Environment

Melbourne (The Conversation) – On May 10, the 43.5-metre schooner Avontuur arrived in the port of Hamburg. This traditional sailing vessel, built in 1920, transported some 70 tonnes of coffee, cacao and rum across the Atlantic. The shipping company Timbercoast, which owns and operates Avontuur, says it aims to prove that sailing ships can offer […]

Climate Change

Alabama Rep with Rocks in his Head blames Rocks for Climate Change

Juan Cole

Alabama representative for the 5th district Mo Brooks sits on the House Science, Space, and Technology Committee, and spent his time harassing climate scientists at a hearing. He blamed sea level rise on rocks falling into the sea from coastal erosion. Sea levels are rising in part because surface ice is melting owing to of […]

Climate Change

Trump kills NASA program to Track Greenhouse Gases that cause Global Heating

AFP

Washington (AFP) – A NASA program that cost $10 million per year to track carbon and methane, key greenhouse gases that contribute to global warming, has been cancelled, a US space agency spokesman said Thursday. The end of the program — called the Carbon Monitoring System (CMS) — which tracked sources and sinks for carbon […]

Green Energy

Our Dirty Air is Killing us, and dumping Coal, Diesel is the Cure

Melissa C. Lott

New research published this week in “The Lancet Planetary Health” reveals a promising path towards clean, healthy air: strong climate change policy, writes Dr. Melissa C. Lott. We are regularly horrified by the photos we see of air pollution in cities like Beijing and New Delhi, but the reality is that many are suffering from […]

Donald Trump

Top 4 things more disgraceful than Michelle Wolf’s Jokes or leak of Mueller Questions

Juan Cole

This week, the Right wing outrage machine, in part orchestrated by Trump, has been groaning about comedian Michelle Wolf’s roast at the White House Correspondents’ dinner and now Trump is calling the leak of Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s questions for him “disgraceful” (typos suggest Trump may have leaked them himself. Here are some things that […]

Climate Change

Scientists tackle melting Antarctic Glacier that could raise sea Level 2 Feet

AFP

London (AFP) – Britain and the United States on Monday launched a research programme billed “the most detailed and extensive examinations of a massive Antarctic glacier ever undertaken” to gauge how quickly it could collapse. Teams from Britain’s Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) and the US National Science Foundation (NSF) will visit the Thwaites Glacier […]

Acidification of Oceans

The other Shoe: Water Vapor from Warming Oceans is a Potent Greenhouse Gas

contributors

Heinrich Boell Stiftung | – – Without the ocean, climate change would proceed far more quickly. The massive volumes of water in the seas greatly influence the changes occurring in our atmosphere. Infographic from the Ocean Atlas – Where Does the Warmth Go?(Cutout of the graphic below) – Creator: petraboeckmann.de. This image is licensed under […]

Climate Change

Massive Melting in Arctic is a Danger Signal of Manmade Climate Change

Mark Serreze

Scientists have known for a long time that as climate change started to heat up the Earth, its effects would be most pronounced in the Arctic. This has many reasons, but climate feedbacks are key. As the Arctic warms, snow and ice melt, and the surface absorbs more of the sun’s energy instead of reflecting […]

China

China’s Climate Policies Could Save 94,000 People from Early Grave

contributors

Beijing (AFP) – China could avoid nearly 94,000 premature deaths and save a whopping $339 billion in health costs over the next 12 years by honoring its carbon reduction commitments under the Paris climate accord, a study showed Monday. The country has pledged to reach peak carbon dioxide emissions by 2030 at the latest and […]