Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – It is time to look back at 2021 and consider the most consequential developments, as covered here at Informed Comment. 1. The most important change was that the Republican Party has abandoned democracy, as witnessed by its reaction to the attempted Trump coup of January 6, 2021. The GOP has […]
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Super Storms
2021’s US Climate Disasters revealed an East-West Divide, with one side of the Country too Wet, the other dangerously Dry
By Shuang-Ye Wu | – Alongside a lingering global pandemic, the year 2021 was filled with climate disasters, some so intense they surprised even the scientists who study them. Extreme rainstorms turned to raging flash floods that swept through mountain towns in Europe, killing over 200 people. Across Asia, excessive rainfall inundated wide areas and […]
Revenge is a Dish best Served Green: Biden could get around Manchin with GOP Senators Supporting Wind, Solar, Battery
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Senator Joe Manchin has attempted completely to shoot down the Build Back Better bill, underlining the thin legislative margin with which President Biden has to work. With a 50/50 Senate, Biden’s legislative agenda going forward will need to be bipartisan. The successes this approach can garner are apparent in the […]
Half of global Coal Companies continue to develop new Assets
By Nora Sausmikat and Katrin Ganswindt | – ( China Dialogue —- Bonus Video added by Informed Comment: Al Jazeera English: “Bosnia’s most polluting power plant linked with cancer”
Mars Attacks Earth! And we’re the Martians in this Picture
( Tomdispatch.com) – Who knew that Martians, inside monstrous tripodal machines taller than many buildings, actually ululated, that they made eerily haunting “ulla, ulla, ulla, ulla” sounds? Well, let me tell you that they do — or rather did when they were devastating London. I know that because I recently reread H.G. Wells’s 1898 novel […]
Why We Can’t Trust the World Bank to Stand Up to Powerful Fossil Fuel Companies
By Manuel Pérez-Rocha | – ( Inequality.org) – At the international climate change negotiations in Scotland, the World Bank tried to position itself as a global champion in alleviating the climate crisis. In reality, this multilateral financial institution has been promoting and defending extractive and fossil fuel industries. In a courageous column in the Guardian, […]
Bangladesh Cyclone: Mental Health Distress Shows Devastation of Climate Emergency
By Sonja Ayeb-Karlsson | – Over the past decade, there has been growing recognition of climate-induced loss and damage – such as the destruction of homes or buildings after a flood. However, economic losses and damages have received far more attention than their non-economic counterparts. These non-economic losses and damages cannot be measured in monetary […]
If We could Mobilize to Fight COVID-19, why can’t we Ramp up to Combat the Climate Emergency?
By Jill Richardson ( Otherwords.org ) – The recent COP26 climate summit in Glasgow was the 26th attempt to get the nations of the world to fix the climate crisis. During the summit, the Washington Post reported that countries have been under-reporting their emissions, so the negotiations are based on “flawed data.” We’ve known about […]
As Climate Emergency Worsens, Freak Lightning Storm sends Snow, Scorpion Plague on Egypt’s Aswan
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – How freakish and biblical our climate emergency could become was illustrated this week in the Upper Egyptian city of Aswan, which was struck in November by rolling lightning storms, downpours, snow and a plague of scorpions. High winds blew the deadly Egyptian black, fat-tailed scorpions from the surrounding desert into […]