Environment

Joe Stork Deputy Director, Middle East and North Africa Division (Human Rights Watch ) – Ahmed Mansoor, the United Arab Emirates’ (UAE) best-known human rights defender, has been arbitrarily imprisoned, in isolation, since security forces raided his home just before midnight on March 20, 2017. Local media reported he was arrested and convicted for publishing […]

Agriculture

‘We are gambling with the future of our Planet for the sake of Hamburgers’: Peter Singer on Climate Change

The Conversation

By Peter Singer, Princeton University | – (The Conversation) – I wasn’t aware of climate change until the 1980s — hardly anyone was — and even when we recognised the dire threat that burning fossil fuels posed, it took time for the role of animal production in warming the planet to be understood. Today, though, […]

Afghanistan

It’s Not Just Iran: Conflict over Water Resources is on the Rise as Climate Crisis Grows

Sustainability Times

By Laureen Fagan ( Sustainability Times ) – The clash over water rights led to fighting between Iran and Afghanistan recently, in the latest battle over water resources among neighboring nations—clashes that are expected to become all the more common in hot and arid regions like the Middle East and Africa’s Sahel. At least two […]

Climate Crisis

Greenhouse Gas Emissions are at an all-time High and Earth is Heating up Faster Than Ever

The Conversation

By Piers Forster, University of Leeds | – Greenhouse gas emissions are at an all-time high, with yearly emissions equivalent to 54 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide. Humanity has caused surface temperatures to warm by 1.14°C since the late 1800s – and this warming is increasing at an unprecedented rate of over 0.2°C per decade. […]

Batteries

Using electric water Heaters to store renewable Energy could do the work of 2 million home Batteries – and save us Billions

The Conversation

By David Roche, University of Technology Sydney | – Australia’s energy transition is well under way. Some 3 million households have rooftop solar and sales of medium-sized electric cars are surging. But as we work towards fully electric households powered by renewable energy, have we overlooked a key enabling technology, the humble electric water heater? […]

Climate Crisis

Climate Crisis Is on Track to Push One-Third of Humanity Out of Its Most Livable Environment

ProPublica

By Abrahm Lustgarten | – ( Propublica) – Climate change is remapping where humans can exist on the planet. As optimum conditions shift away from the equator and toward the poles, more than 600 million people have already been stranded outside of a crucial environmental niche that scientists say best supports life. By late this […]

Climate Crisis

Wildfire Smoke can Harm Human Health, Even when the Fire is Distant

The Conversation

By Christopher T. Migliaccio, University of Montana | (The Conversation) – Smoke from more than 100 wildfires burning across Canada has been rolling into North American cities far from the flames. New York City and Detroit were both listed among the five most polluted cities in the world because of the fires on June 7, […]

Climate Crisis

Climate Crisis: North America gets its own Mideast-Style Khamsin, courtesy Freak Canadian Smokestorm

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Not only Toronto in Canada but New York, Washington, D.C. and other cities of the US northeast got a taste of the Middle Eastern Khamsin on Wednesday. Of course, we had our own, North American twist on it, since ours was not a sandstorm but a “smokestorm.” Some 400 wildfires […]

CO2

Carbon Dioxide in our Atmosphere hits High not seen for Millions of Years, threatening Accelerated Global Heating

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) announced Monday that parts per million of carbon dioxide in our planet’s atmosphere averaged 424 ppm in the month of May, reaching a level not seen for millions of years. In May 2022 it was only 421 ppm so this is a tremendous […]