Emrys Westacott writes a compelling article in Big Think that "We are currently witnessing a tendency for capitalism to stretch the distance between the ‘have lots’ and the ‘have nots’. These growing inequalities invite a fresh critique of extravagance and waste." > Read More
Here's The Thing About That Dire Climate Report: We Have The Tools We Need To Fix Things
Cady Stanton and Elizabeth Weise writes in USA Today,
"This week's United Nations climate report painted an ominous picture. If humanity doesn't act now to stop greenhouse gas emissions, the Earth could warm as much as 3 degrees Celsius.
At those temperatures, major cities will be underwater, unprecedented heatwaves will define summers, terrifying storms will become more frequent and millions of plant and animal species will go extinct, UN leadership warned.
Making the shift seems daunting. A dozen years ago, moving to fully carbon-neutral energy would have been crushingly expensive. But today, with wind power 72% cheaper and solar 90% cheaper than in 2009, officials say it's actually well within reach." > Read More
Yawning At The Apocalypse
Cameron Brick and Sander van der Linden write in The Psychologist on how psychologists can help solve the largest social dilemma in history.
"In a Washington Post article in 2009, journalist David Fahrenthold wrote: ‘If someone set out to draw a problem that people would not care about, it would look exactly like climate change.’ Naomi Klein and others have argued that it’s not that people don’t care: it’s just that the problem is so enormous and encompassing that people feel helpless and disempowered. Either way, psychology is central to understanding how we perceive and respond to climate change.
After decades of discussion, and several pieces in this very magazine, it could be argued that little practical progress has been made. Why is climate change proving to be such a stubborn problem?" > Read More
'Carbon Footprint' and 'Net Zero' Don't Mean What You Think
Words that imply strong emission reduction policies have adopted slippery meanings intended to imply companies are doing more to reduce emissions than they actually are.
Almost every day, Motherboard reporters receive press releases from companies and governments large and small boasting of some new effort to reduce emissions. While it is obviously a good thing these entities—or, at least, their PR departments—are thinking about their environmental impacts, we've also noticed an unfortunate trend. These releases routinely misuse and abuse basic climate change concepts. In some cases, they even introduce new and misleading terms by slapping "green" or "eco" in front of some pollutant.
Audrey Carleton and Aaron Gordon of Vice sets the record straight!
You've probably heard many of these terms before: carbon neutral, net zero, zero emissions. These terms sound simple, even self-explanatory. But the basic concepts they express are laden with complexities. And by getting repeated in the media without being fully defined, these terms have adopted slippery meanings, a slipperiness very much intended to imply companies and governments are doing more to reduce emissions than they actually are. Not all of these cases fit the traditional definition of "greenwashing"—in which companies express concerns about the environment while doing little to address those concerns—but many of them do.
To try and—ahem—clear the air, Motherboard has created this glossary of key terms relating to how corporations and governments talk about reducing emissions. We have assembled this guide in the hopes that it will help all of us more critically evaluate the claims corporations make about their attempts to be environmentally responsible. > Read More
Global Temperatures on the Rise
Sarah Elzas of Modern Ghana writes about how the world fails to meet Paris agreement emissions targets.
The reduction in carbon emissions caused by the Covid-19 pandemic has done nothing to slow the earth's warming, warns a United Nations report. Other analyses released this week, ahead of next month's Cop26 climate conference in Glasgow, show that the world is not meeting emissions reductions targets set out in the 2015 Paris agreement.
The global economic downturn caused by Covid only temporarily reduced CO2 emissions, and not enough to reverse temperature increases, says the United in Science 2021 report, released during the week.
The report, published by a range of UN agencies and scientific partners, presents the latest scientific findings related to climate change.
Carbon emissions shrunk by 5.6 percent in 2020, after peaking in 2019. But now that Covid-19 restrictions are lifting and economies are starting up again, outside aviation and sea transport, global emissions in the first months of 2021 have gone back up, and are at about the same levels as in 2019.
The report warns that emissions will continue to rise as the world is not meeting its carbon reduction targets, which means that global temperatures will increase beyond what was set out in the 2015 Paris agreement.
World rallies to save Paris climate agreement, five years on
The agreement, made at the Cop21 summit, called for capping global warming at below 2 degrees Celsius above the pre-industrial level, ideally to 1.5C.
“Unless there are immediate, rapid and large-scale reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, limiting warming to 1.5 C will be impossible, with catastrophic consequences for people and the planet," wrote United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in the report's foreword. > Read More
World Out of Time on Climate Change
Ben Webster, Environmental Editor of The Times writes that the world is “out of time” to act on climate change and the consequences will be catastrophic unless there are immediate large-scale reductions in greenhouse gases.
UN Secretary General António Guterres was speaking at the launch of a UN report which warns that emissions have bounced back after the temporary decline last year due to the pandemic.
He said the Cop26 UN climate conference in Glasgow must be the “turning point” at which all countries present more ambitious targets that cut global emissions by 45 per cent by 2030, compared with 2010 levels. > Read More
Sea Levels Are Going To Rise 20ft. We Can Do Something About It →
Harold R Wanless of The Guardian writes the following:
To avoid the grimmest outlook posed by warming oceans, we need to extract heat-trapping gases from the atmosphere.
The climate emergency is bigger than many experts, elected officials, and activists realize. Humanity’s greenhouse gas emissions have overheated the Earth’s atmosphere, unleashing punishing heat waves, hurricanes, and other extreme weather – that much is widely understood.
The larger problem is that the overheated atmosphere has in turn overheated the oceans, assuring a catastrophic amount of future sea level rise.
As oceans heat up the water rises in part because warm water expands but also because the warmer waters have initiated major melt of polar ice sheets. As a result, average sea levels around the world are now all but certain to rise by at least 20 to 30 feet. That’s enough to put large parts of many coastal cities, home to hundreds of millions of people, under water.
The key questions are how soon this sea level rise will happen and whether humans can cool the atmosphere and oceans quickly enough to prevent part of this. > Read More
Long-Range Forecast for The Future →
Bryan Walsh of Axios writes the following:
The global future is looking dark and stormy. A new 20-year-forecast for the world: increasingly fragmented and turbulent.
The big picture: A major report put out this week by the National Intelligence Council reflects a present rocked by the COVID-19 pandemic. How the next two decades will unfold depends largely on whether new technologies will ultimately unite us — or continue to divide us.
Driving the news: Many, if not most, of those trends identified in the new report from the U.S. government are trending negative.
"Shared global challenges — including climate change, disease, financial crises, and technology disruptions — are likely to manifest more frequently and intensely in almost every region and country," the report's authors write.
They predict that those intensifying challenges will collide with a geopolitical structure that will become increasingly fragmented and fragile, as the U.S. competes with China for global leadership while citizens of both democracies and autocracies grow more dissatisfied with their leaders. > Read More
Chronic Fear of Environmental Doom? You're Not Alone →
Marta Zaraska of Discover Magazine writes the following:
Climate anxiety is real — and psychologists are taking notice. Experts say there are proactive things you can do to ease your worries and help slow the climate crisis at the same time.
I’m trying to work but my heart is pounding. I’m in my daughter’s bedroom, the only air-conditioned room in our house. Outside, the French summer roasts at 109 degrees Fahrenheit. But it’s not just the outdoor heat that makes me feel light-headed. I’m reading research papers on climate change with titles like “Accelerating Extinction Risk” and “Accelerated Dryland Expansion.” Everything seems to be accelerating, my pulse included. Thoughts race, too: How bad is it, really? Are we all doomed? Should I start homeschooling my daughter in martial arts, shooting and forest gathering? Should I get a Xanax — or stay true to my Polish roots and just drink some vodka?
Scientists already have several terms for what I’m experiencing. Some call it climate anxiety. Others call it pre-traumatic stress disorder or solastalgia — distress over seeing the natural environment negatively transformed. There is also “reef grief" — named after the heartache people describe over the loss of coral reefs. Name notwithstanding, one thing is clear: Worry and fear surrounding global warming is sharply increasing, taking a toll on many. An American attorney, David Buckel, tragically went so far as to set himself on fire in 2018 to protest the use of fossil fuels as a global pollutant.
Photo Credit: Ethan Daniel
Beloved Creatures Headed Toward Extinction →
Sophie Lewis of CBS News writes the following:
Snow leopards in the Himalayas, lemurs in Madagascar and elephants in central Africa: Some of Earth's most beloved creatures are on a path to extinction, a new study shows, thanks to current greenhouse gas emissions. Unless humans stop pumping carbon dioxide and methane into the atmosphere, researchers say the planet's biodiversity will suffer devastating consequences.
In a study published Friday in the journal Biological Conservation, scientists warn that some of the richest concentrations of plants and animals on Earth will be "irreversibly ravaged" by global warming unless countries make a real effort toward their goals made under the 2015 Paris climate treaty. They report a high danger for extinction in almost 300 biodiversity "hot spots" if temperatures rise three degrees Celsius above preindustrial levels. > Read More
How To Save Planet Earth →
Timothy Meinch of Discover Magazine writes the following:
Have you ever held a product in your hands and considered the existential weight of your purchase? Beyond each price tag hides a ripple effect. It expands from soil to waterways, grocery aisles to kitchen plates, factories to fulfillment centers and mail slots to landfills. This global impact has become less hidden in the past decade, and ignoring the people downstream from us has grown increasingly difficult. We’re more aware than ever of the mark our consumption leaves on planet Earth, which now sustains nearly 8 billion people. Somehow, humans are still pumping more than 30 gigatons of carbon dioxide (CO2) per year into the atmosphere, despite the mountain of evidence that CO2 is the top contributor to greenhouse gases causing global warming. Similar conundrums apply to use of plastics and consumption of meat and other goods. We know we need to do better, but we feel helpless and overwhelmed. Let’s call this the eco-stential crisis; it applies on a deeply personal level for most environmentally aware humans, and on a global scale. > Read More
PhotoCredit: Sepp Photography
Must Highlight Marginalized Voices
Kharoll-Ann Souffrant of Ricochet Media writes, The Climate Movement - We Need Must Highlight Marginalized Voices.
It was 2005. We all remember Kanye West’s famous words, now etched on our memories: “George Bush doesn’t care about Black people!”
This phrase was spoken in the aftermath of the devastation wrought by Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans, Louisiana. Bush Jr. was being roundly criticized for his slow response to the natural disaster that left nearly 2,000 people dead and countless others injured. Katrina was one of the most powerful hurricanes in U.S. history, and New Orleans, with a predominantly Black population, has one of the largest concentrations of Black people in the country.
As is often the case, this natural disaster highlighted and exacerbated health and socioeconomic inequalities: Black people were the most affected, and also the most likely to have been left to fend for themselves. Today, tens of thousands of these Black residents have deserted the city. The area, gentrified and mostly populated by whites and Latinos with higher incomes, is adapting to the perpetual threat of rising waters. > Read More
Greta Thunberg
Real Reason Humans Are Dominant Species
Justin Rowlatt & Laurence Knight of BBC News writes, The Real Reason Humans Are The Dominant Species.
From early humans rubbing sticks together to make fire, to the fossil fuels that drove the industrial revolution, energy has played a central role in our development as a species. But the way we power our societies has also created humanity's biggest challenge. It's one that will take all our ingenuity to solve.
Energy is the key to humanity's world domination.
Not just the jet fuel that allows us to traverse entire continents in a few hours, or the bombs we build that can blow up entire cities, but the vast amounts of energy we all use every day.
Consider this: a resting human being requires about the same amount of energy as an old-fashioned incandescent light bulb to sustain their metabolism - about 90 watts (joules per second).
But the average human being in a developed country uses more like 100 times that amount, if you add in the energy needed to get around, build and heat our homes, grow our food and all the other things our species gets up to.
The average American, for example, consumes about 10,000 watts.
That difference explains a lot about us - our biology, our civilisation and the unbelievably affluent lifestyles we all lead - compared, that is, with other animals. > Read More
The Amazon Is Emitting More Greenhouse Gases Than It Absorbs →
Jan Wesner Child of The Weather Channel writes, "The Amazon Is Likely Emitting More Greenhouse Gases Than It Absorbs, New Study Says."
Scientists have predicted for years that at some point the Amazon rainforest, known as "the lungs of the planet," would be overcome in its ability to scrub carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and could even emit more greenhouse gases than it absorbs.
Now, a new study says, it's probably already happened.
The research, published Thursday in the journal Frontiers in Forests and Global Change, looked at several factors at play in the Amazon, including fires, deforestation, weather and the expansion of ranching. It concludes that greenhouse gases including methane and nitrous oxide being emitted in the Amazon basin offset and most likely exceed the region's ability to soak up carbon dioxide. > Read More
Legacy of Hawaiian Medicine Women, Royalty Goddesses and More →
Magic Seaweed shares Lauren Hill's "The History of Female Surfing: A Legacy of Hawaiian Medicine Women, Royalty Goddesses and More" from her book, She Surf.
With roots entwined amongst the royalty of Ancient Polynesia, surfing has been called The Sport of Kings. But to use this name alone is to deny the full and rightful history of the art of riding waves. It has always also been The Sport of Queens.
Surfing has been part of Hawaiian culture since the fourth century when Polynesians settled the islands and brought wave riding with them. In pre-contact Hawaii, surfing was for everyone; mothers, grandfathers, warriors, princesses, children. In fact, historians of Ancient Polynesia acknowledge that it was women who seemed to stand in the highest regard for their skill, grace and poise as surfers. Woven deep into the chants and lore of our surfing culture’s roots are the stories of revered women who rode waves with utmost grace and athleticism.
Surfing was of such value to early Hawaiians that it was forbidden to work or war during prime surf season – everyone took a full three months off over winter for social bonding via play and playful competition -- called The Makahiki Festival. The ecological abundance of the Hawaiian islands meant food was easily accessed, and so leisure was also abundant. > Read More
Satellite Imagery Shows Kelp Forests Have Collapsed
Alex Fox of Smithsonian Magazine writes, "Satellite Imagery Shows Northern California Kelp Forests Have Collapsed."
Researchers say they’re not sure these iconic coastal ecosystems will be able to make a comeback anytime soon. The coastal waters of Northern California are changing. A decade ago, hundreds of miles of the rugged seaside were flanked by thick, swaying underwater forests of amber-green bull kelp that were home to fish, abalone and a host of other species. Now, those forests have been nearly wiped out by a series of environmental events that have been falling like ill-fated dominos since 2013. A new study using satellite imagery and underwater surveys is the latest to confirm that these majestic marine ecosystems have all but disappeared. > Read More
Western States: Water Shortages Loom →
Sophia Eppolito of the Associated Press writes, "Western States Chart Diverging Paths As Water Shortages Loom."
As persistent drought and climate change threaten the Colorado River, several states that rely on the water acknowledge they likely won’t get what they were promised a century ago.
But not Utah.
Republican lawmakers approved an entity that could push for more of Utah’s share of water as seven Western states prepare to negotiate how to sustain a river serving 40 million people. Critics say the legislation, which the governor still must sign, could strengthen Utah’s effort to complete a billion-dollar pipeline from a dwindling reservoir that’s a key indicator of the river’s health. > Read More
Sinking land and Rising Seas →
Madeline Stone of National Geographic writes, "Sinking Land and Rising Seas: The Dual Crises Facing Coastal Communities."
A double whammy of climate change and human-caused land subsidence means global coastal residents are experiencing extreme sea-level rise. The world’s coastal residents are experiencing more extreme sea level rise than is widely appreciated because they are concentrated in places where the land is sinking rapidly, a study published Monday in Nature Climate Change has found.
Sea levels are rising globally as Earth’s ice sheets melt and as warming sea water expands. But on a local scale, subsidence, or sinking land, can dramatically aggravate the problem. Cities like New Orleans and Jakarta are experiencing very rapid sea level rise relative to their coastlines—the land itself is sinking as the water is rising. > Read More
UN Warns Countries' Pledges Too Meager →
Brady Dennis of The Washington Post writes, 'United Nations: Countries’ pledges to cut emissions are far too meager to halt climate change - New analysis shows the world remains on a perilous trajectory, even as global leaders have promised more urgent action.
Pledges made by so far by countries around the globe to cut greenhouse gas emissions fall strikingly short of the profound changes necessary to avoid the most catastrophic impacts of climate change, the United Nations said Friday.
The U.N. analysis comes as presidents and prime ministers face pressure to ramp up the promises they made as part of the Paris climate accord in 2015. Through the end of last year, roughly 75 countries representing about 30 percent of global emissions had updated their initial plans ahead of a key U.N. climate summit this fall in Scotland.
But so far, U.N. officials reported Friday, those more ambitious pledges are hardly ambitious enough. Even if countries follow through, their combined impacts would put the world on a path to achieve only a 1 percent reduction in global emissions by 2030, compared to 2010 levels. By contrast, scientists have said that emissions must fall by nearly 50 percent this decade for the world to realistically have a shot at avoiding devastating temperature rise. > Read More
Ocean Current Verge of Tipping Point
David Nield of Science Alert writes “A Major Ocean Could Be On The Verge of a Devasting 'Tipping Point.'
The Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) sea currents are vital in transporting heat from the tropics to the Northern Hemisphere, but new research suggests climate change might knock the AMOC out of action much sooner than we anticipated.
That could have profound, large-scale impacts on the planet in terms of weather patterns, upending agricultural practices, biodiversity, and economic stability across the vast areas of the world that the AMOC influences. > Read More
