Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The UN Convention to Combat Desertification issued a new report, “Drought in Numbers 2022 on Friday, warning of the dangers of the climate emergency for further desertification and wildfires and massive loss of human life. “The report warns that The number and duration of droughts has increased by 29 percent […]
Archives for May 2022
Shireen Abu Akleh: A Quarter of a Century of Coverage ended with an Israeli Bullet to the Head
( Middle East Monitor ) – She carried her belongings and went with the Press team into the field to begin the news coverage. She was ready to deliver her visual news report, as she had done for the past 25 years, but her last report made her the topic of the coverage, which was […]
Climate Change isn’t just making Cyclones worse, it’s making the Floods they cause worse too
By Laurence Hawker, University of Bristol; Dann Mitchell, University of Bristol; and Natalie Lord, University of Bristol | – Super cyclones, known as hurricanes or typhoons in different parts of the world, are among the most destructive weather events on our planet. Although wind speeds within these storms can reach 270 km/h, the largest loss […]
Pandemic Anti-Rights Syndrome
By Nina Burleigh | – ( Tomdispatch.com ) – Last month, not long after Florida federal judge Kathryn Kimball Mizelle ruled that the transportation mask mandate was illegal, I flew from New York City to Miami. Videos of airplane passengers in midflight ripping off their masks and cheering with joy had already gone viral following […]
Israeli Snipers Murder Prominent American Journalist in Cold Blood, attempt to Kill her Camera Crew, as US Press Equivocates
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Israeli snipers murdered prominent American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh on Wednesday in an attempt to prevent the veteran Al Jazeera correspondent and her camera crew from filming an Israeli military attack on the Jenin refugee camp in the Occupied Palestinian West Bank. The Israeli army has killed 50 Palestinian journalists […]
Gaza Marks Another Grim Anniversary: One Year Since Deadly Hostilities that Killed Scores of Civilians
By Abier Almasri | Research Assistant, Middle East and North Africa Division | – ( Human Rights Watch ) – Friends abroad often ask how I’m coping after last year’s escalation in Gaza. I struggle to find the words to describe the terror of lying awake at night not knowing if I’d see daylight again, […]
Was the Visit to Iran of Syria’s al-Assad impelled by Fear of Russian Failure in Ukraine?
By Gilbert Achkar | – ( Middle East Monitor ) – The President of the Syrian regime, Bashar Al-Assad, paid a surprise visit to Tehran last Sunday and, adding to its surprising nature, is the fact that he had rarely dared to leave his country since the popular uprising against his regime began in 2011. […]
The window of opportunity to address increasing Climate-Driven drought is vanishing
By Margot Hurlbert, University of Regina | – Chile, Argentina and the American West are in the midst of a decade-long, megadrought — the driest conditions those regions have seen in a century. And many areas in Western Canada and the United States are experiencing extreme drought — a once in 20-year event. Drought makes […]
Wind and Solar generate Fully 20% of US Electricity in April for First time as Renewables Jump to 26.5%
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The United States generates 6.5% of its electricity from dams, producing hydroelectricity, mainly in the West. Up until about a decade ago, that was the major renewable source of electricity in the country. In 2021, the total proportion of renewables in the US energy mix was 20%, i.e. 13.5% came […]
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