environment

by Andrew Stroehlein (from Daily Vrief, Human Rights Watch newsletter) As the effects of global warming become more and more evident, these days the heat has hit the front pages of newspapers around the world like never before. In Saudi Arabia, this month, more than 1300 people died during the Hajj, the annual pilgrimage to Mecca.Heat stress was a major factor contributing to the death toll, with temperatures topping 50 degrees. In the United States, approximately 65 million people are facingheat alert, as another "heat bubble" pushed temperatures in some locations above 50 degrees.There are more heat waves in the country deadly hurricanes, floods and tornadoes strung together and heat-related deaths they are on the rise, with over 2300 in 2023. In both places - Saudi Arabia and the United States - the human damage was exacerbated by authorities who did not are adequately prepared or what they refused to address long-standing social issues, ignoring that some peo...

What they have in common the latest generation actions with the vandalism on the Montanelli statue? A widespread journalistic view sees these actions as protests as an end in themselves, driven by exhibitionist intentions and on issues not connected to the actions themselves.Even public positions closer to the climate and feminist causes have expressed skepticism in this regard because, while sharing the aim, they deplore the means whose striking and radical modality would risk alienating the public's sympathy. Yet behind the refusal of principle or strategic skepticism lies a very common unsaid:If these causes and these strategies are not going well, what should we fight for today and how should we carry these requests forward?Age reasons (the population aged 0-14 is 12.4%, while the population over 65 is 24%, ISTAT 2023) and a good dose of intellectual laziness mean that a large part of Italian public opinion, especially that most visible in the mainstream media, is incapable of...

The weekly round-up on the climate crisis and data on carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere. According to new research published on February 14th on Nature, nearly half of the Amazon will face several “unprecedented” stressors that could push the forest toward a major tipping point by 2050.The largest rainforest in the world he's already under pressure due to climate change, deforestation, biodiversity loss and extreme weather conditions. About 20% of the Amazon it has already been deforested and another 6% are “highly degraded.” According to several studies, the Brazilian section of the Amazon is now a net “source” of carbon, rather than a “sink,” due to a number of factors including deforestation. The scholars have long warned that climate change and human-driven deforestation could push the Amazon forest beyond the “tipping point,” a threshold that, if exceeded, would see the “disappearance&rdquo...

The weekly round-up on the climate crisis and data on carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere. April 2024 marked a potentially momentous turning point for climate lawsuits:for the first time a transnational court specializing in human rights explicitly supported the right to climate protection.The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ruled in favor of the request presented by KlimaSeniorinnen, a group of Swiss women over 64 who had brought a lawsuit against the Swiss government for its climate policies deemed ineffective.On the same day, the ECHR rejected two other similar requests. There victory of KlimaSeniorinnen could set a precedent:from now on citizens, associations or informal groups know that they can turn to the ECHR to ask for an account of state climate policies.It is now clear that the courts are becoming yet another battlefront on climate change.The number of climate litigation is constantly increasing:Legal actions against governments, institutions and b...

They are our future, the future of mobility, with a fundamental role for the necessary ecological transition, or "they are madness that has no environmental, economic, social, industrial explanations", as claimed by the Minister of Infrastructure and Transport, Matteo Salvini? One thing is certain.Since 2035 it will no longer be possible to purchase new petrol and diesel cars within EU countries.Car manufacturers will have to reduce the carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions of new cars sold by 100%, with the aim of encouraging the transition to the sale of electric cars. Yet the transition to electric cars is encountering a certain resistance, not only in public opinion but also among those who should support and accompany this transition.Always Minister Salvini he said that electric cars "are rubbish from Europe that is giving a huge gift to China". His position is not isolated. In short, even on electric cars the debate has been polarized, especially by those who, in t...