Environment

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – My late friend Fernando Coronil once observed that in order to understand the people of the past we must also understand their own visions of the future. In the 2014 science fiction film Edge of Tomorrow, based on a Japanese young adult novel All You Need Is Kill by Hiroshi […]

Climate Crisis

While COVID Distracted us, the global Climate Crisis went Extreme in 2020

The Conversation

By Chloe Brimicombe, Elliott Sainsbury, Gabrielle Powell and Wilson Chan | – The year 2020 will no doubt go down in history for other reasons, but it is also on target to be one of the warmest on record. And as the climate warms, natural hazards will happen more frequently – and be ever more […]

Climate Crisis

The Southwest once had 4000-year-long Droughts; Could Human-Caused Climate Emergency bring them Back?

Cronkite News Arizona PBS

By Judy Fahys ( InsideClimate News/ Cronkite News Creative Commons. —— Bonus Video added by Informed Comment: The Enigmatic Montezuma Castle and Well in Arizona, USA | Ancient Architects

China

With US AWOL on Climate Leadership, are EU Members like Holland Turning to China?

China Dialogue

By Charlotte Nijhuis | – ( China Dialogue ) – Both countries have their work cut out to reach emissions-reduction goals, but China is already learning from Dutch expertise in offshore wind. With half of its territory below sea level, the Netherlands is particularly vulnerable to the effects of climate change. The country is a […]

Climate Crisis

Whodunnit?: Hundreds of Thousands of Birds fell out of the Sky in Southwest and now we Know Why

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – In Alfred Hitchcock’s classic 1963 horror film, The Birds, our avian cousins abruptly and for no apparent reason turned hostile and began attacking humans. It is based on a story by Daphne du Maurier. I fear that in 2020, humans turned the tables on a vast scale. In August, masses […]

Climate Crisis

Deficit Hawks: Reducing environmental damage of greenhouse gases, pollutants saves billions

Clean Energy Wire

By Charlotte Nijhuis | – ( Clean Energy Wire ) – Reducing the environmental damages caused by greenhouse gases, nitrogen emissions, other pollutants and human activities can save Germany billions of euros, the German Federal Environment Agency (UBA) writes. The agency has updated the cost rates of environmental impact to include those for nitrogen and […]

Climate Crisis

Climate activists mount utility strike to urge the shutdown of New England coal plant

Waging Nonviolence

By Barbara Peterson | – (Waging Nonviolence) – Santa is not the only one giving out coal this year. Climate activists like Johnny Sanchez and Sonja Birthisel in Portland, Maine, recently sent their utility company an envelope of coal instead of payment towards their electric bill. This symbolic act of defiance, organized by the No […]

Climate Crisis

The Caspian Sea, central to Iran & Russia, is set to fall by 9 Yards or more this century – an ecocide is imminent

The Conversation

By Frank Wesselingh and Matteo Lattuada | – Imagine you are on the coast, looking out to sea. In front of you lies 100 metres of barren sand that looks like a beach at low tide with gentle waves beyond. And yet there are no tides. This is what we found when we visited the […]

Environmentalism

Young Muslim women are leading environmental movements grounded in their beliefs

The Conversation

Memona Hossain | – Weeks prior to the lockdowns and closures that came with the COVID-19 pandemic, UN Secretary General António Guterres said 2020 would be a “pivotal year for how we address climate change.” Revamped emission goals were expected from 196 countries, but with international meetings postponed due to the pandemic, the stark reality […]