Welcome back to the Weekend Reads, where I write a short blog highlighting the main news and then link through to a collection of news across the world’s media, covering the planetary crisis; topical moments in the world; global politics and war; business and technology, social issues; and passion/humour/history.
I’ve had a break from the reads, as I always do over the summer months, but this wasn’t exactly a break, as we moved our family from Phuket, Thailand, back to Singapore. There are many reasons for the move – my ninth international move – and I have to say, this one was gruelling and left us in limbo for two months. We’re almost set up and raring to go, so the Livestreams will hopefully launch again soon as well – aka The Know Show and Climate Courage.
One piece of news I’ve been waiting for is an update on the state of warming this August. Back in March, Gavin Schmidt, director of the Nasa Goddard Institute for Space Studies said: if the heating anomaly does not stabilise by August, it could imply “that a warming planet is already fundamentally altering how the climate system operates, much sooner than scientists had anticipated.”
Obviously, this set off global alarm bells, because it essentially means we’ve experienced a systemic shift in our climate, and the ramifications of that are ENORMOUS. Well, it’s August, and apparently Schmidt is a “fraction less disturbed” and if things keep going as they are, 2023 could be a blip versus a systemic shift. So is this good news? Maybe.
The most important point is we need to pay attention to the alarm bells that have been ringing for years now and actually do something about what’s going on – and there is much we can do. The other critical point to remember is it’s only going to get hotter, so let’s act and let’s adapt.
Here’s the article discussing the situation now that we’ve hit August – ‘We should have better answers by now’: climate scientists baffled by unexpected pace of heating.
What else has been going on in the news? Well, an Mpox emergency has been called and two things stand out for me with this – 1. we already have vaccines AND 2. we would not be in this situation right now if wealthy countries sponsored vaccines for poorer countries (like the Democratic Republic of Congo) back when it started,. It seems remarkably stupid this hasn’t been addressed more aggressively, but then again, we do have a track record of stupidity when it comes to pandemics – the West at least!
Read: Mpox global health emergency: Will it trigger another pandemic?
The US Elections have certainly shifted gear, and on the podcast, The Rest Is Politics, Katty Kay and Anthony Scaramucci discussed that ‘It’s Trump’s Race to Lose.’ I have to say, I was surprised by much of what they said, and I also think they are really missing the demographic shift to the youth vote – GenZ and Millennials. I think many are still missing this shift too – there are more of them now and they are charged up to vote.
When it comes to the US Election, we certainly have a spectacle ahead, with all sorts of shenanigans possible, but I will never accept the ugliness of modern politics – anywhere. It is revolting, especially the othering, the misogyny, the racism and more. The Harris/Walz ticket have certainly brought some hope and joy back to politics, and that alone has fired up voters across the US. Trump isn’t helping the GOP (as always) with his attacks on powerful and valuable communities continuing, with Military Veterans the most recent blunder.
There will always be plenty of coverage in the Weekend Reads on the US Elections, because it matters to the world, so check in often if you want to know what’s going on. I’m updating this daily now.
Over to India, after years of protests, women’s safety is still a huge issue, with a young female doctor raped and murdered in a public hospital, while trying to get rest during a 36-hour shift. This protest has become a much bigger call for action.
We also saw the number of people killed in Gaza pass 40,000, Thai politics continues to be “interesting”, we have to ask the question – is Elon Musk in real trouble now and what is going on with him anyway?, there’s a ‘Mercury bomb’ threating millions as Arctic temperatures rise (have you seen the Arctic melt rates? Yikes), and things are getting pretty crazy in Turkish politics it seems….
If you haven’t come across it, Yellow Dot Studios are releasing The Extreme Weather Report every couple of weeks, and it’s certainly enlightening and worth subscribing to.
Finally, are you still buying fast fashion? Do you understand it’s devastating impact on the environment and on the people who make it? Well, how about the impact on you and your loved ones? We have got to stop this industry – Shein and Temu products found to contain high levels of toxic chemicals.
Favorite visual this week
There is so much to choose from, but here’s one that caught my eye today.
Dig into the news
Plenty more to read, listen to or watch, so do click through to the reads at the image below, and a reminder, this platform (elink.io) means the articles go back weeks, so have a scan and read/watch/listen to whatever jumps out at you.
Let me know what caught your attention? Or share with me what has your attention now? There’s a lot going on, which means none of us can cover everything. Besides, it’s always great to get feedback so I know I’m delivering something of value.
Cheers
Andrea
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