Sea Level

West Antarctica’s History of rapid Melting Foretells sudden Shifts in Continent’s ‘catastrophic’ Geology

Much of the discussion about the melting of massive ice sheets during a time of climate change addresses its effects on people

Antarctica

“We cannot Negotiate with the Melting Point of Ice:” World’s Ice Sheets shed 640 bn. Tons in 12 Months

The Conversation

Chris Stokes, Durham University; Florence Colleoni, National Institute of Oceanography and Applied Geophysics (OGS), and James Kirkham, British Antarctic Survey “We cannot negotiate with the melting point of ice.” That’s the message from more than 50 leading scientists who study the Earth’s frozen regions, published in the latest annual State of the Cryosphere report. In […]

Climate Crisis

Rate of Global Heating in the Arab World is Twice the Global Average

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The World Meteorological Organization has issued its annual report on the 22 countries of the Arab world, covering last year, and presents alarming conclusions about human-driven climate change in that region. 2024 was the hottest year on record in the Middle East, around 1º Celsius (1.8º F.) hotter than the […]

Brazil

Accelerating Climate Change and Global Inequality: Indigenous People were the Heroes of COP30

H. Patricia Hynes

Greenfield, Mass. (Special to Informed Comment; Feature) – Contradictions pervaded the latest UN climate conference (COP30) held in Belem, Brazil. Progressive President Lula da Silva of Brazil proclaimed it would a positive turning point in progress, while he authorized his state-owned oil producer to do exploratory drilling for oil near the Great Amazon Reef System. […]

Climate Crisis

State of Climate: Earth Hottest on Record again, as CO2 still Climbs and Glaciers Wilt

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The American Meteorological Society has issued its annual climate report, this one summarizing changes in 2024 now that all the data is in. It paints an alarming picture, especially at a moment when Big Oil has taken over the US government via its Republican puppets and is spiking all our […]

Climate Crisis

Islanders of Tuvalu Prepare first Mass Migration because of Sea Level Rise, as ICJ grants them Right to Sue

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The entire nation of Tuvalu, 11,000 people, is making preparations to relocate, reports Sophie Mak at Nikkei Asia . The nine atolls making up Tuvalu are for the most part only two feet above sea level, which is rising as our carbon dioxide emissions are causing surface ice to melt […]

Climate Crisis

The 136 Largest Coastal Cities, including Egypt’s Alexandria, face $1 Trillion Losses per Year from Sea Level Rise by 2050

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – In a new paper, Chris R. Stokes et al. write in Communications Earth and Environment that even if we manage only to heat up the earth 1.5º C. (2.7º F.) above pre-industrial norms, that might be enough to provoke massive melting of the world’s principal ice sheets — those in […]

Climate Crisis

As COP 29 convenes, Human-Caused Climate Change Menaces the Middle East Across Borders

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The European Centre for Development Policy Management has issued a new report on the threats of human-caused climate change to the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, concentrating on cross-border dangers that affect more than one country. Heat and drought would rank high on this list. The Middle East […]

Climate Crisis

Extreme Weather has already cost Vulnerable Island Nations $141 Billion

The Conversation

Emily Wilkinson, ODI Global; Ilan Noy, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington; Matt Bishop, University of Sheffield, and Vikrant Panwar, ODI Global (The Conversation) – Two years ago, when the curtain fell on the COP27 summit in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt, developing nations on the frontline of climate change had something meaningful to […]