Environment

By Phoebe Barnard and William Moomaw | – For some time, the Earth’s natural resources have been depleted faster than they can be replaced. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has set a 2030 deadline to reduce heat-trapping emissions by half to avoid climate change that is both irreversible and destructive. With colleagues, we coauthored […]

Environment

Plastic trash in the ocean is a global problem, and the US is the top source – a new report urges action

The Conversation

By Matthew Savoca, Anna Robuck, and Lauren Kashiwabara | – Plastic waste of all shapes and sizes permeates the world’s oceans. It shows up on beaches, in fish and even in Arctic sea ice. And a new report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine makes clear that the U.S. is a big […]

Climate Crisis

Why the Arctic getting more Rain than Snow will be bad news for the whole world

The Conversation

By Richard Hodgkins | – Before the end of this century, most of the Arctic will for the first time receive more rain than snow across a whole year. That’s one of the key findings of a new study on precipitation in the Arctic which has major implications – not just for the polar region, […]

Denialism

Fauci on Ted Cruz asking for his Ouster: “What happened on Jan. 6th, Senator?” “I’ll be saving lives and they’ll be lying.”

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – CBS’s Margaret Brennan interviewed Dr. Anthony Fauci on Sunday for Face the Nation and got some fireworks. Brennan asked Fauci about the death threats he and his family have received and how he dealt with it. He said he just went on doing his job, pointing to the lightning fast […]

Authoritarianism

As Climate Emergency Shakes Iran, Government Attacks, arrests Water Protesters at Isfahan, wounding 3

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – After two weeks of protests by thousands of farmers in the dry riverbed of the historic Zayandeh Rud river in Isfahan, the police have struck back. According to AFP, thousands of people gathered to protest on Friday, when the police attacked them with bird shot and tear gas. Three were […]

Climate Crisis

Will Germany’s New Climate Super Minister Robert Habeck Super Charge the Clean Energy Transition?

Clean Energy Wire

By Sören Amelang | – ( Clean Energy Wire) – As Germany’s first climate “super minister”, Green politician Robert Habeck will play a key role in fulfilling the future government’s promise to get the country on a path compatible with the 1.5°C global warming limit. The widely popular party co-leader must oversee the translation of […]

Climate Crisis

Electric cars aren’t enough to hit climate targets: we need to develop better public transport too

The Conversation

By Vera O’Riordan | – Transport is responsible for 24% of energy-related carbon emissions worldwide. Half of those emissions are from carrying goods and services, and the other half are from carrying people from A to B – also known as “passenger transport”. Passenger transport has a huge impact on our surroundings, and it’s one […]

Climate Crisis

Germany to Get Green Party Ministry of Economy, Energy and Climate in boost for President Biden

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Germany’s environmentalist Green Party, led by two popular politicians, nearly doubled its seats in parliament to become a swing party for the formation of a new government coalition. Their prospects were boosted when the center-left Social Democrats narrowly beat the conservative Christian Democrats in number of seats in the September […]

Climate Crisis

Whether Gov’ts like it or not, Coal Plants are doomed by Cheap Solar and Wind Power

The Conversation

By James Ha and Alison Reeve | The international climate summit in Glasgow aimed to “consign coal power to history”. But while some major coal-consuming countries have agreed to phase out the fossil fuel in the 2030s, Australia is not one of them. Under its recently released plan to reach net-zero emissions by 2050, the […]