Last month was the hottest September worldwide, and 2015 is now virtually guaranteed to be the hottest year in recorded history. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration says the first nine months of this year have been the hottest such period ever recorded. Driven by warmer temperatures, the strongest El Niño on record is fueling extreme weather, from typhoons in the Philippines to historic summer rains and a looming winter drought in Hawaii. This all comes as negotiators prepare for the U.N. climate summit in Paris November 30. Democracy Now! will report live from the summit for the full two weeks.
Last week, The Intercept published the most in-depth look at the U.S. drone assassination program to date. “The Drone Papers” exposed the inner workings of how the drone war is waged, from how targets are identified to who decides to kill. They reveal a number of flaws, including that strikes have resulted in large part from electronic communications data, or “signals intelligence,” that officials acknowledge is unreliable. We are joined by Clive Stafford Smith, founder and director of the international legal charity Reprieve, who says the British government also has a secret kill list in Afghanistan.
Heat waves, hurricanes, fires, floods: A growing body of research shows that when such major disasters strike, neighborhoods with strong local networks of support endure them better and recover from them faster than communities that lack a sound social infrastructure. New York City’s experience with Hurricane Sandy – where much of the worst destruction was visited on low-income and working-class coastal communities – bears that out.
Today, as the third anniversary of Sandy’s deadly landfall nears, the Center for New York City Affairs asks: What’s the post-storm state of social infrastructure in the areas where the storm hit hardest? Have government agencies and philanthropies seized – or missed – chances to strengthen grassroots groups in the storm’s aftermath? And how can the on-going post-Sandy recovery do more to help local residents increase the sum of opportunity, dignity, and hope in their neighborhoods?
Join us for a panel discussion with experts in the field of neighborhood recovery and climate change, and organizers from the hardest-hit communities, as we address these questions and more.
A conversation with:
Klaus Jacob, special research scientist at the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory.
Onleilove Alston, executive director of Faith in New York.
Hugh Hogan, executive director of the North Star Fund.
Daniel Zarrilli, director of the Mayor’s Office of Recovery and Resiliency.
Moderated by John Rudolph, executive producer of the Feet in 2 Worlds, an award-winning multi-media platform bringing immigrant voices to public programming.
Join the discussion @centernyc #sandyplus3
This event is co-sponsored by the Tishman Environment and Design Center, and Feet in 2 Worlds.
Location: Theresa Lang Community and Student Center, Arnhold Hall
Tuesday, October 20, 2015 at 9:00 am to 11:00 am
“It’s the right to grow, it is the right to live on the land by rural peoples, it is the right of everyone to be able to eat domestically grown food in a way that supports each nation’s economy and the sustenance of its culture.”
Glacier National Park is losing its iconic glaciers to a changing climate. In the mid-1800s, this Montana landscape was covered by 150 glaciers—today only 25 remain. To show the decrease in glacier size, scientists from the USGS Northern Rocky Mountain Science Center photograph the same areas where glaciers were photographed in the early 1900s. Dan Fagre, a USGS research ecologist, has been studying climate change in the park for more than 20 years. Fagre and his colleagues discuss what melting glaciers and climate change mean for the future of the park, which is expected to be nearly glacier free by 2030, based on present warming trends.
PRODUCER & VIDEOGRAPHER: Jed Winer
EDITOR: Nick Lunn
STILL PHOTOS: Lisa McKeon, Kevin Jacks, W.C. Alden, M.R. Campbell, Blase Reardon, T.J. Hileman, Dan Fagre, Courtesy Glacier National Park Archives, and USGS
ADDITIONAL WILDLIFE FOOTAGE: Glacier National Park
This farmer-to-farmer video, developed through funding by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) by CIAT and Agro-Insight, explains in a clear and simple way how to cultivate and manage cassava while preventing soil erosion on sloping land. The videos are prepared to deepen farmer’s understanding of the technical aspects of improved soil management, and at the same time, to prompt discussion within the local context.
Welcome to Transition Studies. To prosper for very much longer on the changing Earth humankind will need to move beyond its current fossil-fueled civilization toward one that is sustained on recycled materials and renewable energy. This is not a trivial shift. It will require a major transition in all aspects of our lives.
This weblog explores the transition to a sustainable future on our finite planet. It provides links to current news, key documents from government sources and non-governmental organizations, as well as video documentaries about climate change, environmental ethics and environmental justice concerns.
The links are listed here to be used in whatever manner they may be helpful in public information campaigns, course preparation, teaching, letter-writing, lectures, class presentations, policy discussions, article writing, civic or Congressional hearings and citizen action campaigns, etc. For further information on this blog see: About this weblog. and How to use this weblog.
Calendar – Click on Date for links entered on that Day
Transition Studies 