Boreal Forests and the Climate Crisis (Part 1)

The boreal forests (also known as the Taiga) experience some of the harshest conditions of any forest, and yet support robust ecosystems capable of significant biological activity.The boreal forests are excellent “carbon sinks”, not because of the extensive forests but because of the frozen and waterlogged soils that cover the biome.Unfortunately, rising temperatures due to climate change is weakening the boreal forests’ ability to store carbon.

Lützerath And The German Coal Exit

Climate activists protest against the demolition of the hamlet Lützerath in order to expand a coal mine.The responsible Green ministers struck a deal with energy company RWE to bring forward the coal exit in the Western German states to 2030 in exchange for mining the coal below Lützerath.Scientists argue that it is a foul deal under which Germany will not get onto a 1.5° warming path.

COP15: UN Biodiversity summit ends with global agreement on biodiversity protection, yet questions remain as to its implementation

Right on the heels of the UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP27) in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, the UN Convention on Biodiversity (CBD COP15) took place in Montreal, Canada between December 7th and 19th.

The Carbon Cycle And The Keeling Curve

The carbon cycle is a biogeochemical process in which carbon is exchanged between reservoirs through fluxes over a period of time. The dynamic equilibrium of the carbon cycle is heavily disrupted due to human emissions from burning fossil fuels and land degradation, leading to increased levels of carbon dioxide. The Keeling curve is the longest recorded graph of CO2 concentration in the atmosphere on Earth; it indicates that CO2 levels today are the highest in 800,000 years.

Water Shortages In Central Asia: Climate Symptoms And Political Instability

Central Asia is one of the most arid regions in the world and is watered nearly entirely by one source: the Tibetan Plateau. The Amu Darya basin within the Tibetan Plateau has shown a decline of 119% in water-supply capacity, and experts predict a near-total collapse in water availability to downstream regions. Water availability has been linked to a number of clashes in the region over the past few decades, such as border clashes in 2014 and 2016.

COP27: What Happened in Week Two? 

by Megan Corsano, Nadezhda Filina, Vincent Diringer, Charlie Bevis, and JP Arellano COP27 is officially over and the response on the progress made has been mixed. Many have celebrated the unprecedented agreement to provide ‘loss and damage’ funding to vulnerable countries facing climate disasters. This is something that hundreds of groups have been calling for...

Halfway There: The Midterm Elections

On November 8th, US midterm elections will take place with all House seats, 35 Senate seats and 36 governor seats up for election. Forecasts are close with Republicans favored to win the House, while Democrats are favored to keep the Senate. Results will strongly impact what President Biden can achieve in the coming two years.

How Did The Fracking Vote Lead To Liz Truss’ Resignation?

by Georgia Fulton What Was The Fracking Ban Vote? Liz Truss, former British Prime Minister, declared her resignation from the post just one day after the Labour opposition tabled a motion in the House of Commons to ban fracking. Conservative whips initially said that the vote (which took place on 19 October 2022) was being...

Criminal Law And The Environment: What Are The Difficulties?

Within the strict interpretation of the law, “corporate environmental crimes are strictly speaking not a crime”. The 2008 Environmental Crime Directive states that there is no need to demonstrate the defendants' intention, negligence or fault concerning the harm caused.