An environmental writer said that worst-case climate scenarios are now obsolete, since “if countries achieve the net-zero pledges that they have already put on the table, warming will stay under 2°C.” What are the chances that countries will meet their pledges‽ So far, the worst GHG emitters, including the US, are nowhere near being on track with their pledges. According to … [Read more...] about Global warming outstrips predictions
GHG
Food Waste in Bethlehem
by Eli Zemsky Food waste in our country has devastating lasting effects on the environment and on American communities. Our food supply chain pumps an extreme amount of unneeded food into homes and businesses, then completely mismanages the waste. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimates that up to 40% of the 40 million tons of food produced in America each year … [Read more...] about Food Waste in Bethlehem
Mobilize Now!
Abrupt and extreme climate crisis requires all-out emergency mobilization This is a call for General Mobilization. We must respond with our utmost will power and intention to mitigate the existing extreme climate emergency crisis. Well-informed local citizens have carefully looked into rapidly escalating climate changes caused by excessive burning of fossil fuels. These … [Read more...] about Mobilize Now!
Teaching About Food, Climate, and Sustainability
by Alyssa Fama Growing up, I always admired the beauty of nature and the world around me; blossoming flowers in the spring, the buzzing of insects during the summer, changing leaf colors in the fall and the silent snowfall in the winter. My childhood eyes were never opened to what we were doing to our planet, and it wasn’t until recently I began to understand. We go … [Read more...] about Teaching About Food, Climate, and Sustainability
Tar Sands Hell
The tar sands issue isn't only about the danger from pipelines crossing the U.S. so the dirty tar sands oil can be refined and shipped overseas, it's about the destruction of thousands of square miles of wildlands in Alberta, severe health impacts on thousands of indigenous people, and a major increase in greenhouse gas emissions. The Canadian government and regulators bow to … [Read more...] about Tar Sands Hell
Methane Releases Could Be Catastrophic!
In an exclusive interview with The Independent (UK), Igor Semiletov, of the Far Eastern branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, said that he has never before witnessed the such a volume of methane—millions of tons per year in this area alone—being released from the sea: "Earlier we found torch-like structures like this but they were only tens of metres in diameter. This is … [Read more...] about Methane Releases Could Be Catastrophic!
What is ‘Peak Oil’?
Most experts now agree that 'Hubbert's Peak' — the point at which world oil production starts to decline—has either already passed or will occur within the next year or so. Some of the world's largest fields, in Saudi Arabia, Mexico, and Kuwait, have already peaked. (U.S. production peaked 30 years ago.) Even as oil and gas production are declining, consumption continues at … [Read more...] about What is ‘Peak Oil’?