Environment

By Nicholas Beuret | – American congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez recently shook up environmental politics by releasing a broad outline of a Green New Deal – a plan to make the US a carbon-neutral economy in the next ten years, while reducing both poverty and inequality. Lauded by many as a radical and necessary step, president […]

Climate Change

Global Heating Helped Cause the Massive Midwest Floods but TV Didn’t Tell you That

The Conversation

By Shuang-Ye Wu | – Flooding in the Midwest, triggered by an intense “bomb cyclone,” has devastated parts of the region, which has been plagued by flood events in recent decades. Floods are triggered by extreme rainfall events, often combined with ground conditions, such as saturated or frozen ground, that make it harder for water […]

Climate Change

Ocean Heat hits Record High, in Bad News for Planet

AFP

Geneva (AFP) – Ocean heat hit a record high in 2018, the United Nations said Thursday, raising urgent new concerns about the threat global warming is posing to marine life. In its latest State of the Climate overview, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) reaffirmed that the last four years had been the hottest on record […]

Climate Change

Back to the Sweltering Pliocene: World’s Production of CO2 Spiked again in 2018

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The world– you and I included– actually greatly increased the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, by 2.87 parts per million, raising the total to just about 410 ppm. So reports the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. This was a significant increase, the fourth largest during the past 60 […]

Climate Crisis

ExxonMobil & 4 other Oil Giants Spent $1 bn on Greenwashing PR, $100 bn on New Fossil Fuels

AFP

By Patrick GALEY | – Paris (AFP) – The five largest publicly listed oil and gas majors have spent $1 billion since the 2015 Paris climate deal on public relations or lobbying that is “overwhelmingly in conflict” with the landmark accord’s goals, a watchdog said Friday. Despite outwardly committing to support the Paris agreement and […]

Climate Crisis

Facing Tough EU CO2 Rules from 2020, German Auto Giants Race to go Electric

AFP

By Yann SCHREIBER | – Munich (AFP) – German carmakers are increasingly turning to electric vehicles to master tough new emissions limits looming in the EU, but the shift away from internal combustion engines will entail years of lower margins and profits, cost cutting and job losses. Costly investments have been the refrain of boardrooms […]

Climate Change

How Youth Climate Strikers can and Must Keep up the Momentum

The Conversation

By Harriet Thew | – As part of one of the largest environmental protests ever seen, over a million young people went on strike on Friday March 15 2019, calling for more ambitious action on climate change. Inspired by Greta Thunberg, a Swedish school girl who protested outside the Swedish parliament every Friday throughout 2018, […]

Climate Change

Icebergs Hiving off Chile’s Giant Grey Glacier at Alarming Rate

AFP

Santiago (AFP) – In the space of just two weeks, two large icebergs broke off the Grey Glacier in Chilean Patagonia — a sign of accelerating climate change, experts say. The Grey Glacier is one of the main sights in the Torres del Paine national park popular with tourists and hikers. A giant iceberg the […]

Climate Change

Millions of Children Globally Skipped School to Protest Elders’ Climate Denialism, Destruction of their Future

AFP

By AFP bureaux | – Montreal (AFP) – Classrooms in capitals from Bangkok to Berlin and Lagos to London emptied as organizers of the student strike called demonstrations in more than 100 countries. Students flooded into the streets across Europe, North and South America, and Asia carrying placards reading: “There is no planet B”, “You’re […]