Climate Shocks Are Making Parts of America Uninsurable. It Just Got Worse.

The largest insurer in California said it would stop offering new coverage. It’s part of a broader trend of companies pulling back from dangerous areas. The climate crisis is becoming a financial crisis. This month, the largest homeowner insurance company…

Climate change is making NJ and NY into wildfire hotspots

The chances of wildfires in New York and New Jersey are increasing. In a new nationwide analysis of weather conditions over the past 50 years, the research nonprofit Climate Central found that the annual number of days that have a…

2 Unknown Rembrandts Hidden in Private Collection for 200 Years Sparks Upcoming Auction

A pair of small portraits made, perhaps spontaneously, of Rembrandt van Rijk’s distant in-laws were discovered recently among a private collection.

Never seen before, or known in any of the Rembrandt literature, the portraits could be the smallest he ever made, and greatly surprised the owners who had never imagined the true origin of the inherited pieces.

If previous sales are any indication, they could bring in between $6.25 million $10 million (£5 million and £8 million) at auction.

Dated to 1635, the paintings depict wealthy plumber Jan Willemsz van der Pluym and his wife Jaapgen Carels, who lived in the city of Leiden. Their son, Dominicus van der Pluym, married Rembrandt’s cousin, but rather than this being a distant and unnurtured inter-family connection, experts at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam say the nature of the portraits show there probably was great affection between the families and the painter.

The family of van der Pluym held onto the portraits until about 1760, until they were sold by a descendent to Polish buyers, who then sold them to French buyers, who then sold them to the 1st Baron of Glenlyon, James Murrary.

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“The pictures were immediately of terrific interest,” Henry Pettifer, international deputy chair of Old Master paintings at Christie’s auction house, told CNN, adding that the owners were also taken by surprise.

“I don’t think they had looked into it,” he said. “They didn’t have expectations for the paintings.”

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They are set for a pre-auction tour of Amsterdam and New York, before a final stop in London ahead of the sale.

“What’s extraordinary is that the paintings were completely unknown. They had never appeared in any of the Rembrandt literature of the 19th or 20h century,” said Pettifer. “They are not grand, formal commissioned paintings, I think they are the smallest portraits that he painted that we know of.”

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As Ocean Oxygen Levels Dip, Fish Face an Uncertain Future – Yale Environment 360

Off the coast of southeastern China, one particular fish species is booming: the oddly named Bombay duck, a long, slim fish with a distinctive, gaping jaw and a texture like jelly. When research ships trawl the seafloor off that coast,…

Wildfires in Anchorage? Climate change sparks disaster fears – Alaska’s News Source

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — Research on a flat spot for air evacuations. Talk of old-style civil defense sirens to warn of fast-moving wildfires. Hundreds of urban firefighters training in wildland firefighting techniques while snow still blankets the ground. This is…

Wildfires in Anchorage? Climate change sparks disaster fears – ABC News

ANCHORAGE, Alaska — Research on a flat spot for air evacuations. Talk of old-style civil defense sirens to warn of fast-moving wildfires. Hundreds of urban firefighters training in wildland firefighting techniques while snow still blankets the ground. This is the…

Wildfires in Anchorage? Climate change sparks disaster fears – The Associated Press

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — Research on a flat spot for air evacuations. Talk of old-style civil defense sirens to warn of fast-moving wildfires. Hundreds of urban firefighters training in wildland firefighting techniques while snow still blankets the ground. This is…

Republican Senator Says Climate Change Only Sucks If You’re in Africa – The New Republic

Ron Johnson believes the globe heating up is actually good, well, unless you’re in Africa. “You’re concerned if you’re in the really hot region of Africa, but in terms of the United States, and most of Europe, we’re in pretty…

Without Taxpayer Money, Wind Giants Aren’t Generating Profits

A recent article at OilPrice.com explains how wind power is unprofitable, going into detail on some of the economic hurdles that industrial wind power development has encountered. Supply chain problems, inflation, likely the high price of fossil fuels, and other…

Decoding carbon markets: Role of intermediaries in the web of transactions

Rising interest in carbon markets has increased the number of intermediaries and stakeholders involved