How far is Europe swinging to the far right? Election results in December 2016

By Gregor Aisch, Adam Pearce, and Bryant Rousseau5 December 2016 (The New York Times) – Amid a migrant crisis, sluggish economic growth and growing disillusionment with the European Union, right-wing parties in a growing number of European countries have made electoral gains. The right-wing parties included below range across a wide policy spectrum, from populist […]

North Pole temperatures may soar to 50°F above normal – Freakishly warm pole weather likely to peak on Christmas Eve

By Brian Kahn 21 December 2016 (Climate Central) – For the second year in a row, the Arctic is facing a late December heat wave (at least by Arctic winter standards). Temperatures are forecast to soar about 50°F above normal, which would bring them near the freezing point at the North Pole. As isolated data […]

Scientists confirm that warm ocean water is melting the biggest glacier in East Antarctica

By Chris Mooney 16 December 2016 (Washington Post) – Scientists at institutions in the United States and Australia on Friday published a set of unprecedented ocean observations near the largest glacier of the largest ice sheet in the world: Totten glacier, East Antarctica. And the result was a troubling confirmation of what scientists already feared […]

UN launches $2.66 billion appeal for emergency assistance in Sahel region – ‘The Sahel will remain the site of one of the world’s major humanitarian operations in 2017’

  7 December 2016 (UN) – The United Nations and its partner non-governmental organizations today launched an appeal for $2.66 billion to provide emergency assistance across eight countries in the Sahel region, where “millions of people still live in conditions of deplorable human suffering.” “The Sahel faces considerable challenges and will remain the site of […]

Environmental crime threatens peace and security – Global environmental crime valued up to $258 billion annually

WASHINGTON, D.C., 8 December 2016 (UNEP) – More than 80 per cent of countries consider environmental crime a national priority, with the majority saying new and more sophisticated criminal activities increasingly threaten peace and security. INTERPOL and UN Environment surveyed close to 70 countries for their new joint report, Environment, Peace and Security? A Convergence […]

Global wage growth falls to its lowest level in four years

GENEVA, 15 December 2016 (ILO News) – Wage growth around the world has decelerated since 2012, falling from 2.5 per cent to 1.7 per cent in 2015, its lowest level in four years. If China, where wage growth was faster than elsewhere, is not included, growth in global wages dropped from 1.6 per cent to […]

The maddening, uncertain reality of sea-level rise – ‘This actually makes preparation more difficult’

By Brad Plumer 16 December 2016 (Vox) – By far one of the most important impacts of global warming in the coming decades will be sea-level rise. As the Earth heats up and ice sheets in Greenland and Antarctica melt, ocean levels will creep upward, flooding coastal cities and forcing large-scale relocations around the world. […]

Largest die-off of corals ever recorded on Great Barrier Reef in 2016

29 November 2016 (AFP) – A mass bleaching event on the Great Barrier Reef this year killed more corals than ever before, scientists said Tuesday, sounding the alarm over the delicate ecosystem. The 2,300-kilometre (1,400-mile) long reef—the world’s biggest—suffered its most severe bleaching in recorded history, due to warming sea temperatures during March and April, […]

Amazon deforestation in 2016 up 29 percent over 2015 – ‘The loggers are better equipped than we are’

By Camila Domonoske 30 November 2016 (NPR) – An annual study released by the Brazilian government estimates that the rate of deforestation in the Amazon has increased by 29 percent over last year. That’s the second year in a row that deforestation in the Amazon quickened; last year, the pace rose by about 24 percent. […]

When permafrost melts, what happens to all of that stored carbon?

2 December 2016 (Columbia University) – The Arctic’s frozen ground contains large stores of organic carbon that have been locked in the permafrost for thousands of years. As global temperatures rise, that permafrost is starting to melt, raising concerns about the impact on the climate as organic carbon becomes exposed. A new study is shedding […]

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