UNICEF: Conflict, widespread poverty stall progress on education rates over past decade

6 September 2017 (UN) – Pervasive levels of poverty, protracted conflicts and complex humanitarian emergencies have led to stagnation in reducing the global out-of-school rate over the past decade, prompting the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) to call for more investments. With 11.5 per cent of school-age children – or 123 million missing school today, […]

Denying Hurricane Harvey’s climate links only worsens future suffering – “Three options remain for dealing with the crisis: mitigate, adapt, and suffer”

By Dana Nuccitelli 5 September 2017 (The Guardian) – Human-caused climate change amplified the damages and suffering associated with Hurricane Harvey in several different ways. First, sea level rise caused by global warming increased the storm surge and therefore the coastal inundation and flooding from the storm. Second, the warmer atmosphere holds more water vapor, […]

As flood waters rise, is urban sprawl as much to blame as global warming? “The driving force is the built environment”

By John Vidal 2 September 2017 (The Guardian) – First came the dire warnings of Hurricane Harvey, then the terrible scenes as the skies opened, whole neighbourhoods drowned and motorways became rivers. Now, as the waters subside and the full extent of the damage is assessed, come the voices of distraught people who have lost […]

Making the U.N. Sustainable Development Goals consistent with sustainability

1 September 2017  (Global Footprint Network) – This month, the UN General Assembly (UNGA 72) will convene in New York City for its 72nd Regular Session. The summit’s theme is “Focusing on People: Striving for Peace and a Decent Life for All on a Sustainable Planet.” The phrase closely echoes Global Footprint Network’s vision “that […]

Houston flood danger decades in the making: development, wetlands loss, and global warming to blame – “This is what climate scientists have been telling us would happen. Absolutely, it’s a game changer.”

By Manuel Bojorquez 30 August 2017 HOUSTON (CBS News) – Harvey dumped a year’s worth of rain on Houston in a matter of days, shattering last year’s above-normal rainfall and bringing this year’s total to an unprecedented 73 inches.But according to Jim Blackburn, a professor in the Civil and Environmental Engineering Department at Rice University, […]

Harvey is what climate change looks like – Harvey is the third 500-year flood to hit the Houston area in the past three years

By Eric Holthaus 28 August 2017 (Politico) – In all of U.S. history, there’s never been a storm like Hurricane Harvey. That fact is increasingly clear, even though the rains are still falling and the water levels in Houston are still rising. But there’s an uncomfortable point that, so far, everyone is skating around: We […]

CarbonBrief: Why U.S. carbon emissions have fallen 14 percent since 2005

By Zeke Hausfather 15 August 2017 (CarbonBrief) – Before 2005, U.S. carbon emissions were marching upwards year after year, with little sign of slowing down. After this point, they fell quickly, declining 14% from their peak by the end of 2016.Researchers have given a number of different reasons for this marked turnaround. Some have argued […]

Peru’s glaciers have made it a laboratory for adapting to global warming. It’s not going well.

By Nick Miroff  7 August 2017 LAKE PALCACOCHA, Peru (The Washington Post) – After a day of bright sunshine, a chunk of ice the size of a dump truck broke off the glacier on Mount Pucaranra a few weeks ago. It plunged into the lake below and kicked up a wave nine feet high. Victor […]

Earth likely to warm more than 2°C this century – “The most optimistic projections are unlikely to happen”

By Hannah Hickey 31 July 2017(UW News) – Warming of the planet by 2 degrees Celsius is often seen as a “tipping point” that people should try to avoid by limiting greenhouse gas emissions.But the Earth is very likely to exceed that change, according to new University of Washington research. A study using statistical tools […]

As once-mighty Cauvery River dies, India could be facing its “greatest human catastrophe” ever

By Desmond Ng and Tamal Mukherjee 25 July 2017 INDIA (Channel New Asia) – Much of the once bountiful and lush-green rice fields was reduced to a dry, yellow-brown landscape, after successive years of scanty rainfall and severe drought. For farmer Mr Vijayakumar, 52, the rice crop was his family’s sole source of income. Hit […]

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