by Gabi Mocatta in Earth Journalism …This study clearly
establishes that
the term ‘global polycrisis’
is not widely recognized,
or used by journalists.
NEOM is a city of the future. The land is the cost.
by K.O. in Atmos…NEOM has been hailed as the future of the climate-resilient, smart city. But, for local communities, its construction threatens displacement and exploitation.
Silicon dreams and carbon nightmares: The wide boundary impacts of AI
by Nate Hagen in The Great Simplification…What are the environmental implications of a tool with unbound computational capabilities aimed towards goals of relentless growth and extraction? How could artificial intelligence play into the themes of power and greed, intensifying inequalities and accelerating the fragmentation of society? What role could AI play under a different set of values and expectations for the future that are in service to the betterment of life?
The indomitable Covid virus
by Eric Topol in Ground Truths…The Sato Lab in Japan recently characterized KP.3.1.1, as having the most immune evasion and infectivity of any of the variants derived from and including JN.1. And previously Ben Murrell showed clearly (below, right) KP.3.1.1 had the most prominent growth advantage of all circulating variants out there. No surprise it is rapidly rising to dominance here and elsewhere around the world.
Long Covid defined
by Dr. Ely et al, in The New England Journal of Medicine….We hope that the 2024 NASEM definition will facilitate communication among patients, such as those described in the clinical vignettes, and with family members and clinicians. A standard definition should enable better tracking of the burden of long Covid and facilitate the design and conduct of robust clinical trials that produce better treatments for this and other infection-associated chronic conditions. Above all, we hope that this definition contributes to compassionate and effective care for all patients in whom long Covid is diagnosed.
Food as you know it is about to change
by David Wallace-Wells in The New York Times…It can be tempting, in an age of apocalyptic imagination, to picture the most dire future climate scenarios: not just yield declines but mass crop failures, not just price spikes but food shortages, not just worsening hunger but mass famine. In a much hotter world, those will indeed become likelier, particularly if agricultural innovation fails to keep pace with climate change; over a 30-year time horizon, the insurer Lloyd’s recently estimated a 50 percent chance of what it called a “major” global food shock.
Why shifting from prediction to foresight can help us plan for future disruption
by Roger Spitz in World Economic Forum…As the world becomes more complex, foresight methodologies account for a greater set of possible futures.
Scenario development, a foresight methodology, is an alternative to prediction which can help map new possibilities.
Foresight may predict possible futures but more importantly, it allows for preparation.
Column: How ‘Sesame Street’ can prepare kids for climate disasters
by Sammy Roth in the LA Times…Twenty-three years ago, “Sesame Street” aired a remarkable series of episodes during which the iconic puppets and their human friends must recover from a hurricane. One focus is Big Bird’s struggle to come to terms with the destruction of his nest.
Living Landscapes: rethinking biodiversity in Southern Africa
by Oak Foundation….One of the strengths of the course is that the students taking part already work in conservation areas where they can make a difference, such as biodiversity conservation, natural resource management, and governance (land, water, and the ocean).They come with a wide range of expertise – from government agencies, conservation organisations, climate justice, and not-for-profit organisations. This means they bring experience with them, which they can share with the group.
Second Renaissance: A time of civilizational crisis and awakening
by Sylvie Barbier, et al. in the whitepaper, The Second Renaissance is both a period and a movement: a “time between worlds”, and a growing movement of people working to build shared understanding towards a radically wiser
future.
More in this tag
Jul
06
2023
Global polycrisis: The causal mechanisms of crisis entanglement
by Dr. Michael Lawrence at The Cascade Institute….. In this framework, a global crisis arises when one or more fast-moving trigger events combines with...
Nov
29
2024
Trees as infrastructure
from Dark Matter Laboratories…An open source model to support municipalities in transitioning toward resilient urban forest management practices
Nov
28
2024
An emerging third option: Reclaiming democracy from dark money & dark tech
by Otto Scharmer in Medium…What does that tell us about democracy? Democracy is under strain globally, with mass misinformation eroding citizens’ ability to...
Nov
27
2024
Heat-related mortality in Europe during 2023 and the role of adaptation in protecting health
by Eliso Gallo, et al. in Nature…The year of 2023 was the warmest on record globally and the second warmest in Europe. Here we applied epidemiological models to...
Nov
26
2024
A logic for the future: International relations in the age of turbulence
by Stephen Heintz in the Rockefellerl Brothers Fund…Many of the causes and consequences of present-day turmoil are transnational or even global in nature. These...
Nov
26
2024
A brittle network
by Steve Lohr in The New York Times…The biggest and most valuable companies also carry the most risk to the economy as a whole. They are linked to more users, so...
Nov
23
2024
He’ll try, but Trump can’t stop the clean energy revolution
by Matt Simon in Grist…The cost of renewables is plummeting, heat pumps are selling like crazy, and red states are raking in cash from the IRA.
Nov
22
2024
I’m finally into ‘prepping’ and ready for the apocalypse
by Eva Wiseman in The Guardian…Piles of loo paper, a years worth of tinned goods and snake-proof boots. No wonder prepping has become a lifestyle choice
Nov
21
2024
Extreme weather cost $2tn globally over past decade, report finds
by Ajit Niranjan in The Guardian…US suffered greatest economic losses, report commissioned by International Chamber of Commerce finds, followed by China and...
Nov
20
2024
The Commune Form: The Transformation of Everyday Life
A leading radical historian looks at the global resurgence of the commune and asks how they can become sites of liberationWhen the state recedes, the commune-form...
Nov
20
2024
Risks on the horizon: Insights for a resilient future
by the Joint Research Centre of European Commission in the EU Policy Lab…In a world where the only constant is change, policymakers are faced with an accelerating...