The 2019-2020 fires in Australia have burned through about a third of Kangaroo Island, a haven for rare wildlife. (Photo: robdownunder, Flickr CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)
Australia is in the throes of its worst fire season in modern history. As thousands of homes are incinerated and an estimated billion animals perish, the world is getting a glimpse of our future in a warming world. Penn State University climatologist Michael Mann joins Host Steve Curwood from Sydney, where he is taking a sabbatical to study the influence of climate change on extreme weather events. Prof. Mann explains the clear link between climate disruption and wildfire disasters, and discusses Aussies’ frustration with the response of their government to the climate crisis.
Rick Sanchez answers your questions about US military interventions abroad, the assassination of Quds Force Commander Qassem Soleimani, the deployment of 5G wireless technology, and more.
The Trump administration announced new U.S. sanctions targeting eight senior Iranian officials involved in what the administration called “destabilizing” activities in the Middle East and Tuesday’s missile attack. Individuals in Iran’s construction, manufacturing, textile and mining industries were also targeted. CGTN’s Anand Naidoo spoke earlier with former Republican Congressman and presidential candidate Ron Paul. Throughout his political career he was an outspoken proponent of non-interventionism.
For more on the U.S. role in the Middle East, tonight’s panel includes Peter Kuznick, a history professor and the director of American University’s Nuclear Studies Institute; Khalil Jahshan, a Palestinian American political analyst and the executive director of the Arab Center and Michael Johns is a former speechwriter for US President George HW Bush and the co-founder and national leader of the U.S. Tea Party movement.
US President Donald Trump seems to think that he was overlooked for last year’s Nobel Peace Prize.
Why, what did he say?
“I’m going to tell you about the Nobel Peace Prize, I’ll tell you about that. I made a deal, I saved a country, and I just heard that the head of that country is now getting the Nobel Peace Prize for saving the country. I said: ‘What, did I have something to do with it?’ Yeah, but you know, that’s the way it is. As long as we know, that’s all that matters… I saved a big war, I’ve saved a couple of them.”
A video clip of him talking to supporters at a campaign event in Toledo, Ohio, on Thursday evening was shared on Twitter:
Sea level rise could submerge land currently home to up to 760 million people worldwide if global temperatures rise 4 degrees celsius by the year 2100. So what are cities and city planners going to do to minimize the potential devastation?
Hauer, M. E., Evans, J. M., & Mishra, D. R. (2016). Millions projected to be at risk from sea-level rise in the continental United States. Nature Climate Change, 6(7), 691–695. https://doi.org/10.1038/nclimate2961
“The three-degree world: the cities that will be drowned by global warming” by Josh Holder, Niko Kommenda, and Jonathan Watts https://www.theguardian.com/cities/ng…
Rising sea levels will put U.S. homes at risk in the near future, according to a study done by the Union of Concerned Scientists. It says more than 310,000 existing homes are projected to be at risk of flooding every two weeks by 2045. The National visited one coastal community to see how it’s dealing with the problem.
An eye opening documentary – a must watch for decision makers, people living close to the Oceans, and everybody concerned with the future state of Earth. The most extensive Climate State video to date.
Is our world chaos? Of are we humans being chaotic? Never before has mankind lived in such a free, safe, and accessible world as today. But this chaotic world demands more and more of our own. Is the real crisis within us, or is it the world that has become chaos?
“We have created a society where we as human beings can no longer meet the expectations,” says psychiatrist and philosopher Damiaan Denys. For millions of years, man’s world of experience was not much bigger than his immediate environment. The human brain is programmed to try to understand the environment and all his aspects.
But in a world full of stimuli, complex information, and alternative truths, we sometimes no longer see the forest for the trees. What effect does such an overwhelming amount of information have on our mental state and on society as a whole? Why are we afraid when the world has never been so safe?
Why do we increasingly feel depressed and lonely when the world has never been so accessible and connected? And how is it possible that something as fundamental as keeping the earth livable is not perceived as a necessity by everyone?
For the American sociologist Kari Norgaard, climate change is the most comprehensive social research ever. According to her, how people deal with climate change offers valuable insights into human behavior and organizational capacity in times of extreme change.
Because solutions for climate change are radical and complex, and often lie outside our direct sphere of influence, the subject evokes uncomfortable feelings such as fear, guilt, and powerlessness. Usually, people would rather avoid those feelings.
The U.S. has called the killing of Iran’s top general, Qasem Soleimani, an act of self-defense. Iran responded by firing missiles at two Iraqi bases housing U.S. troops. Afterward, Donald Trump claimed there were no casualties and announced his readiness to embrace peace with all who seek it. But was the killing of Qasem Soleimani legal? How can the current tensions be de-escalated? And what are the possibilities for a new Iranian nuclear deal?
Thousands took to the streets in Sydney to protest what they call climate inaction by the Australian government as wildfires throughout the country worsen.
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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