‘We’re in a New Era’: How Climate Change Is Supercharging Disasters

A study from researchers at the University of California at Berkeley found that higher temperatures and shifting patterns of extreme weather can cause a rise in all types of violence, from domestic abuse to civil wars. In extreme cases, it could cause countries to cease functioning and collapse altogether.

For example, increased temperatures cause more moisture from the earth’s surface to evaporate into the atmosphere. As a result, there are more droughts around the world, more wildfires, and more flooding in areas already in danger of being consumed by water. Already, 20 to 30 percent of Bangladesh is underwater on a regular basis. This problem will... See more

Climate change is costing us dearly, and it’s only getting worse. I feel so intensely frustrated, largely because the preventative actions we could have taken were not mysterious to us: invest in renewables, transition from greenhouse gas-emitting energy generation, and put a price on carbon. We’re finally making some progress on green energy, than... See more

In this world of climate breakdown, reporters are repeatedly referring to a ‘new normal’, perhaps hoping that we’ve reached a new equilibrium, similar to when the term was coined after the post-2008 financial crash. But climate change is not a boom and bust cycle. There will be no equilibrium, never again in our lifetimes. It’s increasingly difficu

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