By Matthew Patterson, University of Oxford | – (The Conversation) – On July 19 2022, the UK experienced its highest ever temperature. At 40.3℃ [104.5°F] (Coningsby, Lincolnshire), the temperature surpassed the previous record of 38.7℃ [101.6°F] (Cambridge) – a record that had been set a mere three years previously. My new study shows that this […]
Global Heating to Bring a Record-Breaking Hot Year by 2028 — Probably our First above the 2.7F /1.5C Threshold
By Andrew King, The University of Melbourne | – One year in the next five will almost certainly be the hottest on record and there’s a two-in-three chance a single year will cross the crucial 1.5℃ global warming threshold, an alarming new report by the World Meteorological Organization predicts. The report, known as the Global […]
The Nation of Islam: A brief History
By Joseph R. Stuart, Brigham Young University | – May 2023 marks 98 years since the birth of civil rights leader Malcolm X, formerly Malcolm Little. Malcolm X was a spokesperson for the Nation of Islam, or NOI, and helped to lead the organization until he left in 1964 – the year before his assassination. […]
On its 75th birthday, Israel still can’t Agree on What it means to be a Jewish State and a Democracy
By Eran Kaplan, San Francisco State University | – As Israel celebrates the 75th anniversary of its founding, and nearly a century and a half after the first Zionists came to Palestine from Europe, the core tension behind the country’s establishment – whether a Jewish state could be a democratic state, whether Zionism could accommodate […]
Turkey’s presidential Election – how Erdoğan defied the Polls to head into Runoff as Favorite
By Salih Yasun, Indiana University | – Turkey is heading toward a presidential runoff election on May 28, 2023, after no candidate won more than half the votes in the first round – the barrier needed to be declared an outright winner. Incumbent Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who has ruled the country for two decades, defied […]
Time for some Climate Optimism: These 4 Charts on the Unstoppable Growth of Solar will Blow your Mind
By Andrew Blakers, Australian National University | – (The Conversation) – Last year, the world built more new solar capacity than every other power source combined. Solar is now growing much faster than any other energy technology in history. How fast? Fast enough to completely displace fossil fuels from the entire global economy before 2050. […]
The Nakba: 75 years after losing their Home, the Palestinians are still Experiencing the “Catastrophe”
By Dina Matar, SOAS, University of London | – When Palestinians commemorate the Nakba (the catastrophe) on May 15, they are not only remembering a violent historical event that took place 75 years ago which led to the uprooting of over 750,000 Palestinians from their homeland. Nor just the destruction of more than 400 villages […]
President Erdogan has Wrecked Turkey’s Economy – So What Next?
By Gulcin Ozkan, King’s College London | – (The Conversation) – Turkey’s 2023 election is one of the most significant in its hundred-year history. After years of currency crashes, vanishing foreign currency reserves and surging inflation, rethinking economic policy will be a top priority for whoever is sworn in after the vote on May 14. […]
The Nakba at 75 – Palestinians’ Struggle to get Recognition for their Catastrophe
By Maha Nassar, University of Arizona | – On May 15, 2023, the United Nations will stage a high-level special meeting to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the Nakba – the mass displacement of around 750,000 Palestinians from their homeland in 1948. It is the first time that the international body has commemorated the date, […]