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Climate adaptation: resilience, self-sufficiency and systems change
Climate adaptation: resilience, self-sufficiency and systems change This weekend marks the beginning of COP26. After being delayed for nearly a year because of COVID, diplomats, scientists, corporate lobbyists, NGOs, students, demonstrators, corporations, heads of state, and many, many other invited and uninvited guests are already making their way to Glasgow Scotland for what has been […]
“Cry Me A River”
“Cry Me A River” I got a Facebook message early this week from a friend in Sacramento CA that said after over 200 days with no rain, she got 4.83 inches in a 24-hour period from the latest extreme rainfall that occurred over northern California. Others have reported up to a foot of rain in […]
Climate Change and the Limits of Economic Growth
Shutterstock CLIMATE CHANGE AND THE LIMITS OF ECONOMIC GROWTH If economic growth ushered in this era of climate change, how can economic growth also be part of the solution? Since the nineteenth century, human society has experienced extraordinary but uneven economic growth thanks to the energy unleashed from fossil fuels. That growth, and the greenhouse […]
Returning to a 1970s Economy Could Save Our Future
Returning to a 1970s Economy Could Save Our Future We’d contract energy use by half. Shrinking consumption is the solution we can actually live with. Second of two. A society that consumes less energy and stuff could rehumanize society and heal the biosphere. [Editor’s note: Read part one of this two-parter here.] Thanks to bright green […]
Tech Won’t Save Us. Shrinking Consumption Will
Tech Won’t Save Us. Shrinking Consumption Will Beyond the ‘blah blah blah’ of climate summits lies the real solution our leaders refuse to acknowledge. First of two parts. Oversold: Forget carbon storage, direct air capture, hydrogen power and the Earth relentlessly mined to support ‘green tech.’ Image from Shutterstock. Since 1995 there have been 25 global […]
Permafrost: a ticking carbon time bomb
Permafrost: a ticking carbon time bomb In Sweden’s far north, permafrost beneath the Stordalen mire is up to thousands of years old. Sheltered by snow-spattered mountains, the Stordalen mire is a flat, marshy plateau, pockmarked with muddy puddles. A whiff of rotten eggs wafts through the fresh air. Here in the Arctic in Sweden’s far […]
Revenge of the Real World
Revenge of the Real World The status quo response would be amusing if the consequences weren’t so dire. Rather than stare at empty shelves, you have two options for distraction: you can don a virtual-reality headset and cavort with dolphins in the metaverse, or you can trade various forms of phantom wealth that always go up (happy happy!) because […]
How Much of the Worsening Energy Crisis Is Due to Depletion?
How Much of the Worsening Energy Crisis Is Due to Depletion? If society attempts to maintain current levels of energy services throughout the transition, the result will be a spike in both energy usage and carbon emissions. Coal and natural gas spot prices have recently soared to record levels internationally, while oil is trading at over […]
When they say money, think energy
When they say money, think energy The Indian government ruffled a few feathers at the COP this morning, by raising the thorny question of the £722bn they were supposed to receive to aid their transition away from fossil fuels. Because, when all is said and done, the proposed transition is all about money. Decommissioning the old fossil […]
The Big Green Lie
THE BIG GREEN LIE At the next Convention on Biological Diversity summit [phase one: 11-15 October 2021], world leaders plan to agree turning 30% of the Earth into “Protected Areas” by 2030. Big conservation NGOs say this will mitigate climate change, reduce wildlife loss, enhance biodiversity and so save our environment. They are wrong. Protected […]
Today’s Contemplation: Collapse Cometh XXXI
Today’s Contemplation: Collapse Cometh XXXI Tulum, Mexico (1986) Photo by author So, dozens of political leaders, their hundreds of staff, multitudes of corporate leaders, and who knows how many ‘celebrities’ have all gathered in Glasgow, Scotland for an elite confab (#26) to discuss the ‘Climate […]
The Scientists Are Terrified
The Scientists Are Terrified A survey of the world’s top climate researchers shows a stark finding: Most expect catastrophic levels of heating and damage soon—very soon. Photo: Fadel Senna/AFP (Getty Images) A new Nature survey shows a majority of the world’s leading climate scientists expect “catastrophic” impacts in their lifetimes driven by rising greenhouse gas emissions. Brilliant […]
Code Red on FacingFuture.TV
Code Red on FacingFuture.TV Photograph Source: Emertz76 – CC BY 2.0 FacingFuture.TV recently hosted a preview of the upcoming IPCC 2021 UN climate report, which report guides the gathering of dignitaries from around the world meeting in Glasgow this November to discuss, analyze, and decide how to deal with global warming/climate change. According to the Code […]
No Trucking Way
No Trucking Way The financial economy and real economy used to live with each other happily: now they are in a long-distance relationship reliant on logistics to keep in touch. What happens when those logistics break down? (Very bad things, as I was discussing here the other day.) We have covered the ocean-carrier side of this […]
