Environment

Tampa (AFP) – Planet-warming greenhouse gases surged to new highs as abnormally hot temperatures swept the globe and ice melted at record levels in the Arctic last year due to climate change, a major US report said Wednesday. The annual State of the Climate Report, compiled by more than 450 scientists from over 60 countries, […]

Climate Change

Global Heat Wave made Twice as Likely by Humans Burning Coal, Oil & Gas

Juan Cole

You’ve seen the headlines. Dozens of people dead in Japan of heat stroke. Massive forest fires raging in Sweden. Dozens dead in Athens from wildfires. Record temperatures in Oman and Algeria. The world is suffering from heat waves on four continents all at once. Marina Pitofsky notes, “In the past 30 days, there have been […]

Climate Change

Is America Sclerotic or still Youthful Enough to take on Imperial Presidency and Climate Change?

Tom Engelhardt

There was a period in my later life when I used to say that, from the age of 20 to my late sixties, I was always 40 years old; I was, that is, an old young man and a young old one. Tell that to my legs now. Of course, there’s nothing faintly strange in […]

Climate Change

Climate: Desertification degrades 30 mn Acres a Year when we Need 70% more Food

The Conversation

By Andrew Slaughter | – Saskatoon (The Conversation) – A growing human population and runaway consumption are putting unsustainable pressures on the natural resources we depend on for survival. Our misuse and abuse of land and water is changing fertile land into deserts. The word “desertification” conjures up images of the spread of existing deserts, […]

Climate Change

Expanding ‘Dead Zone’ in Arabian Sea raises Climate Change Fears

Alison Tahmizian Meuse

Abu Dhabi (AFP) – In the waters of the Arabian Sea, a vast “dead zone” the size of Scotland is expanding and scientists say climate change may be to blame. In his lab in Abu Dhabi, Zouhair Lachkar is labouring over a colourful computer model of the Gulf of Oman, showing changing temperatures, sea levels […]

Environmentalism

Ireland To Become First Country to Divest From Fossil Fuels

TeleSur

“Countries the world over must now urgently follow Ireland’s lead and divest from fossil fuels,” said Gerry Liston at Global Legal Action Network. Ireland’s lower house of parliament has passed a bill across party lines that will require the country to divest all of its shares in fossil fuel companies. All investments in coal, oil, […]

Featured

Will the Price of Oil Collapse within a Decade, Driven off Cliff by Electric Vehicles?

Juan Cole

One of the reasons that Saudi Arabia’s plans for an Initial Public Offering (IPO) on its ARAMCO oil have not actually materialized is that investors are not dummies. Saudi Arabia’s oil is an asset with no future value, and the future in which its price collapses is nearer than the oil companies think. (I would […]

Pollution

Scandal-Ridden EPA Chief who favored Polluters Resigns in Favor of Coal Baron

Jerome Cartillier

Washington (AFP) – US President Donald Trump on Thursday announced the departure of his environment chief, Scott Pruitt, who faced ever-growing ethics scandals over his spending and conduct in office. “I have accepted the resignation of Scott Pruitt as the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency,” tweeted the president, ending months of speculation about the […]

Health

Burning Fossil fuels Even Causes Diabetes! Air Pollution and Blood Glucose

AFP

Paris (AFP) – Air pollution caused one in seven new cases of diabetes in 2016, according to a US study, which found even low levels raised the chances of developing the chronic disease. Diabetes has primarily been associated with lifestyle factors like diet and a sedentary lifestyle, but research by the Washington University School of […]