Plastic Pollution

In 1955, when 2 million tonnes of plastic were produced globally, Life magazine celebrated the dawn of “throw-away living,” thanks to disposable plastics. 60 years later, in 2015, 406 million tonnes of plastic were produced worldwide; a figure that keeps rising at a meteoric rate.

Terminal Inertia

Political leaders have known since the late 1960s that humanity was facing an existential crisis. They did nothing. Now, with extreme geophysical events occurring more frequently, a growing segment of the public is belatedly demanding remedy. All they may hope to see is “too little too late.”

Climate Model Lowdown

Global warming is just one aspect of the man-made major mass extinction event underway but is the facet upon which the most attention has been paid. The approach used has consistently underestimated the dynamic of demise. Here is a summary of the modeling effort.

Political Leadership Vacuum

The demise of humanity from accelerating climate change seems certain before the next century dawns and may come within the next 50 years. Those who dispute this prediction are riding a legacy of dither and denial championed by the political establishment for the past 6 decades.

Drooping Albedo

The warmth of a planet partly depends on its albedo: how much of its starlight is reflected back into space (as opposed to absorbed). The higher the albedo, the cooler the planet. Earth’s albedo has been dropping.

Crying Wolf, Squawking Chicken

For a half century, doomsters have predicted the end of the world. On the opposite pole, climate change deniers increasingly seem psychotic. But optimists still hold sway: that human ingenuity can solve what selfsame ingenuity created. When does a cliffhanger become a tragic fall – or a last-minute miracle salvation?