Tomdispatch

By Jane Braxton Little | – ( Tomdispatch.com ) – Greenville, CA — Snow began falling on December 24th, big fluffy flakes that made lace on mittens before melting. Within hours it had coated the ashes, the brick chimneys that the flames had left behind, and the jagged remains of roofs strewn across my burned-out […]

Climate Crisis

Arctic hits 50° F above normal, as Scientists predict it will soon have more Rain than Snow

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – While it made headlines because it is freakish, that parts of Antarctica are 70 degrees F. warmer than usual may just be a fluke. Climate is a trend line you can see over 50 years of changes. Weather is what happens for a day or a week. The more alarming […]

Climate Crisis

Plutocrats Fiddling as the World Burns with Global Heating and Nuclear Tensions

Tom Engelhardt

He’s our very own emperor from hell, an updated version of Nero who, in legend, burned down Rome on a whim, though ours prefers drowning Washington. Why, just the other day, Donald Trump — and you knew perfectly well who I meant — bent the ears of 250 top Republican donors for 84 minutes. Among […]