Climate Crisis

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 […]

Climate Crisis

How hot is too hot for the Human Body? Our Lab found Heat + Humidity gets Dangerous faster than many People Realize

The Conversation

By W. Larry Kenney, Penn State; Daniel Vecellio, Penn State: Rachel Cottle, Penn State; and S. Tony Wolf, Penn State | – Heat waves are becoming supercharged as the climate changes – lasting longer, becoming more frequent and getting just plain hotter. One question a lot of people are asking is: “When will it get […]

Climate Crisis

Climate Emergency Hits Europe with Massive Heat Wave, 1 year after Unprecedented Flooding

Julian Wettengel

( Clean Energy Wire ) – Germany must better prepare for the impacts of climate change, environment minister Steffi Lemke said, as a heat wave is sweeping across Europe exactly one year after deadly floods killed hundreds of people in Germany and neighbouring countries. The head of the Federal Office for Civil Protection (BBK), Ralph […]

Books

What I Can Still Love about My Embattled Country (and World)

Frida Berrigan

(Tomdispatch.com ) – It’s hot and hazy as July rolls around. Growing up in the Baltimore swamplands, we used to say, “It’s not the heat, it’s the humidity.” Meaning that the humidity was harder to deal with than the feverish temperatures. At some point in my family, the phrase morphed into: “It’s not the heat, […]

Climate Crisis

The Troubling Message of Biden’s Trip to Saudi Arabia

Basav Sen

( Foreign Policy in Focus) – President Biden has set out on his travels to Saudi Arabia. The implications of the trip for the intertwined issues of human rights and energy policy are dire. The Saudi Arabia visit represents a 180-degree turn for Biden, who once called Saudi Arabia a “pariah” while campaigning for president. […]

Climate Crisis

Cities need to embrace green innovation now to cut heat deaths in the future

The Conversation

By Alex Boston, Simon Fraser University | – (The Conversation) – 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 […]

Climate Crisis

The Climate Case for Taxing Wealth

Basav Sen

by Basav Sen and Bob Lord | – ( Inequality.org) – On April 25, Twitter’s board of directors announced an agreement to sell the company to Elon Musk, the world’s wealthiest person, for $44 billion. That sounds like a lot of money. But Musk can afford it. One recent estimate of the Musk fortune puts […]

Climate Crisis

694 Milllion tons of Rare Earth Metals, Essential to Wind Turbines and EVs, found in Türkiye

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The green energy revolution so far is dependent on certain raw materials, including silicon for solar panels and lithium for lithium-ion batteries. Another group of such primary materials is rare earth minerals, essential to wind turbines. The largest producer of them is China, but Russia, Vietnam and Brazil also have […]

Climate Crisis

Extreme Life: Why the Climate Emergency is the Moral Equivalent of World War III

Tom Engelhardt

( Tomdispatch.com In recent weeks, a newly emboldened right-wing Supreme Court struck down a more than century-old New York law restricting the carrying of concealed weapons and a nearly 50-year-old precedent on abortion. Meanwhile, the January 6th Committee has been laying out in graphic televised detail how our last president tried to subvert the 2021 […]