Stephan: As I have been saying for years, the two constants about climate change are the collapsing timeline, and the fact that the outcome is going to be worse than predicted, and here you see it laid out.
The rapid pace of the Arctic thaw may exact a very high price.
Credit: Roxanne Desgagnés / Unsplash
The northern reaches of the planet are undergoing very rapid change: the fast Arctic melt means the region is warming at twice the speed of the planetary average.
The loss of sea ice and land snow could tip the planet into a new and unprecedented cycle of climatic change and add yet another $70 trillion (£54 tn) to the estimated economic cost of global warming.
In yet another sombre statement of the challenge presented by climate change, driven by ever-increasing emissions of greenhouse gases from the fossil fuels that power the global economy, British, European and US researchers took a look at two manifestations of warming.
One is the growing levels of ancient carbon now being released into the atmosphere as the Arctic permafrost begins to melt. The other is the reduced reflection of solar radiation back into space as what had once been an expanse of snow and ice melts, to expose ever greater areas of light-absorbing blue sea, dark […]
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Ruth Milka, - Nation of Change
Stephan: It takes an act of will to overcome stupidity and greed, and as a species we don't seem to be able to muster that act of will. So this is what is going to happen. Meanwhile most of us will be watching some sports event or Game of Thrones, or posting a selfie on Facebook.
Credit: Nation of Change
A million species are in danger from a coming mass extinction and it’s our fault.
A new draft UN report released this week shows in detail how humans’ destructive behavior has “undermined natural resources upon which its very survival depends.” The pace of loss suggests that “half-a-million to a million species are projected to be threatened with extinction, many within decades.”
The report states:
THE ACCELERATING LOSS OF CLEAN AIR, DRINKABLE WATER, CO2-ABSORBING FORESTS, POLLINATING INSECTS, PROTEIN-RICH FISH, AND STORM-BLOCKING MANGROVES—TO NAME BUT A FEW OF THE DWINDLING SERVICES RENDERED BY NATURE—POSES NO LESS OF A THREAT THAN CLIMATE CHANGE…
The full assessment was a three-year project and product of the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES). 150 experts from 50 countries as well as another 250 contributors worked to pull it all together.
The draft report summarizes:
THE DIRECT CAUSES OF SPECIES LOSS, IN ORDER OF IMPORTANCE, ARE SHRINKING HABITAT AND LAND-USE CHANGE, HUNTING FOR FOOD […]
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PETER WADE, - Rollingstone
Stephan: Here, finally, is some good news about America's gun psychosis. And once again it is the courts that are producing the rational results the Congress cannot.
What are commonly referred to as Assault Weapons on display and for sale at the Virginia Gun Show, Chantilly, Virginia
Credit: REX/Shutterstock
In the absence of any meaningful action from Washington to address the increase in American mass shootings involving assault weapons, some states, like Massachusetts, have taken measures of their own to ban high-capacity guns within their borders. And a recent ruling by the First Circuit Court of Appeals rejected a legal challenge to just such a ban, confirming that citizens on the state level have the right to determine which guns will be allowed, the Boston Globe reported.
“This case concerns an issue of paramount importance,” the ruling said. “In the wake of increasingly frequent acts of mass violence committed with semiautomatic assault weapons and [large-capacity magazines], the interests of state and local governments in regulating the possession and use of such weapons are entitled to great weight.”
It also stated that there is “ample evidence of the unique dangers posed by the proscribed weapons.”
The First Circuit’s […]
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AMITAV GHOSH, - Foreign Policy
Stephan: The Little Ice Age gives us a fact-based glimpse into what climate change does to both the earth and human societies. I was doing research planning to write a paper on this when I came across this essay which does the job very nicely. You can't say we haven't been warned.
Firefighters try to control a blaze as it spreads toward the towns of Douglas City and Lewiston in California on July 31, 2018.
Credit: Mark Ralston/AFP/Getty
Over the last couple of decades, as the impact of global warming has intensified, the discussion of climate change has spilled out of the scientific and technocratic circles within which it was long confined. Today, the subject has also become an important concern in the humanities and arts.
Discussions of climate tend to focus on the future. Yet even scientific projections depend crucially on the study of the past: Proxy data, such as tree rings, pollen deposits, and ice cores, have proved indispensable for the modeling of the future impact of climate change. Based on evidence of this kind, scientists can tell us a great deal about how trees, glaciers, and sea levels will respond to rising temperatures.
But what about the political and social impact of global warming? What effects might a major shift in climate have on governments, public institutions, warfare, and belief systems? For […]
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Stephan: Here is what could become a very important development in the 2020 election. We'll just have to see how this plays out.
As President Donald Trump continues to refuse requests to hand over copies of his tax returns from Democrats on Capitol Hill, state lawmakers are considering making their release a condition of the 2020 presidential election.
Neary twenty states across the county have introduced legislation that would require all presidential and vice presidential candidates to release their individual tax returns in order to appear on the ballot during the presidential or general election, according to data from the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL).
Bills requiring prospective presidential candidates to disclose recent tax returns as a condition to appear on the ballot are currently pending in the following fourteen states: Arizona, California, Connecticut, Hawaii, Illinois, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington. Similar legislation, introduced this year, failed in Maryland, Mississippi, New Hampshire, New Mexico and Virginia.
Despite a few exceptions, nearly all of the state bills that have been introduced would require candidates to post at least five years of their individual tax returns. In addition, virtually every state bill has been introduced by a Democratic lawmaker, an apparent […]
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