Dismantle Civilisation

by Shaun Chamberlin, on darkoptimism.org
Lately I seem to be encountering many climate change activists who have a blind spot when it comes to peak oil. Friends of the Earth appear to be particularly prone to this.
They claim that climate change is overwhelmingly urgent (no arguments from me there) and so that the depletion of fossil … Read more »

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James Lovelock talking about planetary scale engineering, or ‘medicine’ to cure an ailing planet, in the UK Guardian.
What are the planetary health risks of geoengineering intervention? Nothing we do is likely to sterilise the Earth, but the consequences of planetary scale intervention could hugely affect humans.
Putative geoengineers are in a position similar to that … Read more »

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Melting ice opens up North-west and North-east passages simultaneously. Scientists warn Arctic icecap is entering a ‘death spiral’
From the UK’s Independent Newspaper website.
Open water now stretches all the way round the Arctic, making it possible for the first time in human history to circumnavigate the North Pole, The Independent on Sunday can reveal. New satellite … Read more »

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culturechange.org article, written by Jan Lundberg.
The fastest way to put the brakes on global heating is to embrace the peaking of world oil extraction and the implications of petrocollapse. As long as we deny there’s a terminal outcome for our petroleum-based infrastructure — and therefore society as we know it — we will keep dancing … Read more »

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A week ago, the third Camp for Climate Action concluded with a day of action at Kingsnorth Power Station in Kent.  The aim was to shut down the plant and prevent more greenhouse gas emission at its source.  Although some activists reached the fence and some claim minor facilities in the plant were shut down, … Read more »

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Julia Whitty writes on Alternet about the disappearing sea ice of Antarctica, and the impact this is having on penguins.
Hiking back into radio range, we hear from Ron Naveen, counting southern giant petrel nests on the other side of the island. It’s terrible here, he reports, just awful. At first I picture him befouled by … Read more »

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The floods in Iowa have spurred James Howard Kunstler to talk about ‘Katrina in slow motion’.
Iowa in 2008 will be an even slower-motion disaster than Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Beyond the troubles of 25,000 people who have lost all their material possessions is a world whose grain reserves stand at record lows. The crop losses […] Read more »

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Ecologist article by Peter Bunyard, deconstructs the myth of nuclear power as an energy source that necessarily results in low greenhouse gas emissions. Haven’t we been here before?
And, if we are going to be serious about substituting nuclear power for fossil fuel powered electricity generation in the world, so as to make a difference, we would […] Read more »

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In between the reports of economic downturn, recession, depression and the usual banality of the mainstream media, more and more reports are appearing related to food problems. Worlwide grain harvests are down, grain stocks are at an all time low, poor people are struggling to buy food - some are blaming their governments and protesting/rioting, governments are restricting food exports, the west is using food as […] Read more »

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Worldwide, the prices of staple foods have been increasing drastically. Survival Acres has done some research on food price increases over the past 12 months:
The ranges listed below are price increase for the large container sizes (bags or buckets) from 2007 to 2008 (only 1 year):
Hard Red Wheat 58% - 76%
Hard White Wheat 58% - 85%
Corn Whole Yellow […] Read more »

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