By David Ubilava, University of Sydney | – The World Meteorological Organization has declared the onset of the first El Niño event in seven years. It estimates 90% probability the climatic phenomenon, involving an unusual warming of the Pacific Ocean, will develop through 2023, and be of moderate strength. El Niño events bring hotter, drier […]
Archives for July 2023
The “Cerberus” Heat Wave and the Closing of the Parthenon: Why the Climate Crisis Evokes Cosmic Mythology
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – High daytime temperatures in the Mediterranean basin are disrupting life in many ways, in Spain, Morocco, Greece, Turkey and elsewhere. Tourists in Greece suffered frustrations on Friday when government authorities abruptly closed the Parthenon from midday until evening. There were fears that the tourists up there would have a heat […]
Global Heating Grips Phoenix, AZ, with record-breaking String of 110 °F Days Projected and Homeless Dying
By: Jerod MacDonald-Evoy ( AZ Mirror) – Phoenix is close to breaking a record streak for consecutive days with high temperatures at or above 110 degrees, and the heat will continue to become more enduring as urbanization grows and the impacts of climate change continue. “You can’t argue that we are definitely seeing that […]
Corals are starting to Bleach as Global Ocean Temperatures hit Record Highs
By Ian Enochs, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration | – The water off South Florida is over 90 degrees Fahrenheit (32 Celsius) in mid-July, and scientists are already seeing signs of coral bleaching off Central and South America. Particularly concerning is how early in the summer we are seeing these high ocean temperatures. If the […]
Game Over? Even BP and TotalEnergies are Shelling out $14.7 Bn. for Right to Build Baltic Sea Wind Farms
By Sören Amelang | – ( Clean Energy Wire ) – Oil majors BP and TotalEnergies pledged to pay a combined 12.6 billion euros [$14.7 bn.] for the right to build wind farms in the North and Baltic seas in the world’s largest ever offshore wind auction. Environmentalists hailed the result as a “quantum leap” […]
Should Congress be inviting Illiberal Government Leaders Like those of India and Israel to address it? Is it all Right to Boycott Human Rights Offenders?
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Let us imagine a country somewhere in the world, let us call it Qorlu. It has two major ethnic groups, the Laval and the Zorbi. The Laval are the majority in Qorlu, and the Zorbi are a minority. But Qorlu had a war several decades ago in which it conquered […]
Climate Change is Increasing Stress on Thousands of Aging Dams across the US
By Hiba Baroud, Vanderbilt University | – Heavy rainfall in the Northeast on June 9-11, 2023, generated widespread flooding, particularly in New York’s Hudson Valley and in Vermont. One major concern was the Wrightsville Dam, built in 1935 on the Winooski River north of Vermont’s capital city, Montpelier. The reservoir behind the dam rose to […]
Roots of Iraq’s Water Crisis: Upriver Dams along with Climate Change
Response of McGuire Gibson, Professor Emeritus of Mesopotamian Architecture , University of Chicago, to Iraq’s Climate Crisis: America’s War for Oil and the Great Mesopotamian Dustbowl Juan: In your devastating post about Iraq’s drought, you could have given more attention to the crucial role of Turkey in flouting international law and damaging Iraq (and Syria) […]
The Radiance of a Thousand Suns: Can we dodge Two Torrid Disasters of our own Making?
( Tomdispatch.com ) – In case you hadn’t noticed — and how could you not? — there have been more than 500 (yes, 500-plus!) wildfires burning across the vast reaches of Canada, an unheard-of number, and more than half of them completely out of (human) control in a record-shattering fire season. That’s been true for […]
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