Extreme Weather

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – CNN and The Independent reported this week on a massive ice melt in Greenland, with on the order of 6 billion tons of ice lost in three days. The melting was because of a heat wave at the top of the world, caused by our burning coal, gasoline and methane […]

Climate Crisis

US Supreme Court Deals Blow to Climate Action: Ruling Limits Administration’s Ability to Restrict Carbon Emissions from Power Plants

Human Rights Watch

By Krista Shennum | – Fellow, Environment and Human Rights | – ( Human Rights Watch) – In a significant setback for climate action, the United States Supreme Court ruled yesterday to limit the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) ability to restrict greenhouse gas emissions from power plants. The ruling prevents the EPA from using its […]

Climate Crisis

In 13 Years, Gasoline will be as Illegal in Europe as Heroin for New Car Buyers

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Les Echos reports that after a marathon 16-hour negotiating session, the 27 European Union countries agreed to issue five new laws aimed reducing carbon dioxide emissions by 55% compared to 1990 levels by 2030 and at reaching carbon neutrality by 2050. Frans Timmermans, the chief EU Climate official, noted that […]

Climate Crisis

This Week’s Climate Disasters in the US are Giving us a Glimpse of our Future if we don’t Stop CO2

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – We’re only midweek, but we have already seen serial disasters across the United States that have been exacerbated by the climate emergency, caused by human beings burning coal, methane gas and petroleum. So writes Mihai Andrei at ZME Science. I put it to you that this first paragraph at the […]

Australia

Australia’s “Greenslide” Shows the Political Dangers for Conservatives of Downplaying Climate Emergency

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison, who had headed the conservative Liberal-National Coalition since 2018, has been turned out of office, and the climate emergency played a key role in his defeat. Morrison’s rival, victorious Labor Party leader Anthony Albanese, proclaimed that Australia could become a “renewable energy superpower.” He […]

Climate Crisis

Climate Emergency: 2022 Drought in Western US the Harbinger of a hotter, thirstier Atmosphere

The Conversation

By Imtiaz Rangwala, University of Colorado Boulder | – Much of the western U.S. has been in the grip of an unrelenting drought since early 2020. The dryness has coincided with record-breaking wildfires, intense and long-lasting heat waves, low stream flows and dwindling water supplies in reservoirs that millions of people across the region rely […]

Climate Crisis

Stressed by Drought and Pests, Trees in Southwest are losing Resilience to changing Climate

Cronkite News Arizona PBS

By Fiona L.Q. Flaherty | – ( Cronkite News ) – FLAGSTAFF – The electric blue sky frames a stand of ponderosa pines – their ramrod trunks picket the forest floor as sunlight floods the ground. A breeze tickles the green needles, mingling dust with the heady scent of pine. At first, it’s easy to […]

Climate Crisis

Global Heating Hits Working Class Harder, and bakes poor Housing in Hotter Cities

The Conversation

By Stephen Healy, Western Sydney University and Abby Mellick Lopes, University of Technology Sydney | – Cost of living is a major focus in this election campaign, and yet political leaders have been unacceptably silent on the disproportionate impact of climate change on Australians with low incomes. This is particularly true for Western Sydney, home […]

Climate Crisis

The Southwest’s Drought and Fires Are a Window to Our Climate Change Future

ProPublica

By Mark Olalde | – ( ProPublica ) – The concentration of carbon dioxide in Earth’s atmosphere has reached its highest level in recorded human history. Again. In April, the level of CO2 was 27% higher than it was 50 years ago, according to the latest data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and […]