Tag Archives: Russia

Cost of Climate Change, Politics

UN Says Nations Have a Legal Obligation to Address Climate Change; Trump Tweets Otherwise

The UN backed a world court opinion stating that countries have a legal obligation to address climate change. Canada, China and every EU country except Czechia were among the 141 nations that supported the resolution. The United States, Russia, Saudi Arabia and Iran were among the eight that voted in opposition. Twenty-eight countries abstained. 

UN Secretary-General António Guterres tweeted, “I welcome the adoption of the General Assembly resolution on the @CIJ_ICJ’s (International World Court) advisory opinion on climate change – a powerful affirmation of international law, climate justice, science & the responsibility of states to protect people from the escalating climate crisis. Those least responsible for climate change are paying the highest price. That injustice must end.”

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Cost of Climate Change

The Quadra Project: A Moment for Methane

Carbon dioxide (CO2—a single atom of carbon with two attached atoms of oxygen) gets most of the attention as the cause of global warming
because it can persist in the atmosphere for centuries. Methane is a
gas (CH4—a single carbon atom with four attached atoms of hydrogen)
that deserves attention, especially because every portion of a degree
is crucial in avoiding the worst consequences of global warming.

Although methane persists in the atmosphere for only about 20 years,
it is about 80 times more warming than carbon dioxide, so its
importance in the short term is critical. “Cutting methane is the
single most important strategy in slow near term warming,” says
Durwood Zaelke, the president of the Institute for Governance and
Sustainability (The Guardian Weekly, November 21, 2015). Its
pre-industrial atmospheric concentration was about 715 parts per
billion, and its 2025 level is presently measured at about 1930 ppb,
an increase of nearly 270%. Because of the short life of methane,
these high levels are maintained and increased by the continuous and
rising rate of emissions.

Continue reading The Quadra Project: A Moment for Methane →
Animals, Indigenous Nations

In Sheet’ká, Łingít fishers share herring harvests with a surprise influx of grey whales

By Amy Romer, IndigiNews, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter.

Growing up, Yanshkawoo (Harvey Kitka) never saw many grey whales in the waters of Sheet’ká Sound.

The Łingít (Tlingít) Elder and subsistence yaaw (herring) fisherman recalled harvesting gáax’w (herring eggs) in his territories before “Alaska” became a “U.S.” state in 1959. It was a time when yaaw were plentiful and sightings of whales were rare — just a handful at most.

“There was food everywhere,” mused Yanshkawoo, tracing a slow circle in the air with his hand — a gesture toward the abundance the ocean once held. He sat at a crowded café in Sheet’ká (Sitka), his voice calm but thoughtful.

“They had no reason to come into the Sound back then.” 

But things changed in 2019, when fishers, researchers and community members began noticing an influx of grey whales, an order of magnitude larger than in previous years.

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Politics

Aaron Gunn Responds: About Putin

Originally published on Twitter

I am firmly opposed to Putin’s heinous and illegal actions in Ukraine, and his oppression of the Russian people within Russia. I have held and articulated these views publicly for years. 

In early 2014, when I was still in my early 20s, I made foolish comments about Putin and Ukraine. I stopped holding those views a long time ago. 

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Uncategorized

The Quadra Project – Social Media P 4 of 4

Environmentalists have become acutely concerned about the physical state of our planet, but a related concern should be the psychological state that we occupy as human beings living in a milieu of digital information. This is an issue that has recently entered prominence because of a number of factors: the propaganda justifying Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the possible meddling of China and Russia in American and Canadian elections, and the pervasive effects of social media on the attitudes and behaviour of people who are exposed to and influenced by it. We can’t solve any problem, environmental or otherwise, if we are not connected to reality.

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