The deadly effects of ideological extremism in the Middle East for the past few decades have caused governments and journalists to focus on it. The Arabic word is al-taṭarruf. I was interested, however, to see the word put to a different purpose in a Sky News Arabia article , where it is used to refer to extremely high temperatures in the heat wave currently gripping Iraq, of 122°F (50°C ) and even 125.6°F (52°C ). The article refers to “climate extremism.”

The rest of the article focuses on a civil society organization, the Green Observatory, which argues that some of Iraq’s urban heat problem comes from all the black and brown colors of city environments, and these should be painted over with white and sky blue. Some American cities, such as Los Angeles, have already experimented with painting asphalt white. Phoenix, one of the hottest cities in North America in the summer, has experimented with painting them with a gray reflective paint…..

https://www.juancole.com/2023/08/mideast-extremism-lockdown.html

Severe Consequences of new Oil, Gas and Coal Production

The world has just suffered through its warmest month ever recorded. Heatwaves have swept across southern Europe, the US and China, breaking many temperature records in the process. Climate scientists have been sounding the alarm for decades that this type of event will become more frequent as the world continues to warm. The major culprit behind this is the burning of fossil fuels. So it’s extremely concerning that the UK government has announced its intention to grant hundreds of licences for new North Sea oil and gas extraction.

Although burning fossil fuels to generate power and heat has enabled society to develop and flourish, we are now experiencing the unintended side effects. The carbon dioxide that has been added to the atmosphere is leading to a rise in global temperatures, causing heatwaves to become hotter and downpours more intense. The resulting large-scale disruption and suffering is becoming ever more visible… https://www.juancole.com/2023/08/science-consequences-production.html