Cory Doctorow (@pluralistic) says we need to spend the next three-plus years reforming our labor unions and building toward a general strike in 2028.

I like it.

✊ https://pluralistic.net/2024/11/11/rip-jane-mcalevey/#organize

#Capitalism #BusinessAsUsual #Environment #Climate #ClimateChange #ClimateAction

Rising insurance costs linked to #climate change spark mortgage troubles https://www.dailyclimate.org/rising-insurance-costs-linked-to-climate-change-spark-mortgage-troubles-2669968241.html

#Climate Science Deniers Use Farmers’ Protests to Attack Net Zero https://www.desmog.com/2024/11/21/climate-science-deniers-use-farmers-protests-to-attack-net-zero/

Cause and effect?

#ActOnClimate #ClimateChange #geography #deforestation #RenewableEnergy #geografia #FossilFuels #ActNow #environment #EndFossilCrimes #ClimateCrisis #Science #warming #Nature #climate #development #gasemissions #ClimateEmergency #climatecrisis #biologia #ClimateAction #photo #photography #GlobalWarming #cartoon #pollution #news #earth #amazon #Politics

The mayor of Kuala Lumpur nails it! Climate funding must empower the Global South to build equitable transport systems and "BiodiverCities."

https://buff.ly/3OkUFCa

#publictransport #sustainabletransport #Asia #Malaysia #KualaLumpur #Climate #climateaction #climatechange #ClimateJustice #COP29 #publictransit #TrufiAssociation

Meanwhile in Baku, while the International Maritime Organisation tries to conclude negotiations on a global climate levy on shipping (accounting for around 3% of all emissions), airlines & oil firs each try to get the other sector to be next to find themselves being targeted for a global levy to help fund the green transition...

Which is all very well, but as we might suspect by the time any negotiations in COP or elsewhere are complete we'll be under water in any case.

#climate #COP29
h/t FT

Climate scientists talking about dragons and monsters?!!

Why? Because they're scared and terribly worried about our future as capitalist-driven global warming races past the old 1.5°C do-not-cross line.
__________________________________

“The goal to avoid exceeding 1.5C is deader than a doornail. It’s almost impossible to avoid at this point because we’ve just waited too long to act,” said Zeke Hausfather, a research scientist at Berkeley Earth. “We are speeding past the 1.5C line in an accelerating way, and that will continue until global emissions stop climbing.”

The 1.5C target now appears to be simply a rhetorical rather than scientifically achievable one. “I never thought 1.5C was a conceivable goal. I thought it was a pointless thing,” said Gavin Schmidt, a climate scientist at NASA.

“I’m totally unsurprised, like almost all climate scientists, that we are shooting past it at a rapid clip," Schmidt said. "But what matters is we have to reduce emissions. Once we stop warming the planet, the better it will be for the people and ecosystems that live here.”

As the world barrels past 1.5C there lie alarming uncertainties in the form of runaway climate “tipping points,” which once set off cannot be halted on human timescales, such as the Amazon turning into a savanna, the collapse of the great polar ice sheets, and huge pulses of carbon released from melting permafrost.

“1.5C is not a cliff edge, but the further we warm up, the closer we get to unwittingly setting off tipping points that will bring dramatic climate consequences,” said Grahame Madge, a climate spokesman at the UK Met Office.

“We are edging ever closer to tipping points in the climate system that we won’t be able to come back from; it’s uncertain when they will arrive, they are almost like monsters in the darkness,” Madge said.

Hausfather added, “Every tenth of a degree matters. All we know is that the more we push the climate system away from where it has been for the last few million years, there be dragons.”
__________________________________

FULL STORY -- https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2024/nov/18/climate-crisis-world-temperature-target

#Science #Environment #Climate #ClimateChange #ClimateCrisis

FWIW, folks I follow used these hashtags today: #scotus (150) #law (43) #tech (37) #legaltech (37) #autosum (37) #trump (6) #mattgaetz (3) #dailystats (3) #currentevents (3) #cop29 (3) #contracts (3) #opensource (3) #democracy (3) #justicesystem (3) #Climate (3) #Cybersecurity (3) #legaldrama (3) #lawfedi (3) #education (3) #singapore (2) #privacy (2) #academia (2) #fedilaw (2) #media (2) #surveillance (2) #uspolitics (2) #economy (2) #bluesky (2) [#DailyStats]

NEW: In Indonesia, two islands have already disappeared and thousands more are at the mercy of the oceans as global sea levels rise and threaten coastlines.

But even Java, one of the largest islands in the country, can’t escape this fate. Now, millions are at risk.

This is the second story in our two-part photojournalism series “Parched and Drenched” on the water crisis in Indonesia by Garry Lotulung.

https://www.thexylom.com/post/it-s-not-just-drought-java-is-drowning-as-well/

#indonesia #java #environment #climate #photography #journalism

The lie of net-zero by 2050
#climate #COP29 #auspol #world #politics
🙏u@thejuicemedia@mastodon.social
spot on as usual

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1FqXTCvDLeo

🛑 Business As Usual will lead to our demise. 🛑

Sooner or later, perhaps within years, certainly within a decade or two, the fragile and tenuous structure of our complex modern industrial society will break down. It won’t take much — overlapping natural disasters, collapse of the marine food web, an even worse pandemic, serious supply chain disruption, a major crop failure — some of these, or maybe all at once, and everything falls apart.

That’s not an outcome we should welcome. It can only lead to widespread suffering and starvation, with millions and possibly billions of human deaths.

If we are to have any hope of avoiding such a catastrophic societal collapse, we must rapidly reduce the extraction and burning of fossil fuels. But that will never happen as long as capitalism remains in charge.

So capitalism must go. The system must be changed.

Those at the top, however, will not give up easily. They will have to be forced to surrender, to step down and relinquish their power. The only way I can see that happening, short of violent revolution, is through a critical mass of people agreeing that it’s time for ACTION, then joining together for coordinated civil disobedience at a level never seen before.

The primary tactic is a prolonged general strike.

But it must be carefully thought out, every step meticulously organized. This would start with activists and neighborhood leaders meeting up and developing practical plans, locating resources, evaluating areas of strength and also of weakness.

Community groups could then begin stockpiling food and basic supplies and organizing voluntary systems of local/regional assistance, whether with transportation, health care, or finances, in preparation for the strike.

And when it begins:

⦿ No one goes to work

 ⦿ No one buys anything

 ⦿ No one pays any bills

If a wide-scale action like this could last at least a month, or even better two or three months, then I think we *might* have a chance of getting our demands met.

We’re at an inflection point, a moment of decision: either stay with capitalism and face disaster, or do whatever is necessary to bring about degrowth.

#Capitalism #BusinessAsUsual #Environment #Climate #ClimateChange #ClimateAction

This is truly scary.

It might be another example of Mother Nature saying: FAFO, you fools.
__________________________________

An international team of scientists using observations from satellites found evidence that Earth's total amount of freshwater dropped abruptly starting in May 2014 and has remained low ever since. The researchers say the shift could indicate Earth's continents have entered a persistently drier phase.

From 2015 through 2023, satellite measurements showed that the average amount of freshwater stored on land — that includes liquid surface water like lakes and rivers, plus water in aquifers underground — was 290 cubic miles (1,200 cubic km) lower than the average levels from 2002 through 2014. According to Matthew Rodell, one of the study's authors, "That's two and a half times the volume of Lake Erie lost."

It remains to be seen whether global freshwater will rebound to pre-2015 values, hold steady, or resume its decline. Considering that the nine warmest years in the modern temperature record coincided with the abrupt freshwater decline, Rodell said, "We don't think this is a coincidence, and it could be a harbinger of what's to come."
__________________________________

FULL ARTICLE -- https://phys.org/news/2024-11-nasa-satellites-reveal-abrupt-global.html

#Science #Environment #Climate #ClimateChange #ClimateCrisis

As we saw yesterday, in 15 out of the last 16 months — from July 2023 to October 2024 — the average global temperature has already exceeded the 1.5°C do-not-cross line.
➡️ https://climatejustice.social/@breadandcircuses/113504612194113421

And that titanic amount of extra heat is doing serious damage to Earth's climate and environment.
____________________________________

In August and September, huge portions of South America were shrouded in intense smoke from wildfires raging in the Amazon and other parts of Brazil and Bolivia. The Brazilian Pantanal — the world’s largest tropical wetland — had an almost eightfold increase in wildfires this year compared to 2023. From Manaus to São Paulo and Buenos Aires, the smoke, visible from space, blurred sunlight for weeks and posed a threat to the health of millions.

The occurrence raised alarms, but some experts warn that in the future, it might not be such an extraordinary episode.

South America is becoming drier, warmer, and more flammable, according to a new study. These conditions favor not only natural wildfires but also the uncontrolled spread of human-caused fire.
____________________________________

FULL STORY -- https://eos.org/articles/south-america-is-drying-up

#Science #Environment #Climate #ClimateChange #ClimateCrisis

Climate crisis to blame for dozens of ‘impossible’ heatwaves, studies reveal

Exclusive: Analyses are stark evidence of how global heating is already supercharging deadly weather beyond anything ever experienced by humanity

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2024/nov/18/climate-crisis-to-blame-for-dozens-of-impossible-heatwaves-studies-reveal

#ClimateChange #GlobalWarming #GlobalBurning #ClimateDestruction #ClimateSuicide #MassExtinction #pollution #ecology #environment #climate

Denialism isn't a political stance, it's a philosophical one. That's why both right- and left-wing people indulge in it.

Anybody who can be convinced that something is true against evidence otherwise is wide open to being convinced regarding denialism — of anything. HIV/AIDS, COVID, transgender, sexism, racism, etc.

Which is why political efforts to defeat denialism will never work. The only way to defeat it is through education, from kindergarten up. All age groups, all the time.

#Denialism #Climate #Racism #Bigotry #Sexism #Hate #Health #Religion #Science #Facts #Education

In positive BC news, an agreement between Indigenous groups and municipalities to protect water: https://www.haidagwaiiobserver.com/news/historic-signing-between-okanagan-similkameen-first-nations-local-governments-7651582
#climate

For 15 out of the last 16 months — beginning in July 2023 and continuing through October 2024 — the average global temperature has been more than 1.5°C above the pre-industrial average.

That’s what Business As Usual is doing to us.

VIDEO REPORT -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3RfkyquTEec

DATA SOURCE -- https://climate.copernicus.eu/copernicus-2024-virtually-certain-be-warmest-year-and-first-year-above-15degc

#Science #Environment #Climate #ClimateChange #ClimateCrisis

More than 140 banks worldwide have "pledged" to cut emissions associated with their lending and investments to almost zero by 2050.

But meanwhile...
___________________________________

Less than a hundred miles from where world leaders are discussing how to meet their climate pledges, BP is drilling for gas. The project, a sprawling gas field off the Azerbaijani coast, could inject more than 1 billion metric tons of carbon into the atmosphere, striking a major blow to efforts to slow global warming.

BP has said it intends to invest heavily in new oil and gas fields in the coming years. But it would be unable to pursue these dirty projects without billions in support from big banks. Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase, and Wells Fargo, along with a number of other banks, all helped BP raise more than $5 billion last year.

Since May 2021, global banks committed to "Net-zero" have poured almost $1 trillion into companies pursuing expansion of oil and gas projects that would push the world beyond its survivable limits. Taken together, these projects would produce almost seven times the annual emissions of the U.S.
___________________________________

FULL STORY -- https://grist.org/accountability/net-zero-banks-raised-1-trillion-for-fossil-fuel-giants/

#Environment #Climate #ClimateChange #ClimateCrisis #Economics #Capitalism #BusinessAsUsual

If you're a supporter of Business As Usual — and especially if you're an investor in oil and gas — there's good news! 🙄
_________________________________

One year after world leaders made a splashy promise to shift away from fossil fuels, countries are burning more oil, natural gas, and coal than ever before, researchers said this week.

Global carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuels are on track to reach a record 37.4 billion metric tons in 2024, a 0.8 percent increase over 2023 levels, according to new data from the Global Carbon Project.

It’s a trend that puts countries farther from their goal of stopping global warming.
_________________________________

FULL STORY -- https://archive.ph/4zcDX

#Environment #Climate #ClimateChange
#Capitalism #BusinessAsUsual

World’s 1.5C climate target ‘deader than a doornail’, experts say https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2024/nov/18/climate-crisis-world-temperature-target
Scientists say goal to keep world’s temperature rise below 1.5C is not going to happen despite talks at Cop29 in Baku
#climate #COP29

Climate crisis to blame for dozens of ‘impossible’ heatwaves, studies reveal
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2024/nov/18/climate-crisis-to-blame-for-dozens-of-impossible-heatwaves-studies-reveal
#climate #heatwaves

The world put the brakes on nuclear weapons. Is it time to do the same with fossil fuels?
Isabella Kaminski
https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20241114-we-stopped-nukes-spreading-is-it-time-to-the-same-with-fossil-fuels
#COP29 #climate #fossilfuels

Countries must set aside differences and agree climate finance deal, says Cop29 negotiator https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2024/nov/17/countries-must-set-aside-differences-and-agree-climate-finance-deal-says-german-minister

Jochen Flasbarth called on Cop29 delegates to press on as world faces increasing crises and drop in solidarity. #COP29 #climate #finance

"Australia urged to increase climate goal after UK announces ambitious 81% reduction target"

#Australia #Climate #ClimateChange

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2024/nov/14/australia-urged-to-increase-climate-goal-after-uk-announces-ambitious-81-reduction-target

Are you ready for a world without #flowers? Apparently they're having less #sex according to researchers and will not be able to adapt to #climate #change ( #climatechaos) leading to #extinction.

https://lsa.umich.edu/eeb/news-events/all-news/search-news/new-york-times--flowers-are-evolving-to-have-less-sex.html

Bad news from the ocean:
Plankton populations, essential to marine ecosystems, are declining due to warming oceans and rising acidification. Plankton also play a key role in climate regulation by trapping carbon in their shells, which sink to the seafloor.
https://www.dailyclimate.org/plankton-may-be-unable-to-weather-rising-ocean-temperatures-2669885624.html
#climate #ClimateChange #ocean #acidification #globalwarming

A record number of carbon capture lobbyists are attending COP29... which is no surprise its the fossil fuels sector's favourite response to climate change as it allows them to repurpose their assets, capture significant govt. funding & keep their profits high.... the fact that the technology seems hard to scale & is unclear in its overall achievable benefits is, of course, beside he point.

Its like trusting the fox to save your hens from being eaten!

#climate #carbon
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2024/nov/16/500-carbon-capture-lobbyists-cop29-climate

This year the world is on track to put 41.2 billion tons of carbon dioxide into the air, a 0.8% increase from 2023. At this rate, it will be about 6 yrs before we exceed the 1.5 deg C threshold above preindustrial times.

“We clearly are not doing enough on a global scale to reduce emissions.”-O’Sullivan.
But, Trump’s got this…🥲

https://tinyurl.com/ywm2kk9a #Climate #press

Yes, each one of us should cut our carbon footprint as individuals. It’s the right thing to do. We can stop flying, stop eating meat, and ride a bike instead of driving. But the fact is, no matter what you and I do, it won’t make a big enough difference.

That’s because all of the truly significant decisions about the future of our planet are taken far above street level, far above voting level, far above legislatures or the UN.

The choices that matter most to us are made by the leaders of capitalist mega-corporations and their financiers.

So although you and I should take appropriate individual actions, we also must recognize that while those actions are important, they are not sufficient.

Because what we need is system change. The end of capitalism. Without that, there is no chance of civilization surviving.

➡️ https://www.euronews.com/green/2024/11/09/25-years-counting-carbon-footprints-experts-assess-the-term-beloved-by-oil-firms

#Climate #ClimateChange #ClimateCrisis #Greenwashing

https://www.europesays.com/1608353/ Minnesota teachers now required to teach climate change #Climate #ClimateChange #education #GlobalWarming #teachers

We’re running out of time.
Hats off to #extinctionrebellion
#climate #climatechange #COP29 #australia #melbourne

https://www.9news.com.au/national/extinction-rebellion-protest-climate-activists-block-traffic-on-busy-melbourne-road/da41450b-3675-45aa-90ec-b6905828bd40

Mother Nature says: FAFO
____________________________

Trees and land absorbed almost no carbon dioxide (CO2) last year, and scientists are struggling to work out why.

Carbon sinks, such as forests, oceans and soils, are an essential part of regulating the Earth’s climate. Through natural processes, these land and ocean masses absorb almost half of all human carbon emissions from the atmosphere.

But preliminary findings for 2023 – the hottest year ever recorded on Earth – have found that the amount of carbon absorbed by forests, plants, and soil has temporarily collapsed.

This was completely unexpected, and therefore not something factored into most predictions and calculations about how quickly the Earth will heat up as a result of climate change. The breakdown of the land carbon sink could be temporary, but if it isn’t, this will drastically increase the rate of global heating.

It will be impossible for the world to reach net zero without carbon sinks, because there is simply no human technology that can absorb carbon on the same scale as the forests, grasslands, peat bogs, and oceans of the world.
____________________________

FULL STORY ➡️ https://www.thelondoneconomic.com/news/environment/trees-absorbed-almost-no-co2-last-year-and-scientists-are-struggling-to-explain-why-385673/

#Science #Environment #Climate #ClimateChange #ClimateCrisis

No progress since Cop28 last year.

Also no progress since Cop27, or Cop20, or Cop15, or...
________________________________

There is no sign of the transition away from burning fossil fuels that was pledged by the world’s nations a year ago, with 2024 on track to set another new record for global carbon emissions.

The new data comes from the Global Carbon Budget project, a collaboration of more than 100 experts led by Prof Pierre Friedlingstein, at the University of Exeter, UK, who said: “The impacts of climate change are becoming increasingly dramatic, yet we still see no sign that burning of fossil fuels has peaked. Time is running out and world leaders meeting at Cop29 must bring about rapid and deep cuts to fossil fuel emissions.”
________________________________

I wish they'd just be honest and announce that they have absolutely no intention of meeting any of their goals. Ever.

🧵 1/2

FULL STORY ➡️ https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2024/nov/13/no-sign-of-promised-fossil-fuel-transition-as-emissions-hit-new-high

#Politics #History #Science #Environment #Climate #ClimateChange

Dealing with the pain from last week’s disastrous election and trying to understand it all, our Mastodon friend Geoffrey Deihl (@gdeihl) takes a look back at our nation’s sordid history…
______________________________

America has always been a violent, racist country. Little wonder, being built on slavery and genocide, spawn of the brutal British Empire.

Our war for independence was no romantic story about a fight for freedom and justice. It was a revolt against a king not playing nice with his colonists. Some were fleeing religious persecution, but many were here to get rich. They had no compunction about murdering the indigenous people who saved them from starving in their first winter on these shores.

Native Americans were slaughtered, the survivors driven across the land to reservations, their resources stolen. Texas was annexed in 1845 from the brown people of Mexico under the newly invented guise of “Manifest Destiny” which argued we have moral virtue, and a divine right to that destiny.

Through this time and well before, Africans were packed into the holds of dank, leaking ships for weeks-long voyages across the Atlantic Ocean. The fifty percent that survived disease outbreaks from these barbaric conditions were sold as if animals. Eventually, slavery ripped families apart in the Civil War. The emancipation of blacks led to the Jim Crow laws in the south not overturned until 1965.

To understand what happened on November 5, we must consider history.
______________________________

Geoff has written a long, angry, and well-informed essay about our shameful past and present — and near the end, he also offers several good suggestions on how to organize and take action to build a better future. I hope you’ll read the whole thing.

➡️ https://geoffreydeihl.substack.com/p/descent-into-madness

#USA #Politics #History #Economics #Environment #Climate #ClimateChange

Whether you look at absolute levels or per-capita carbon emissions, its fair to say that China needs to up its game if its going to make good on its claim to be heading towards a green transition.... of course, you may already be discounting such claims.

Interestingly while the US emissions remain broadly stable, due to a growing population their per capita rate is declining.

Not that any of this matter much at the oil-soaked COP29

#COP29 #climate #emissions

Big oil = Big tobacco.... both knew the danger heir products were doing & hid it while arguing the science was mistaken.

If you wanted a reason not to trust the corporate world (many Im sure are already well past this point), this would look like a good one.

#FossilFuels #Tobacco #climate #health

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/nov/12/big-oil-fossil-fuel-warning

It’s obvious that a second Trump administration will be worse in almost every conceivable way from what a Harris administration might have been.

But let's not fool ourselves into believing that a Harris victory would have been *good* for our climate and environment. We've been going in the wrong direction for at least 20 years under Presidents from both parties — and there's no reason to think that Kamala Harris would have charted a different course.

SEE ➡️ https://archive.ph/VnlWF

When it comes to our climate and environment, we can't blame either the Democrats or the Republicans. We have to blame both. We have to blame capitalism.

🧵 1/3

#Politics #History #Economics #Environment #Climate #ClimateChange #Capitalism #BusinessAsUsual

You may not agree with everything in the essay linked below, but I expect it will make you think. Sarah Miller (@sarahmiller_22747) presents some “hard truths” about where we are now, how we got here, and what the future might bring…
_______________________________________

For liberal America, this election season has not been fun. It has not been honest. It did not turn out well. And now that it’s over, the time has arrived for a dose of brutal honesty. Forget about Donald Trump’s real and perceived lies. We have lied to ourselves for too long.

Our country and our world are in a dire state. That state has everything to do with the climate crisis, species extinction (possibly including our own), wars with no end in sight, dysfunctional geopolitics and domestic politics, and worst of all, irrational devotion to economic growth that is literally killing us.

The energy transition demanded by the climate crisis is an area where facing up to hard truths is particularly vital. It is also the area of our misguided American experience of the last half century that I know most about. A long career of writing about the energy industry tells me that recovery from our binge of self-deception must start with admitting:

1. Trump’s presidency will not bring the great change for the worse in US energy policy that establishment environmentalists claim it will. Not, tragically, because Trump is better than they say, but because the Biden/Harris administration was much, much worse than hoped.

2. The US is not a leader in positive climate action. It has not been under Biden, and it will not be for the foreseeable future. On the contrary, both political parties seem determined — in practice, if not in words — to lead a reactionary defense of fossil fuels.

3. Climate breakdown is much more advanced than widely admitted. There’s no time left for a carefully designed transition, or even a thought-out, gradually implemented shift away from the devastating paradigm of economic growth. An economic collapse is the only evident path to slower climate destabilization.
_______________________________________

There's a lot more in the full essay, including some suggestions of books to read, along with action steps for those of us who are ready to start off in a new direction.

➡️ https://medium.com/the-new-climate/post-us-election-the-contrarian-take-on-climate-2ba24101b2c9

#Politics #History #Economics #Environment #Climate #ClimateChange #ClimateCrisis

In the Netherlands, the oil giant Shell has won an appeal against a 2021 landmark ruling that ordered it to reduce its carbon emissions by 45 per cent.
The appeals court in The Hague, Netherlands, said Shell had a responsibility to cut emissions, but it dismissed applying a general reduction goal.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-11-12/shell-wins-appeal-against-court-order-to-slash-carbon-emissions/104592926 #climate #litigation #EUlaw

https://theconversation.com/plastic-eating-insect-discovered-in-kenya-242787

Plastic eating insect found in Kenya

#worldnews #news #africa #kenya #environment #climate