English references

Weather cycle threatens harvests worldwide, adding to inflation already fuelled by the Iran war

Photosynthesis does not always result in wood growth, a key factor in carbon dioxide sequestration

Exxon warns oil inventories will hit dangerously low levels in weeks, forcing prices to shoot higher. […]

Around 153 BCE, Cato the Elder, one of Rome’s most prominent senators, began ending every single one of his speeches with the same words: “Carthago delenda est”, or “Carthage must be destroyed”.

The world has become well versed in the importance of the strait of Hormuz to the world’s energy flows, but attention is increasingly turning to its vital role in another market – the fertiliser on which harvests depend. A third of the global trade in raw materials for fertiliser passes through the maritime choke point, which is also the route for 20% of shipments of natural gas, which is required to make it.

Oil prices could jump to $200 per barrel and even higher if the Strait of Hormuz remains near-closed as it is at the moment, Fereidun Fesharaki, Chairman Emeritus of energy consultancy FGE NexantECA, told Bloomberg on Tuesday. Although the oil market is moving on sentiment and U.S. President Donald Trump’s social media posts about the war, the fact is that “every week, 100 million barrels of oil is not going through, and every month, 400 million barrels are not going through,” Fesharaki told Bloomberg Television.

We can’t know how long the war in the Middle East will last. Nor can we know who will “win” it, and in which terms. What we know is that the destruction already wreaked on things and people is immense, and it keeps escalating. The longer the war, the bleaker their perspectives in a region already plagued by all sorts of problems, including drought, soil degradation, ecosystem damage, scarce agricultural resources, declining fertility rates, and more.

Oil has empowered capitalism, and some of the world’s most exploitative regimes. Move away from it and we can solve some of the key issues we face

Wael Sawan warns of pressure on diesel and petrol if strait of Hormuz does not reopen to oil and gas shipping

Residents report terror of smoke-filled city, from potentially toxic rain, air and water to food scarcity and difficulty of escape

Critics say brash, bombastic Fox News host out of his depth to guide US military through murky new Middle East conflict

Researchers identify sharp rise to about 0.35C every decade, after excluding natural fluctuations such as El Niño

Fears US-Israeli onslaught could lead regime to push for bomb or embolden other groups to steal uranium stockpile

Depleting THAAD and Patriot interceptor inventories threaten US extended deterrence, Gulf energy security, and the regional power balance amid sustained Iranian ballistic missile and drone assaults.

Even as weather extremes worsen, the voices calling for the rolling back of environmental rules have grown louder and more influential

Exclusive: Ben Goldsmith will work on issues including fishing and green belt preservation to attract green Tories

Testimony from medics, morgue and graveyard staff reveals huge state effort to conceal systematic killing of protesters

EU officials warn climate breakdown and wildlife loss ‘are ruining ecosystems that underpin the economy’ […] The European way of life is being jeopardised by environmental degradation, a report has found, with EU officials warning against weakening green rules. The continent has made “important progress” in cutting planet-heating pollution, according to the European Environment Agency, but the death of wildlife and breakdown of the climate are ruining ecosystems that underpin the economy.

Heat caused 2,300 deaths across 12 cities, of which 1,500 were down to climate crisis, scientists say

Extreme heat ‘the new normal’, says UN chief, as authorities across the continent issue health warnings