By James Renwick | – I saw an article claiming that “king tides” will increase in frequency as sea level rises. I am sceptical. What is the physics behind such a claim and how is it related to climate change? My understanding is that a king tide is a purely tidal effect, related to Moon, […]
Climate Crisis and Carbon: Six Positive Developments in 2019
By Heather Alberro, Dénes Csala, Hannah Cloke, Marc Hudson, Mark Maslin, and Richard Hodgkins | – The climate breakdown continues. Over the past year, The Conversation has covered fires in the Amazon, melting glaciers in the Andes and Greenland, record CO₂ emissions, and temperatures so hot they’re pushing the human body to its thermal limits. […]
Nine things you Love that are being Wrecked by the Climate Crisis
By Rod Lamberts | – There are so many stories flying around about the horrors already being wrought by climate change, you’re probably struggling to keep up. The warnings have been there for decades but still there are those who deny it. So perhaps it’s timely to look at how climate change is affecting you, […]
Knights Templar: still loved by conspiracy theorists 900 years on
By Patrick Masters | – On Christmas Day, 1119, the king of Jerusalem, Baldwin II persuaded a group of French knights led by Hugh de Payne II to save their souls by protecting pilgrims travelling the Holy Land. And so the Order of the Knights Templar was formed. This revolutionary order of knights lived as […]
As India’s Hindu Supremacist Gov’t Moves to deprive 1.5 mn Assamese Muslims of Citizenship, a Solidarity Network Emerges
By Anuradha Sen Mookerjee | – The state of Assam in India is currently burning with violent protests against a new citizenship law passed by both houses of the Indian parliament in early December. The Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) will ease the Indian citizenship process for undocumented migrants in India who come from Pakistan, Afghanistan […]
Statistic of the decade: The massive deforestation of the Amazon
By Liberty Vittert | – This year, I was on the judging panel for the Royal Statistical Society’s International Statistic of the Decade. Much like Oxford English Dictionary’s “Word of the Year” competition, the international statistic is meant to capture the zeitgeist of this decade. The judging panel accepted nominations from the statistical community and […]
The US Gov’t Lied About Success in the Afghanistan War . . . and in Vietnam
By Gordon Adams | – The Washington Post has, after more than two years of investigation, revealed that senior foreign policy officials in the White House, State and Defense departments have known for some time that the U.S. intervention in Afghanistan was failing. Interview transcripts from the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction, obtained by […]
Dear Tourists: Palestine Still Throws the Best Christmas Party after 2,000 Years
By Dorina-Maria Buda | – There are often marches and demonstrations in support of Palestine in cities around the world, but for those who want to visit the region, a thriving tourism industry has emerged in recent years. “Solidarity tourists” arrive at all times of year to help improve the lives of ordinary Palestinians, with […]
Israel is hoarding the Jordan River – The Palestinians and Jordan Need their Share
By Mark Zeitoun and Muna Dajani | – Two areas farmed by Israelis for more than 50 years have recently been returned to neighbouring Jordan. The first, al Ghamr (known in Israel as Zofar), is located south of the Dead Sea in the Naqab/Negev desert. The second, al Baqura (Naharayim) is found at the fertile […]