Climate Change
People’s Climate March protests Trump attacks on environment
By Patrick Martin, 1 May 2017
The march's agenda overlapped with that of the April 22 March for Science, but it was more closely tied to the Democratic Party and the trade unions.
New discovery sheds light on the deep roots of the Agricultural Revolution
By Philip Guelpa, 27 March 2017
The discovery of 23,000-year-old tools used to harvest cereal grains in northern Israel adds to our understanding of the processes leading to the development of agriculture.
Death toll rises from Peru’s El Niño flooding
By Cesar Uco, 20 March 2017
The disaster has exposed the inability of the Peruvian government to either prepare for or properly respond to increasingly frequent climatic catastrophes.
Federal employees resist administration attempts to impose media gags
By Bryan Dyne, 3 February 2017
Scientists at various government agencies are concerned that any mention of climate science will be silenced.
Eighteen killed in Mississippi, Georgia as tornadoes descend on southeastern US
By Shelley Connor, 23 January 2017
A system of storms that developed on the Gulf Coast on Saturday has claimed 18 lives, and continued to threaten through Monday morning.
Global temperatures set new highs for third consecutive year
By Bryan Dyne, 20 January 2017
After eight years in which the Obama administration did nothing to address climate change, the incoming Trump government is set to fully deregulate greenhouse gas emissions.
Record climate warming recorded in Australia for 2016
By Patrick Kelly, 12 January 2017
The Australian Bureau of Meteorology detailed several record-breaking temperature anomalies caused by global climate change.
Record-low sea ice as Arctic temperatures soar
By Daniel de Vries, 22 November 2016
Never since satellite monitoring began in the late 1970s has such little ice covered the polar seas this time of year.
State of emergency declared in Maryland suburb after record-breaking flooding kills two
By Nick Barrickman, 3 August 2016
The storm is being called a “1-in-a-1,000-year rain event” by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
El Niño and the acceleration of global warming
By Matthew MacEgan, 1 June 2016
The abnormally warm ocean waters caused by El Niño induce much more extreme weather patterns than normal, including droughts, cyclones, and floods.
SEP candidate challenges Labor, Greens, pseudo-left on climate change, war
By our reporters, 1 June 2016
In addition to outlining the necessary socialist policies required to resolve the climate change crisis, Fulgenzi exposed the pro-war agenda of the Labor Party and the Greens.
Australian election: SEP candidates campaign against war
By our reporters, 31 May 2016
Workers and young people denounced the billions being squandered on the military and the bipartisan assault on education, healthcare and jobs.
Devastation from Alberta wildfire continues to spread
By Roger Jordan, 9 May 2016
While Canadian capitalism has extracted immense riches from the Fort McMurray area, little was spent to counter wildfires despite persistent warnings that they were a major threat.
US blizzard: At least 27 dead, hundreds of thousands without power
By Nick Barrickman and Eric London, 25 January 2016
In the supposedly most advanced country in the world, the ability of storms to bring life to a standstill is an indictment of an economic system devoid of any rational planning.
House Republican committee chairman attacks climate change scientists
By Matthew MacEgan, 12 January 2016
Lamar Smith has issued a subpoena to a group of climate change scientists who have shown that a global warming slowdown has not occurred over the past 15 years.
Australia: Over 100 houses destroyed in Victorian bushfires
By Margaret Rees, 4 January 2016
Victoria has been hit by more than 2,500 bushfires since October but the hottest months, when the most dangerous fires usually occur, are still to come.
The climate crisis and imperialism
By Andre Damon, 16 December 2015
Far from fostering the international collaboration that would be required to reverse climate change, capitalist society is increasingly characterized by xenophobia, international conflict and war.
Paris agreement papers over failure to act on climate change
By Patrick Martin, 14 December 2015
Even in the face of a growing threat to human survival, the leaders of rival capitalist nations are incapable of serious action to combat global warming.
Global warming compounds Atlantic cod fishing industry problems
By John Marion, 8 December 2015
Recent scientific studies point to the effects of global warming on Atlantic cod populations already reduced to historically low sizes by decades of overfishing.
Pacific Island nations “bearing the brunt” of climate change
By John Braddock, 7 December 2015
Rising sea levels and extreme weather events are beginning to destroy Pacific Islands and threaten their existence.
Paris climate talks accomplish nothing to curb global warming
By Daniel de Vries, 5 December 2015
The expected agreement from the summit falls woefully short, even in its ambition, of what is necessary to protect humanity from the worst consequences of a warming planet.
Strongest hurricane ever recorded makes landfall in Mexico
By Evan Blake, 24 October 2015
As of this writing, there have been no reported deaths or injuries from Hurricane Patricia, but many are predicted to perish in the days to come.
Australia, New Zealand reject stronger climate measures at Pacific Islands Forum
By John Braddock, 15 September 2015
Many of the small Pacific Island states are low-lying and particularly vulnerable to the rising sea levels produced by higher global temperatures.
US imperialism and the new race to the Arctic
By Clara Weiss, 2 September 2015
The US is increasingly vehement in its efforts to secure claims in the Arctic, with Obama becoming the first sitting US president to make an official visit to the region.
Obama administration finalizes climate rules
By Daniel de Vries, 6 August 2015
The Clean Power Plan is a signal to Wall Street and the energy giants that their profits bound up with natural gas are safe.
Drought-fed fire hits California’s San Bernardino Mountains
By Adam Mclean, 3 July 2015
The Lake Fire, one of several fires in the US southwest fueled by high temperatures and drought, now covers 30,000 acres.
Atmospheric temperatures rise to record levels as glaciers disintegrate
By Matthew MacEgan, 3 July 2015
Two new reports show that global warming and climate change are becoming larger threats than ever before.
Over 1,100 killed by heat wave in Pakistan
By Sampath Perera, 27 June 2015
The victims have died because of electricity outages, water supply shortages, inadequate healthcare facilities and government indifference.
Study finds that one in six species are in danger of extinction due to climate change
By Philip Guelpa, 25 June 2015
A meta-analysis of 131 earlier studies predicts that widespread species extinctions will occur at an accelerating rate unless measures are taken to reduce global warming.
Record storms, flooding continue to ravage Texas and Oklahoma
By Charles Abelard, 30 May 2015
The response of state and federal authorities has thus far been minimal, leaving thousands of the displaced to fend for themselves.
Two cyclones devastate areas of northern and eastern Australia
By Will Morrow, 28 February 2015
Thousands of people have been left to fend for themselves, with little or no government support, and been forced to turn to charities, friends and family to survive.
Planetary boundaries—a systems approach to the environmental crisis
By Bryan Dyne, 3 February 2015
Environmental degradation by a range of metrics, of which climate change is only one, has the potential for large-scale disruptions of both biological and social life.
US agencies rank 2014 as Earth’s warmest recorded year
By Bryan Dyne, 22 January 2015
The weight of scientific evidence points to the increase of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases in the atmosphere as a result of human activity as the cause.
Australian bushfires underline impact of global climate warming
By Will Morrow, 6 January 2015
Firefighters in South Australia are struggling to control bushfires that have torn through 12,000 hectares of land and destroyed at least 26 homes.
Peru climate change negotiations again dominated by great power rivalries
By Patrick Kelly, 16 December 2014
The failure to take any significant measures to address an escalating environmental crisis sees Lima join the long list of failed UN summits.
Australian “Direct Action” climate plan to reward corporate polluters
By Barry Andrews, 18 November 2014
The scheme is even more of a travesty than the previous Labor government’s carbon tax regime, which also sought to boost business profits.
Climate change behind recent extreme weather conditions
By Matthew MacEgan, 23 October 2014
Data compiled by 91 climate scientists suggests that human-induced climate change has increased the severity and likelihood of extreme weather events in 2013.
Once again, UN climate meeting comes up empty
By Daniel de Vries, 25 September 2014
The leaders of major capitalist countries, including the US, Britain and France, offered nothing more than platitudes and empty pledges about action on global warming.
The impact of climate change—“This is a great injustice”
By our reporters, 22 September 2014
Scientists and students were among those participants at the climate march who spoke with the WSWS.
Climate change marches draw large crowds
By Daniel de Vries, 22 September 2014
Hundreds of thousands of demonstrators took to the streets in New York City to demand action on climate change.
Climate change and the capitalist system
By Patrick Martin, 20 September 2014
This statement will be distributed at a climate change demonstration this weekend in New York City.
The Sixth Extinction by Elizabeth Kolbert
By Philip Guelpa, 31 May 2014
Human-induced climate change and environmental degradation threaten to cause a sixth mass extinction of life on Earth.
Study warns of “unstoppable” West Antarctic ice shelf melting
By Gabriel Black and Evan Blake, 14 May 2014
A study shows that the melting of the West Antarctic ice shelf will raise global sea levels substantially beyond the predictions of the UN.
Heat wave and bush fires engulf southern Australia
By Zac Hambides, 17 January 2014
Fire services are already stretched to the limit by the number and spread of the fires, heightening the danger of a catastrophe.
Nearly a billion ocean-dependent people at risk because of global warming
By Henry Allan and Bryan Dyne, 29 November 2013
A recent study published in PLOS Biology has analyzed the chemical changes in the Earth’s oceans caused by excessive greenhouse gas emissions.
Climate scientists warn of more super-typhoons
By Peter Symonds, 15 November 2013
Global warming raises the chances of more intense storms, such as Super Typhoon Haiyan, which devastated the Philippines.
Australia: Blue Mountains fires ignited by power lines and military exercise
By Richard Phillips, 25 October 2013
The reports cut across the knee-jerk reaction of the corporate media to blame bushfires on “arsonists” and “cigarette-butt flickers.”
The Australian bushfires and the climate change “debate”
By Patrick O’Connor, 25 October 2013
The Greens’ grandstanding over the bushfires is based on the cynical lie that the carbon tax advances a step toward a solution to the climate change crisis.
Australia: “Red October” bushfires continue in New South Wales
By Richard Phillips, 23 October 2013
Fire fighters currently face a 1,500-kilometre fire front in the Blue Mountains, where three large fires are burning out of control.
Australia: Bushfire emergency in New South Wales
By Richard Phillips, 21 October 2013
Residents face the worst fire disaster in over 40 years, with more than 50 bushfires still burning across NSW.
Major bushfires hit Australia’s most populous state
By Richard Phillips, 18 October 2013
Hundreds of homes are feared lost as bushfires rage in areas outside Sydney and the regional cities of Lithgow and Newcastle.
Recent climate change research points to a growing global crisis
By Bryan Dyne, 12 January 2013
Recent climate models show that only a complete reversal of current carbon emission trends, with the target of zero carbon emissions globally, will halt the current global warming trends.
2012 was hottest year recorded in US
By Bryan Dyne, 10 January 2013
The average temperature for the past year was 1 degree Fahrenheit above the previous recorded warmest year.
Doha climate summit concludes without agreement on emission reductions
By Patrick O’Connor, 11 December 2012
The failure of the conference was anticipated by everyone involved and met with widespread indifference on the part of the international media.
Doha conference highlights national divisions over climate change
By Bryan Dyne, 3 December 2012
The Doha 2012 climate conference, which began November 26 and will run through December 7, has been characterized by national divisions and no serious proposals to address climate change.
The growing impact and dangers of global warming
By Bryan Dyne, 27 November 2012
The impact of climate change on all aspects of life has been more concretely analyzed in reports issued over the past decade.
The future study of hurricanes at risk
By Bryan Dyne, 6 November 2012
The end of the current generation of environmental satellites will likely produce a gap lasting up to four years, in which crucial data used in predicting the intensity of hurricanes will not be collected.
Melting of Greenland ice shelf likely caused by global warming
By Bryan Dyne, 2 August 2012
The sudden melting of the Greenland ice shelf is an indicator that global warming is beginning to have a very widespread impact on human life.
Rio+20 climate conference: “An epic failure”
By Nicholas Russo, 28 June 2012
The United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development, which drew to a close in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, last Friday, has been denounced by environmental advocates as a “hoax” and “an epic failure.” Despite already low expectations before the meeting, the summit testifies to the stagnation in global efforts to address the looming climate crisis.
In lead-up to climate summit, scientists issue warning of biosphere collapse
By Nicholas Russo, 12 June 2012
An international group of scientists published a review article in the latest issue of Nature arguing that the human impact on the Earth's biosphere could lead to an ecological disaster in as little as a few generations.
Extreme weather forebodes point-of-no-return for climate change
By Nicholas Russo, 20 April 2012
An unusual heat wave east of the Rocky Mountains has made March 2012 the warmest March on record for the contiguous United States.
Capitalism and the climate change crisis
By Patrick O’Connor, 11 June 2011
Record levels of greenhouse gas emission constitute a damning indictment of the capitalist system.
Evidence of intensifying climate change grows
By Dan Brennan, 26 January 2011
Global surface temperatures for 2010 matched record highs, with the past decade the hottest ever recorded.
Cancún climate negotiations end without agreement on emissions reductions
By Patrick O’Connor, 13 December 2010
United Nations-sponsored climate change negotiations in Cancún, Mexico concluded last Saturday without any agreement between the more than 190 national government delegations on binding carbon emissions reduction targets.
The oil spill and the food web
By Dan Brennan, 30 June 2010
Scientists warn that the Gulf oil disaster threatens to poison organisms at the base of the food chain.
Climate scientists exonerated in hacked emails inquiry
By Chris Talbot, 26 April 2010
An independent inquiry into the conduct of scientists at the Climatic Research Unit (CRU) of the University of East Anglia in Britain has found “absolutely no evidence of any impropriety whatsoever.”
Australia: Opposition leader unveils slush fund for corporate polluters and agribusiness
By Patrick O’Connor, 9 February 2010
Liberal leader Tony Abbott last week released the opposition coalition’s new climate change policy, pledging to establish a multi-billion dollar public fund to be placed at the disposal of the largest corporate polluters and agribusiness interests.
Marxism, socialism and climate change
By Nick Beams, 22 December 2009
The problems of climate change are so profound and far-reaching that they require the rational mobilisation of all available economic, material, scientific and technical resources, something that is only possible only under socialism.
Climate change, emissions trading schemes and the profit system
By Patrick O’Connor, 21 December 2009
Public meetings called by the WSWS and the Socialist Equality Party (Australia) in Sydney and Melbourne last week exposed the real agenda behind emissions trading schemes and the official climate change “debate”. The following is the report delivered by WSWS writer Patrick O’Connor.
Australian SEP meetings discuss socialism, climate change and emissions trading schemes
By our reporters, 19 December 2009
Public meetings in Sydney and Melbourne this week exposed the real agenda behind emissions trading schemes and the official climate change “debate”.
World climate conference: Conflict outside and inside Copenhagen meeting
By Patrick Martin, 17 December 2009
Danish police battled demonstrators outside the world climate conference in Copenhagen, while inside the delegates of the imperialist powers, China, India and dozens of less developed countries clashed over conflicting proposals to deal with pollution caused by industrialization, deforestation and the burning of fossil fuels.
Ireland suffers widespread flooding
By Jordan Shilton, 8 December 2009
Thousands of people were forced from their homes across Ireland last month after torrential rain caused severe flooding.
Copenhagen Climate Summit: The gulf between rhetoric and reality
By Peter Symonds, 7 December 2009
Even before the climate summit begins today in Copenhagen, the goal of a legally binding international treaty to limit greenhouse gas emissions has been ruled out.
Global climate diagnosis worsening
By Peter Symonds, 7 December 2009
An international group of leading climate scientists has updated the 2007 IPCC report based on the substantial body of scientific research published over the past three years. Their conclusions not only confirm the trends reported in 2007, but in a number of key areas exceed previous expectations.
Australia: Bipartisan carbon trading deal transfers $6 billion from households to corporate polluters
By Patrick O’Connor, 26 November 2009
The final terms of the government’s so-called Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme—set to be approved by parliament this week and to commence operations in 2011—underscore that the mechanism has nothing to do with protecting the environment, but is driven by the interests of corporate Australia.
Severe dust storm hits Australian coastal cities
By Alex Safari, 29 September 2009
A huge dust storm blanketed large areas of Australia’s southeastern coast last Wednesday, covering cities and towns in the states of New South Wales and Queensland, before moving out to sea towards New Zealand.
Australian government announces more pro-business concessions on carbon trading
By Patrick O’Connor, 15 May 2009
Labor Prime Minister Kevin Rudd last week announced a series of changes to his government’s carbon emissions trading scheme, including additional public subsidies to the major polluters and a one year postponement of the scheme’s start-up date.
Antarctic ice shelf collapse: climate change and capitalism
By Patrick O'Connor, 8 April 2009
The disintegration of a 40-kilometre ice bridge connecting the Wilkins Ice Shelf to the Antarctic Peninsula is another indicator of the threat posed by climate change.
Australian Labor government’s 2020 carbon emissions target: a declaration of impotence on climate change
By Patrick O’Connor, 23 December 2008
The Labor government’s target of reducing greenhouse gas emissions to 5 percent below their level in the year 2000 by 2020 constitutes an admission that it has no effective solution to the climate change crisis.
Australia: Climate change, the Garnaut report, and the profit system
By Patrick O’Connor, 17 September 2008
The Labor government’s Garnaut Climate Change Review has effectively concluded that within the existing international political and social framework, dangerous and potentially irreversible global warming is inevitable.
US: White House suppressed climate change testimony
By Shannon Jones, 10 July 2008
A former official with the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has alleged that Vice President Dick Cheney intervened to alter testimony to Congress about the potential health and safety dangers posed by greenhouse gases.
The EU strengthens “Fortress Europe” against migration due to climate change
By Ajay Prakash and Antoine Lerougetel, 7 May 2008
The European Union is responding to the present and projected catastrophic effects of climate change on the most vulnerable populations of the world, and their inevitable migration in order to survive, with an intensification of already draconian anti-immigration controls.
Australia: Rudd government rejects emission targets in official climate change report
By Patrick O’Connor, 14 March 2008
Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has dismissed key sections of an interim climate change report released last month by Professor Ross Garnaut, in particular the assessment that Australian carbon emissions may need to be cut by 90 percent or more. The response highlights the Rudd government’s hypocrisy on global warming, which was a major feature of Labor’s campaign in last November’s federal election.
Hawaii climate change summit ends without agreement on emission cuts
By Patrick O’Connor, 5 February 2008
Rivalries between the world’s major powers have again dominated a major international climate change summit, with a two-day meeting in Hawaii producing no agreement on greenhouse gas emissions targets. No concrete measures were announced aside from a schedule for further discussions later this year.
Bali climate conference ends in farce as US vetoes emission targets
By Patrick O’Connor, 17 December 2007
The UN-sponsored climate change conference held on the Indonesian island of Bali ended on the weekend without any agreement on combatting global warming other than vague generalities. A last-minute, face-saving communiqué was issued but, at the insistence of the Bush administration and its allies, it made no mention of specific carbon emission reduction targets. The UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) had recommended a cut in carbon emissions of 25 to 40 percent in the advanced industrial countries by 2020 and a total world emissions reduction of 50 percent by 2050.
Bush administration isolated at Bali climate conference
By Patrick Martin, 14 December 2007
The two-week UN-sponsored conference on climate change on the Indonesian island of Bali has been dominated by the intransigence of the Bush administration and the mounting conflicts among the great powers, particularly between the United States and the European Union.
Australia: Labor government moves to ratify Kyoto Protocol ahead of Bali climate change conference
By Patrick O’Connor, 8 December 2007
On Monday, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd signed the instrument of ratification of the Kyoto Protocol on climate change. This move—which marks the first step in the formal ratification process that will see Australia become a full Kyoto member by March 2008—was heralded in a Rudd press release as the “first official act of the new Australian government, demonstrating my government’s commitment to tackling climate change”.
Climate change, Kyoto, and carbon trading
Part 1: The Howard government and the Kyoto Protocol
By Patrick O’Connor and Alex Safari (SEP candidates for Grayndler and Kingsford Smith), 7 November 2007
The following is the first of a two-part series. Part 2 will be published tomorrow, Thursday November 8.
Reports show impact of climate change in Africa
By Barry Mason, 18 July 2007
A recent news item on Britain’s Independent Television News by Martin Geissler highlighted the impact of climate change on sub-Saharan Africa. He reported from Lesotho, a country of less than two million people, which forms an enclave within South Africa.
G8 summit: Climate compromise masks mounting conflicts
By Peter Schwarz, 9 June 2007
The 3,500 reporters and photographers who travelled to the G8 summit in Heiligendamm, Germany, have accomplished their assigned mission. The world has been inundated with reports of progress and idyllic photos: Bush, Merkel and Putin sitting relaxed and chatting in beach chairs; Sarkozy and Blair talking over a glass of beer; a harmonious walk on the beach of the picturesque resort by all of the world leaders.
Climate change seen as “security threat” by UN Security Council, US military experts
By Naomi Spencer, 24 April 2007
On April 17, the United Nations Security Council held its first-ever discussion on climate change as a serious threat to security and future political stability. In addition to the 15 council member states in attendance, 38 other UN member countries sent representatives to speak. Although no action was taken at the meeting’s conclusion, its very convocation reveals growing uneasiness within the world’s ruling powers about social unrest that would come with global warming.
Despite interference from US and other countries
Climate change report outlines dire impact of global warming
By Mark Rainer, 10 April 2007
On April 6, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released the Working Group II Summary for Policy Makers from its report on “Climate Change Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability.”
Congressional hearings detail political tampering in US climate research
By Naomi Spencer, 22 March 2007
Hearings resumed March 19 in the US Congress on charges of political interference in governmental climate research. The evidence and testimony further demonstrate the lengths the Bush administration, at the behest of the oil industry, has gone to suppress scientists’ findings and confuse public opinion of climate change.
The NSW state elections and the climate change debate
By the Patrick O’Connor, SEP candidate for Marrickville and NSW (Australia), 9 March 2007
The following comment by Socialist Equality Party candidate Patrick O’Connor was distributed to a local candidates forum convened by the Climate Action Now group in Marrickville. O’Connor was one of four candidates contesting the inner-Sydney seat in the March 24 New South Wales election who addressed the meeting. Others speakers were Carmel Tebbutt, the current Labor member for Marrickville, Fiona Byrne for the Greens and Pip Hinman from Socialist Alliance.
Scientists report rampant political interference in climate research
By Naomi Spencer, 5 February 2007
As the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change issued its urgent assessment Friday, providing alarming information about the advanced state of global warming, Washington immediately moved to downplay the US contribution.
Australian television program highlights censorship of climate scientists
By Frank Gaglioti, 17 April 2006
An Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) program entitled “The Greenhouse Mafia”, which appeared in February on the “Four Corners” television series, highlighted the Australian government’s censorship of eminent scientists studying climate change and its subservience to business interests that are heavily dependent on fossil fuels. Scientists from the state-funded Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) were specifically prohibited from discussing the potentially devastating consequences of governments’ failure to reduce greenhouse gases.
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