[Editor’s Note: It is a mark of the human ability to deny the obvious at how the farmers interviewed in this piece cannot bring themselves to acknowledge the issue of catastrophic climate crisis, even as their farms and machinery are idled by historic flooding and their fields are transformed to vast inland lakes. Let us hope they will come to hear the scientist interviewed in the Democracy Now! interviews below. — Mark L. Taylor]
CBS (7/26/19)
“A historic flood in March 2019 left much of America’s heartland under water. Partiularly hard-hit were Midwestern grain farmers, and climate experts say storms of increasing intensity could be the new normal. An industry already struggling to bounce back from the Chinese trade war must now grapple with the realities of climate change that threaten to change the future of farming forever. Now, some farmers are hoping they can be part of the the solution, by implementing practices that could potentially reverse the effects of climate change – and provide a bigger profit.
In this CBSN Originals documentary, Adam Yamaguchi travels to Nebraska, where he meets two farmers on different paths, both determined to pass their legacies on to the next generation.
Link to Story and 23-Minute Video
- US Heartland Has Been Flooded For Five Months. Does Anyone Care? — Dating back to late February, about 550,000 acres of land have been underwater in the rural Yazoo backwater area of the lower Mississippi delta. About half of the acreage is farmland, creating devastating effects in a region where agriculture is the lifeblood of the economy. While flooding in the region is common, this year’s floodwater has hung around longer than ever. … Read the Rest
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Climate System “Getting Unhinged” As Massive Heat Wave Causes Record Melting of Greenland Ice Sheet
Democracy Now! (8/2/19)
The massive heat dome that shattered all-time temperature records across much of Europe last week has settled in over Greenland, driving temperatures across the vast region to as much as 30 degrees Fahrenheit above normal. In July, Greenland’s ice sheet lost 197 billion tons of ice, the equivalent of around 80 million Olympic swimming pools. This comes as the World Meteorological Organization said Thursday [7/31] that July was the warmest month in recorded human history. It followed the hottest June on record, as atmospheric carbon dioxide levels climbed to a record high of 415 parts per million earlier this year. We speak with Jason Box, professor and ice climatologist at the Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland.
Link to Story and Transcript and 7-Minute Video
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Climate Scientist Jason Box: “Our Economic System Is Crashing With Reality”
“Perpetual growth on a finite planet is, by definition, impossible.”
Democracy Now! (7/31/19)
A heat wave is causing unprecedented melting of the Greenland ice sheet. Meanwhile, the World Meteorological Organization just declared July 2019 the hottest month ever recorded. We speak with Jason Box, professor and ice climatologist at the Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland, about the intensifying climate crisis. He says humanity must move toward living in balance with the environment. “If we don’t reduce greenhouse gas emissions and ultimately stabilize CO2 … there’s no real prospect for a stable society or even a governable society,” Box says. “Perpetual growth on a finite planet is, by definition, impossible.”