As our planet faces unprecedented challenges, the loss of biodiversity has become a critical concern, with far-reaching consequences for ecosystems and human well-being. These articles delve into factors contributing to biodevastation, which is the loss of biodiversity and life. The articles explore the causes, consequences, and potential solutions shedding light on the profound impacts of biodevastation on ecosystems, wildlife, and the delicate balance of our planet.
Articles range from habitat destruction and pollution to the role of human activities in exacerbating the loss of biodiversity. We bring you expert perspectives and actionable steps to address and mitigate the challenges posed by the loss of biodiversity.
Together, let’s explore ways to protect and preserve the richness of life on Earth for current and future generations.
Each article serves as a stepping stone towards a deeper understanding of biodiversity loss and environmental destruction and the urgency to adopt better practices.
The Truth About IPCC Reports
Robert Hunziker
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in many respects is a Delphic institution whose reports are a function of political discretion as it provides justification for nation-state policies that are seldom fulfilled, e.g., only a handful of the 193 signatory nations to Paris ’15 have met commitments. This scandalous outright failure at a dicey time for the climate system only serves to hasten loss of stability and integrity of the planet’s most important ecosystems. That provocative depiction is examined in a recent Nick Breeze ClimateGenn podcast interview: Existential Risk Management with David Spratt, research director of the Breakthrough National […]
Climate Breakdown
Robert Hunziker
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has issued its direst warning of all-time: “Climate breakdown is accelerating rapidly.” Additionally, they readily admit to overly conservative predictions: “Many impacts will be more severe than originally predicted.” (Source: The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Working Group II Sixth Assessment Report, 2022) The crowning blow of this heavy-hitting report is a chilling statement: “There is only a narrow chance left of avoiding its worst ravages.” Moreover, the IPCC claims that even at current levels dangerous widespread disruptions threaten devastation of swathes of the natural world: “Many areas will become unlivable.” Interestingly enough, […]
On the Dialectics of Technology: Past and Present
Brian Tokar
Since the heyday of technological determinism in the 1960s, many authors have written eloquently about how developments in technology are more typically the outcome of particular social and economic arrangements. Some contributions that have significantly shaped my own thinking include: • Lewis Mumford’s observation that inventions like glass and steam engines were first developed for mainly ornamental and ceremonial purposes (opening heavy temple doors in the latter case), centuries before they were mobilized for more practical uses. • Murray Bookchin’s account of how Iroquois and Inca societies, one increasingly egalitarian and the other rigidly hierarchical, relied upon very similar late […]
Scenario 2050
Henry Robertson
No one knows what the world will be like in 2050 as a result of the worsening climate. My scenario suggests that the worst effects will not be directly caused by climate change but by human-created conditions that make our supposedly mighty civilization fragile. These conditions include excessive extraction, production, consumption and waste from a growth-driven consumer economy; long, vulnerable supply lines dangerously designed for just-in-time production and delivery in service to corporate control and profit; and a food system that destroys the soil and is utterly dependent on fossil fuels. Our species has unique and unprecedented power over the […]
15 Nuclear Reactors in the Midst of Battle
Robert Hunziker
Russian forces have captured Chernobyl, a 1,000 square mile radioactive exclusion zone. But more significantly, what about Ukraine’s nuclear reactors smack dab in the middle of a theatre of war? A complicating/dangerous aspect of Russia’s invasion is the status of Chernobyl’s sister reactors, 15 reactors at four nuclear power plants exposed in a war zone of bombing, missile attacks and rampant gunfire or perhaps a breakdown of crucial infrastructure that keeps super hot atom-splitting vessel containers and spent fuel rods in open pools of water cool enough to prevent a massive zirconium fire or hydrogen explosion that spews radiation across […]
Ocean Heat Killing Spree
Robert Hunziker
The oceans of the world are undergoing a dangerous and damaging upheaval that manifests throughout scientific studies of late. Whether it’s the fisheries of the Bering Strait or coral reefs of the Mediterranean Sea or emaciated Gray Whales along the Pacific coastline, study after study after study describes sudden, sharp downturns in all categories of marine life. What is going on? Global warming is the culprit of this deeply disturbing disheartening affair, and it begs the question whether any nation/state or unified nations can do anything about it. After all, “save the whales” and “save the oceans” have been rallying […]
The Oceans Are Overheating
Robert Hunziker
The world’s oceans in 2021 witnessed the hottest temperatures in recorded history. (Source: Lijing Cheng, et al, Another Record: Ocean Warming Continues Through 2021 Despite La Niña Conditions, Advanced in Atmospheric Sciences, January 11, 2022)According to the Ocean Conservancy: “From the beginning of industrialization until today, the ocean has absorbed more than 90 percent of the heat from human-caused global warming and about one-third of our carbon emissions. But we are now seeing the devastating effects of that heat and carbon dioxide.” This brings into focus big questions about the overall condition of the ecosystems of the planet. The oceans, […]
Warnings from the Far North
Robert Hunziker
“Forces profound and alarming are reshaping the upper reaches of the North Pacific and Arctic oceans, breaking the food chain that supports billions of creatures and one of the world’s most important fisheries.”(Source: Susanne Rust, Unprecedented Die-offs, Melting Ice: Climate Change is Wreaking Havoc in the Arctic and Beyond, Los Angeles Times, December 17, 2021) “Breaking the food chain that supports billions of creatures” is horrific to contemplate. It sends a powerful signal of trouble dead ahead. In that regard, scientists agree that what happens up North signals what’s in store to the South, and what’s happening up North is […]
Japan’s Upcoming Nuclear Waste Dump
Robert Hunziker
Nuclear waste is an interminable curse that eternally haunts the future of civilization for hundreds/thousands of years. “The challenge of making nuclear power safer doesn’t end after the power has been generated. Nuclear fuel remains dangerously radioactive for thousands of years after it is no longer useful in a commercial reactor.” (Source: Nuclear Waste, Union of Concerned Scientists, April 22, 2016) There are 440 nuclear power plants in the world, all of which use nuclear fission, prompting one simple question: Is the process of generating heat via nuclear fission with a byproduct of extremely toxic radioactive waste lasting hundreds, or […]