Environment

Scott Pruitt’s abuse of our environment is far more dangerous than his abuse of taxpayer money. Madison, Wi. (Otherwords.org) – Did you hear that the head of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Scott Pruitt, is so corrupt that he spent $1,560 on 12 customized fountain pens? Or that he spent another $43,000 on a soundproof […]

Climate Change

Seas Surge as Pace of Antarctica Ice Loss Triples in 5 Yrs: 3 Trillion Tons Melted

AFP

Paris (AFP) – Antarctica has lost a staggering three trillion tonnes of ice since 1992, according to a landmark study published Wednesday that suggests the frozen continent could redraw Earth’s coastlines if global warming continues unchecked. Two-fifths of that ice loss occurred in the last five years, a three-fold increase in the pace at which […]

Climate Change

Shorter Pope Francis to Big Oil: You’re Going to Hell if You don’t Go Green

Juan Cole

Pope Francis on Saturday forthrightly reminded Big Oil that climate change is a moral issue. The Pontiff quoted his Encyclical, Laudato Si, to representatives of ExxonMobil, Total, BP and many others, saying, “There is no time to lose: We received the earth as a garden-home from the Creator; let us not pass it on to […]

Environment

Plastic Wasteland: Asia’s Ocean Pollution Crisis

Jenny Vaughan

(With Asia bureaus) Thanh Hoa (Vietnam) (AFP) – A Vietnamese mangrove draped with polythene, a whale killed after swallowing waste bags in Thai seas and clouds of underwater trash near Indonesian “paradise” islands — grim images of the plastic crisis that has gripped Asia. AFP/File / Nhac NGUYEN. A mangrove forest in Vietnam’s Thanh Hoa […]

Climate Change

Climate Change hammers US Coasts as Sea Level Rise doubles High Tide Floodings

William V. Sweet

Co-Authors: Doug Marcy, Gregory Dusek, John J. Marra, Matt Pendleton (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Center for Operational Oceanographic Products and Services1, NOAA Office of Coastal Management2, NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information3, The Baldwin Group, Inc.) [ Full paper with charts and references is at the NOAA site in PDF. The following is […]

Climate Change

Oceanic Genocide: Marine Heatwaves Hotter, Lasting Longer, and More Lethal

The Conversation

By Eric Oliver, Alastair Hobdale, Dan Smale, Neil Holbrook, and Thomas Wernberg | – On land, heatwaves can be deadly for humans and wildlife and can devastate crops and forests. Marine heatwaves can kill off species and alter ecosystems. (Shutterstock) Unusually warm periods can also occur in the ocean. These can last for weeks or […]

Climate Change

Tropic of Cancer: The Climate Change War of Rich Cold Nations on Poor Warm Nations

TeleSur

Caracas (TeleSur) – Temperate nations closer to the poles will escape the increased temperatures of climate change, compared to countries along the equator. The study published in the Geophysical Research Letters concludes that if average surface temperatures increase to the 1.5°C or 2°C cap set by nations in the Paris agreement, typically poorer nations – […]

Climate Change

Cities like Philadelphia make Progress toward Paris Goals in face of State, Trump Obstacles

Ivan Couronne

Philadelphia (AFP) – When President Donald Trump announced the US exit from the Paris climate deal one year ago, the mayor of Philadelphia was among those who vowed to keep carrying the torch. “Philly is committed to upholding at (the) local level the same commitment made by the US in the Paris climate agreement,” tweeted […]

Climate Change

Don’t forget to Duck! Advice to College Graduates in the Trump Apocalypse

Tom Engelhardt

New York (Tomdispatch.com) – Class of 2018, I’ve always been told that a joke’s a good way to launch any talk. It’s a matter of breaking the ice, though on your graduation day, with the temperature soaring into the upper eighties, that may not be the perfect image. Still, you know what I mean: an […]