Climate Crisis

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The International Energy Agency issued a report this month that contains a kernel of significant hope for halting the poisoning of the earth by carbon dioxide emissions. The IEA found that emissions from the advanced economies actually fell in 2023, although global emissions increased slightly, by 1.1%. The report says, […]

Climate Crisis

Climate Crisis and Mass Extinction: Can Archeology tell us Which types of Species are most at Risk?

The Conversation

By Erin Saupe, University of Oxford and Cooper Malanoski, University of Oxford | – (The Conversation) – Many experts believe we may soon face a mass extinction event, with a high proportion of Earth’s species dying out. Projections indicate the climate will continue to change for centuries to come, and this is a significant threat […]

Agriculture

America’s Red Snow: Hottest Winter on Record, Largest Wildfires in Texas History

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Agency announced Friday that the winter of 2023-24 was the hottest on record in U.S. history. Global records have been kept since about 1850, with the widespread use of mercury thermometers. The average surface temperature of the US this past winter was 37.6°, which is […]

Climate Crisis

Living on the Wrong World: A Planetary Cease Fire is Desperately Needed

Tom Engelhardt

( Tomdispatch.com ) – On this planet of ours, it almost doesn’t matter who’s right and who’s wrong when it comes to our wars. Actually, let me correct that thought slightly: it certainly does matter, but what matters so much more is that we humans simply can’t stop fighting them. That is (or at least […]

Climate Crisis

Climate Crisis: Record Low 3% Great Lakes Ice Coverage during Usual Peak Period

Michigan Advance

By: Kyle Davidson – As much of the Great Lakes region experiences its warmest winter on record, and more record high temperatures are expected in Michigan, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has reported record low levels of ice coverage on the Great Lakes, amid a steady, decades-long decrease in coverage. Lake Michigan in […]

Climate Crisis

How Climate Change is Messing up the Ocean’s Biological Clock, a Potential Catastrophe

The Conversation

By Frédéric Cyr, Memorial University of Newfoundland | – Every year in the mid-latitudes of the planet, a peculiar phenomenon known as the phytoplankton spring bloom occurs. Visible from space, spectacular large and ephemeral filament-like shades of green and blue are shaped by the ocean currents. The phytoplankton blooms are comprised of a myriad of […]

Artificial Intelligence

Four Ways AI could Help us Respond to Climate Change

The Conversation

By Lakshmi Babu Saheer, Anglia Ruskin University | – (The Conversation) – Advanced AI systems are coming under increasing critcism for how much energy they use. But it’s important to remember that AI could also contribute in various ways to our response to climate change. Climate change can be broken down into several smaller problems […]

Climate Crisis

How Renewable Energy Innovation Makes us Richer while Saving the Planet

The Conversation

By Deborah de Lange, Toronto Metropolitan University | – (The Conversation) – As the climate crisis escalates, there are urgent and difficult choices that need to be made to drastically reduce our carbon emissions before more irreparable damage is done. Many have argued the energy industry needs to change to reduce carbon emissions, but one […]

Climate Crisis

Why Planting Forests alone is no Panacea for the Climate Crisis

The Conversation

By James Weber, University of Reading; and James A. King, University of Sheffield | – (The Conversation) – Tackling climate change by planting trees has an intuitive appeal. They absorb the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide from the atmosphere without using expensive technology. The suggestion that you can plant trees to offset your carbon emissions is […]