Environmental News

[Kätzchen]

Just the other day, scientists studying a super volcano issue, over on the Italian coastline of Naples, Italy said that the 24 crater Caldera might likely explode and wipe out millions of people nearby. They don't know when it will happen, but there is a lot of red flags present in the environment, that point to the fact that the explosion will happen soon.

https://weather.com/science/nature/n...-campi-flegrei

[Kätzchen]

Mayer Hillman is the Senior Policy Emeritus expert who has served at The Policy Institute for over 60 years. Hillman was the leading voice on challenging all types of social policy in his prolific career as an social scientist.

The Guardian interviewed him recently and published the interview two days ago. Over his entire lifetime as an social scientist, he has lead valiantly the effort to address social policy impacts concerning the rapid effects leading to climate change and the "can't stop the crazy train" impacts of society dependent on burning fossil fuels.

As I read the article, I came to realize that maybe this is why the top legal eagle counsel for Lambda Legal (David Buckel, see Nat's post in the RIP thread) took such extreme measure in setting himself on fire (dying for the cause, literally) as a high impact statement on the prolific damage done to our planet by not committing sooner to ending social dependency on fossil fuels society burns in the name of creating jobs, in the name of convenience, in the name of removing human life from danger, yet not removing danger from humanity.

Here's the link to the most compelling article I've seen yet on climate change, and many of the reasons why society has been reluctant to aggressively adopt and utilize other means to prevent climate change.

It's an worthwhile read. I highly recommend reading the Mayer Hillman interview published by The Guardian on April 26th, 2018.

LINK:

https://www.theguardian.com/environm..._US_collection

[Kätzchen]

Yellowstone Superintendent is forced out of his job over Wildlife Advocacy by Trump administration as Trump administration dismantles agency wide programs administered by Dept of Interior (US Forest Service, BLM, et al).

The Guardian: Yellowstone Boss: Trump Officials Forced Me Out Over Wildlife Advocacy


https://www.theguardian.com/environm...ation-dan-wenk

[Kätzchen]

As many of you might know, my own work related injuries escalated into an all out war on not succumbing to an Diabetic trajectory. I've been successful in stemming the Diabetic Tide in my life by converting to an strict plant-based diet... because consumption of meat and diary products exacerbates and is believed to lead to full blown diabetes, not to mention consumption of any food which converts to sugar in the bloodstream (ie, pasta, rice, breads, sugar - itself, etc). Meat and Dairy production is a main contributor to global earth warming impacts - second only to the Oil industry.

But today, in an very important news release from Democracy Now!: Amy Goodman interviewed George Monbiot, journalist for The Guardian, with co-host of the interview Nermeen Shaikh.

Here is an excerpt of the interview (Link to full article and audio podcast, below):

We look at the link between climate change and meat consumption on the heels of a series of damning reports that say if humans don’t act now to halt climate change, the results will be catastrophic. A new study by the World Meteorological Organization shows the past four years have been the hottest on record. On Tuesday, the United Nations reported that carbon emissions reached record highs in 2017 and are on the rise for the first time in four years. Radical reductions are necessary to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees, the level that would prevent the worst effects of catastrophic climate change. Livestock for meat and dairy products worldwide is responsible for almost 15 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions, making it the second largest source of emissions after the fossil fuels industry. We speak with British author and journalist George Monbiot, who argues that the fate of the planet depends on the way we choose to eat.

Click Here for LINK to audio podcast and transcript @ Democracy Now!

[Kätzchen]

To read the full article online at Bloomberg, please click on the title below:

America's Great Climate Exodus Is Starting In The Florida Keys


Excerpt:

"The Great Climate Retreat is beginning with tiny steps, like taxpayer buyouts for homeowners in flood-prone areas from Staten Island, New York, to Houston and New Orleans — and now Rittel’s Marathon Key. Florida, the state with the most people and real estate at risk, is just starting to buy homes, wrecked or not, and bulldoze them to clear a path for swelling seas before whole neighborhoods get wiped off the map.


By the end of the century, 13 million Americans will need to move just because of rising sea levels, at a cost of $1 million each, according to Florida State University demographer Mathew Haeur, who studies climate migration. Even in a “managed retreat,” coordinated and funded at the federal level, the economic disruption could resemble the housing crash of 2008.

The U.S. government’s philosophy has been that local officials are in the best position to decide what needs to be done. Consequently, the effort has so far been ad hoc, with local and state governments using federal grants from the last disaster to pay for buyouts designed to reduce the damage from the next one.

“The scale of this is almost unfathomable,” said Billy Fleming, a landscape architecture professor at the University of Pennsylvania. “If we take any of the climate science seriously, we’re down to the last 10 to 12 years to mobilize the full force of the government and move on managed retreat. If we don’t, it won’t matter, because much of America will be underwater or on fire.”

If not for the $174,000 that Rittel, 60, owes on her mortgage, the Montana transplant would have left long ago. Insurance money is insufficient to rebuild, so she applied for one of the buyouts, administered by the state with $75 million of Irma-relief cash from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, as long as it lasts" (Bloomberg: 20-Sept-19).

[kittygrrl]

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/20/c...te-strike.html

[charley]

Oh, that beautiful human being, Greta Thunberg gave a 495 word speech to the UN as follows (which brought tears to my eyes):

"My message is that we'll be watching you?

This is all wrong. I shouldn't be up here. I should be back in school, on the other side of the ocean. Yet you all come to us young people for hope. How dare you!

You have stolen my dreams and my childhood with your empty words. And yet I'm one of the lucky ones. People are suffering. People are dying.

Entire ecosystems are collapsing. We are in the beginning of a mass extinction, and all you can talk about is money, and fairy tales of eternal economic growth. How dare you!

For more than 30 years the science has been crystal clear. How dare you continue to look away, and come here saying that you're doing enough when the politics and solutions needed are still nowhere in sight.

You say you hear us and that you understand the urgency. But no matter how sad and angry I am, I do not want to believe that. Because if you really understood the situation and still kept on failing to act, then you would be evil. And that I refuse to believe.

The popular idea of cutting our emissions in half in 10 years only gives us a 50% chance of staying below 1.5 degrees (Celsius) and the risk of setting off irreversible chain reactions beyond human control.

Fifty percent may be acceptable to you. But those numbers do not include tipping points, most feedback loops, additional warming hidden by toxic air pollution or the aspects of equity and climate justice. They also rely on my generation sucking hundreds of billions of tons of your CO2 out of the air with technologies that barely exist.

So a 50% risk is simply not acceptable to us – we who have to live with the consequences.

To have a 67% chance of staying below a 1.5 degrees global temperature rise – the best odds given by the (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) – the world had 420 gigatons of CO2 left to emit back on Jan. 1, 2018. Today that figure is already down to less than 350 gigatons.

How dare you pretend that this can be solved with just "business as usual" and some technical solutions? With today's emissions levels, that remaining CO2 budget will be entirely gone within less than eight and a half years.

There will not be any solutions or plans presented in line with these figures here today, because these numbers are too uncomfortable and you are still not mature enough to tell it like it is.

You are failing us. But the young people are starting to understand your betrayal. The eyes of all future generations are upon you. And if you choose to fail us, I say: We will never forgive you.

We will not let you get away with this. Right here, right now is where we draw the line. The world is waking up. And change is coming, whether you like it or not.

Thank you."

The YouTube link highlights her passionate voice:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AY_S7n3jkkU

She said that she didn't believe in "evil". There, I must strongly disagree. The main problem is that all these adults who talk talk talk and do nothing are evil to me. Wilful... evil... same thing. [Actually, the word 'evil' derived directly from the word 'wilful'. In real time, I sometimes ask people if they are wilful - it is my way of discovering whether I want to have anything to do with them, because people like that seem to be incapable of understanding anything I might say about meditation.]

I must also say that her expression "fairy tales of eternal economic growth" resonated strongly in me, as I have never been a capitalist, and have always thought that was a big fat lie.

Anyways, all I can say is what an extraordinary young human being Greta is - blessings to her and those like her.

[charley]

I am trying to see if I can think of anything that is good about the covid-19, and I have thought of one good thing:

Air pollution is dropping in major areas affected by the virus ! (at least for now)

I am also hoping that some of the problems that some fisheries are having to sell their products and even fish will help restock some of the fish population in the oceans.

[homoe]

~~
Since this virus started I've been wondering if it's the 'green and environment friendly'products as opposed to say those not so environmentally friendly which definitely include antibacterial gels and soaps, wet wipes, and chlorine bleaches, which are consumers most inclined to purchase and use?

[Cin]

I can't imagine the oceans of the world can hold up much longer against the havoc wreaked by corporations and governments. Even if we never use another plastic straw or drink from another plastic water bottle nothing can change until we get real and hold these destroyers accountable. These great polluters, the ones responsible for 80% of the world's pollution, are allowed to continue unchecked.

https://commons.commondreams.org/t/a...ystems/83338/7

https://www.theguardian.com/world/20...r-into-the-sea

https://www.cnn.com/2020/07/17/middl...ntl/index.html

[~ocean]

Originally Posted by Cin

I can't imagine the oceans of the world can hold up much longer against the havoc wreaked by corporations and governments. Even if we never use another plastic straw or drink from another plastic water bottle nothing can change until we get real and hold these destroyers accountable. These great polluters, the ones responsible for 80% of the world's pollution, are allowed to continue unchecked.

https://commons.commondreams.org/t/a...ystems/83338/7

https://www.theguardian.com/world/20...r-into-the-sea

https://www.cnn.com/2020/07/17/middl...ntl/index.html

I totally agree with you ~ more than the toxic oceans is KIM JONG un < he is blowing up the world under the ocean ~ he has caused more damage than pollution. Kim Jong is not done yet w/ his missiles . He will destroy the universe. ~

[Kätzchen]

Originally Posted by Kätzchen

Yellowstone Superintendent is forced out of his job over Wildlife Advocacy by Trump administration as Trump administration dismantles agency wide programs administered by Dept of Interior (US Forest Service, BLM, et al).

The Guardian: Yellowstone Boss: Trump Officials Forced Me Out Over Wildlife Advocacy


https://www.theguardian.com/environm...ation-dan-wenk

I read back and found my post from two years ago. I sure do hope that Joe Biden and Kamala Harris clean house and undo what happened to the USFS, Fish & Game and the National Parks are restored to pre-terror-reign of current admin.

I feel so sad tonight for all the people whose life-long careers were upended and that everything they worked for before their entire lives went up in smoke.

All the wrongs committed against humanity, here and elsewhere, by one horribly deranged person and his supporters/puppet masters.

I hope no one forgets the past four years of utter hell and chaos.

Never Forget. I read somewhere that there might be a presidential crimes commission that comes into existence, due to what we've been through the past four years.

Just say no, right? (I'm being facetious)

Fascist rule is the opposite of Democracy. It's down right ugly and glaringly un-American.

[Cin]

It's a start at making at least the fossil fuel corporations pay for their devastation of the planet. And it's action that is worlds apart from making saving the planet about individual choice like no straws, water bottles or plastic bags to carry groceries, which realistically speaking, fighting climate change that way is like pissing in the ocean to bring in the tide. However, it only addresses making those particular destroyers responsible for what they have done so far and does not mention curtailing their future behavior. Also the destruction of our planet does not fall on fossil fuel corporations alone. All corporations pollute with immunity. All governments pollute with immunity. Recycling is a big contributor to pollution. The United States contributes as much as 242 million pounds of plastic trash to the ocean every year, and this despite sending most of it's recycling to poor countries. Recycling is really about manufacturing, we think of it as this environmental thing but recyclables are really raw materials, and cheap labor and unsafe conditions are a necessity to make money so that's what recycling has done for the world up until now. So next step is outlawing various plastics in some countries which while commendable for sure, is not going to do much since nearly 80% of pollution is done by corporations, like but not limited to fossil fuel giants. But this is still a meaningful step.

https://www.commondreams.org/news/20...-more-evidence

Federal Court Ruling in Rhode Island Suit Targeting Polluters Called 'More Evidence of the Momentum Behind Climate Accountability Cases'

In a major win for advocates of making fossil fuel giants pay for devastating climate impacts of their products, a federal appeals court ruled Thursday that Rhode Island's historic lawsuit against oil and gas companies should proceed in state court, where it was originally filed in July 2018.

While there has been a "fast-growing wave of climate lawsuits" filed this fall, Rhode Island was the first state in the country to sue dirty energy giants—including BP, Chevron, ExxonMobil, and Shell—seeking to hold them accountable "for knowingly contributing to climate change, and causing catastrophic consequences to Rhode Island, our economy, our communities, our residents, our ecosystems."

Since 2017, two dozen local or state governments—including Connecticut, Delaware, Massachusetts, and Minnesota—have filed similar suits, according to CCI. Whether those cases belong in state or federal court is a key fight between governments filing the lawsuits and the energy companies on the defense.

The Climate Docket reported last week on the U.S. Supreme Court agreeing to weigh in on the city of Baltimore's case against fossil fuel companies, to "decide if appellate courts can review certain lower court rulings related to whether a case will be heard in federal or state court." As the report explained:

Nearly all of the dozens of cases filed against the industry alleging it should be held accountable for its role in climate change are wrestling with this issue of jurisdiction. The companies are fighting fiercely to have them heard in federal courts, which have traditionally punted climate-related cases to the legislative and executive branches of government. The municipalities want them heard in state courts, where they were filed alleging violations of state laws and where they believe they are more likely to win.

[Cin]

Kudos to Democratic Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer who has, as of May 2021, shut down Enbridge Line 5 oil and natural gas pipelines that run under the Straits of Mackinac, narrow waterways that connect Lake Huron and Lake Michigan—two of the Great Lakes. And a heartfelt thanks to the Tribal Nations who have been fighting to protect the Great Lakes for years.
https://www.commondreams.org/news/20...-protect-great

[Kätzchen]

"Without innovation, we will not solve climate change. We won't even come close," ~Bill Gates.
Anderson Cooper reports for 60 Minutes.

[Kätzchen]

The Atlas of Disappearing Places: Our Coasts and Oceans in the Climate Crisis (co-authored by, Christina Conklin & Marina Psaros).


LINK ~~~>>>>>>> https://thenewpress.com/books/atlas-...pearing-places


A beautiful and engaging guide to global warming’s impacts around the world.

“The direction in which our planet is headed isn't a good one, and most of us don’t know how to change it. The bad news is that we will experience great loss. The good news is that we already have what we need to build a better future.” —from the introduction

Our planet is in peril. Seas are rising, oceans are acidifying, ice is melting, coasts are flooding, species are dying, and communities are faltering. Despite these dire circumstances, most of us don’t have a clear sense of how the interconnected crises in our ocean are affecting the climate system, food webs, coastal cities, and biodiversity, and which solutions can help us co-create a better future.

Through a rich combination of place-based storytelling, clear explanations of climate science and policy, and beautifully rendered maps that use a unique ink-on-dried-seaweed technique, The Atlas of Disappearing Places depicts twenty locations across the globe, from Shanghai and Antarctica to Houston and the Cook Islands. The authors describe four climate change impacts—changing chemistry, warming waters, strengthening storms, and rising seas—using the metaphor of the ocean as a body to draw parallels between natural systems and human systems.

Each chapter paints a portrait of an existential threat in a particular place, detailing what will be lost if we do not take bold action now. Weaving together contemporary stories and speculative “future histories” for each place, this work considers both the serious consequences if we continue to pursue business as usual, and what we can do—from government policies to grassroots activism—to write a different, more hopeful story.

A beautiful work of art and an indispensable resource to learn more about the devastating consequences of the climate crisis—as well as possibilities for individual and collective action—The Atlas of Disappearing Places will engage and inspire readers on the most pressing issue of our time.