The stubs of corn stalks that were chopped down because heat and lack of rain ruined the crop, litter a field in Nebraska. 2012 saw the highest recorded temperatures in American history. Over the summer most of the mid-west experienced a tremendous drought, where hot weather and the lack of rain destroyed crops and grazing land. In the high plains of Western Nebraska’s cattle lands, this created ideal conditions for wild fires, which spread across the land sparked by single bolts of lightning.
CreditAndrew Lichtenstein/Corbis/ Getty
Oh, it could get very bad.
In 2015, a study in the Journal of Mathematical Biology pointed out that if the world’s oceans kept warming, by 2100 they might become hot enough to “stop oxygen production by phyto-plankton by disrupting the process of photosynthesis.” Given that two-thirds of the Earth’s oxygen comes from phytoplankton, that would “likely result in the mass mortality of animals and humans.”
A year later, above the Arctic Circle, in Siberia, a heat wave thawed a reindeer carcass that had been trapped in […]
Being the wacko I am I have been a reader of prophecies of”things to come”, kinda fun, kinda scary a little like stories around the camp fire. Except many of these ancient and modern stories are aligning with the science based stories. John Hogue is a modern profit who gets some right and other things not so much has released his latest update which fits the scientific story line. By the mid 2020s he predicts few will be able to deny climate heating and that ocean level rise will happen quicker that anticipated. Methane at 34X the heat trapping ability of CO2 is and will be the driver. The tipping point is long past and now for hundreds more years will be restoration and rebirth if future generations of humans are to survive. I will be dead by the 2030s if not sooner so I can only wish that future generations have the foresight and wisdom that is pitifully lacking in this present regressive time.
There is a shaman named Hank Wesselman, an anthropologist, who has workshops and written a number of books. The most well known is the “Spirit Walker” trilogy a story of a descendant 5k years in the future living in a Neolithic culture is a thought provoking read. In that time they refer to the “great American civilization” long gone marked metallic. glass and foundation remains. The only metals available are what have been found because all surface ore deposits have long ago been taken and so there is no way for them to evolve to a more complex technological state. The story tells of a deep rich life unmediated by screens.
Could be a reasonably likely future and a reminder for me that in life it is wise to take the “long view”. That we stand on the shoulders of countless ancestors and our descendants, whether by blood or culture, depend on our thoughts and actions today.
There’s little to be gained by denying the observable science. There are, however, two points I wish to raise:
1) When I view a few of the episodes of the new BBC doc series; Our Planet, it’s easy to see that consciousness is indeed fundamental to life.
2) After watching Abby Martin’s interview with Peter Phillips the author of Giants, to defeat this sociopathic 1% is a ginormous task, but, one that must be done, otherwise as Hedges has pointed out, “They will kill us all”!
I’ll be taking my talk to the walk tomorrow in Halifax as I join with others across Nova Scotia to raise the 3 demands of XR, i.e., Extinction Rebellion:
1] tell the truth about the climate catastrophe
2] reduce CO2 to zero by 2025
3] enable a citizens assembly to oversee these changes
I’m in strong agreement with the comments above.. and am participating in Climate Action wherever possible in my small Island village. I began studying Climate Change in the late 70s, after reading a report from a think tank (CNA) that supplied all the intel to all branches of the military. It was frightening and depressing. Lately, I find myself occasionally leaning toward black humor.. ie a line from a story by Ring Lardner (Mash) ‘Three outta three are gonna die, so shut up and deal.’ And with that, I come to and return again and again to the beautiful energy of the sweet precious moment with friends, nature family, and community.
Thanks for posting this, bringing it to the SR ‘party.’ And thanks to everyone who’s responded here. I am holding space for more and greater healing outcomes for our beautiful planet and all sentient beings that live here.
Thank you John and Sam for your efforts. “Shut up and deal” indeed!