The mind-bending probability of our existence | Sean B. Carroll: Full Interview

 It could have gone very differently...

The mind-bending probability of our existence | Sean B. Carroll: Full Interview | Big Think

What if your existence hinged on a single cosmic accident that took place millions of years ago? Biologist Sean B. Carroll examines the chain of events that made humanity’s domination as a species possible.

From the specific chemistry of an asteroid to Earth’s shifting atmosphere, Carroll unpacks how a series of fortunate events made our planet the perfect cradle for mammals.

...and, as for your individual existence once humans exist? You are one it 70 trillion!

00:00:00 Part 1: The role of chance in the creation of life

00:00:16 What are the odds that life exists on any given planet?

00:00:48 What developments led to life on Earth?

00:01:58 Where do you begin our origin story?

00:04:51 What is unique about the last 3 million years on Earth?

00:06:04 What mass extinctions has Earth faced?

00:07:33 What events allowed humans to flourish?

00:15:37 Why was the K-Pg asteroid so devastating?

00:18:25 How did life on Earth rebound from the K-Pg asteroid?

00:19:57 How much have we evolved since the age of hunter-gatherers?

00:24:16 Are we lucky to be here?

00:27:20 Part 2: The resilience of nature.

00:27:30 Would nature heal itself if humans ceased to exist?

00:29:36 How much of an impact have humans had on Earth?

00:33:16 Can we think of Earth as an organism?

00:37:16 What are the “Serengeti rules?”

00:39:48 What is the leading cause of biodiversity loss?

00:46:56 How resilient is nature?

00:51:12 What did COVID teach us about nature’s ability to rebound?

00:53:09 Why is biodiversity critical to human flourishing?

00:54:04 What can we do to protect both us and the planet?

01:00:39 Is there time for the planet to rebound?

01:04:42 PART 3: The evolution of human experience.

01:04:52 Has the quality of human life improved over time?

01:06:27 What impact has medical science had on humanity?

01:08:23 How have agricultural advances changed lives?

01:10:12 Why is it important to understand the rules of life?

01:09:14 How are our bodies regulated?

#environment #nature #biodiversity #ecology

IPCC climate change report calls for urgent action to phase out fossil fuels – as it happened | UN report on global warming carries life-or-death warning

UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change says coal-fired electricity must end by 2050 if we are to limit global warming rises to 1.5C

• Full report: We have 12 years to limit climate change catastrophe, warns UN
• Overwhelmed by climate change? Here’s what you can do

more:  IPCC climate change report calls for urgent action to phase out fossil fuels – as it happened | Environment | The Guardian

Preventing an extra single degree of heat could make a life-or-death difference in the next few decades for multitudes of people and ecosystems on this fast-warming planet, an international panel of scientists reported Sunday. But they provide little hope the world will rise to the challenge.

UN report on global warming carries life-or-death warning | phys.org

10,000 Year Clock | The Long Now Foundation - Fostering Long-Term Thinking

Clock One: Winder & Main Differential from The Long Now Foundation

The Long Now Foundation was established in 01996 to foster long-term thinking and responsibility in the framework of the next 10,000 years

Designed by Danny Hillis, the Clock is designed to run for ten millennia with minimal maintenance and interruption. The Clock is powered by mechanical energy harvested from sunlight as well as the people that visit it. The primary materials used in the Clock are marine grade 316 stainless steel, titanium and dry running ceramic ball bearings. The entire mechanism will be installed in an underground facility in west Texas.

The Long Now Foundation - Fostering Long-Term Thinking

turning desert into forest :)

An amazing forest in the desert

Forests are springing up in the Egyptian desert. But they're not mirages. Scientists have found a way to grow trees there using sewage

.

Te Urewera national park has been granted legal personhood, meaning nobody owns it, and it has the same rights and powers as a citizen

Te Urewera national park has been granted legal personhood, meaning nobody owns it. The park has the same rights and powers as a citizen. The ruling could set a new precedent for land rights and conservation around the world.


original post on Facebook:

The Guardian

September 3 at 2:20am 

Economics is a form of brain damage

original post on Facebook

David Suzuki on Economics

Geneticist and climate activist David Suzuki explains how conventional economics a form of brain damage in this clip from the 2011 documentary "Surviving Progress." (available on Netflix)

Can we feed 10 billion people on organic farming alone? | Guardian Sustainable Business | The Guardian

In 1971, then US Secretary of Agriculture Earl Butz uttered these unsympathetic words: “Before we go back to organic agriculture in this country, somebody must decide which 50 million Americans we are going to let starve or go hungry.” Since then, critics have continued to argue that organic agriculture is inefficient, requiring more land than conventional agriculture to yield the same amount of food. Proponents have countered that increasing research could reduce the yield gap, and organic agriculture generates environmental, health and socioeconomic benefits that can’t be found with conventional farming.

The flower petals and the labels represent different sustainability metrics that compare organic farming with conventional farming. They illustrate that organic systems can better balance the four areas of sustainability: production (orange), environment (blue), economics (red) and social wellbeing (green). Illustration: John Reganold and Jonathan Wachter

Organic agriculture occupies only 1% of global agricultural land, making it a relatively untapped resource for one of the greatest challenges facing humanity: producing enough food for a population that could reach 10 billion by 2050, without the extensive deforestation and harm to the wider environment.

That’s the conclusion my doctoral student Jonathan Wachter and I reached in reviewing 40 years of science and hundreds of scientific studies comparing the long term prospects of organic and conventional farming. The study, Organic Agriculture in the 21st Century, published in Nature Plants, is the first to compare organic and conventional agriculture across the four main metrics of sustainability identified by the US National Academy of Sciences: be productive, economically profitable, environmentally sound and socially just. Like a chair, for a farm to be sustainable, it needs to be stable, with all four legs being managed so they are in balance...

more: Can we feed 10 billion people on organic farming alone? | Guardian Sustainable Business | The Guardian 

Colombia's organic products set sail without a carbon footprint | The City Paper Bogotá

What’s the best way to ship premium fair-trade mountain-grown organic Colombian coffee to the rest of the world? By emission-free, fossil-fuel-free sailing ship – of course!

And that’s exactly what the ‘Tres Hombres’ have set sail to do.

The Tres Hombres is a 32-meter brigantine sailing ship that docked in Santa Marta harbor recently. The tres hombres on board were loading her up with organic cocoa, Caribbean rum, and organic Colombian coffee for shipment across the sea to Europe.

The sailing ship is not a Windjammer-style ‘cruise ship’, but rather a full-blown transport vessel, using the same ‘clean energy’ that sailors have used for centuries – the wind...

more: Colombia's organic products set sail without a carbon footprint | The City Paper Bogotá

▶ The Entire World Needs To Hear This | Woody Harrelson

The Entire World Needs To Hear This - YouTube

Published on May 1, 2016 by Awareness Act

A Lesson to the World by Woody Harrelson

9.21 PEOPLES CLIMATE MARCH, NYC

This September, world leaders are coming to New York City for a historic summit on climate change – and we’ll be waiting for them in the streets. Join us.

This is an invitation to change everything.

In September, world leaders are coming to New York City for a UN summit on the climate crisis. UN Secretary­ General Ban Ki-­moon is urging governments to support an ambitious global agreement to dramatically reduce global warming pollution..

With our future on the line and the whole world watching, we’ll take a stand to bend the course of history. We’ll take to the streets to demand the world we know is within our reach: a world with an economy that works for people and the planet; a world safe from the ravages of climate change; a world with good jobs, clean air and water, and healthy communities.

To change everything, we need everyone on board.
Sunday, September 21 in New York City. Join us.

Sign up now  – and read Our Power Campaign’s powerful call to action, Bill McKibben’s invitation in Rolling Stone, or Eddie Bautista’s piece in Earth Island Journal.

http://peoplesclimatemarch.org/
https://www.facebook.com/peoplesclimatemarch

Join the nuclear-free, carbon-free contingent September 21!
http://peoplesclimate.org/nonuclearpower/
https://www.facebook.com/groups/nukefreeclimatefreemarch/

see also: Our Power Campaign • People’s Climate March 2014

whats up: 9.21 PEOPLES CLIMATE MARCH, NYC: nuclear-free, carbon-free contingent | Nuclear-Free Carbon-Free

9.21 PEOPLES CLIMATE MARCH - NYC :: via No Nukes Nirs (NIRS on facebook)-
People's Climate March: nuclear-free, carbon-free contingent
- 350.org's Bill McKibben on nuclear power and climate. "Nuclear power is counterproductive, for economic reasons alone, in dealing with our climate crisis. Clean energy solutions are cheaper and faster to implement."

Join the nuclear-free, carbon-free contingent September 21!
http://peoplesclimate.org/nonuclearpower/

People's Climate March: nuclear-free, carbon-free contingent (facebook)
https://www.facebook.com/groups/nukefreeclimatefreemarch/

Nuclear Power and Climate: Why Nukes Can't Save the Planet.
NIRS' basic 1 sheet factsheet: Perfect for downloading, printing, and distributing (pdf format).http://www.nirs.org/factsheets/nukesclimatefact614.pdf

Just $10 will buy a flag for nuke-free contingent to People's Climate March Sept 21. http://t.co/IEvTTwR2fX

PEOPLE'S CLIMATE MARCH--NUCLEAR-FREE, CARBON-FREE CONTINGENT - NIRS

Nuclear Information and Resource Service - NIRS

whats up: NUCLEAR POWER AND CLIMATE: WHY NUKES CAN'T SAVE THE PLANET | PETITION: Take nuclear subsidies out of EPA carbon rules | CREDO Mobilize

whats up: #BustTheMyth
you can't nuke global warming!

WHATS UP

RC'S NUCLEAR BLOG • NO NUKES! | RE-TOOL NOW

WHATS UP RC'S NUCLEAR BLOG • NO NUKES! | RE-TOOL NOW

whats up: 9.21 PEOPLES CLIMATE MARCH, NYC: nuclear-free, carbon-free contingent | Nuclear-Free Carbon-Free

whats up: Decarbonising the world energy system without nuclear - The Ecologist

NUCLEAR POWER ADVOCATES BELIEVE THE TECHNOLOGY IS ESSENTIAL TO BUILDING A FOSSIL FUEL FREE WORLD ENERGY SYSTEM. IN FACT IT IS OPTIONAL, WRITES DAVID ELLIOTT - AND NOT EVEN VERY HELPFUL. EFFICIENCY AND THE 'NEW RENEWABLES' CAN DO THE JOB FASTER, AND AT MUCH LOWER COST.

We can head for a near 100% renewable future should we wish. The key questions are how quickly can, should or must we do that?

Renewable energy is doing well around the world - supplying around 22% of global electricity.

In 2013, the world achieved 1,560 gigawatts (GW) of renewable electricity generation capacity - almost five times more than the 331 GW of nuclear generation capacity. And where nuclear power supplied 11% of the world's electricity, renewables about twice as much.

Hydro is the biggest electricity supplying renewable, with around 1,000GW of generation capacity in place. Wind comes next at 318GW, while PV solar is at around 139GW globally. And on the heat side, along with biomass use, solar thermal is now at 326GW, much of it in China.

Will renewables continue to grow? Globally, the recession hit all investment, and total global investment in 'clean energy' of all sorts fell 9% in 2013 to $254bn, following a 9% drop in 2012, according to Bloomberg New Energy Finance.

Renewables take 72% share of new generating capacity

But within that, renewables have held up quite well. The REN21 group says 2013 marked the sixth consecutive year in which renewables had the majority share of new electricity generating capacity, with a 72% share in 2013...

more: Decarbonising the world energy system without nuclear - The Ecologist

whats up: #BustTheMyth
you can't nuke global warming!

WHATS UP

RC'S NUCLEAR BLOG • NO NUKES! | RE-TOOL NOW

WHATS UP RC'S NUCLEAR BLOG • NO NUKES! | RE-TOOL NOW

It’s an energy breakthrough for Long Island!

by Karl Grossman

It’s an energy breakthrough for Long Island!

The recent action by the Town of East Hampton setting a goal of 2020 for meeting 100 percent of the town’s electricity needs with renewable energy sources led by solar and wind power opens a new energy chapter for Long Island.

“Making the switch to clean energy is just the right thing to do. Both for the environment and for keeping more money in the local economy and creating jobs here,” stated Town Supervisor Larry Cantwell.

“It takes guts for elected officials to take bold action like this,” commented Gordian Raacke, executive director of Renewable Energy Long Island, based in East Hampton, after the unanimous town board vote. Raacke, also on the Town Energy Sustainability Committee, said the board essentially declared: “We, the people of East Hampton, will take action on climate change and at the same time we’ll keep more of our energy dollars here in the local economy.”

East Hampton will be offering a “showcase” for the “rest of the island and the rest of the country,” said Raacke. “It will be showing that we have all the energy solutions we need—and all that’s necessary is the political will. If East Hampton can do it, the rest of the island and the rest of the country can do it.”

It’s a breakthrough for Long Island and, indeed, New York State for an area to move to getting 100 percent of its electricity from safe, clean, renewable energy sources. But similar initiatives are happening elsewhere nationally and globally.

more: It’s an energy breakthrough for Long Island! | LIpolitics.com : Long Island's Political Network

Why Owning Your Own Power Plant Might Not Be Crazy | Rocky Mountain Institute

It’s been three months since we released The Economics of Grid Defection exploring when off-grid solar-plus-battery systems could reach economic parity with retail electric service.  These systems could become competitive with retail electric service within the next decade for many commercial customers and for many residential customers in the decade thereafter. Since the release of our results, the industry has been abuzz with follow-on commentary considering the implications for utilities, consumers, and third-party service providers.

Of course, favorable economics do not equate to adoption. Just because customers could defect doesn’t mean they will. For the individual customers actually considering these investments many other factors come into play, such as performance risk, hassle/convenience factor, and simply the plain, easy inertia of continuing to get their power as they always have.

Even so, it’s not that far-fetched to imagine a day when large segments of customers choose to go mostly or even entirely off-grid with clean, quiet, distributed solar-plus-battery systems. In fact, could owning your own power plant become as convenient and practical—if not quite as ubiquitous—as the consumer appliances and electronics already so commonplace that we take them for granted in our daily lives—a refrigerator, a clothes dryer, or a computer?

more >> Why Owning Your Own Power Plant Might Not Be Crazy | Rocky Mountain Institute

what next: #RE_TOOL NOW

GreenWorld | News, Views, & Musings for a Nuclear-Free, Carbon-Free future

GreenWorld is published by Nuclear Information and Resource Service (NIRS,http://www.nirs.org). As you might expect, we will be covering nuclear power in all its manifestations and issues: nuclear reactors, old and new; radioactive waste; uranium and the front end of the nuclear fuel chain, the effects of radiation, and more. We make no effort to shroud our position: NIRS was founded in 1978 to work with grassroots groups and individuals across the world for the speediest possible end to nuclear power. In short, we’re against it–and for good reason: the facts show that it is a dangerous, dirty and expensive way to produce electricity, among other drawbacks.

But it’s not, of course, enough to be simply against something. If nuclear power were the only way to generate electricity, the facts might look differently. Context matters. Electricity is a necessity, and we’re not Luddites. For that matter, no one who publishes an internet blog could seriously claim such a title anyway. Fortunately, there are many ways to generate electricity, and increasingly many ways to store and distribute electricity. Some, like coal, are also dangerous and dirty. We’re against those too.

What we’re for, what we strive for, is a clean, sustainable, affordable energy future; one that we encapsulate in the phrase “nuclear-free, carbon-free.” That means renewable energy, especially solar and wind, but also geothermal in appropriate locations, and some types of biomass–though certainly not the industrial, forest-clearing, polluting technologies that currently encompass far too much of what is termed “biomass” these days. It means energy efficiency and distributed generation; energy storage too, which is becoming increasingly practical on almost a daily basis.

As we move further into the 21st century, it’s clear we are beginning to develop entirely new models of electricity production and distribution. The model that initially served well to electrify the nation and much of the world last century, that relied on large “baseload” power plants with their electricity distributed through centralized electric utilities private and public to homes and businesses, is growing obsolete, as are the technologies–nuclear, coal and the like–that formed the basis for the model. Too much electricity–about two-thirds of that generated–is simply wasted as heat or on long-distance power lines. Too much carbon is emitted into the air, endangering our entire planet. Too much radioactive waste is created and radiation routinely released into our air and water. There are better ways to meet our planet’s need for power.

We’d like to say that the sustainable energy future we envision is inevitable. And in the long run–if indeed our planet still has a long run to go despite the best efforts of some to destroy it–it probably is inevitable. But the electric utility industry is large and powerful–in many Congressional districts for example, the local utility is the largest single employer. That gives them clout. And the nuclear, coal and other polluting energy industries are also large, powerful, and persistent. They’re not going to just give up. The natural gas fracking revolution shows that dirty industries can take advantage of new technology just as clean ones can: change is always inevitable; the right change requires people to care, to learn, and to act.

All of which makes this, from the perspective of an advocate and an author, an exciting time. Times of great transition and conflict usually are–and that’s what GreenWorld will be covering and commenting upon.

We’ll be linking to the most interesting and/or important news stories of the day, and often writing about them–providing background journalists and other scribes either leave off or don’t know themselves. We’ll be providing in-depth coverage of issues otherwise entirely uncovered. We hope we’ll be doing this in a manner that is both informative and fun to read. You, the readers, will be the ones who will let us know if we’re accomplishing those goals.

At the onset, GreenWorld will be written and produced by NIRS’ President, Michael Mariotte. In the coming weeks and months, all of NIRS’ staffers will be provided their own pages on this site to write about their own areas of expertise and their own opinions. While this is a NIRS site, opinions expressed here are not necessarily those of NIRS–we want to give our staff free reign to comment how they please...

GreenWorld | News, Views, & Musings for a Nuclear-Free, Carbon-Free future

New Baucus tax proposal takes an Orwellian approach: would redefine dirty energy as clean

PRESS RELEASE ---

NEWS FROM NIRS

NUCLEAR INFORMATION AND RESOURCE SERVICE

6930 Carroll Avenue, Suite 340, Takoma Park, MD 20912 

301-270-NIRS (301-270-6477); Fax: 301-270-4291 

nirsnet@nirs.org; www.nirs.org

For Immediate Release
Contact:
  Michael Mariotte, 301-325-8014 (mobile)
Tim Judson, 301-270-6477

December 20, 2013

New Baucus tax proposal takes an Orwellian approach: would redefine dirty energy as clean

The nation’s leading tax code writer, Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D- MT), Wednesday unveiled a radical proposal to revise the nation’s energy policy through the tax code.

The draft bill introduced by Sen. Baucus would end forty-two different tax incentives for the energy industry, projected to cost $150 billion. In their place, it would create “technology-neutral” incentives for energy projects that meet a narrow standard for carbon emission reductions. However, the bill would also end incentives that promote energy efficiency improvements and zero-emissions vehicles, by definition two of the most effective ways to reduce greenhouse gases. At the same time, by focusing solely on carbon, Sen. Baucus’s proposal would continue to subsidize other toxic and polluting energy sources, such as nuclear power and natural gas.

“I think they coined the phrase ‘throwing the baby out with the bath water’ just for ideas like this,” said Tim Judson, NIRS’ Associate Director. “Tax breaks for the oil and coal industries are irresponsible, unnecessary and counterproductive, but so are subsidies for nuclear power and natural gas. Cutting tax breaks to help people make their homes more energy efficient and giving those dollars to companies to make radioactive waste is simply wrong-minded and counter-productive.”

“We’re getting a little tired of politicians, not to mention self-serving industries, who argue that the only pollutant of concern in the world is carbon,” said Michael Mariotte, executive director of NIRS. “Nuclear power inherently brings with it plutonium, strontium, cesium and the whole alphabet soup of poisonous radionuclides that are released routinely intoour air and water; that form one of our world’s largest unsolved environmental problems— safely managing radioactive waste; and that can at any moment be unleased in a catastrophic accident.”

“Our climate condition is a crisis,” Mariotte added. “But the solution is not to subsidize dirty energy technologies, nor try to portray them as somehow clean. It’s really not hard: we need to renew the tax credits for genuinely clean renewable energy sources like wind and solar, provide greater encouragement for energy efficiency measures, incentivize distributed generation—especially rooftop solar; and support already rapidly-improving energy storage. The clean energy technologies of the 21st century that can quickly and affordably reduce carbon emissions are here: it’s time to take advantage of them.

***

Please act now and tell your Senators: No tax breaks for dirty nuclear power.

sign the petition!

see also
LETTER FROM MICHAEL MARIOTTE 
Executive Director, Nuclear Information and Resource Service; December 20, 2013
> whats up: Tell your Senators: No tax breaks for dirty nuclear power | NIRS