U.S. hate groups on the rise again – Texas has most of any state

By Molly Evans2 August 2016 (KUT) – There are 892 active hate groups in the U.S. In Texas, there are 84 — the most of any other state, according to an interactive U.S. map from Southern Poverty Law Center. SPLC gathered the data from hate group publications and websites, citizen and law enforcement reports, field […]

Income inequality: Why so many households are not advancing

2 August 2016 (McKinsey) – While it’s broadly assumed that children will grow up to be better off than their parents, the reality is that a new generation of young people in advanced economies risks ending up poorer. In this episode of the McKinsey Podcast, McKinsey senior partner Richard Dobbs and McKinsey Global Institute (MGI) […]

World Resources Institute: As clouds head for the poles, time to prepare for food and water shocks

By Charles Iceland, Betsy Otto, and Richard Waite25 July 2016 (WRI) – A changing climate means less rain and lower water supplies in regions where many people live and much of the planet’s food is produced: the mid-latitudes of the Northern and Southern hemispheres, including the U.S. Southwest, southern Europe and parts of the Middle […]

Heat waves, productivity, and the urban economy: What are the costs?

29 July 2016 (LSE) – Increasingly hot summers can have devastating effects on worker productivity. As temperatures increase, workers feel decreased energy, loss of concentration, muscle cramps, heat rash, and in extreme cases heat exhaustion or heatstroke. Cities are especially prone to such productivity loses. First, cities tend to be warmer than surrounding areas. This […]

China coal use has peaked ‘sooner than expected’

[Des has been skeptical of claims that China’s coal consumption has declined and/or peaked, but Des may be convinced now, largely due to the presence of Prof. Nicholas Stern on this paper.] By Shreya Dasgupta27 July 2016 (mongabay.com) – China is the largest consumer of coal in the world. It is also the world’s biggest […]

Adolescents are dying of AIDS at an alarming rate, UN agency warns – ‘AIDS is the Number One cause of death for adolescents in Africa, Number Two globally’

18 July 2016 (UN) – An average of 29 adolescents between the ages of 15 and 19 are infected with HIV every hour, according to the United Nations Children’s Fund, which is calling for a redoubling of prevention and treatment efforts. After all of the saved and improved lives thanks to prevention, treatment and care; […]

High chance that current atmospheric greenhouse concentrations commit to warmings greater than 1.5 °C over land

Dr. Barnaby Smith27 July 2016 (Centre for Ecology & Hydrology) – Current levels of atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations already commit the planet to air temperatures over many land regions being eventually warmed by greater than 1.5°C, according to new research published today (27 July 2016) in the journal Scientific Reports. The results of the new […]

Two Middle East locations hit 54 Celsius (129 Fahrenheit), hottest ever in Eastern Hemisphere, maybe the world

By Jason Samenow 22 July 2016 (Washington Post) – The temperature in Mitribah, Kuwait, surged Thursday to a blistering 129.2 degrees (54 Celsius). And on Friday in Basra, Iraq, the mercury soared to 129.0 degrees (53.9 Celsius). If confirmed, these incredible measurements would represent the two hottest temperatures ever recorded in the Eastern Hemisphere, according […]

Exactly what’s wrong with the Cliff Mass approach to global warming

By Ethan Linck 22 July 2016 (The Stranger) – One Small Part of Antarctica Stayed Cool While the Rest Warmed: Perhaps the most frustrating aspect of climate change denialism is the willful idiocy of using local exceptions to a widely supported trend as evidence that trend is false. Climate science—like meteorology, biology, and political science—is […]

Hooked! The unyielding grip of fossil fuels on global life – ‘In 2040, fossil fuels will still have a grip on a staggering 78 percent of the world energy market’

By Michael T. Klare14 July 2016 (TomDispatch) – Here’s the good news: wind power, solar power, and other renewable forms of energy are expanding far more quickly than anyone expected, ensuring that these systems will provide an ever-increasing share of our future energy supply.  According to the most recent projections from the Energy Information Administration […]

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