Biological Annihilation and the Sixth Mass Extinction

By Robert J. Burrowes, Open Democracy

We might be annihilating life on earth but this is not something about which we have no choice. In fact, each and every one of us has a choice: we can choose to do nothing, we can wait for (or even lobby) others to act, or we can take powerful action ourselves. But unless you search your heart and make a conscious and deliberate choice to commit yourself to act powerfully, your unconscious choice will effectively be the first one

Staving Off the Coming Global Collapse

By William E. Rees, TheTyee.ca (BC)

‘Overshoot’ is when a species uses resources faster than can be replenished. We’re already there. And show no signs of changing. Humans have a virtually unlimited capacity for self-delusion, even when self-preservation is at stake.

The Banality of the Anthropocene

By Heather Anne Swanson, Cultural Anthropology

There are plenty of troubling things about the Anthropocene. But to my mind, one of its most troubling dimensions is the sheer number of people it fails to trouble.

The Walking Dead in Washington

By Paul Gilding, The Cockatoo Chronicles

How can a Trump Presidency be positive? Surely this is a major setback – to action on climate change, to addressing inequality, to human rights and global security.

To Make Hope Possible Rather Than Despair Convincing

By David Bollier, David Bollier blog

We stand at a precipice in history that demands that the human species achieve some fairly unprecedented evolutionary advances.

Apocalypses Everywhere

By Ira Chernus, TomDispatch

Let's lift the lid off the A-word, take a peek inside, and examine how it affects our everyday lives.

Comedian Russell Brand takes on the crisis of civilisation. But what now?

By Nafeez Ahmed, The Guardian blog

During his Wednesday night interview with Jeremy Paxman on BBC Newsnight, comedian and actor Russell Brand said what no politician or pundit would ever dare say...

A Potent Nostalgia

By Patrick Noble, Feasta

It is my premise (and surmise) that “The skills had always run the kingdom but had never held the throne” – until oil power removed tools from the dexterity of the skilled and handed them to the unskilled powers -- leading to the environmental/economic catastrophe which now faces us.