Skip to content

climate crisis

Why All Hurricanes Should Be Named ‘Jim’

The devastation effectuated by Hurricane Helene represents yet another elucidation of a quintessential climate crisis that is right here and right now. It demonstrates that climate change is not a conclusion that awaits us, but a set of present day precarities taking and altering lives right now. According to initial assessments, Helene could cost U.S. taxpayers upwards of $175 billion , and of course, there is no way to quantify the estimated 230 lives that were taken, thus far, with the death toll expected to rise. Meanwhile, Hurricane Milton, which made landfall in Florida as a Category 3 storm, continued this season of carnage and calamity with a death toll of approximately 20 people and an estimated $50 billion in damages.

Chickpeas Could Become A Major Drought-Resistant Protein Source

A new study is highlighting chickpeas as a source protein for a potentially drought-stricken future brought on by climate change. The research, led by molecular biologist Wolfram Weckwerth from the University of Vienna, explored the benefits of 36 different chickpea genotypes as climate change impacts continue to threaten food security around the world. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization’s State of the World’s Biodiversity for Food and Agriculture, only around nine plant species make up 66% of total crop production. However, there are more than 6,000 edible plant species.

The First Gas Utility Sued For Climate Deception

For the first time, a gas utility could be on the hook for its role in deceiving the public about the climate crisis. Multnomah, Oregon, has added NW Natural — Oregon’s oldest and largest supplier of “natural” gas, also known as fossil or methane gas — to the list of defendants in a lawsuit that seeks to make fossil fuel companies pay $52 billion for their role in the deadly 2021 Pacific Northwest heat dome. NW Natural “has routinely misrepresented” the climate harms of gas while undermining the energy transition “in an effort to frighten customers and discourage policy makers from using their authority to protect the public,” according to the county’s amended complaint.

The West Would Rather Burn The Planet Than Let China Shine

October 1 marked the 75th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China (PRC). Since its founding, China has made remarkable accomplishments in public health by addressing opium addiction, in the elimination of poverty and in the building of an eco-socialist society. Clearing the FOG speaks with K J Noh, an activist, author and political analyst specializing in Asia. Noh recently wrote "Your Mind Is A Battlefield: Decolonize It To Prevent Global Catastrophe!," which was published in Popular Resistance. Noh describes the Chinese approach of designing policies that benefit everyone, why the West, especially the United States, views China as a threat rather than a partner, and what people in the US can do to counter anti-China propaganda and prevent a global war with China.

Degrowth: Beyond Education For Sustainable Development

Large-scale development projects, innovative green technologies, artificial intelligence, and trips to Mars are often seen as central solutions to the climate crisis leading to diverse socio-ecological and economic implications. Despide their inconsistencies and conflicted outcomes, their influence is so strong that our present approaches and vision for the future seem constrained by them. This short essay aims to explore opportunities and entry points that could mobilise personal and collective transformations in how we think and act, with the goal of fostering a more ecological and socially just response to the climate crisis.

Greenpeace Is Being ‘SLAPPed’ Again By Another Fossil Fuel Giant

Italian fossil fuel company ENI has filed an official Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation (SLAPP), targeting two organisations, Greenpeace Italy and ReCommon. It is the latest fossil fuel major to launch an ill-founded legal assault at a Greenpeace organisation, joining Shell, Total, and Energy Transfer in an attack against civil freedoms and environmental protection. “There is no surprise in ENI joining other climate polluters like Shell, TotalEnergies and Energy Transfer in trying to silence civil society. The business model of the oil and gas industry entails both an assault on people and nature, as well as oppression of those who call it out,” stated Greenpeace Italy and ReCommon.

How Climate Change Threatens Workers

At least six workers in a Tennessee plastics factory are dead or missing after managers allegedly told them not to evacuate despite urgent warnings of severe flash flooding. What does this tragedy say about the unique threat that workers face from climate change and related adverse weather events? Climate change is not a hoax, as some politicians continue to argue.  It is very real as we witnessed most recently the past several days as a climate change-fueled hurricane wreaked havoc and death from Florida's far north as eastern Tennessee and western North Carolina. Hundreds are confirmed dead and many more are still missing.

The BDS Movement Renews Its Campaign Against Chevron

In January, the BDS National Committee (BNC) renewed its call for a boycott of the fossil fuel company Chevron. The organization had originally called for a boycott of Chevron in 2020 after it became the main operator of fossil gas claimed by Israel in the Eastern Mediterranean. However, the new call has expanded the boycott to Chevron gas stations and the company’s affiliates, which include Texaco and Caltex. “During the struggle against apartheid in South Africa, a movement to boycott Shell oil for its complicity in apartheid gained worldwide momentum, with supporters taking part in gas/petrol station pickets and major divestment campaigns from the fossil fuel company.

Hurricane Season Rips Into US War-Spending

Over a week since Hurricane Helene caused widespread devastation in multiple southeastern states of the U.S., Jean Taylor-Todd, a resident of rural Newland, North Carolina, in Avery County, says her town is still waiting for government help. “Our county was hit hard by this storm,” she told Consortium News this week via email. “Roads crumbled, bridges collapsed, road shoulders washed, businesses flooded, trees fell across roads, on power lines, and on buildings and in yards… Not far from me, houses flooded off their foundations and washed multiple outbuildings away. I know of four deaths of people not far from me and of two horses swept away that drowned. Some folks were heavily flooded inside their homes, and at this writing on October 7, are still without power… Some of the flooding… created sinkholes in which traveling cars were swallowed, but occupants [were] saved. I witnessed two cars submerged in sinkholes just minutes from my house.”

25 Of 35 Vital Signs For Earth Have Reached Record Extremes

A new report from a team of international scientists has revealed harsh realities on Earth, with 25 of 35 planetary vital signs reaching record extremes. Without immediate action, scientists warn that these extremes could threaten life on Earth. In the new study, published in the journal BioScience, scientists presented a stark look at the state of the climate crisis. “We are on the brink of an irreversible climate disaster. This is a global emergency beyond any doubt. Much of the very fabric of life on Earth is imperiled. We are stepping into a critical and unpredictable new phase of the climate crisis,” the scientists wrote.

Climate Activists Battle The False ‘Solution’ Of Forest Biomass

“Who will own the forests? Who will own the sky?” sang dozens of umbrella-wielding protesters as rain drizzled outside the World Forestry Center in Portland, Oregon on Sept. 25. Inside the building, timber company representatives, investors and others involved in deciding the fate of forest ecosystems were meeting for an event called CANOPY: Forests + Markets + Society. Billed as “the premier annual event on institutional forestland investing,” CANOPY is a conference whose 2023 attendees included Weyerhaeuser, Boise Cascades, biomass energy giant Drax and J.P. Morgan.

Burn The Planet And Lock Up The Dissidents

Norfolk, U.K. — I am sitting with Roger Hallam, his gray hair pulled back in a ponytail, in the visitor’s room at HM Prison Wayland. On the walls are large photographs of families picnicking on lawns, verdant meadows and children playing. The juxtaposition of the photographs, no doubt hung to give the prison visiting room a homey feel, is jarring. There is no escaping, especially with prison guards circulating around us, where we are. Roger and I sit on squat upholstered chairs and face each other across from a low, white plastic table. Roger’s lanky frame tries to adjust to furniture designed to accommodate children.

The Future Is Named Helene

The messages of Hurricane Helene lie inscribed in the muddy debris of Asheville, North Carolina, and other wrecked towns of Appalachia. Helene, powered by warming waters in the Gulf of Mexico, dumped 700 millimetres of rain in several states over three days. The surreal deluge drenched the ground and then it swelled creeks. The creeks supercharged rivers, and these muddy waters tore like a torrent through the hills, breaking all previous records of mayhem.

5,238+ Actions As Part of Campaign Nonviolence Action Days

Nationwide – Between September 21 and October 2, 2024, tens of thousands of people participated in over 5,238+ nonviolent actions to protest violence, war, poverty, racism and environmental destruction as part of the 11th annual Campaign Nonviolence Action Days.  Stretching between the International Day of Peace (Sept 21) to the International Day of Nonviolence (Oct 2), the campaign brings together over 100 organizations to “build a culture of peace and active nonviolence, free from war, poverty, racism, and environmental destruction.” The effort increases public awareness of the many aspects of violence from direct/physical violence (such as gun violence, mass shootings, death penalty, and war) to systemic/structural violence (poverty, mass incarceration, climate crisis) to cultural violence (bias, discrimination, oppression).

US Leaves Hurricane Helene Survivors Behind While Funding Israel’s War

At least 204 people are dead as a result of Hurricane Helene, which has devastated some of the more impoverished regions of the United States. Hundreds are still missing as survivors lose hope of finding their loved ones. Despite the unprecedented level of devastation, the federal money to deal with disaster relief appears to have run out. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said on October 2 that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) does not have enough money to make it through hurricane season. Thanks to the efforts of conservative lawmakers, a recently passed funding bill did not allocate additional funds to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) despite knowing that the agency’s funds had run low before the peak of hurricane season.