We’ve lived so long under the spell of hierarchy—from god-kings to feudal lords to party bosses—that only recently have we awakened to see not only that “regular” citizens have the capacity for self-governance, but that without their engagement our huge global crises cannot be addressed. The changes needed for human society simply to survive, let alone thrive, are so profound that the only way we will move toward them is if we ourselves, regular citizens, feel meaningful ownership of solutions through direct engagement. Our problems are too big, interrelated, and pervasive to yield to directives from on high.
—Frances Moore Lappé, excerpt from Time for Progressives to Grow Up

Thursday, September 29, 2016

Earth 'Locked Into' Hitting Temperatures Not Seen in 2 Million Years: Study

Click here to access article by Nika Knight from Common Dreams.

In a new research study by Carolyn Snyder related to her doctoral thesis at Stanford University was published in Nature (behind a paywall). She is now employed at the government's favorite protector of corporations doing environmental damage and suitably represented by an Orwellian name--Environment Protection Agency. It seem likely that her career at this agency will be problematic.
Nature described Snyder's findings in greater detail in an article accompanying her published study: "Even if the amount of atmospheric CO2 were to stabilize at current levels, the study suggests that average temperatures may increase by roughly 5° C over the next few millennia as a result of the effects of the greenhouse gas on glaciers, ecosystems and other factors. A doubling of the pre-industrial levels of atmospheric CO2 of roughly 280 parts per million, which could occur within decades unless people curb greenhouse-gas emissions, could eventually boost global average temperatures by around 9° C."
It appears that already her findings have been labeled "controversial" by various well-placed scientists.