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.
Paraphilanthropy: Giving money its freedom papers
by Bayo Akomolafe….What addressing philanthropy’s colonial legacies asks of this moment.
The status of U.S. oil production: 2024 update everything shines by dimming
by Roger Blanchard in Resilience.org…The fact that U.S. oil production reached a very high level in 2023 and that so much of the production came from Texas made me think of the first major Texas oil bonanza
A big solar company may be collapsing
by Alana Semuels in Time….One of the largest residential solar installers in the U.S. appears to be on the cusp of failing, the latest sign of the troubled industry’s struggles.
Outage for Microsoft users knocks out systems for airlines and hospitals in chaotic day
by Adam Satariano, et al in The New York Times…Companies across the world reported disruptions, citing technical issues from a cybersecurity software update.
Extreme wildfires have doubled in frequency and intensity in the past 20 years
by Victor Fernandez Garcia & Christina Santin in Wired.com….The doubling in extreme wildfires adds to a complex picture of fire patterns and trends. This new evidence underscores the urgency of addressing the root causes behind worsening wildfire activity, such as land cover changes, forest policies and management, and, of course, climate change. This will better prepare us for these extreme fires, which are near-impossible to combat using traditional firefighting methods.
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...
Sep
24
2024
Yuval Noah Harari on the eclipsing of human intelligence
Sean Illing of The Gray Area interviews Yuval Noah Harari…If the internet age has anything like an ideology, it’s that more information and more data and...
Sep
24
2024
How rising global heat connects catastrophic floods on four continents
by Scott Dance in The Washington Post…At this time of year, that flood potential amped up by global warming can become especially evident.
Sep
18
2024
Scaling: The state of play in AI
by Ethan Mollick in One Useful Thing…With continued advancements in model architecture and training techniques, we’re approaching a new frontier in AI...
Sep
18
2024
Facing global risks with honest hope
From (ASRA) Accelerator for Systemic Risk Assessment report Facing global risks with honest hope….Transforming Multidimensional Challenges into Multidimensional...
Sep
18
2024
Superbugs ‘could kill 39m people by 2050’ amid rising drug resistance
by Kat Lay in The Guardian…Child deaths from infections see ‘remarkable’ decline but AMR fatalities of over-70s likely to rise by 146%, study finds Analysis:...
Sep
16
2024
Global trends are polarizing us: Can democracy handle it?
by Richard Heinberg in resilience.org….Today the world faces historically unique stresses that are likely to be increasingly polarizing for many societies. These...
Sep
12
2024
National resilience guidance: A collaborative approach to building resilience
In National resilience guidance, a paper by FEMA.gov…This Guidance is intended to help all individuals, communities, and organizations understand our nation’s...
Sep
12
2024
Publication: Extreme temperatures and the profitability of large European firms
by Bellocca, Gian Pietro Enzo, et al in e-Archivo…The lack of a clear negative effect of extreme temperatures over firm’s profitability points out one of...
Sep
12
2024
A few rules for predicting the future by Octavia E. Butler
by Octavia E. Butler in Common Good Collective…So why try to predict the future at all if it’s so difficult, so nearly impossible? Because making predictions is...
Sep
12
2024
The U.S. needs to pay more attention to electronic warfare
by Steven Glinert in Noahpinion…Electronic warfare (EW) is a bit of a sleeper in the US arsenal. The US invented its modern form and has used it to great effect...