Anthropologist Steven Gonzalez #Monserrate draws on five years of research and ethnographic fieldwork in #server farms to illustrate some of the diverse #environmental impacts of #datastorage.
"The Cloud now has a greater carbon footprint than the airline industry. A single data center can consume the equivalent electricity of 50,000 homes"
#capitalism is a cult, according to philosopher Walter Benjamin.
Cults instill internalized guilt, as does capitalism. If you can't "make it", it must be your fault. The system works, right?
Likewise, #climate#chaos and #environmental damage must be your fault, not that of the rich. They're special, have special powers and we wouldn't exist without their ingenuity and generosity, right?
Edit: Glad this is blowing up ... Again, not my art.
Edit 2: You can join the important #environmental discussion groups below JUST BY FOLLOWING THEM. And then you can read and boost equally important #climate and #banfossilfuels and #makethempay content...
One mechanism for forcing the world to deal with the projected impact(s) of #climatechange may be the increasing cost of insurance for those areas most likely to be at the forefront of #environmental effects (damage).
As the costs of future climate-caused effects are no longer able to be treated as uncosted future externalities, we may see a stronger 'business case' for addressing the #climatecrisis.
As so often, its only when a clear cost is allocated that some people finally will wake up!
When you ask BP what would be the best incentive to get you to maximise your production, this is not in the pubic interest, this is serving the needs of BP to maximise their subsidy from the state.
“I do not think that the world reaction to this #ecocide was enough. We have to talk louder about it, we have to raise awareness about what is going on.”
#Environmental activist #Greta#Thunberg visited Kyiv to draw attention to environmental damage caused by the russian invasion of Ukraine and criticized the world’s response to the collapse of the Kakhovka dam
As he sat w/some of the country’s top #oil execs at his Mar-a-Lago Club last month, one exec complained how they continued to face burdensome #environmental#regulations despite spending $400M to lobby the #Biden admin…
#Trump’s response stunned several of the executives in the room overlooking the ocean: You all are wealthy enough, he said, that you should raise $1B to return me to the White House. At the dinner, he vowed to immediately reverse dozens of President #Biden’s #environmental rules & policies & stop new ones from being enacted, acc/to people w/knowledge of the meeting…
Giving $1 billion would be a “deal,” Trump said, because of the taxation & regulation they would avoid thanks to him….
#Trump’s remarkably blunt & transactional pitch reveals how he is targeting the #oil industry to finance his reelection bid. At the same time, he has turned to the industry to help shape his #environmental agenda for a second term, including rollbacks of some of #Biden’s signature achievements on #CleanEnergy & #EVs.
More #BrexitReality... despite the occasional 'reassurance' from #Brexiters (and fulfilling warnings from Remainers), its now clear that where the UK is diverging from the EU on #Environmental protection & regulation, this has been in the direction of weakening or even abandoning green commitments.
The continuing #Tory project of turning the UK into a wasteland continues; our future as a toxic island off the European continent looks (now) assured.
Per unit of food, meat & dairy has anywhere from 3 to 100 times the #environmental impact of plant-based foods.
This means huge differences between the 2 extremes: vegans & high meat-eaters. Vegans had just 25% of the greenhouse gas emissions impact of high meat-eaters.
Researchers sound alarm after making concerning connection between #plastic and the spread of #pathogens: ‘Urgent need for intensified monitoring’
Story by Juliana Marino
January 28, 2024
"New studies have revealed the dangers of microplastics. These tiny plastic particles are not only a major #environmental threat but also a serious health risk.
"A recent study in the 2023 Volume 2 issue of Eco-Environment & Health has identified the hidden dangers of microplastics spreading in bodies of water.
What’s happening?
"Microplastics are tiny plastic particles — no bigger than 5 millimeters — that come from industrial materials and the breakdown of plastic products. They have become a growing environmental concern due to their widespread presence throughout marine and freshwater ecosystems worldwide.
"The new study reveals the alarming health risks associated with the spread of microplastics. According to the research findings, pathogens can adhere to microplastics, using plastic waste particles as a medium for transmission.
"Researchers who worked on the study underscored the 'urgent need for intensified monitoring of microplastic contamination.' The study also calls for additional research investigations examining the 'role of microplastics in pathogen transmission, along with the health risks that ensure.''
Why are microplastics concerning?
"Microplastics pose severe health risks to living organisms. Scientists have found microplastics in the stomachs of a variety of organisms, from small invertebrates to large mammals like bears, whales, and deer. When organisms ingest microplastics, the plastic waste particles build up and can cause #inflammation, #neurotoxicity, and #GutImbalances.
"From an environmental standpoint, microplastics leach toxic substances into the #soil, #air, and #water. Since microplastics are made of synthetic materials, they do not break down, remaining in the environment and our bodies indefinitely.
"Plastic pollution threatens the biodiversity of aquatic ecosystems especially, as scientists have already identified 24.4 trillion pieces of microplastics in the ocean. However, the total number of microplastics floating through the ocean is estimated to be much higher.
What’s being done about microplastic pollution?
"Countries across the globe are taking action by developing policies to prevent further plastic leakage into soil and water sources.
"Scientists are also developing methods for effectively removing existing microplastics from contaminated bodies of water. One promising technique uses a magnetic nano-pillared absorbent to extract tiny plastic particles. This approach removes microplastics at a much faster rate than previous methods.
"Individually, we can stop adding to plastic pollution by changing small habits that make a big difference."
Environmental users abandoned #Twitter after #Musk takover
"Changes since Twitter’s acquisition likely have ripple effects for other user segments, such as the climate policy sphere, or future disaster response after extreme weather events.
These reports raise questions about the continued usefulness of Twitter as a data source and platform for #environmental advocates, researchers, and educators."
"There was a time most American cities almost never saw a blue sky. Brown and yellow smog was the norm and rivers were garbage sludge that are now teeming with fish. People don't know that government #environmental regulation actually did succeed, that the #EPA really worked as intended. Now it gets eroded because people think it isn't making a big difference, and they think that because they haven't seen what it's still holding back." https://www.tumblr.com/prismatic-bell/731116294401884160/the-cuyahoga-river-caught-fire-at-least-a-dozen
#ExxonMobil CEO, enjoying record profits, says you and I are not pulling our weight when it comes to addressing the #climatecrisis. I swear I am not making this up.
Europe’s biggest, most powerful, #farming#lobby group, Copa-Cogeca, has dominated E.U. #agricultural#policy for decades. On the strength of its history and claim to represent all farmers, it has used its power in the past year to block crucial #environmental reforms. ..we speak to food systems reporter, Thin Lei Win & editor Lionel Faull about the investigation, Europe’s Potemkin Lobby.
The ice sheet is cascading/gushing at unheard of rates never dreamed possible at this stage of global warming, or at any stage for that matter. Greenlands ice sheets are cascading or merging with the sea. #climate#chaos#environmental#collapse
Three quarters of the Great Barrier Reef has been hit in a widespread coral bleaching sparked by a marine #heatwave ... a major bleaching event is unfolding all the way along the 2300 kilometre #ecosystem.
The documentary was not broadcast in #Canada. Hansen said the reason B.C.’s wood pellet industry is a focus in #UnitedKingdom is the #Drax Power Station in #England.