Climate Emergency
“Almost two-thirds of sharks and rays that live around the world’s coral reefs are threatened with extinction with potentially dire knock-on effects for ecosystems.”
‘Extinction crisis’ of sharks and rays to have devastating effect on other species | The Guardian
“Riot police backed by bulldozers removed activists from buildings in the village with only a few left in trees and an underground tunnel by last weekend, but protesters including Thunberg remained.”
German police detain Greta Thunberg in German coal protests | Reuters
“Hundreds of thousands of young climate activists will continue “protesting in the streets in huge numbers” against fossil fuels, a day after Greta Thunberg was removed by German police”
Climate activists vow to take to streets to stop fossil fuel extraction | The Guardian
“The oil giant Exxon privately “predicted global warming correctly and skilfully” only to then spend decades publicly rubbishing such science in order to protect its core business.
Exxon made ‘breathtakingly’ accurate climate predictions in 1970s and 80s | The Guardian
If you feel helpless against the fossil fuel destruction, join us in Lützerath from January 12th.
Thousands of people are joining forces: we will block this machine and defeat the coal mafia.
A thread on Mastodon documenting the protests in Lützerath
“The COP27 United Nations climate conference held in Egypt in November was a mixed bag (_Nature_ 612, 16–17; 2022). Although countries recommitted to the goal of the 2015 Paris climate agreement — to limit global warming to 1.5 °C above pre-industrial temperatures — they made no commitments to phase out fossil fuels. Some even pushed to abandon the 1.5 °C target, saying it is not realistic on the basis of current trends. Thankfully, they were outnumbered.”
Don’t wait for COP: the end of the fossil-fuel age must start now
“The United Arab Emirates announced Thursday that the head of the state oil giant Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC), one of the world’s largest oil companies, will lead the COP28 climate talks in Dubai later this year.
The appointment of Sultan al-Jaber as COP28 president-designate provoked a furious backlash from climate activists and civil society groups. Many called on the oil chief to relinquish his role as ADNOC CEO, saying it represents a clear conflict of interest with his COP28 position.”
COP28: UAE sparks backlash by appointing oil chief as president
“Data indicate that the top 2,000 meters gained about 10 zettajoules of heat between 2021 and 2022 — an amount equivalent to about 100 times the world’s electricity generation in 2021.
“The forest is not an object and it is not only the trees that burn. The forest is a composition of living beings that exist in a constant state of exchange, in noisy conversation.”
I only needed to open my window in Brazil to witness the climate crisis | The Guardian
“In poorer countries, closer to the equator, the situation is much worse. Increasingly, people cannot return, they cannot adapt. They have to move. In 2023 the issue will become impossible to ignore.”
I keep seeing this idea being repeated that because BP concocted the idea of the Carbon Footprint to shift blame to individuals that somehow individuals are not responsible. That really, it’s the corporations that are to blame. Bullshit. Yes, of course corporations are to blame. Capitalism has created this never-ending cycle of hyper consumerism. But humans, especially those in countries like the US have happily endorsed it. To this day most people I know refuse to take any responsibility for their role. They drive, fly and consume as much as they please and are perfectly happy continuing that lifestyle. They love the message that they’re not responsible.
I’m not suggesting that the policies of government and the fundamental practices of industrial-corporate capitalism are blameless. Of course they play a key role in perpetuating climate collapse, habitat destruction, etc.
But let’s not pretend that our individual behaviors of mindless, obedient consumption to not complete the cycle. We have allowed ourselves to be re-defined by capitalism from citizens to consumers. We insist on maximum comfort, consumption and convenience at the least expense. We are participants in this equation.
And I’d add that when we see attempts to suggest that we modify our behaviors, to purchase less, to consume less, to change our diet, etc, people push back against the solutions. We don’t want to make the changes that are necessary. We don’t want to do it voluntarily on our own and we’re going to be unhappy when laws are made that restrict our behavior. Legislators of law know that the changes that need to be made will result in a transition to a very different way of living that will result in pushback.
I think a lot of people just want to believe that with new legislation we’ll magically have new technology and all will be fixed. That we can point our fingers at Big Oil and Big Auto. The idea being that there is an easy, magical technological fix that will just sort of happen with a magic wand.
But the hard truth is that for decades we’ve built a whole way of life, all of us, that is based on cheap fossil fuel energy. But this way of life is just a brief blip in human history. It’s only lasted a hundred years and already, it’s done. In only 100 years we’ve burned through enough to change the climate of our planet. And most of that in only the past few decades.
We now have a reckoning coming, be it the massive changes we need to embrace to just begin to curb the problem or the full-on massive collapse that seems most likely.
And we in the developed world, most notably countries like the US, bear the brunt of the responsibility. Not equally, of course, within each wealthy nation there are differences. Oligarchs like Elon Musk who happily fly their private jets on a regular basis obviously contribute far more than a wage worker driving to work. But again, on a whole, wealthier nations have burned more.
I don’t have a lot of hope that we’ll do nearly enough in the short time we have. But pretending our individual consumption doesn’t count for much is a sure way to continuing in the wrong direction.
“The problem is that there are a lot of people out there who don’t care… Many, maybe most, people aren’t as worried about saving the earth as they are worried about what other people think of them.”
Mockery: The Climate Movement’s Secret Weapon | by George Dillard
It’s impressive how large wind turbines have gotten, and, as a result, how far the prices have come down. The only limiting factor seems to be the speed at which they can be produced.
Wind turbines are already skyscraper-sized – is there any limit to how big they will get?
There’s been way too much talk and too little action and commitment, especially in the United States. The citizens of the US need to step up and take responsibility for the problems our standard of living and over consumption have caused.
I often see well meaning lefties proclaiming that it is largely the fault of the 1% and corporate capitalism. Sure, there are those that can be pointed to as doing the most damage, far beyond the average. Elon Musk taking private flights across the country or globe as casually as Americans drive to the big box store. But the middle class of the US does not get a pass on this. We’ve all gone along with hyper-consumerism for decades and readily push back against any notion of taking responsibility, of restraint. It’s bullshit to point the fingers at the emissions of corporations given that those emissions are coming as a result of our demand for goods. If we’re buying the products that drive production then we are also responsible.
More and bigger cars, bigger homes filled with more stuff and requiring more energy to heat and cool, are our responsibility. Millions of people in the US, allowing themselves to be defined as “consumers” continue to go along with the “American Dream” that is in fact a leading factor in the nightmare of existence for those suffering the brunt of the early years of climate collapse.
“I’ve been chronicling the increased frustration and anger of island states and vulnerable countries and small African nations and others around the world that feel victimised by the fact that they are a minuscule component of emissions,” he said. “And yet [they are] paying a very high price. Seventeen of the 20 most affected countries in the world, by the climate crisis, are in Africa, and yet 48 sub-Saharan countries total 0.55% of all emissions.”
John Kerry: rich countries must respond to developing world anger over climate | The Guardian
A scrolling multimedia exploration of the changes being brought by climate collapse.
“Researchers are no longer in doubt: Global warming has begun to make Norway warmer and wetter.”
“The global economy is structured around growth — the idea that firms, industries and nations must increase production every year, regardless of whether it is needed. This dynamic is driving climate change and ecological breakdown.”
“Environmental advocates say this is just the beginning to a cleanup that will likely take years.”
What you need to know about the latest Keystone pipeline oil spill : NPR
From the Guardian podcast: The Cop15 conference brings together representatives from all over the world with an urgent mission: preventing the breakdown of Earth’s natural habitats and mass extinction.
The age of extinction: can we prevent an ecological collapse? | The Guardian
“If current eating trends continue, the world will clear land equal to at least 1.25 more Indias by 2050. That would be a disaster for the climate and wildlife, dooming carbon-rich and biodiverse ecosystems.”
No One Wants to Say Put Down That Burger. - The New York Times
“Degrowth policies would be effective in fighting against climate breakdown and biodiversity loss and would secure human needs and well-being.”
Scientists outline key policies for degrowth in the fight against climate change