climate change – Some View on the World

Good things that came out of Cop30

Beyond the negative headlines, some truly good things came out of Cop30 Some commentators have called Cop30 a failure. An attempt to insert plans for a route to the phaseout of fossil fuels into the legal text was stymied, consideration of how to improve countries’ emissions-cutting plans was put off till next year, and althoughContinue reading “Good things that came out of Cop30”

Trump’s influence looms large over Cop30

Despite America’s absence, Trump’s influence looms large over Cop30 Under Donald Trump, America has not only jettisoned any effort to deal with the climate crisis, but has also attempted to stymie moves by other nations to shift to cleaner forms of energy, such as solar and wind. The climate crisis is “the greatest con jobContinue reading “Trump’s influence looms large over Cop30”

Essential reads for the Summer of 2025

What the Texas floods reveal about US readiness for extreme weather 10/07/2025 Another week, another deadly extreme weather event – this time flash floods in central Texas that killed at least 120 people, nearly a third of them children. On Friday, torrential rain from what started as an unremarkable storm that stalled over a parchedContinue reading “Essential reads for the Summer of 2025”

Europe’s hottest on record as heatwave brings new temperature highs

Euronews, July 2 Event Last month is likely to be one of Europe’s hottest Junes on record as extreme heat driven by climate change affects millions across the continent As Europe bakes in its first major heatwave of the year, temperature records are being broken across the continent. During June, countries experienced temperatures more typicalContinue reading “Europe’s hottest on record as heatwave brings new temperature highs”

By the death of Pope Francis I (1936-2025)

The first Jesuit and first Latin American to serve as pope, Jorge Mario Bergoglio, born in 1936, choose for the name “Francis” because he wanted to be sober or plain like St. Francis of Assisi, whose evangelical zeal, consecration to poverty, charity and devotion to the human Jesus and his desire to follow Jesus’ example wereContinue reading “By the death of Pope Francis I (1936-2025)”

Essential reads for October 2024

Essential reads Hurricane Milton live updates: storm still producing hurricane-force winds as it moves off Florida’s east coast 10 Oct 2024 Hurricane Milton, the category 3 storm that battered many parts of Florida, displaced not only residents but also already vulnerable animals in shelters. Shelters in the state, particularly in cities onContinue reading “Essential reads for October 2024”

About the future of the planet

Damian Carrington For the past 16 years I have had the privilege of speaking regularly to the world’s top climate experts, but over the past year or so something started troubling me. Many appeared to have increasingly little faith in the world’s ability to keep global heating to 1.5C – and yet this remained theContinue reading “About the future of the planet”

Keeping plastic out of nature and looking forward to Cop29

Keeping plastic out of nature. Stopping the crisis of plastic pollution to protect nature requires action from every level of government, from state and federal measures in the US to a global legally binding treaty. At the state level, Minnesota policymakers enacted a new law that requires all packaging in the state to beContinue reading “Keeping plastic out of nature and looking forward to Cop29”

Elephants, parakeets, endangered species, livestock, microplastics, sewage spills and climate engineering

The good news Elephants call each other by name, study finds Elephants call out to each other using individual names that they invent for their fellow pachyderms, according to a new study. While dolphins and parrots have been observed addressing each other by mimicking the sound of others from their species, elephants are the firstContinue reading “Elephants, parakeets, endangered species, livestock, microplastics, sewage spills and climate engineering”