I love the title of this blog I just discovered: Global Change Watch: Peak Energy, Climate Change, and the Collapse of Global Civilization Any guesses (from the doomsday-is-imminent crowd) as to which will upend life as we know it first: peak energy or climate change?
Quick, somebody buy Michael Tobis a new set of worry beads: The evidence is piling up that our circumstances are beyond our cognitive or managerial abilities. I’m more scared of that than of hundred degree oceans right now. I think at the present rate we will not manage to maintain what we are pleased to…Continue Reading…
If you’re gonna be a doomer, this seems like the right attitude to take: I begin the year convinced that our civilisation will collapse soon but at the same time enjoying the continuous Mozart on Radio 3, abandoning alcohol for the month with enthusiasm, and committing myself to three runs and 70 000 steps a…Continue Reading…
PZ Myers has a suggestion for the media: When apocalyptic cults come along and announce disaster and doom, ridicule them. Just rip into them, send your most sarcastic, cynical reporters to cover the story, and just shred all the followers as loons and gullible freaks.
Julia Whitty asks: Are prophecies of conservation doom self-fulfilling? Summarizing a recent paper by Australian researchers, Whitty writes: the authors suggest that relentless communication of an impending mass extinction is failing to motivate politicians, policy makers, or the public, and is likely to be counterproductive. Hmm, perhaps this will resonate with the climate doom crowd.
The September issue of Scientific American has a bunch of interesting articles, including this introductory essay on why humans always seem to be fearing one doomsday or another. Here’s the irony: You might think that the enterprise of science, with its method and its facts, would inoculate us against the most extravagant doomsday obsessions. But…Continue Reading…
Black holes and Mayan prophecies do the trick. Global warming not so much. Few seem to be getting worked up over peak oil, either, which has the resource depletion crowd wringing their hands. Still, these are boom times for the apocalypse, as this piece in the Chicago Tribune reports.
If there are any French wine snobs among global warming skeptics, this news from Green Inc. might help convert them. Then again, I happened to see the movie Bottle Shock the other day, which taught me there’s no reason to be a french wine snob anymore. Of course, as with everything else climate change related,…Continue Reading…