Showing 1 - 10 of 29
The fire this time is for US climate science
Oped, Gwynne Dyer, Published on 18/03/2026
» In 1953 Ray Bradbury, an American writer, published a book entitled simply Fahrenheit 451. It was a novel about an American fireman in a not-too-distant future who realised that he was doing his job all wrong -- because his job was to burn books, which were banned in that future America. (451°F is the temperature at which paper catches fire.)
Musk's Starship: If it sounds too good to be true...
News, Gwynne Dyer, Published on 06/12/2025
» Elon Musk promised to build a spaceship that would put people and cargo into Earth orbit at one-hundredth of the current cost per kilo and even enable human beings to create a colony on Mars. A great many people were seduced by the idea, including me.
Sudan's war and the Africa we don't see
Oped, Gwynne Dyer, Published on 19/04/2025
» Last Tuesday, British Foreign Secretary David Lammy said: "Many have given up on Sudan, but that is wrong. It's morally wrong when we see so many civilians beheaded, infants as young as one subjected to sexual violence, more people facing famine than anywhere else in the world.... We simply cannot look away."
Netanyahu and Biden: decisions, decisions
News, Gwynne Dyer, Published on 17/10/2024
» Two weeks ago Iran, in response to Israel's assassinations of the leaders of Hezbollah and Hamas, its most important allies in the Arab world, fired 181 ballistic missiles at Israel. A big and prompt Israeli counterattack was expected, but at the time of writing it has still not happened. Why not?
The world is headed towards uncharted waters
Oped, Gwynne Dyer, Published on 17/09/2024
» No sirens are blaring, nobody even looks frightened, but they should be. Last week, the world moved into uncharted territory. The "aspirational" goal of never allowing the average global temperature to rise more than 1.5 degrees Celsius higher than the pre-industrial norm (+1.5C) has been breached for a whole year -- and probably forever.
FGM and the need for Islamic scholars
Oped, Gwynne Dyer, Published on 20/07/2024
» There was a small victory in The Gambia this week when a proposed law to legalise female genital mutilation (FGM) was defeated by human rights campaigners. It was quite a small victory, however, because the great majority of little girls in The Gambia are still being mutilated by the professional "cutters" who move from village to village.
2024: the year it got (really) hot
News, Gwynne Dyer, Published on 01/01/2024
» The year 2023 has probably been the hottest in the past 10,000 years -- but everybody agrees that 2024 will be even hotter. That's because we are now entering El Niño, the part of a seven-yearly oceanic cycle that heaps extra heat on whatever is already occurring.
COP summits must persist, despite failures
Oped, Gwynne Dyer, Published on 14/12/2023
» The key debate on the last day of the COP28 climate summit was about whether or not the conference should endorse a resolution to "phase out" fossil fuels -- or, in a less ambitious formulation, phase them "down" (but not out).
Armenia's latest exodus: Not a genocide
Oped, Gwynne Dyer, Published on 03/10/2023
» It is a tragedy, but it is not a genocide. In a single week, almost all of the 120,000 Armenians who lived in the enclave in western Azerbaijan called Nagorno-Karabakh have fled across the border into Armenia. Most say they don't expect ever to go home again.
So difficult to choose: Canada or the Quad?
Oped, Gwynne Dyer, Published on 23/09/2023
» First Prize: Two Fabulous Days in Beautiful Delhi! Second Prize: Four Days In Delhi!