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Young girls from Ladakh competing for junior Olympics ice hockey training within sight of Himalayan peaks in India.

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The Guardian looks back at 2023 and covers the work of scientists from US, Germany and Brazil showing the damage. NASA scientist James Hansen tells The Guardian that with the current stage of politics and inaction on climate change young people in the world need to take over. Scientists at the Japan Meteorological Agency measured temperatures at 0.53 degrees centigrade higher than the global average 1990 -2021. This was higher than the previous high reached in 2016 of 0.35 degrees centigrade. Over the long term the world is considered to be 1.2 degrees hotter than preindustrial times, by experts. Included is the report "Hothouse Earth" by the Potsdam Institute of Climate research and other experts on the speed of the global warming.

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Climate change study from Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research in Germany published in Nature magazine retracted in December 2025. The study is an example of how such research when not done right can misrepresent situations leading to policy errors. Policy error under such misrepresentation can lead to errors such as a policy that excludes adjustments and a dual response to climate change and cost of living crisis attacking both on two fronts necessary today so soon after a disastrous pandemic and people living in scarcity not able to meet heating bills. What happened is that the study made predictions for 2100- which is impossible to do. Studied 1600 regions in the world. Showed decline of economic output by 62% in 2100. Did not mention that excluding Uzbekistan would make the reduction in growth 23%. It shows how overzealous work in one direction or the other can actually hurt the fight to address climate change and also tackle everday concerns like cost of living crisis. Recent reports in WSJ show how the approach of single focus has hurt economic growth in Germany and hobbled its industries. Other reports show how deprived and less deprived areas in the UK (also in the US) sit by side showing how decades of neglect of manufacturing and outshoring of factories have destroyed jobs and destroyed communities across Europe and the US, making them open to scourge such as fentanyl in the Nation's neighborhoods, and creating a climate of despair that feeds into other fears. Such as the fears of the surge of illegal migration promoted by traffickers and the influx of drug trafficking gangs in the Nation's neighborhoods. Such reports are then used by the World Bank and the Congressional Budget Office and central banks of 90 counties in the coalition Network for Greening of the Financial System, leading to distortions in policy actions, destroying the social consensus needed among wide sectors of the population in democracies in the EU and US and worldwide to address climate change and cost of living crises.  Leonie Wenz, from the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research in Germany says-“We broadly agree with the issues raised, and have made corrections to the underlying economic data and to our methodology to address them. These changes are too substantial for a correction of the original article in Nature.”   ...

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Climate policy changes lead to $1.3 trillion savings according to analysis from DJT administration and EPA's Zeldin, with $1.1 trillion in savings from lower vehicle prices which addresses unaffordability of cars. Using the average price of a new basic Toyota Corolla the price in 2020 was $19,000 which has gone up to $23,000 a price increase of 21% by 2025 over a 5 year period. The cost in 2026 of operating a Gas powered vehicle is on average about $2500, for EV car about $1000 with $1500 in savings per year for EV's that need to be figured into the equation at gas prices that prevailed in 2024 of $4-$5 per gallon . At prices of $3 per gallon the gas costs come down to $1200 when driven 12,000 miles at 30 mpg for 400 gallons of gasoline consumed. This makes the difference between gas and EV yearly savings on gasoline costs down to about $200 from $1500. This makes gasoline powered cars attractive as car companies can reduce EV investments and pass on some of these savings in lower car prices in 2027 in exchange for favorable rules on emissions and EV transition dates.  Are there losses through the emissions and climate change? The DJT/Zeldin EPA analysis points to global climate emissions from China and India (the coal powered plants) continuing at a pace that would determine the overall change in climate for 2026-2027. In this kind of approach the goal is to make cars affordable over a 2-3 year period for US and European carmakers who would be expected to cut prices. It is about flexibility in fighting the Cost of Cars a big component in the Cost of living with housing as the next large component. It is not a long term strategy, simply one that offers a flexible approach. Will the US, Europe and Japan fall behind in EV's technology? Hybrids a focus of Japanese cars will continue to advance that technology which is becoming a preference where it is affordable for customers. Toyota for instance will have a wide lead in hybrids technology by 2030. Much of the Chinese market will have EV's and the EV's technology will advance in China in 2026-2027, and tariffs will be needed to protect European and American carmakers for 2026-2028. It is a strategy tradeoff to deal with the cost of living crisis in US, Europe and Japan answering call for a flexible approach that was also heeded by the Biden administration in relaxing carbon emissions rule changes. It will require automakers to step up and cut prices for gasoline models for buyers at the entry and lower range for affordability by 2026-2027. What about climate action? The strategy is based on the idea that climate action requires India and China (coal powered plants) on board to make a real difference so that over 2-3 years to 2027 the US, Europe and Japan need to address affordability for the lower end entry cars. There is an element of denial of climate change in parts of the DJT administration in the US but not in Europe and Japan. It is also true that leading DJT administration officials Secretary Bessent see the problem of climate as real and one that needs to be addressed yet leaving room for flexibility to tackle affordability crisis for ordinary workers with low incomes struggling to make a living. Bessent and others in the DJT administration are calling for using all of the resources to address needs of people struggling to make a living, and for a strategy for the US to get back its manufacturing capacity from China and for rebuilding the US economy after deindustrialization (caused by Clinton's huge US economy shattering failure to provide safeguards for abuse of the trading system by China in signing a poorly drafted agreement for China's entry into WTO at the end of his term in 1999-2000 just when he had fought impeachment.  ...

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One consequence of the change in climate change policy is addressing the unaffordability crisis for cars. It would reduce the price of cars by about $2400. It removes the tighter emissions standards of the Biden administration giving automakers some relief. Price of car had surge under the Biden administration. As gas prices are brought down this is an effort to bring down car prices. How does this affect global emissions? Diana Roth from the DJT Transportation Department says- "It's gone to China, where it's made in a dirtier way. So to say that we're reducing global emissions by ending energy intensive manufacturing in some countries, then having it go to China and India, where it's made in a dirtier way, does not reduce global emissions." This suggests it is not necessarily true that global emissions that affect climate change are reduced when the US by itself alone cuts emissions and this then saves lives in a significant way. That does not offer the complete picture. And the current approach under DJT is to temporarily give affordability and cost of living priorities equal consideration for policy an approach accepted by the Biden administration. ...

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DW.com provides graphics and explanation of key parts of the climate change crisis, which is very useful information to understand the climate change crisis facing the world today. It taken into account income of countries to put CO2 in perspective. It shows the impact of climate change locally when the 1 degree celsius of climate warming globally that has already happened can produce 30 degree centigrade temperatures in Portland, Oregon, and vary temperatures by large numbers locally in Asia, Europe and America. It looks at deforestation's impact and many other aspects of the climate change crisis in a useful manner.

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Frank Press, US president Jimmy Carter's science adviser brought the climate crisis to Carter's attention as early as 1977 in a memo to the president. It was dated July 7, 1977 and had the title - Release of fossil Co2 and Catastrophic Climate Change. The Guardian gives this report on the earliest signs of the climate crisis sent to a president who installed the first solar panels at the White House.

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Russia's Elvira Nabiullina, has helped Russia avoid the worst effects of the collapse in oil prices with the careful management of the economy. Russia has weathered the crisis better than most emerging markets, say experts, with policy moves that included a devaluation of the ruble, recapitalizing banks, increasing the share of public debt in Russian hands, and assistance to poorer sections of society. Following the last crisis in 2008 Russia built up its rainy day fund, the sovereign wealth fund, to $500 billon to help support the economy in difficult periods. Experts say, and Nabiullina concurs, that what is needed now even more than a rise in oil prices is improvement in business conditions and business climate to generate growth following high interest rates of 17% in 2014. Exceptional performance by an exceptional banker, known for her humility and experience through several crises, as deputy economy minister in 2000 and economy minister in 2007. Better relations with the European Union would do just that, particularly to increase foreign investment in Russia's economy, and restore the conditions for growth. ...

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China ramps up coal production to record levels in 2021 to avoid a winter gas crisis, reversing earlier actions for climate change.

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EV makers in US offer about $5000 in discounts to replace $7500 lost in government EV tax credits. The hurdle for electric vehicles is the lack of charging infrastructure and the cost of home chargers, in addition to the limited range in miles. The big jump in inflation centered not just on groceries in 2019-2024, there was a 34% increase in the cost of new cars and 50% increase for used cars, and a jump in maintenance costs. Reducing affordability for young people and making car ownership costlier. This turned into a cost of living crisis with groceries up 31%, that affected people's enthusiasm for climate change action when China was building one coal plant a week (adding 95 GW in 2024)- underlying the need to provide immediate relief to American working families and elderly through tax cuts, benefits and shifting tax dollars from climate change action to working families in the next 4 years. This is the approach taken under the DJT One Big Beautiful Act of 2025. Basically what the DJT side of the story is on emissions- US has only 12% of global greenhouse gas emissions, cut this by half to 6% and assuming the EU which has 6% of gas emissions also cuts by half to 3%, the saving just 9%  while the 82% of emitters China, India, Russia and Brazil etc not making the cuts needed the impact on climate change is not significant. If China and India want relief US working families also need relief.  ...

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Coalition Against Climate Disinformation at the COP30 Belem Brazil Summit. CAAD says about the state of disinformation-

"Big Carbon's spending and Big Tech's algorithms are preventing us from seeing and hearing one another online. Instead, we're exposed to one lie after another."

The frequent fires and floods all over the world which happen suddenly and quickly show the effects and costs of climate change are real. Actions need to be taken on climate change even as the cost of living crisis and struggles of people in China,India and Africa and in the US and EU have to be considered for access to electricity and for cost of living concerns. Fossil only provides a short term transition to a long term plan for the future based on renewable energy, and the fight for climate change action to be renewed by EU, China, Brazil and India as the US sorts out its own problems with the transition.

 

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In pictures showing the impact of heat waves and drought on China, one sees the dry bed of Poyang Lake, as shown here in the Indian Express. The climate crisis is affecting China with the effects on the Yangtze and other rivers. Parts of China dependent on hydropower are seeing power cuts. Never before have so many effects of climate change happened worldwide in one year as in 2022.

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With record snow after years of drought the eastern Sierra region in California is experiencing effects of climate change. The ski season will extend into August 6 in the mountains because of the effects of the climate crisis, even as nearby Arizona sees record temperatures of 111 degrees Fahrenheit.  The southern US is experiencing a heat wave with temperatures at levels unprecedented in history.

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A study and analysis in the One Earth journal for climate change action shows oil companies owe about $209 billion annually to pay for damage caused from climate change. The leading companies accounting for about 10% of global emissions are Gazprom and Saudi Aramco. These companies have benefited greatly from the oil price surge. The US and European oil majors who also have profited greatly from the oil price surge come next. Further distorting the effects of wars, financial crises since 2010, the war in Ukraine creates price surges from which oil companies benefit while the vast majority of people in the world are affected by a cost of living crisis made worse by higher energy prices. This is what is important to keep in mind as the US under president Biden prepares to play a leadership role in correcting these unneeded and bad distortions on how it affects the lives of workers and families in the US and Europe, as well as in Asia, Latin America, Africa. ...

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The US president calls Brazilian president Lula Inacio Da Silva, "a good person actually," after meetings at the UN in September 2025. Tariffs imposed on Brazil for cocoa, coffee, meat and fruits have been lifted. Lula asserted Brazil's independent institutions and Brazil as a sovereign country. The tariffs were never popular in Brazil and Lula's popularity in Brazil is now up to to 33% after an earlier decline. He is more energized and at 80 is expected to run again for office. COP30 just completed in Belem, Brazil, and Lula has received favorable response in trying to salvage the climate agenda following the shift away from costly climate change decisions to the cost of living crisis.

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Water managers of the Yakima River and its tributaries in arid central Washington state in US offer solutions for tackling the water and climate change crisis in the Colorado River that affects several western states. The NYT looks at how Yakima River managers tackled the problem 10 years before.

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A co-president of the Club of Rome and a European commissioner describe the needs for restoration in farming in the EU. Under new legislation changes in farming methods are required to restore nature and ensure affordable food for all. This is also needed to tackle the climate crisis.

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Labor party in UK gets 35% of the vote with Conservatives at 26% and Liberals at 20%, in Britain's local council elections. Other parties including the Greens gained 19% of the vote. There isn't much the Conservatives have done to help the British people meet the cost of living crisis. The economy is in worse shape and the country is not prepared to take on the climate change crisis. Britain gets closer to a general election.

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The suddenness and severity of floods in Germany are just one more indication of climate change crisis that is happening much faster than campaigners or scientists expected. The Times looks at this from events of the last 2 years with drought conditions, wild fires, in places that range from the western US to Australia. 

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Issues and controversy about coverage by New York Times NYT on the  Gaza War, Transgender that are obscuring important needed coverage on other important topics.  Topics such as infrastructure, workers and wages, changes in the economy, economic crises in other countries, cost of living action, climate change action get less coverage. The Washington Post has some pioneering work on Climate Change Action, Well Being and Nature. The Atlantic is moving in a new direction with indepth coverage. The Wall Street Journal is looking at changes in the economy in a new way.

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The suddenness of the wildfires in British Columbia in the village of Lytton, and the suddenness of the floods in western Germany, are a new aspect of worsening climate crisis. The wildfire in Lytton is described here in The Times- an inferno, an immense fireball that swept over the village in seconds. 

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Speaking at the Brookings Institution Biden senior adviser Jake Sullivan laid out the "foreign policy of America's middle class." What he means by this is "President Biden's core commitment- indeed his daily direction to us- to more deeply integrate domestic policy with foreign policy." "After the Second War the United States led a fragmented world to create a new international economic order. It lifted hundreds of millions out of poverty. It sustained thrilling technological revolutions. And it helped the United States and many other nations around the world achieve new levels of prosperity. But the last few decades revealed cracks in these foundations. A shifting global economy left many Americans and their communities behind. A financial crisis shook the middle class. A pandemic exposed the fragility of our supply chains. A changing climate threatened lives and livelihoods. Russia's invasion of Ukraine underscored the risks of overdependence. So this moment demands we forge a new consensus." "When president Biden took office the coutnry from our perspective faced four fundamental challenges. First America's industrial base had been hollowed out. Second economic integration with a large non-market economy did not work out. Third, an accelerating climate crisis, and the urgent need for a just and efficient energy transition. Finally we met the challenge of inequality and its damage to democracy."   ...