Ice Melt

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – CNN and The Independent reported this week on a massive ice melt in Greenland, with on the order of 6 billion tons of ice lost in three days. The melting was because of a heat wave at the top of the world, caused by our burning coal, gasoline and methane […]

Climate Crisis

The Supreme Court has curtailed EPA’s power to regulate Carbon Pollution – and sent a Warning to other Regulators

The Conversation

By Patrick Parenteau, Vermont Law School | – In a highly anticipated but not unexpected 6-3 decision, the Supreme Court ruled on June 30, 2022, that the Obama adminstration’s Clean Power Plan exceeded the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s authority under the Clean Air Act. The ruling doesn’t take away the EPA’s power to regulate carbon […]

Climate Crisis

Now the Climate Emergency is changing Ocean Waves, Menacing Coasts with Rapid Erosion

The Conversation

By Thomas Mortlock, Macquarie University; Adrean Webb, Tokyo Institute of Technology; Itxaso Odériz, Universidad de Cantabria; Nobuhito Mori, Kyoto University; Rodolfo Silva, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM), and Tomoya Shimura | – The world’s coastlines are at the forefront of climate change. That’s because they’re constantly changing, and respond quickly to changes in climate. […]

Antarctica

Ice world: Antarctica’s riskiest glacier is under assault from below and losing its grip

The Conversation

By Ted Scambos, University of Colorado Boulder | – Flying over Antarctica, it’s hard to see what all the fuss is about. Like a gigantic wedding cake, the frosting of snow on top of the world’s largest ice sheet looks smooth and unblemished, beautiful and perfectly white. Little swirls of snow dunes cover the surface. […]

Climate Crisis

The last Time our Atmosphere had 421 ppm of Carbon Dioxide, Florida was under Water and Giant Camels and Rhinoceri roamed Indiana

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) announced on Friday that in May, carbon dioxide peaked at 421 parts per million, a level not seen since the Pliocene Climatic Optimum between 4.1 and 4.5 million years ago. Human civilization developed during a long period when carbon dioxide was between 270 […]

Climate Crisis

Busan, S. Korea, constructing Solar-Powered Artificial Biorock Island to replace Coastal land lost to Sea Level Rise

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – UN Habitat, the municipality of Busan in South Korea, and the company OCEANIX are responding to the challenge of sea-level rise by building an artificial floating city off the coast of the country’s second-largest city. A prototype is expected to be in the water as early as 2025. Although a […]

Climate Crisis

Thawing permafrost is Massively reshaping the Arctic landscape, as We heat up the Climate

The Conversation

By Mark J. Lara, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign | – Across the Arctic, strange things are happening to the landscape. Massive lakes, several square miles in size, have disappeared in the span of a few days. Hillsides slump. Ice-rich ground collapses, leaving the landscape wavy where it once was flat, and in some locations […]

Climate Crisis

Responsibility for the Invasion of Ukraine and for Climate Change

Paul Clements

Kalamazoo, MI (Special to Informed Comment) – Many are rightly celebrating a resurgence of liberalism as the Free World rallies against Putin’s war of choice. We honor brave Ukrainians fighting for freedom. Pride surges for democratic governments incurring great costs, with skillful and cooperative leadership countering immense and unjustified harm to innocents and arrogant violation […]

Bangladesh

Will the Climate Crisis Cause the Next Great Global Conflict?

Jason Miklian

Oslo (Special to Informed Comment) – In November 1970 the Great Bhola Cyclone smashed into the southern coast of what is now Bangladesh, killing 500,000 people. It wasn’t just the deadliest storm in human history — it knocked over the first domino in a political chain reaction that brought the world to the brink of […]