Europe – Page 18 – Desdemona Despair

A woman weeps in front of a residential building that was damaged during the Russian invasion of Ukraine in the separatist-controlled town of Volnovakha in the Donetsk region, Ukraine, 11 March 2022. Alexander Ermochenko / REUTERS

March 12, 2022

Russia invasion in “world’s breadbasket” threatens global food supply – Number of undernourished people could increase by 8 to 13 million in 2022-2023 – “Wars mean shortages, and shortages mean price hikes”

By Frances D’Emilio 11 March 2022 ROME (AP) – Poorer countries in northern Africa, Asia, and the Middle East that depend heavily on wheat imports risk suffering significant food insecurity because of Russia’s war in Ukraine, and the conflict is poised to drive up already soaring food prices in much of the world, the U.N. food agency […]

Map showing no-contest elections, coups, and power grabs globally in 2021. Numbers indicate score declines for events in 2021, on a 100-point scale, in the 2022 edition of the “Freedom in the World” report. Coups were more common in 2021 than in any of the previous 10 years. Graphic: Freedom House

March 11, 2022

The global expansion of authoritarian rule – “The present threat to democracy is the product of 16 consecutive years of decline in global freedom”

By Sarah Repucci and Amy Slipowitz 24 February 2022 (Freedom House) – Global freedom faces a dire threat. Around the world, the enemies of liberal democracy—a form of self-government in which human rights are recognized and every individual is entitled to equal treatment under law—are accelerating their attacks. Authoritarian regimes have become more effective at […]

German language posts (top) and French language posts (bottom) containing antisemitic content, 1 January 2020 - 8 March 2021. German language posts are shown only for Telegram, because the numbers of antisemitic posts on Facebook and Twitter and were low and constant. In France, the huge increase in antisemitic posts during the pandemic occurred almost entirely on Twitter. Graphic: EU

January 27, 2022

World remembers Holocaust as antisemitism rises in pandemic – “The pandemic has acted like an accelerant”

By Vanessa Gera and Samuel Petrequin 27 January 2022 WARSAW, Poland (AP) – Survivors recalled their agony to a world they fear is forgetting, Israel’s parliamentary speaker wept in the German parliament and politicians warned of a resurgence of antisemitism on Thursday’s International Holocaust Remembrance Day. The day falls on the anniversary of the liberation […]

Cumulative global insured losses by peril in 2021. Aggregated costs for insurers have been largely dominated by the Tropical Cyclone and Severe Weather perils this century. The two perils combined for more than $1 trillion, or 60 percent of the total cumulative industry losses, of which roughly 74 percent was incurred in the United States. The Severe Convective Storm peril has also increasingly separated itself as accounting for the highest number of billion-dollar events. Graphic: Aon

January 27, 2022

Aon: 2021 was third costliest year on record for weather and climate-related events – Germany, Belgium, Austria, Luxembourg, and China recorded the costliest insurance industry events on record

CHICAGO, 25 January 2022 (Aon) – Aon plc (NYSE: AON), a leading global professional services firm, today published its 2021 Weather, Climate and Catastrophe Insight, which evaluates the increasing frequency and severity of disruptive natural disasters and how their resulting economic losses are protected globally. This data serves as the foundation for insights that can help […]

Police use water cannons against anti-vaccination protesters during a demonstration against COVID-19 measures in Brussels, Belgium, 23 January 2022. Photo: AP Photo

January 26, 2022

“I’ll Kill You!”: Anti-vaxxer attacks doctor in Bulgaria – Brussels police clash with anti-vaccination protesters – Rioters attack Guadeloupe hospital staff – Cornwall judge jails anti-vaxxer who called in bomb threats to school and vaccine health centers

23 January 2022 (VOA News) – Police in Brussels fired water cannon and clouds of tear gas at 50,000 protesters demonstrating Sunday against COVID-19 vaccinations and restrictions European authorities are imposing to try to contain the fast-spreading omicron variant of the coronavirus. Some of the protesters came from France, Germany, and other countries, shouting “Liberty!” […]

Map showing natural catastrophe loss event worldwide in 2021. In 2021, natural disasters caused overall losses of $280 billion, of which roughly $120 billion were insured. Alongside 2005 and 2011, the year 2021 proved to be the second-costliest ever for the insurance sector (record year 2017: $146 billion, inflation-adjusted) – overall losses from natural disasters were the fourth-highest to date (record year 2011: $355 billion). Graphic: Munich Re

January 13, 2022

For the insurance industry, 2021 was the second-highest loss year on record, after 2017 – “The 2021 disaster statistics are striking because some of the extreme weather events are of the kind that are likely to become more frequent or more severe as a result of climate change”

10 January 2022 (Munich Re) – Worldwide, natural disasters caused substantially higher losses in 2021 than in the two previous years. Based on provisional data, storms, floods, wildfires, and earthquakes destroyed assets worth US$ 280bn. Losses in the previous year amounted to US$ 210bn, while in 2019 they were US$ 166bn. Roughly US$ 120bn of […]

Global greenhouse gas emissions, 1990-2020. The reduction in emissions in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic and global recession was 10 times greater than the impact on emissions from the 2008 global financial crisis. Graphic: Rhodium Group

January 9, 2022

Global greenhouse gas reduction in 2020 from pandemic and global recession “was 10 times greater than the impact on emissions from the 2008 global financial crisis”

By Alfredo Rivera, Shweta Movalia, Hannah Pitt, and Kate Larsen 23 December 2021 (Rhodium Group) – Understanding annual trends in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions is a critical input for decision-makers in their efforts to reach net-zero emissions, whether is at the national, state, city, or corporate levels. Tracking emissions of the 190+ Parties to the […]

Number of flights performed by the global airline industry, 2004-2022. The value for 2022 is a forecast. Figures prior to 2016 were taken from previous reports. 2021 figure was estimated. Graphic: Statista

January 7, 2022

Near-empty flights crisscross Europe to secure landing slots – “The EU surely is in a climate emergency mode”

By Raf Casert 6 January 2022 BRUSSELS (AP) – Europe’s sky is filling up with near-empty polluting planes that serve little other purpose than safeguarding airlines’ valuable time slots at some of the world’s most important airports. The highly contagious omicron variant of COVID-19 has put many off flying, and because of it, getting people and goods […]

Journalist George Monbiot weeps over the enormity of the climate crisis during an interview on “Good Morning Britain”, 18 November 2021. In a column on 4 January 2022, he wrote, “I tried, for the thousandth time, to explain what we are facing, and suddenly couldn’t hold it in any longer.” Photo: ITV / Insulate Britain / YouTube

January 6, 2022

Monbiot: Watching “Don’t Look Up” made my whole life of climate campaigning flash before me – “It’s very hard to talk about it without crying, because it’s the end of everything”

By George Monbiot 4 January 2022 (The Guardian) – No wonder journalists have slated it. They’ve produced a hundred excuses not to watch the climate breakdown satire, Don’t Look Up: it’s “blunt”, it’s “shrill”, it’s “smug”. But they will not name the real problem: it’s about them. The movie is, in my view, a powerful […]

The village of Aceredo, in Galicia, Spain on 22 November 2021, after it emerged from years of being underwater. Aceredo was one of five villages that were inundated when the Lindoso Reservoir was built in 1992. Record drought in Spain reduced the reservoir’s water to its lowest level since it was filled. Photo: Miguel Riopa / AFP

December 24, 2021

Drought reveals abandoned Spanish village after 30 years underwater – Lindoso Reservoir level drops to record low

2 December 2021 (Love Exploring) – We’re used to reports that climate change will soon plunge the world’s beloved landmarks underwater. But this curious Spanish village has an opposite story: once engulfed by water, it recently re-emerged due to extremely low rainfall. Read on to discover the fascinating tale – plus see more amazing photos […]