From Venice to Tehran to Shanghai, many cities are steadily sinking into the earth. There might not be any way to stop it. Most urbanites outside of major earthquake zones assume their cities are physically stable. As it turns out, that’s not always true. In many parts of the world, subsidence (or the gradual sinking … Continue reading Our Sinking Cities →

Plan comes 2,000 years after notorious eruption and amid increasing seismic activity. Almost 2,000 years after the most notorious volcanic eruption in human history, authorities in Pompeii have discussed a new evacuation plan in case Mount Vesuvius erupts again. Under the plan, which was discussed after a recent increase in seismic activity, people living in … Continue reading Pompeii will evacuate people to Sardinia by boat if Vesuvius erupts →

Just three years after the landmark climate treaty was endorsed in Paris, scientists warned that human-made emissions were growing while political progress in managing the growing catastrophe was slowing. The latest report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change found that global warming could reach 1.5 degrees Celsius as soon as 2030 – with inevitable … Continue reading The Earth doesn’t need us… →

The latest U.S. government climate report is a pre-emptive coroner's report, and our politics aren't equipped to deal with it. There is only one story now. It is the story that is the heartwood of every other story in the news at the moment—from the California wildfires to the migrant crisis at our southern border, … Continue reading Humanity Is Overseeing Its Own Destruction →

This month, California has been gripped by three devastating wildfires: Northern California’s Camp Fire, which recently became the deadliest in the state’s history,and, in Southern California, the Woolsey and Hill Fires. An emerging, deeply weird conspiracy theory holds that those fires aren’t caused by wind patterns, brutally dry conditions, the worsening effects of climate change, or possible … Continue reading California’s Wildfires Have Spawned a Truly Weird New Conspiracy Theory →

Traditionally, there was a fire season in California, running from roughly June until late October — the period when the state was at greatest risk of wildfires, and the public was reminded to take precautions and listen for alerts. But in 2018, and for the foreseeable future, there is no fire season: the risk of … Continue reading California fights wildfires year-round now: ‘There’s no such thing as a fire season’ →

The earth’s surface is becoming uninhabitable; we need to adapt. It is time for architects to rethink the structures of our buildings and our infrastructure. Whether we are talking of hurricanes, tornadoes, wildfires, tsunamis or earthquakes — anything people have built up until now probably can’t withstand one or more of those. It seems senseless … Continue reading We must adapt as earth becomes uninhabitable →

A new climate change group is taking on the mainstream press in a bold new way. EndClimateSilence.org, is a digital activism group comprised entirely of volunteers. It’s encouraging journalists and politicians to explicitly state the links between extreme weather and climate change. The undeniable link between extreme weather and climate change EndClimateSilence.org is targeting under-reported links between climate change … Continue reading A new climate change campaign is taking on the mainstream media  →

A genocide is still under way against Myanmar's Rohingya muslims, a United Nations team has said as it presented a report at the Security Council calling for the matter to be referred to the International Criminal Court. Marzuki Darusman, chair of the UN Fact-Finding Mission on Myanmar, told a press conference that beyond mass killings, the … Continue reading ‘Ongoing genocide’ against Myanmar’s Rohingya →

Yemen civil war: The facts about the world's 'forgotten war' As many as 13 million people in Yemen are facing starvation in what could be the “worst famine seen anywhere in the world for 100 years”, according to the UN. The Middle Eastern nation has been embroiled in violent conflict for more than three years, its people suffering … Continue reading The ‘forgotten war’ that has killed 10,000 and displaced millions →