A feed from Australian author and science communicator Julian Cribb’s blog intended to encourage inquiry and the discussion we humans have to have if we intend to survive this Century, when ten mega-risks come together to confront us. The articles are intended, especially, to encourage discussion of cross-cutting species-level solutions.
25 April 2024. The Earth System Treaty: an interview – Geoff Holland: What is an Earth System treaty? And what are its core principles? Julian Cribb: An Earth System Treaty is a worldwide legal agreement, committing everyone who signs it to work to protect a habitable planet for all of us, for our grandchildren, and for generations far into the future. Basically, it seeks to overcome the … Continue reading The Earth System Treaty: an interview
19 April 2024. Coral catastrophe signals our own undoing – Five times in the history of life on Earth the corals have perished, swept from the board by conditions hostile to nearly all life. Each time, it has taken them millions of years to evolve anew. Each mass death of corals has been accompanied by the mass deaths of most other species, on land and … Continue reading Coral catastrophe signals our own undoing
20 March 2024. World War Three begins… – World War Three has already begun, though few have noticed. It is being fought out in parliaments and the press, on social media platforms, in pubs and at family dining tables around the globe. It is an almost silent war that will kill millions, potentially billions and wreck the planet for all. World War Three … Continue reading World War Three begins…
13 February 2024. Climate chaos: fire and ice. – The hottest January ever recorded in human history has passed, with barely a nod from governments worldwide and international media. For a full year, the Earth has now exceeded the +1.5 degrees danger level set by the Paris Agreement in 2015. And 2024 may be hotter still, US scientists are warning. Wildfires rage unchecked over … Continue reading Climate chaos: fire and ice.
11 January 2024. We are exhuming the teeming Dead – In one of our most macabre and diabolical acts, humans are unburying and reactivating the Earth’s teeming dead from ages long gone by, in a wild act that is sure to haunt every one of us for the remainder of our days. Trillions of organisms that perished over hundreds of millions of years and whose … Continue reading We are exhuming the teeming Dead
4 December 2023. Humanity declares war on its children – After WWII, a good many people wondered why nobody had put a stop to either Hitler or Stalin, the two greatest butchers of history up to that point, before they could accomplish their wicked designs. At Doha in 2023, the petrostates and corporations gathered with the clear intent of deploying their own ‘weapons of mass … Continue reading Humanity declares war on its children
27 October 2023. Multiple catastrophes loom – yet governments remain blind – Life on Earth is under siege. A chain of tipping points with catastrophic consequences for everyone are being unleashed. Yet governments worldwide remain indifferent to the danger. Indeed, many continue avidly to stoke the very furnaces that will consume our civilization. The first two statements above are from two new scientific reports, issued recently – … Continue reading Multiple catastrophes loom – yet governments remain blind
3 September 2023. Greenhouse emissions and mass deaths – Australian governments and mining houses – to take but one example – are cold-bloodedly contemplating the needless deaths of 5.3 million human beings from climate causes due to new Australian fossil fuels developments. The death toll from climate impacts was highlighted in a recent paper by Canadian researchers Joshua Pearce and Richard Parncut who argued … Continue reading Greenhouse emissions and mass deaths
22 July 2023. We need an Earth System Treaty to save civilisation. And we need it now. – The world stands in urgent need of a universal accord to ensure it remains a Planet that our children and grandchildren can inhabit and enjoy, far into the future. At present the Earth system is breaking down, due to ten massive threats that are the direct result of human activity, our excessive numbers, over-consumption and … Continue reading We need an Earth System Treaty to save civilisation. And we need it now.
9 July 2023. Megacities at risk – Often seen as marvels of the human ascendancy, the world’s great cities are in mortal danger as the resources that keep them alive stagger, dwindle and give out. Today the world has 45 megacities – conurbations holding more than ten million citizens apiece – and some 500 smaller cities each of a million or more … Continue reading Megacities at risk