Stephan: I cannot find the words, at least words I am willing to publish, to express how angry this story makes me. Between human-mediated climate change, and human-caused destruction of the beings with whom we share the earth we are creating a catastrophe for which all future generations will suffer. And it is occurring for two reasons: greed and stupidity. You could make a strong case that humans are a cancer eating away at the earth's matrix of life.
All 17 species of Red Colobus, including Temminck’s Red Colobus (Piliocolobus basius temminckii) are threatened, making this Africa’s most threatened genus of monkeys. Hunting for bushmeat—much of it illegal—and habitat loss continue to pose the most urgent threats to primates across the continent. Credit: Mic Mayhew/IUCN
The U.S.-based Center for Biological Diversity warned Thursday of the “urgent action needed to save life on Earth” in response to a new global assessment revealing that nearly 27% of over 120,000 analyzed plant and animal species are now threatened with extinction.
“At this point it’s a matter of political will to rapidly move away from fossil fuels, stamp out the wildlife trade, and overhaul the toxic ways we produce food.” —Tierra Curry, CBD
“This assessment shows that one in four mammals are facing extinction, and although we don’t prefer to think of ourselves as animals, we humans are mammals,” Tierra Curry, a senior scientist at CBD, said in a statement. “We have to take bold and rapid action to reduce the huge damage we’re doing to the planet if we’re going to save whales, frogs, lemurs, […]
Stephan: The failure of billion-dollar corporations coupled with the Republican Party, augmented by the weakness of the Democratic Party, to deal with climate change with wellness fostering integrity, indeed their obfuscation of the truth will, I believe, be seen by future generations as perhaps the most catastrophically bad decision in human history.
A climate scientist says Facebook is restricting her ability to share research and fact-check posts containing climate misinformation.
Those constraints are occuring as groups that reject climate science increasingly use the platform to promote misleading theories about global warming.
The groups are using Facebook to mischaracterize mainstream research by claiming that reduced consumption of fossil fuels won’t help address climate change. Some say the planet and people are benefitting from the rising volume of carbon dioxide that’s being released into the atmosphere.
Facebook is an effective way to expand their reach to larger audiences, say members of the groups, which have traditionally been tied to conservative media outlets. In recent weeks, tens of thousands of people have been exposed to misleading and false claims about rising temperatures, according to an E&E News analysis.
Now, Facebook appears to be weakening a firewall it has built to fact-check such climate denialism. The company recently overruled a fact-check from a group of climate scientists, in a move that concerns researchers about a potentially new precedent by the platform that permits inaccurate claims to be promoted if they’re […]
Stephan: Will it surprise you to learn that Americans have the worst diet in the developed world? We're number one for sure; it's just that all our number one's are for being the worst, not the best. Don't you think it's time we changed?
Credit: Salon/Ilana Lidagoster
What happens to cuisines when cultures change, or when culture becomes globalized? Naturally, so do our diets—and our health. Food research by the U.S. military, particularly during and after World War II, led to the creation of consumer products that could also be used as wartime rations, which meant heavy processing. And one consequence of the Allied victory is that the world has largely adopted America’s processed-food diet, which is a key factor for the obesity crisis the world now faces, with around 13 percent of the world’s adult population considered to be obese in 2016. According to the 2020 Global Nutrition Report, while malnutrition is the leading cause of death worldwide, this crisis is worsened by obesity, which remains three times more common than hunger.
The worst diet in the world
The American diet, according to the World Resources Institute (WRI), a global nonprofit research organization, is the worst in the world in terms of overconsumption and waste. This conclusion was drawn from an ongoing study conducted by the Institute, which found that the […]
Stephan: I see this story as good news because it means that Democrats, whose major weakness is their obsession with tertiary nuance, which makes it very hard to come to a common intention, will not shoot themselves in the head as they have so often done in the past, but will seek a shared goal, and make climate change a major priority.
Bernie Sanders and Joe Biden Credit: Frederic J. Brown/AFP/Getty
Once upon a time, many moons ago — i.e., back in April — Democratic presidential primary candidate Bernie Sanders agreed to exit the race and join forces with his mortal frenemy Joe Biden to help the former vice president take the White House. The two announced they were putting together a series of joint “unity” task forces with experts from each of their camps to shape the Democratic platform, including a task force on climate change.
After a few months of weekly Zoom meetings and conference calls, the task forces sent their final recommendations to the Democratic National Committee for its consideration on Wednesday.
On climate change, the two candidates and their supporters had some serious divides to bridge. Over the course of nine months of primary debates, Biden touted his plan to build 500,000 electric vehicle chargers and put his faith in American exceptionalism while Sanders bashed fossil fuel executives and promoted the Green New Deal. To try to find a middle ground, Sanders appointed Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Sunrise Movement co-founder Varshini Prakash, […]
Stephan: Donald Trump, a psychopath who more and more reminds me of a nasty over-indulged child throwing a tantrum, formally announced the other day that the United States, in the middle of a pandemic now involving at a minimum over three million Americans, was withdrawing from the World Health Organization (WHO). It is an act of mind =-boggling stupidity, and further confirms, in my opinion, that Trump, Pence, and their orcs are guilty of mass murder, a crime against humanity.
Happily, Joe Biden immediately stepped forward and said. Oh no we are not, not if I am elected President. That statement alone should win him the election.
From this report, since few Americans seem to be clear about what WHO is:
Founded in 1948 and based in Geneva, Switzerland, it is the UN agency responsible for global public health
Has 194 member states, and aims to "promote health, keep the world safe and serve the vulnerable"
Involved in vaccination campaigns, health emergencies and supporting countries in primary care
Funded by a combination of members' fees based on wealth and population and voluntary contributions
Joe Biden refuting Trump’s decision to withdraw from WHO
US Democratic challenger Joe Biden has said he will reverse President Donald Trump’s move to withdraw from the World Health Organization (WHO) “on day one” if he wins November’s election.
Mr Trump formally began the pull out on Tuesday after signalling the move in May. He said the WHO was under China’s control during the coronavirus crisis.
The process could take at least a year.
Mr Trump currently trails Mr Biden in the race for president by a margin of more than 10 percentage points.
Analysts have urged caution in interpreting the polls, but Mr Biden’s lead is far greater than that of Mr Trump’s 2016 opponent Hillary Clinton at the same point in the campaign.
Many voters are concerned by the administration’s handling the pandemic and its economic fallout.
There have been almost three million confirmed cases of the virus in the US and more than 130,000 deaths, far more than in any other country. Meanwhile, tens of millions have lost their jobs.
