Biden climate summit offers empty spectacle
The two-day event that began Thursday underscored the reality that there is no solution to global warming and climate change within the framework of capitalism.
Patrick Martin•
Climate change
The Biden climate plan, Part One: A drop in the ocean
Even if Biden gets everything he asks for, his plan will be totally insufficient to meet its target of net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.
Jonathan Burleigh•
The climate crisis and imperialism
Far from fostering the international collaboration that would be required to reverse climate change, capitalist society is increasingly characterized by xenophobia, international conflict and war.
Andre Damon•
School students strike in New Zealand over inaction on climate change
Thousands of school students denounced the Labour Party-led government’s continued refusal to address the threat of catastrophic climate change.
Our reporters•
Climate change and the fight for socialism
Young people are organising across national boundaries in recognition that climate change has global causes and global consequences. In doing so, they are meeting up with an international resurgence of the class struggle.
International Youth and Students for Social Equality (UK)•
Number of deaths counted from Texas blackout catastrophe approaches 200
The elderly, disabled and poor needlessly suffered after losing power without warning for days on end during extreme winter weather.
Chase Lawrence•
Texas reports 111 dead from February winter storm that knocked out power and water for millions
The new tally is almost twice as high as previously reported. It surpasses the death toll from Hurricane Harvey in 2017 and is expected to grow even higher.
Trévon Austin•
The Texas power grid disaster
Robert Bea, co-founder of Center for Catastrophic Risk Management: "International collaboration is critical in disaster prevention"
The WSWS interviewed Professor Bea, who has investigated more than 630 major accidents involving complex engineered systems, from his home in California last week.
Barry Grey•
Increased flooding in Indonesia linked to deforestation
Environmental scientists and advocates have pointed to the devastating effects of deforestation from palm oil and mining operations that have contributed to flooding and landslides.
Robert Campion•
Migrant caravan of workers displaced by hurricanes departs Honduras
The migrants are escaping the destruction of their homes and livelihoods by back-to-back, record-setting storms that have left more than 400,000 Hondurans and Guatemalans living in shelters.
Andrea Lobo•
Latest articles
Australia: At least 16 dead in outbreak of waterborne illness after severe storms in northern Queensland
The wave of melioidosis infections has been exacerbated by poverty and the increasing severity of storms and floods resulting from climate change.
•Gary Alvernia
Signs point to Southern California Edison’s negligence and Democrats’ complicity in Los Angeles fire disaster
Edison prioritized profits over maintenance and fire prevention, endangering lives and communities.
•Marc Wells
Storms ravage south-central US, killing dozens
The period for peak tornadoes seems to be moving earlier in the year, as a result of climate change.
•Andy Hartmann
US Southwest dust storm: A public health and safety disaster
A massive dust wall towering thousands of feet and spanning over a 1,000-mile front swept across the American Southwest causing haze over the large population centers of Dallas/Fort Worth, Austin and San Antonio.
•Andy Hartmann
Cyclone Alfred hits major Australian population centre
The first cyclone in 50 years to cross the southeast coast of Australia still carries risks of intense rainfall and flooding, stretching inland from the battered coastline.
•Mark Wilson
Japan experiences largest wildfire in 50 years
The rapid spread of the wildfire in Ofunato was caused by both government neglect and the worsening of climate change around the world.
•Ben McGrath
The defense of science requires a fight for socialism!
The “Stand Up for Science” protests taking place today mark a significant development in the growing opposition to the fascistic Trump administration.
•Socialist Equality Party (US)
Trump/Musk rampage could leave up to 1 million workers jobless, major investment firm warns
A recent report from Apollo Global Management estimated that 300,000 federal workers would be fired in the coming weeks, leading to an additional 600,000 contractors losing their jobs.
•Jacob Crosse
Australia: Hardship continues from North Queensland floods
Hundreds of people were displaced and thousands more impacted, especially in working-class areas, as the result of record rainfalls.
•Mark Wilson
At least 12 dead from Kentucky flood disaster
Flood threats remained in effect across Kentucky on Monday following heavy rainfall and snowmelt that devastated communities and killed at least 12 people, including a mother and her 7-year-old child.
•Kevin Reed
Storm Eowyn brings Ireland’s rural electricity distribution to near collapse
At the peak of the “storm of the century” 750,000 premises in the Republic of Ireland and 250,000 in Northern Ireland had no power.
•Steve James
Australia: Flooding devastates northern Queensland, two confirmed dead
Thousands of people have been affected by the extreme floods, as the Labor Government continues to fund and approve fossil fuel projects that will exacerbate climate change disasters.
•Mark Wilson
Labour’s Heathrow airport expansion and the climate crisis
It is the rich and the corporations who will take the lion’s share of the benefits from Labour’s and all airport expansions, while the poorest around the world pay the costs.
•Thomas Scripps
The role of budget cuts and private equity firms in the Los Angeles wildfires
The crisis facing the LA Fire Department is a microcosm of the broader contradictions of capitalism. It highlights the urgent need for a socialist program that prioritizes public welfare over private profit.
•Marc Wells
Trump’s visit to Los Angeles foreshadows massive attacks on social programs, democratic rights
Trump’s presence in North Carolina and California signals his administration’s push towards the privatization of disaster response, further erosion of environmental programs and the disenfranchisement of hundreds of thousands of voting people.
•Marc Wells
10 deaths from record-breaking winter storms across US Gulf Coast
Deadly low temperatures and snowstorms across much of the entire US reached into Southern US Gulf states on Tuesday and Wednesday, bringing areas of Texas, Louisiana, Alabama and Florida to a standstill and killing at least 10 people.
•Kevin Reed
Aggressive Hughes Fire erupts in Southern California two weeks after catastrophic Los Angeles fires
Santa Clarita, the area affected by the Hughes Fire, is a densely populated community predominantly comprising workers and middle-class families.
•Marc Wells
Cultural, architectural destruction in the Los Angeles fires
Southern California, in addition to being a center of the film and television industry, is a major focal point of cultural creation and exhibition. It is also home to remarkable recreational sites, tourist attractions and parks.
•Hong Jian
As viruses spread in Los Angeles shelters, fire survivors discuss the class issues
The Palisades and Eaton fires, which continue to ravage large parts of Southern California, serve as stark reminders of the systemic failures in disaster management under capitalism.
•Marc Wells, Kimie Saito, David Rye
“That’s a human basic need for your government to make sure that you're safe during a natural disaster.”
As Trump is inaugurated, victims of Los Angeles fires fear no help from the government
The future for most people devastated by the fires is a difficult one.
•Kimie Saito, David Rye, Marc Wells