Link Blog
There is, in reality, absolutely no reason to believe that the necessary changes will make us less happy or less satisfied. If we manage to do this right, then our lives will be given more meaning than selfish, shallow over-consumption can ever give us. Instead, we can make time and space for community, solidarity, and love—the true tenets of a good life.
Greta Thunberg: Saving the Climate Means Changing How We Live | Time
Going in the wrong direction.
China approved the construction of another 106 gigawatts of coal-fired power capacity last year, four times higher than a year earlier and the highest since 2015, research shows.
Over the year, 50GW of coal power capacity went into construction across the country – up by more than half compared with the previous year – driven by energy security considerations, the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA) and Global Energy Monitor (GEM) said on Monday.
China approves biggest expansion in new coal power plants since 2015, report finds | The Guardian
Last year, 3 million were displaced in the US. Millions more will follow – and neither they, the government or the housing market are ready
The American climate migration has already begun | The Guardian
We’re Crossing the Threshold of Survivability — And There’s No Going Back My friends in the Indian Subcontinent tell me stories, these days, that seem like science fiction.
The Age of Extinction Is Here — Some of Us Just Don’t Know It Yet | by umair haque
Weeks of dry winter weather have raised concerns that Italy could face another drought after last summer’s emergency, with the Alps having received less than half of their normal snowfall.
Venice canals start to run dry as low tide and lack of rain hit | Italy | The Guardian
While the Files app on the iPad did start out as a pretty basic app that was far short of the Finder on the Mac it’s come a long way since then. With each version of iPadOS it has gained new features, slowly bringing it closer to the Finder. Exploring the Files App on iPadOS 16
Underneath thousands of feet of Thwaites Glacier’s solid ice, a bot filmed peculiar features, where melting is much faster. It’s an ominous sign for rising sea levels.
A Robot Finds More Trouble Under the Doomsday Glacier | WIRED
2023-02-14 20:19
The climate crisis is causing sea levels to rise faster than for 3,000 years: Some nations could cease to exist, drowned under the waves.
Rising seas threaten ‘mass exodus on a biblical scale’, UN chief warns | The Guardian
If you think the rich nations of the world are making real progress towards achieving limits on global warming, think again. In one essay, Kevin Anderson, professor of energy and climate change at the Universities of Manchester, Uppsala and Bergen, puts it this way: “Wealthy nations must eliminate their use of fossils fuels by around 2030 for a likely chance of 1.5C, extending only around 2035 to 2040 for 2C… We are where we are precisely because for thirty years we’ve favoured make-believe over real mitigation.
Greta Thunberg’s ‘The Climate Book’ urges world to keep climate justice out front | TPR
Jesus loved the people we hate.
So the ad is actually aimed at right-wing Christians?
The Servant Foundation has donated more than a billion dollars in recent years to religious, political and educational organizations, including some that align with anti-abortion and right-wing political causes.
The norm of Christianity in the US seems to be the opposite of open love and acceptance. In general it seems to be about judgment, control and obedience of those that are believers as well as those that are not. The country would be a better place if Christians would stop their hate-filled public morality campaigns and perhaps redirect inwards to their personal and congregational members. That said it seems counter to the history, which, as far as I can tell is a constant effort to proselytize others. I don’t see that Christians accept others as they are.
‘He Gets Us’ Super Bowl Ad Aims to Increase Relevance of Jesus - The New York Times
See also: The Far Right Is Funding Evangelical Super Bowl Sunday Ads - Jacobin
“Bernheim Forest in Kentucky is the largest privately held forest block in the eastern US, and is currently fighting plans for a 12-mile gas pipeline, part of which would cross a northern section of the forest”
The pristine US forest threatened by a pipeline | The Guardian
“A common, effective abortion-inducing drug could be banned nationwide within a matter of days, thanks to a “loose cannon” of a judge appointed by former President Donald Trump.”
Abortion Pills Could Be Banned Everywhere Within Days. Here’s What You Need to Know.
“Thunberg said it was “completely ridiculous” that chief executive of the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC), will preside over the next round of global climate talks in Dubai.”
Greta Thunberg blasts decision to let UAE oil boss chair climate talks | The Guardian
“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