WTF Climate Change News

[Innula Zenovka]

Why do so many people hate Insulate Britain? Inside the controversial protest movement

Guardian reporter Damien Gayle spent two months with environmental campaigners Insulate Britain as they blocked motorways, glued themselves to road networks, got arrested multiple times and defied injunctions banning them from the highways. He finds out what drives them and asks what's next...

www.theguardian.com

 

[Innula Zenovka]

Making ecocide an international crime is long overdue

Substantive international laws were formed in the wake of two world wars, but nothing similar has been born out of the continuing ecocidal war against the plane

www.thetimes.co.uk

Evernote link

 

[Chin Rey]

This could fit the Brexit thread too.

 

[Innula Zenovka]

Climate denial is waning on the right. What’s replacing it might be just as scary

The wrapping of ecological disaster with fears of rampant immigration is a narrative that has flourished in far-right fringe movements in Europe and the US

www.theguardian.com

Evernote Link

 

[Beebo Brink]

Climate denial is waning on the right. What’s replacing it might be just as scary

The wrapping of ecological disaster with fears of rampant immigration is a narrative that has flourished in far-right fringe movements in Europe and the US

www.theguardian.com

This fear of the invading hordes of The Other is going to be a major driver of political instability this century, but in the US -- given its size -- the divisions will grow to regional borders, not just immigrants from other countries. The Southwest will probably depopulate first.

 

[Archer]

I've started including that in my arguments to folks who are vehemently anti immigration. I basically tell them to remember that stance when it's you who want to move to another area and they've made it almost impossible. Regionality is coming in the NEAR future.

 

[Bartholomew Gallacher]

No matter how dire the news, there's still no meaningful global response. I'm not convinced that humans, as a species, are even capable of reaching a consensus on any issue, no matter how urgent. Which means organizing in concert to act on it is a moot point.

Sometimes I really wonder how the impact would have been for the planet if the recent pandemic would be much more deadly, and kill let's say 1/3 of the global population. Personally it would be tragic but probably quite good for the planet.

I mean when the pest was running havoc up to 50% of Europe's population died due to that. But science also was blind back then, that's the issue.

 

[Beebo Brink]

Sometimes I really wonder how the impact would have been for the planet if the recent pandemic would be much more deadly, and kill let's say 1/3 of the global population. Personally it would be tragic but probably quite good for the planet.

Or would it just postpone the inevitable? It took a few centuries, but population rebounded despite the devastating plague losses. We're now at an all time high of 7.5 billion post-pestilence.

 

[WolfEyes]

The year I was born the world pop was 2,979,576,185.

In 1969 the world pop was 3,625,680,627. I was 10.

At age 20 (1979) - 4,380,506,100.

Age 40 (1999) - 6,064,239,055.

In 2019 when I turned 60 - 7,713,468,100.

In my lifetime alone the pop has increased over 4 billion. That is half a century. Not the centuries it took to rebuild from the plague.

World Population by Year - Worldometer

Population growth through history from 5000 BC to the current year (2026) for the entire population of the world

www.worldometers.info

ETA: The generation being blamed for this, the so called Boomers, aren't the ones to blame. Take a close look at the percentages (Yearly Change) as they rise and fall over time. Look at the years those percentages go up and the amount then look at the years the percentages decrease. It's been happening the whole time, not just recently.

 

[Innula Zenovka]

Men’s meat-heavy diets cause 40% more climate emissions than women’s, study finds

Research also shows 25% of diet-related emissions are from ‘optional’ food and drinks, such as coffee, alcohol and cake

www.theguardian.com

Evernote link

 

[Kamilah Hauptmann]

Men’s meat-heavy diets cause 40% more climate emissions than women’s, study finds

Research also shows 25% of diet-related emissions are from ‘optional’ food and drinks, such as coffee, alcohol and cake

www.theguardian.com

Evernote link

coffee

 

[Innula Zenovka]

I don't run a car, haven't flown in over 20 years and switched a couple of years ago to a predominantly flexitarian diet, with meat as in ingredient in a predominantly bean or vegetable soup (I have problems swallowing many solid foods after medical treatment) because that seemed a painless way of reducing my carbon footprint. Nor do I eat much cake, come to that.

So I'm damn well keeping my coffee. And my Pret croissants.

 

[GoblinCampFollower]

I don't run a car, haven't flown in over 20 years and switched a couple of years ago to a predominantly flexitarian diet, with meat as in ingredient in a predominantly bean or vegetable soup (I have problems swallowing many solid foods after medical treatment) because that seemed a painless way of reducing my carbon footprint. Nor do I eat much cake, come to that.

So I'm damn well keeping my coffee. And my Pret croissants.

LOL, I'd say my thoughts are similar. I grew up thinking every meal had to have meat in it but now eat much less of it. I barely drive anywhere and only fly when dragged somewhere... I also know some libertarian wackos who convinced themselves that meat is better for the environment... I think they are not so much stupid as contrarian to the point of insanity.

 

[Ryanna Enfield]

Climate change is a super complex issue, but I found this video helpful.

 

[Beebo Brink]

Climate change is a super complex issue, but I found this video helpful.

Thanks! That really was one of the best videos I've seen for outlining the multiple sources of climate change and the challenges of mitigating its effects. Each viewer is free to take away their own prediction of how this is going to work out for us (mine is, of course, that we're obviously doomed).

 

[Beebo Brink]

“Not everything that is faced can be changed. But nothing can be changed until it is faced.”

-- James Baldwin

 

[Katheryne Helendale]

Men’s meat-heavy diets cause 40% more climate emissions than women’s, study finds

Research also shows 25% of diet-related emissions are from ‘optional’ food and drinks, such as coffee, alcohol and cake

www.theguardian.com

Evernote link

Research also shows 25% of diet-related emissions are from ‘optional’ food and drinks, such as coffee, alcohol and cake

Just suck ALL the joy out of life, why don't they!

 

[Beebo Brink]

The Arctic Ocean began warming decades earlier than previously thought, new research shows

The Arctic Ocean has been warming since around 1900, decades earlier than observations would suggest, according to new research.

www.cnn.com

"We're talking about the early 1900s, and by then we've already been supercharging the atmosphere with carbon dioxide," he said. "It is possible that the Arctic Ocean is more sensitive to greenhouse gases than previously thought. This will require more research, of course, because we don't have a solid grip on the actual mechanisms behind this early Atlantification."

"When I talk to my students I always try to make them aware that the Arctic is warming very, very quickly, and much faster than any other area on the planet," Muschitiello said. "It's very unsettling and very troubling, especially because we still don't have a full understanding of feedbacks at play."

"We're still slowly getting to know how the whole system works," he said. "And my fear is that by the time that we do crack the problem, it's going to be too late."

 

[Free]

 

[Innula Zenovka]

‘Battery arms race’: how China has monopolised the electric vehicle industry

Chinese companies dominate mining, battery and manufacturing sectors, and amid human rights concerns, Europe and the US are struggling to keep pace

www.theguardian.com

Evernote link

Think of an electric car and the first name that comes to mind will probably be Tesla. The California company makes the world’s bestselling electric car and was recently valued at $1tn. But behind this US success story is a tale of China’s manufacturing might.

Also

‘Like slave and master’: DRC miners toil for 30p an hour to fuel electric cars

Congolese workers describe a system of abuse, precarious employment and paltry wages – all to power the green vehicle revolution

www.theguardian.com

Evernote link

In the last 15 years, Chinese companies have begun to enter the mining business, buying out North American and European companies so that they now control the majority of the cobalt and copper mines in southern DRC. And with this change, Congolese workers say, has come abuse, discrimination and racism. They say they are insulted, in some cases beaten, and claim they are paid less than Chinese workers who do the same job. They allege that Chinese supervisors disregard their experience and put production before safety.

“We’re being treated in a very bad way by the Chinese. I’m a victim of assault myself. I was slapped across the face four times,” says Mutamba, another worker at TFM.

One Congolese worker at TFM described sitting through a two-hour meeting in Chinese, only to be given a two-minute translation at the end.

“We feel humiliated and embarrassed,” he says. “The way they are treating our people, you can’t believe. We are just expecting them to have respect for human life, instead of using people like slaves.”