Huge thanks to Kimpton Bradford for being my June sponsor. At his request, this thread is dedicated to his lifelong hero, Dr. David Suzuki, who recently celebrated his 90th birthday.
“How a record-high ‘energy imbalance’ is driving global warming…
“This imbalance is growing and in 2025 its 10-year average reached a record high, indicating that global temperatures could increase at even higher rates in the future. This is among the headline findings of the latest “indicators of global climate change” (IGCC) report…”
https://www.carbonbrief.org/guest-post-how-a-record-high-energy-imbalance-is-driving-global-warming/
“We Are in the Anthropocene—Now What?
“…We highlight how much we are already stuck in a figurative “Anthropocene quicksand”, where onlyan active pull can free us from consequences like global heating… Should Earth system resilience, the natural buffering capacity, significantly decline, the impacts of our actions would become even stronger. In a worst‐case scenario, shifts in Earth system feedbacks could even surpass human forcing in relevance…”
https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1029/2025EF007730
“May 2026 was the world’s second-warmest May on record.
“May 2026 was the second-warmest May in analyses of global weather data going back to 1850, behind only May 2024, NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Information, or NCEI, reported June 10.”
https://yaleclimateconnections.org/2026/06/may-2026-was-the-worlds-second-warmest-may-on-record/
“Starting soon all months will be the warmest on record once El Niño kicks into high gear.
“Biggest impacts on global temp will be later this year into next year. It will set a new precedent… for a couple of years… until it’s broken again.”
[Jeff Berardelli]
https://x.com/WeatherProf/status/2064795646750568500
“I’m still in disbelief. Each new model that comes out – somehow – raises the expectation of a record breaking El Niño incoming…
“Japanese Meteorological Service (JMA) didn’t plan for this… To be fair neither have the other services. That’s how off the charts these forecasts are.”
[Jeff Berardelli]
https://x.com/WeatherProf/status/2064433819428556849
“Amplified Arctic iceberg traffic reshapes benthic biodiversity.
“The Arctic is undergoing rapid warming, resulting in retreating sea ice and glaciers1, yet how cryospheric changes propagate into the deep ocean remains poorly understood. Here we identify a climate-driven mechanism linking accelerating glacier disintegration to an increase in deep-sea hard-bottom habitats far beyond calving fronts.”
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-026-10630-4
“Oceans are warming, but scientists are concerned about this cold blob.
“…right now, an expansive area of well below-average ocean temperatures exists in the North Atlantic, to the east of Newfoundland. There, unusually cool waters have lingered for the last year.”
“Thought the heatwave had passed? The seas are still feeling it [UK].
“…the agency said the exceptional warmth had coincided with strong to severe marine heatwaves around the UK and Ireland, in the Bay of Biscay, and in the western Mediterranean. It said the warm waters may have made coastal towns and cities hotter, in particular by reducing cooling overnight.”
“Millions of homes in London, Essex and Kent at risk of sinking as climate crisis worsens…
“As hotter, drier summers driven by global heating become more frequent, the ground under houses can shrink and drag down a property’s foundations. The most vulnerable areas include London, Essex, Kent and a tranche of land from Oxford up to the Wash on England’s east coast…”
“Wild temperature swings are becoming the ‘new normal’, EU agency says…
““[The] unusually early and intense heatwave demonstrates how quickly climate extremes are becoming the new normal rather than the exception,” said Samantha Burgess, strategic lead for climate at the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts.”
https://www.ft.com/content/a9d05461-8f4a-4389-bba1-750d806ec9cf?syn-25a6b1a6=1
“EU to protect industries from future carbon costs if they invest in the bloc…
“The bloc plans to continue to provide free allowances to emit carbon well into the 2040s in a move that would scrap the existing 2039 time limit. In return, it will require companies to make “much-needed investments in Europe”, according to an internal document seen by the FT.”
https://www.ft.com/content/75c56b3f-e100-4e3e-8c42-5ec60ebca47b?syn-25a6b1a6=1
“Andalusian forest fire consumes over 3,000 hectares, requiring aerial reinforcement.
“A forest fire broke out this Monday afternoon in Villanueva de los Castillejos (Huelva). Since then, the situation has become increasingly difficult, prompting aerial and ground reinforcement and the evacuation of nearly 300 people.”
“Weather chaos in Ticino – huge hailstones hit the region [Switzerland].
“A violent storm hit southern Ticino on Tuesday evening. Hailstones up to seven centimetres in diameter damaged roofs, cars and fields. At the same time, MeteoSwiss registered a new precipitation record for the southern side of the Alps.”
https://www.bluewin.ch/en/news/switzerland/weather-chaos-in-ticino-huge-hailstones-hit-3273240.html
“Brianza brought to its knees by bad weather: rivers of hail, closed kindergartens and roofs uncovered [Italy].
“Brianza wakes up counting the damage. Those thirty minutes of storm that hit the province around 4 pm on Wednesday 10 June caused very extensive damage. In less than five hours, the firefighters of the provincial command of Monza found themselves engaged in over 70 interventions.”
https://www.monzatoday.it/attualita/danni-maltempo-10-giugno-2026.html
“Hail in Ardahan covered the city in white [Turkey].
“The hail, which started at noon in the city and gradually increased its effect, covered the streets and streets with a white blanket. While the sudden hail negatively affected life, citizens who were worried about damage to their vehicles tried to protect their cars by covering them with blankets, carpets and cardboard.”
https://www.cnnturk.com/yerel-haberler/ardahan/ardahanda-dolu-yagisi-kenti-beyaza-burudu-3428958
“Algeria | Video documents the first moments of a bus driver’s attempt to cross the “Tabarbirt” wadi in the Tazrouk district of Tamanrasset province during flash floods, in a dangerous act that nearly caused a disaster.
“According to reports, the situation was saved thanks to the swift intervention of citizens and civil protection officers…” [Arab Storms]
https://x.com/Arab_Storms/status/2064312369204076781
“8 dead, several missing in Central African Republic landslide…
““The earth collapsed suddenly burying diggers under the rubble. Search and rescue operations were launched which made it possible to recover eight bodies, and the search continues for several people still missing.””
https://www.aa.com.tr/en/africa/8-dead-several-missing-in-central-african-republic-landslide/3962381
“Gorillas can learn to trust humans even after years of poaching pressure, research shows.
“A new study led by Concordia researchers suggests that carefully habituating wild gorillas to nonthreatening humans can help the animals overcome long-term aversions to people in areas with a history of human-led disturbances such as poaching.”
https://phys.org/news/2026-06-gorillas-humans-years-poaching-pressure.html
“South Africa is seeking to revive international exports of rhino hunting trophies and other wildlife products.
“They plan to use exemptions under Cites, arguing trade will not harm species survival. Officials claim the long-standing rhino horn ban has fuelled poaching and black-market prices.”
“The dew point at Fujairah International Airport in the UAE is currently 86°F (30°C).
“Combined with an air temperature of 93°F, that’s a heat index of 126°F (52°C), at 10:30 pm local time.
[Colin McCarthy].”
https://x.com/US_Stormwatch/status/2064787973368090815
“The hottest ocean water on the planet right now is located just south of the Strait of Hormuz.
“Sea surface temps off northern Oman are approaching 95°F (35°C), bathwater-warm, and the reason the Persian Gulf and Gulf of Oman produce some of the most insufferable humidity on Earth.” [Colin McCarthy]
https://x.com/US_Stormwatch/status/2064787342326731030
“Thirst Hits Iranian Coastal Town After US Strikes Allegedly Damage Water Reservoirs…
“Iran said Wednesday that attacks on the port city of Sirik struck two key water storage facilities, disrupting the muncipal water supply for thousands of residents. Iranian state media and diplomatic officials described the incident as a direct hit on civilian infrastructure…”
“Central Asia’s Water Crisis is Becoming a Regional Economic Risk…
“For years, the region’s water crisis was associated primarily with the Aral Sea disaster, one of the most devastating environmental catastrophes of the 20th century. Today, however, experts increasingly warn that water stress is becoming systemic across Central Asia itself.”
https://thediplomat.com/2026/06/central-asias-water-crisis-is-becoming-a-regional-economic-risk/
“Punjab draws excess water as Sindh and Balochistan face severe shortages [Pakistan].
“Water shortages in Sindh and Balochistan are deepening as Punjab continues to draw excess water, threatening the downstream provinces’ agricultural activities and drinking water supplies.”
“Modi orders Indian officials to prevent water from entering Pakistan…
“A federal minister in the Indian government said New Delhi was working to ensure “not a single drop of water” will flow into Pakistan. The two countries have been engaged in a diplomatic standoff over cross-border militancy and clashes for more than a year after a brief four-day conflict in May 2025.”
https://www.independent.co.uk/asia/india/india-pakistan-indus-water-treaty-modi-b2993159.html
“Tower collapses lead to 500 MW renewable loss in Rajasthan [NW India], raising energy transition concerns.
“A series of severe dust storms and thunderstorms that swept across Rajasthan between late May and early June has damaged power infrastructure, disrupting renewable energy gains in the state and accelerating concerns about the resilience of India’s rapidly expanding clean energy system.”
“Why India’s deadly dengue crisis is now no longer confined to the monsoons…
“Health experts warn that rising temperatures, erratic rainfall and rapid urbanisation are helping dengue-carrying mosquitoes survive longer and spread farther than before, gradually transforming what was once considered a seasonal disease into a year-round public health threat.”
“‘I fear people will go to war over water’: as wells run dry, farmers struggle to survive in Bangladesh.
“In the parched fields of north-west Bangladesh, where the earth hardens into cracked red clay beneath an unforgiving sun, farmers in the Barind region say they are watching the foundations of rural life disappear underground.”
“Another extreme day in CHINA.
“16 June cold records (7 Tmins+9 Low Maxes) in The North and 5 records of June hottest night in the South.” [Extreme Temps]
https://x.com/extremetemps/status/2064006505783832905
“Japan’s looming typhoon crisis threatens disaster defences and tourism.
“Tokyo-based Weathernews, a private meteorological firm providing long-range forecasts across Asia, has predicted that as many as 28 typhoons could affect Japan this year, with up to 14 potentially making landfall – well above average and approaching historical extremes.”
“Three men were killed after being buried in a landslide in Vietnam’s northern mountainous province of Lai Chau on Wednesday (June 10), Xinhua reported, citing the Vietnam News Agency.
“According to local authorities, the victims were working in a forested area near a mountain stream in Mit Thai village when prolonged heavy rains hit the area.”
“Terrible heat in VIETNAM:
“Minimums >30C [86F] in the North, Central, South and Spratly Islands! RECORDS OF HOTTEST NIGHTS -Tmins: 31.8 Ha Tinh, 30.9 Danang, 30.4C at Qang Ngai.” [Extreme Temps]
https://x.com/extremetemps/status/2064211375010775382
“Four days of extreme rain killed 7% of world’s rarest orangutans, study says [Sumatra].
“Research suggests that 58 of less than 800 critically endangered Tapanuli orangutans, or around 7% of the total species, were killed as a result of the extreme weather event last November. Those are conservative figures, and do not take into account rain-induced canopy damage or reduced food availability…”
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/ce8jde20v83o
“Indonesia’s grassroots farmers face increased unpredictability, experts say.
“…Arnall described how even highly-skilled, traditional producers are seeing their knowledge “undermined” by sea-level rise and coastal change. “Farmers in many places … are losing trust in the weather patterns as they become more unpredictable,” Arnall said.”
“Record heat in INDONESIA never ends.
“Insanely hot night again at Manokwari. MINIMUM 28.9C [84F] in the cold season. June record destroyed in pieces. Record of June high Minimum tied also at Mia Padang :Min 25.8C.” Extreme Temps].
https://x.com/extremetemps/status/2063966041143648268
“Record warmth in AUSTRALIA never ends.
“Tonight it was the June warmest night in parts of New South Wales. MINIMUMS: 14.2C [57.6F] Wagga Wagga, 13.4C Cootamundra, 13.3C Temora, 12.9C Young.” [Extreme Temps]
https://x.com/extremetemps/status/2064918586607505674
“Record winter temperatures in Antarctic raise fears over speed of climate breakdown…
“Scientists said the high of 15.4C broke the previous record set at the same station in 1998 by 2C. “This is absolutely crazy,” said Raúl Cordero, an Ecuadorian climate professor at the University of Groningen. “It is also about 20C above normal for this time of the year. That is a huge anomaly.””
“One-in-100-year coastal floods now happening twice a year in Wellington – study [NZ].
“Human-caused sea-level rise has made coastal sea-level extremes four times more frequent since the start of the 20th century. A new study published in research journal Nature Climate Change claimed Wellington’s one-in-100 year coastal floods were happening about twice a year.”
“How ‘undone science’ shaped Chile’s glacier protection battle…
“Undone science refers to research intentionally or unintentionally left unfunded, incomplete or ignored because of political, economic or industry pressure… In Chile, undone science has been a defining force in the politics of glacier protection.”
https://phys.org/news/2026-06-undone-science-chile-glacier.html
“Record beef prices squeeze U.S. shoppers as drought and deadly screwworm shrink herds.
“The latest threat to beef prices is the New World screwworm, with a batch of cases in Texas calves marking the first outbreak of the parasite in livestock in five decades.”
“How bad will drought be in Texas? Rio Grande Valley farmers are bracing for the worst…
“Texas’ water supply is already under stress from growth and aging infrastructure. Climate instability and a hot summer put the state’s supply in greater peril. That is particularly bad news for the state’s agricultural economy, which uses a significant amount of the state’s water.”
https://www.mysanantonio.com/news/south-texas/article/texas-drought-agriculture-22297317.php
“Utah is so bone dry amid drought that a squirrel and kids with matches started separate brush fires…
“The ongoing severe drought in Utah has created the perfect conditions for destructive fires, prompting officials to warn that this year’s fire season could be particularly severe. Those concerns were highlighted Tuesday after firefighters battled two separate blazes in northern Utah.”
“Colorado and Nevada negotiators throw cold water on parts of federal plan to manage Colorado River…
“A major sticking point in negotiations has been how to divide up water cuts among the Upper and Lower basins. A 1922 legal compact is the foundation for dividing up the basin’s water, but it left plenty of room for interpretation and, inevitably, disagreement.”
“Rocky Mountains experienced ‘worst season on record for snowfall’ with lowest numbers of visitors in 40 years…
“The region experienced its “worst season on record for snowfall,” with snowpack in Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming 32-53% lower than the previous record low. This record-low snowfall is attributed to unusually warm winter temperatures driven by climate change…”
“Nebraska’s Fort Robinson State Park evacuated as wildfire spreads.
“Officials ordered the evacuation of Nebraska’s Fort Robinson State Park as a wildfire quickly spread Wednesday. What’s being called the South Fork Fire had reportedly burned nearly 16,000 acres in Sioux County, the most northwestern county in the state, and Dawes County to the east.”
“Raleigh is experiencing its driest start to the year ever [NC].
“The Raleigh area is off to its driest start in more than 140 years, as North Carolina’s drought has become extreme across much of the Triangle, according to data from the National Weather Service. Water restrictions remain in effect to prevent the drinking water supply from dwindling too low.”
https://www.axios.com/local/raleigh/2026/06/09/drought-update-raleigh-driest-start-to-year
“Record rainfall raises concerns about continued flooding in Columbia [Missouri].
“Nearly four inches of rain fell on Sunday — flooding roads, parks and low-water crossings throughout Boone County… State Climatologist Zach Leasor said Columbia has received roughly 15 inches of rain since May 1.”
“Southern Manitoba hit by severe storms, flooding and possible tornadoes.
“Environment Canada said Stonewall, north of Winnipeg, recorded more than 250 millimetres [9.8 inches] of rain by early Wednesday morning, while Winnipeg received 117 millimetres at The Forks.”
“B.C. community facing threat of glacial lake outburst for 3rd year in a row…
““This is a canary in the coal mine situation,” Ford said. “I think [this] will inform preparedness for other communities around the province and likely around Canada.” Officials expect the outbursts to keep happening until the glacier has completely receded.”
“Breaking News!
“The latest data for “Total Column Precipitable Water” was just posted by ECMWF, and the 36-month running mean for the Northern mid-latitudes, where over 50% of humans live, set yet another new record high. More car soup.” [Prof Eliot Jacobson]
https://x.com/EliotJacobson/status/2064678699065344441
“Fishers live in fear as looming El Niño and fuel crisis pile on pressure.
“From the Philippines to Peru a vital industry already reeling from multiple problems faces devastation from skyrocketing fuel prices and super-charged Pacific warming.”
“Here are 10 ways a ‘super’ El Niño could impact the planet…
“Globally, there is a heightened risk of a shock to global food supply chains. Four crops – wheat, rice, maize and soybeans – provide more than 60% of the world’s calorie intake. Maize and rice are especially sensitive to El Niño.”
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/jun/09/super-el-nino-global-economy
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You can read the previous “Climate” thread here. I’ll be back on Monday with an “Economic” thread.
Maybe more important, and probably less uncertain, than the maximum El Nino strength, is its length. Columbia mid-May combined model probability is showing virtually 100% chance through to next March (the final forecast point). Based on previous events this might indicate that it will last at least 18 months, probably over two years.
There have been studies indicating that climate change may result in a switch to permanent El Nino conditions, maybe this is the start of that and, as usual, it’s happening faster than expected. Over one year farms might be able to withstand huge yield losses, fisheries cope with a stock collapse, or cities use trucked in water, but after the second year companies go bankrupt and people leave and neither return immediately even if if conditions recover.
Additionally each year of El Nino means one more year when heat isn’t sequestered into the deep Pacific and instead warms the atmosphere and increases shallow ocean stratification. This is a reinforcing feedback mechanism that accelerates surface warming in the following years (and hence makes longer and stronger El Ninos more frequent – exactly as is now being seen – until they all join together and El Nino conditions become permanent).
https://iri.columbia.edu/our-expertise/climate/forecasts/enso/current/
George, the starter’s gun has fired now:
“El Niño is born! NOAA declares: El Niño Advisory… This event is widely advertised by models to be potentially the strongest on record…
“One thing seems virtually certain: the heat released into the atmosphere will make for some unprecedented events through 2027, and on top of long-term warming, the hottest global temperatures in many tens of 1000s of years.” [Jeff Berardelli]
https://x.com/WeatherProf/status/2065076551343812950
“The new normal”. What a daft and cringeworthy boiler plate template that has become.
Florian, it is bargaining language – the third stage of grief in the Kübler-Ross model (denial, anger, bargaining, depression, acceptance are the full five in sequence).
It says, “If we acknowledge that things are worse than they were before can we please make a silent agreement that this is bad as it gets?”
Evian-les-Bains and the Whale Graveyard
Evian-les-Bains is turning upside down. The G7 summit is arriving: Trump, Macron, Merz, Meloni, and the rest of that exclusive club of world leaders. Local residents describe their town as a war zone. Armed soldiers and security personnel are everywhere. Sports fields have been transformed into helicopter landing pads, air-defense systems are in place to protect the leaders and their entourages against asymmetric drone attacks, and for a few days there will be more police officers than inhabitants.
Then the circus will move on to the next summit, leaving barely a trace behind. That is how these things work.
As if by some strange twist of fate, at the very same time scientists have reported the discovery of a whale graveyard seven kilometers beneath the surface of the Indian Ocean. A ribbon of bones stretching for some 1,200 kilometers across the floor of an ocean trench older than almost everything we worry about today.
It challenges our sense of both time and space.
Some of those whales died before our ancestors had even learned to walk upright. For millions of years currents, bacteria, worms and the immense pressure of the deep ocean have quietly done their work. A carcass became food, food became new life, and eventually only a skeleton remained, slowly turning to stone.
Just another news item among the endless stream of daily headlines: Macron, Hormuz, El Niño, climate tipping points, the last warning, the end of the global economy.
All of it is real. Yet all of it exists within a time window barely longer than a human lifetime.
The whale bones have no idea what a barrel of Brent crude costs. They have never heard of CO₂, G7 summits or export quotas. They simply lie there while entire civilizations appear and disappear like foam on a wave.
The fact that millions of skeletons are down there and that we have actually found them is astonishing—a geological needle in a haystack.
Even more astonishing is the Earth’s extraordinary ability to store time. What we call a crisis is, for the ocean, little more than a thin layer of sediment.
That does not make our problems unimportant. Quite the opposite. For an oil tanker in the Strait of Hormuz, a single day of delay can change everything. For a farmer without diesel, a week may determine whether there is a harvest. For a family without water, a month can feel like an eternity.
We like to call this the Anthropocene. But perhaps it is less a geological epoch than a distinctly human habit: the conviction that our clock is also the Earth’s clock.
The Diamant Trench knows better. There, whales are still slowly sinking into darkness.
Meanwhile, in Evian-les-Bains, another carefully choreographed photo opportunity unfolds, every leader searching for exactly the right place in the front row. The elegant spa town on Lake Geneva, itself a glacial basin more than 300 meters deep, lies beneath the restless circles of helicopters and drone surveillance.
For those interested in deep time, the lake owes its existence to the last Ice Age, when vast glaciers carved one of Western Europe’s deepest basins. The coldest phase occurred some 20,000 years ago.
The age of the cave bear.
Well then… let’s see what the world’s leaders decide about our future.
https://nos.nl/artikel/2618041-walviskerkhof-gevonden-in-indische-oceaan-1200-kilometer-lang-miljoenen-jaren-oud
Zip, I gather that those stringent security measures are in place at Evian-les-Bains because they don’t want a repeat of the crazy anti-globalisation riots they had there in 2003.
That whale article is fascinating. I did wonder about including it in the thread and juxtaposing it with this article, but I ran out of time:
“Life after death: From burned trees to bleached corals, how dead organisms live on as the building blocks of new life…
“The fallen branches and leaves that crunch under your boots as you step on the forest floor are providing nutrients for new growth as they decompose. Empty shells can become the foundations for new sea life to grow. Dead organic matter left over after a harvest supports soils and the production of food that feeds people worldwide.”
https://theconversation.com/life-after-death-from-burned-trees-to-bleached-corals-how-dead-organisms-live-on-as-the-building-blocks-of-new-life-283745
I appreciate all commentary on Deep Time for its calming perspective. Powerful essay, Zip.
2 Billion people in 1930. A staggering 8.3 Billion people in 2026. Projected to increase to 10 Billion around 2057.
This massive explosion can only be supplied through the Green Revolution/Haber Bosch process. And through genetically increasing yields by destroying all other plant variants.
As such our food has less minerals, less vitamins, less nutrients. We have reached peak farmland. Soil erosion will destroy thousands of square Miles ever year. We have reached Peak water. There will not be enough water for the population/agriculture.
Kabul/Teheran will use up their groundwater within the next few years. India has 18% of the global population but just 4% of global drinkable water reserves.
Converting sea water into drinkable water is pure hopium because it requires far to much energy. It is possible perhaps for thousands. But not for millions.
Global energy demand is expected to increase by 50% by 2050. AI Data Centers are using up more and more energy and water.
Oil/Coal/Gas make up 80% of our energy production. Water/Wind/Solar just 20% despite decades of investment. Even if we double this share by 2050, we would still use the same amount of Oil/Gas/Coal as now because our requirements in 2050 stand at 150% of the requirements of 2026. So green hopium is a pipe dream.
Also building solar panels, electric car batteries requires a lot of water/energy/resources and are bad for the environment.
Yields will drop, water will become scarce. Resources will become scarce. Some regions will be eaten up and drank dry like by a locust swarm. And then were nothing is left anymore, the mayhem will begin.
Everyone who was denying that overpopulation exists, everyone who claimed that Malthus was an Idiot and Ehrlich a fool, will soon face reality. We have kicked the can down the road for a century, but now there is no more road left.
EDIT: People mentioned desalination of Seawater:
There are already 22 000 desalination plants in operation across the world, creating 95 Billion Liters of water every day. That’s enough for just 300 Million people. Increase their amount fivefold to 110 000 plants and we can perhaps supply 1.5 Billion people. Pretty good. But not sufficient when 2/3 of the world will not have enough water .
Dancing on the decks of the Titanic .
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Ravi, nice essay.
Malthus is so reviled that “Malthusian” is thrown about as an insult, but he will have the last laugh. Human ingenuity has just pushed the population crash into the future and made it planetary in scale.
Everyone’s a closet Malthusian until they’re staving. Famines are always meant for other people, never the theorist.
And everyone is Machiavellian until they get the short end of the stick. The philosophy falls apart the moment the manipulator is no longer the one holding all the cards.
I’m getting ready for empty shelves and a lot of stupid people thinking they’re smart.
Malthus was in fact so right that both Darwin and Wallace incorporated his insights into their theory of natural selection.
Okay, now I’ve got the phrase to put on my homemade cardboard sign when I got to my town square to stand in front of overtime-earning militarized police:
“The technology and knowhow exist to transition away from fossil fuels to renewables, but without transforming the global systems that organise supply chains, energy and trade, these solutions will remain uneven in their reach and impact”: from the hopium windup of the Top 10 global El Nino disasters to come from the French-Toast Guardian.
Uneven, yeah, you might say, just a little bit.
This is in a time when, according to anti-Ehrlich NYU sociologist Andrew Ross in his new book The Weather Report: a Journey Through Unsettled Climate, “No recorded war in history has come close to this (Gaza) level of intentional devastation.” So who could expect the slightest recognition of my borrowed over-wordy placard from the same global class of technowar mass murder perps?
Let’s reorganize and totally transform the world, people. And if you wouldn’t mind as you’re doing that totally doable task at hand, please ignore all the dead, OK?
The mongols conquered Gaza and occupied it temporarily on two occasions. They reached the city in the spring of 1260 under the leadership of Hulagu Khan and later during raids in late 1299. Historians note that during both the 1260 occupation and the late 1299–1300 raids, Mongol detachments pushed through Palestine down to Gaza, systematically looting, killing, and destroying towns along their path. The massacres were not random acts of cruelty; they were a deliberate form of psychological terrorism. The Mongols intentionally publicized their brutality so that the next city in line would surrender without a fight. While Gaza did not suffer a total, top-down genocide like the Tangut Empire, the local populations in and around the city experienced firsthand the terror of Mongol pillaging, mass executions, and displacement. Kind of like they are today.
Survivalist, I believe the Levant is the most fought over region in world history.
Martin, Andrew Ross sounds like he is taking the classic Marxist stance on resource-limits/scarcity.
“Marx and Engels explained, we humans are capable of conscious, active thought; of understanding the world around us through interaction with our surroundings, and of utilising this knowledge in order to transform our environment; of developing science and technology, in order to master the forces of nature.
“With his theory of population (or overpopulation), Malthus believed that he had uncovered a timeless, eternal law of nature. But this was a crude outlook, a form of reductionism, which effectively sought to present the dynamics of human society as little more than a Darwinian ‘struggle for existence’ (many decades before Darwin himself).
“Through labour, however, mankind is able to develop the productive forces at its disposal. In doing so, we are able to alter the conditions in which we live, and smash through any barriers that stand in the way of the extension of our species. This is what separates human beings from all other creatures.”
https://marxist.com/marx-versus-malthus-overpopulation-or-senile-system.htm
It’s just a different flavour of anthropocentric hubris to capitalist thinking.
He’s a good guy with honest and humanist intentions, but damn, that’s nuts. Smash through – puh-leese
Awesome quote-finder service you-ve got there, Pan-O.