Climate Crisis

Record low water levels on the Mississippi River in 2022 show how climate change is altering large rivers

By Ray Lombardi, University of Memphis; Angela Antipova, University of Memphis; and Dorian J. Burnette, University of Memphis | – Rivers are critical corridors that connect cities and ecosystems alike. When drought develops, water levels fall, making river navigation harder and more expensive. In 2022, water levels in some of the world’s largest rivers, including […]

Climate Crisis

In Sign of Turkey-Israel Thaw, a Joint Project is inked to build the World’s Largest Wave Power Plant on Black Sea

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan has had a rocky relationship with Israel, which Turkey has long recognized and with which it does substantial trade. Erdogan’s acerbic comments about the Israeli Occupation of the Palestinian West Bank and Gaza have drawn equally sharp retorts from Israeli politicians. Still, about a month ago […]

Climate Crisis

Inferno: Climate Disaster Is Turning the Planet into a Tinderbox

Tomdispatch

By Jane Braxton Little | – ( Tomdispatch.com) – Mike Savala’s boots scuffed the edge of a singed patch of forest littered with skinny fingers of burnt ponderosa pine needles. Nearby, an oak seedling sizzled as a yellow-shirted firefighter hit it with a stream of water. Spurts of smoke rose from blackened ground the size […]

Batteries

Rapid Move to Wind and Solar Power would Save the world $12 Trillion: Oxford Study

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – A transition away from fossil fuels to renewable sources of power by 2050 will save the world $12 trillion, according to a new study published in Joule by Oxford researchers Rupert Way, Matthew C. Ives, Penny Mealy, and J. Doyne Farmer. Oxford’s press release points out that the paper foresees […]

Agriculture

One Third of the Food Americans Buy is Wasted, Hurting the Climate and Consumers’ Wallets

The Conversation

By Brian E. Roe, The Ohio State University | – You saw it at Thanksgiving, and you’ll likely see it at your next holiday feast: piles of unwanted food – unfinished second helpings, underwhelming kitchen experiments and the like – all dressed up with no place to go, except the back of the refrigerator. With […]

Arab World

Climate Action in Middle East is Doomed to fail without Reform and Peace

Sustainability Times

By Sustainabiity Times | – ( Sustainability Times) – The United Nations COP27 conference has now drawn to a close, with talks culminating in a historic agreement to establish a climate “loss and damage” fund. Egyptian foreign minister and president of COP27, Sameh Shoukry, celebrated after all-night negotiations, declaring that “we rose to the occasion” […]

Climate Crisis

Many Forests will become highly Flammable for at least 30 extra Days per Year unless we cut Emissions

The Conversation

By Hamish Clarke, The University of Melbourne; Anne Griebel, Western Sydney University; Matthias Boer, Western Sydney University; Rachael Helene Nolan, Western Sydney University, and Víctor Resco de Dios, Universitat de Lleida | – Without strong climate action, forests on every continent will be highly flammable for at least 30 extra days per year by the […]

Climate Crisis

First US Leases to Build Wind Farms off California’s Coast are Let: The Amazing Technology

The Conversation

By Matthew Lackner, UMass Amherst | – (The Conversation) – Northern California has some of the strongest offshore winds in the U.S., with immense potential to produce clean energy. But it also has a problem. Its continental shelf drops off quickly, making building traditional wind turbines directly on the seafloor costly if not impossible. Once […]

Biodiversity

Key Summit: Avoiding Climate Breakdown depends on protecting Earth’s Biodiversity

The Conversation

By Nathan Cooper, University of Waikato | – (The Conversation) – Thousands of delegates have gathered in Montreal, Canada, for a once-in-a-decade chance to address the accelerating pace of species loss and the dangers of ecosystem breakdown. COP15 brings together parties to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) with a goal of negotiating this […]