Chubb Fellowship Lecture : “Simply Too Hot: the Desperate Science and Politics of Climate”

Yale University Oct 10, 2017

This Chubb Fellowship Lecture will feature Bill McKibben, an author and environmentalist who in 2014 was awarded the Right Livelihood Prize, sometimes called the “alternative Nobel.” He is a founder of 350.org. More about Bill McKibben and the Chubb Fellowship at: http://chubbfellowship.org

See related:

• Setting the Record Straight: The Depth, Severity and History of the Scientific Evidence on Earth’s Unfolding Climate Catastrophe
• Rhodes Scholars Warn of Dramatic Transformations Required by Global Climate Crisis
• Climate Change – Warming Warning – 1981 (Gus Speth, George Woodwell & others)
• They Knew: The US Federal Governments Fifty-Year Role in Causing the Climate Crisis | James Gustave Speth, Julia Olson, Philip Gregory
• Selected links to the thought and works of Bill McKibben
  

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Can Lessons from Earth’s Past Help Us Survive Our Current Climate Crisis? Michael Mann

Belfer Center Apr 2, 2024

In his latest book, Our Fragile Moment, award-winning climate scientist Michael E. Mann explores innovative approaches to combating climate change by examining Earth’s climate history and how the planet has coped with – and survived – extreme events in the past. Climate variability has at times created new opportunities for innovation. Mann argues that the greatest threat to meaningful action today is not denialism but despair among those who feel it is too late to do anything about rising temperatures and seas resulting from fossil fuel consumption. While the window is narrowing, he believes there is still time to take significant political, societal and technological steps to avert catastrophic global climate change. Henry Lee, Director of the Belfer Center’s Environment and Natural Resources Program, provides introductory remarks. Cristine Russell, ENRP Senior Fellow, moderates.

For more information: https://www.belfercenter.org/event/ca…

See related:

• The Salata Institute
• The Salata Institute – The Solutions Are All Around Us
• Setting the Record Straight: The Depth, Severity and History of the Scientific Evidence on Earth’s Unfolding Climate Catastrophe
• T.C. Weiskel: The Ecological Lessons of the Past: An Anthropology of Environmental Decline
• Environmental Decline and Public Policy – Chapter II – Historical Aspects of Environmental Decline
• Are current initiatives too little? too late?     Global Balliol – T. C. Weiskel
• Selected links to the thought and works of Dr. Michael Mann.

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Big Ideas Lecture: A Fireside Chat with Bill Gates

stanforddoerr – Oct 23, 2023

The Big Ideas Lecture Series invites global thought leaders for discussions on Earth, climate, and society that engage the entire Stanford community. At a fireside chat moderated by Professor Thomas Jaramillo, entrepreneur and philanthropist Bill Gates discusses global health, energy, and our climate future.

See related:

• In Sweeping New Report, Climate Scientists Urge Move Toward Plant-Based Diets
• Worsening hunger grips West and Central Africa amid persistent conflict and economic turmoil
  
• New study: urgent action to enhance food aid and revitalize agriculture critical to averting looming famine in Sudan | United Nations Development Programme
• Jeffrey Sachs’ speech at the UN Food Systems Pre-Summit (full speech)
• The mistake of petro-intensive agriculture – the UNA “Global Engagement Summit” – 22 February 2019
• “India’s Green Revolution: More Harm Than Good” by Vandana Shiva
• The “Green Revolution:” Its Essence, Achievements & Aftermath
• Global Balliol
• The Malthus Insight and the Global Limits of “Green Revolution” Food Production
• The Fertiliser Trap | IATP
• Soils, Agriculture, Carbon Sequestration and Human Survival
• The “Green Revolution:” Its Essence, Achievements & Aftermath
• “Just take the case of agriculture…”
  and
• Selected links to the thought and works of Vandana Shiva

As well as:

• ‘Bill Gates is continuing the work of Monsanto’, Vandana Shiva tells FRANCE 24
• Why Bill Gates is Now the Biggest US Farmland Owner
• Bill Gates: How Gene Editing, AI Can Benefit World’s Poorest – AAAS, 2020
• Why I love fertilizer
• Bill Gates is the biggest private owner of farmland in the United States. Why? | Bill Gates | The Guardian
• Who Really Feeds the World?: The Failures of Agribusiness and the Promise of Agroecology: Vandana Shiva

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Food-matters,

In Sweeping New Report, Climate Scientists Urge Move Toward Plant-Based Diets

By Aurelia d’Andrea,

Apr 12, 2024
Print/save

Doom-and-gloom climate change scenarios tend to dominate news headlines, but a new report out of Harvard suggests it’s not too late to reach our collective climate goals and avoid global warming catastrophe. Success, however, hinges on one critical caveat: We must act quickly to change the way we produce and consume food, by moving away from animal agriculture and toward plant-centered diets.

Findings from the report, co-authored by a team of academics and published by Harvard Law School’s Brooks McCormick Jr. Animal Law & Policy Program, are based on a survey of 210 climate scientists, researchers, and food system specialists from 48 countries. They agree that to meet Paris Agreement targets—including rolling back greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to pre-2019 levels by 2030—an accelerated shift away from animal agriculture and toward low-carbon, plant-based alternatives is imperative, and must be approached on a global scale.

“This transition is crucial, as livestock production contributes significantly to greenhouse gas emissions,” says William J. Ripple, Ph.D., professor of ecology at Oregon State University and one of the report’s four co-authors. “Since this is a crisis, it only makes sense that any major shift involves all parties in high-income and middle-income countries including individuals, governmental policymakers, and corporations.”

Animal Agriculture and Climate Change

The livestock industry is implicated as a primary contributor to climate change in areas that include feed-crop production, the development of grazing land for cattle—the world’s leading cause of deforestation—and methane emissions produced by the animals themselves. Government agricultural subsidies that favor animal products are partly to blame, making an overhaul of global food-subsidy policies integral to reducing GHG emissions from animal agriculture, according to the report.

https://www.forksoverknives.com/wellness/vegan-diet-helps-environmental-sustainability/

Given the volume of animal products consumed in high-income countries including the United States, the potential to drastically cut GHG emissions is vast, if decisive actions are implemented quickly. The report also identifies restructuring targets that include providing technology and resources to low- and middle-income countries, and facilitating transitions from livestock farming into the plant-based sector.

“We need to change the incentives of the producers and the prices that consumers face,” says report co-author Paul Behrens, Ph.D., a professor at Leiden University in the Netherlands specializing in food, climate, and energy systems. “Perhaps even more importantly, it will require a shift in the way big agribusiness operates in the food system, away from the more damaging animal-based foods towards more plant-based foods.”

Plant-Based Diets and Planetary Health

The report suggests that plant-sourced foods, because of their lower carbon footprint, should be prioritized in institutional food purchasing policies, particularly if they lead to better health outcomes than animal-sourced foods. Adopting this “Best Available Food” (BAF) approach—a system for identifying the healthiest foods with the lowest environmental impact—is also cited as a tool that can assist consumers in transitioning away from animal-based diets.

Growing fruits, vegetables, and grains for human consumption—instead of growing crops for animal feed—also makes sense from a global economic perspective, considering 67% of all food calories produced in the U.S. are earmarked as feed for animals. Phasing out feed crops, which comprise 43% of the world’s farmland, has the potential to feed twice as many people worldwide, compared with current livestock farming systems, and would shore up food security infrastructure.

…(read more).

See related:

• Jeffrey Sachs’ speech at the UN Food Systems Pre-Summit (full speech)
• The mistake of petro-intensive agriculture – the UNA “Global Engagement Summit” – 22 February 2019
• “India’s Green Revolution: More Harm Than Good” by Vandana Shiva
• The “Green Revolution:” Its Essence, Achievements & Aftermath
• Global Balliol
• The Malthus Insight and the Global Limits of “Green Revolution” Food Production
• The Fertiliser Trap | IATP
• Soils, Agriculture, Carbon Sequestration and Human Survival
• The “Green Revolution:” Its Essence, Achievements & Aftermath
• “Just take the case of agriculture…”
  and
• Selected links to the thought and important works of Vandana Shiva

* * *

Food-matters,

Worsening hunger grips West and Central Africa amid persistent conflict and economic turmoil

12/04/2024

Dakar – Nearly 55 million people in West and Central Africa will struggle to feed themselves in the June-August 2024 lean season, according to the March 2024 Cadre Harmonisé food security analysis released by the Permanent Inter-State Committee for Drought Control in the Sahel (CILSS).

This figure represents a four-million increase in the number of people who are food-insecure compared to the November 2023 forecast and highlights a fourfold increase over the last five years. The situation is particularly worrying in conflict-affected northern Mali, where an estimated 2,600 people are likely to experience catastrophic hunger (IPC/CH phase 5). The latest data also reveals a significant shift in the factors driving food insecurity in the region, beyond recurring conflicts.

Economic challenges such as currency devaluations, soaring inflation, stagnating production, and trade barriers have worsened the food crisis, affecting ordinary people across the region with Nigeria, Ghana, Sierra Leone, and Mali being among the worst affected.

Prices of major staple grains continue to rise across the region from 10 percent to more than 100 percent compared to the five-year average, driven by currency inflation, fuel and transport costs, ECOWAS sanctions, and restrictions on agropastoral product flows. Currency inflation is a major driver of price volatility in Ghana (23%), Nigeria (30%), Sierra Leone (54%), Liberia (10%), and The Gambia (16%).

West and Central Africa remain heavily dependent on imports to meet the population’s food needs. Still, import bills continue to rise due to currency depreciation and high inflation, even as countries struggle with major fiscal constraints and macroeconomic challenges.

Cereal production for the 2023-2024 agricultural season shows a deficit of 12 million tons, while the per capita availability of cereals is down by two percent compared to the last agricultural season.

“The time to act is now. We need all partners to step up, engage, adopt and implement innovative programs to prevent the situation from getting out of control, while ensuring no one is left behind,” said Margot Vandervelden, WFP’s Acting Regional Director for Western Africa. “We need to invest more in resilience-building and longer-term solutions for the future of West Africa,” she added.

Malnutrition in West and Central Africa is alarmingly high, with 16.7 million children under five acutely malnourished and more than 2 out of 3 households unable to afford healthy diets. In addition, 8 out of 10 children aged 6-23 months do not consume the minimum number of foods required for optimal growth and development.

High food prices, limited healthcare access, and inadequate diets primarily drive acute malnutrition in children under 5, adolescents, and pregnant women. In parts of northern Nigeria, the prevalence of acute malnutrition in women aged 15-49 years is as high as 31 percent.

“For children in the region to reach their full potential, we need to ensure that each girl and boy receives good nutrition and care, lives in a healthy and safe environment, and is given the right learning opportunities,” said UNICEF Regional Director Gilles Fagninou. “Good nutrition in early life and childhood is the promise for a productive and educated workforce for tomorrow’s society. To make a lasting difference in children’s lives, we need to consider the situation of the child as a whole and strengthen education, health, water and sanitation, food, and social protection systems.”

In response to increasingly growing needs, FAO, UNICEF, and WFP call on national governments, international organizations, civil society, and the private sector to implement sustainable solutions that bolster food security, enhance agricultural productivity, and mitigate the adverse effects of economic volatility. Governments and the private sector need to collaborate to ensure that the fundamental human right to food is upheld for all.

In Senegal, Mali, Mauritania, Nigeria, and Niger, millions of people now benefit from national social protection programs supported by UNICEF and WFP. Both agencies are expanding their support to the Chad and Burkina Faso governments. Similarly, FAO, IFAD, and WFP have joined forces across the Sahel to increase productivity, availability, and access to nutritious food through resilience-building programs.

“To respond to the unprecedented food and nutrition insecurity, it is important to mobilize for the promotion and support of policies that can encourage the diversification of plant, animal, and aquatic production and the processing of local foods (through the provision of agricultural inputs, access to productive resources for all to stimulate increased production and improve product availability)” said FAO Sub-Regional Coordinator for West Africa and the Sahel, Dr. Robert Guei.

“This is crucial not only to ensure healthy, affordable diets all year round, but also and above all to protect biodiversity, with the potential to mitigate the effects of climate change, and above all to counter high food prices and protect the livelihood of the affected population.”

…(read more).

See related:

• Jeffrey Sachs’ speech at the UN Food Systems Pre-Summit (full speech)
• The mistake of petro-intensive agriculture – the UNA “Global Engagement Summit” – 22 February 2019
• “India’s Green Revolution: More Harm Than Good” by Vandana Shiva
• The “Green Revolution:” Its Essence, Achievements & Aftermath
• Global Balliol
• The Malthus Insight and the Global Limits of “Green Revolution” Food Production
• The Fertiliser Trap | IATP
• Soils, Agriculture, Carbon Sequestration and Human Survival
• The “Green Revolution:” Its Essence, Achievements & Aftermath
• “Just take the case of agriculture…”
  and
• Further links to the important work of Vandana Shiva

* * *

Food-matters,

New study: urgent action to enhance food aid and revitalize agriculture critical to averting looming famine in Sudan | United Nations Development Programme

Port Sudan – Pervasive severe food insecurity in Sudan necessitates urgent and extensive interventions to enhance food aid, revitalize agricultural systems, and restore supply chains, to mitigate the food crisis and prevent further escalation. Preventing a looming famine also requires an immediate ceasefire, unhindered humanitarian access, and increased support for food, nutrition, health, water, and sanitation interventions, concludes a new report launched today.

The joint report from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) titled “Livelihoods in Sudan amid Armed Conflict” assesses the social and economic impacts of the ongoing armed conflict on rural Sudan. The report is based on analyses of a comprehensive survey of rural households across the country that both organizations conducted from November 2023 to January 2024, including 4,504 households.

“Understanding how the armed conflict in Sudan—now reaching the one-year mark—impacts people’s lives and livelihoods provides an important foundation for targeted interventions and policy reforms to mitigate the adverse impacts of the conflict and foster long-term resilience and economic stability,” said Thair Shraideh, UNDP Resident Representative, a.i., in Sudan. “In a country where two thirds of the population live in rural areas, we prioritized focusing on rural households. We plan to complement the findings of this study with similar surveys focusing on urban households and on micro, small and medium enterprises.”

The study observes that the conflict has severely disrupted incomes of rural households and exacerbated existing vulnerabilities related to their housing and access to infrastructure and services. Most households live in inadequate housing, with disparities in access to water, electricity, and sanitation services posing additional challenges. Rural households have low access to assets, including agricultural land, which further complicates their livelihoods.

Khalid Siddig, IFPRI Senior Research Fellow and Leader of the Sudan Strategy Support Program said: “Most of the enormous challenges currently facing Sudan existed before the conflict, including household food insecurity, dysfunctional markets, and regional and gender disparities, however, the war has greatly exacerbated these chronic problems.”

The study highlights an accelerating food insecurity crisis. 59% of rural households face moderate or severe food insecurity, with highest prevalence in the states of West Kordofan, South Kordofan, and Blue Nile. The study warns that a famine in Sudan is expected in 2024, particularly in the states of Khartoum, Aj Jazirah, and in the Darfur and Kordofan regions.

Rural households experiencing a decrease in income and those encountering shocks, such as illness, death, or climatic events, are particularly vulnerable to high food insecurity. The situation is most critical for rural households that have completely lost their income.

More than half of the rural households in the sample reported that their farming work was disrupted, with the highest percentage in Khartoum state, exceeding 68%, and in Sennar and West Kordofan states, both at around 63%.

The conflict has also led to severe disruptions in employment and livelihoods, resulting in widespread economic instability. A significant proportion of rural households (36.9%) experienced a shift in income-generating activities, with 15% transitioning from employment to no employment. Nationally, income has dropped for 60% of sampled households, with alarming incidences of complete income loss, particularly in conflict-affected areas, with income reductions of over 50%.

Mass migration forced by the conflict, particularly from peri-urban to rural areas, has led to substantial income losses among migrants. Intensity of the conflict served as a significant push factor for migration across the different states of Sudan. For example, a striking 57% of households of rural Khartoum were forced to relocate during the current conflict—the highest among all states.

….(read more).

See related:

• Jeffrey Sachs’ speech at the UN Food Systems Pre-Summit (full speech)
• The mistake of petro-intensive agriculture – the UNA “Global Engagement Summit” – 22 February 2019
• “India’s Green Revolution: More Harm Than Good” by Vandana Shiva
• The “Green Revolution:” Its Essence, Achievements & Aftermath
• Global Balliol
• The Malthus Insight and the Global Limits of “Green Revolution” Food Production
• The Fertiliser Trap | IATP
• Soils, Agriculture, Carbon Sequestration and Human Survival
• The “Green Revolution:” Its Essence, Achievements & Aftermath
• “Just take the case of agriculture…”
  and
• Further links to the important work of Vandana Shiva

* * *

Food-matters,

How did life begin on Earth? Professor Brian Cox explains everything!

BBC Nov 2, 2021 #BBCiPlayer #BBC #Universe

Subscribe and 🔔 to the BBC 👉 https://bit.ly/BBCYouTubeSub
Watch the BBC first on iPlayer 👉 https://bbc.in/iPlayer-Home
The story starts around 3.5 billion years ago… #BBC #Universe #BBCiPlayer

See related:

• 1 MINUTE AGO: Brian Cox Just Revealed The New Declassified Images Of Oumuamua
• Selected thoughts and reflections of Brian Cox

As well as:

• Ignorance, Arrogance, Overshoot & Collapse: The Destructive Power of Enduing Myths In Collapsing Civilizations
• Overcoming the Multiple Legacies of European Colonialism: Can The West Survive Its Most Cherished Historical Myths? 
• Misplaced Metaphors in the Anthropocene: Beware of the Devastating Power of Cultural Clichés & Misconstrued Metaphors on a Small Planet 
• The Social Science of Human Behavior: Knowledge Systems & Belief Systems in times of crisis...
• “Just take the case of agriculture…”
• Global Balliol
• While Angels Weep… Doing Theology on a Small Planet

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