NB: In the midst of an unprecedented global catastrophe, political leadership is engaged in ruthless quest for power, destruction of democratic institutions, clampdown on honest journalism, instigating communal and racial hatred, and increasing defence budgets. Whenever society faces mortal danger, we attack the poor, invent enemies and scapegoats on all sides, and engage in verbal abuse and physical violence. Even the capacity to speak is being destroyed. We live in the era of Rule by Political and Ecological Imbeciles.
There is no more time to waste. We need a new internationalism devoted to collective action on global warming, preservation of liberty and firm regulation of corporate capitalist enterprise (armaments, aerospace, oil, coal, nuclear power, plastics, pharmaceuticals, etc.). Without this the future will be devastating for the coming generations. And we will have no one to blame but ourselves. DS
The IPCC report is clear: nothing short of transforming society will avert catastrophe
The release today of the first part of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s sixth assessment report makes for stark reading. It reaffirms that anthropogenic climate change is real, present and lasting: it is now unequivocal that human influence has warmed the atmosphere, ocean and land to an unprecedented degree, with effects almost certain to worsen through the coming decades.
The report also dispels any notion that the effects of the climate crisis are abstract or distant. Extreme events are being felt across the world, from wildfires in Australia, Sweden and north-west America to heatwaves in Siberia and Canada and the devastating drought in South Africa. Evidence has grown since the last assessment report that human activity has exacerbated extreme weather events. Without urgent action, such events will continue to get worse. Moreover, sea levels are projected to rise over this century. Rises of as much as 2m cannot be ruled out, leaving low-lying lands and coastal communities extremely vulnerable….
JOHN BUELL: Living on a Newly Unrecognizable Planet
Chomsky: Internationalism or Extinction
Earthly Anecdotes: an alternative to the doom-saying of our times
Reynard Loki – Here’s a major lesson from the pandemic: We can save the planet from climate change
This obscure energy treaty is the greatest threat to the planet you’ve never heard of
Erin Brockovich – Plummeting sperm counts, shrinking penises: toxic chemicals threaten humanity
David Cox – The planet’s prodigious poo problem
Owen Jones: Why don’t we treat the climate crisis with the same urgency as coronavirus?
“DoD: At Least 126 Bases Report Water Contaminants Linked to Cancer, Birth Defects”
John Sentamu – It’s time to act against the oil companies causing death and destruction
Restoring forests could capture two-thirds of the carbon humans have added to the atmosphere
From Siberia to Australia: the age of fire is the bleakest warning yet
The Amazon is burning. The climate is changing. And we’re doing nothing to stop it
Matt Sheehan – Silent documentary on China’s unspooling environmental disasters
Joseph Stiglitz on artificial intelligence: We’re going towards a more divided society
Abolish War – Russell-Einstein Manifesto of 1955
Capitalism and war: The money behind Sudan’s most powerful militia
World military expenditure grows to $1.8 trillion in 2018
Start-up devours pollution with new plastic recycling method
Call to Earth and the extraordinary people working for a more sustainable future
Anna Fletcher: Indian student creates a brick made from recycled plastic
Scientists Accidentally Create A Plastic-Eating Enzyme
Kiss the Ground Film Trailer (2020) / What’s the big deal about soil? / Living Soil Film
After the truth-shower 