Many Americans in the Eastern US have been slammed with icy weather this week.
The deadly storm that’s raking the eastern U.S. this week is the opening act for what’s to come over the next week: A potential “bomb cyclone” blizzard for the Midwest, an arctic blast courtesy of the polar vortex, and possibly the first real East Coast snowstorm in years.”The atmosphere is making up for lost time in terms of wintry conditions and snow following a relatively mild and snowless start to the season,” said AccuWeather senior meteorologist Alex Sosnowski.
Personally, I think many of us would enjoy a little global warming at this point. However, just as the timing of the CoP28 international climate conference coincided with a historic blizzard in Europe, the polar vortex has appeared just as an article by climate justice reporter Nina Lakhani linked Israel’s military efforts targeting terrorists in Gaza to…the climate crisis.
Lakhani even dials up the hyperbole to claim Israel is causing a “climate catastrophe.”
Climate consequences including sea level rise, drought and extreme heat were already threatening water supplies and food security in Palestine.The environmental situation in Gaza is now catastrophic, as much of the farmland, energy and water infrastructure has been destroyed or polluted, with devastating health implications probably for decades to come, experts have warned. Between 36% and 45% of Gaza’s buildings – homes, schools, mosques, hospitals, shops – have so far been destroyed or damaged, and construction is a major driver of global heating.“The catastrophic aerial attack on Gaza will not fade when a ceasefire comes,” said Zena Agha, policy analyst at Al-Shabaka, the Palestinian Policy Network, who writes about the climate crisis and the Israeli occupation. “The military detritus will continue to live in the soil, the earth, the sea and the bodies of the Palestinians living in Gaza – just as it does in other postwar contexts such as Iraq.”
There is so much to unpack with this article that I hardly know where to begin. As I have noted before, part of the trouble with today’s science reporting is that it is not being done by scientists or those who take the scientific approach to evaluating data seriously.
There is limited background on this particular “Climate Justice Reporter.” A brief dig into the internet records shows that Lakhani is a former mental health nurse. Therefore, it is unlikely she has the background needed in climatology, geology, oceanography, or meteorology to discern the truth, relevancy, and reliability of the information presented to her by “experts” who would prefer Israel to end their operations in Gaza.
Former director of the Danish government’s Environmental Assessment Institute (EAI) and environmental economist Bjørn Lomborg took pen to paper and did the math to show the climate emissions from Israel’s efforts are on par with the emissions from the United Nations climate conference attendees at CoP26, two years.
And while I cannot discern if Lakhani actually attended CoP26 or the conference in Dubai, she certainly was unhappy with the smackdown OPEC gave the climate cultists at this year’s event.
In Dubai, the Iron Law of Electricity won the day. There may be an Iron Law of Military Loss…which states that when you are poised for a massive, and much-deserved defeat in warfare, you endeavor to find a way out of it quickly and with a way to claim you actually won.
To be fair to Lakhani, she isn’t the only “reporter” making this connection. The media efforts started a month ago, and the message was pushed heavily at the UN Climate Conference!
As leaders, officials and activists descend on Dubai for United Nations climate talks to discuss saving Earth, another environmental crisis is nearby, and it’s raising concerns among summit participants.Devastated by a nearly two-month-long assault by Israeli airstrikes and ground fighting, large swaths of Gaza have been flattened, agricultural lands have been destroyed, olive trees that have stood for generations are scorched and dwindling water resources are contaminated. Experts warn that white phosphorus — a chemical illegal under international law that a human rights group says is in used in Israeli operations — could also be detrimental to the environment, including the air and soil. Palestinians are worried that the land could take years to recover, and activists at the summit are tying the plight of Gazans to climate justice globally.
Entities like Al Jazeera, PBS, and Frace24 mindlessly parroted the information.
But I have to thank Lkhani for her laughable connection between Israel’s military efforts and climate change. It’s comedy gold, and the mocking that has ensured further undermines the narratives that have already been collapsing at an escalating pace.
It has also further eroded the already substantially diminished credibility of the mainstream media on the subjects of Israel and the climate…as evidenced by the comments on social media.
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