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Conflict/Dispossession

Spotlight: China’s communist-capitalist ecological apocalypse

26th June 2017

From Truthout.org: This superbly researched 2015 paper explains why China’s unfolding environmental crisis is so horrific, so much worse than “normal” capitalism almost everywhere else, and why the government is incapable of suppressing pollution even from its own industries. It should serve as a warning for India, whose official policies increasingly mimic the ‘China model’….

Conflict/Dispossession

City of burning lakes: experts fear Bangalore will be uninhabitable by 2025

2nd March 2017

Deepa Bhasthi writes in The Guardian: The illegal dumping of waste mixed with mass untreated sewage in Bangalore is creating a water crisis which threatens residents’ health–and is causing the city’s famous lakes to catch fire. This is the new story of the city, which some scientists believe will be “unliveable” in a few years….

Conflict/Dispossession

Stephen Hawking: This is the most dangerous time for our planet

9th December 2016

We face awesome global environmental challenges. Climate change, food production, overpopulation, the decimation of other species, epidemic disease, acidification of the oceans. Together, they are a reminder that we are at the most dangerous moment in the development of humanity… Now, more than at any time in our history, our species needs to work together….

Planning/Policy

Jay Forrester: The man who saw the future

2nd December 2016

Ugo Bardi writes: Jay Forrester, one of the great minds of the 20th century, died at 98, a few days ago. His career was long and fruitful, and his work changed the intellectual story of humankind, in particular the role he had in the birth of the Club of Rome’s report “The Limits to Growth”….

ECOCIDE/EXTINCTION

George Monbiot: The 13 impossible crises we are facing now

28th November 2016

Please don’t read this unless you are feeling strong. This is a list of 13 major crises that, I believe, confront us. From Trump to climate change, this multi-headed crisis presages collapse. And there’s no hope of exiting the ‘other side’ if political alternatives are shut down. Sorry to say that it’s not happy reading….

Education/Awareness

John Michael Greer: The myth of the Anthropocene

12th November 2016

I think the label “Anthropocene” does not represent reality. Not because I doubt that human beings are having a major impact on geology, far from it. My reasons are somewhat complex, and will require a glance back over the history of geology— specifically, the evolution of the labels we use to talk about the past….

Conflict/Dispossession

Watch: Pentagon video warns of “unavoidable” dystopian future

16th October 2016

The Intercept reports: This startling five minute video from the Pentagon’s Joint Special Operations University depicts an “unavoidable” future of brutal and anarchic supercities and offers an apocalyptic list of ills endemic to this new urban environment. In addition, “Growth will magnify the increasing separation between rich and poor,” the narrator warns at one point….

CLIMATE CRISIS

A ‘time-lapse’ view of the water wars, in Bangalore (and soon, the world)

13th September 2016

Yesterday, with protests over the Cauvery water dispute bringing Bangalore to its knees, many of the city’s techno-optimists found themselves stranded on its burning roads, like bunnies caught in headlights. It might just be another sign that ‘life as we know it’ is about to change forever, both in India and the world, writes Vijay Kundaji….

CLIMATE CRISIS

The climate crisis is already here – but no one’s telling us

7th August 2016

George Monbiot writes: If humanity fails to prevent climate breakdown, the industry that bears the greatest responsibility is not transport, farming, gas, oil or even coal. All of them can behave as they do, shunting us towards systemic collapse. The problem begins with the industry that, wittingly or otherwise, grants them this licence: the media….

CLIMATE CRISIS

Climate change is here and now, warns dire new report

5th August 2016

Common Dreams reports: Environmental records of all kinds are being shattered as climate change takes effect in real time, a new climate research report says. 2015 was the hottest year on record since at least the mid-to-late 19th century, confirming the “toppling of several symbolic milestones” in global temperature, sea level rise, and extreme weather….

Development/Growth

What you need to know about the world’s water wars

26th July 2016

National Geographic reports: Around the world, alarms are being sounded about groundwater depletion. Underground water is being pumped so aggressively globally that land is sinking, civil wars are being waged, and agriculture is being transformed. According to scientist Jay Famiglietti, the areas where aquifiers are under the greatest threat are also the most heavily populated….

Development/Growth

How industrial civilisation is (literally) built on a foundation with an expiry date

7th July 2016

Chris Martenson writes: The main issue is simple: putting in steel reinforcing bars lowers the cost and weight of installing reinforced concrete, but at the severe expense of reducing its lifespan. In other words, literally everything you see today that’s made of concrete will need to be replaced within a hundred years of its installation….

IISc

Development/Growth

Red alert: India’s technology capital headed for system failure

28th June 2016

Recent research by IISc reveals startling numbers on Bangalore’s reckless urbanization and its consequences: during 1973–2016 (1005% concretization or increase of paved surface) has had a telling influence on the natural resources, such as decline in green spaces (88% decline in vegetation), wetlands (79% decline), higher air pollutants and a sharp decline in groundwater table….

Conflict/Dispossession

Dmitry Orlov: Negative interest rates and the impending global financial collapse

25th June 2016

What the flashing neon words on the wall seem to be saying is: negative interest rates are on the way throughout the “developed world.” In due course, they will demolish any remaining value of the US dollar, and blow up the bond bubble. In turn, this financial collapse will trigger the next stage: commercial collapse….

Bookshelf

A Banquet of Consequences: A compelling critique of all that is wrong with the world economy

14th May 2016

The essential argument of Satyajit Das’ new book is: “The 2008 crisis showed that perpetual growth is an illusion. It exposed the high debt levels, credit-driven consumption, global imbalances and excessive financialisation that underpinned an unsustainable economic model, coinciding with an emerging scarcity of energy, food and water, and increasing evidence of climate change impact.”…

Economy

Satyajit Das: Eight triggers for a new financial crisis

9th May 2016

Investment banker turned author Satyajit Das writes: There are a number of potential triggers to a new crisis, but it will not be a single factor but an unexpected concatenation of events that result in a financial crisis. With existing political elites seen as captured by the wealthy elite, electorates are turning to political extremes….

ECOCIDE/EXTINCTION

Video: Aluna – A Warning from the Kogi of Sierra Madre

6th November 2015

From the Heart of the World – The Elder Brother’s Warning [1989 – full movie] More at: www.alunathemovie.com Review: Aluna: A Message to Little Brother Charles Eisenstein, Tikkun.org Aluna Directed by Alan Ereira How are we to interpret this warning coming from the Kogi people of the Sierra Madre in Colombia, delivered through their latest film,…

ENERGY

Video: The Shit Hits The Fan discussion series at the Doomstead Diner

15th October 2015

Doomstead Diner Doomstead Diner Discussions on The Shit Hits The Fan (TSHTF) – Three Recordings on Aug. 23, 2015. At the Doomstead Diner, we investigate, discuss and debate the ramifications of the Economic Collapse of Industrial Civilization. Often referred to in shorthand as TEOTWAWKI. The End of the World as We Know It. Energy Discussion…

CLIMATE CRISIS

News update

30th December 2014

Bad loans will worsen if economy falters: RBI Indian Express The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has warned that the asset quality of scheduled commercial banks may worsen from the current level if the macroeconomic conditions deteriorate drastically. The central bank’s latest Financial Stability Report has also raised red flag on connected banks triggering a…

ENERGY

Peak Complexity, Peak Ignorance and Peak Selfishness

9th September 2014

By Johnson Dantis, POI member I have been reading many posts on the Peak Oil India website about various events related to environment, sustainability, climate change, energy etc. I often find that such conferences and seminars do not have the seriousness these issues deserve. I sometimes visualize the importance of these as a sort of kitty…