With sea level rise, superstorms, mega droughts, crop failure and mass species extinction, nature is forcing us to see what capitalism denies, the interconnectedness of all life on our ocean planet, writes Jess Spear. If we allow business-as-usual to continue, the impact on us will become greater and more severe.
global warming
Climate scientists and campaigners reiterated their demands for urgent global action to dramatically reduce planet-heating emissions in response to a new record-breaking concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, writes Jessica Corbett.
Every degree of global warming will push a billion people out of the human survival zone, writes Ian Angus.
A few days after Diwali, Delhiites woke up to find the city enveloped by thick smoke and haze, forcing authorities to declare a health emergency.
Socialist Alliance supports the student-led climate movement and Extinction Rebellion and all those who want to work together to boost the numbers for the next global strike called for September, writes Jacob Andrewartha.
'I’m a 15-year-old activist and climate warrior. If you had asked 5-year-old me what I was scared of, I would’ve said the monster in my cupboard. Ten years later and I’m scared of the monster in Parliament House', says Parker Craig.
Global warming of 1.5°C is imminent, likely in just a decade from now. David Spratt reviews several recent studies that point to this alarming conclusion.
So how does hitting warming of 1.5°C one decade from now square with the 2015 Paris Agreement’s goal of “holding the increase in the global average temperature to well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels and pursuing efforts to limit the temperature increase to 1.5°C”?
In two words, it doesn’t.
Extreme weather across the globe should prompt some serious rethinking on policies to mitigate dangerous global warming.
The major parties’ line that they support the Paris Accord is not good enough. The Paris Agreement, although well supported, is voluntary. More importantly, the goal of limiting global warming to between 1.5° and 2°C is still far from safe.
There is a joke in Australia that there will be a high-speed rail service linking the major cities on the Eastern seaboard that will run about once in every three years — whenever there is an election looming. Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has, like the previous Labor government, again floated the idea.
More than 2000 People's Climate Marches were held over the weekend of November 27 to 29. In Australia more than 140,000 people took to the streets to show they care, passionately, about climate change. They are also angry at government inaction, as illustrated by the many homemade placards and props.
These marches were the biggest national anti-government mobilisations for many years. The Melbourne march — a huge 60,000 people — was the biggest street march there since the anti-Work Choices protests of 2005.
This year the Earth's climate scored the global warming trifecta: it passed the milestone of 1°C of warming since pre-industrial times; it is set to be the hottest year on record; and it will be the first year in which the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is over 400 parts per million (ppm) on average due to the continued burning of fossil fuels.
This is uncharted territory for the Earth. It came as world leaders met in Paris for Climate talks on how to keep warming below 2°C.
Visiting Canadian author and activist Naomi Klein believes she owes PM Tony Abbott “a debt of thanks”.
In Sydney to promote her new book Capitalism versus the Climate: This Changes Everything , Klein said the conflict between what the planet needs and what capitalism needs is exemplified in Australia.
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