The location of climate tipping elements in the cryosphere (blue), biosphere (green) and ocean/atmosphere (orange), and global warming levels their tipping points will likely be triggered at 1.5°C. Researchers see signs of destabilisation already in parts of the West Antarctic and Greenland ice sheets, in permafrost regions, the Amazon rainforest, and potentially the Atlantic overturning circulation as well. Graphic: Earth Commission / Globaïa

World at risk of passing multiple climate tipping points above 1.5°C global warming

8 September 2022 (Stockholm Resilience Centre) – Multiple climate tipping points could be triggered if global temperature rises beyond 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels, according to a major new analysis published in the journal Science. Even at current levels of global heating the world is already at risk of passing five dangerous climate tipping points, and risks […]

Women carry belongings salvaged from their flooded home after monsoon rains, in the Qambar Shahdadkot district of Sindh Province, of Pakistan, 6 September 2022. The war in Ukraine, the lingering coronavirus pandemic and climate change are putting intense pressure on the world's poorest, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development warned. Photo: Fareed Khan / AP Photo

OECD: Russia war, COVID virus, and climate hurting world’s poorest – “We are in an era defined by multiple crises, shocks, and uncertainty″

By Paul Wiseman 19 September 2022 WASHINGTON (AP) – Russia’s war against Ukraine, the lingering coronavirus pandemic and the damage of climate change are putting intense pressure on the world’s poorest, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development warned Monday. [States of Fragility 2022 –Des] The Paris-based OECD reported that 60 states, territories and locations […]

Aerial view of Venezuelan migrants in Atacama desert. Photo: Gema Cortes / IOM

Hypothermia, dehydration, and 5,000 km on foot: Venezuelan migrants risk their lives for a better future – “It was the first time we experienced cold weather”

17 September 2022 (IOM) – Venezuelans desperate to leave the economic crisis in their country are risking their lives in the hope of a better future, braving extreme weather, border crossing, and bandits along the way. Jhonny, 26, along with his pregnant wife, Cribsel, 19, sits with their two children at a migrant reception centre […]

Map showing drought and famine prediction priority areas in Somalia by district, 31 August 2022. Famine is projected in Baidoa and Burhakaba districts, Bay region, during October-December 2022 unless life-saving assistance is urgently ramped up to reach the people most in need. About 7.8 million Somalis have been affected by the worst drought in four decades, with more than 1 million displaced by drought including nearly 99,000 in August Graphic: OCHA

Humanitarian organizations estimate one person dying of hunger every four seconds – “It is abysmal that with all the technology in agriculture and harvesting techniques today, we are still talking about famine in the 21st century”

20 September 2022 (Al Jazeera) – One person is estimated to be dying of hunger every four seconds, more than 200 NGOs have warned, urging decisive international action to “end the spiralling global hunger crisis”. In an open letter addressing world leaders gathering in New York for the United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday, 238 organisations from […]

Satellite view of Hurricane Fiona at 1 p.m. on Monday, 19 September 2022. Photo: NOAA

Hurricane Fiona unleashes “catastrophic” damage, Puerto Rico governor says

By Arelis R. Hernández, Jason Samenow, Praveena Somasundaram, and Reis Thebault 19 September 2022 (The Washington Post) – Puerto Rican Gov. Pedro Pierluisi said Monday that Hurricane Fiona has caused “catastrophic” destruction in urban areas, killing at least one person and leaving nearly the entire island archipelago without power. The slow-moving Category 1 storm could drop upward […]

Number of U.S. real estate parcels with any area below boundary tideline in 2050 by state. Graphic: Climate Central

Rising seas threaten U.S. tax bases as private property falls below tidelines – Tidal flooding to swamp $34 billion in real estate within 30 years

PRINCETON, N.J., 8 September 2022 (Climate Central) – New analysis from Climate Central quantifies the risk of sea level rise to the tax bases of hundreds of coastal counties across 24 states and Washington, D.C. as more land falls beneath the tideline. By 2100 more than 1 million properties with a combined assessed value exceeding $108 billion are projected to be […]

Sadness, Stress, and Worry scores for Afghanistan, 2008-2021. In 2021, Sadness, Stress and Worry hit record-high Levels in Afghanistan. Graphic: Gallup

Who are the unhappiest people in the world? In Afghanistan and Lebanon, more people live in misery than anywhere else on the planet

By Julie Ray 8 September 2022 (Gallup) – Unhappiness continued to rise worldwide in 2021, as the world overall became a sadder, more worried and more stressed-out place. But in two countries — Afghanistan and Lebanon — more people were living in misery than anywhere else on the planet. Last year, Afghanistan and Lebanon posted […]

Two men walk through rushing water on Front Street in Nome, Alaska, just a half block from the Bering Sea, on 17 September 2022. Photo: Peggy Fagerstrom / AP

Western Alaska confronts damage after historic storm – “Boats are going to be scattered all over the tundra”

By Taylor Telford 18 September 2022 (The Washington Post) – Floodwaters began receding in Alaska on Sunday, revealing the damage after the remnants of a typhoon lashed the state with its fiercest storm in years. The full extent of the storm’s impact may not be clear for days, but residents across the state’s low-lying western coast […]

Boat operators, who have come from miles around to work as ferrymen in submerged areas, use power lines as navigation landmarks in Dadu, Pakistan, on Tuesday, 13 September 2022. They have become a lifeline for residents who are trying to save the livestock and belongings that were not washed away by floodwaters. Photo: Kiana Hayeri / The New York Times

In Pakistan’s record floods, villages are now desperate islands – WHO warns of soaring water-borne diseases – “Even the goats are sick”

ISLAMABAD, 18 September 2022 (Press Trust of India) – The World Health Organisation has expressed fears about an impending second disaster of water-borne diseases in Pakistan in the wake of devastating floods that has wreaked havoc in several parts of the country. In a statement issued by the WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the global health watchdog said that water supply […]

Methane plume from a coal vent over Marcellus shale in Pennsylvania. Graphic: Carbon Mapper

Study finds super-emitters responsible for nearly 40 percent of methane emissions in five U.S. basins – “These findings drive home the need for swift action to advance strong methane rules in the U.S.”

PASADENA, 13 September 2022 (JPL) – A study released today by Carbon Mapper, University of Arizona, NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), Arizona State University, and Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) shows that strong methane point sources contribute an average of 40% of total emissions across multiple basins in the U.S., revealing that a small number of […]

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