Great news, the world map will finally represent the world as it is, versus the version we’ve been using since the 1600s which shrank the size of Africa, and elevated the Northern Hemisphere. Just check out how Greenland is represented versus Africa in the video below. It’s nuts right? But not surprising, considering the colonial history it all comes from. The US seems to want to hold onto that…
If you want to understand colonialism from a sustainability perspective, which really clarifies where we are right now and why, this is a great article worth your time: Colonial Sustainability: Tracing the sustainability industry’s ecocidal lineage from the Doctrine of Discovery | by Samantha Suppiah.
Big environment news
The United Nations have announced we will hit 1.8°C global warming. Of course, anyone paying attention has known this truth for a long time, along with also knowing it’s going to be a lot worse than that, but do not think .3°C of warming won’t matter, it will, A LOT!!
- Global heating will hit at least 1.8C, UN warns, and there are ‘no good outcomes’ | Climate crisis | The Guardian
- Global warming will exceed limit, UN says – ABC News
The World Meteorological Organization provided an El Niño update this week, and well, the news isn’t good.
El Niño is now stronger than at any point in the last 1,000 years, study finds – Ars Technica
What this means is, not only will we see extreme weather events, with heat, storms and floods breaking records, the other direct impact will be food insecurity. It’s a good time to stock up on essentials, and if you can afford it, take care of people who can’t. Another issue we should expect to see is social breakdown, protests and violence.
Is your government getting your country ready? If not, you might want to push for that! They’ve had ample warning.
The haze is back and while it hasn’t been shocking here in Singapore yet, it’s coming! Other countries in the region are already being impacted, with Indonesia obviously suffering the most, and Malaysia has already moved into hazardous territory: Sarawak’s Serian district records hazardous air pollutant index of 518 | The Straits Times.
Indonesia fires: Toxic haze spreads across South East Asia amid ‘super’ El Niño.
While it was wonderful to see the two hydropower workers rescued this week, the future is looking very bleak for Nepal, Tibet, and all the other countries in this region, both relying on glacial melt for water needs, and being in the path of future catastrophic events. At some point we will recognize it’s not about rebuilding, but about moving. I don’t think this is in the discourse yet. It will be: Glacier Time Bombs – CounterPunch.org.
Another issue from the disaster in Nepal – women and girls have additional needs that are not being met #MenstruationMatters Women survivors face sanitation woes in Nepal relief camp | The Straits Times.
As we look ahead: Goodbye to the Least Apocalyptic Summer of the Rest of Your Life | The New Republic.
The definition of irony
The world is in a mess, so people invest in gold, the price of gold increases because there’s more demand, which results in more natural environments being destroyed to dig for gold, so one of the primary reasons the world is in a mess (climate change) guarantees the world becomes less resilient because we destroy more of the natural world to dig for gold to “secure our future”. You see it too, yes? We can’t eat or drink gold: Gold miners breach a crucial refuge for rescued Sumatran orangutans.
JD Vance
The Vice President appeared on a Christian podcast and discussed the end times. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, no one who believes in the end times should be allowed in politics, because they have an opportunity to make it happen: Vance talks about end times and dark forces on Christian podcast | AP News.
What else?
Oh Steve Irwin, I cried for a week when you died – the only famous person I ever cried for – and it’s hard to believe it’s been 20 years. Total legend: Steve Irwin’s family celebrates ‘superhero’ dad, 20 years after shock death.
Gloria Steinman died this week, and unsurprisingly, she leaves behind a mixed legacy. I’m grateful for the great strides she made for women and marginalized communities everywhere, but she pissed me off too: Gloria Steinem, feminist icon and founder of Ms. Magazine, dies at 92 | CNN.
Navigating the polycrisis
I’m building a suite of tools to help you navigate the polycrisis, and I’d be very grateful if you checked them out, downloaded them, used them, and provided feedback on ways to make them better. I do this for love – of you and all life on our beautiful planet.
Learn access the information
Know make sense of the systems and risks
Act translate understanding into change
Feel build the courage, agency and resilience to keep going
Friends and my content
Oliver Gill, a guest and sometimes a co-host of The Sh*t Show, wrote a great blog on the situation in the Panama Canal, which is already suffering drought, adding another layer of risk to global supply chains: THE PANAMA PARADOX: Larger Vessels. Less Water.
The Sh*t Show was back this week, and for now, we’re going to do a show on the first Friday of every month, focusing on the biggest issues we all face, within the context of the polycrisis. The image below, which is from the Your polycrisis Risk Profile and based on the 8 Categories of the polycrisis™ framework, is what we will be basing our conversations around. It all interlinks and reinforces each other.
On the show this week, we discussed retirement. From all the conversations I’ve been having, the risks to pensions are not front of mind and it should be. Thankfully, we have two experts with Dr David Ko and Richard Busellato, who opened my eyes to this risk in their book, The Unsustainable Truth: How Investing for the Future is Destroying the Planet and What to Do About It – a must-read.
Check out the show and understand this very important area. You do not want to be blindsided here, you really don’t.
I’ll be back in October
I’m off to Australia this week for my mum’s 80th birthday. It’s been nearly two years since I’ve been on a plane, as I try to reduce my impact on our planet, which means I miss a lot of important moments. But it’s time to spend time with my family, and that means I’ll also be taking a break from the Weekend Reads. I will continue to update the news page every day, so save download it on your phone, and you’ll be able to keep up to date with news from across the world.
Dig into the news
When you visit the daily news page, remember to save it to your home screen and you can check the news anytime, as it’s updated throughout the day, every day – by a real human, me.
This news curation tool covers news and thought leadership across all issues relevant to the polycrisis, as well as some light stuff, because we can’t be serious all the time. To get to the news, click through on the image below, and a reminder, it goes back weeks, so have a scan and read/watch/listen to whatever jumps out at you. The categories are right on top as well, so you can dig into whatever issue you care about.
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 T Edwards, CSP
Making sense of the forces reshaping our world and what we can do about them
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About me
I help leaders make sense of the polycrisis, the interconnected ecological, social, technological, economic and geopolitical challenges shaping our future, and respond with clarity, courage and practical action.
Through strategic advisory, executive coaching, keynote speaking and workshops, I help organizations strengthen leadership, unlock the power of their people and navigate meaningful change.
I’m the author of Uncommon Courage, an invitation and 18 Steps to an All-Star LinkedIn Profile, co-host of The Sh*t Show, a livestream exploring the realities of the polycrisis and what we can do about it, as well as the podcast, Uncommon Courage.
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