Environment

By Michael T. Klare | – Donald Trump got the headlines as usual — but don’t be fooled. It wasn’t Trumpism in action this August, but what we should all now start referring to as the Pompeo Doctrine. Yes, I’m referring to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and, when it comes to the Arctic region, […]

Climate Crisis

Just Do It! Debating How Much Time We Have to Avert Climate Disaster is a Waste of Time

contributors

By Arn Menconi | Special to Consortium News | – The UN’s warnings are dire, but they are still likely overestimating the time we have to act, writes Arn Menconi. Megafires in Canada’s Northwest Territories in 2014 scorched more than 7 million acres of forest, releasing half as much carbon back into the atmosphere as […]

China

China’s Struggle for Green Electricity

China Dialogue

By Feng Hao | – ( ChinaDialogue ) – Using electricity for everything will help lay the groundwork for lowering carbon emissions, but it won’t be easy As the world belatedly sets about reducing carbon emissions, the struggle between coal power and renewables for the future of China’s electricity system has garnered a lot of […]

Climate Crisis

The Politics of the Local Weather Broadcast: Call your Station and Demand News of Climate Crisis

John Buell

(Informed Comment) – Many of us rely on daily reports, often presented by local TV weatherpersons, to get through our daily routines. How do I dress, do I need to take an umbrella to work, must I come home early to avoid the snowstorm? These professionals have a difficult job. Their predictions are generally correct […]

Climate Change

How climate change is driving emigration from Central America

The Conversation

By Miranda Cady Hallett | – Clouds of dust rose behind the wheels of the pickup truck as we hurtled over the back road in Palo Verde, El Salvador. When we got to the stone-paved part of the road, the driver slowed as the truck heaved up and down with the uneven terrain. Riding in […]

Brazil

Burning Down the House: Far Right Nihilism in US, UK & Brazil Menaces the Planet

John Feffer

By John Feffer | – (Foreign Policy in Focus ) – Far-right governments in the U.S., UK, and Brazil are laying bare their nihilistic roots and full destructive potential. Doesn’t idiocy ever take a vacation? As August wound down, the populist troika of Donald Trump, Boris Johnson, and Jair Bolsonaro proved once again that the […]

Climate Change

Could Climate Crisis’ Extreme Weather Threaten American Prosperity?

The Conversation

By Gary W. Yohe | – Scientists say climate change is causing powerful hurricanes like Dorian to increasingly stall over coastal areas, which leads to heavy flooding. Officials in the Bahamas feared “unprecedented” devastation after Dorian hovered over the islands for two days, pummeling it with rain. But beyond more intense and slow-moving hurricanes, the […]

Climate Change

Failing Breitbart Comes for Juan Cole on Climate History and it Won’t Go Well

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – I understand that the far, far rightwing reused toilet paper that is Breitbart ran a hit piece on me today for daring question the record of Florida’s Saint DeSantis on doing nothing about carbon dioxide emissions that are sinking his state. Breitbart’s offices are in Los Angeles, which is itself […]

Climate Change

Climate Crisis Explained: How to Cut Carbon Emissions & Prepare for Impacts

The Conversation

By Ralph Brougham Chapman | – First, let’s accept climate change is happening and will have major negative impacts on New Zealand. Second, let’s also accept that even if New Zealand did absolutely everything possible to reduce emissions to zero, it would still happen, i.e. our impact on climate change is negligible. Third, reducing our […]