Sea Level

New Research shows how rapidly Ice Sheets can Retreat: Antarctica’s Melt alone could raise Sea Level 171 Feet

By Christine Batchelor, Newcastle University and Frazer Christie, University of Cambridge | – The Antarctic Ice Sheet, which covers an area greater than the US and Mexico combined, holds enough water to raise global sea level by more than 57 metres if melted completely. This would flood hundreds of cities worldwide. And evidence suggests it […]

Climate Crisis

The last Time there was this much CO2, there were Sabertooth Tigers, California Monsoons and an Undersea Florida

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – – The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration reports that for the 11th consecutive year, human-caused emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases increased at the same rate as has been common for the past decade. In other words, nothing the world has so far done has caused the rate […]

Arab World

Egypt’s Nile Delta is badly polluted by Heavy Metals

Sustainability Times

( Sustainability Times ) – The Nile is one of the world’s most iconic rivers and in ancient times it gave rise to a unique cilvilization that lasted for several millennia. Yet its delta, once the heartland of Lower Egypt, could soon be no more in any recognizable form, scientists are warning. “Large-scale heavy metal […]

Climate Crisis

Game-Changer: Tiny Islands of Vanuatu Convince UN to seek Int’l Court Ruling on Harms of Climate Emergency

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Vanuatu, a set of South Pacific islands, is not what you would call a prominent international player. The small country of a little over 300,000 people has nevertheless made history, according to UN News. It presented a resolution to the UN General Assembly asking the UN’s International Court of Justice […]

Climate Crisis

IPCC’s Conservative Nature masks true Scale of Action needed to avert Catastrophic Climate Change

The Conversation

By Kevin Anderson, University of Manchester | – The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s (IPCC) synthesis report recently landed with an authoritative thump, giving voice to hundreds of scientists endeavouring to understand the unfolding calamity of global heating. What’s changed since the last one in 2014? Well, we’ve dumped an additional third of a trillion […]

Antarctica

Do we Have Until 2050 to become Carbon Neutral? What if 27 Climate Feedback Loops are Working together to Shorten our Deadline?

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Feedback loops are central notions in science. There are two kinds, negative and positive. Negative feedback loops, despite their name, are actually good if you are looking for stability. So for instance say you are too hot, so you sweat. The sweat evaporates, cooling you off. In fact, it could […]

Climate Crisis

Big Oil’s trade group allies outspent Clean Energy Groups by a Whopping 27x, with Billions in Ads and Lobbying to keep Fossil Fuels Flowing

The Conversation

By Christian Downie, Australian National University and Robert Brulle, Brown University | – (The Conversation) – You’ve probably seen ads promoting gas and oil companies as the solutions to climate change. They’re meant to be inspiring and hopeful, with scenes of a green, clean future. But shiny ads are not all these companies do to […]

Arctic

Climate Crisis: Atmospheric rivers are hitting the Arctic more often, and increasingly melting its Sea Ice

The Conversation

By Pengfei Zhang, Penn State | – (The Conversation) – Atmospheric rivers, those long, powerful streams of moisture in the sky, are becoming more frequent in the Arctic, and they’re helping to drive dramatic shrinking of the Arctic’s sea ice cover. While less ice might have some benefits – it would allow more shipping in […]

Climate Crisis

How young Climate Activists built a Mass Movement to be Reckoned With

Waging Nonviolence

By Nick Engelfried | – ( Waging Nonviolence ) – When I became a climate organizer in college in the early 2000s, the words “youth climate movement” referred more to something activists hoped to bring into existence than a real-world phenomenon. Growing numbers of young people were concerned about the climate crisis and had begun […]