Oceans

Busan, S. Korea, constructing Solar-Powered Artificial Biorock Island to replace Coastal land lost to Sea Level Rise

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – UN Habitat, the municipality of Busan in South Korea, and the company OCEANIX are responding to the challenge of sea-level rise by building an artificial floating city off the coast of the country’s second-largest city. A prototype is expected to be in the water as early as 2025. Although a […]

Acidification of Oceans

Fossil-Fuel Burning Humans are as Catastrophic for Sea Life as the Chicxulub Meteor was that also killed the Dinosaurs

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – A new study by Justin L. Penn and Curtis Deutsch shows that over the next 200 years, humanity could kill off half of all marine life by by pumping billions of tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. CO2 is a greenhouse gas that traps the sun’s heat on earth […]

Bangladesh

Will the Climate Crisis Cause the Next Great Global Conflict?

Jason Miklian

Oslo (Special to Informed Comment) – In November 1970 the Great Bhola Cyclone smashed into the southern coast of what is now Bangladesh, killing 500,000 people. It wasn’t just the deadliest storm in human history — it knocked over the first domino in a political chain reaction that brought the world to the brink of […]

Climate Crisis

Stanford U. Electricity now 100% Green, with Savings of $ .5 Billion; Why aren’t more Universities in Forefront of Climate Battle?

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Chelci Adami of the Stanford Report writes that Stanford University has transitioned to 100% renewable electricity. The Stanford Solar Generating Station #2 went online in mid-March, adding 63 megawatts to the university’s electricity supply. The campus had completed a previous 54-megawatt solar installation in 2016, and the new facility has […]

Climate Crisis

Human-Driven Climate Crisis: East Antarctica Ice Shelf collapses for First Time in Human History

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The Associated Press reports that the Conger/Glenzer ice shelf in East Antarctica has collapsed. The event was caught on satellite video, and it is the first such collapse known to have occurred on the east coast of Antarctica, which had been thought to be more stable and less affected by […]

Climate Crisis

Industrialized Nations must stop Producing Fossil Fuels by 2034 to keep Climate from Going Tropical and Chaotic

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Scientists Dan Calverley and Kevin Anderson at Manchester University have brought out a new report looking hard at what would have to be done for us to have a 50/50 chance of keeping the increase in the average temperature of the earth’s surface to 2.7 degrees F. (1.5C) over preindustrial […]

Climate Crisis

Arctic hits 50° F above normal, as Scientists predict it will soon have more Rain than Snow

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – While it made headlines because it is freakish, that parts of Antarctica are 70 degrees F. warmer than usual may just be a fluke. Climate is a trend line you can see over 50 years of changes. Weather is what happens for a day or a week. The more alarming […]

Climate Crisis

IPCC report: Half the world is facing water scarcity, floods and dirty water — large investments are needed for effective solutions

The Conversation

By Balsher Singh Sidhu, University of British Columbia | – More than half the world’s population faces water scarcity for at least one month every year. Meanwhile, some people have to deal with too much water, while others have access to only poor water quality. That’s billions of people living with drought in Africa and […]

Climate Crisis

“Niagara Falls becoming Horizontal:” NOAA warns of nearly 1 foot Sea Level Rise in 30 years, “Common” High Tide Floods

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The sea level along the US coastline in the lower 48 will rise as much in just the next 30 years as it had the century before our own moment (1920-2020), which is to say, nearly a foot or a third of a meter. That is the takeaway from the […]