What Does Overconsumption Look Like?

over[population

Thought-provoking images of the direct and incidental effects of global overpopulation & overconsumption. Curated as part of The Guardian’s climate change awareness campaign.

View the gallery here >>

 

Posted in Babylon
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From: Stream

TIme for Change…

climate change cities

It took several years for the issue of global climate change to translate from fringe environmentalist concern into collective mainstream consciousness. But the shift from knowledge to effective response has so far been tentative and often abortive, despite a steady diet of worrying data and horrifying projections from climate scientists. This sobering map shows the projected impact of tipping-point effects on cities around the globe (read more here)

The scale of the problem, the well co-ordinated obstruction by vested interests (the pseudo-scientific climate-change denial movement seems to be funded in various ways by the right-wing business lobby) – and the overwhelming difficulty of responding collectively to a global issue all throw up question marks as to whether humanity can rise to the challenge.

Another wave of movement is needed – and may be emerging. This article suggests some in influential positions are putting their energies into the climate change response.
Read more >>
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Posted in Babylon, Movement
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From: Stream

Does being Green mean not having kids?

climate-kids tweet“I (we) don’t have children, at least partly for ecological reasons. That decision is something I reflect upon a lot. I know I’ll feel sad about it in the future, yet news about the state of the world often makes me feel powerfully relieved that I’m not contributing in that way to the overall consumptive mess.”

Reflective blog post from @ChrisTT on the ecological context of becoming a parent, and the original essay by @PaulKingsnorth which provoked this tweet

Posted in Journeys
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From: Stream

The Climate Change Blues

depressedscientistsPerhaps one of the reasons humanity is struggling to take action over climate change is that the scale of the problem is so vast, we are still dealing with the emotional shock of hearing the news. Madeleine Thomas writes about the psychological challenges faced by climate scientists on the frontline of documenting the destructive ecological impact of climate change.
Read the article here >>

[Illustration by Amelia Bates]
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From: Stream

More Panels, Less Gadgets?

solar-indiaThe impending doom of billions of Indian and Chinese carbon consumers is often used by climate-action stallers as a kind of “what’s the point of cutting our emissions with this coming?” Another perspective is that there might be an effective future in the middle-ground between developing-world communities using renewable energy on the one hand – and on the other, the developed-world learning a few lessons on living with “less stuff to plug in”…

Read the article by the aptly-named John Light >>>

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Posted in Movement
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From: Stream