Yes, I know, it’s bad form to be writing about anything but the virus. But here goes, anyway. As to climate change, the current dread of the coronavirus feels awfully like a familiar version of the anxiety that many of us have felt about the climate crisis. There’s a bit of a silver lining, in that global greenhouse has emissions have dropped.
The pandemic, and its consequence – social isolation, have stalled industry, and are expected to wipe out global growth in renewables deployment in 2020.
The nuclear industry has put a bold face on it, claiming that construction of huge new reactor stations are essential, so that workers at UK’s Hinkley Point C build, and USA’s giant Vogtle nuclear build can count as “essential” so the building programmes can stay on track. But, even more remarkable, the USA nuclear industry uses coronavirus to gouge $billions of tax-payer money.
Anyway, what should we do about this truly awful global situation? I can think only of Voltaire’s famous advice – given by his fictional character Candide – “we must go and work our garden.” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fcTsMirQoG0&t=8s
A bit of good news – Chinese Company Ships Crates of Masks to Italy , Covered in Italian Poetry: We Are ‘Leaves of the Same Tree’
Events happen so quickly. It becomes important to know what news is true, and what is not. It is something of a crisis in journalism, – which analysis, which interpretation is credible? I try to follow articles that make sense, and come from reliable writers and journals. Reported numbers vary a lot – of those infected with Cov19, of the deaths. For one example – USA infection numbers are almost certainly far greater than reported, because of inadequate testing. In interpretation, Donald Trump’s phrase the “Chinese virus” feeds in to xenophobia, an unfortunate theme when global co-operation is needed, to combat a global epidemic. Politicians exploit false conspiracy theory that the coronavirus is a bioweapon.
What action is needed? I found this article, with its excellent graph, a reliable guide. It helped me to conclude that the drastic shutdowns and “social distancing”will have awful results, but that inaction on coronavirus would be worse.
Some bits of good news – 10 Positive Updates on the COVID-19 Outbreaks From Around the World
The Sizewell C project would tear through preciously fragile nature preserve. The Blackwater Against New Nuclear Group (BANNG) protests the lack of full information on nuclear plans.
INDONESIA. Nuclear Agency employee accused of illegally storing radioactive waste at his home. Indonesia warned on dangers of nuclear power, advantages of renewable energy.
The nuclear industry took the opportunity to push itself as an equality-for-women champion. Also, in the media, parents were warned to see that their girls got STEM skills (Science Technology Engineering Maths), or else they’d be jobless dropouts.
Now I too believe that these skills are important. But I deplore the downgrading of the so-called “soft” studies, that is going on at the same time. With the crises facing the world now, surely for decision-making, we need people with knowledge of languages, history, sociology, ecology. On the health effects of nuclear radiation, and of global heating, the “soft” sciences of biology and genetics are essential. And, as social commentator Eva Cox has pointed out, the occupations with social values of caring and nurturing ought not to be downgraded and poorly paid, in comparison with the techno world and competitive occupations with macho values.
While climate and nuclear threats are the focus of this newsletter, the reality is that the planetary mess is made of many interconnecting factors, in the unsustainable economy of “endless growth”. A big reminder – investigative journalism – Planet Plastic.
A bit of good news -Farming in the Forest: A Chance to Reverse 1,000 Years of Destructive Land-Use Practices
Why don’t we treat the climate crisis with the same urgency as coronavirus?
Investigative journalism – Big Oil and Big Soda and plastically polluted Planet Earth.
This week there’s quite a lot of news about nuclear weapons development. Nobody seems very interested – all same-same? Weapons anxiety fatigue? UN disarmament chief hopes upcoming conference will address current nuclear challenges. Some experts think that the subject should get a mention in the USA 2020 election race.
Of course, nuclear weapons tensions are always there, particularly as regards USA and Iran. However, when it comes to the so-called “peaceful nukes”, things are very quiet. All that continues is an endless stream of “journalism” promoting Small Modular Reactors (they leave out that unpopular word ‘Nuclear’). This hype resembles the early 2000s hype about the “nuclear renaissance’ and is sounding more and more hollow.
A bit of good news – All Australian Bushfires in NSW Have Officially Been Contained Thanks to Week of Heavy Rain. Australian Soldiers Are Using Their Time Off to Care for Koalas Displaced by the Fires.
Immoral and illegal spying on Julian Assange and his lawyers Investigative journalism – How will Julian Assange’s extradition case proceed in court?
There are many organisations worldwide, that are pushing for, and working on, action to slow or stall global warming. Global Optimism is the latest example, in which Christiana Figueres features, with her new book “The Future We Choose”
JAPAN.Tokyo protesting against South Korea’s Tokyo 2020 radioactive Olympics posters. Britain’s trade deal with Japan could lead to Fukushima food restrictions being dropped.
Radioactive leaks and other problems at Westinghouse nuclear fuel factory near Columbia. Three South Carolina lawmakers Pressed Trump for More Nuclear Funding.
I never want to minimise the nuclear perils. But, it is a dying industry, and can look irrelevant as news about the climate crisis continues to be revealed.
CLIMATE – where to start? Combined environmental crises could trigger ‘global systemic collapse‘, scientists warn. Some climate modelling is now predicting an unprecedented and alarming spike in global temperatures — perhaps as much as 5 degrees Celsius. Ya know that things are getting serious when it hits industry and markets – The northern hemisphere winter has been unusually mild: That’s making life difficult for oil and gas traders,
As the 2020 Tokyo Olympics draw closer, the Japanese government redoubles its efforts to downplay any radioactive problems to health and safety . Fukushima is the location for the start of the torch relay, and for some Olympic events. But radioactive trash bags are a defining feature of the Fukushima landscape. And Japan now plans to release over a million tonnes of radioactive water into the sea from the Fukushima power plant, as the radioactive water continues to accumulate.
Westinghouse will acquire the Rolls-Royce Civil Nuclear Systems and Services’ 11 locations in Canada, France, the United Kingdom and the United States.
Surplus nuclear power has become an embarrassment. Inflexible baseload power no longer needed.
ARCTIC.Why Arctic glaciers are melting away at an accelerating rate.
Australia’s bushfires still dominate the climate news. Despite helpful rain, as of last Tuesday, 107 fires were still burning.-More extreme heat, and more fires, are predicted. Indeed, as I write, a new bushfire is reported, in Australian Capital Territory.
Still, Australia is far from the only climate story this week. Climate change could unlock new microbes and increase heat-related deaths. Deadly flooding and landslides are striking Brazil. Extreme weather is causing falling iguanas, rise of deadly spiders and swarms of locusts. And, no doubt of prime importance to “sensible” and “corporate” humans, Climate Change could blow up the economy and the banks aren’t ready.
The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists has moved the “Doomsday Clock” to 100 minutes to midnight, its closest to doomsday since it began ticking, due to nuclear proliferation, failure to tackle climate change and “cyber-based disinformation”.
UK. Significant item – In UK deep disposal is planned for the mounting, costly and forever problem of nuclear wastes. Rolls Royce’s fantasy plan for so-called ‘mini’ nuclear reactors. In UK “big” nuclear power versus “small” (both unaffordable) at Wylfa
With apologies to Samuel Johnson and “MadMen” – “Nothing concentrates the mind like the prospect of the economy going bust ” Now, at the 50th anniversary meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, climate change is the top subject. While poorer countries for a decade or more have suffered extreme droughts, floods -the impacts of global heating, it has taken the extreme wildfires of a rich country, Australia, to make the world’s big business people now sit up and take notice.
The case of Australia is remarkable also, in that the wildfires’ consequences have affected an entire continent.
While the news media is now more awake up to the global heating crisis, thing are pretty quiet on the nuclear scene. The world continues to teeter on the nuclear war brink, and the millennials are apprehensive about this. On January 23rd, the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists will announce the 2020 time of the Doomsday Clock.
A bit of good news– Dutch Guy Famous for Cleaning Up Pacific Garbage Patch is Now Clearing the World’s Rivers Too
I started this website many years ago, because I was appalled at the lies promoting nuclear power – lies that minimised the horror of nuclear weapons, nuclear accidents, and the radioactive legacy that we are passing on to our grandchildren and beyond.
Well – those lies are still being spread, by writers paid by the nuclear industry.
A big one is the story that nuclear will beat climate change. (the irony of it – as it’s the other way around).
Nuclear is irrelevant to climate change, except for taking funding from real solutions.
But – my dilemma now is that climate change is the biggie, because it is sure close to irreversible. (Theoretically, nuclear could be stopped, now)
Perhaps it’s because I am Australian, that I am feeling this problem so acutely right now. Yes, nuclear is still a horror threat, and still must be covered.
But – omigawd! Greta Thunberg is so right! Surely we all know this, in our hearts. We must all act on climate change.
After days of denial from Iran, President Rouhani on Saturday admitted to “human error” in bringing down the Boeing 737, and the Guards’ aerospace commander General Amirali Hajizadeh accepted full responsibility. Rouhani agreed with Qatar and Pakistani leaders on de-escalation and dialogue as ‘only solution’ to solve the crisis with US. As Europe tries to preserve the Iran nuclear deal, Donald Trump is currently a bigger headache for Europe than Iran is.
The global importance of Australia’s bushfires – climate impacts wildfires, and wildfires impact climate. The concentration of climate-heating greenhouse gases is at a record high. Nations are not meeting their already inadequate climate commitments, and if Trump is re-elected in 2020, America will continue to lead the way in sabotage of action on climate.
Jeremy Corbyn was smeared for rejecting the use of nuclear weapons – but he was right. UK Leading Labour leadership candidate Rebecca Long-Bailey would use nuclear weapons.
The world is realising how quickly even a rich and ‘developed’ nation, Australia, can be devastated by extreme weather, exacerbated by climate change. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pJ_NyEYRkLQ . Celebrities are donating to bushfire relief. Which is great. I’d like to think that they are equally generous to non-anglophone countries, which suffer even greater climate disasters.
RUSSIA. Environmental and technical worries, as Russia extends the life of old Kola Nuclear Power Plant. Russia, in fear of a USA first strike may now revive its “dead hand” nuclear weapon.
I am struggling to find good news – news that would be fitting for this festive week. Well, I guess that “bad” news is pretty much the definition of news, anyway. As most people are behaving reasonably and decently, and many things are going well – that’s not noteworthy: then the unusual, the bad thing is, by definition, “news”.
On a positive note, Dr Helen Caldicott reminds us that although the nuclear-weapons nations are poised for ecocidal war, the path to peace is still possible;
The United States of America urgently needs to rise to its full moral and spiritual height and lead the world to sanity and survival. I know this is possible because, in the 1980s, millions of wonderful people rose up nationally and internationally to end the nuclear arms race and to end the Cold War.
This, then, is the sound template upon which we must act.
NORTH KOREA. North Korea preparing for nuclear negotiations with USA. Kim Jong Un refers to North Korea being ‘prepared’ for war, hinting at nuclear capabilities.
