Drought

As Biden Touts Progress at COP27, National Assessment warns that the Things Americans Love are Endangered by Climate Emergency

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – President Joe Biden addressed the COP27 Climate in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt on Friday. He noted the ravages of the human-caused climate emergency on the African continent, including deadly drought in the Horn of Africa, floods that displaced over a million people in Nigeria, and the increasing potential for conflict […]

Climate Crisis

COP27: how young Climate Activists are changing International Human Rights Law

The Conversation

By Aoife Daly, University College Cork | – World leaders and climate scientists aren’t the only ones who have gathered in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt, for the latest UN climate summit, COP27. Children and young people are also a big part of the conference. For the first time, COP will have a Youth Envoy, Omnia […]

Climate Crisis

One Billionaire emits a Million times more CO2 than an Average Person, as Protesters block Private Planes at Amsterdam

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Oxfam has a new study, Carbon Billionaires: The investment emissions of the world’s richest people. The Executive Summary says that they concluded that quite apart from the 3,300 or so billionaires, the wealthiest one percent in the world emit twice as much carbon dioxide as the bottom 50%. The top […]

Africa

Armed Conflict and Climate Change: how these two Threats play out in Africa

The Conversation

By Halvard Buhaug, Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO) | – The world is falling miserably short of reducing carbon emissions in line with the Paris Agreement, a 2015 treaty to keep global warming well below 2℃. The results of this failure are a greater increase in the prevalence and severity of extreme weather events, more […]

Climate Crisis

UN: Past 8 Years have been 8 hottest on Record, in Harbinger of Heating World

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The past eight years have been the eight hottest on record, in further evidence that human-caused global heating is accelerating rapidly and dangerously. So reports the World Meteorological Organization in tandem with the COP27 Climate Summit in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt. The report argues that we can see rapid heating […]

Climate Crisis

As COP27 Climate Summit in Egypt Nears, World Needs to Realize Depth of Crisis, Urgency of Action

The Conversation

By Andrew King, The University of Melbourne | – (The Conversation) – World leaders and climate experts are gathering for pivotal United Nations climate change talks in Egypt. Known as COP27, the conference will aim to put Earth on a path to net-zero emissions and keep global warming well below 2℃ this century. The world […]

Arctic

3-Alarm Fire on Planet Earth: Current Climate Policies will Heat it by extra 5.4° F. (3C) by 2100, for 1st time in Millions of Years

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – William J. Ripple et al. writing in BioScience warn that we are deep into a climate emergency, which they call “code red on planet earth.” They point to the increased frequency and severity of weather-related disasters, producing “untold human suffering.” Human-driven global heating, especially in the Arctic, which is warming […]

Climate Crisis

Desalinating Seawater sounds Easy, but there are cheaper and more sustainable Ways to meet people’s Water Needs

The Conversation

By Gregory Pierce, University of California, Los Angeles | – (The Conversation) – Coastal urban centers around the world are urgently looking for new, sustainable water sources as their local supplies become less reliable. In the U.S., the issue is especially pressing in California, which is coping with a record-setting, multidecadal drought. California Gov. Gavin […]

Climate Crisis

‘It’s getting close’: As the megadrought grinds on, Southwest Water in Doubt

Cronkite News Arizona PBS

By Sydnee Wilson | – ( Cronkite News) – PHOENIX – NASA satellite photos show how drastically the water levels in Lake Powell and Lake Mead have receded in just the past few years. They demonstrate the severity of long-term drought and the challenges Arizona will face to conserve and enhance its precious water supply. […]