Flux continu

This Contemplation is the result of my beginning to put together a different one that’s focussing upon an academic article I’ve been reading (Collapse, Environment, and Society) but that got me thinking about the academic ‘debate’ regarding what ‘societal collapse’ is, how it may–or may not–unfold for our current experiment in large, complex societies, and how things are perceived in the moment by those experiencing societal change. The ‘debate’ (centred more-or-less on the question: Do societies actually ‘collapse’ or are they ‘merely’ shifting/transforming/adapting to changing conditions?) is rather ‘academic’ in that in the grand scheme of things it’s intellectually interesting but doesn’t have much to do with the on-the-ground, real-life experiences and concerns of most humans in a society–especially if they are experiencing some of the more ‘problematic’ consequences of collapse/transformation.

Yuval Noah Harari, renowned historian and author of “Nexus,” explores the indelible impact of AI on human society. We discuss his iconoclastic views on information networks, the inextricable link between technology and political systems, and actionable ways to navigate our rapidly changing world.

Collapse isn’t loud. It’s not a Hollywood explosion, not a sudden black hole swallowing the United States overnight. There’s no singular moment when the world collectively gasps and realizes everything has come undone. Instead, collapse is a slow, grinding process — insidious, creeping, and patient.

Previous health impact assessments of temperature-related mortality in Europe indicated that the mortality burden attributable to cold is much larger than for heat. Questions remain as to whether climate change can result in a net decrease in temperature-related mortality. In this study, we estimated how climate change could affect future heat-related and cold-related mortality in 854 European urban areas, under several climate, demographic and adaptation scenarios. We showed that, with no adaptation to heat, the increase in heat-related deaths consistently exceeds any decrease in cold-related deaths across all considered scenarios in Europe. Under the lowest mitigation and adaptation scenario (SSP3-7.0), we estimate a net death burden due to climate change increasing by 49.9% and cumulating 2,345,410 (95% confidence interval = 327,603 to 4,775,853) climate change-related deaths between 2015 and 2099. This net effect would remain positive even under high adaptation scenarios, whereby a risk attenuation of 50%

A 1972 MIT study predicted that rapid economic growth would lead to societal collapse in the mid 21st century. A new paper shows we’re unfortunately right on schedule.

In an interview from jail in Greenland with the AFP news agency, the anti-whaling activist said Tokyo has a vendetta against him.

An international research team has established a link between aquatic deoxygenation and the general stability of terrestrial systems, which should lead to the inclusion of deoxygenation as the tenth planetary boundary. This study also proposes to improve tools for monitoring and predicting aquatic systems, and oxygen in particular, by developing numerical models of improved accuracy and setting up a global database of the highest quality.

Are we already living in the Anthropocene? For the past three years, the Anthropocene Working Group (AWG) has undertaken extensive research at 12 different locations across the globe to search for geological evidence of recent planetary change provoked by industrialized humanity. The AWG’s aim was to identify a geological reference section, a so-called Global boundary Stratotype Section and Point (GSSP, commonly referred to as the "Golden Spike") that would indicate the start of a new Earth epoch, the Anthropocene. The research process has been closely accompanied by the Haus der Kulturen der Welt (HKW) and the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science (MPIWG) within the collaborative framework of the Anthropocene Curriculum. On July 11, 2023, the scientists of the AWG will present their proposed Anthropocene GSSP candidate in a joint online press conference with the Max Planck Society and former members of the HKW. The press conference takes place as a special event of the international Max Planck So

Deforestation coupled with the rampant destruction of natural resources will soon have devastating effects on the future of society as we know it, according to two theoretical physicists who study complex systems and have concluded that greed has put us on a path to irreversible collapse within the next two to four decades.

As world leaders assemble for the United Nations climate change conference (COP27) in Egypt, it’s hard to be optimistic the talks will generate any radical departure from the inexorable rise in global carbon emissions over the past two centuries.