The internal logic of capitalism has tainted our government’s response to the pandemic. Corporate profits were preserved, while the interests of the working class were disregarded. Pandemic austerity and vaccine nationalism were the primary themes of government responses, and have grave consequences for the working class and health of humanity.
Continue readingTag: Deforestation
Things Are Good: How Satellite Alerts Save Forests
Information is key to success, and that’s especially true when it comes to fighting deforestation. Organizations and governments trying to protect our forests need to know where the illegal activity is happening, when, and who the perpetrators are. A team of researchers wondered if providing alerts from satellites could help
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Eating Ourselves To Death
If you want to read a comprehensive report about another dire crisis humanity is facing, be sure to check out this post from the Mound. There is something of a solution, but it is one most will just ignore. Here is the Coles Notes version: Recommend this Post
Continue readingThings Are Good: Iceland Recovering from Deforestation
Long ago, when the vikings first arrived in Iceland the land was forested. Something between 25-40% of the country was covered by trees and humans slowly cut down the trees to an extent that was harmful to local ecosystems. Efforts to replant trees in the country have failed since they
Continue readingThings Are Good: No Need to Deforest the Planet for More Food
One of the leading causes of deforestation right now is food production. As population levels grow we need more land to feed more people and this as resulted in the cutting down of forests for arable land. We’ve already seen that a simple diet change can protect forests and save
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: The Big Question Now is When?
Several years ago a non-governmental organization, the Global Footprint Network, came to my attention. GFN’s purpose was to monitor the state of the biomass around the world on a global, regional and national basis. GFN published this annual report marking what they called “World Overshoot Day.” This was the date
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: How South Americans are Killing Their Environment
In some places, cutting down trees can have huge consequences. In South America, the impacts are especially far-reaching. Deforestation has picked up again in the Amazon. That, in turn, is causing havoc to the region’s hydrological cycle, triggering severe drought. The unprecedented drought now affecting São Paulo, South America’s giant
Continue readingThings Are Good: Google Launches Deforestation Watch
Global Forest Watch is a new project from Google to highlight the deforestation that has been happening around the planet since the year 2000. Google is working with a lot of organizations to bring this information to light (including the World Resources Institute). Global Forest Watch’s most valuable feature, developers
Continue readingthe reeves report: Ontario Forests Will Be Net Carbon Source Until 2040
Ontario Forest in Spring. (Flickr image by jd_09) Ontario’s Crown forests are expected to remain a net source of carbon emissions for the next three decades, according to the latest forestry report from the Ministry of Natural Resources. The latest State of Ontario’s Forests report released January 3 – the third issued by the
Continue readingThings Are Good: ForestWatchers Wants You to Look at Forests
Forests around the world are in danger and a new group, ForestWatchers, is looking to the average person to save all the trees. It’s a very simple idea: use people to scan tree lines from images to help scientists focus their efforts. Citizen science for the win! We propose a
Continue readingCanadian Progressive: World Forest Area Still on the Decline
World Forest Area Still on the Decline (via sustainablog) By Emily E. Adams Forests provide many important goods, such as timber and paper. They also supply essential services—for example, they filter water, control water runoff, protect soil, regulate climate, cycle and store nutrients, and provide habitat for countless animal species
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