Published on Aug 8, 2019
In this special edition of the China in Africa podcast, Eric & Cobus join Judd Devermont, Africa Director at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) and Yun Sun, a Non-Resident Fellow at The Brookings Institution, to discuss the future of U.S. foreign policy in Africa and how Washington can more effectively compete with China’s growing influence on the continent.
This week’s show was recorded at the CSIS studio in Washington and is a joint production with the Into Africa podcast, hosted by Judd and produced by CSIS.
Published on Aug 8, 2019
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change is warning of a devastating global feedback loop around how humans produce and consume food. A new report urges immediate action on agricultural practices that contribute to greenhouse gas emissions, which exacerbate climate change and, in turn, make soil less productive. William Brangham talks to the World Resources Institute’s Janet Ranganathan.
Published on Aug 8, 2019
Greenpeace’s Diana Ruiz discusses the new IPCC Climate report, “Climate Change and Land,” which issues a dire warning about how climate change and destructive land use reinforce each other, leading to serious threats for human survival.
Published on Aug 8, 2019
Following a summer of heavy rain and flooding, Lac Ste. Anne County is declaring a state of agricultural disaster. Meet an Alberta farmer who’s already lost one-third of this year’s crop.
Published on Aug 8, 2019
A new report by the International Panel on Climate Change says the global food system is taking too high a toll on the land. The solution? Change the way we eat.
The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment assessed the consequences of ecosystem change for human well-being. From 2001 to 2005, the MA involved the work of more than 1,360 experts worldwide. Their findings provide a state-of-the-art scientific appraisal of the condition and trends in the world’s ecosystems and the services they provide, as well as the scientific basis for action to conserve and use them sustainably.
The United Nations’ top panel of climate scientists is warning that humans are consuming land and water resources at an unprecedented rate, with the climate crisis and biodiversity loss already threatening the food supply of hundreds of millions of people. In a new report out today, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change warns that without dramatic action, extreme weather and rising temperatures will turn even more fertile land into desert, shrinking the global food supply even as the world’s population rises to more than 7.5 billion people. This is climate scientist and IPCC co-chair Valérie Masson-Delmotte.
Valérie Masson-Delmotte: “We humans affect more than 70% of ice-free land. A quarter of this land is degraded. The way we produce food and what we eat contributes to loss of natural ecosystems and declining biodiversity. When land is degraded, it reduces the soil’s ability to take up carbon, and this exacerbates climate change. In turn, climate change exacerbates land degradation in many different ways. Today, 500 million people live in areas that experience desertification.”
The IPCC recommends dramatic reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, along with more efficient farming methods and a shift in diets away from dairy and meat — which produce vast amounts of methane and carbon dioxide while consuming large amounts of land.
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.
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