Environment

OK, Boomers: Will the America we die in be unprecedentedly Hot, Racist, Unequal, Sickly and Authoritarian?

( Tomdispatch.com ) – Let me be blunt. This wasn’t the world I imagined for my denouement. Not faintly. Of course, I can’t claim I ever really imagined such a place. Who, in their youth, considers their death and the world that might accompany it, the one you might leave behind for younger generations? I’m […]

Climate Crisis

Coal Plummets 30% in Germany as Renewables Gain during Covid-19 Slowdown

Benjamin Wehrmann

( Clean Energy Wire) – An abrupt halt to economic activity and greatly reduced mobility in reaction to the coronavirus outbreak have let Germany’s energy consumption plummet in the first half of 2020. While all fossil fuels and especially coal experienced a sharp drop in demand, energy produced with renewables increased its share and absolute […]

Climate Crisis

Beirut’s Destruction was a Crime of Evil Negligence, the same Crime being Committed Against our Climate

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Some 300,000 people in Beirut have been left homeless by the enormous explosion at the city’s port on Tuesday, which left it without a means of importing by sea. Half of the city has been damaged. 80% of Lebanon’s grain is imported, and the grain silos were destroyed. Thousands of […]

Environmentalism

Beirut Catastrophe: Polluters routinely mishandle, illegally trade Hazardous Materials at Sea, in Ports

The Conversation

By Scott Edwards and Christian Bueger | At the time of writing at least 100 people have lost their lives and a further 4,000 have been wounded following an explosion in the Port of Beirut. While the actual cause remains uncertain, the tragedy calls to attention the tremendous consequences of a lack of port security. […]

Donald Trump

Trump nearly provokes International Incident, Wrongly saying Beirut Explosion a “Bomb”

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – A massive ammonium nitrate explosion rocked Beirut’s port on Tuesday, sending up a mushroom cloud that reminded some of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, damaging buildings, blowing out windows, overturning cars, wounding over 3,000 people at least, and leaving dozens dead. Flying glass and debris were responsible for many of the injuries. […]

Climate Crisis

Climate Emergency making you Poor: Coastal Flooding may cost up to 20% of Global Economy in coming Decades

The Conversation

By Ebru Kirezci | – Over the past two weeks, storms pummelling the New South Wales coast have left beachfront homes at Wamberal on the verge of collapse. It’s stark proof of the risks climate change and sea level rise pose to coastal areas. Our new research published today puts a potential price on the […]

Featured

“Never Seen a Decline of this Magnitude” – ExxonMobil, Crashed by Covid, gets taste of looming Electric Vehicle Crisis

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Ashton Nichols at The Dallas Morning News reports that ExxonMobil lost over $1 billion in the second quarter, up from a $600 million lost in the first. Year on year, its revenues are down 33% for the first half of this year. It has been forced to close down half […]

Mass Extinction

Plastic Found Lining Seabird Nests on a Worrying Scale

The Conversation

By Tom Ovenden | – From the packaging our food comes in to the clothes we wear, plastic is everywhere. We know that seabirds eat it and get tangled in it, but we are only just beginning to explore the impacts this has on their health and survival. This is really important, particularly in the […]

Climate Crisis

3 Dead as Iraqi Crowds Protest Electricity Outages in 124° Heat; Have US and Climate Crisis left Iraq Unviable?

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – On Tuesday, the temperature in Baghdad hit 124° F. (51.2°). Just for perspective, the all-time highest temperature recorded for Asia was in Kuwait five years ago, at 129° F. Scientists consider an average temperature of 95° the highest consistent with habitability. Since these temperatures and higher will become more and […]