Author Archives: John Gibbons
Pessimism of the intellect, optimism of the will
Any lingering sense, however slight, that humanity could shake itself from its collective somnambulation in time to arrest the coming twin ecological and resource catastrophes was finally snuffed out this month in Durban. Here, the nations of the world in … Continue reading
Posted in Biodiversity, Economics, Energy, Global Warming, Media
Tagged Canada, Chris Martenson, Crash Course, David Korowicz, Durban, Feasta, Kyoto, Tar Sands, Vesuvius
11 Comments
Phoney war ends as military eyes up new ecological foe
Late last year, Village magazine carried a cracking article entitled ‘Our deluded ESRI’, which opened as follows: “Patchy and boosterist forecasting, unquestioning neo-liberalism, an unempirical attitude to science and systemic ambivalence to environmentalism taint the performance of this apparently domestically-unassailable … Continue reading
Posted in Global Warming, Irish Focus, Sceptics
9 Comments
Hogan’s U-turn on climate is short-sighted and damaging
Below, my article as it appears in today’s Irish Times: WILL THE real Phil Hogan please stand up? On June 16th last, responding in the Dail to questions from Sinn Fein’s Martin Ferris on whether climate change legislation was being … Continue reading
Posted in Economics, Global Warming, Irish Focus
Tagged Green Party, IBEC, IFA, IPCC, John Sweeney, Mary Robinson, Phil Hogan
24 Comments
Population surge difficult to halt and almost impossible to reverse
My article, as it appears in this morning’s Irish Times: Today, just like every day for the last 50 years, around half a million babies will be born. Every 16 days or so, the equivalent of the population of Ireland … Continue reading
Posted in Global Warming, Irish Focus, Sustainability
22 Comments
We are earning the scorn and condemnation of history”
He’s hardly a household name, but US Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (a Democrat representing Rhode Island) delivered a quite extraordinary 23-minute speech last week on the floor of the Senate – the speech we hoped, back in the heady days of … Continue reading
Posted in Global Warming, Sceptics, Sustainability
Tagged deniers, Obama, Sheldon Whitehouse, US Congress
9 Comments
A little something for the weekend…
While smoking out climate change deniers can offer a little light relief, it’s important not to lose sight of what exactly is on the line here. For this, I am grateful to Joe Romm over at ThinkProgress for the following … Continue reading
Posted in Global Warming, Sustainability
Tagged Arctic, Hadley Centre, IPCC, methane, MIT, permafrost
8 Comments
Climate scientist fillets Pat Kenny
Prof Richard Somerville of the University of California is one of the world’s top climate experts. A lead author for the IPCC’s AR4, he is research professor at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography. He is also a big fan of … Continue reading
Posted in Global Warming, Irish Focus, Media, Sceptics
Tagged EPA, Pat Kenny, Richard Somerville
27 Comments
The devil or the deep blue sea – our nuclear conundrum
Twenty five years ago, in the early hours of April 26, 1986 a botched safety test led to a massive explosion at one of the four nuclear reactors at Chernobyl in Belarus. This was the world’s most serious nuclear event … Continue reading
Posted in Energy, Global Warming, Nuclear, Sustainability
Tagged cancer, Chernobyl, Fukushima, nuclear, radiation, thorium
9 Comments
When ‘functionally insane’ seems normal, time to worry
Every now and again I try to take a couple of hours out of life in La La Land (or was it Namaland?) to check in on the state of the real world. You know the one, it sustains all … Continue reading
Posted in Global Warming, Irish Focus, Media
Tagged climate change, human rights, IIEA, justice, Mary Robinson
7 Comments
More power to us if we choose nuclear option
Time to shake the ‘drill baby, drill’ debate on Ireland’s energy future up a little? here’s my piece in today’s Irish Times OPINION: Instead of seeking partners to exploit hoped-for offshore fossil fuel resources, Ireland should consider building some medium-sized … Continue reading
Posted in Energy, Global Warming, Nuclear, Sustainability
Tagged Fintan O'Toole, Fukushima, Irish Times, nuclear, radiation
17 Comments
Survival of the fairest?
Greed, in the immortal words of Gordon Gekko from the movie Wall Street, is good. Or, as we were told over and over again in this country during the heady days of the Bubble, we just needed to free our … Continue reading
Posted in Biodiversity, Economics, Global Warming, Psychology, Sustainability
Tagged economics, hubris, inequality, New York Times, wealth
8 Comments
The decline and fall of the Human Empire
Below is my article, as it appears over four pages in the current edition of ‘Village’ magazine: Doomsday cults are as old as human civilisation. The Bible is a rich sourcebook for ‘End Times’ enthusiasts, who pore over Iron Age … Continue reading
Posted in Biodiversity, Economics, Energy, Global Warming, Irish Focus, Media, Sustainability
Tagged Armageddon, CO2, Peak Oil, Village
13 Comments
Could climate change be linked to freak weather? Never!
By Bill McKibben* Caution: It is vitally important not to make connections. When you see pictures of rubble like this week’s shots from Joplin, Mo., you should not wonder: Is this somehow related to the tornado outbreak three weeks ago in Tuscaloosa, … Continue reading
Tipping the Scales towards Sustainability
The Stockholm Memorandum – 3rd Nobel Laureate Symposium* on Global Sustainability, Stockholm, Sweden, 16-19 May 2011 I. Mind-shift for a Great Transformation The Earth system is complex. There are many aspects that we do not yet understand. However, we are … Continue reading
Posted in Biodiversity, Global Warming, Sustainability
5 Comments
2084: An Oral History of the Great Warming
“Prediction is very difficult, especially about the future”, the famous Danish physicist Niels Bohr once quipped, only half in jest. Scientists, as we know, are a dry lot, preferring to leave the purple prose to the scribes while they pore … Continue reading
Posted in Biodiversity, Global Warming, Sceptics, Sustainability
21 Comments
