Not a Blog

This page is used to publish alerts, comments, latest info etc, as time allows.

• Podomatic: Jem Bendell - Breaking together - 'tinkering around the edges of how we live won't save us from the catastrophic effects brought about by the degradation of the natural world.' Clear and well-informed podcast on how many features of modern societies continue to break down.

• Sounds Right - recognises the value of music in Nature, inspiring millions of fans to take environmental action. Now, Nature can generate royalties from its own sounds to support its own conservation!

• Happy Eco News: 100% Renewable Energy Countries Happy news indeed but there's only seven !

• The Guardian: ' 'Outrageous' climate activists get in the faces of politicians and oil bosses - will it work?' Protestors are becoming more confrontational, insulting oil bosses to their faces and disrupting their meetings. With 'normal' protest failing to gain attention the influence of in-your-face activisim by groups such as Climate Defiance is growing.

• Botanist Robin Wall Kimmerer: 'The clock is ticking . . . ' Thoughtful expert podcast on merging traditional indigenous knowledge with western science to promote ecological sustainability and environmental conservation. Can we change our values by learning from the ecosystems of the natural world, giving to and receiving from the planet to our mutual advantage? Can education play its part in achieving such a change?

• BBC News: Ban fossil fuel ads to save climate, says UN chief. UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres called coal, oil and gas corporations the "godfathers of climate chaos" who had distorted the truth and deceived the public for decades.

• The Guardian: World's top climate scientists expect global heating to blast past 1.5C target. Global temperatures now expected to rise to at least 2.5C (4.5F) this century, way past internationally agreed targets with catastrophic consequences for humanity and the planet.

• euronews.green: 'Historic' European Court of Human Rights ruling backs Swiss women in climate change case.

• EcoWatch: 'Red Alert' as Climate Records Are Broken Worldwide. The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) reports that all major global climate records were broken in 2023 - greenhouse gas levels, near-surface temperatures, ocean heat and acidification, Antarctic sea ice cover, glacier retreat and sea level rise.

• Guardian: February on course to break unprecedented number of heat records. Records continue to be broken as experts struggle to explain results that are actually worse than their predictions.

• Guardian: World will look back at 2023 as year humanity exposed its inability to tackle climate crisis, scientists say. Sad news as we approach the New Year! Climate breakdown is accelerating and yet many people have not grasped that 2023 was the new climate 'normal' and much worse is on the horizon unless an urgent need for mitigation and adaptation is properly recognised.

• The latest news from COP28 is not encouraging. For example! See the latest links.

• COP28: World leaders must "stop dawdling and start doing" warns the UN's top climate official. Really? And now it appears that the UAE planned to use climate talks to make oil deals!!

• 2023 on track to be the hottest year on record, say scientists. More bad news. At the summit in Paris 8 years ago, world leaders promised to stop global warming by 1.5C by the end of the century. Current policies are now set for about 2.4C! When will we ever learn?

• CarbonBrief: "Which countries are historically responsible for climate change?" Nations cumulative CO2 emissions from fossil fuels, land use and forestry, 1850-2021: animation. See Video ->>

• WIRED: "The UK Is Burning Climate Pledges to Fuel a Culture War - Faced with an election he is likely to lose, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is taking the unusual step of scrapping key climate policies." Disgusting short termism could backfire if more people wake up!

• "Most people sense that we're in deep trouble with climate change, and they want to do something." Good thinking by The Climate Majority Project. There's now a groundswell of opinion that may do more than just tempt people into action. See video =>>

• BBC News: "Europe and US heatwaves near 'impossible' without climate change": many very interesting comments as well!

• BBC News: Bob Watson, former head of the UN climate body, believes the target to limit global warming to 1.5C will be missed. Yet another wake-up call.

• The Guardian: "European heatwave: red alerts issued for 16 cities in Italy" Record temperatures of 49C possible. A wake-up call for much more action on Climate Change? Also, George Monbiot on how the ultra-rich find creative ways to maintain the status quo. "With our food systems on the verge of collapse, it's the plutocrats v life on Earth."

• Capitalism won't deliver the energy transition fast enough! Remarkable admission, apparently by the Financial Times energy editor.

• The Column: "ABC, CBS and NBC Evening News Reports on Canadian Wildfires Ignore Climate Change's Role Entirely. A snapshot of how Bad Things Just Happen with no cause and no author." We hoped that catastrophes like this would waken up some people to the connections!

• Global warming set to break key 1.5C limit for first time. More likely than not in the next 5 years yet effective action is so slow in the face of worsening predictions.

• 'Climate Denial Crock of the Week' blogger, Peter Sinclair, asked AI about climate change denial, with fascinating and quite accurate results!