I'll skip my usual praise other than to say it's remarkable to me how you consistently continue the very high standard you've established in The Field Guide.
The problems surrounding changes in the atmospheric and oceanic transport systems are becoming clearer. The swirling patterns are becoming clearer, the global plant and animal and microbial movements, migrations and spreads are responding and changing.
We already are in a new world and better love it now, for rapidly it will be replaced by yet another. I think it likely, very likely the AMOC collapses in the next thirty years. Another tipping point, tipped. It is again almost certain we will see another collapse- this in the Amazonian forest, our planet's greatest land based carbon sequestration sink- another catastrophe.
Sudden climate crashes have occurred many times in the past-there is no rational reason to suppose we're now immune. A Younger Dryas seems likely for Europe. And if so Putin will be the least of its worries. Or maybe not..?
What figuratively keeps me up at night is the worry that some people will take this situation seriously enough to take decisive action. A good thing, right? No, a catastrophic thing if those people are authoritarian rulers of powerful nation states that listen to their scientists and then decide to preemptively position their own countries for the now probable coming turmoil and upheaval. And they choose violence.
Michael has said it well. I'll only add that this post is another example of why I'm so grateful that you're out in the world thinking and writing, and why I'm proud to be a paying subscriber.
To err on the side of caution is common sense. But it seems we humans are stuck in hunter/gatherer mind mode where the main focus is short term, day to day survival after living that way for hundreds of thousands of years. Yet you would think after 7-10,000 years post Agricultural revolution, human societies would think more long term-meaning plenty of time to write sonatas and figure out how to split the atom, but not enough to make better decisions about cleaner energy sources? I think greed is at the core of all of biggest issues facing humanity. Just follow the money as they say. Always about more, more, more for the rich elite 1%, who's egos and sense of self worth comes from acquiring more wealth than the other 1%ers/billionaires - He with the most toys wins materialism mentalities have brought us and Mother Nature herself to the brink of destruction of life as know it. And if she goes down - we go down with her. Dirty CO2 releasing, toxic chemical creating and plastic nightmare product - Oil (and coal) runs and pollutes the world since the Western Industrial Revolution a couple hundred years ago. Whether the micro plastics in our blood streams or the wars in the Middle East - all ties into our dependence on oil. What's ironic is that some of the first combustion engines ran on peanut oil! If only scenario! Greed is human's hubris and unless we are all ready to sacrifice a little and make the switch to cleaner energies ASAP - 25-30 million US citizens (mostly coastal) will be living in Tent Cities by the end of this century. I wrote a podcast play about it (link below). It may already be too late but I believe in divine intervention and that God does heal earth and will nudge history in our direction - if and only if the majority of humans make some good faith effort to change their behaviors to more sustainable ones where less is more ASAP.
Thanks for this. It is indeed bizarre, watching the society we live in ignore the science and keep singing to the 19th century 'endless GDP growth' songbook.
Polls consistently show that a majority of citizens in multiple nations are concerned or very concerned about climate disruption, yet that does not seem to translate into effective action - either personally (stop flying, cut ICE driving) or politically (lobby, make submissions, protest, vote wisely). I wonder how we change that?
Your link to Biden's conservation wins reminded me of this potentially huge win.
Comments are closed, but a decision from Secretary Haaland is due sometime this summer. Keep your fingers crossed.
"These 28 million acres have been protected from industrial development for 50 years, beginning under Section 17(D)(1) of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act. The Trump Administration tried to revoke protections and open these public lands up for private industrialization. That attempt was legally flawed. When it came into office, one of the Biden Administration's first actions was pausing those orders to examine the impacts of the opening of these lands to industrial development."
To err on the side of caution is common sense. But it seems we humans are stuck in hunter/gatherer mind mode where the main focus is short term, day to day survival after living that way for hundreds of thousands of years. Yet you would think after 7-10,000 years post Agricultural revolution, human societies would think more long term-meaning plenty of time to write sonatas and figure out how to split the atom, but not enough to make better decisions about cleaner energy sources? I think greed is at the core of all of biggest issues facing humanity. Just follow the money as they say. Always about more, more, more for the rich elite 1%, who's egos and sense of self worth comes from acquiring more wealth than the other 1%ers/billionaires - He with the most toys wins materialism mentalities have brought us and Mother Nature herself to the brink of destruction of life as know it. And if she goes down - we go down with her. Dirty CO2 releasing, toxic chemical creating and plastic nightmare product - Oil (and coal) runs and pollutes the world since the Western Industrial Revolution a couple hundred years ago. Whether the micro plastics in our blood streams or the wars in the Middle East - all ties into our dependence on oil. What's ironic is that some of the first combustion engines ran on peanut oil! If only scenario! Greed is human's hubris and unless we are all ready to sacrifice a little and make the switch to cleaner energies ASAP - 25-30 million US citizens (mostly coastal) will be living in Tent Cities by the end of this century. I wrote a podcast play about it (link below). It may already be too late but I believe in divine intervention and that God does heal earth and will nudge history in our direction - if and only if the majority of humans make some effort to change their behaviors to more sustainable ones where less is more ASAP.
We are simpatico, brother. I write about the same issues. Keep going. Climate change is here and now. If collapse happens, which grows more likely every day, the speed with which it will destroy humanity will be stunning.
I'll skip my usual praise other than to say it's remarkable to me how you consistently continue the very high standard you've established in The Field Guide.
The problems surrounding changes in the atmospheric and oceanic transport systems are becoming clearer. The swirling patterns are becoming clearer, the global plant and animal and microbial movements, migrations and spreads are responding and changing.
We already are in a new world and better love it now, for rapidly it will be replaced by yet another. I think it likely, very likely the AMOC collapses in the next thirty years. Another tipping point, tipped. It is again almost certain we will see another collapse- this in the Amazonian forest, our planet's greatest land based carbon sequestration sink- another catastrophe.
Sudden climate crashes have occurred many times in the past-there is no rational reason to suppose we're now immune. A Younger Dryas seems likely for Europe. And if so Putin will be the least of its worries. Or maybe not..?
What figuratively keeps me up at night is the worry that some people will take this situation seriously enough to take decisive action. A good thing, right? No, a catastrophic thing if those people are authoritarian rulers of powerful nation states that listen to their scientists and then decide to preemptively position their own countries for the now probable coming turmoil and upheaval. And they choose violence.
Michael has said it well. I'll only add that this post is another example of why I'm so grateful that you're out in the world thinking and writing, and why I'm proud to be a paying subscriber.
Jason, this is the essay I will restack until it is no longer necessary. 🌱
To err on the side of caution is common sense. But it seems we humans are stuck in hunter/gatherer mind mode where the main focus is short term, day to day survival after living that way for hundreds of thousands of years. Yet you would think after 7-10,000 years post Agricultural revolution, human societies would think more long term-meaning plenty of time to write sonatas and figure out how to split the atom, but not enough to make better decisions about cleaner energy sources? I think greed is at the core of all of biggest issues facing humanity. Just follow the money as they say. Always about more, more, more for the rich elite 1%, who's egos and sense of self worth comes from acquiring more wealth than the other 1%ers/billionaires - He with the most toys wins materialism mentalities have brought us and Mother Nature herself to the brink of destruction of life as know it. And if she goes down - we go down with her. Dirty CO2 releasing, toxic chemical creating and plastic nightmare product - Oil (and coal) runs and pollutes the world since the Western Industrial Revolution a couple hundred years ago. Whether the micro plastics in our blood streams or the wars in the Middle East - all ties into our dependence on oil. What's ironic is that some of the first combustion engines ran on peanut oil! If only scenario! Greed is human's hubris and unless we are all ready to sacrifice a little and make the switch to cleaner energies ASAP - 25-30 million US citizens (mostly coastal) will be living in Tent Cities by the end of this century. I wrote a podcast play about it (link below). It may already be too late but I believe in divine intervention and that God does heal earth and will nudge history in our direction - if and only if the majority of humans make some good faith effort to change their behaviors to more sustainable ones where less is more ASAP.
https://tentcityacautionarytale.blogspot.com/
Thanks for this. It is indeed bizarre, watching the society we live in ignore the science and keep singing to the 19th century 'endless GDP growth' songbook.
Polls consistently show that a majority of citizens in multiple nations are concerned or very concerned about climate disruption, yet that does not seem to translate into effective action - either personally (stop flying, cut ICE driving) or politically (lobby, make submissions, protest, vote wisely). I wonder how we change that?
Jason,
Your link to Biden's conservation wins reminded me of this potentially huge win.
Comments are closed, but a decision from Secretary Haaland is due sometime this summer. Keep your fingers crossed.
"These 28 million acres have been protected from industrial development for 50 years, beginning under Section 17(D)(1) of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act. The Trump Administration tried to revoke protections and open these public lands up for private industrialization. That attempt was legally flawed. When it came into office, one of the Biden Administration's first actions was pausing those orders to examine the impacts of the opening of these lands to industrial development."
From <https://www.alaskalands.org/press-releases/conservation-groups-subsistence-users-sportsmen-and-businesses-welcome-opportunity-to-prioritize-climate-resilience-subsistence-outdoor-recreation-public-use-on-alaska-blm-lands>
To err on the side of caution is common sense. But it seems we humans are stuck in hunter/gatherer mind mode where the main focus is short term, day to day survival after living that way for hundreds of thousands of years. Yet you would think after 7-10,000 years post Agricultural revolution, human societies would think more long term-meaning plenty of time to write sonatas and figure out how to split the atom, but not enough to make better decisions about cleaner energy sources? I think greed is at the core of all of biggest issues facing humanity. Just follow the money as they say. Always about more, more, more for the rich elite 1%, who's egos and sense of self worth comes from acquiring more wealth than the other 1%ers/billionaires - He with the most toys wins materialism mentalities have brought us and Mother Nature herself to the brink of destruction of life as know it. And if she goes down - we go down with her. Dirty CO2 releasing, toxic chemical creating and plastic nightmare product - Oil (and coal) runs and pollutes the world since the Western Industrial Revolution a couple hundred years ago. Whether the micro plastics in our blood streams or the wars in the Middle East - all ties into our dependence on oil. What's ironic is that some of the first combustion engines ran on peanut oil! If only scenario! Greed is human's hubris and unless we are all ready to sacrifice a little and make the switch to cleaner energies ASAP - 25-30 million US citizens (mostly coastal) will be living in Tent Cities by the end of this century. I wrote a podcast play about it (link below). It may already be too late but I believe in divine intervention and that God does heal earth and will nudge history in our direction - if and only if the majority of humans make some effort to change their behaviors to more sustainable ones where less is more ASAP.
https://tentcityacautionarytale.blogspot.com/
We are simpatico, brother. I write about the same issues. Keep going. Climate change is here and now. If collapse happens, which grows more likely every day, the speed with which it will destroy humanity will be stunning.
Jason thank you for the hard work and the hard truths you share with us. And how you keep hope alive.
I'm going to do more of a dive into this (forgive the pun). Thanks 🙏