Climate Crisis

Electric Vehicles may form 18% of New Purchases this year, as Gov’ts eye end of Internal Combustion Engine

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The annual report by the International Energy Agency on electric vehicles is just out, and it confirms the global rush to electrify transportation. Globally, some 14% of new cars registered in 2022 were electric. That comes to 10 million electric cars sold, while in the entire European Union only 10 […]

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

Deadly Heatwaves threaten to reverse India’s Progress on Poverty and Inequality

The Conversation

By Ramit Debnath, University of Cambridge and Ronita Bardhan, University of Cambridge | – (The Conversation) – Record-breaking heatwaves in April 2022 put 90% of people in India at increased risk of going hungry, losing income or premature death, according to our new study. After 2022 was designated the hottest in 122 years, extreme heat […]

Climate Crisis

Climate-change-driven Heat Waves: People told to stay home in Thailand; Fears of Wildfires, crop Failure in Spain

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – One of the most visible manifestations of the climate emergency is heat waves. The earth’s climate is incredibly complex, and climate change can produce freezing “bomb cyclones” as well as unseasonably sweltering weather. Still, the past ten years are the hottest in recorded history on average, and extra heat is […]

Climate Crisis

Renewables Cover Half of Germany’s Electricity Demand in First Quarter of 2023

Clean Energy Wire

By Carolina Kyllmann | – ( Clean Energy Wire) – Renewable energy covered about half of electricity consumption in Germany during the first three months of 2023, according to preliminary calculations by energy industry association BDEW and the centre for solar research Baden-Württemberg (ZSW). In total, around 138 billion kilowatt hours (kWh) were consumed – […]

Batteries

Kerry is Right that US must Cooperate with China to fight Climate Crisis, and CATL’s new Sodium Ion Battery Proves it

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – A startling new development in battery technology underscores why John Kerry is right that the US needs to cooperate with China on combating the climate crisis. The Washington Blob, the combination of lobbyists, permanent bureaucrats, national security professionals and think tanks, is always looking for an enemy to demonize. China […]

Climate Crisis

Arctic sea ice loss and fierce storms leave Kivalina fighting to protect its island from the sea – ‘we just can’t adapt this fast’

The Conversation

By P. Joshua Griffin, University of Washington | – As winds and waves from Typhoon Merbok devastated communities along the coast of Western Alaska in 2022, Reppi Swan Sr.’s phone began to ring at Kivalina, a barrier island 80 miles above the Arctic Circle. A neighboring family had lost 3 feet of land to the […]

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

On Earth Day, 69% of Americans want Carbon Neutrality, with Minorities and Youth in the Vanguard

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – On Earth Day, 2023, big public events were held by activists across the US (and across the world). But activists you always have with you. I joined in picking up garbage along the road that led to our high school on April 22, 1970, the first earth day. The world […]