By Vijay Jayaraj For centuries, Somali pastoralists have relied on camels for sustenance, transport and social status. In recent decades, camel husbandry has evolved into a very profitable business, transforming the lives of many Somalis. However, the mainstream media, using images of dry lands, would have us believe that this flourishing enterprise is threatened by… Continue Reading
By Vijay Jayaraj The allure of the Arctic continues to captivate imaginations with its beautiful, if sometimes forbidding, wilderness. Equally captivating to some, beneath these vast landscapes of permafrost and ice, is the economic lure of oil and gas promising economic prosperity and development. However, for the Inuit communities in Canada, Alaska and Greenland, who… Continue Reading
By Vijay Jayaraj Globally, winter cold kills more people than summer heat, and winter in Central Asia is no gentle visitor. Temperatures can plummet to minus 40°C (-40°F), transforming bustling cities into frozen landscapes and testing the limits of human endurance. Rich in history and diverse in geography, the region is also known for biting… Continue Reading
By Vijay Jayaraj By commissioning expensive and inefficient wind and solar electric generating facilities, India may have dug the grave of its own efforts to save the critically endangered great Indian bustard. Erected to avert a faux climate crisis, the so-called renewable machines and their attendant transmission lines are helping to drive one of Earth’s… Continue Reading
By Vijay Jayaraj The oceans are still very much a mystery to humankind, with a vast majority of it yet to be explored. Early in my career, I wanted to make an in-depth study of how climate affected marine life. After all, many media reports claimed that “oceans will become empty by 2048.” So, as… Continue Reading
By Vijay Jayaraj Writing anything good about climate change runs the risk of the writer getting lynched metaphorically by the online enforcers of a cultist apocalyptic narrative. For years, doomsayers have insisted that polar bears are in danger of extinction because of man-made warming even as experts have shown that populations have actually increased. So… Continue Reading
By Vijay Jayaraj Europe’s picturesque landscapes, adorned with sprawling croplands and pastures, have long been part of the continent’s agrarian identity. However, a wave of farmer protests has intruded on this peaceful scene and extended into cities. From the rolling hills of France to the windswept plains of Poland, farmers have driven their tractors onto… Continue Reading
Vandalizing art is more akin to cultural terrorism than constructive activism By Vijay Jayaraj A swirl of tomato soup engulfs Van Gogh’s vibrant “Sunflowers.” Mashed potatoes mar Monet’s serene “Water Lilies.” Around the globe, priceless artworks endure desecration in the name of climate activism. On a recent weekend, so-called eco-activists threw yellow soup on da… Continue Reading
1.31.2024
Have You Heard About Record-Low Temps Around The World? Of Course Not — It Doesn’t Fit The Narrative
By Vijay Jayaraj Despite claims of “unprecedented heat” over the past year, the on-going winter of 2023-24 is seeing temperatures plummet globally. In December, sub-zero temperatures broke 70-year-old cold-weather records in Beijing. Last week, the United States, Canada, and parts of Europe were in the midst of an Arctic freeze. With a wavy jet stream,… Continue Reading
By Vijay Jayaraj As we embark on a new year, our hopes and aspirations are renewed even as the specter of a climate doomsday purportedly looms over us. The predicted apocalypse being a falsehood, we are called upon in this season of joy and love to forgive the fear-mongers perpetrating it. These would include policymakers, news… Continue Reading
By Vijay Jayaraj On a recent cold winter day, residents of Munich were surprised to see people skiing in the street. Yes, that is how much snow fell in the German city and other parts of Europe during the early winter of 2023-2024. Despite a disruption to both ground and air travel, the Germans survived… Continue Reading
By Vijay Jayaraj Much of the United Nations’ annual climate gatherings is show. Some of it is unintentional and amusing while other performances are planned and, for the rational observer, more troubling than entertaining. Take the 28th Conference of Parties (COP28) in Dubai. Some surely smiled at the lapse of United Arab Emirates host mixing… Continue Reading
By Vijay Jayaraj Every day, people across the world wake up to news about climate change affecting their lives. With the seeming randomness of a capricious roulette wheel, the doomsday clique of the climate world daily selects a fresh topic to sow seeds of anxiety among the populace. Popular things easily recognized — even cherished… Continue Reading
11.28.2023
Economic Progress and Fossil Fuels: The Elephant in the Room at U.N. Climate Conference
The mainstream media are gearing up to bombard people with terms like “climate emergency,” “climate justice” and “climate equity” in anticipation of this week’s start of the 28th United Nations Conference of the Parties in Dubai. They might even introduce catchphrases and announce historic breakthroughs in emission-reduction diplomacy. The public relations messaging of climate politics, however, has… Continue Reading
by Vijay Jayaraj The United Nations Conference of the Parties, more commonly referred to as COP, is a yearly climate conference. This year’s COP, the 28th such event, is to be held in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) city of Dubai between Nov. 30 and Dec. 12. The irony of the event’s location this year cannot… Continue Reading
By Vijay Jayaraj Recurrent floods in Pakistan that cause widespread property damage have been used by mainstream media as a propaganda tool to shift blame from poor urban planning to purported anthropogenic climate change. Research indicates that excessive flooding is not a recent occurrence brought on by human activity; rather, it is a normal occurrence… Continue Reading
By Vijay Jayaraj News of record installations of so-called renewable energy electric generation in China may have kindled the hopes of those supporting the “green” agenda and hostile to fossil fuels. However, China is in no position to give up hydrocarbons, particularly coal. During the first half of 2023, China approved 52 gigawatts (GW) of… Continue Reading
By Vijay Jayaraj Electric vehicles (EVs) are a poster child for the so-called green transition. Even in some of the world’s poorest economies, an unquestioning embrace of all things “green” on the part of political elites powers a push for the adoption of electric vehicles. Africa — considered to be the least developed continent — is inundated… Continue Reading
By Vijay Jayaraj Thailand’s protected forest areas are home to the Indochinese tiger, known by its biological name Panthera tigris corbetti. Recent population numbers suggest that the tiger is making a comeback. Tiger populations in two of Thailand’s wildlife sanctuaries grew from 42 in 2012 to about 100 in 2022. The resurgence is one more conservation success story… Continue Reading
By Vijay Jayaraj Over the past few decades, Indonesia, an archipelagic nation made up of over 17,000 islands, has seen amazing economic progress. The strategic utilization of fossil fuels is a key factor at the center of this growth. Indonesia is a significant user of coal as well as the world’s third-largest producer of the… Continue Reading
In Memoriam: Dr. M.S. Swaminathan – The Visionary of India’s Green Revolution By Vijay Jayaraj There are some people who leave a lasting impression on this world. One of them is Dr. M.S. Swaminathan, who worked alongside Norman Borlaug to turn India into an agricultural haven. The legend who was instrumental in making India become… Continue Reading
By Vijay Jayaraj Various cities in the West have adopted “green” initiatives that might go unnoticed for the time being. One among them is carbon-free transportation through the transition from gasoline-and diesel-powered vehicles to ones propelled by electric motors. Electric vehicles (EVs) have been in the news lately for their disastrous sales numbers despite being… Continue Reading
By Vijay Jayaraj As host of the Sept. 9 G20 summit, India is ready to defend its use of fossil fuels despite the hostility of some of its guests toward the energy source. Speaking at a pre-summit conclave organized by local media, Union Power Minister R.K. Singh answered criticism that his country is a large emitter of… Continue Reading
By Vijay Jayaraj On August 23, India landed a craft near the Moon’s South Pole – an historic feat matched only by three other countries and made possible by the subcontinent’s largely uninhibited use of fossil fuels. The acceleration of coal usage between 2000 and 2020 played a pivotal role in bringing electricity to billions… Continue Reading
by Vijay Jayaraj In an era of sensationalism and clickbait headlines, the media’s portrayal of hot weather adopts an apocalyptic tone. Each scorching summer is touted as further evidence of an impending climate catastrophe with little room for nuance or objective analysis. However, lost in the hyperbole is the inconvenient truth that cold weather poses… Continue Reading
