Cohabit Eaarth: We are the 99.999%
Staggering as it may be to imagine that so much wealth is concentrated in the hands of a mere 1% of the population, remember that it refers to 1% of the human population in the United States and/or the Industrialized world. When we recognize that those deserving a fair share must include the entire human population, and that this “wealth” comes at the expense of the natural world on which we all depend, then the inequity and absurdity (insanity?) becomes all the more glaring.
Pakistan and the Politics of Weather
Pakistan and other under-aided countries under the stress of environmental calamities can breed widespread problems that are also expensive and threatening to the international community. The alternative to humanitarian aid is closed borders and rising military spending, strategies that make the world less safe, less wealthy and less humane.
Dangerous Climate Change and Food Riots Linked in Mozambique
Extreme weather this year has caused grain fires in Russia, increasing world hunger and sparking food rebellions, especially in Mozambique.
As Global Temperature Rises, So Do Food Prices
As concerns mount over extreme weather hitting global food systems this year, governments are no closer to forging a pact to fight climate change. The effects of extreme weather on crops are only beginning to be understood.
For decades scientists studied the effect of global warming on crops by simply raising temperatures and carbon dioxide levels in greenhouses. They did not take into account the effects of floods and droughts, or reduced yields that result from higher temperatures.
Dramatic Depletion of World Food Production Linked to Wildfires
World climate events these past days have been so extreme and have caused so much destruction and loss of life, you might think you’re sitting through a bad disaster movie. But as tragic as the terrible flooding in Pakistan, China and Eastern Europe has been, the heat and wildfires in Russia will have a very serious long-term effect, that of drastically increasing atmospheric CO2 and Methane concentrations and thereby increasing the risk of drought and wildfires in many parts of the world.
Another long-term effect will be that of severely depleting world grain supply, already at a low level. Gwynne Dyer explains the implications of this in his disturbing article for Straight.com, “Gwynne Dyer: Russian response to wildfires gives an early glimpse of climate change impact.”
Gwynne Dyer Speaks About Climate Wars on Democracy Now
A new book by geopolitical analyst and columnist Gwynne Dyer imagines what the politics and demographics of the world might look like if temperatures continue to rise. Dyer writes ‘In this world our worries are not just hotter summers, bigger hurricanes, rising sea levels, and polar bears swimming for their lives. We’re trying to avoid megadeaths from mass starvation and quite possibly from nuclear wars and the odds aren’t good,” he writes.The June 1, 2010 edition of his book is called “Climate Wars: The Fight for Survival as the World Overheats.”
Climate Betrayal in Copenhagen – GPC-PVC
“The political statement agreed to with much fanfare in Copenhagen at the 15th Conference of the Parties is not what was needed,” says Elizabeth May, the Green Party of Canada Leader. “With clear warnings from science that greenhouse gas emissions must halt their global rise and begin a steep decline no later than 2015, the leaders gathered in Copenhagen have issued a compromise statement that should never have been written.”
In Copenhagen, an Absolute Necessity to Peak CO2 Emissions Within Just a Few Years to Keep Within Our Carbon Budget
The cuts in greenhouse gas emissions being proposed at the Copenhagen climate conference, which opens today, are completely inadequate to stop dangerous climate change, one of Britain’s leading climate scientists warns. Current proposals, including recent ones from major emitting nations such as the US, China and India, are “little more than token gestures”, compared to what the science deems necessary to give even a 50-50 chance of staying below the danger threshold, says Professor Kevin Anderson, Director of the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research at the University of Manchester.
The Copenhagen Diagnosis: Updating the World on the Latest Climate Science
On the eve of the Copenhagen conference, a group of scientists has issued an update on the 2007 report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Their conclusions? Ice at both poles is melting faster than predicted, the claims of recent global cooling are wrong, and world leaders must act fast if steep temperature rises are to be avoided.
A Outspoken Interview and Strongly Worded Article by Naomi Klein on the Case for Climate Debt
As faith in government action dwindles, however, climate activists are treating Copenhagen as an opportunity of a different kind. On track to be the largest environmental gathering in history, the summit represents a chance to seize the political terrain back from business-friendly half-measures, such as carbon offsets and emissions trading, and introduce some effective, common-sense proposals — ideas that have less to do with creating complex new markets for pollution and more to do with keeping coal and oil in the ground.
Among the smartest and most promising — not to mention controversial — proposals is “climate debt,” the idea that rich countries should pay reparations to poor countries for the climate crisis.
