Tag: ecology

600 million metric tons of plastic may fill Earth’s oceans by 2036 without immediate action

As the private transportation sector shifts focus to batteries, biofuels, and green hydrogen, fossil fuel stakeholders have been seeking new avenues of revenue in the petrochemical industry in general, and in plastics in particular. That’s bad news for a world already swimming – literally – in plastic pollution. Product manufacturers and other upstream forces could reverse… Read More 600 million metric tons of plastic may fill Earth’s oceans by 2036 without immediate action

Dilip

Climate Crisis and the Age of the Super-Typhoon: Storms batter, flood Puerto Rico, Pakistan, Japan and Shanghai

JUAN COLE A mere category 1 hurricane dumped so much water on Puerto Rico so quickly that one of its rivers has swollen to 25 feet above normal, even more than it rose during Hurricane Maria in 2017, which was a Category 5 hurricane. The island is beset by flash floods, and is getting 16-30 inches… Read More Climate Crisis and the Age of the Super-Typhoon: Storms batter, flood Puerto Rico, Pakistan, Japan and Shanghai

Dilip

The Greenland ice sheet is losing ice faster than forecast and now committed to at least 10 inches of sea level rise

Alun Hubbard I’m standing at the edge of the Greenland ice sheet, mesmerized by a mind-blowing scene of natural destruction. A milewide section of glacier front has fractured and is collapsing into the ocean, calving an immense iceberg. Seracs, giant columns of ice the height of three-story houses, are being tossed around like dice. And… Read More The Greenland ice sheet is losing ice faster than forecast and now committed to at least 10 inches of sea level rise

Dilip

Reasons for (cautious) optimism: the good news on the climate crisis

Adam Morton There is no shortage of things to say about what’s going wrong. The extent of damage caused at 1.2C of global heating since pre-industrial levels is proving greater than was forecast by climate scientists not that long ago. As discussed last week, the disastrous toll of the historic flooding in Pakistan and heatwaves and droughts… Read More Reasons for (cautious) optimism: the good news on the climate crisis

Dilip

Karl Marx in the Anthropocene: the post-capitalist, green manifesto captivating Japan

Justin McCurry  “It is broadly about what’s going on in the world … about the climate crisis and what we should do about it,” Saito said in an interview with the Guardian. “I advocate for degrowth and going beyond capitalism.” Kohei Saito’s book Capital in the Anthropocene has become an unlikely hit among young people… Read More Karl Marx in the Anthropocene: the post-capitalist, green manifesto captivating Japan

Dilip

Large parts of Amazon may never recover, major study says

Andrew Downie Environmental destruction in parts of the Amazon is so complete that swathes of the rainforest have reached tipping point and might never be able to recover, a major study carried out by scientists and Indigenous organisations has found. “The tipping point is not a future scenario but rather a stage already present in… Read More Large parts of Amazon may never recover, major study says

Dilip

‘We’re going to pay in a big way’: a shocking new book on the climate crisis

In An Inconvenient Apocalypse, authors Wes Jackson and Robert Jensen style themselves as heralds of some very bad news: societal collapse on a global scale is inevitable, and those who manage to survive the mass death and crumbling of the world as we know it will have to live in drastically transformed circumstances. According to… Read More ‘We’re going to pay in a big way’: a shocking new book on the climate crisis

Dilip

Flooding has devastated Pakistan – and Britain’s imperial legacy has made it worse

Shozab Raza Devastating flooding in Pakistan has killed more than 1,100 people this summer, injuring and displacing thousands more. Among Pakistan’s political elite, some have claimed that the floods are simply a natural disaster, while others blame climate breakdown. But both groups have failed to address another crucial factor: empire. Pakistan gained its independence from the British empire… Read More Flooding has devastated Pakistan – and Britain’s imperial legacy has made it worse

Dilip

Germany’s €9 train tickets scheme ‘saved 1.8m tons of CO2 emissions’

Kate Connolly  Germany’s three-month experiment with €9 tickets for a month’s unlimited travel on regional train networks, trams and buses saved about 1.8m tons of CO2 emissions, it has been claimed. Since its introduction on 1 June to cut fuel consumption and relieve a cost of living crisis, about 52m tickets have been sold, a fifth… Read More Germany’s €9 train tickets scheme ‘saved 1.8m tons of CO2 emissions’

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