GENERAL
climate change
Earth’s Polycrisis Is No Mere Illusion
with Michael Lawrence and Scott Janzwood | The backlash against the "polycrisis" neologism is well under way. But the polycrisis idea can motivate urgent scientific investigation into the architecture of global crisis interaction.
What Happens When a Cascade of Crises Collide?
with Johan Rockström | Humanity faces a complex knot of seemingly distinct but entangled crises that are causing damage greater than the sum of their individual harms.
A big bet on geothermal could help prevent a climate catastrophe
Directly under our feet, there’s enough heat emanating from the planet’s core to satisfy humanity’s future zero-carbon electricity needs thousands of times over.
Canada’s thawing permafrost should be raising alarm bells in the battle against climate change
Thomas Homer-Dixon and Duane Froese | Permafrost may seem tucked away in remote northern regions. But what happens in the Arctic doesn’t stay in the Arctic.
Interview with Tom Rand
Watch my video interview with Tom Rand from MaRS Impact Week (32:34)
The great Canadian climate delusion
with Yonatan Strauch | Is Canada going to be the first country to break apart over the issue of climate change? That may seem like a hyperbolic question. But the fissures in our federation over climate and energy policy are now extraordinarily deep, and there’s little sign that they’ll close soon.
No . . . I did not say wind energy is ‘Idiot Power’
A poster widely circulated on the Web highlights text that was purportedly written by me saying that wind power inevitably suffers an energetic deficit. The poster is fraudulent. I didn't write the text, the text itself is selectively quoted, and the argument it makes, taken in isolation, is meaningless.
Alberta’s economic future in peril without shift away from fossil fuel
by Gordon Kent | Alberta needs to start shifting quickly out of the oilsands to avoid serious economic trouble as the world moves away from fossil fuels, a University of Waterloo professor says.
B.C.’s green shift is a window to the world
In May's provincial election, the Green Party won its first multiple-seat breakthrough in North America, and by a fluke of electoral arithmetic, it now holds the balance of power in the legislature. Today, B.C.'s citizens are exploring uncharted political territory of potentially huge significance to people outside the province.
How Climate Change’s Effect on Agriculture can Lead to War
by Ryan Bort | On February 12, the temperature in Magnum, Oklahoma, reached 100 degrees. It was a state record for the month of February, besting a mark that was set in 1918. The average February high in Magnum is 56.
World Government Summit
This February 2017, Thomas Homer-Dixon spoke at the World Government Summit on "Climate Change and Food Supply."
Canada Must not Give Up the Fight on Climate Change
Those of us concerned about climate change generally inhabit an old-fashioned reality-based world. Scientific research and evidence drive our concern. Although we wish the climate problem would vanish, that motivation doesn’t override what science tells us.
How Alberta could champion a new energy source
Albertans may well wonder if a plague of locusts will come next. From the 2013 floods, to the oil price collapse and the resulting fiscal crisis, to the Fort McMurray fires, the province has taken some heavy blows.
Start the Leap revolution without me
The Leap Manifesto is a Rorschach ink-blot test of one’s political and economic ideology.
Don’t Peddle Climate Fantasies
The French have pulled a rabbit out of the climate hat in Paris. It’s a rather incomplete rabbit, because it’s missing bits and pieces – an ear here, a foot there. But it has a heartbeat, and it’s recognizable as a rabbit all the same.
The False Promise of Climate Adaptation
Climate skeptics may not be out for the count, but they’re definitely on the ropes. As Earth’s atmosphere warms and severe droughts, storms, and wildfires sweep the planet, those arguing that climate change isn’t a grave danger have had to bob and weave to stay on their feet.
Scientists Call for an Oil Sands Moratorium
Consensus statement says the science is clear: there can be no more oils sands development if we are to solve the global climate crisis.
Consider the Global Impacts of Oil Pipelines
Wendy Palen, Thomas Homer-Dixon, et al. | As scientists spanning diverse disciplines, we urge North American leaders to take a step back: no new oil-sands projects should move forward unless developments are consistent with national and international commitments to reducing carbon pollution.
Climate Uncertainty Shouldn’t Mean Inaction
with Andrew Weaver | Folks who question the reality or seriousness of climate change are making a lot of noise about how the planet’s warming has slowed down or even stopped.
The Tar Sands Disaster
If President Obama blocks the Keystone XL pipeline once and for all, he’ll do Canada a favor.
Ice, Please – Climate on the Rocks
Any day now, the expanse of sea ice in the Arctic will reach its lowest extent for the year. The round-the-clock summer days have gone, and the weather is turning sharply colder as the sun sinks below the horizon for longer periods each day.