20 years ago on 23 June, 1987, James Hansen, an eminent climatologist at NASA warned of a point of no return regarding climate change, a "tipping point". This year he speaks again on the subject. A recent article published in EOS, a newsletter from the American Geophysical Union shows the Arctic Ice sheet is melting faster than ever and may be ice-free in the summers in a few years: Arctic_sea_ice_plummets.pdf

Here is a PDF of his latest warning: Global Warming Twenty Years Later: Tipping Points Near: Tipping_Points_near.pdf

Here is a recent interview with him:


We really need to demand of our political leaders to do more than talk, to implement the changes necessary to avoid catastrophic climate change... if that's even possible at this point.


Peace,
Grant

Reinventing Collapse is a great new book from Dmitry Orlov. Growing up under the collapse of the former Soviet Union and since living in the US, he addresses the possibility of collapse in the US and asserts that it is, in fact, much less prepared for collapse than the SU. This is due to, among other things, the continued privitazation of everything US, unlike in the SU, where although times were tough, at least you had a house and knew how to garden.

You can read the synposis in his recent slide show presentation here.

Peace,
Grant

The big question mostly overlooked when we address our overconsumption western lifestyles is where to we continue to put all this "garbage"? In rural parts of Canada this isn't a problem. There are few cases of NIMBY (not in my back yard) because no one wants a garbage dump nearby, for obvious reasons. A few years ago in Toronto there was a strike and garbage piled up for a few weeks until the city could take no more and decided it was an essential service and legislated people back to work (if I remember correctly).

Here is an article about garbage piling up in Naples, Italy (see picture). It's not because of a strike though... it's simply because there is no place to put it anymore. Population density coupled with overconsumption soon makes the place untenable, inhabitable. So, what's the band-aid solution? They fill up as many trucks as possible, drive about 2,000 km to northern Germany and burn it all. A big garbage barbecue in Hamburg. Italy and Germany admit that this is unsustainable, but it's a quick fix for now.
There is a garbage dump some kilometers from where I live. It is far enough away not to cause a problem for us, but some folks live a bit closer and there has been plenty of protest. NIMBY!
I can understand. But, with population density increasing and more junk products (that are built to last just a few months on purpose, to encourage consumption) being thrown out, what can we expect? Consumption is what drives our economy. What a horrible thing to say isn't it? But, that's the way it is structured. The more we consume, the better the economy does, so the more we can consume. It's a vicious circle.

See this great video called "The Story of Stuff" for more information!

So, what's the solution? Well, yes we can burn it. But, that just adds a tremendous amount of CO2 to the atmosphere, not to mention the amount of energy needed to incinerate it (it's not just lit with one match and left to burn away, but rather incinerated by high temperature natural gas - methane mostly, another major green house gas) and to ship it around Europe. Plus, burning it destroys these precious natural resources, never to be used (recycled) again. We can bury it, where possible, but this is just sticking our proverbial heads in the sand.

The solution is to lower our consumption. This is a very simple answer, yet exceedingly difficult to implement. It can't happen overnight, but it can happen if we choose to do it. And, "we", also requires strong policy in place to make it happen. Considering that a public policy of lowering our consumption would necessarily negatively affect the economy (in it's current structure), this is an incredibly difficult task. But, like any change, it really needs to be grassroots. If citizens demand change, then policy will follow. As Noam Chomsky says, "real democracy doesn't reduce to pulling a lever every 4 years".

We need to start the public discussion about an energy descent plan. Given the price of oil now near $140 a barrel, strikes from truckers demanding that we "stop the oil price hikes", and how the energy, environment, economy and consumption are linked, it's time to do something. An energy descent plan entails more than just going on a consumption diet, however. Barring some crisis, changing our collective habits will take a complete reeducation plan, such that people can get back to the traditional views of being in touch with the nature, not usurpers of it. Maybe the end of the so called "cheap oil fiesta" will be a blessing in disguise, forcing us to reduce our consumption, and in the process mitigate climate change. Just maybe.

Peace,
Grant