Musical interlude

Our Lady Peace - Starseed

Thursday Afternoon Links

This and that for your Thursday reading.

- Matt Simon discusses the continued escalation of global temperatures to record highs (which only figure to be exceeded in the years to come). Arno Kopecky writes about the haunting spectre of a burned-out Jasper, while Katharine Gammon warns that we're all test subjects for the dangerous health effects of wildfire smoke. And Pepukaye Bardouille highlights how disaster response mechanisms for vulnerable areas are woefully inadequate for the new baseline for climate-related events. 

- Meanwhile, Richard Schiffman interviews Kristie Ebi about the reality that already-appalling heat death tolls likely represent significant undercounts. And Valerie Volcovici reports on research showing that industry-reported methane emissions likely represent only a quarter of the actual fast-acting carbon pollution being spewed by fossil fuel operators. 

- Andrew Nikiforuk points out the risks of eliminating early-warning systems for COVID-19 and other infectious diseases, while Trish Greenhalgh discusses the unpredictable and jarring course of long COVID. And while Tamara Schneider's reporting on the potential development of an effective nasal vaccine to prevent COVID transmission, it's not clear that policymakers determined to operate in denial will bother to facilitate and encourage its use. 

- Muneeb Javaid and Silas Xuereb discuss how the affordability crisis facing the Canadian working class is the result of corporate greed rather than carbon pricing. Rowan Burdge, Anastasia French and Véronique Sioufi warn that the good intentions behind British Columbia's anti-poverty strategy aren't being matched with action. And Rebecca Plavin and Dakota Smith reports that a basic income trial in Los Angeles is just the latest example of how a modicum of income security can produce immense benefits for recipients and society at large. 

- Finally, Justin Ling reports on the costly and conflict-ridden consultants being used by the Trudeau government as a poor substitute for a properly funded and supported civil service. 

Wednesday Afternoon Links

Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading.

- Simon Lee, Hayley Fowler and Paul Davies discuss how the climate breakdown has undercut the basis for existing models and assumptions about the type of extreme weather we'll face. And Kiley Price writes about the connection between the climate crisis and worsening wildfires. But Tim Bousquet points out that decision-makers are reacting by shrugging their shoulders and continuing to spew carbon pollution, while  Susan Riley asks how long we'll keep barging ahead with climate denial as our core operating principle. 

- David Zipper discusses how car-free neighbourhoods avoid the noise pollution (and other health hazards) which we accept as a given within a car-based culture, while also pointing out that the U.S. is funding massive highway expansions based on the laughable assumption that inducing more care use will somehow reduce greenhouse gas emissions.  

- George Monbiot highlights the numerous environmental and social benefits of a wealth tax, while asking who will back Brazil's push to implement one on an international scale. And Aaron Boley and Samantha Lawler note that the level of entitlement of the billionaire class has reached the point of endangering anybody on the surface of the Earth with uncontrolled falling space debris. 

- Philippa Roxby examines the connection between ultra-processed foods and poor health, while also noting the difficulty in demonstrating direct cause and effect. And Carl Bergstrom and C. Brandon Ogbunu write that social media is the junk food of information ingestion. 

- Finally, Jon Milton calls out the scam of "working-class conservatism" which uses the language of class politics as a means to further enrich and empower those who already have the most. Geoff Leo exposes the small- and large-C conservative connections of the shadowy group trying to take over Regina's city council. And David Climenhaga reports that Take Back Alberta is descending into the morass of criminality and internal bickering that represents the usual end point for a combination grift and right-wing ideological project. 

Tuesday Night Cat Blogging

Curled-up cat.

Tuesday Afternoon Links

This and that for your Tuesday reading.

- Jess Thomson points out a new NASA video showing the movement of carbon pollution in our atmosphere, while Oliver Milman reports on new research showing that methane emissions are rising at the fastest rate in decades. Peter Prebble calls out the Moe government's insistence on fighting any action to combat the climate crisis. And Amy Westervelt et al. weigh in on the fossil fuel sector's dishonesty and mendacity in painting carbon capture and storage as a panacea demanding massive public investment when it's never offered a viable pathway to meaningful emission reduction. 

- Christopher Holcroft writes that the wildfires which tore through Jasper (and continue to threaten it) represent a compelling example of climate denialism made policy. Andrew Nikiforuk discusses the difficulty in responding to the increasingly imminent and widespread threat posed by global warming-fueled forest fires. And the Associated Press reports on new research suggesting that wildfire smoke may be even more harmful to our health (particularly our brains) than other forms of air pollution. 

- Jason Hickel and Dylan Sullivan examine the relationship between material production and existing human needs, and find that we have plenty of global output to meet a desirable standard of living for every human on the planet if it were properly planned and fairly distributed. Christopher Ketcham exposes how billionaires are funding a statistics institute intended to equate high-end wealth accumulation with human progress. And Cory Doctorow writes about the warped definition of property which makes consumer purchases of goods subordinate to corporate interests in controlling their use.

- Meanwhile, Hickel, Morena Hanbury Lemos and Felix Barbour find that similar work is subject to gross variances in pay around the globe. And Joan Westenberg calls out hustle culture which tries to blame individual workers for the intolerable systemic demands placed on them. 

- Finally, Adam King discusses the need for improved social supports to enable people (and disproportionately women) to meet the unpaid care demands being foisted on them.