Climate Change

By Andrew Blakers,Bin Lu, and Matthew Stocks | – To cut U.S. greenhouse gas emissions in half within a decade, the Biden administration’s goal, the U.S. is going to need a lot more solar and wind power generation, and lots of cheap energy storage. Wind and solar power vary over the course of a day, […]

Climate Crisis

Tonga’s Volcanic Tsunami floods Capital, foreshadowing effects of Glacier Melt from our CO2

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – A massive eruption in an undersea volcano, the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Haʻapai, 40 miles north of the South Pacific island of Tongatapu on Saturday caused a low-level tsunami and flooding on the island, the most populous in the Tonga archipelago. The tsunami spread out from there, causing one- to three-foot waves […]

Climate Crisis

Raven releases the Sun: First Native American Interior Secretary moves to put in 100 GW Solar on Federal Land

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – As part of a Biden Administration push to put in 27 gigawatts (GW) of renewable energy on federal land by 2025, the Interior Department’s Bureau of Land Management has just approved the third major solar farm in California, announcing that “the Bureau of Land Management has approved the Oberon Solar […]

Climate Crisis

Millions are on the Run from Global Heating – International Law must recognize Climate Refugees

The Conversation

By Daniel L. Huizenga | – When hurricanes Eta and Iota barrelled into Central America in November 2020, they flooded towns and cities, caused catastrophic losses in the agricultural sector and contributed to food insecurity. In all, 4.7 million Hondurans were affected, and tens of thousands decided to leave, forming migrant caravans in a desperate […]

Climate Crisis

Ocean Heat is at Record Levels, with Major Consequences

The Conversation

By Kevin Trenberth | – The world witnessed record-breaking climate and weather disasters in 2021, from destructive flash floods that swept through mountain towns in Europe and inundated subway systems in China and the U.S., to heat waves and wildfires. Typhoon Rai killed over 400 people in the Philippines; Hurricane Ida caused an estimated US$74 […]

Africa

The North Atlantic Put up most Heat-Trapping Gases but Africa has to Deal with the Climate Emergency

The Conversation

By Margaret Kadiri | – The UN climate summit COP26, held in November 2021, focused the world’s attention on the urgent need to tackle climate change and concluded with 197 countries agreeing to the Glasgow climate pact. But opinions on the summit’s success are polarised. We owe a profound gratitude to the developing nations – […]

Climate Crisis

We are so F*cked unless we act Now: The 7 Hottest Years on Record were the last 7 Years

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service reports that the seven hottest years on record “by a clear margin” were the past seven years. This finding underlines the way global heating is speeding up, as we put more and more heat-trapping carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Global temperatures fluctuate with […]

Climate Crisis

Don’t Look Down: Antarctica’s Doomsday Glacier could Shatter in 10 years, Endangering 1 Bn. in Coastal Cities

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – How fast will the sea level rise and how many people will that affect during the next 30 years? The answer to these questions means a lot to people living in New York, Miami and New Orleans, not to mention Mumbai in India. We don’t have precise answers to these […]

Climate Crisis

‘Don’t Look Up’: Hollywood’s primer on climate denial illustrates 5 myths that fuel rejection of science

The Conversation

By Gale Sinatra and Barbara K. Hofer | – Every disaster movie seems to open with a scientist being ignored. “Don’t Look Up” is no exception – in fact, people ignoring or flat out denying scientific evidence is the point. Leonardo DiCaprio and Jennifer Lawrence play astronomers who make a literally Earth-shattering discovery and then […]