Sea Level Rise Animation in Google Earth

Trump Is Reviving Failed GOP Policies Because He’s Completely Clueless About How To Govern

The Ring of Fire  Published on Dec 27, 2016

Donald Trump hasn’t been paying attention to the world over the last 40 years, and that’s why he’s wanting to bring back everything from trickle down economic policy to privatizing Social Security. These policies didn’t work in the past, but Trump has no ideas of his own, so this is what he’s going to do. The Ring of Fire’s Farron Cousins discusses this.

Fake news story on nukes blamed for Israel-Pakistan tension

(A Divided Decade) The Many and the Few

Adrian Hayden

Published on Sep 3, 2016

Elegance and Decadence – The Age of the Regency Pt 3

An Interview with a Leader from Brazil’s Landless Workers Movement

TheRealNews

Published on Dec 27, 2016

MST’s Gilmar Mauro on the struggle to build a mass organization as an alternative to fascism amidst Brazil’s ongoing political crisis

Refugees in Canada: From Far and Wide: Taking a chance

United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)

Published on Dec 27, 2016

As an engineer working abroad in the United Arab Emirates and Qatar, Ahmad Ayash and his wife Fatmeh enjoyed a good life in Syria. But when the war broke out, the family left everything behind. Arriving to the quiet fishing village of Lunenburg, Ahmad began work as his kids settled into school.

David Friendly, the lead of the private sponsor group responsible for the family, spoke with Ahmad many times on Skype before the family’s arrival and felt an instant connection.

David dropped hints to Ahmad that he was Jewish- a fact he worried might make the Syrians wary upon arrival. But he was forthright when they first met- and he says Ahmad sees them as long-lost cousins. “We understand each other more- on a deeper level- because of this shared history from the region,” says David.

Now, the family is determined to be a part of the small, close-knit community. Equally, they’ve been embraced by the residents- highlighting the long history of Maritime communities welcoming immigrants and refugees.

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California, at Forefront of Climate Fight, Won’t Back Down to Trump – NYTimes.com

http://mobile.nytimes.com/2016/12/26/us/california-climate-change-jerry-brown-donald-trump.html

By ADAM NAGOURNEY and HENRY FOUNTAIN December 26, 2016

LOS ANGELES — Foreign governments concerned about climate change may soon be spending more time dealing with Sacramento than Washington.

President-elect Donald J. Trump has packed his cabinet with nominees who dispute the science of global warming. He has signaled he will withdraw the United States from the Paris climate agreement. He has belittled the notion of global warming and attacked policies intended to combat it.

But California — a state that has for 50 years been a leader in environmental advocacy — is about to step unto the breach. In a show of defiance, Gov. Jerry Brown, a Democrat, and legislative leaders said they would work directly with other nations and states to defend and strengthen what were already far and away the most aggressive policies to fight climate change in the nation. That includes a legislatively mandated target of reducing carbon emissions in California to 40 percent below 1990 levels by 2030.

Food-Matters

Water Resource Competition in the Brahmaputra River Basin

https://www.cna.org/cna_files/pdf/CNA-Brahmaputra-Study-2016.pdf
https://www.cna.org/research/brahmaputra/

In 2015-2016, CNA studied water resource competition between India, China, and Bangladesh in the Brahmaputra River basin. The Brahmaputra River, which originates in China and runs through India and Bangladesh, raises serious concerns for regional stability. China and India have fought a war over contested territory through which the Brahmaputra flows, while Bangladesh faces human security pressures in this basin that will be magnified by upstream river practices. Despite potential threats to regional stability from dam-building activities and water diversion plans on shared resources, no bilateral or multilateral water management accord exists in the Brahmaputra River basin.

This project, sponsored by the MacArthur Foundation, provides greater understanding of the equities and drivers fueling water insecurity in the Brahmaputra River basin. After conducting research in the three countries, CNA offers recommendations for key stakeholders to consider at the subnational, bilateral, and basin-wide levels. CNA’s findings lay the foundation for policymakers in China, India, and Bangladesh to discuss steps that manage and resolve water resource competition in order to help move the discussion toward solutions that address underlying long-term water needs and development of the Brahmaputra basin, thereby strengthening regional security.

…(read more).

Food Chain Reaction—A Global Food Security Game | CNA

https://www.cna.org/CNA_files/PDF/IQR-2015-U-012427.pdf
Food Chain Reaction—A Global Food Security Game

February 12, 2016

The Center for American Progress, World Wildlife Fund, Cargill, Mars, and CNA developed and executed a policy decision-making game designed to explore issues arising from, and possible responses to, global food system disruptions. The game took place in November 2015 in Washington, D.C., and included senior officials and subject matter experts on teams representing Brazil, Continental Africa, China, the European Union (EU), India, the United States, Multilateral Institutions, and Business and Investors. During four rounds of game play spanning the decade 2020 to 2030, players confronted food system pressure at the intersection of population growth, urbanization, severe weather, and social unrest. In response, players crafted policies, made decisions, and took actions that dynamically influenced the state of the world as the game advanced. As the chain reaction of impacts tied to their choices became apparent, players experienced first-hand how their decisions and actions influenced global food security. At the conclusion of the game, players highlighted significant lessons learned and expressed increased preparedness to collaboratively address food security.

Food-Matters

National Security and the Accelerating Risks of Climate Change | CNA

https://www.cna.org/cna_files/pdf/MAB_5-8-14.pdf

To the reader:
The nature and pace of observed climate changes–and an emerging scientific consensus on their projected consequences—pose severe risks for our national security. During our decades of experience in the U.S. military, we have addressed many national security challenges, from containment and deterrence of the Soviet nuclear threat during the Cold War to political extremism and transnational terrorism in recent years. The national security risks of projected climate change are as serious as any challenges we have faced.

Since we published our first report in 2007 on the national security implications of climate change, we have witnessed nearly a decade of scientific discoveries in environmental science, a burgeoning scholarly literature on global complex interdependence among nations, and a series of reactions (or in many cases, failures to react) to projected climate change. Hence, we were compelled to provide an update to our report. Over several months and meetings, we listened to scientists, security analysts, government officials, industry representatives, and the military. We viewed their information through the lens of our military experience as warfighters, planners, and leaders. Our discussions have been lively, informative, and very sobering.

At the end of the day, we validate the findings of our first report and find that in many cases the risks we identified are advancing noticeably faster than we anticipated. We also find the world becoming more complex in terms of the problems that plague its various regions. Yet thinking about how to manage the risks of projected climate change as just a regional problem or—worse yet—someone else’s problem may limit the ability to fully understand their consequences and cascading effects. We see more clearly now that while projected climate change should serve as catalyst for change and cooperation, it can also be a catalyst for conflict.

We are dismayed that discussions of climate change have become so polarizing and have receded from the arena of informed public discourse and debate. Political posturing and budgetary woes cannot be allowed to inhibit discussion and debate over what so many believe to be a salient national security concern for our nation. Each citizen must ask what he or she can do individually to mitigate climate change and, collectively what his or her local, state, and national leaders are doing to ensure that the world is sustained for future generations. Are your communities, businesses, and governments investing in the necessary resilience measures to lower the risks associated with climate change? In a world of highly complex interdependence, how will climate change in the far corners of the world affect your life and those of your children and grandchildren? If the answers to any of these questions make you worried or uncomfortable, we urge you to become involved. Time and tide wait for no one.