Climate Change

By Naoko Ellis, University of British Columbia and Derek Gladwin, University of British Columbia | – Despite learning that climate change is hitting the planet faster than scientists predicted, society has been slow to decrease the use of fossil fuels and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. For a consumer, for instance, making the switch to an […]

Arctic

Greenland loses 6 Billion Tons of Ice in Three Days, harbinger of Unprecedented Coastal Flooding

Juan Cole

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

Are New Mexico’s Megafires so extreme they Mark a New era? Welcome to the Pyrocene

William deBuys

By William deBuys | – ( Tomdispatch.org) – Firefighters don’t normally allude to early English epics, but in a briefing on the massive Hermits Peak/Calf Canyon Fire in northern New Mexico, a top field chief said, “It’s like Beowulf: it’s not the thing you fear, it is the mother of the thing you fear.” He […]

Climate Crisis

Biden, Speaking of “Climate Emergency” and National Security, Pledges Executive Orders to Combat Global Heating

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – President Joe Biden announced on Wednesday that he would use executive orders and appeal to emergency measures in addressing what he caled the “climate crisis,” deploying among other tools the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). He announced, “And in the coming weeks, I’m going to use the power I have […]

Agriculture

Environment: Iraqis and Iranians continue to oppose Turkey’s hydroelectric projects on the Tigris River

Global Voices

By Roman Shemakov | – The following story is part of series on Turkey’s Ilisu Dam project and the flooding of Hasankeyf. The Ilisu Dam, completed as part of Turkey’s Güneydoğu Anadolu Projesi (Southeastern Anatolian Development Project or GAP for short in Turkish) in 2019, has faced heavy criticism from both local as well as […]

Climate Crisis

How Climate Emergency could further Punish Inflation-Ridden Economies, with Record Heat Waves across US, UK and Europe

The Conversation

By Derek Lemoine, University of Arizona | – Hundreds of millions of people struggled to keep cool amid a sweltering summer heat wave as cities across the U.S. and mainland Europe experienced record-high temperatures. In the U.K., thermometers topped 104 Fahrenheit (40 degrees Celsius) on July 19, 2022, the highest ever recorded. While all this […]

Climate Crisis

Cities need to embrace green Innovation now to cut heat Deaths in the Future

The Conversation

By Alex Boston, Simon Fraser University | – In late June 2021, North America’s most severe heat wave in history hit British Columbia and the U.S. Pacific Northwest. In many areas, temperatures soared above 40 C, 15 C hotter than the normal average high. Although other places in North America regularly hit these highs, the […]

Climate Crisis

The Climate Emergency grounds the Royal Air Force in UK, more Effectively than any Terrorist

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – We will probably overshoot the UN goal of limiting extra global heating from the climate emergency to 2.7 degrees F. (1.5C), but Mother Nature is telling us that even just our current 1.8 to 2.16 (1C – 1.2C) degrees F. increase since 1850 is already enough to do major damage […]

Climate Crisis

Climate: Scientists Stunned to Find Atlantic Plankton 90% Gone; Marine Life, our Oxygen Imperiled

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – (Note: After publication, Jonathan Gitlin at Ars Technica took issue with the below on the grounds that it is based on a preprint and not a peer-reviewed academic journal article. He implies that Dryden’s study did not have enough data points to support his conclusions. I’ll let readers judge how […]