We’re just one ‘Black Swan Event’ away from Collapse and a Total Loss of Habitat.

If your paying any attention at all, you will know that we have already entered dangerous,  irreversible, non-linear climate change. There is a  10 to 30 year lag between when emissions are dumped into the atmosphere and when their full effects manifest. That means there is a huge amount of warming and consequences already baked in that have yet to be seen or felt, with emissions accelerating every year at a non-linear rate of increase, with the dreaded but much ignored “Feedback Loops” about to take centre stage.
Lets debate what that means for us and our loved ones, irrespective of which ever species of earthling your loved one’s are.
My role and that of my co-host on Nature Bats Last on The Progressive Radio Network is to connect the dots on the great unraveling we are witnessing.

As we all watch the Corona Virus spreading like wild fire around China and daily the planet, we are forced to confront the reality that our complex societies are extremely vulnerable to the whims of the next so called “Black Swan Event” that could tip industrial civilisation over completely or into the worst economic depression of modern times. This could literally happen over night. Imagine what stressors the global Insurance Industry is already under?

Let’s factor in the Aerosol Masking Effect;
Either a ‘Great Depression’ or partial-collapse of industrial civilisation will reduce the aerosol masking effect which will  trigger (not maybe or could), the crossing of yet another, irreversible climate tipping point.
Had the worlds international, commercial airliner fleet been grounded at the outset of this pandemic we could well have been tipped into the abyss due to the loss of the aerosol masking effect or ‘Global Dimming’.
Bare that in mind when the next threat looms or this virus mutates.

“As pointed out by the lead author of the paper in Science on 22 January 2019: “Global efforts to improve air quality by developing cleaner fuels and burning less coal could end up harming our planet by reducing the number of aerosols in the atmosphere, and by doing so, diminishing aerosols’ cooling ability to offset global warming.” The cooling effect is “nearly twice what scientists previously thought,” and this 2019 paper cites the conclusion by Levy et al. (2013) indicating as little as 35% reduction in industrial activity drives a 1 C global-average rise in temperature.”

“According to an overview published by European Strategy and Policy Analysis System in April 2019: “An increase of 1.5 degrees is the maximum the planet can tolerate; should temperatures increase further … we will face even more droughts, floods, extreme heat and poverty … and at worst, the extinction of humankind altogether.” Using 1750 as a baseline we are already past 1.5C; How much warmer is it now?

All of the above quoted peer reviewed data can be found in this article recently published on Counter Punch titled “Extinction Foretold, Extinction Ignored”.

Now to address the economic consequences of this unfolding pandemic;
“Factories all over China have been shut down, global supply chains have been hit by an unprecedented shock, the Baltic Dry Index is absolutely collapsing, the tourism industry is being absolutely devastated, and companies all over the globe are warning that sales will be lower than anticipated this quarter.  This coronavirus outbreak is already taking a very serious toll on the global economy, and experts are warning that we could still be in the very early chapters of this crisis.  If this outbreak ultimately evolves into a horrifying worldwide pandemic that kills millions of people, what will the global economy look like a few months from now?”This Coronavirus Outbreak Is Really Starting To Take A Very Serious Toll On The Global Economy.

I’d like to draw your attention to a series of You Tube presentations and analysis done on the Corona Virus by Chris Martenson of Peak Prosperity. Chris has dedicated a lot of time and analysis to the outbreak. Below is one of a series;

The central point of this blog post is that we are now a day to day, week to week, month to month proposition. This virus may or may not be the one that takes down industrial civilisation or the biosphere but we can be sure that there are flocks of ‘Black Swans’ lurking in our already murky future.
Professor McPherson and I have been branded ‘Alarmists’ by the corporate media and their sycophantic, well paid, corporate scientists whose tenure, status, personal renumeration and research grants all involve kowtowing to the dominant culture. It’s impossible to get funding for a 10 year research project if we don’t have 10 years.

Fundamental to my analysis is following “The Precautionary Principle”.
“The precautionary principle enables decision-makers to adopt precautionary measures when scientific evidence about an environmental or human health hazard is uncertain and the stakes are high.” The precautionary principle: Definitions, applications and governance

I didn’t learn about the ‘Precautionary Principle’ at university. I learned it on 16 ocean passages on small yachts and back packing through 50  countries over 4 decades. I’ve lived in two war zones. The fact that I’m still alive reflects my adherence to the precautionary principle. Blue water ocean sailing teaches the sailor to have respect for what mother nature can throw at you. You hope for the best but plan for the worst.
All of the corporate / state proposals to dealt with our predicament are nothing more than platitudes.
There is No Plan and there is No Planet B.

The cold harsh reality is that the climate change ‘can’ has been continually kicked down the road and off the cliff. Let’s talk below about reality not fantasy. Time is short, let’s cut the crap and cut to the chase.

About Kevin Hester

I'm an anti-imperialist, environmental activist and blue ocean sailor, who is passionate about the earth and all it's inhabitants without favour. Brace for imminent impact as we bare witness to the non-linear unraveling of the biosphere and habitability disappearing for most if not all complex life on the only habitable planet we know of. To quote President Niinistö in North Russia: ‘If We Lose the Arctic, We Lose the World’. Folks we have lost the Arctic.