Climate Change

2022’s supercharged Summer of Climate Extremes from Pakistan to USA: How global warming and La Niña fueled Unprecedented Disasters

By Kevin Trenberth, University of Auckland | – There’s an old joke about the fellow who has his left foot in a bucket of ice water and the right in a bucket of hot water, so that his overall temperature is average. That seemed to apply to the climate during 2022’s northern summer of extremes. […]

Batteries

How 3 Gigawatts of Battery Power Plus Solar Saved California from Electricity Blackouts during the Heat Dome this Month

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – In August 2020, California consumers suffered through a severe heat wave, responding by blasting their air conditioners. California had put in so much solar that by then that 34% of the state’s power came from wind and solar, and another 13.9% came from hydro. Nuclear still provided around 10% of […]

Climate Crisis

Nine out of 10 marine Species could disappear by 2100, Scientists warn

Daniel T. Cross

( Sustainability Times) – If the planet continues to warm at current rates, by the end of the century as many as 90% of marine species will be at risk of going extinct. This stark warning comes from a team of scientists who examined some 25,000 species, including fish, marine plants, bacteria and protozoans, which […]

Climate Crisis

Working with Local Knowledge only way to save Pakistan from Flood Disasters

The Third Pole

By Daanish Mustafa | – ( The Third Pole) – How would a decolonised water perspective and practice mitigate the effects of the type of floods that Pakistan is witnessing in 2022? If decolonising water is about recentring the multiple layers of meaning and practice that are associated with water at the local and indigenous […]

Agriculture

Food Sovereignty vs. Food Aid: Why Small-Scale Farming Suffers

Daniel Martin Varisco

( Tabsir.net ) – The early major civilizations in the Middle East and Asia with their head start several millennia ago had one thing in common: an agricultural base that fed not only people but led to development of states and their services. Major river systems like the Nile and Tigris/ Euphrates, the Ganges of […]

Climate Crisis

U.S. House Members raise Objections to Manchin Deal fast-tracking Coal, Oil, Gas Projects

Minnesota Reformer

By Jacob Fischler | – ( Minnesota Reformer ) – More than 50 U.S. House members are objecting to a push to revise federal environmental permitting requirements for energy projects — part of a deal Democratic leaders struck with U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin III to win passage of their climate, health and taxes bill that […]

Climate Crisis

As Climate Emergency unfolds, how can Pakistan combat future Mega-Floods and Droughts?

The Conversation

By Shahid Azam, University of Regina | – Pakistan is suffering from the aftermath of yet another massive flood covering about one-third of its landmass. This time it has affected more than 33 million people in the Indus River valley, with extensive damage to life, property, crops and livestock. The Indus River valley contains a […]

Climate Crisis

Climate Emergency Caused our Scorching Summer, but Inequality meant it hit Workers Hardest

Sam Pizzigati

( Inequality.org ) – The heat. Never been hotter in our lifetimes. This past spring the mercury nearly hit 124 in the Pakistani city of Jacobabad, “just below,” notes science writer David Wallace-Wells, “the conventional estimate for the threshold of human survival.” This summer’s U.S. daily high temperatures are continuing our torrid global pace. America’s […]

Climate Crisis

Climate Emergency’s Knock-on Effects: How Europe’s Drought is making Britain’s energy Crisis worse

The Conversation

Simon Waldman, University of Hull | – (The Conversation) – Along the River Elbe, in Germany and the Czech Republic, is a series of rocks that are submerged in all but the lowest water conditions. The locals call them “hunger stones” because they are warnings: if the stone is visible, then famine will follow. Carvings […]