Richard Heinberg

Looking at the Planetary Past to Prepare for Our Climate Changed Future—An Interview with Steven Earle

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Post Carbon Institute Senior Fellow and author Richard Heinberg interviews Steven Earle, PhD, author of Runaway Climate: What the Geological Past Can Tell Us about the Coming Climate Change Catastrophe. Steven shares with Richard what we can learn from events in our planet’s history – particularly the rapid global temperature increase of about 7ºC roughly 56 million years ago – to better understand and prepare for a rapidly unraveling climate system.

The Kids Aren’t Alright

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Journalist and podcaster Rachel Donald (Planet: Critical) interviews Caroline Hickman, a practicing psychotherapist and researcher who focuses on eco-anxiety, especially in young people. Caroline defines eco-anxiety, explains how it’s natural to feel distress if you care about the state of the environment, covers how to communicate with others about eco-anxiety, and suggests ways to move through feelings of anger and despair to achieve emotional resilience.

Navigating Climate Catastrophe: Part 2 – The Response

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People have all sorts of different interpretations on what’s happening with climate change. While some are practicing denial or willful ignorance, even those following the science can be confused. After all, Earth’s climate system is complex. In Part 2, Richard Heinberg unpacks some recent research on the likely consequences of global warming this century and beyond and recommends practical things we can do to both mitigate and adapt to the consequences. (See part 1, in case you missed it.)

Navigating Climate Catastrophe: Part 1 – The Predicament

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People have all sorts of different interpretations on what’s happening with climate change. While some are practicing denial or willful ignorance, even those following the science can be confused. After all, Earth’s climate system is complex. In Part 1 of this two-part article, Richard Heinberg cuts through this complexity by putting climate change into the context of humanity’s energy history.

How Do We Respond to Climate Destabilization?

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Responding to the rapidly unfolding climate crisis – especially in the context of a broader unraveling of environmental and social systems – requires courage, care, and grappling with difficult questions and choices. It also demands clarity about what we face, including the implications of already locked-in warming and probable pathways, and an openness to new … Read more

How in the World Are People Doing?

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Journalist and podcaster Rachel Donald (Planet: Critical) interviews Dr. Omnia El Omrani, a medical doctor and Climate and Health Policy Fellow at Imperial College London. Omnia shares reflections on Connecting Climate Minds—a landmark project looking at climate and mental health across the globe, with a specific focus on the lived experiences of youth, Indigenous communities, small farmers and fisher people.

Discussion Session: Exploring Personal and Collective Responses to Climate Unraveling

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Prof. Kimberly Nicholas (Lund University) and Asher Miller (Post Carbon Institute) lead a participatory discussion to explore ways of building personal and community climate resilience, and mobilizing collective action. This event was a follow-up to the July 2, 2024 discussion with climate scientist Tim Lenton and climate organizer Isabel Cavelier. Kimberly Nicholas is a sustainability scientist, writer, … Read more

Event: Welcome to the Great Unraveling

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On May 14, 2024 Resilience hosted “Welcome to the Great Unraveling,” an hour-long online discussion featuring Dr. Lyla June Johnston and Kumi Naidoo, and facilitated by Post Carbon Institute’s Asher Miller. This event was an introduction to our new Resilience+ Deep Dives, a series of events and curated materials that can help anyone better understand important aspects of the climate crisis.

Research on Psychological Effects of Natural Disasters

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The need to address mental health in response to the climate crisis (and related calamities) is not new. In his 2007 book Peak Everything, Richard Heinberg described important research findings on how people respond in the aftermath of disasters, such as drought, famine, and societal collapse. The research he presented is all the more relevant today, given how industrial societies have failed to reverse overshoot.