A Human Story of Planet Earth in the Anthropocene
Fight another day The first COP climate conference of the Trump presidency wrapped up last week. True to form, the final gavel fell in the “wee hours” of Saturday morning. Lacking the excitement of COP21 two years ago, COP23 is nonetheless one more step in the long road of transforming into reality the global aspiration …
Continue reading “COP23 Wraps : The Long Journey Continues, Nobody Said It Was Easy”
A new, cross-disciplinary white paper authored by three prominent international climate experts for the US-based Universal Ecological Fund refutes the notion that taking proactive actions to mitigate and adapt to rapid climate warming runs contrary to U.S. domestic economic interests. It was precisely that contention that President Donald J. Trump used to justify his intention …
Continue reading “Leading Experts Make the Case for Climate Action in the United States”
One death is a tragedy; a million deaths is a statistic Be it from social unrest, economic upheaval, or environmental collapse, forced human migration is at unprecedented levels. According to the UNHCR, there are more than 65 million displaced people in the world today. Of those, more than 22 million are forced refugees. Over half are under …
Continue reading “Climate Migration, the Paris Agreement, and the Delusion of Isolation”
A corrupted creation myth The scientific debate whether we call our geologic epoch the Anthropocene is yet to be settled. What is less debatable is the planetary-scale impact of human activity. As we posit throughout PlanetWatch, we live in the Age of Man. Our presence is felt in every corner of the Earth. Dominion over the …
Continue reading “Looking for Tomorrow: Reasons for Hope in a Troubled World”
Writing to a class of international students “Climate Change Mitigation in the Developing World” about “climate policy where I live” It is, of course, hard news from the United States with Donald Trump signing his “energy independence” executive order. Among other things, the order calls for a “rewrite” of former president Obama’s Clean Power Plan …
Continue reading “The Failure of U.S. Climate and Environmental Policy and Why There is Still Hope”