“We are now in truly uncharted territory and as the climate keeps warming, we are bound to see new records being broken in future months and years,” one expert said. July 21 was Earth’s hottest day on record, overtaking the record set last July during the hottest year in millennia. The European Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) found that Continue reading »
climate
The Ted Talk: Not reading the room? Chutzpah? Or maybe the Opposition energy spokesman Ted O’Brien was simply unaware that he wasn’t speaking to the local town hall meeting, Sky after Dark or the Institute of Public Affairs. O’Brien’s pro-nuclear narrative in his presentation to the Australian Clean Energy Summit on Wednesday was no surprise. Continue reading »
If leading central banks can grow their balance sheets by billions of dollars during the pandemic, they can do the same to fight global warming. Last year was the hottest summer on record and, while this summer is not over yet, it feels like it will break last year’s record. My air-conditioning bill has gone up because Continue reading »
The living, not our forebears, have put most of the CO2 into the atmosphere. Substituting wood for coal in power stations doesn’t reduce CO2 emissions. A little warmth helps bell frogs fight chytrid fungus. Wood for coal trick The national delegates at the Glasgow COP meeting in late 2022 agreed to ‘phase down unabated coal Continue reading »
Summers right across the northern hemisphere are getting hotter but vegetation can lower the temperature locally. Macaques show humans how to cope with hotter conditions. Poor progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals. Northern summers are getting hotter Sometimes a picture is worth a thousand words, even if not all the details are clear (the axes Continue reading »
The world’s geopolitical system is not delivering what we want or need. Sustainable development is our declared goal, meaning economic prosperity, social justice, environmental sustainability, and peace. Yet our reality is continued poverty amidst plenty, widening inequalities, deepening environmental crises, and war. To get back on track, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres has wisely called Continue reading »
Big banks keep providing big money to fossil fuel companies but it’s time for the Global North to invest for the future and pay its historic climate debt to the Global South. Diminishing Sagebrush is threatening the USA’s Greater sage-grouse. Bankers banking on fossil fuels Fossil fuel companies keep digging up coal, oil and gas Continue reading »
When a baby born on April 1, 2023 reached 14 months and became a toddler this month, it had never lived through a month that wasn’t the hottest on record. The National Atmospheric and Oceanic Agency has announced that May 2024 was the hottest May on record. But even more worrisome, it was the 14th consecutive hottest Continue reading »
Bottled water is not good for the environment or your health. If you eat meat, eating less is good for both. Governments are unreliable protectors of forests and human rights (but you knew that already). Bottled water, an unnecessary luxury The global market for bottled water has expanded enormously in recent decades – 73% in Continue reading »
We take nature and biodiversity for granted. Nonhuman life is like a backdrop — we don’t pay much attention to it. This is a mistake. Nature provides all our needs and wants. It provides resources, services, and economic, mental, and physical benefits vital for human survival. Protecting the natural world is an investment in our Continue reading »