Knowledge is power. My reading list from the last few months

Hi everyone, I’ve shared a few blogs full of links (here and here) to important climate change information in recent years, hoping that people will start reading at least some of it, so we can collectively realise we need to act and we need to act now.

I know there’s a lot. I know many are overwhelmed, so by collecting the best and most insightful of what I read, I’m hoping to help those feeling frazzled by the amount of information feel, well, less frazzled.

One thing I’ve discovered in life is we’re all good at different things. I like the fact we’re good at different things, because people who are good at things I’m rubbish at, can help me when I need help.

One of the things I’ve always believed I’m good at is reading lots and lots of different perspectives and drawing conclusions across multiple perspectives. I love doing this. It’s a pleasure for me and why I LOVE social media so much. We have the gift of incredible knowledge today. Although trust me, I get the bad side of social media too.

It’s all so overwhelming!

People regularly express how overwhelmed they are by the amount of information on climate change and the 6^th mass extinction, and because I’m not overwhelmed (by the amount of information) I reckon this is a way I can help. Packaging up and sharing knowledge worth reading.

As I’ve done all the hard work, why not scan through and pick a few that grab your attention?

I’m not sharing deniers’ stuff here, because well, 99% of the global scientific community agree that we have a massive problem that needs to be addressed and addressed now. I agree with the scientists, because I’ve been reading their stuff.

I think 2019 was a year we started getting closer to the tipping point of public attention on climate. We’re not there yet, but it finally feels a lot closer. For people like me, who been convinced for some time, that is a relief. Maybe we’ll now do something? I hope so!

Here you go. Spend some time with this knowledge. Even if you don’t agree with it, surely all of our futures are worth some time invested in what is being shared? Surely it’s worth putting aside all other distractions, because as far as I’m concerned, the only information that matters right now, is the information the scientists are putting out.

An assortment of global information

NASA: Study Confirms Climate Models are Getting Future Warming Projections Right
World Economic Forum: Climate change is a planetary emergency – how can we avert disaster?
Scroll.in: Stop blaming population growth for climate change. The real culprit is wealth inequality
Reuters: World needs to prepare for ‘millions’ of climate displaced: U.N.
Global Citizen: Humanity Has Killed 83% of All Wild Mammals and Half of All Plants: Study
The Washington Post: The world’s oceans are speeding up — another mega-scale consequence of climate change
NASA: Arctic Ice Melt Is Changing Ocean Currents
The Conversation: Global emissions to hit 36.8 billion tonnes, beating last year’s record high
The Guardian: Let’s abandon climate targets, and do something completely different
World Economic Forum: Why 2020 is the year to reset humanity’s relationship with nature
Gizmodo: Carbon Dioxide Reached a New High in Humanity’s Existence
Reuters: Carbon emissions from tropical forest loss underestimated, scientists say
Carbon Brief: Analysis: The climate papers most featured in the media in 2019
Mashable: NASA’s new video is grim
Time: These Charts Show How High Sea Levels Will Rise if Antarctica’s Ice Continues to Melt
National Geographic: Weather shows evidence of climate change every single day since 2012
The Guardian: Humans risk living in an empty world, warns UN biodiversity chief
Climate News Network: Little time left to arrest Greenland’s melting
Common dreams: In Final Hours, COP 25 Denounced as ‘Utter Failure’ as Deal Is Stripped of Ambition and US Refuses to Accept Liability for Climate Crisis
World Economic Forum: These are the top risks facing the world in 2020
The Guardian: Climate refugees can’t be returned home, says landmark UN human rights ruling
Vice: This Decade We Became Really, Really Sure Climate Change Is Real
Economist: The EU’s Green Deal is full of ambition but needs more detail
Positive Money: There will be no escape from fires and floods without a transformation of our economic system
The Guardian: How scientists are coping with ‘ecological grief’
Wired: Capitalism Made This Mess, and This Mess Will Ruin Capitalism
IFL Science: Ocean Temperature In 2019 Was The Warmest In Recorded Human History
Fast Company: Climate change won’t result in a new normal but in constant, horrifying new disasters
World Economic Forum: Arctic regions are burning – and it should set alarm bells ringing
The Guardian: The age of the individual must end – our world depends on it
Huffpost: The Rapid Decline Of The Natural World Is A Crisis Even Bigger Than Climate Change
Grist: Doomsday Clock moves closer to midnight, due in part to climate change
Inside Climate News: Dwindling Arctic Sea Ice May Affect Tropical Weather Patterns
Mashable: Even the ‘optimistic’ climate change forecast is catastrophic
Stockhead: How long before climate change risk becomes an issue for small caps?
The Times: We need climate protesters like Extinction Rebellion, says scientist Sir David King
Vox: UN: The world has backed itself into a treacherous corner on climate change
Scientific American: A Scary Year for Climate Change
National Geographic: Oceans and ice are absorbing the brunt of climate change
Climate News Network: Paris climate goals may be beyond reach

And then we had the Australian bushfires

Not just because I’m Australian, but because the land of my birth finished off 2019 and started 2020 with record breaking temperatures, fires the likes we’ve never seen, record breaking droughts, record breaking lack of rainfall, then record breaking rainfall, well over one billion animals dead, AND it was another stunning example of how certain media are pushing out false information around climate change, creating confusion, backed up by a bot and troll army. It’s quite incredible what is going on.

The best bit? Australians aren’t stupid, so this little tactic is backfiring. Which it would, when so many, across so many different classes, age groups and more, are impacted in one way or another – as we have been witnessing in these devastating fires.

Here’s a selection of media that has caught my attention in recent months.

Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists: On a hotter planet, we are all Australians
Australian Academy of Science: Statement regarding Australian bushfires
Australian Bushfires and Climate Change: There is no strong, resilient Australia without deep cuts to greenhouse gas emissions
SBS News: 11,000 scientists from around the world unite to declare global climate emergency
NY Times: How Does a Nation Adapt to Its Own Murder?
The Guardian: Australia fires are harbinger of planet’s future, say scientists
The Conversation: Scientists hate to say ‘I told you so’. But Australia, you were warned
ABC: Omnicide: Who is responsible for the gravest of all crimes?
Time: Australia’s Bushfires Show the Wicked, Self-Destructive Idiocy of Climate Denialism Must Stop
Canberra Times: It turns out Morrison doing nothing on climate was the best-case scenario
New York Times: Apocalypse Becomes the New Normal
The Guardian: The bushfires are a national catastrophe for the city and country. How are we going to live like this?
The Conversation: In fact, there’s plenty we can do to make future fires less likely
The Pedestrian: The BoM’s 2019 Climate Report Proves We Need Drastic Changes Right Bloody Now
Mother Jones: Australia’s Wildfire Catastrophe Isn’t the “New Normal.” It’s Much Worse Than That.
Sydney Morning Herald: Behind the lens: on the front lines of the bushfire crisis
The Age: Leaked report lays bare environmental devastation of Victorian fires
Vox: Boomers: You can still be heroes in the story of climate change
The Guardian: Bushfires, ash rain, dust storms and flash floods: two weeks in apocalyptic Australia

And deeper research

When you’re ready, the real meat on climate change is with these organisations, as well as many more. We need to go deep to understand what is really at risk and what we can do about it.

10 scientists talking climate

If you’re interested in the top scientists discussing climate, here are 10 I pay attention to and are regularly rated within the top commentators world-wide.

Wallace S. Broecker, James Hansen, Michael Mann, Phil Jones, Syukuro Manabe, John Francis Brake Mitchell, Ram Ramanathan, William F. Ruddiman, Susan Solomon, and Tom Wigley.

So there you go, my gift of knowledge to you and I hope you can make the time to read some. Knowledge is power and while it makes for a scary read, it is something we must face. We must.

And to add one more thing to your pile, watch this – my son, Jax is 11 and he told me all adults should watch it. I agree.

I won’t give up. The changes we need to make are radical, but ultimately, life will be better for all living beings – humans especially.

Let’s wake up and do this for our kids? I still have hope in our ability to do this. Do you?

Yours, without the bollocks

Andrea

Thank you for reading my ramblings. My brain and heart are a work in progress, always. I’d love a comment if it stirred any thoughts or feelings and of course, please feel free to share it with anyone you know who might be interested or entertained. I sure do appreciate it when you do. If you want to connect, I’m on Twitter here, Instagram here, YouTube here, and Facebook too. I share loads of stuff, not just my own xxxxx