Environment Archives - Page 18 of 28

“I Am Greta” isn’t About Climate Change. It’s About the Elusiveness of Sanity in an Insane World

15Jan

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“I Am Greta” isn’t About Climate Change. It’s About the Elusiveness of Sanity in an Insane World

BY JONATHAN COOK Photograph Source: Nick from Bristol – CC BY 2.0 Erich Fromm, the renowned German-Jewish social psychologist who was forced to flee his homeland in the early 1930s as the Nazis came to power, offered a disturbing insight later in life on the relationship between society and the individual. In the mid-1950s, his book The Sane Society suggested that insanity referred not simply to the failure by specific individuals to adapt to the society they lived in. Rather, society itself could become so pathological, so detached from a normative way of life, that it induced a deep-seated alienation and a form of collective insanity among its members. In modern western societies, where automation and mass consumption betray basic human needs, insanity might not ...

UN climate report calls out global elite as cause of the crisis

13Dec

By SHOAHNo Comments

Environment, UN

UN climate report calls out global elite as cause of the crisis

Tina Landis Download PDF flyer The UN Emissions Gap Report released on Dec. 9, shows how far off the mark we are for averting complete climate catastrophe. Current global emissions reduction policies have us on track for 3.5 C warming by 2100, which would be catastrophic for life on Earth. An average increase of 1.5 C globally is the line that must not be crossed — with current temperatures at an average of nearly 1 C warming. The report takes a surprisingly class perspective by pointing out that the one percent richest people on the planet are responsible for emissions equal to that of the poorest 50 percent of the world’s population. This group would need to reduce its carbon footprint 30 fold just to meet the Paris Agreement commitments. Hottest year...

Rare earths: renewables, rivalry and resource war

31Oct

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Environment

Rare earths: renewables, rivalry and resource war

by Toby Harbertson In 1992 China’s outgoing leader Deng Xiaoping stated: ‘The Middle East has oil; China has rare earths’. In this he recognised the key strategic role of rare earths, and China’s potential advantage in the resource wars of the future. Rare earths are a number of similar chemical elements essential for a wide variety of electronics and other commodities. ‘Green’ technologies depend on rare earths, and demand is skyrocketing as economies attempt to ‘transition’ away from fossil fuels. They are also essential for the production of advanced weaponry. US dominance in the rare earths industry in the 1970s and 1980s gave way to a virtual Chinese monopoly by 2000. As the China-US rivalry accelerates, the US is scrabbling to counter the threat this poses by reviving its own ...

Imperialism a breeding ground for pandemics

31Oct

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Environment, Health, Human Rights

Imperialism a breeding ground for pandemics

by Bjork Lind It has been established beyond dispute that capitalism’s assault on the environment is the driver behind the evolution of Covid-19 and other infectious diseases. Yet deforestation, pollution and land degradation continue at alarming rates as the ruling class uses the lockdown and economic crisis to advance its interests. BJORK LIND reports. Fewer species means more diseases The Global Virome Project estimates that there are 1.6 million unknown viruses circulating in wild animals, half of which have the potential of jumping to humans – a phenomenon known as zoonosis. The alarming increase in the number and frequency of zoonotic disease outbreaks correlates with the rapid transformation of forests, grasslands and deserts into urban and agricultural land. Discoveries ...

Fracking Company Has Made It Rain Toxic Water Upon New Mexico Without Penalty

29Sep

By SHOAHNo Comments

Environment, USA

Fracking Company Has Made It Rain Toxic Water Upon New Mexico Without Penalty

Is New Mexico's state government aiding and abetting fracking companies' damage to humans and the environment? BYDahr Jamail, Truthout Penny Aucoin, her husband Carl Dee George, their son Gideon and their daughter Skyler have had their lives devastated by the fracking industry. There was no oil and gas infrastructure where they lived when they moved to Carlsbad, New Mexico. But six years ago, during a massive expansion of drilling across the Permian Basin that spans West Texas and southeastern New Mexico — one of the most prolific oil and gas basins in the United States — the drilling began. It was so loud they had to provide hearing protection for Skyler. Then when the flaring commenced, dead birds began literally falling out of the sky right next to their home, and one of the...

Venezuela leads the way in hurricane relief efforts

8Sep

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Environment, Venezuela

Venezuela leads the way in hurricane relief efforts

Jamier Sale Download PDF flyer Barbuda: Damage caused by Irma After Hurricane Harvey left thousands of homes underwater, Venezuela pledged $5 million to aid in relief through its oil company Citgo as well as providing free fuel for relief workers in the area. First with Harvey and now with Irma, Venezuela has demonstrated the true meaning of solidarity with its response to the devastation left by the two historic tropical storms. The tiny island of Barbuda lay in ruins after enduring the Category 5 hurricane with winds over 175 mph. It is reported that St. Martin is 95 percent destroyed, and more damage is expected on other islands as Irma continues its path of destruction. Within 24 hours of speaking with officials from Barbuda, Venezuela began delivering urgently needed medica...

7Sep

By SHOAHNo Comments

Environment, Health, USA

Gov’t silent as climate change unfolds

Tina Landis Download PDF flyer San Francisco skyline tainted orange from wildfire smoke, Sept. 9 As I write this article from San Francisco, Calif., the sky is dark orange and I need to have my desk lamp on to see, despite that it’s midday. There is so much smoke in the atmosphere above the summer fog layer that only the orange light gets through to the ground. From megafires, extreme heat waves, summer snow storms and hurricanes, millions across the United States are witnessing the effects of climate change first hand. California broke record temperatures again over Labor Day weekend while fires burned from Alaska to Mexico and around the globe. Colorado went from record high temperatures over Labor Day weekend to a snowstorm on Tuesday with a 60 to 70 F drop in temper...

30Aug

By SHOAHNo Comments

Environment, USA

A Green New Deal for Workers

By Howie Hawkins and Angela Walker The World Economic Forum and powerful financial interests are proposing a “Green New Deal” which is “not Green”. What is proposed below is a Green New Deal for Workers ( M.C. GR Editor) *** Workers in 2020 have a unique opportunity to vote to put two fellow workers in the White House. Howie is a recently retired Teamster and Angela is a dump truck driver. We know the economic realities that working people face in the United States. This Labor Day we call for a better class of people in the White House than the corporate crooks and flunkies that have been occupying it. The COVID pandemic and economic collapse have highlighted the race and class inequalities in our society. With more than 35 million jobs lost, millions have lost the...

28Aug

By SHOAHNo Comments

Environment, USA

Mining the Deep Sea

by JULIA BARNES They want to mine the deep sea. We shouldn’t be surprised. This culture has stolen 90% of the large fish, created 450 deoxygenated areas, and murdered 50% of the coral reefs. It has wiped out 40% of the plankton. It has warmed and acidified the water to a level not seen since the Permian mass extinction. And indeed, there is another mass extinction underway. Given the ongoing assault on the ocean by this culture, there is serious question as to whether the upper ocean will be inhabitable by the end of this century. For some people, a best-case scenario for the future is that some bacteria will survive around volcanic vents at the bottom of the ocean. Deep sea mining is about to make that an unlikely possibility. It’s being touted as history’s largest mining oper...

Ocean Heat: From the Tropics to the Poles

20Aug

By SHOAHNo Comments

Environment, Health

Ocean Heat: From the Tropics to the Poles

by MANUEL GARCÍA, JR. Warming Pacific from Yaquina Head, Oregon. Photo: Jeffrey St. Clair. The heat being captured by the increasing load of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases in the atmosphere is subsequently transferred into the oceans for storage. This process — global warming — has raised the temperature of the biosphere by 1°C (or more) since the late 19th century. Heat introduced into any material body at a particular point will diffuse throughout its volume, seeking to smooth out the temperature gradient at the heating site. If heat loss from that body is slow or insignificant, then a new thermal equilibrium is eventually achieved at a higher average temperature. Thermal equilibrium does not necessarily mean temperature homogeneity, because the body may have sever...