The earth has been warmer many times before. The biosphere survived and sometimes thrived. It’s just that humans are used to a cooler planet. So we have to change our ways. This is new for us. Coasts need to be protected; crops made more resilient, wild habitat expanded and better managed. We need to reduce some stressors unrelated to climate change (over-fishing, poor governance) to build resilience to the new stressors.
To the morally outraged, justice is a righteous Reckoning, a collection of what is due. Punishment is a necessary payment to balance the books. But when is enough, enough?
“…a charming stroll through the ruins of late capitalism that feels real and metaphorical at once.” - Review of the TV show Lodge 49: “Lodge 49 Nails the Sad Absurdity of Modern Life” by Matt Zoller Seitz/Vulture.com
Of the 200 CEOs listed, five made more than $50 million, 17 made between $30-49 million, and 178 made between $14-$29 million….
First, the IPCC report’s full name is Global Warming of 1.5°C, an IPCC special report on the impacts of global warming of 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels and related global greenhouse gas emission pathways, in the context of strengthening the global response to the threat of climate change, sustainable development, and efforts to eradicate poverty. …
…support for strong border controls does not imply traditional marriage values, just as support for universal health care does not imply hostility to large corporations. That certain political opinions tend to go together is mostly a product of American history - an artifact of our two-party system and the dynamics of coalition politics.
…over half of the households in the top 20% of net worth are not in the top 20% of income. That makes sense given that so much of their wealth is based on the value of their homes and businesses. Think of farmers classified as middle-class by their income and wealthy by the value of their land and equipment.
Studies on the effectiveness of driver safety messages found that messages that focused on “fear arousal” were more likely to be rejected, while those that focused on concrete, doable behaviors were more likely to be accepted.
In Part I of this series, we established that the biosphere was in trouble because close to a fifth of all land plant species are threatened with extinction; 90% of all living land plants are flowering plants; and, most of terrestrial life depends, either directly or indirectly, on flowering plants. Houston, we have a problem…So, let’s create and manage flower and pollinator habitat! Focusing on urban spaces, home gardens, and farmland…
According to this view, the sexual revolution allowed men to rationalize sexual pushiness as an expression of cultural liberation, guilt-tripping or otherwise pressuring women to yield in the name of freedom, or of “letting go”. …Or is the sexual revolution being blamed for ills that have other causes?
Consider the following:
Close to a fifth of all land plant species are threatened with extinction.
Flowering plants represent 90% of all living land plants.
Most of terrestrial life depends, either directly or indirectly, on flowering plants.
The USDA and National Institute of Food and Agriculture do have a bunch of suggestions on how to deal with insect resistance, many of which would also help protect vulnerable birds and non-target insects. As follows…
So over half of young adults and seniors live in lower income households…
…remember that most households in the top 20% percent of income have at least two earners and the lower limit for the top quintile was $126,855 in 2017. That’s an average of $63,428/year per earner.
I don’t want to overstate the transience of affluence, though; as the above table shows, a good number of American households that reach the top income quintile stay (or return) there for several years - allowing them to build wealth to sustain them through their golden years. Who are these people?
To quote: “…climate change beliefs have only a modest impact on the extent to which people are willing to act in climate friendly ways”…
A few years back, sociologists Thomas Hirschl and Mark Rank reviewed 44 years of US household and individual income data and found …
Straw man argument: “…an informal fallacy based on giving the impression of refuting an opponent's argument, while refuting an argument that was not advanced.”
My point here is simply to highlight that disagreements about “facts” are often less about their accuracy than their use-value - that is, what would happen if a lot of people accepted these facts as true. And thus we have a whole industry of scribblers and pundits who provide “context” to uncontested facts. Of course, such context comes with its own truth-value and use-value.
Habitat management is not about preserving a biological moment in a specific locale. It’s about maintaining biodiversity and saving species.