There’s a disconnect between the urgency of climate science and the indifference of governments, media and business to act. Are we too late? Firefighters at the scene of a wildfire in Tabara, Spain, 19 July 2022 (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue) “I want you to...
Humans were once on track to destroy Earth’s ozone shield. Collective action averted disaster. Global warming demands the same global cooperation. We’re all frustrated at the inability of governments to take necessary measures to tackle climate change. Drastic...
Nations have not lived up to commitments made in Paris six years ago. But there has been progress in combating climate change. Let’s not lose hope. A protester participates in a demonstration calling for urgent measures to combat climate change, Brussels,...
While the UN’s Climate Change Conference COP26 left some constituents hoping for more action, correspondent Sue Landau offers a perspective on how far we’ve come in the fight against climate change. There have been major industrial developments since the Paris climate talks in 2015 that started to put real, clean alternatives to fossil fuels within our grasp. But they were not without their naysayers, who tend to forget that we are at the beginning of the story, not the end. Solar power is in its infancy but has the potential to be harnessed much more. Green hydrogen as a fuel and industrial feedstock is still mostly in the development stage. Carmakers are betting heavily on the future of electric vehicles. Change takes time.
Exercise: Ask students to compare and contrast alternative energy sources, noting costs and benefits for each.
Like many international negotiations, UN climate talks eschew voting and require consensus of all nations for an accord — a curious form of democracy. A climate demonstrator outside parliament in London, 25 October 2021 (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth) This story...
It’s taken more than a century, but experts now say humans are definitely to blame for the climate crisis. Will a UN report spur nations to take action? Emissions from a coal-fired power plant in Independence, Missouri, United States, 1 February 2021 (AP...
Alister Doyle puts his years of experience covering the environment to use in connecting the dots between the umpteenth report on the climate crisis and the umpteenth global meeting on what to do. Doyle provides a genuine service in showing us why the latest report by government experts and climate scientists has a bearing on the summit later this year in Glasgow to review the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement. Doyle’s report exemplifies News Decoder’s mission to explain complex global problems in a dispassionate, balanced and understandable way.
Exercise: Ask your students to choose an issue on the front page of a daily newspaper or on the nightly news, and to write an article explaining the background to the issue and why it’s important to the readers.