By Ali Sarhadi, Georgia Institute of Technology | – (The Conversation) – Hurricane Milton went from barely hurricane strength to a dangerous Category 5 storm in less than 24 hours as it headed across the Gulf of Mexico toward Florida. As its wind speed increased, Milton became one of the most rapidly intensifying storms on […]
Why Human-Caused Climate Change is coming for the vulnerable Carolinas
By Russ Schumacher, Colorado State University and Kathie Dello, North Carolina State University | – (The Conversation) – Hurricane Helene caused deadly and destructive flooding when it swept through the Southeast on Sept. 26-29, 2024. Across a broad swath of western North Carolina, where the worst flooding occurred, the amount of rainfall exceeded levels that […]
How Lebanon’s National Identity is exploited to justify Violence against It
By Rayyan Dabbous, University of Toronto | – (The Conversation) – The Lebanese armed group Hezbollah confirmed on Sept. 28 that its leader, Hassan Nasrallah, had been killed in an Israeli airstrike in Beirut a day earlier. Nasrallah is the highest-ranking Hezbollah leader to have been killed since Israel began targeting the group’s leadership. Several […]
Iran’s Strikes on Israel have set Conflict in the Middle East Spiraling, in rising Security Threat
By Javed Ali, University of Michigan | – (The Conversation) – Iran fired at least 180 ballistic missiles at Israel on Oct. 1, 2024, amplifying tensions in the Middle East that are increasingly marked by “escalation after escalation,” as United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres put it. Iran’s attacks – which Israel largely deterred with […]
Why an Israeli invasion of Lebanon is a Mistake
By Vanessa Newby, Leiden University and Chiara Ruffa, Sciences Po | – (The Conversation) – The death of Hezbollah’s leader, Hassan Nasrallah, in an Israeli airstrike in Beirut on September 27 has left the militant Lebanese organisation leaderless at a critical time. Two days earlier in a speech broadcast around the world, the head of […]
Climate Change-Driven Hurricanes and Wildfires are causing Home Insurance Rates to Skyrocket
By Andrew J. Hoffman, University of Michigan | – (The Conversation) – Millions of Americans have been watching with growing alarm as their homeowners insurance premiums rise and their coverage shrinks. Nationwide, premiums rose 34% between 2017 and 2023, and they continued to rise in 2024 across much of the country. To add insult to […]
Both Israel and Hezbollah are Blatantly Violating the Laws of War by Harming Civilians
By Emily Crawford, University of Sydney | – (The Conversation) – As the violence between Israel and Hezbollah has escalated dramatically in recent days, civilians have paid a heavy price. Hundreds of people in southern Lebanon have been killed and more than 1,600 wounded in Israeli airstrikes. Hezbollah, meanwhile, has fired hundreds of rockets and […]
Lebanese Civilians Flee the South, Fearing an Israeli Invasion – Because they’ve Seen this Movie Before
By Mireille Rebeiz, Dickinson College | – (The Conversation) – Lebanese families have been fleeing the country’s south in the thousands amid escalating tensions and an Israeli bombardment that has so far killed hundreds. Their fear, echoed by many onlookers, is that Israel will accompany the airstrikes with something that has the potential to have […]
A weakened Hezbollah is being goaded into all-out Conflict with Israel – the Consequences would be Devastating for All
By Asher Kaufman, University of Notre Dame | – For almost a year, Israel and Hezbollah have engaged in increasingly provocative cross-border skirmishes as onlookers warn that this escalating war of attrition could land the region in all-out conflict. The past few days have made that devastating scenario closer to a reality. First came Israel’s […]