Paris: police suppress climate protests
Several thousand gathered for the planned march on the eve of the United Nations Climate Conference (COP 21) that opened in Paris Nov. 30. But the march was banned under the State of Emergency declared following the Nov. 13 terror attacks. Defying the ban on public gatherings, some 10,000 Parisians and international activists joined hands to form a human chain along Boulevard Voltaire. When they later attempted to march on Place de la République, police deployed concussion grenades, tear-gas, pepper spray and baton charges. Some 150 who made it to Place de la République were detained for hours as police surrounded and sealed off the square. At least 174 were arrested. (Revolution News)
Hundreds of thousands joined an estimated 2,300 marches and actions in 175 countries, demanding that the negotiators in Paris agree to keep fossil fuels in the ground and shift to 100% clean energy. Protests were held in many other cities around the world to place pressure on the UN climate process. (Grist)
Naomi Klein to COP protesters: Don't riot!
Well this is delicious! Leftist icon Naomi Klein, star of the show for the would-be protesters in Paris, praises the "show of defiance against that ban on protests" on Democracy Now. But those naughty anarchists at Submedia.tv call our her organization 350.org, which "distances itself from 'violent' protesters and states that they are not part of the climate movement." Submedia also reposts a video clip that poked fun at Klein for "chilling out" the climate protesters at Copenhagen in 2009, and promoting a "Chill Doctrine" (snicker). Her words were amusingly tautological: "If this turns into a riot, it's gonna be a riot. We know this story. I'm not saying it's not an interesting story, but it is what it is."
Activists under house arrest in Paris
Radio France Internationale reported Dec. 1 that 26 of the more than 300 people placed under house arrest since the Paris attacks have been "far-left activists, suspected of planning to disrupt the climate conference rather than terror plots." France24, Le Monde and EurActiv elaborate that these include activists from the Nantes area who have been organizing protests against a new airport planned for Notre-Dame des Landes who had planned to hold a cross-country bicycle rally during the climate talks to opposte the project.
Expropriate the rich to save the planet
Here we go again. A sobering report from The Guardian, Dec. 2:
How depressing that even the supposedly "leftist" Guardian has to pose the question in reactionary Malthusian terms. Is this ecological collapse being driven by "global demand for food" or capitalism's demand for export cash crops? Come on.
Fortunately, there is growing awareness of how wealth inequities are driving the collapse. Inhabitat reports:
Thank you
Report: world to run out of breathable air
The news just gets better and better. From TakePart via Yahoo, Dec. 3:
However, a raise of 6 degrees Celsius may not actually be that realistic. From a National Geographic factpage on "Sea Temperature Rise"...
Still, sobering news...
Earth's climate in 'uncharted territory'
From Climate Central, Dec. 9:
Massive fires related to El Niño ae already reported from the Andean region.
North Pole approaches melting point...
The Washington Post reported Dec. 30, "Freak storm pushes North Pole 50 degrees above normal to melting point," raising fears for the stability of Arctic sea ice. It is linked to this year's El Niño (which BBC Mundo is saying could be most powerful yet recorded, and has dubbed "El Niño Godzilla").
But note the inherent dishonesty (or denial) of calling this a "freak" storm, when it is exactly the kind of thing climate scientists have been warning of for years. The account mentions nothing about climate change, which is simply irresponsible. As we have noted before... We are constantly being admonished that no single weather event can be attributable to climate change. But when taken together, whether these mounting examples of "global weirding" are attributable to climate change becomes a dramatically wrong question. Together, these phenomena are climate change. Asking if they are "attributable" to climate change is a classic example of missing the forest for the trees.
And, alas, this time the WaPo didn't even ask.
Coming soon: ice-free Arctic
A sobering report on Truthout notes that atmospheric carbon dioxide levels are at a rate not seen "since the Pliocene epoch, which was the period 2.6 to 5.3 million years ago that saw atmospheric carbon dioxide levels between 350 and 405 parts per million and average global temperatures that ranged between 2 and 3 degrees Celsius warmer than the climate of the 1880s." While in January, a Norwegian Coast Guard icebreaker ship took an interesting trip into the Arctic. The ship found no ice to break, despite the fact that it was the dead of winter and barely 800 miles from the North Pole. Coinicidence, eh?
Sea levels set to 'rise far more rapidly than expected'
From The Guardian, March 30:
Antarctic ice shelf as 'sword of Damocles'
From the New York Times, March 30:
As a harbinger of things to come, the account notes the 2002 incident in which an ice shelf the size of Rhode Island, the Larsen B, broke apart in two weeks...