We’ve lived so long under the spell of hierarchy—from god-kings to feudal lords to party bosses—that only recently have we awakened to see not only that “regular” citizens have the capacity for self-governance, but that without their engagement our huge global crises cannot be addressed. The changes needed for human society simply to survive, let alone thrive, are so profound that the only way we will move toward them is if we ourselves, regular citizens, feel meaningful ownership of solutions through direct engagement. Our problems are too big, interrelated, and pervasive to yield to directives from on high.
—Frances Moore Lappé, excerpt from Time for Progressives to Grow Up

Monday, September 17, 2012

Climate Armageddon: How the World's Weather Could Quickly Run Amok

Click here to access article by Fred Guterl from Scientific American

This article is adapted from Guterl's recently published book, Why the Human Race May Cause Its Own Extinction and How We Can Stop It. Because recent evidence is causing many scientists to re-examine their timelines of climate change, he looks at nine potential tipping points that could each radically alter our planet's ecosystem and force much more catastrophic effects within the next 300 years. Then, if they all happen at once and reinforce each other, it could be much sooner. Fred Guterl is an award winning journalist and executive editor of Scientific American.
Climate scientists think a perfect storm of climate "flips" could cause massive upheavals in a matter of years.