The World Meteorological Organization’s draft report on global climate change in 2020 describes continued deterioration on all fronts
'Relentless March'
Archive | Science
A network of global rifts
Facing the Anthropocene: An Update
Recent scientific work strengthens and extends the arguments in Ian Angus’s pathbreaking book on fossil capitalism and the crisis of the Earth System
Climate crisis
Greenhouse gases set new record, despite Covid-19 lockdown
Top meteorologist: only a complete transformation of our industrial, energy and transport systems can stop climate change
Metabolic rifts
Triple Crisis in the Anthropocene Ocean. Part Three: The Heat of 3.6 Billion Atom Bombs
Continuing Ian Angus’s examination of the ‘deadly trio’ of CO2-driven assaults on ocean life. Part three: ocean warming and permanent heatwaves
NOAA REPORT
Earth just had its hottest September on record
Unprecedented global temperatures made last month the hottest September since 1880. 2020 will likely be one of the three warmest years on record.
Metabolic Rifts
Triple Crisis in the Anthropocene Ocean. Part Two: Running Low on Oxygen
Continuing Ian Angus’s examination of the ‘deadly trio’ of CO2-driven assaults on ocean life. Part two: The ocean is losing its breath.
Book Review
Nature and Society, from Karl Marx to Rachel Carson
In ‘The Return of Nature,’ John Bellamy Foster documents the chain of people and ideas that connects Marx and Engels to the 20th century’s greatest ecological thinkers
Metabolic Rifts
Triple Crisis in the Anthropocene Ocean.
Part One: Corrosive Seas
Scientists call them a ‘deadly trio.’ If acidification, oxygen loss, and overheating are not ended soon, a massive die-off of ocean life may be unstoppable.
Reading Matters
Ecosocialist Bookshelf, September 2020
Five new books and an essential magazine! Science for People; Katrina’s History; Small Farm Future; Mass Migration; Energy and Work; China’s Environmental Crisis
Red & green reading
Ecosocialist Bookshelf, August 2020
New books on fungi, climate & capital, food, bluefin tuna, & Cuban agriculture. PLUS new translations of Facing the Anthropocene, and two recent C&C book reviews
Metabolic Rifts
Dead Zones: Industrial Agriculture versus Ocean Life
Worldwide, there are now over a thousand coastal areas where fish can’t breathe. The nitrogen that makes crops grow is also destroying offshore ecosystems.
Greenhouse Gas
‘Worst case’ emissions scenario is best match for reality
The IPCC’s most extreme projection of the impact of global climate policies is tracking within one percent of actual results.
Reading matters
Ecosocialist Bookshelf: Mid-July, 2020
Six new books … Greta Thunberg’s story; Fighting corporate food systems; Revolutionaries on climate; Food and revolution; A case for meat; Our carbon world
deadly heat
Frightening numbers: Biosphere heating accelerates
The Earth is warming at an astounding speed, equivalent to absorbing 907 times the USA’s annual energy use, far faster than biological species can adapt
Climate crisis
Heatwaves are longer and more frequent, worldwide
New study provides ‘unequivocal indicators’ that global warming is not just underway but speeding up. Scientists insist ‘the time for inaction is over.’
Reading in Lockdown
Ecosocialist Bookshelf, June 2020
Books we’re reading this month … The Life of V. Gordon Childe; The Tragedy of US Science; Four Billion Years of Life; Marx and Climate Crisis; Tell the Bosses We’re Coming; Essays on Red Rosa
New study
3.5 billion people may face ‘unlivable’ heat in 50 years
Every degree of global warming will push a billion people out of the human survival zone
Biodiversity under pressure
Rising heat may crash entire ecosystems
New studies show global warming is raising the risk of sudden, near total collapse of the wild populations that sustain human society.
Book Review
Making room for humans in scientific ecology
20th century ecology moved from racism and eugenics to studies of undisturbed natural ecosystems. Today, ecological science must integrate social sciences.
Superbugs in the air
Burned or buried, garbage spreads antibiotic resistance
New research shows that breathing near a site where trash is burned or buried may be dangerous to your health.