Mass Extinction

By Shuang-Ye Wu, University of Dayton | – National weather analysts released their 2023 billion-dollar disasters list on Jan. 9, just as 2024 was getting off to a ferocious start. A blizzard was sweeping across across the Plains and Midwest, and the South and East faced flood risks from extreme downpours. The U.S. set an […]

Biodiversity

Climate Change is Further reducing Fish Stocks with Worrisome Implications for Global Food Supplies

The Conversation

By Stefanie Colombo, Dalhousie University and Aaron MacNeil, Dalhousie University | – The health benefits of eating seafood are appreciated in many cultures which rely upon it to provide critical nutrients vital to our physical and mental development and health. Eating fish and shellfish provides significant benefits to neurological development and functioning and provides protection […]

Climate Crisis

Climate Tipping Points are Nearer than you Think — Our New Report Warns of Catastrophic Risk

The Conversation

By James Dyke, University of Exeter and David Armstrong McKay, Stockholm University | – It’s now almost inevitable that 2023 will be the warmest year ever recorded by humans, probably the warmest for at least 125,000 years. Multiple temperature records were smashed with global average temperatures for some periods well above 1.5°C. Antarctic sea ice […]

Climate Crisis

COP28: A Billion Lives will be lost by 2100 without these Top Seven Climate Policies

The Conversation

By Joshua M. Pearce, Western University | – In a recent review of more than 180 peer-reviewed articles — which I conducted with fellow researcher Richard Parncutt — we found that a scientific consensus has formed around the so-called 1,000-ton rule. The 1,000-ton rule states that a person is killed every time humanity burns 1,000 […]

Climate Crisis

Corals are starting to Bleach as Global Ocean Temperatures hit Record Highs

The Conversation

By Ian Enochs, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration | – The water off South Florida is over 90 degrees Fahrenheit (32 Celsius) in mid-July, and scientists are already seeing signs of coral bleaching off Central and South America. Particularly concerning is how early in the summer we are seeing these high ocean temperatures. If the […]

Climate Crisis

We Need to Decarbonize our Electricity, and Quickly — the Good News is that Green Energy is Practical and Brings Economic Benefits

The Conversation

By John Quiggin, The University of Queensland | – We use energy in everything we do, but few of us understand it properly. Much of the time this doesn’t matter. We can flick a light switch or turn the ignition key in a car, knowing the technology will work whether we understand it or not. […]

Biodiversity

Ecological Failure-Loops: Why Ecosystem Collapses may occur much sooner than Expected – New Research

The Conversation

By John Dearing, University of Southampton; Gregory Cooper, University of Sheffield; and Simon Willcock, Bangor University | – Across the world, rainforests are becoming savanna or farmland, savanna is drying out and turning into desert, and icy tundra is thawing. Indeed, scientific studies have now recorded “regime shifts” like these in more than 20 different […]

Biodiversity

Antarctica’s Emperor Penguins could be Extinct by 2100 – and other Species may follow if we don’t act

The Conversation

By Jasmine Lee, Queensland University of Technology; Iadine Chadès, CSIRO; and Justine Shaw, The University of Queensland | Greater conservation efforts are needed to protect Antarctic ecosystems, and the populations of up to 97% of land-based Antarctic species could decline by 2100 if we don’t change tack, our new research has found. The study, published […]

Brazil

At COP27, Lula puts Brazil at Forefront of Climate Battle, vows to stop Destruction of Amazon Rainforest

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The president-elect of Brazil, Luiz Inácio Lula Da Silva, addressed the COP27 climate summit in Egypt on Wednesday, announcing that “Brazil is back.” He said, “Ladies and gentlemen, I am here today to say that Brazil is ready to join again in efforts to build a healthier planet, a fairer […]