The Navigator, Saturday, March 8, 2025
Rent-to-own for the rich, MAGAlomania, Fearful GOPs, Grammar Police, the new Great Depression, Musk Fluster, COVID 5 years on—and more
Scientists warn we've likely surpassed the critical 1.5°C warming threshold set by the Paris Climate Accord, with global temperatures already hitting 1.6°C above preindustrial levels last year. We're currently on track for around 2.7°C of warming by 2100, meaning hotter, longer summers, frequent and prolonged heat waves, increased wildfire risk, and the spread of mosquito-borne diseases such as dengue and potentially malaria into previously unaffected areas.
This climate disruption will accelerate mass migration, amplify food shortages due to crop failures, threaten coastal cities with rising seas and more extreme storms, and ultimately heighten conflict, especially in vulnerable regions. While renewable energy advances have made some progress in limiting the damage, scientists stress the urgency for intensified global efforts to curb emissions and build resilience.
For those of you traveling to Austin for SXSW, we hope you’ll join our session, “Fleeing to Safer Ground: Climate Change-Driven Migration,” on Tuesday, March 11, at 10 a.m. at the Hilton Austin Downtown, Salon B. Marcia Stepanek and Bradley Schurman will deliver actionable insights on how climate risk influences human migration and the challenges and opportunities ahead.
As always, thank you for making us part of your week. Please join the conversation by sharing your thoughts in the comments below.
Why Rent-to-Own Is Catching on With Wealthy Home Buyers (The Wall Street Journal)
And what to consider if you’re planning to lease first and buy later
Tariff War Risks Sinking World Into New Great Depression, International Chamber of Commerce Warns (The Wall Street Journal)
The world economy could face a crash similar to the Great Depression of the 1930s
MAGAlomania: Donald Trump’s economic delusions are already hurting America (The Economist)
The president and reality are drifting apart, the influential U.K. business magazine says.
“They’re Scared Shitless”: The Threat of Political Violence Informing Trump’s Grip on Congress (Vanity Fair)
With the President smashing norm after norm, even lawmakers within his party have feared for their personal safety, and at least one has told confidants that it has swayed his decision-making.
What if the people caring for American children get deported? (Vox)
The new immigration raids are threatening parents, kids, and providers.
Wildfires are burning across the South. Here’s why more could be on the way (The Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
Fed by blustery winds and dry conditions, more than 100 wildfires sparked across Georgia over the weekend, scorching roughly 2,390 acres.
Allergy season is getting longer. Blame climate change (Axios)
Most major U.S. cities are suffering from longer allergy seasons amid human-caused climate change, a new analysis finds.
Who broke the sperm bank? (The Financial Times)
Inside the market for super-premium semen
Grammar Fans Flock to a Film About Participles and Gerunds (The New York Times)
Rebel With a Clause celebrates the improbable cross-country journey of a woman who gently imparts grammar rules to strangers.
Is Elon Musk reverse-engineering U.S. spending for his own profit? (Prof G Pod)
In 77 seconds, NYU marketing professor and podcaster Scott Galloway sums up his blistering take, and many others’, on Elon Musk, his companies and his role in the downsizing of the U.S. government.
Meet The Only Girl in the Orchestra (Illinois Public Media)
This year’s Oscar-winning documentary short profiles the trailblazing life of a low-key musical legend who broke a big glass ceiling in the world of classical music via the New York Philharmonic.
How COVID Remade America (The New York Times)
Five years after the pandemic began, Donald Trump is president again, but he’s presiding over a very different country now. America is a harsher place, more self-interested and nakedly transactional.
