Extreme Weather

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

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 […]

Climate Crisis

Looking for Home in an Overheating World: If Emissions continue, Will We all be Migrants Someday?

Tomdispatch

By Jane Braxton Little ( Tomdispatch.com ) – Greenville, CA — Pines and firs parched by a three-year drought had been burning for days on a ridge 1,000 feet above my remote mountain town. On August 4, 2021, the flames suddenly flared into a heat so intense it formed a molten cloud the color of […]

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 […]

Climate Crisis

“Politicizing the Weather:” Florida’s DeSantis doesn’t Understand that Carbon Emissions make Hurricanes more Intense, not More Frequent

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – After his historic meltdown of a presidential campaign announcement with notorious internet troll Elon Musk on a glitchy “Twitter Spaces,” Florida Governor Ron DeSantis went on to have a conversation with former congressman Trey Gowdy, a kooky climate change denialist, on Fox “News” Wednesday night. In response to Gowdy’s question […]

Climate Crisis

Pakistan’s Trans Community battles Climate Catastrophe and Exclusion

The Third Pole

Trans people affected by floods in Pakistan’s Balochistan province gather to receive aid from the non-profit Al-Khidmat Foundation, in partnership with Unilever Pakistan (Photo courtesy of Al-Khidmat Foundation) Adeel Saeed ( The Third Pole) – This winter was very hard for Bunti, a transgender woman, or Khawaja Sira as trans people are known in […]

Arctic

Climate Emergency: Once Lush Oregon Faces a future of Wildfires, Drought and Vanishing Mountain Glaciers

Oregon Capital Chronicle

By: Lynne Terry – Coastal erosion in Gleneden Beach in March 2021 caused houses to sit on the edge of the cliff. (Courtesy of Hailey Bond) ( Oregon Capital Chronicle ) – It’s likely to be hot again this summer in Oregon, and that trend is likely to continue. An Oregon State University […]

Climate Crisis

Rapid Heating of Oceans Frightens Scientists: Threatens Marine Life, Coastal Areas

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The oceans are hot. They are hot in a way that surprises and distresses climate scientists, Everyone knew they would heat up because of the climate emergency. But no one thought it would happen this fast and with this intensity. Moreover, some of the side effects we are seeing, like […]

Climate Crisis

Glaciers in Swiss Alps lost 6% of Mass last Year, as Climate Emergency brings brutal Heat Waves

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The UN’s World Meteorological Organization has issued its annual report. As you will have guessed, things don’t look good. There were 117 heat waves in 2022 and 58 droughts globally. But there were also 61 wet spells and 63 floods. We are rushing toward weather extremes. Global heating has driven […]

Antarctica

New Research shows how rapidly Ice Sheets can Retreat: Antarctica’s Melt alone could raise Sea Level 171 Feet

The Conversation

By Christine Batchelor, Newcastle University and Frazer Christie, University of Cambridge | – The Antarctic Ice Sheet, which covers an area greater than the US and Mexico combined, holds enough water to raise global sea level by more than 57 metres if melted completely. This would flood hundreds of cities worldwide. And evidence suggests it […]