Eaarth Feels

Wildfires, floods, and now the dire IPCC report , collectively humanity is being traumatized by our uncertain future. Rose talks with psychotherapist Patricia Fero about naming this intense emotion and  ways we can help one another through .

In this time of upheaval and division, Corina Luna Dea offers this powerfully hopeful essay reminding us that it is not too late for us to embrace our true nature as caring beings.

At the crossroads between hope and despair, what direction will humanity choose ?

The IPCC report released on August 9, 2021 is clear:  We are at a tipping point. Escape from human-caused climate change is no longer possible. Without immediate, rapid and large-scale reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, it will be impossible to limit warming close to 1.5°C or even 2°C   Climate change is now affecting every continent, region and ocean on Earth, and every facet of the weather.  Humanity must take action. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license.

 This is our all hands on deck moment. Can we choose to focus on the optimistic signs that humanity is ready for the challenge ahead? Richard Matthews, author of The Green Market Oracle, gives us compelling reasons for hope. 

Through an unprecedented wave of lawsuits, America’s petroleum giants finally face a reckoning for the devastation they have knowingly caused by fossil fuels. This story originally appeared in The Guardian and is republished here as part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story.

"So began the Monks Wood Wilderness experiment, which is now 60 years old. A rewilding study before the term existed, it shows how allowing land to naturally regenerate can expand native woodland and help tackle climate change and biodiversity loss." This week's Best in Climate article discusses the benefits of doing nothing to reclaim wilderness except leaving the land alone to naturally regenerate.

"There’s really no escaping fear, you can’t pretend it doesn’t exist. So how do we live with that fear? How do we process it?" In this Best in Climate episode, Christine shares the advice of the Be Here Now Network's teachers on ways to respond to the chaos of the current situation, politically and otherwise, with love, compassion, and equanimity. This article was written by Noah Markus on behalf of Love Serve Remember Foundation, and originally posted on RamDass.org.  

"Climate change is a global problem with local impacts. This summer I and my neighbours, along with the people of Lytton, and countless others across Turtle Island are feeling the consequences of our collective reckless disregard of the climate consequences of burning fossil fuels. This summer the wheel of karma is turning to expose the devastating effects of our culture’s worship of profit over anything else, including life itself." In this week's Best in Climate episode, Christine looks at this summer of reckonings. She discusses the traumatic discoveries of unmarked graves of children at Canadian Indian Residential Schools, her current situation as a potential climate refugee fleeing wildfires, and how she brings together the very different perspectives of a climate activist and a spiritual coach working with energy healing.

"I’ve been a 'climate change warrior' for over ten years. It’s been like climbing uphill over loose gravel—for every step forward, we slid back two. The slow progress hasn’t been for lack of solutions. The slow progress has been for lack of relationship." In today's Best in Climate episode, published just after the July 4th celebrations in the United States, Davia Rivka shares the experience of sitting down to talk climate change solutions with people across politic divides.

Recorded after the historic cancellation of the Keystone XL pipeline project, Rose and Christine discuss whether activism is making a difference in creating the change we need in a time of climate crisis.

"The solution is clear: fossil fuels must be kept in the ground. Leaders, not industry, hold the power and have the moral responsibility to take bold actions to address this crisis." In this Best in Climate episode, Christine reads the letter recently signed by the Dalai Lama and 100 other Nobel Laureates urging world leaders to cooperate and stop the expansion of fossil fuels globally. Read more at https://fossilfueltreaty.org. urge cooperation at Climate Summit to stop fossil fuel expansion

As we watch climate change take hold, we are already seeing widespread natural disasters, tremendous biodiversity loss and the immigration of climate refugees. It seems that humanity is failing abysmally in our responsibility as stewards of our beautiful Planet Earth.  More than a mere scientific, economic or political debate, the climate crisis may be moral dilemma of our time. 

 The Climate change and biodiversity loss crises are irrevocably intertwined.  Their solutions must be as well.

There is no going back. Now that we have recognized our interconnectedness, how do we move forward to a more balanced, equitable world?  The answer may lie in the Haudenosaunee Seventh Generation Principle.

If rich countries want a livable planet for themselves, they'll have to pay what they promised. This weekend’s summit will show whether they will. This story originally appeared in The Nation and is republished here as part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story.

Lawns cover 50 million acres of land in the USA. A full 2% of our land mass. And they feed no one. We spend $30 Billion yearly to maintain them. Imagine if we put those resources to better use.

The Haudenosaunee Confederacy, comprised of the Mohawks, Oneida, Cayuga, Onandaga and Seneca Peoples, offer their Thanksgiving Address as a central prayer to the Natural World, thanking each life-sustaining force for the abundance it brings to all our lives.  This address speaks aloud mutual respect, conservation, love, generosity, and the responsibility to understand that what is done to one part of the Web of Life, we do to ourselves. 

Carbon Capture and Sequestration is our best hope for solving the climate crisis. Richard Matthews, author of The Green Market Oracle, gives us a fundamental lesson in this existing, viable and cost effective technology.  

" 'Inner social action' is necessary in order to make our outer actions productive." In this article published before his death in 2019, spiritual guru Ram Dass addresses the fine line those of us who care deeply about social justice and the health and sustainability of the planet find ourselves walking these days; we need to pay attention to the material world while maintaining a healthy inner balance. This article was originally posted on ramdass.org, and is written by Ram Dass & Raghu Markus.