By Michael T. Klare
TomDispatch.com
Brace yourself. You may not be able to tell yet, but according to global experts and the U.S. intelligence community, the earth is already shifting under you. Whether you know it or not, you’re on a new planet, a resource-shock world of a sort humanity has never before experienced.
Two nightmare scenarios -- a global scarcity of vital resources and the onset of extreme climate change -- are already beginning to converge and in the coming decades are likely to produce a tidal wave of unrest, rebellion, competition, and conflict. Just what this tsunami of disaster will look like may, as yet, be hard to discern, but experts warn of “water wars” over contested river systems, global food riots sparked by soaring prices for life’s basics, mass migrations of climate refugees (with resulting anti-migrant violence), and the breakdown of social order or the collapse of states. At first, such mayhem is likely to arise largely in Africa, Central Asia, and other areas of the underdeveloped South, but in time all regions of the planet will be affected.
Read morePosted in: Environment
The following fact sheet on Climate Change as it relates to our region was prepared this past spring by seven University of Nebraska-Lincoln climatologists, including the directors of the National Drought Mitigation Center and the High Plains Regional Climate Center. This unprecedented statement provides the first comprehensive overview in popular form on the dangers Climate Change poses to Nebraska’s ecosystem, economy and way of life.
compiled by: Clint Rowe, Don Wilhite, Bob Oglesby, Mike Hayes, Martha Shulski, Adam Houston and Deborah Bathke -- Climate Scientists, University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Q: Who says climate change is real?
A: The basic findings of human-induced climate change have been reviewed and confirmed by the leading professional scientific societies (1) and national academies of science (2), both in the United States and around the world. Surveys and reviews of the scientific literature have repeatedly found that approximately 97% of actively publishing climate scientists adhere to the basic premise that human activities are responsible for most of the observed global warming since the middle of the 20th century.
[Oreskes 2004; Doran and Zimmerman 2009; Anderegg et al 2010]
Read morePosted in: Environment
I hope you have made plans to participate in Give to Lincoln Day for a gift to Nebraska Peace Foundation.
If you are planning to give on-line at Razoo.com, you can make you contribution anytime on or before May 16, just be sure to specify the date for the donation to be “A Giving Day.”
There are many reasons to choose Nebraska Peace Foundation as the organization you donate to, here are just a few. You would be supporting our educational efforts on the many priority issues that we work on. Here are some of the issues we focus on:
Read morePosted in: Announcements
The first Nebraska legislative bill addressing the issue of climate change — LB 583 introduced by Senator Ken Haar — won first round approval in the Unicameral April 23. But not without an attempt by climate change deniers to kill the bill.
Unable to defeat LB 583 outright, Senators Beau McCoy and Tyson Larson did succeed in adding two amendments to weaken the legislation's intent. As the bill now reads, the state’s “Climate Assessment and Response Committee” still authorizes the group to report on the impact of climate change on Nebraska and make legislative recommendations for action.
But we don’t dare risk allowing any more amendments to LB 583 if the bill is to retain its teeth.
Read morePosted in: Environment
Putting an end to human trafficking is a big priority for all of us. Let us support Senator Amanda McGill's effort to do just that with her bill LB 255. Contact your senator today and ask them to please support LB 255 on Human Trafficking. To find YOUR Senator's contact information, click HERE.
Important provisions contained in the bill include:
Section 1:
Adds trafficking to the definition of child abuse by stating, “ A person commits child abuse if he or she knowingly, intentionally, or negligently causes or permits a minor child to be…Placed in a situation to be a trafficking victim as defined in section 28-830.”
Read morePosted in: Turn Off the Violence
