Any system of inter-relations between species and with the environment that results in a balance in the factors that allow the survival of those species and the environment that sustains them.
Anyone who reads much about current affairs is likely aware of the most recent report from the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change). I have criticized the IPCC reports in the past, mostly because they have consistently underestimated the heating of the planet and the ecological and climate consequences of man-made disruption of the climate. … More The Global Caste System and the Climate Crisis
I guess ‘atmospheric rivers’ have been a thing with climate researchers for a while now. Despite closely following the news in climate science for a couple of decades, I had not heard of them. Then, suddenly California was hit by a series of severe storms that they are calling an “atmospheric river.” The L.A. Times … More Wait, What? Atmospheric Rivers and Us.
I have thought about the implications of the wisdom of indigenous cultures for industrial-consumer culture for quite a while now. The dominant worldview of industrial civilization, despite its power to control some elements of Nature, for a while, is so clearly out of step with the fundamental principles of both science and indigenous wisdom in … More Indigenous and Dominant Worldviews: Realism vs. Illusion
COP27 did not disappoint. Disappointment implies that one had expected something positive. After decades of dodging the action question of the necessity of major reductions in carbon emissions and therefore producing and using fossil fuels, there had been (and still is) NO indication that any nation would commit to action. Thus, they did not disappoint. … More The Legacy of COP27: COP28 and Chronic Failure
I just read an article in an online journal countercurrents.org called, “How bad can it get?” In it, Robert Hunziker describes a book by Bill McGuire, Emeritus Professor of Geophysical and Climate Hazards at University College London. McGuire, a highly respected scientist, does not mince words in describing what he calls Hothouse Earth (Icon Books, … More How Bad can It Get? Reality Transformed
The necessity of rapidly reducing fossil fuel production and use is now a given in the constellation of societal actions necessary to achieve anything near the rather naïve institutional targets for global average temperatures not to exceed 2.0 or 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. Some still hope that we can achieve these levels by … More Fossil Fuel Production, the Corporate Economy, and Consumer Culture
I just read an article in Illumen.com by Julia Steinberger, titled “Individuals and social pressure: how to change the world.” Dr. Steinberger is Professor of Ecological Economics at the University of Lausanne, Switzerland. At first, I thought that I was going to disagree with her because I felt that what we really need is social … More How to Make Big Change: Our Primary Predicament
Sustainability is a complicated matter. It is also a very popular idea among those who want to contribute to a stable future for humanity. The first question that always comes to my mind is, “Sustain what?” People toss the term around as if everyone knows what it means. Well, for most it means to make … More The Sustainability Trap: Shifting Targets, No Goal
Here is a very interesting song expressing our future ansestors’ recognition of where we went wrong.
My enthusiasm and hope for the prospects for the growing Extinction Rebellion to raise awareness of the converging Earth Systems crises got me to read its founder Roger Hallam’s book, Common Sense for the 21st Century. I had been studying what I call “The New Great Transformation” for my own book, At the Edge of … More Why the Extinction Rebellion is Needed, and So Much More
Robert MacNeil Christie, Author 