Drought

By Hussein A. Amery | – People who fled Syria in recent years are often viewed as war refugees because of the violence that has engulfed much of the country since 2011. But those from the northern and northeastern parts of Syria may more accurately be viewed as climate refugees, fleeing not a worsening conflict […]

Climate Crisis

“Catastrophic” Wildfires Threaten Sydney, Australia as Gov’t Backs Coal

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Australians in New South Wales and part of Queensland face “catastrophic” wildfires today according to government authorities. Based on the latest forecast, we have mapped where fires on the north coast are likely to spread during tomorrow's dangerous weather. The red shows the predicted spread of fire. Check https://t.co/NXTTCbYtYQ for […]

Climate Crisis

Why the California wildfires signal the arrival of a planetary fire age

The Conversation

By Stephen Pyne | – Another autumn, more fires, more refugees and incinerated homes. For California, flames have become the colors of fall. Free-burning fire is the proximate provocation for the havoc, since its ember storms are engulfing landscapes. But in the hands of humans, combustion is also the deeper cause. Modern societies are burning […]

Climate Change

Horrific Amazon Wildfires: How do they Threaten Us, and how can we stop them?

Juan Cole

By Jos Barlow and Alexander C. Lees | – Imagine a rainforest at dawn – the tall canopy laden with dripping ferns and orchids, tree trunks covered in spongy mosses and lichens, and the morning mist only slowly burning away as the sun rises. While there is fuel everywhere, it seems unimaginable that such humid […]

Climate Change

To Avoid Boiling the Earth, we Need a New Agriculture: Farming emits 1/3 of Greenhouse Gases

The Conversation

By Mark Howden | – We can’t achieve the goals of the Paris Climate Agreement without managing emissions from land use, according to a special report released today by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). Emissions from land use, largely agriculture, forestry and land clearing, make up some 22% of the world’s greenhouse gas […]

Climate Change

Europe, are you Crazy? As a Continent Melts, New Coal Plants Planned and Permitting Blocks Wind Farms

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The heat wave that has swept Europe and given Paris the weather of Madras is certainly embroiled in human-caused climate change. The severity and frequency of such extreme weather is exacerbated by the 2.4 trillion metric tons of carbon dioxide human beings have spewed into the atmosphere since about 1750, […]

Climate Change

Climate Crisis: Glacier Melt, Droughts, Floods require Indo-Pak Cooperation to Avoid Disaster

contributors

By Omair Ahmad | – (The Third Pole) – With glacier retreat, permafrost melt, and extreme rainfall events, ICIMOD’s HIMAP report suggests that the countries of the Hindu Kush Himalayas have to start cooperating far more closely, or pay a huge price Water in the Hindu Kush Himalayan (HKH) region is going through large and […]

Afghanistan

Farmers in War-Torn Afghanistan Hit by Worst Drought in Decades

AFP

With Emal Haidary | – Mazar-i-Sharif (Afghanistan) (AFP) – After his wheat crop failed and wells dried up, Ghulam Abbas sold his animals and joined thousands of other farmers migrating to cities as Afghanistan’s worst drought in living memory ravages the war-torn country. A huge shortfall in snow and rain across much of the country […]

Climate Change

Man-Made Climate Change Will Give California Whiplash Between Drought, Floods

contributors

California’s recent severe drought may have only been a taste of things to come.