Leonardo DiCaprio’s foundation just announced a bold new plan to curb climate change
The One Earth Climate Model says we can curb temperature rises
without resorting to nuclear power or using unproved technologies.
It will be expensive–but far less than the subsidies
we currently give fossil fuel companies.
Regen Network Ecological Blockchain (video; 53 minutes)
(Distributive ledger technology; supply chain harmonization)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vMBVupBnOEg
Reinventing the Economics of Agriculture
Catalyzing regeneration. There may be nothing of more critical importance today than the regeneration of the world’s ecosystems. Regen Network is a global community and platform focused on ecological monitoring and regeneration. By improving our understanding of the state of our land, oceans and watersheds, and enabling rewards for verified positive changes, Regen Network catalyses the regeneration of our ecosystems
A decentralized soilution.
Green New Deal Must Transform Our Food System to Save Our Climate
https://foodtank.com/news/2019/02/opinion-green-new-deal-must-transform-our-food-system-to-save-our-climate/
Is carbon farming the most economically viable way
to keep climate catastrophe at bay?
Ocasio-Cortez’s Green New Deal: What it means for food and farming
We pay too much to the wrong people to grow the wrong food in the wrong places.
Congressman Earl Blumenauer is calling for solid, lasting bonds between the climate justice movement and the movement to reform the food system.
https://civileats.com/2019/01/30/a-green-new-deal-must-include-food-and-farming/
How frigid polar vortex blasts are connected to global warming
https://theconversation.com/how-frigid-polar-vortex-blasts-are-connected-to-global-warming-110653
House of the Royal Lady Bee:
Maya revive native bees and ancient beekeeping
There’s Snow on TV, so Trump’s Tweeting About Climate Change Alas,
a brief cold spell does not undo decades of scientific fact. https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2019/01/its-cold-so-trump-is-doubting-climate-change/580885/
2018 was the fourth warmest year on record — and more evidence of a ‘new normal,’ scientist group reports The year was one in a string that have been a full degree Celsius, or 1.8 degrees Fahrenheit, warmer than temperatures in the late 19th century, the report found.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2019/01/24/was-fourth-warmest-year-record-more-evidence-new-normal-scientist-group-reports
Carbon stock assessment of forest ecosystem to become part of working plan in Punjab
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/67576451.cms?utm_source=contentofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppst
WHAT A PROJECT IN WISCONSIN CAN TEACH OTHERS ABOUT WORKING WITH FARMERS TO REDUCE PHOSPHORUS RUNOFF
Adoption of best management practices on farms near Green Bay, Wisconsin, could help answer nagging questions about how well these strategies work to reduce nutrient pollution.
General Mills promotes focus on soil health
https://www.producer.com/2019/01/general-mills-promotes-focus-on-soil-health/
In Davos, calls for a circular, inclusive economy
https://www.greenbiz.com/article/davos-calls-circular-inclusive-economy
“RECYCLING” in California? The crisis few are talking about.
https://issuu.com/news_review/docs/crrc08_010319?e=2059002/66822960
Scientists create super-thin ‘sheet’ that could charge our phones
Breakthrough means large sheets of energy-harvesting material can be produced
A Call for the Food Movement to Get Behind the Green New Deal “In the next decade we must facilitate a just transition away from climate-destabilizing factory farms and fossil fuel-intensive agriculture, at the same time as we switch, as rapidly possible, to 100-percent renewable energy.”
“Regenerative Agriculture can change agriculture from being a major contributor to climate change to becoming a major solution.”
https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/01/14/call-food-movement-get-behind-green-new-deal
IS ORGANIC FARMING REALLY WORSE FOR THE CLIMATE? A RESPONSE The study compares organic and conventional production systems growing two crops (winter wheat and peas) in Sweden. The comparison is derived from yield and input data reported by the Swedish Board of Agriculture from 2013-2015. It is impossible and irresponsible to extrapolate a global phenomenon based on two crops grown in a single country over just three years.
https://rodaleinstitute.org/blog/is-organic-really-worse-for-the-climate-a-response/
Regenerative Organic Agriculture and Climate Change A Down-to-Earth Solution to Global Warming
https://rodaleinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/Regenerative-Organic-Agriculture-White-Paper.pdf
There’s a Toxic Weed Killer on the Menu in K-12 Schools Across the US
https://truthout.org/articles/theres-a-toxic-weed-killer-on-the-menu-in-k-12-schools-across-the-us/
Ocean Cleanup Plastic Collector Heading Home. In Pieces.
A test of the ocean-cleaning boom last year in Alameda, Calif. The group that created it said material fatigue and “local stress concentration” might have caused a fracture in the multimillion-dollar structure.
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/03/world/americas/great-pacific-garbage-patch-cleanup.html
Groomed to Consume Most of us are aware that excessive consumption is a prime feature of modern life, and that it is the cause of multiple social and environmental problems.
https://www.localfutures.org/groomed-to-consume/
Great Pacific garbage patch $20m cleanup fails to collect plastic Engineers at the Ocean Cleanup project are working on a fix to stop collected debris leaking back out from the 600m barrier
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/dec/20/great-pacific-garbage-patch-20m-cleanup-fails-to-collect-plastic
Why the Climate Change Message Isn’t Working (Eisenstein) Threats of global catastrophe won’t move people to action. Only the heart can inspire zeal.
https://www.yesmagazine.org/planet/why-the-climate-change-message-isnt-working-20190104
Degrowth: A Call for Radical Abundance
https://www.localfutures.org/degrowth-a-call-for-radical-abundance/
Organics, pesticides big topics for 2019
http://www.journalgazette.net/features/home-garden/20190105/organics-pesticides-big-topics-for-2019
Trump rollbacks for fossil fuel industries carry steep cost
https://www.apnews.com/e38e8c16b610439db2273b8b35b4bc58
A wide-ranging ban on microplastics covering about 90% of pollutants has been proposed by the EU in an attempt to cut 400,000 tonnes of plastic pollution in 20 years. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/jan/30/eu-european-union-proposes-microplastics-ban-plastic-pollution
Founders of plastic waste alliance ‘investing billions in new plants’: A majority of the firms which announced this week they were collaborating to try to help tackle plastic pollution are likely to be at the heart of a global boom in plastic production over the next 10 years.
Stemming the Plastic Tide: 10 Rivers Contribute Most of the Plastic in the Oceans – Scientific American
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/stemming-the-plastic-tide-10-rivers-contribute-most-of-the-plastic-in-the-oceans/
Portuguese Airline Becomes First To Ditch Single Use Plastics!
https://i.redd.it/rnmnbzhy8ob21.jpg
Climate Change in the American Mind
Americans’ climate change concerns surge to record levels, poll shows Total of 72% polled now say global warming is personally important to them, Yale said, as 73% accept it is happening
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/jan/22/climate-change-concern-americans-poll
Bipartisan Group of Economists Endorses (Surprisingly Robust) Carbon Tax
Climate Advocates Underestimate Power of Fossil Fueled Misinformation Campaigns, Say Top Researchers
https://www.desmogblog.com/2019/01/18/climate-advocates-underestimate-power-fossil-fuel-misinformation-campaign-brulle
New Study Shows Climate Crisis Could Mean ‘Time Bomb” for World’s Groundwater “In many parts of the world,” said one researcher, “changes in groundwater flows due to climate change could have a very long legacy.”
Indigenous leaders urge California authorities to reject carbon trading scheme
Battery boom aids climate change battle
https://climatenewsnetwork.net/battery-boom-aids-climate-change-battle/
A Planet in Crisis: The Heat’s On Us
http://www.tomdispatch.com/post/176516/
The End of Ice: Bearing Witness and Finding Meaning in the Path of Climate Disruption
https://org2.salsalabs.com/o/6694/t/20576/shop/item.jsp?storefront_KEY=661&t=&store_item_KEY=3742
Global warming at different latitudes. X axis is range of temperatures compared to 1961-1990 between years shown at that latitude [OC]
https://i.redd.it/gapuh6g4drb21.gif
In Berlin 35,000 call for eco-sustainable harvests during Green Week Tens of thousands of critics of industrialized farming have converged on Berlin to renew calls for shifts to eco-sustainable harvests. Visiting Berlin for its annual Green Week expo are 70 agriculture ministers.
https://www.dw.com/en/in-berlin-35000-call-for-eco-sustainable-harvests-during-green-week/a-47153241
2019 is the year to embrace energy democracy – or face social and climate breakdown Energy democracy starts from the standpoint that energy is a common good – not a commodity to be bought and sold. Access to energy is a human right for everyone – a basic condition to participate in public life with dignity. Energy democracy calls for public and social ownership of energy, to serve both social and ecological needs: energy that is reliable, affordable and clean.
A new way to curb nitrogen pollution: Regulate fertilizer producers, not just farmers Reducing nitrogen pollution around the globe is an urgent environmental goal, but extremely challenging – in part because the main human source is agriculture.
U.S. Carbon Emissions Surged in 2018 Even as Coal Plants Closed
– The New York Times
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/08/climate/greenhouse-gas-emissions-increase.html
World’s coffee under threat, say experts
https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-46845461
With 86% Drop, California’s Monarch Butterfly Population Hits Record Low
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/09/science/monarch-butterfly-california.html
Climate Change Could Be Breaking a Natural Coral Reef Thermostat
https://www.hakaimagazine.com/news/climate-change-could-be-breaking-a-natural-coral-reef-thermostat/
Health departments are on climate change’s front lines From extreme heat to mosquito-borne diseases, climate change is having a huge public health impact. Can health departments keep up?
https://ensia.com/features/public-health-departments-climate-change/
Summary Report: Transformation to healthy diets by 2050 will require substantial dietary shifts. Global consumption of fruits, vegetables, nuts and legumes will have to double, and consumption of foods such as red meat and sugar will have to be reduced by more than 50%. A diet rich in plant-based foods and with fewer industrial animal source foods confers both improved health and environmental benefits Our Food in the Anthropocene: Healthy Diets From Sustainable Food Systems
https://eatforum.org/content/uploads/2019/01/EAT-Lancet_Commission_Summary_Report.pdf
Antarctic ice sheet could suffer a one-two climate punch
https://phys.org/news/2019-01-antarctic-ice-sheet-one-two-climate.html
If you recycled all the plastic garbage in the world, you could buy the NFL, Apple and Microsoft
Why Sustainable Agriculture Should Support a Green New Deal “De-carbonize the atmosphere, re-carbonize the soil!”
https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/01/08/why-sustainable-agriculture-should-support-green-new-deal
If You Pave It, They Will Come As climate teeters, Washington Post pushes for more highway
https://fair.org/home/if-you-pave-it-they-will-come/
Center for Science in the Public Interest Greg Jaffe Cornell and GMOs
https://www.corporatecrimereporter.com/news/200/center-science-public-interest-greg-jaffe-cornell-gmos/
Recology CEO: It’s time to tackle plastics crisis
https://resource-recycling.com/recycling/2019/01/08/recology-ceo-its-time-to-tackle-plastics-crisis/
Global reconstruction of historical ocean heat storage and transport https://www.pnas.org/content/early/2019/01/04/1808838115
Shutdown hits American farmers already hurt by China trade war Closure of agriculture department offices could not have come at a worse time for farmers awaiting emergency federal aid
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/jan/09/shutdown-american-farmers-china-trade-war-trump
Texas might have the perfect environment to quit coal for good. Texas is one of the only places where the natural patterns of wind and sun could produce power around the clock, according to new research from Rice University.
https://www.houstonchronicle.com/business/energy/article/Texas-has-enough-sun-and-wind-to-quit-coal-Rice-13501700.php
Washington bill would make it legal to compost human remains into soil – Recomposting would let people skip traditional burial and cremation practices for a greener option.
https://www.cnet.com/au/news/washington-bill-would-make-it-legal-to-compost-human-remains-into-soil/
A cheap and effective new catalyst developed using gelatin, the material that gives Jell-O its jiggle, can generate hydrogen fuel from water just as efficiently as platinum, currently the best — but also most expensive — water-splitting catalyst out there.
https://news.berkeley.edu/2018/12/13/researchers-use-jiggly-jell-o-to-make-powerful-new-hydrogen-fuel-catalyst/
New scientific evidence strengthens case for regulating greenhouse gases
The concentration of the sugar in the plant’s nectar was increased by an average of 20% within minutes of sensing the sound waves of nearby bee wings through flower petals. This might be part of the reason many plants’ flowers are bowl shaped, to better trap the sounds.
Coca-Cola fears that climate change will cause water shortages. A new report reveals that the world’s biggest corporations accept that climate change is a real and catastrophic phenomenon
Most Americans Now Fear Climate Change Will Harm Their Families – But they’re not willing to pay much to stop it.
https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2019/01/do-most-americans-believe-climate-change-polls-say-yes/580957/
House Democrats Plan to Tackle Climate—with or without the GOP
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/house-democrats-plan-to-tackle-climate-mdash-with-or-without-the-gop/
Germany to close all 84 of its coal-fired power plants, will rely primarily on renewable energy
https://www.latimes.com/world/europe/la-fg-germany-coal-power-20190126-story.html