Environment

In 20 years of studying how ecosystems absorb carbon, here’s why we’re worried about a tipping point of collapse

By Caitlin Moore, David Campbell, Helen Cleugh, Jamie Cleverly, Jason Beringer, Lindsay Hutley, and Mark Grant | – From rainforests to savannas, ecosystems on land absorb almost 30% of the carbon dioxide human activities release into the atmosphere. These ecosystems are critical to stop the planet warming beyond 1.5℃ this century – but climate change […]

Climate Crisis

The Five Horsemen of Today’s Apocalypse

John Feffer

( Tomdispatch.com ) – Once upon a time, the tutelary gods of nationalism and internationalism met for a chat. They had a superb perch above the clouds. From there, they could see everything happening on the Earth below and they set to arguing, as they so often did. Sophia, the goddess of internationalism, began by […]

Climate Crisis

If Biden Really wants Putin to Fall, He should make Green Energy a War Measure

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – President Joe Biden, at the end of his impassioned address in Warsaw, said: “A dictator bent on rebuilding an empire will never erase a people’s love for liberty. Brutality will never grind down their will to be free. Ukraine will never be a victory for Russia — for free people […]

Climate Crisis

There’s No Better Time to Buy an Electric Car and Kick Our Oil Addiction

Sonali Kolhatkar

( Otherwords.org ) – Long used to cheap gas at the pump, Americans are experiencing serious sticker shock these days. News headlines link this sharp increase to Russia’s war on Ukraine. But that assumes oil companies have no control over the price of oil — that high prices stem “naturally” from things like the war […]

Climate Crisis

Human-Driven Climate Crisis: East Antarctica Ice Shelf collapses for First Time in Human History

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The Associated Press reports that the Conger/Glenzer ice shelf in East Antarctica has collapsed. The event was caught on satellite video, and it is the first such collapse known to have occurred on the east coast of Antarctica, which had been thought to be more stable and less affected by […]

Climate Crisis

Largest American Wind Farm ever Built all-at-Once Opens in Oklahoma, Saves Customers $1 Billion over Fossil fuels

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – This week, American Electric Power (AEP), which operates in several states, inaugurated what it called the largest wind farm in the US ever built all at once. That is, there are larger wind facilities, but they were actually a congeries of several projects built over many years. The nearly 1 […]

Climate Crisis

American Exceptionalism is the Wrong Lens for our Massive Carbon Dioxide Emissions

Tomdispatch

By Aviva Chomsky | – Three years after the end of World War II, diplomat George Kennan outlined the challenges the country faced this way: “We have about 50% of the world’s wealth, but only 6.3% of its population. In this situation, we cannot fail to be the object of envy and resentment. Our real […]

Climate Crisis

Will war in Ukraine hasten the end of fossil fuels in the West?

The Conversation

By Jack Marley | – Four weeks have passed since Russian troops invaded Ukraine. To impede the onslaught of Vladimir Putin’s war machine, countries in the EU and elsewhere have announced measures to cut imports of fuel and energy from Russia, draining the coffers of the world’s largest exporter of gas and its third-largest supplier […]

Climate Crisis

Industrialized Nations must stop Producing Fossil Fuels by 2034 to keep Climate from Going Tropical and Chaotic

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Scientists Dan Calverley and Kevin Anderson at Manchester University have brought out a new report looking hard at what would have to be done for us to have a 50/50 chance of keeping the increase in the average temperature of the earth’s surface to 2.7 degrees F. (1.5C) over preindustrial […]