Climate change now and into the future: Alex Thomas (October 2016 Lecture)

Understanding Climate Change

Published on Dec 4, 2016

1.5 C (Part I) Earth System Response to 1.5 C Warming: Dr Valerie Masson Delmotte (October 2016)

Understanding Climate Change

Published on Dec 9, 2016

Fair Use: Educational: 1.5 C (Part I) Earth System Response to 1.5 C Warming: Dr Valerie Masson Delmotte (October 2016)

Trump picks Goldman Sachs president to head National Economic Council

PBS NewsHour

Published on Dec 9, 2016

Baton Rouge, Louisiana, was for the third stop for President-elect Donald Trump’s “Thank you” tour. He used it to stump for the state’s Republican Senate candidate, who faces a runoff on Saturday. Also, the Trump team announced that Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA) is the choice for secretary of the interior and that Goldman Sachs president Gary Cohn will head the National Economic Council.

Game Over for Climate Change by Guy McPherson

Flaneur

Published on Dec 2, 2016

Guy McPherson lecture in Hamilton New Zealand at the Bill Gallagher Center at Wintec, Waikato Institute of Technology.
November 27, 2016

“If you really think the environment is less important than the economy, try holding your breath while you count your money”

[For commentary on our collective circumstance since the Trump-Pence election see:

The Predictable Environmental, Public Health and Climate Impacts of the Globally Resurgent Military-Industrial-Prison Complex

Extractivism and the New Activism: Will the U.S. Become a “Pariah State? ”

Citizens, Science and Climate Action:“If you see something, say something”

The Clash of Civilizations? or The Crash of Civilization? What happens when the rule-breakers become the rule-makers?

Ignorance + Arrogance = Overshoot ==> Collapse: The Accelerated Collapse of a Non-Renewable Civilization

And

Noam Chomsky: Trump’s Climate Change Denialism Will Accelerate Global Race to Destruction

…as well as ongoing information from The Cambridge Climate Research Associates.

For further links to the work of Guy McPherson see:

Guy McPherson (+ background sources)

Guy McPherson – Human Extinction within 10 years

Niels van der Wolk

Published on Nov 25, 2016

Guy McPherson: “I can’t imagine there will be a human on the planet in 10 years”

Humans are heading for mass extinction. Mankind has less then 10 years left according to climate change scientist Guy McPherson on World Newshub.

There’s no point trying to fight climate change – we’ll all be dead in the next decade and there’s nothing we can do to stop it, a visiting scientist claims.

Guy McPherson, a biology professor at the University of Arizona, says the human destruction of our own habitat is leading towards the world’s sixth mass extinction.

Instead of fighting, he says we should just embrace it and live life while we can.

“It’s locked down, it’s been locked in for a long time – we’re in the midst of our sixth mass extinction,” he told Paul Henry on Thursday.

But Professor James Renwick, a climate scientist at Victoria University, says people should not use his words more as an excuse to give up.

Govt appoints experts to tackle NZ’s climate change problems
While he agrees that climate change is possibly the “biggest issue humanity has ever faced”, he says “giving up is not really helpful”.

Instead, Prof Renwick says he hopes Prof McPherson’s 10-year claim will encourage people to take action.

“This is a really big issue and the consequences could be catastrophic,” Prof Renwick says. “Though certainly [humans won’t all die off] in 10 years or even 1000 years.”

The effects of climate change were first noticed 30 years ago and Prof Renwick says the sooner we get onto working against it, the less there will be to do.

“I’d love to see [people] take it on board as it is a very serious issue.”

Prof McPherson’s comments come just days after Climate Change Issues Minister Paula Bennett appointed a 10-strong team to advise the Government on how New Zealand can adapt to climate change.

National Geographic exhibition displays global climate change
But if the visiting professor is right, it could all be a waste of time.

“I can’t imagine there will be a human on the planet in 10 years,” he says.

“We don’t have 10 years. The problem is when I give a number like that, people think it’s going to be business as usual until nine years [and] 364 days.”

He says part of the reason he’s given up while other scientists fight on is because they’re looking at individual parts, such as methane emissions and the melting ice in the Arctic, instead of the entire picture.

“We’re heading for a temperature within that span that is at or near the highest temperature experienced on Earth in the last 2 billion years.”

Instead of trying to fix the climate, Prof McPherson says we should focus on living while we can.

“I think hope is a horrible idea. Hope is wishful thinking. Hope is a bad idea – let’s abandon that and get on with reality instead. Let’s get on with living instead of wishing for the future that never comes.

NZ takes home ‘Fossil of the Day’ awards at Marrakech climate conference
“I encourage people to pursue excellence, to pursue love, to pursue what they love to do. I don’t think these are crazy ideas, actually – and I also encourage people to remain calm because nothing is under control, certainly not under our control anyway.”

New Zealand has been criticised by the international community for not doing enough to fight climate change – this month being awarded two Fossil of the Day awards at the UN Climate Change Conference in Marrakech.

The awards are for the country’s failure to live up to climate promises and the continued use of “dodgy” carbon credits.

2016 Champions of the Earth Awards Ceremony

UN Environment

Published on Dec 9, 2016

From sustainable design to government leadership to the largest beach clean-up in the world, this year’s UN Environment Champions of the Earth inspire the global community to take action through their passion and accomplishments.

Donald Trump Could Shut Down Dissent, Including Independent Media Outlets

The Ring of Fire

Published on Dec 9, 2016

Donald Trump’s attacks against the union leader for Carrier are just the tip of the iceberg for what he could do once he actually takes office. The man could shut down all dissent, including independent progressive media outlets if he chooses, and that’s a terrifying thought. The Ring of Fire’s Farron Cousins discusses this.

The Coming War on China (Trailer)

RT Documentary

Published on Dec 7, 2016

The rise of China as the world’s second economic power is viewed in Washington as another ‘threat’ to American dominance. Today, some 400 American military bases encircle China with missiles, bombers, warships and nuclear weapons. This film, created by award-winning journalist and filmmaker John Pilger, is a warning that a nuclear war between the US and China is not only imaginable, but, according to the Pentagon, a ‘contingency’. Watch full documentary here https://rtd.rt.com/films/the-coming-w…

Nuclear

John Pilger – The Truth Game

John Pilger

Published on Dec 26, 2013

The worldwide propaganda surrounding the arms race is scrutinised.

John Pilger – The War On Terror – Truth & Lies

John Pilger

Published on Feb 28, 2015

John Pilger dissects the truth and lies behind the ‘War on Terror’, investigating the discrepancies between American and British justification for ‘war’ and the facts on the ground in Afghanistan and Washington DC.