Climate Change

By Tom Matthews and Colin Raymond | – The explosive growth and success of human society over the past 10,000 years has been underpinned by a distinct range of climate conditions. But the range of weather humans can encounter on Earth – the “climate envelope” – is shifting as the planet warms, and conditions entirely […]

Climate Crisis

Climate Social Distancing: As sea levels rise, are we ready to live behind giant walls?

The Conversation

By Hannah Cloke | – Climate change, it’s fair to say, is complicated. And it’s big. One of the main challenges of responding effectively is simply getting your head around the scale of the problem. This is not unique in the study of the physical world, of course. Scientists and economists spend a lot of […]

Climate Crisis

Anti-Immigrant Trump promotes Burning Fossil Fuels that will displace Millions toward US

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – A new article in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences presents findings that shocked the authors themselves. If the world (by which I mean you and me, dear reader) does not swing into prompt action to deal with the climate emergency, some 3.5 billion people are going to […]

Climate Crisis

Unless we Halt Trump’s War on the Environment, the next Pandemic is coming for Us

Foreign Policy in Focus

( Foreign Policy in Focus ) – Congress is already thinking about how to prevent the next pandemic. See how quickly Cory Booker (D-NJ) has teamed up with Lindsey Graham (R-SC) to write a letter calling for a global ban on “wet markets.” The current pandemic is reputed to have originated in a wet market […]

Climate Crisis

Killing off the Animals: By Burning Fossil Fuels, we’ll destroy 50% of their Habitat this Century

The Conversation

By Christopher Trisos and Alex Pigot | – The impacts of climate change on species and ecosystems are already evident. Poleward shifts in the geographic distributions of species, catastrophic forest fires and mass bleaching of coral reefs all bear the fingerprints of climate change. But what will the world’s biodiversity look like in the future? […]

Climate Crisis

Burning Fossil Fuels made Coronavirus Death Rate Worse, and Kills 200K Americans per Year, Not to Mention Global Heating

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Air pollution, producing medical conditions such as asthma and other lung problems as well as heart disease, is responsible for some of the thousands of coronavirus deaths in the United States. This, according to a just-published Harvard study, which is well summarized by Matthew Yglesias of Vox. Yglesias notes that […]

Climate Crisis

Climate after corona: Germany’s green stimulus package could boost the economic recovery

Clean Energy Wire

By Benjamin Wehrmann | – ( Clean Energy Wire ) – The coronavirus crisis is driving many economies around the globe into recession, leading policymakers to draw up unprecedented spending plans to cushion the impact and enable recoveries. Activists, environmental think tanks and others warn that battling the economic slump must not come at the […]

Bernie Sanders

To Save America, Top 3 Planks Bernie Supporters Must try to Get into the Democratic Platform

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Bernie Sanders bowed out of the race for president on Wednesday, but he made it clear that he still leads a national movement. Sanders has a substantial delegate count, of 914 as I write. Although he has concluded that he won’t reach the 1,991 needed to win the nomination, his […]

Climate Crisis

Sorry, Climate Change Denialists, but Coronavirus Makes Green Energy even More Urgent

The Conversation

By John Hewson | Climate deniers have been hanging out for the United Nations’ next big summit to fail. In a sense, the coronavirus and its induced policy responses have more than satisfied their wildest dreams, precipitating a global recession that they no doubt hope has pushed the issue of the low-carbon transition well down […]