Why Saving the Earth Needs To Become Our Primary Political Obsession: Medium

Greenhouse gases

"Will Steffen, one of the authors of the Hothouse Earth paper, puts it like this:

“Absolutely no new fossil fuel developments. None. That means no new coal mines, no new oil wells, no new gas fields, no new unconventional gas fracking. Nothing new. Second, you need to have a rapid phase-out plan for existing fossil fuels.”

He also goes on to make the point that we need to be on something like a “wartime footing” in order to re-align the trajectory of the planet.

I mean, imagine if climate change, and all the other existential threats we have created, were a giant asteroid hurtling to earth — what resources we’d muster to save the planet! But in disaster movie scenarios, no-one ever objects to being rescued on the grounds that it might negatively affect their profits.

And there’s the crunch.

We need to outlaw fossil fuels."

Read the article

The good, the bad and the ugly of climate change in 2018: Green Magazine

As the planet relentlessly warms, action to address it is also heating up.  But while other parties are quickly adopting the cause, the Greens have been at the forefront of climate change action for years – and still are.

By Chris Johansen
 

Although ‘economics’ is derided as the ‘dismal science’, I would suggest that an even more dismal one is ‘climate science’. The unfolding series of measurements quantifying how planet Earth is overall warming, and its manifestations, paints a gloomy future for not only our grandkids but our kids – and even us. 

Increasing understanding of how humanity is driving this change, mainly through deforestation and the burning of fossil fuels, also presents solutions for turning this process around, i.e. revegetate and convert to renewable energy. However, an additional pall of gloom is imposed by the failure of humanity to, so far, meaningfully implement the obvious solutions to an otherwise inevitable catastrophe.

At this time of year, it is usual to sit back and review where we are, in the light of events unfolding over the previous 12 months. 

Yes, the bad news keeps on coming but signs of meaningful action to turn around our present climate trajectory are appearing.

David Attenborough tells Davos: ‘The Garden of Eden is no more’ : The Guardian

David Attenborough

"Human activity has created a new era yet climate change can be stopped, says naturalist

Sir David Attenborough has warned that “the Garden of Eden is no more”, as he urged political and business leaders from around the world to make a renewed push to tackle climate change before the damage is irreparable.

Speaking at the start of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland, the 92-year-old naturalist and broadcaster warned that human activity has taken the world into a new era, threatening to undermine civilisation."

Read The Guardian 

#sirdavidattenborough  #anthropocene   #capitalism  #economicconsumption

You Tube Video: Climate Science: What You Need To Know

Learn the basic science of climate change in 24 easy steps



 Subscribe to It's Okay To Be Smart: http://bit.ly/iotbs_sub ↓ More info and sources below ↓

Scientists overwhelmingly agree that our climate is changing, Earth is getting warmer, sea levels are rising, and it's primarily because of humans putting lots of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. 

Whether you already trust in the science, you're undecided, or you disagree with what all this, this video is for you!

SOURCES LISTED HERE: http://bit.ly/1zGbOry

Want to learn about the science of climate change and why humans are causing it, but in layman's terms? I recommend these books: Climate Change: Evidence and Causes (National Academy of Sciences/Royal Society) FREE ebook: http://amzn.to/1w6itfl Global Weirdness (Climate Central) http://amzn.to/1BtZZbP How to Change Minds About Our Changing Climate (Seth Darling + Douglas Sisterson) http://amzn.to/12jjcxN=

Shed A Light: Rupert Read – This civilisation is finished: so what is to be done?: You Tube Video

The Paris Agreement explicitly commits us to use non-existent, utterly reckless, unaffordable and ineffective 'Negative Emissions Technologies' which will almost certainly fail to be realised. Barring a multifaceted miracle, within a generation, we will be facing an exponentially rising tide of climate disasters that will bring this civilization down. We, therefore, need to engage with climate realism. This means an epic struggle to mitigate and adapt, an epic struggle to take on the climate-criminals and, notably, to start planning seriously for civilizational collapse. 

 Dr Rupert Read is a Reader in Philosophy at the University of East Anglia. Rupert is a specialist in Wittgenstein, environmental philosophy, critiques of Rawlsian liberalism, and philosophy of film. His research in environmental ethics and economics has included publications on problems of ‘natural capital’ valuations of nature, as well as pioneering work on the Precautionary Principle. Recently, his work was cited by the Supreme Court of the Philippines in their landmark decision to ban the cultivation of GM aubergine. Rupert is also chair of the UK-based post-growth think tank, Green House, and is a former Green Party of England & Wales councillor, spokesperson, European parliamentary candidate and national parliamentary candidate. He stood as the Green Party MP-candidate for Cambridge in 2015. 

 About the series Shed A Light is a series of talks that seek to present alternative framings of future human-nature interactions and the pragmatic solution pathways that we could take to get there. By recognising the interlinkages between struggles for ecological, social and economic justice in addition to the desperate need for immediate societal transformation, Shed A Light aims to engage everyone with the green agenda and prompt broad-based discussions on sustainability issues. 

Filmed at Churchill College, 7 November 2018.

#climatecatastrophe  #runawayclimatechange  #methanegas  #greenhousegas  #geoengineering  #greenhousegases  #Parisagreement  #biogas   #biodiversity

Will we survive the next 100 years? Medium

"We have it in us to organise from ground up and show the leaders of the world that we want bold, tough and legally binding policies. We must demand nothing less than 100% renewable energy by 2030. We must demand car-free cities built for cycling and pedestrians. We must demand low-energy agriculture. We must demand it today — through our actions and from the people we vote for."

Read the Medium article

#climatecatastrophe  #100%renewable  #Parisagreement  #1.5degrees 

The world's 15 hottest sites on Tuesday were all in Australia: SMH

"Australia was home to all 15 of the world's hottest temperatures on Tuesday, a feat it may well repeat on Wednesday and beyond as a huge swath of the nation bakes in 45-degree-plus heat.

A slew of records have already fallen during the current heatwave and more are likely to be broken before a cool change breaks up the furnace later this week."


#heatwaves  #Australia  #risingtemperatures  #climateactionnow

Read the SMH article