He believes we’ve entered a phase of rapid climate change, which will result in a 4 degrees C rise in temperature, and that humans have never existed beyond a 3.3 degree range above the average.
“The climate situation is much worse than I’ve led you to believe, and is accelerating far more rapidly than accounted for by models. Even the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention acknowledges, in a press release dated 6 June 2013, potentially lethal heat waves on the near horizon.”
“An increasing number of scientists agree that warming of 4 to 6 C causes a dead planet. And, they go on to say, we’ll be there much sooner than most people realize.”
“Director of the Central Intelligence Agency of the United States John Brennan delivered a speech 16 November 2015 at the Opening Session of the Global Security Forum 2015, held at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. He addressed climate change, and I apologize for his misogyny in these lines: “Mankind’s relationship with the natural world is aggravating these problems and is potential source of crisis itself. Last year was the warmest on record, and this year is on track to be even warmer. Extreme weather, along with public policies affecting food and water supplies, can worsen or create humanitarian crises. Of the most immediate concern, sharply reduced crop yields in multiple places simultaneously could trigger a shock in food prices with devastating effect, especially in already-fragile regions such as Africa, the Middle East and South Asia. Compromised access to food and water greatly increases the prospect for famine and deadly epidemics.”
So, if this is the case, what can we expect in the next 14 or so years? All that follows is speculation: there is no way of knowing how much, or how little, may come true.
a) an increasing number of extreme weather events.
So, more droughts and, paradoxically, more floods. More heat waves and, perhaps, more severe hurricanes and cyclonic storms.
‘500 year floods’ will happen with increasing frequency, destroying crops and communities.
Severe and prolonged droughts will result in widespread crop failures.
Food shortages will occur in urban areas, resulting in riots and the breakdown of civil order. These events will be particularly acute where urbanisation is highly dense, such as in Western Europe, parts of North America, China and India.
b) an epidemic of infectious and deadly diseases
So, more infectious diseases and epidemics sweeping the world and killing millions of people.
Large areas of the tropical world will become disease-prone areas, with ‘no-go’ zones.
Agencies like NZ’s MFAT will warn people against travel to such areas, with a resulting collapse of tourism travel.
c) rising sea levels (and perhaps more rapidly than we think!)
A fascinating series of maps showing NZ under various sea level scenarios. Rapid climate change and rapid sea level rises could overwhelm our efforts to keep ahead of the changes!
Billions of dollars worldwide spent on futile attempts to stop or retard coastal erosion.
The disappearance of island nations such as the Maldives and Kiribati, and of huge parts of countries like Bangladesh and the Netherlands.
Internal migration in many countries world wide, including NZ, away from low-lying coastal areas.
d) an increasing number of crop failures.
“Large-scale crop failures like the one that caused the recent Russian wheat crisis are likely to become more common under climate change due to an increased frequency of extreme weather events, a new study shows.”
Increasing famines due to crop failures, with millions of deaths.
The rise and rise in the number of climate refugees as millions attempt to flee famines.
The rise of economic nationalism as countries close borders to refugees.
The collapse of tourism and its replacement by the movement of people seeking a place where existence is at least possible.
New Zealand is already perceived as a place where the worst effects of climate change might be possibly avoided: expect to see increasing numbers of ‘boat people’ [and 1%ers] trying to get here.
A resulting collapse in ‘commercial or corporate’ farming and the revision to more immediate ‘food’ crops, such as market gardens.
e) temperatures simply too hot for humans to survive.
“Extreme heat waves cause the most harm among elderly people and young children. City dwellers are at particular risk because of elevated temperatures in cities, known as the “urban heat island effect” due to the magnifying effect of paved surfaces and the lack of tree cover.
In the United States, an average of 400 deaths per year are directly related to heat, and an estimated 1,800 die from illnesses made worse by heat – including heat exhaustion, heat stroke, cardiovascular disease, and kidney disease. Deadly heat waves swept across most of the nation in 2006, hitting California the hardest; the state saw an additional 16,000 emergency room visits during the two-week heat wave.” http://www.nrdc.org/health/climate/heat.asp
So, summers simply too hot to be comfortable, with resulting deaths from heat stroke and other complications. Large parts of the world too hot to be outside during the day!
f) and by about 2020, expect to see the 1%ers begin to build climate domes to protect themselves from the consequences of their own actions!
The collapse of welfare agencies such as those associated with the United Nations – catastrophes just too big to manage or alleviate.
The subsequent collapse of globalisation and the retreat of nation states to within their own borders in an effort to feed their own people.
The rise of extremism in all its various religious and political manifestations.
Do I believe Guy McPherson? I desperately don’t want to accept his model. My God, there are kids born yesterday who will only be just 14 or so when the shit hits the fan – though it is unlikely to be that dramatic. What I do think is that life will be an increasingly difficult struggle for all humans in the near future.
The NZ government must, first of all, accept that climate change is real and that its consequences should NOT be minimised or dismissed. Second, that plans, or at least discussions, should be initiated to at least begin to prepare for the worst possible scenario.
If Guy McPherson is right, we haven’t got much time left!
McPherson I think cherry picks his data in a very complex science. He also creates fear based responses like geo engineering which would only compound our problems.
+1. In the past when I’ve listened to him, he comes across as someone stuck in their own version of The One True Way. He believes that humans are going to go extinct and then he presents that as fact instead of his belief. That’s dangerous, not least because if people believe him why would they change? If it’s too late, why go through the pain of shifting to a post-carbon life?
There is no doubt our situation is precarious, and we are fast running out of time. MacPherson is part of the problem not part of the solution. Tony, if you are considering he might be right, what does that mean for you?
(and is MacPherson still flying around the planet and using more than his fair share of fossil fuels to promote his work?).
Tony Veitch (not the partner-bashing 3rd rate broadcaster) 1.1.1.2.1
I do not wish to think he’s right!
But, I also don’t think we should minimise the problem.
If Labour can run a conference on the Future of Work, which is important and worthwhile, then perhaps the Greens could sponsor a conference on the Future of the Planet!
At the very least, we should be talking strategies/thinking of ways to actively combat climate change – certainly not holding oil exploration meetings!
I note he is accused of cherry picking and it is potentially disastrous to implement unproven geo engineering responses, however, his arguments are not fundamentally refuted and it highlights the fact that what is being done is essentially nothing….is that a logical response?
Well, Why are we not changing then.
Cause i look outside my window, and i don’t see the world changing. I see lip service being paid, i see trees being cut down, i see cow shit in water, fertilizers used to grow stuff where naturally it would never grow, i see bio-engineering our food is commonplace and I in the meantime the world is heating up, tick tick tick…..and the buckets flows over.
My point in all of that, if species are to go extinct due to global warming, coastal flooding, acidification of the oceans and the likes, why would we human assume that we can ‘science’ our way out of it, and why would we assume that we would not ‘go extinct’. On the ground of whats? Our intellectual superiority? Look where that got us too, ….
I don’t assume any of those things, and neither do many of the people I know.
I see things changing. People are far more aware of the problem with cc than even five years ago, and people are starting to get out there and do something. It’s not fast enough, but it’s not nothing either.
Lol..except some “good climate scientists” have supported his conclusions….it appears to me he is simply at the worst case scenario end of the impact spectrum.
If you consider that over 50% of the worlds population now live in cities and have something like 6 days food security then 15 years is a very long time…there are many weaknesses within our global model that could conceivably cause a rapid decline….and there is no denying the massive enviromental changes occurring as we speak, many already exceeding the predictions of the recently developed models.
“Thom goes over the basics of what global warming is, what’s causing it, and how we can stop it with climate scientist Michael Mann, author of the book “Dire Predictions: Understanding Climate Change.”
He is a symptom of what happens when collective consciousness has divided and subdivided so many times within this neoliberal psychosis that we no longer know how to make alliances, build coalitions and have each other’s backs or stand with each other when the going gets rough.
Reading more, it looks like Arizona Primary is rightly being called a Disaster. Election called while people still voting, democrats given independent voting forms, the fix in for Latino, and a really poorly run vote.
Not that it means anything – the establishment are going with Hilary. She is there only hope.
Utah
Democratic result: Bernie Sanders crushed Hillary Clinton, winning about 80 percent of the vote compared to her 20 percent or so. Again, a Sanders win was expected, but the extent of the landslide he got is surprising.
Idaho
Democratic result: Bernie Sanders’s enormous win in Idaho nearly matched his win in Utah — he got 78 percent of the vote to Clinton’s mere 21 percent. When all of Tuesday’s results are combined, Sanders will likely pick up somewhat more delegates than Clinton. But he’ll still trail her in pledged delegates overall by 300 or so.
I saw the news article on TV last week, and reminded me of a visit to kiwiblog last year, nearly all the pundits were scathing of Germany taking 800k Syrian refugees, saying that it was a ticking time bomb.
Another news article about the refugees, comparing Germany and Denmark (who took only 700 or so), that Germany had received the bulk of skilled refugees, the doctors and engineers, and the refugees that went to Denmark (who legislated to take the assets of refugees) received the ones with no skills and dependent on the state.
“Rockefeller family charity to withdraw all investments in fossil fuel companies
Started by John D Rockefeller – who made his fortune from oil – the fund singled out ExxonMobil, calling the world’s largest oil company ‘morally reprehensible’”
This headline is no surprise. Politicians and the captains of industry promised us golden times from the ’80s, to expect more leisure time and expect a boom in service industries, as the microchips replaced the majority of jobs as we know/knew them.
Of course, the reality has been redundancies and a general derision of the now growing pool of unemployed by those same captains of industry and their cheerleaders (conservative governments world wide.)
So here’s a thought. Every time a company installs a new computer system, it must declare how many human positions it replaces and the company must be levied the equivalent in PAYE losses for the lifetime of that system and any subsequent system developments.
If the government had a clue they would be using Technology to create jobs, not replace jobs!
We could have a silicon valley here, we could have incredible engineering here, look at climate change solutions and patent them, etc etc.
Instead the National government uses low wages and lazy immigration to keep making more stuff, cheaper and with government subsidised pollution and exporting it to someone else who adds the value.
“If the government had a clue they would be using Technology to create jobs, not replace jobs!”
The National govt has never been interested in Job creation, that’s a job for private industry, they just want to facilitate the businesses through low wages and conditions, only problem there is that the this model only serves to increase unemployment with less revenue circulating through the economy.
There hasn’t been a National govt in the last 30 years that has provided low unemployment, high unemployment is a National party strategy, keep the serfs down.
I want the technologies that are increasing the dividends being enjoyed by shareholders) to support the increasing pool of “the great unwashed” that they are creating.
Those being made redundant by automation are still being told to “get on your bike” and look for work by those very same shareholders.
I want the technologies that are increasing the dividends being enjoyed by shareholders) to support the increasing pool of “the great unwashed” that they are creating.
But your policy won’t do that. Instead it’ll force us to more hard labour.
Those being made redundant by automation are still being told to “get on your bike” and look for work by those very same shareholders.
Yes, I’m aware of that. The problem is neither the workers nor the automation but the rentier capitalists. Which means that we need to get rid of the rentier capitalists.
cheers draco, should be compulsary viewing for anyone opposed to the ubi.
went to the presentation he gave in wellys for the fabian society.
it aint a left or right thing.
it aint even an economic thing.
it’s a tool for reducing inequality and perhaps the true way that a rising tide lifts all boats.
+100 DTB and gsays… Yes ( now that I have had time to view this, and not be distracted by cats)
… absolutely agree this is compulsory viewing especially for young people , women in unpaid caring work, the unemployed, artists…and what is left of the working class
…in fact everyone who is not part of the 0.01 % crooks who own the wealth and control the people and the planet
Professor Guy Standing ( Professor for Economic Security , University of Bath) is an articulate advocate for why the precariat absolutely requires a basic income …and for a redistribution of wealth
He is really the equivalent of the old trade unionist and socialist…calling passionately for a return to an egalitarian, compassionate, just and humanitarian society…dignity and freedom for ALL
interesting …but does this mean that human males are more likely to have toxoplasmosis?…because they are overwhelmingly the ones who have the road rage in my experience
‘People with rage disorder twice as likely to have latent toxoplasmosis parasite infection’
…”A number of studies have found that individuals with road rage were predominantly young (33 years of age on average) and male (96.6%).[3]”
I had one last weekend, the guy stopped at a Stop sign in front of me and got out his car and tried to give me an earful, he falls directly into the group listed above (33 and male), he was an incompetent, inconsiderate driver who thought the road belongs to him alone, his girl friend got out of the car, I could see the embarrassment on her face as she gestured an apology for her boyfriends behavior, and asked him to get back in the car.
Iv’e had several other incidents on the road, and each time it’s been a guy about 33, they seem to have serious anger issues.
re..”a guy about 33″…yes I think so…at the invitation of the lawyer concerned, I once watched a prosecuting lawyer in Melbourne make the case against an Australian male in this age group….the accused had killed someone with a bottle in a fit of road rage…he would have been in his late twenties early thirties…and in my experience they do seem to be the most impatient and inconsiderate drivers… who speed, overtake dangerously and cut people off…in the USA my friend tells me you don’t engage with them or give them the fingers because they are likely to get a gun out of the glove box
Hayden please have some sense. The video evidence establishes that the car driver could have stopped. It shows that the car driver did not stop. Intended action. Did not stop. Resulting assault with weapon. Serious. Don’t fret……it just shows Man-Child PM’s “higher standards”.
Twenty-one years ago, when Felix Geiringer was 19, he lay down in front of a cabinet minister’s limousine. The driver didn’t see him and the hot-headed Otago University maths undergraduate ended up with abrasions, a couple of cracked ribs and a conviction for behaving in a disorderly manner.
His appeal to the High Court that he’d just been exercising his freedom of expression rights failed.
The key TMM…….driver didn’t see him. Look at the video here. The car nearly stopped, then proceeded. Having seen the people Driver nearly stopped the car. Driver then stopped stopping the car. Thereby wilfully applying force to the person of another. Mr Car Driver has no right to icebreaker his way through human beings, using a weapon and causing injury. Ensuring Paula Benefit’s timely delivery to airport is not a special reason in terms of any applicable law. This is very serious offending ! Demonstrable of Key’s “higher standards” governance.
This ain’t far from Trump’s campaign manager roughing up some female reporter.
Paula: “Ooh look protesters……quickly, run them over !”
Chester: “Right on future leader, with you all the way !”
The Herald allows Katherine Rich to pimp for Big Sugar.
How does she sleep at night, shilling for greedy corporates who care more about profit that people?
Does she have a conscience?
Whatever…….the masters of the universe they bloatedly perceive themselves as. Rotting away. Adored by slimey little people below them who luv the E! Channel of it. It’s not completely unlike the Trump/Trumpites picture.
Cadbury and mondelez are massive enough that if they made a decision to genuinely go to fair trade cocoa, it would shift the entire market, FT production would soar, and FT cocoa would become the norm, not the minority.
And even with half measures, they reckon they can’t monitor their logistics chain to keep the two seperate? Yeah, right…
Pretty good rule of thumb, if a big company is a doing ethics on the side, it’s unlikely to be ethical. Same applies to free range chooks too, companies that have a free range brand and conventional brand. Better to buy from the people who genuinely give a shit.
Cadbury in the UK,
Bought a 79p Dairy Milk? You just paid more than @CadburyUK paid in corporation tax for a whole year. #taxavoidance
Soooo…. the FBI needs the Israelis to crack an iphone but NSA can do it anyways…does this mean the FBI and the NSA are not talking to each other ….and does it mean the Israelis control NSA?
‘FBI using Israeli firm to crack San Bernardino iPhone without Apple’
Someone tell Key that the reason for the big poll number in the second flag vote was nothing to do with people being interested in change.
It was the majority telling him that they are sick of his corporate driven lifestyle.
No-one gives a monkeys what his cronies think. They don’t give a hoot what the sports personalities think. Colin Meads and the like have had their day. They have been rewarded with their honours and that should have been enough.
Congratulations to the Kiwi battler.
If Russian wheat crops have failed so badly and if they continue to do so maybe there is hope for dairy to convert back to wheat on the canterbury plains…
In 1976, Republican Governor Jay Hammond started Alaska’s sovereign wealth fund (SWF), which has come to be called the Alaska Permanent Fund. The way it works is Alaska has a big pile of money that it uses to buy up the means of production (sometimes called stocks and bonds). Those investments yield returns and revenue for the state. Right now, Alaska plows that revenue into its universal basic income (UBI) program, which is called the Permanent Fund Dividend. The way it works is the state sends a check to every single Alaskan each year. Last year, it was $900, but in better years, it has been as high as $2000. For a family of four, that’s a $3,600 and $8,000 income boost respectively.
The Alaska communist story gets more interesting than that though. The way Alaska builds the principal of the fund is in line with another of Myerson’s proposals: take back the land. You see, the oil wealth in Alaska happened to reside underneath public land. Instead of doing the red-blooded American thing and just giving all of that natural wealth that nobody creates away to oil companies, Alaska held on to its ownership and collects royalties from the oil. Those royalties are plowed into its SWF. So what you have in Alaska is a state that is leveraging publicly-owned natural resources to build a SWF that pays out a UBI. Or as conservatives on twitter call it: a communist hellscape.
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We see regular stories from farmers and orchards complaining that no-one wants to work long hours in terrible conditions for poor pay in their shitty industry. And now, its fishers. But in the process, they neatly explain why:"It's a hard ...
New Zealand's largest city has just declared a climate emergency. And its not just a symbolic move:While the declaration is largely symbolic, it signals the start of a more urgent and focussed approach by councillors to curbing greenhouse gas emissions. ...
Inland Revenue is to gain greater oversight of land transfer information to ensure those buying and selling properties are complying with tax rules on property speculation. Cabinet has agreed to implement recommendation 99 of the Tax Working Group’s (TWG) final ...
The Government is taking action to expand and strengthen the protection for Māui and Hector’s dolphins with an updated plan to deal with threats to these native marine mammals. Minister of Conservation Eugenie Sage and Minister of Fisheries Stuart Nash ...
Commercial fishing vessels at greatest risk of encountering the rare Māui dolphin will be required to operate with on-board cameras from 1 November, as the next step to strengthen our fisheries management system. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Fisheries Minister ...
A new record for the number of Police officers deployed to the regions in a single year has been created with the graduation today of Recruit Wing 326. Police Minister Stuart Nash says the graduation of 78 new constables means ...
Restaurant Brands Ltd (RBL), is asking staff to authorise the deduction of so-called overpayments from the annual leave money they owe their current and former staff. ...
Primary teachers have voted to ratify a proposed settlement that will give them pay parity with their secondary colleagues, but disappointed primary principals have rejected a settlement that was unchanged from a previously rejected offer. ...
“New Zealand voted for MPs to enhance their lives, not extinguish it. This sends a message that we’re giving up on our own.” said Hannah Tamaki, Leader of Coalition New Zealand. ...
The number of deaths caused by drugged drivers – 71 last year and 88 the year before - means there must be better testing to get these people off our roads, says Road Transport Forum (RTF) chief executive Nick Leggett. ...
The Socialist Equality Group (New Zealand) will hold a rally in Wellington, as part of the global campaign of the International Committee of the Fourth International and the World Socialist Web Site to demand freedom for Julian Assange. The WikiLeaks ...
Sign up now to receive Deloitte’s State of the State 2019 series, written in partnership with Victoria University of Wellington Wellington, 26 June 2019 – Launched today, the Deloitte State of the State New Zealand 2019 series, written in partnership ...
Whanau First new parent advocacy group is calling on the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse and the Children’s Commissioner Andrew Becroft and the Children’s Commission for urgent and immediate intervention into a current situation of abuse ...
A call for a Māori inquiry into child protection agency Oranga Tamariki has been heeded by the North Island’s Whānau Ora Commissioning Agency. A national hui on 13th July 2019 at Ngā Whare Waatea Marae, Māngere will launch the Māori-led ...
The Campaign Against Foreign Control of Aotearoa (CAFCA) joins the growing chorus of those calling for an inquiry into the banks, particularly the Gang of Four big Australian-owned banks that completely dominate the sector (and do very nicely out ...
Public consultation on Medicinal Cannabis is not due until mid-to-late July, after multiple delays in the scheduling. Early OIA requests showed the initial date was planned for the 22nd April, putting the scheme 3 months behind, with 6 months to ...
Today is the beginning of a period known as Matariki, heralded by the sighting of seven stars in the Matariki cluster, which can usually be spotted during atapō (before dawn), north of the constellation Tautoro. ...
The power of Community Housing Aotearoa as a catalyst to drastically increase the supply of adequate, affordable housing for families living in poverty has been recognised by the Peter McKenzie Project of the J R McKenzie Trust. ...
A Palmerston North man has been sentenced after neglecting to provide appropriate and timely health interventions for his pony, which resulted in the pony suffering from chronic, active inflammation laminitis. ...
Today, the widower of Lecretia Seales, Matt Vickers, released a video in support of the End of Life Choice Bill, which is almost certainly up for debate and potentially a vote tomorrow. The Bill is due for its second reading. ...
The Independent Police Conduct Authority has found that, following a pursuit in Auckland, a man was dealt with inappropriately and unprofessionally by a Police officer during his arrest. ...
Yesterday's e-scooter death was the result of corrupt and reckless mismanagement by the government and the minister of transport should resign, says the car review website dogandlemon.com . ...
State Services Commissioner Peter Hughes has today announced Dr Caralee McLiesh, PSM, to the position of Secretary to the Treasury and Chief Executive, the Treasury. ...
“Good on the Government for banning smoking in vehicles when there are children inside. We wholeheartedly support this move and we’re pleased Parliament’s dealing with this issue separately to vaping,” says Jonathan Devery, director of Alt New ...
A reduction in construction waste going to landfill is a step closer, following the release of a draft specification recognising good environmental practice in waste management and minimisation. The specification has been developed by the New Zealand ...
The PSA is calling on the Government to pave the way for Fair Pay Agreements, as new research shows they will both reduce inequality and provide a better balanced economy. ...
NZEI Te Riu Roa has welcomed a BERL-authored report released by the New Zealand Council of Trade Unions this morning, which finds that New Zealand’s abandonment of sector bargaining in the 1990s is linked to a decline in wages. ...
The Council of Trade Unions has today released an independent report conducted by economic research company BERL into the validity of sector bargaining. And the findings are clear - there is no economic reason not to implement sector bargaining but ...
New parent advocacy group Whanau First is calling for the resignation of the Chair of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Historical Abuse in State Care and in the Care of Faith-based Institutions Sir Anand Satyanand and its Executive Director ...
The bank deposit insurance scheme just announced by government is no more then a licence for banks to create even more money out of thin air than they already do and be less responsible about who they lend it to, ...
Assalaamu Alaikum Wa Rahumatullahi Wa Barakatuh. May the Peace and the Blessing of God be Upon you FIANZ, the voice of New Zealand’s Muslim community since 1979, is opposed to euthanasia and the End of Life Choice Bill. We give ...
New Zealand’s economy has stabilised, with solid growth supporting well-being through jobs and incomes. Ongoing implementation of the government’s new well-being approach to policymaking will offer further opportunities to create a more sustainable and ...
Disability Commissioner Paula Tesoriero outlayed her concerns about the End of Life Choice Bill to John Campbell on TVNZ’s Breakfast yesterday morning . "I'm concerned that the safeguards are woefully inadequate,” she said. “I'm deeply ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters says it’s still a moot point as to whether Iran was responsible for planting mines on two oil tankers in the Gulf of Oman. “The more intelligence we see, the more we'll be able to make ...
Members of FIRST Union who work in the banking sector felt vindicated by the FMA and Reserve Bank of New Zealand announcement that all banks had committed to remove sales incentives from frontline staff and their managers. ...
Officials believe a third of all rental homes won't be insulated in time for the deadline next week. However preliminary results from a NZ Property Investors’ Federation (NZPIF) survey show that the real number of properties which are unlikely to ...
The Reserve Bank has welcomed the release of in-principle decisions relating the Review of the Reserve Bank Act and is encouraging submissions in the consultation process. The Ministers’ in-principle decisions and second set of consultation papers ...
In a landmark case, members of FIRST Union who work at Mitre 10 Mega in Dunedin and Mitre 10 Mosgiel have achieved their first collective agreement which affords a living wage. ...
Senior male executives who commit corporate economic crimes are less likely to be dismissed or legally punished than middle management and junior staff according to new research. ...
An historic international agreement by unions, employers and governments was forged last week in Geneva at the International Labour Organisation (ILO) with a new international Convention passed to eliminate violence and harassment at work. The passing of this ...
State Services Minister Chris Hipkins must confirm that the State Services Commissioner is on track to announce the results of his investigation into Gabriel Makhlouf by this Thursday, 27 June, says the New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union. Taxpayers' Union ...
Barnardos is today welcoming the release of the report ‘Are We Listening? – Children’s Participation Rights in Government Policy’ from the Children’s Convention Monitoring Group. The report focusses on children and young people’s right to participate ...
The latest Kiwis Count Survey has shown that trust in the public sector continues to rise and is now at an all-time high, says State Services Commissioner Peter Hughes. ...
The gender diversity of New Zealanders will be better reflected in future statistics with new information collected in household surveys, Stats NZ said today. ...
Today climate action groups in Dunedin and Wellington will set up waiting rooms outside Kiwibank branches, to demonstrate that the climate can’t keep waiting for Kiwibank to release a fossil free policy that rules out investments or lending to ...
Making New Zealand a major point of connection between China and South America will take a step forward tomorrow at a trilateral conference in Auckland. ...
A report released today, from the Children’s Convention Monitoring Group*, is a sharp reminder that what children and young people say makes a difference, and that it’s time we paid more attention to their views, says Children’s Commissioner ...
Action for Children and Youth Aotearoa, the country’s alliance for groups and organisations supporting children’s rights, says that a new report published today on child participation shows some important progress has been achieved since 2016, but more must be done ...
Green politicians are betraying disabled people by pretending their upcoming block vote for the End of Life Choice Bill complies with their disability policy. ...
The New Zealand Maori Council has asked the Prime Minister to establish a Royal Commission to investigate PHARMAC and successive Governments failure to provide adequate funding. Executive Director of the Council, Matthew Tukaki, has also said that an urgent investigation ...
Editor’s Note: Here below is a list of the main issues currently under discussion in New Zealand and links to media coverage.New Zealand Parliament Buildings, Wellington, New Zealand.Today’s contentNational Party Richard Harman (Politik): Bridges shores up his ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Thomas Astell-Burt, Professor of Population Health and Environmental Data Science, NHMRC Boosting Dementia Research Leadership Fellow, University of Wollongong People who live in regional or remote areas may be at lower risk ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jane Jarvis, Senior Lecturer in Education, Flinders University Less than half (38%) of Australian teachers feel prepared to teach students with special needs when they finish their formal training. This is despite ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Julie Lawson, Honorary Associate Professor, Centre for Urban Research, RMIT University Australia will need another 730,000 social housing dwellings in 20 years if it is to tackle homelessness and housing stress among ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Daniel Dinale, PhD Candidate, University of Sydney The traditional understanding of women’s economic empowerment is that, as participation in paid employment increases, fertility decreases. This was certainly true in industrialised nations up ...
Video: National leader Simon Bridges has reshuffled his caucus after senior MP Amy Adams relinquished her portfolios. He talks to Morning Report about the new line-up. ...
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition:Some win, some lose from National reshuffle, End of Life choice bill facing crucial vote tonight, and Luxon-ad supporter lobbies against predatory lending controls.In any reshuffle, for someone to move ...
As a result of giving ourselves too much private space, New Zealanders are missing out on the benefit of communal public space, writes Dr Rebecca Kiddle. ...
Hong Kong protesters and the Court of Appeal in NZ have something in common, writes Ling Yee Wong. They both don't trust the Chinese justice system. ...
1000 Words is a Spinoff series talking to the photographers behind our most iconic political images. In this instalment, Don Rowe speaks to David White, the photographer who shot Colin Craig. Following a failed attempt at the Auckland mayoralty in 2010, ...
A new list of prioritised research for infertility topics shines a light on the areas where a real difference can be made. For too long people confronting infertility have been overlooked in those decisions, writes Cindy Farquhar, fertility expert and ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra The attitudes of Australians towards China have soured dramatically in the past year, according to the Lowy Institute’s annual poll released on Wednesday. Only 32% ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Scott Morrison will warn of the danger of any further escalation in US-China tensions and declare Australia won’t let its relations with China be dominated ...
By RNZ Pacific French Polynesia’s former president, Gaston Flosse, and 12 others have been ordered to jointly repay millions of francs they misspent on so-called phantom jobs. In 2013, the group was found to have funded a vast network ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Nicholas Wood, Associate Professor, Discipline of Childhood and Adolescent Health, University of Sydney This year, we’ve seen a resurgence of measles around the globe. The World Health Organisation (WHO) recorded more than ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Geoff Thompson, Coordinator of Studies: Systematic Theology, Pilgrim Theological College, University of Divinity For many Christians, Israel Folau has become the talisman in the fight for religious freedom. This week, some Australian ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Philip Almond, Emeritus Professor in the History of Religious Thought, The University of Queensland Martyn Iles, managing director of the Australian Christian Lobby, dodged the question this week when asked by Lisa ...
Art history tells us a lot about the present moment through its interpretation of the past. In historicising the work of bygone artists, it reveals changing attitudes and contemporary concerns, writes Emma Ng.This year Wellington is host to three exhibitions ...
Marian Keyes is a stone-cold legend: terrifically funny and emotionally intelligent, and never afraid of the dark. She deserves all the prizes. In lieu of that, here’s a heartfelt piece by Scarlett Cayford, who grew up steeped in Keyes’ stories ...
Consumers are being warned that some exotic mushrooms being sold in supermarkets and high-end restaurants as 'New Zealand grown' are being actually imported from China, a local grower says. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jade Sheen, Associate Professor, School of Psychology, Deakin University Curious Kids is a series for children. If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer, send it to curiouskids@theconversation.edu.au You ...
In the same week as Steve Brooks placed an unorthodox election ad for National his fringe lending business has called for looser restrictions on its activities.The businessman behind a bizarre unauthorised ad for the National Party runs a payday lending ...
By Rosalie Nongebatu in Suva Three journalism students from The University of the South Pacific in Suva have been selected to participate in a week-long environmental reporting project in the Solomon Islands. After a stringent selection process, students Rosalie ...
With the Prime Minister's first Cabinet reshuffle to be announced this week, the fate of Housing and Transport Minister Phil Twyford has caused the most speculation. ...
Muzza’s Pies is a beloved Mt Albert institution, responsible for curing a million hangovers. Alex Casey pays tribute to the shop that got her through her teenage years.We were all perched on the bench outside Muzza’s Pies, a motley group ...
Tongan journalist, publisher and broadcaster Kalafi Moala talks to Pacific Media Watch project’s Sri Krishnamurthi. Video: Sri Krishnamurthi/Blessen TomBy Sri Krishnamurthi After 30 years as chief editor and publisher of Tonga’s flagship Taimi ‘o Tonga newspaper, the iconic ...
In a surprise announcement, the shadow finance minister Amy Adams will leave parliament in 2020, and has stepped down from her frontbench roles with immediate effect. Alex Braae asks what happens now It could have all been so different for Amy ...
Arthur Grimes looks at how putting the former government and current Government's approaches together would achieve significant improvements in areas in dire need of improvement. ...
A new book about the depiction of religion in New Zealand editorial cartoons reveals some disturbing truths.Last week the NZ Cartoon Archive at Wellington’s Alexander Turnbull Library published Mike Grimshaw’s Bishops, Boozers, Brethren & Burkas, which looks at religion in ...
Dance down memory lane with us to a time when the Māori showbands ruled supreme. After World War II, Māori concert parties became a huge attraction in Aotearoa, like the kapa haka groups we know and love today. Action songs and ...
Welcome to the Cheat Sheet, a clickable, shareable, bite-sized FAQ about the news of the moment. Today, we look at the UberEats busy area fee that has just launched in Auckland.The what?You know how you often pay more for a ...
Over 2.8 million New Zealanders are signed up for Kiwisaver, but not many are aware of where that money is going. Weaponry, fossil fuels and gambling services are all being invested in from some of the most popular funds, and ...
The government's proposals to make the banking system safer for customers might not be enough for New Zealanders struggling to save for their retirement, the opposition says. ...
Open mike 24/03/2016 
Open mike is your post.
49 publications for this week. The last paper in this week's list features Skeptical Science volunteer and highly cited researcher Stephan Lewandowsky along with Skeptical Science founder John Cook as first and second authors respectively, working with regular collaborator Gilles Gignac. ...4 hours ago
PICTURED: Judith Collins and her chief benefactor (inset) When Simon Bridges resolved to wrestle the infrastructure portfolio from perennial rival Judith Collins this week, he had to utilize a mechanism not usually exercised in the halls of Parliament. Removing a ...13 hours ago
PICTURED: Folau’s updated list of hell-bound sinners. Following a difficult week for Israel Folau, under fire and alleged financial pressure due to his public condemnation of homosexuals, the former rugby union star has revised the list that landed him in ...14 hours ago
The Stuff story on the renewable energy target quotes National climate change spokesperson Todd Muller as opposing cuts to electricity sector emissions:National's climate change spokesman Todd Muller said the report exposed the "economic lunacy" of being fixated on greenhouse emissions ...22 hours ago
Few tears will be shed in the regions at the departure of Christopher Luxon as CEO of Air New Zealand. Under his watch, the supposedly “national” airline lost sight of its national responsibilities and abandoned regional centres such as Whakatane ...23 hours ago
1 day ago
by Gearóid Ó Loingsigh Colombia has now made it into the modern world, but not that of a strong and diversified economy, of democratic rights, nor the rule of law. No, that is not the modern world that Colombia has ...2 days ago
Grant Illingworth QC is concerned that if David Seymour’s End of Life Choice Bill is enacted, we somehow would be breaching the social contract on which our entire system of law rests.read more ...3 days ago
This article is about what can happen if a drug substitution programme is suddenly cancelled. In 1978, the Dunedin Hospital Board followed a New Zealand-wide trend and began an opiate substitution programme for local addicts using the synthetic narcotic, methadone. The ...3 days ago
A chronological listing of news articles posted on the Skeptical Science Facebook Page during the past week, i.e., Sun, Jun 16 through Sat, June 22, 2019 Editor's Pick A Degree of Concern: Why Global Temperatures Matter Credit: NASA-JPL/Caltech Part ...3 days ago
4 days ago
And now this:
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James Robb looks at the systemic issues surrounding the state taking children from their families. A shocking documentary video released last week by Newsroom reporter Melanie Reid, shows the attempts by social workers employed by Oranga Tamariki, the New Zealand state’s child welfare agency, ...6 days ago
The inquiry into whether the SAS acted illegally during a nighttime raid on a suspected insurgent’s hideout in Afghanistan in 2010 (code named Operation Burnham), which resulted in six civilian deaths and serious wounds to 15 others, is slowly coming ...6 days ago
6 days ago
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Another major oil company has given up exploring in New Zealand: Chevron and Norwegian oil giant Equinor have opted to abandon their joint exploration efforts off the east coast of the North Island. The two firms have applied to surrender ...1 week ago
NZ has dethroned GDP as a measure of success, but will Ardern’s government be transformational? When you’re in politics, words are a high-stakes game. Voters and journalists hold you to them and there is a risk in using ...1 week ago
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Daisy Simmons SACRAMENTO, Calif. – The world’s oceans are deeply affected by climate change – and vice versa. But until recent years, ocean advocates throughout California had long tackled issues like over-fishing ...1 week ago
There’s so much one could say about Key’s assessment of Hisco right now…
Suffice to say it was definitely the following: A) Perfectly reflective of the ... 1 week ago
. . This morning, a little after 4am, Sharlene lost her brave fight against cancer. Rest in peace, Sharlene. You were always one of my brightest stars… . . Advertisements ...1 week ago
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A chronological listing of news articles posted on the Skeptical Science Facebook Page during the past week, i.e., Sun, Jun 9 through Sat, June 15, 2019 Editor's Pick Costa Rica Doubled Its Forest Cover In Just 30 Years! Costa ...1 week ago
1 week ago
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Director-General of OPCW Fernando Arias Gonzales admits Douma engineers report was legit and he was part of the FFM – but attempts to justify suppression of the report. France 24 reports that the head of the Organisation for the ...2 weeks ago
This is a re-post from Carbon Brief by Daisy Dunne The record-breaking 2018 summer heatwave in Japan in which more than 1,000 people died “could not have happened without human-induced global warming”, a study finds. And the extreme heat felt in ...2 weeks ago
Jonathan Bamber, Professor of Physical Geography, University of Bristol and Michael Oppenheimer, Professor of Geosciences and International Affairs, Princeton University This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article. Antarctica is further from ...2 weeks ago
Inland Revenue is to gain greater oversight of land transfer information to ensure those buying and selling properties are complying with tax rules on property speculation. Cabinet has agreed to implement recommendation 99 of the Tax Working Group’s (TWG) final ...1 week ago
Restaurant Brands Ltd (RBL), is asking staff to authorise the deduction of so-called overpayments from the annual leave money they owe their current and former staff. ...12 mins ago
Editor’s Note: Here below is a list of the main issues currently under discussion in New Zealand and links to media coverage.
A bill that would prohibit ban smoking in cars with children inside needs a major tune up, the National Party says. ...2 hours ago
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Thomas Astell-Burt, Professor of Population Health and Environmental Data Science, NHMRC Boosting Dementia Research Leadership Fellow, University of Wollongong People who live in regional or remote areas may be at lower risk ...2 hours ago
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jane Jarvis, Senior Lecturer in Education, Flinders University Less than half (38%) of Australian teachers feel prepared to teach students with special needs when they finish their formal training. This is despite ...2 hours ago
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Julie Lawson, Honorary Associate Professor, Centre for Urban Research, RMIT University Australia will need another 730,000 social housing dwellings in 20 years if it is to tackle homelessness and housing stress among ...2 hours ago
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Daniel Dinale, PhD Candidate, University of Sydney The traditional understanding of women’s economic empowerment is that, as participation in paid employment increases, fertility decreases. This was certainly true in industrialised nations up ...2 hours ago
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Some win, some lose from National reshuffle, End of Life choice bill facing crucial vote tonight, and Luxon-ad supporter lobbies against predatory lending controls.In any reshuffle, for someone to move ...4 hours ago
As a result of giving ourselves too much private space, New Zealanders are missing out on the benefit of communal public space, writes Dr Rebecca Kiddle. ...5 hours ago
Hong Kong protesters and the Court of Appeal in NZ have something in common, writes Ling Yee Wong. They both don't trust the Chinese justice system. ...5 hours ago
1000 Words is a Spinoff series talking to the photographers behind our most iconic political images. In this instalment, Don Rowe speaks to David White, the photographer who shot Colin Craig. Following a failed attempt at the Auckland mayoralty in 2010, ...5 hours ago
A new list of prioritised research for infertility topics shines a light on the areas where a real difference can be made. For too long people confronting infertility have been overlooked in those decisions, writes Cindy Farquhar, fertility expert and ...6 hours ago
Research backs a move towards organised sector bargaining, saying NZ has 'nothing to fear'. ...8 hours ago
By RNZ Pacific French Polynesia’s former president, Gaston Flosse, and 12 others have been ordered to jointly repay millions of francs they misspent on so-called phantom jobs. In 2013, the group was found to have funded a vast network ...12 hours ago
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Nicholas Wood, Associate Professor, Discipline of Childhood and Adolescent Health, University of Sydney This year, we’ve seen a resurgence of measles around the globe. The World Health Organisation (WHO) recorded more than ...14 hours ago
Future budgets will see the existing spending, as well as new spending, subjected to a wellbeing analysis, Robertson says at OECD report launch. ...16 hours ago
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Philip Almond, Emeritus Professor in the History of Religious Thought, The University of Queensland Martyn Iles, managing director of the Australian Christian Lobby, dodged the question this week when asked by Lisa ...17 hours ago
Parliament is too small, and committees too poorly resourced, to properly hold the Government to account, review says. ...17 hours ago
Art history tells us a lot about the present moment through its interpretation of the past. In historicising the work of bygone artists, it reveals changing attitudes and contemporary concerns, writes Emma Ng.This year Wellington is host to three exhibitions ...17 hours ago
Marian Keyes is a stone-cold legend: terrifically funny and emotionally intelligent, and never afraid of the dark. She deserves all the prizes. In lieu of that, here’s a heartfelt piece by Scarlett Cayford, who grew up steeped in Keyes’ stories ...18 hours ago
Consumers are being warned that some exotic mushrooms being sold in supermarkets and high-end restaurants as 'New Zealand grown' are being actually imported from China, a local grower says. ...18 hours ago
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jade Sheen, Associate Professor, School of Psychology, Deakin University Curious Kids is a series for children. If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer, send it to curiouskids@theconversation.edu.au You ...19 hours ago
In the same week as Steve Brooks placed an unorthodox election ad for National his fringe lending business has called for looser restrictions on its activities.The businessman behind a bizarre unauthorised ad for the National Party runs a payday lending ...20 hours ago
By Rosalie Nongebatu in Suva Three journalism students from The University of the South Pacific in Suva have been selected to participate in a week-long environmental reporting project in the Solomon Islands. After a stringent selection process, students Rosalie ...20 hours ago
Muzza’s Pies is a beloved Mt Albert institution, responsible for curing a million hangovers. Alex Casey pays tribute to the shop that got her through her teenage years.We were all perched on the bench outside Muzza’s Pies, a motley group ...21 hours ago
The beleaguered Gabriel Makhlouf will be replaced by Australian economist and bureaucrat Dr Caralee McLiesh. ...21 hours ago
Tongan journalist, publisher and broadcaster Kalafi Moala talks to Pacific Media Watch project’s Sri Krishnamurthi. Video: Sri Krishnamurthi/Blessen Tom By Sri Krishnamurthi After 30 years as chief editor and publisher of Tonga’s flagship Taimi ‘o Tonga newspaper, the iconic ...21 hours ago
Arthur Grimes looks at how putting the former government and current Government's approaches together would achieve significant improvements in areas in dire need of improvement. ...21 hours ago
A new book about the depiction of religion in New Zealand editorial cartoons reveals some disturbing truths.Last week the NZ Cartoon Archive at Wellington’s Alexander Turnbull Library published Mike Grimshaw’s Bishops, Boozers, Brethren & Burkas, which looks at religion in ...22 hours ago
Senior National MP Amy Adams will retire from politics in 2020, leaving the safe Selwyn seat up for grabs. ...22 hours ago
Civil Defence is on the way out, and the National Emergency Management Agency is on the way in. ...22 hours ago
Dance down memory lane with us to a time when the Māori showbands ruled supreme. After World War II, Māori concert parties became a huge attraction in Aotearoa, like the kapa haka groups we know and love today. Action songs and ...23 hours ago
Milk production for the New Zealand dairy season just ended was up by more than 2.4 percent on the season prior. ...24 hours ago
Over 2.8 million New Zealanders are signed up for Kiwisaver, but not many are aware of where that money is going. Weaponry, fossil fuels and gambling services are all being invested in from some of the most popular funds, and ...1 day ago
The government's proposals to make the banking system safer for customers might not be enough for New Zealanders struggling to save for their retirement, the opposition says. ...1 day ago
Gone by 2030!
Human extinction in 14 years?
Nah! Surely impossible?
Well, Guy McPherson seems to think so.
He believes we’ve entered a phase of rapid climate change, which will result in a 4 degrees C rise in temperature, and that humans have never existed beyond a 3.3 degree range above the average.
“The climate situation is much worse than I’ve led you to believe, and is accelerating far more rapidly than accounted for by models. Even the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention acknowledges, in a press release dated 6 June 2013, potentially lethal heat waves on the near horizon.”
“An increasing number of scientists agree that warming of 4 to 6 C causes a dead planet. And, they go on to say, we’ll be there much sooner than most people realize.”
“Director of the Central Intelligence Agency of the United States John Brennan delivered a speech 16 November 2015 at the Opening Session of the Global Security Forum 2015, held at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. He addressed climate change, and I apologize for his misogyny in these lines: “Mankind’s relationship with the natural world is aggravating these problems and is potential source of crisis itself. Last year was the warmest on record, and this year is on track to be even warmer. Extreme weather, along with public policies affecting food and water supplies, can worsen or create humanitarian crises. Of the most immediate concern, sharply reduced crop yields in multiple places simultaneously could trigger a shock in food prices with devastating effect, especially in already-fragile regions such as Africa, the Middle East and South Asia. Compromised access to food and water greatly increases the prospect for famine and deadly epidemics.”
http://guymcpherson.com/climate-chaos/see-how-far-weve-come/
(A very long article, but impeccably referenced.)
So, if this is the case, what can we expect in the next 14 or so years? All that follows is speculation: there is no way of knowing how much, or how little, may come true.
a) an increasing number of extreme weather events.
So, more droughts and, paradoxically, more floods. More heat waves and, perhaps, more severe hurricanes and cyclonic storms.
‘500 year floods’ will happen with increasing frequency, destroying crops and communities.
Severe and prolonged droughts will result in widespread crop failures.
Food shortages will occur in urban areas, resulting in riots and the breakdown of civil order. These events will be particularly acute where urbanisation is highly dense, such as in Western Europe, parts of North America, China and India.
b) an epidemic of infectious and deadly diseases
So, more infectious diseases and epidemics sweeping the world and killing millions of people.
Large areas of the tropical world will become disease-prone areas, with ‘no-go’ zones.
Agencies like NZ’s MFAT will warn people against travel to such areas, with a resulting collapse of tourism travel.
c) rising sea levels (and perhaps more rapidly than we think!)
http://www.musther.net/nzslr/
A fascinating series of maps showing NZ under various sea level scenarios. Rapid climate change and rapid sea level rises could overwhelm our efforts to keep ahead of the changes!
Billions of dollars worldwide spent on futile attempts to stop or retard coastal erosion.
The disappearance of island nations such as the Maldives and Kiribati, and of huge parts of countries like Bangladesh and the Netherlands.
Internal migration in many countries world wide, including NZ, away from low-lying coastal areas.
d) an increasing number of crop failures.
“Large-scale crop failures like the one that caused the recent Russian wheat crisis are likely to become more common under climate change due to an increased frequency of extreme weather events, a new study shows.”
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/10/101007092817.htm
Increasing famines due to crop failures, with millions of deaths.
The rise and rise in the number of climate refugees as millions attempt to flee famines.
The rise of economic nationalism as countries close borders to refugees.
The collapse of tourism and its replacement by the movement of people seeking a place where existence is at least possible.
New Zealand is already perceived as a place where the worst effects of climate change might be possibly avoided: expect to see increasing numbers of ‘boat people’ [and 1%ers] trying to get here.
A resulting collapse in ‘commercial or corporate’ farming and the revision to more immediate ‘food’ crops, such as market gardens.
e) temperatures simply too hot for humans to survive.
“Extreme heat waves cause the most harm among elderly people and young children. City dwellers are at particular risk because of elevated temperatures in cities, known as the “urban heat island effect” due to the magnifying effect of paved surfaces and the lack of tree cover.
In the United States, an average of 400 deaths per year are directly related to heat, and an estimated 1,800 die from illnesses made worse by heat – including heat exhaustion, heat stroke, cardiovascular disease, and kidney disease. Deadly heat waves swept across most of the nation in 2006, hitting California the hardest; the state saw an additional 16,000 emergency room visits during the two-week heat wave.”
http://www.nrdc.org/health/climate/heat.asp
So, summers simply too hot to be comfortable, with resulting deaths from heat stroke and other complications. Large parts of the world too hot to be outside during the day!
f) and by about 2020, expect to see the 1%ers begin to build climate domes to protect themselves from the consequences of their own actions!
The collapse of welfare agencies such as those associated with the United Nations – catastrophes just too big to manage or alleviate.
The subsequent collapse of globalisation and the retreat of nation states to within their own borders in an effort to feed their own people.
The rise of extremism in all its various religious and political manifestations.
Do I believe Guy McPherson? I desperately don’t want to accept his model. My God, there are kids born yesterday who will only be just 14 or so when the shit hits the fan – though it is unlikely to be that dramatic. What I do think is that life will be an increasingly difficult struggle for all humans in the near future.
The NZ government must, first of all, accept that climate change is real and that its consequences should NOT be minimised or dismissed. Second, that plans, or at least discussions, should be initiated to at least begin to prepare for the worst possible scenario.
If Guy McPherson is right, we haven’t got much time left!
Most human beings are already struggling, have been forever, and its not only due to climate
There are many more pressing threats, than the uncertain outcomes of ‘climate change’
Posts like this ignore appear to ignore the wider picture, entirely
McPherson I think cherry picks his data in a very complex science. He also creates fear based responses like geo engineering which would only compound our problems.
Geo-engineering has been developed & ‘tested’ over many decades
It was written about in mainstream science journals back in the 1950s
+1. In the past when I’ve listened to him, he comes across as someone stuck in their own version of The One True Way. He believes that humans are going to go extinct and then he presents that as fact instead of his belief. That’s dangerous, not least because if people believe him why would they change? If it’s too late, why go through the pain of shifting to a post-carbon life?
There is no doubt our situation is precarious, and we are fast running out of time. MacPherson is part of the problem not part of the solution. Tony, if you are considering he might be right, what does that mean for you?
(and is MacPherson still flying around the planet and using more than his fair share of fossil fuels to promote his work?).
I do not wish to think he’s right!
But, I also don’t think we should minimise the problem.
If Labour can run a conference on the Future of Work, which is important and worthwhile, then perhaps the Greens could sponsor a conference on the Future of the Planet!
At the very least, we should be talking strategies/thinking of ways to actively combat climate change – certainly not holding oil exploration meetings!
I note he is accused of cherry picking and it is potentially disastrous to implement unproven geo engineering responses, however, his arguments are not fundamentally refuted and it highlights the fact that what is being done is essentially nothing….is that a logical response?
Of course not. But what MacPherson is doing doesn’t help. If it’s too late, why would we change?
Well, Why are we not changing then.
Cause i look outside my window, and i don’t see the world changing. I see lip service being paid, i see trees being cut down, i see cow shit in water, fertilizers used to grow stuff where naturally it would never grow, i see bio-engineering our food is commonplace and I in the meantime the world is heating up, tick tick tick…..and the buckets flows over.
My point in all of that, if species are to go extinct due to global warming, coastal flooding, acidification of the oceans and the likes, why would we human assume that we can ‘science’ our way out of it, and why would we assume that we would not ‘go extinct’. On the ground of whats? Our intellectual superiority? Look where that got us too, ….
I don’t assume any of those things, and neither do many of the people I know.
I see things changing. People are far more aware of the problem with cc than even five years ago, and people are starting to get out there and do something. It’s not fast enough, but it’s not nothing either.
Yup watch ‘chasing ice’. A former cc sceptic scientist documenting glacial retreats.
If glaciers are the canary in the climate coalmine then the bird seems to have flown.
I would suggest that it appears the worlds governments may have concluded exactly that (@Weka)
I’m not so sure about that. I think it’s more likely they’re still in denial.
I would say good climate scientists have got better things to do than debate with a guy who says we’re all going to die within 15 years.
Lol..except some “good climate scientists” have supported his conclusions….it appears to me he is simply at the worst case scenario end of the impact spectrum.
If you consider that over 50% of the worlds population now live in cities and have something like 6 days food security then 15 years is a very long time…there are many weaknesses within our global model that could conceivably cause a rapid decline….and there is no denying the massive enviromental changes occurring as we speak, many already exceeding the predictions of the recently developed models.
Thomas Mann thinks McPherson is a bit extreme. This is worth watching too…and it doesn’t pull any punches.
‘Understanding climate change: A conversation with Michael Mann’
https://www.rt.com/shows/big-picture/321538-global-warming-climate-change/
“Thom goes over the basics of what global warming is, what’s causing it, and how we can stop it with climate scientist Michael Mann, author of the book “Dire Predictions: Understanding Climate Change.”
“it appears to me he is simply at the worst case scenario end of the impact spectrum.”
I would have way less of a problem with MacPherson if he was honest about that and presented his theory as a theory rather than fact.
An outstanding summary from Eve Ensler of how Trump represents the inevitable outcome of a malignant hatred fuelled political system
That’s (soon to be) Sir John Key and his legacy will be the only four term leader elected under MMP
Nightmares are free, Puckish Rogue
that should kill the reputation of the Queen’s honours system dead
… and cement it as a cronyist list of male crooks…a list made up by cronyist male crooks
…now PR get out your cooking sherry and have drink to that
If it happened that would be his only legacy.
Look on Key’s works ye mighty and despair.
Sheesh crushing wins by Sanders.
Reading more, it looks like Arizona Primary is rightly being called a Disaster. Election called while people still voting, democrats given independent voting forms, the fix in for Latino, and a really poorly run vote.
Not that it means anything – the establishment are going with Hilary. She is there only hope.
Utah
Democratic result: Bernie Sanders crushed Hillary Clinton, winning about 80 percent of the vote compared to her 20 percent or so. Again, a Sanders win was expected, but the extent of the landslide he got is surprising.
Idaho
Democratic result: Bernie Sanders’s enormous win in Idaho nearly matched his win in Utah — he got 78 percent of the vote to Clinton’s mere 21 percent. When all of Tuesday’s results are combined, Sanders will likely pick up somewhat more delegates than Clinton. But he’ll still trail her in pledged delegates overall by 300 or so.
http://www.vox.com/2016/3/22/11284564/when-do-polls-close-results-utah-arizona-idaho
http://usuncut.com/politics/bernie-blasts-arizona-voting-disaster-calls-the-fiasco-a-disgrace/
What’s the story with the independents? Is that people not registered with either party but who should be able to vote in the primaries somehow?
If I understand it right, if you are given independent papers, that’s all you can vote for.
You then can’t vote for a democrat or a republican.
hmm, ok I’ve misunderstood then. I thought I saw someone in Arizona saying they were refused a vote because they were an independent.
Yes they would not have been allowed a vote if they were registered as an Independent.
Arizona runs a “closed” system for the Presidential primary.
http://www.fairvote.org/primaries#presidential_primary_or_caucus_type_by_state
If you run your cursor over the map you will get the state details.
There’s a lot of different permutations on who can vote in which primaries – way too many to try to cover in comments here.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Primary_election
Ironic…
Syrians rescue German far-right candidate from car crash wreckage
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/mar/22/syrians-rescue-german-far-right-stefan-jagsch-from-car-crash-wreckage?utm_source=esp&utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=GU+Today+main+NEW+H&utm_term=163258&subid=13842748&CMP=EMCNEWEML6619I2
I saw the news article on TV last week, and reminded me of a visit to kiwiblog last year, nearly all the pundits were scathing of Germany taking 800k Syrian refugees, saying that it was a ticking time bomb.
Another news article about the refugees, comparing Germany and Denmark (who took only 700 or so), that Germany had received the bulk of skilled refugees, the doctors and engineers, and the refugees that went to Denmark (who legislated to take the assets of refugees) received the ones with no skills and dependent on the state.
“Rockefeller family charity to withdraw all investments in fossil fuel companies
Started by John D Rockefeller – who made his fortune from oil – the fund singled out ExxonMobil, calling the world’s largest oil company ‘morally reprehensible’”
http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/mar/23/rockefeller-fund-divestment-fossil-fuel-companies-oil-coal-climate-change
Technology to replace jobs.
This headline is no surprise. Politicians and the captains of industry promised us golden times from the ’80s, to expect more leisure time and expect a boom in service industries, as the microchips replaced the majority of jobs as we know/knew them.
Of course, the reality has been redundancies and a general derision of the now growing pool of unemployed by those same captains of industry and their cheerleaders (conservative governments world wide.)
So here’s a thought. Every time a company installs a new computer system, it must declare how many human positions it replaces and the company must be levied the equivalent in PAYE losses for the lifetime of that system and any subsequent system developments.
@Logie(7
If the government had a clue they would be using Technology to create jobs, not replace jobs!
We could have a silicon valley here, we could have incredible engineering here, look at climate change solutions and patent them, etc etc.
Instead the National government uses low wages and lazy immigration to keep making more stuff, cheaper and with government subsidised pollution and exporting it to someone else who adds the value.
QFT
This is what I mean by increased productivity developing our economy. It’s also this automation that kills economies of scale.
saveNZ
“If the government had a clue they would be using Technology to create jobs, not replace jobs!”
The National govt has never been interested in Job creation, that’s a job for private industry, they just want to facilitate the businesses through low wages and conditions, only problem there is that the this model only serves to increase unemployment with less revenue circulating through the economy.
There hasn’t been a National govt in the last 30 years that has provided low unemployment, high unemployment is a National party strategy, keep the serfs down.
I take it that you actually want to prevent that leisure time and improved living standards that automation promise us?
I want the technologies that are increasing the dividends being enjoyed by shareholders) to support the increasing pool of “the great unwashed” that they are creating.
Those being made redundant by automation are still being told to “get on your bike” and look for work by those very same shareholders.
But your policy won’t do that. Instead it’ll force us to more hard labour.
Yes, I’m aware of that. The problem is neither the workers nor the automation but the rentier capitalists. Which means that we need to get rid of the rentier capitalists.
+100…YUS….and artists
cheers draco, should be compulsary viewing for anyone opposed to the ubi.
went to the presentation he gave in wellys for the fabian society.
it aint a left or right thing.
it aint even an economic thing.
it’s a tool for reducing inequality and perhaps the true way that a rising tide lifts all boats.
+100 DTB and gsays… Yes ( now that I have had time to view this, and not be distracted by cats)
… absolutely agree this is compulsory viewing especially for young people , women in unpaid caring work, the unemployed, artists…and what is left of the working class
…in fact everyone who is not part of the 0.01 % crooks who own the wealth and control the people and the planet
Professor Guy Standing ( Professor for Economic Security , University of Bath) is an articulate advocate for why the precariat absolutely requires a basic income …and for a redistribution of wealth
He is really the equivalent of the old trade unionist and socialist…calling passionately for a return to an egalitarian, compassionate, just and humanitarian society…dignity and freedom for ALL
The fatal attraction of rats and cats,and the limitations under the policeman’s hats.
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/03/160323142328.htm
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1690701/
interesting …but does this mean that human males are more likely to have toxoplasmosis?…because they are overwhelmingly the ones who have the road rage in my experience
‘People with rage disorder twice as likely to have latent toxoplasmosis parasite infection’
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Road_rage
…”A number of studies have found that individuals with road rage were predominantly young (33 years of age on average) and male (96.6%).[3]”
Sansone, Randy A.; Sansone, Lori A. (July 2010). “Road Rage: What’s Driving It?”. Psychiatry 7 (7): 14–18. Retrieved 2015-11-02.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2922361/
Chooky
…”A number of studies have found that individuals with road rage were predominantly young (33 years of age on average) and male (96.6%).[3]”
I had one last weekend, the guy stopped at a Stop sign in front of me and got out his car and tried to give me an earful, he falls directly into the group listed above (33 and male), he was an incompetent, inconsiderate driver who thought the road belongs to him alone, his girl friend got out of the car, I could see the embarrassment on her face as she gestured an apology for her boyfriends behavior, and asked him to get back in the car.
Iv’e had several other incidents on the road, and each time it’s been a guy about 33, they seem to have serious anger issues.
re..”a guy about 33″…yes I think so…at the invitation of the lawyer concerned, I once watched a prosecuting lawyer in Melbourne make the case against an Australian male in this age group….the accused had killed someone with a bottle in a fit of road rage…he would have been in his late twenties early thirties…and in my experience they do seem to be the most impatient and inconsiderate drivers… who speed, overtake dangerously and cut people off…in the USA my friend tells me you don’t engage with them or give them the fingers because they are likely to get a gun out of the glove box
…i guess we are rather better off in New Zealand
mmmeeeeoooow
‘Cuckoo for Kitty Cats? You Should Be! Health Benefits of Cats’
http://www.crazycatladyconcoctions.com/health-benefits-of-cats/
Free publicity for the National Party courtesy of the fuzz.
“Police are investigating a complaint that Whanganui MP Chester Borrows drove his car into an anti-TPP protester”
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/political/299816/mp-accused-of-driving-into-protester
At minimum dangerous driving. Obvious assault whether physical contact made or not. Assault with weapon. This is very serious.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11611165
No it’s not. This is exactly the outcome she was after.
Who is “she” ?
Hayden please have some sense. The video evidence establishes that the car driver could have stopped. It shows that the car driver did not stop. Intended action. Did not stop. Resulting assault with weapon. Serious. Don’t fret……it just shows Man-Child PM’s “higher standards”.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/7415536/More-than-a-lawman
The cabinet minister was Bill Birch. Have any labour Party done it too?
The key TMM…….driver didn’t see him. Look at the video here. The car nearly stopped, then proceeded. Having seen the people Driver nearly stopped the car. Driver then stopped stopping the car. Thereby wilfully applying force to the person of another. Mr Car Driver has no right to icebreaker his way through human beings, using a weapon and causing injury. Ensuring Paula Benefit’s timely delivery to airport is not a special reason in terms of any applicable law. This is very serious offending ! Demonstrable of Key’s “higher standards” governance.
This ain’t far from Trump’s campaign manager roughing up some female reporter.
Paula: “Ooh look protesters……quickly, run them over !”
Chester: “Right on future leader, with you all the way !”
This infamy done with Paula Benefit in front passenger seat. More and more they are caracitures of themselves. A power clique rotting away…….
Rotting away, polling nearly 50%.
And stand for nothing…apart from greed.
Which only translates to about 1/3 of the country when you take into account non voters… who are actually people too ya know.
+1
The Herald allows Katherine Rich to pimp for Big Sugar.
How does she sleep at night, shilling for greedy corporates who care more about profit that people?
Does she have a conscience?
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/opinion/news/article.cfm?c_id=466&objectid=11610731
Whatever…….the masters of the universe they bloatedly perceive themselves as. Rotting away. Adored by slimey little people below them who luv the E! Channel of it. It’s not completely unlike the Trump/Trumpites picture.
Just listen to yourself mate!! Have you had your pills today?
Nah nah Hayden bro’……..never meant to say you’re with the slime bro’…….nah nah no way bro’. Eckshully…….why fucking not ?
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/political/299770/mayoral-candidate-pulled-up-over-signs
Right wingers are incabable of winning an honest contest it would seem.
Perhaps she gets her arrogance from the Slippery one.
With Easter almost upon us, here’s an interesting fact:
The Fairtrade label on a Dairy Milk bar is no guarantee it does not contain cocoa grown and harvested using exploitative child labour.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/78235708/cadbury-no-longer-offers-fairtrade-dairy-milk-easter-eggs
Sounds like false advertising to me.
Cadbury and mondelez are massive enough that if they made a decision to genuinely go to fair trade cocoa, it would shift the entire market, FT production would soar, and FT cocoa would become the norm, not the minority.
And even with half measures, they reckon they can’t monitor their logistics chain to keep the two seperate? Yeah, right…
“Sounds like false advertising to me.”
Indeed. Very misleading. But, evidently legal.
Pretty good rule of thumb, if a big company is a doing ethics on the side, it’s unlikely to be ethical. Same applies to free range chooks too, companies that have a free range brand and conventional brand. Better to buy from the people who genuinely give a shit.
Cadbury in the UK,
Bought a 79p Dairy Milk? You just paid more than @CadburyUK paid in corporation tax for a whole year. #taxavoidance
From the stuff link
“First and foremost, farmers must begin to make a better living from cocoa by increasing their productivity,” Melo said.
Says it all really.
Soooo…. the FBI needs the Israelis to crack an iphone but NSA can do it anyways…does this mean the FBI and the NSA are not talking to each other ….and does it mean the Israelis control NSA?
‘FBI using Israeli firm to crack San Bernardino iPhone without Apple’
https://www.rt.com/usa/336948-fbi-israel-crack-iphone/
…but Snowden who worked for NSA argues they can do it already:
‘That’s horse sh*t!’: FBI can already unlock iPhone without Apple’s help – Snowden
https://www.rt.com/usa/335054-snowden-apple-fbi-fight/
…and from Kathryn Ryan and Robbie Allan RNZ
… “what’s all this fuss about unlocking the terrorist’s iPhone?”
http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/ninetonoon/audio/201794523/new-technology-commentator-robbie-allan
Bloody Oz racism…how dare they ?!…time to boycott OZ banks!
‘Detainee accuses prison guards of assault’
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/299840/detainee-accuses-prison-guards-of-assault
“Former New Zealand soldier Ko Haapu, who has arrived back in New Zealand, says he was assaulted by guards while in detention in Australia.”
BBC told to stop reporting/filming in UK parliament buildings a protest against disability cuts,
Poor old David Cameron, he’s so knackered he has to go to Spain to recuperate from the disastrous week he’s had.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/david-cameron/12202655/David-Cameron-flies-to-Spain-after-a-tough-week-telling-his-own-MPs-he-needs-more-time-to-think.html
Thanks ScottGN-
To paraphrase ,’ Poor old John Key, he’s so knackered he has to go to Hawaii? to recuperate from the disastrous week he’s had.’
Someone tell Key that the reason for the big poll number in the second flag vote was nothing to do with people being interested in change.
It was the majority telling him that they are sick of his corporate driven lifestyle.
No-one gives a monkeys what his cronies think. They don’t give a hoot what the sports personalities think. Colin Meads and the like have had their day. They have been rewarded with their honours and that should have been enough.
Congratulations to the Kiwi battler.
If Russian wheat crops have failed so badly and if they continue to do so maybe there is hope for dairy to convert back to wheat on the canterbury plains…
This.
In 1976, Republican Governor Jay Hammond started Alaska’s sovereign wealth fund (SWF), which has come to be called the Alaska Permanent Fund. The way it works is Alaska has a big pile of money that it uses to buy up the means of production (sometimes called stocks and bonds). Those investments yield returns and revenue for the state. Right now, Alaska plows that revenue into its universal basic income (UBI) program, which is called the Permanent Fund Dividend. The way it works is the state sends a check to every single Alaskan each year. Last year, it was $900, but in better years, it has been as high as $2000. For a family of four, that’s a $3,600 and $8,000 income boost respectively.
The Alaska communist story gets more interesting than that though. The way Alaska builds the principal of the fund is in line with another of Myerson’s proposals: take back the land. You see, the oil wealth in Alaska happened to reside underneath public land. Instead of doing the red-blooded American thing and just giving all of that natural wealth that nobody creates away to oil companies, Alaska held on to its ownership and collects royalties from the oil. Those royalties are plowed into its SWF. So what you have in Alaska is a state that is leveraging publicly-owned natural resources to build a SWF that pays out a UBI. Or as conservatives on twitter call it: a communist hellscape.
http://www.demos.org/blog/1/5/14/spectre-haunting-alaska%E2%80%94-spectre-communism