(Please “like” this post if you perceive the seriousness of it, not because you like what is happening.)
The remote Cocos Islands in the Indian Ocean are covered by 413.6 million pieces of plastic debris weighing 262 tons.
People around the world could be ingesting five grams of microplastic each week, the equivalent of eating a credit card.
July 2019 surpasses July 2016 as the hottest month in recorded history.
Emissions of the powerful greenhouse gas methane from ammonia-fertilizer plants are 100 times greater than what’s reported by the industry.
So far this year, 182 dead gray whales have washed up along the Pacific Coast, many likely having starved to death because of changing fish populations in warming waters.
In April 2019, for the first time ever, more US electricity generation came from renewables than from coal.
Human activity threatens 1 million species of plants and animals with extinction.
A heatwave bakes India. Temperatures in Rajasthan reach 123 degrees F, and the four reservoirs that supply Chennai (population 9.1 million) go dry.
Republican lawmakers in 18 states want to criminalize protests against fossil fuel infrastructure, like pipelines.
By the end of 2018, 11 million people were employed in renewable energy worldwide.
Current White House officials suppress State Department testimony that human-caused climate change will be “possibly catastrophic.”
More than 1.8 million people object to a Trump proposal to strip gray wolves of endangered species protections.
Tom's Nature-up-close Photography and Mindfulness Blog 
I had a sudden vision of a modern day Marie Antoinette saying, “Let them eat credit cards.” It’s not certain she was the actual source of the saying, but the analogy still works.
Great one, Linda! Fantastic (extremely clever) similitude! … and so true these days.
And humans go merrily along deaf to all these facts pointing toward doom.
Exactly, Sue! They say that they love their grandkids… as they drive huge cars, fly all over on vacations, vote wrongly, and do little (environmentally). When i was shopping at Walmart yesterday, using reusable cloth shopping bags, the cashier seemed upset that setting them up took a little longer, time-wise.
At least there is the one piece of good news – the increase in renewable energy.
Thanks for “broadcasting” Sierra Club’s analysis – their work is essential to eventual awareness (assuming there are humans left to become aware …)
Yes, assuming there are humans left to become aware. People just tend to stay indoctrinated in their old, dead ways.
If we carry on regardless how many things will be left in the wild, including this lovely wild thistle?
We sure need to change, Scifi. But too many people are resistant and indifferent to change.
You would think that with these sort of statistics, people would be more aware of what is going on around them, but true to human form, they only see and believe what they want to see and believe and what is the most convenient and profitable for them. The worst inhabitants of this world are those same people. The animal and bird population are sure as hell not the cause of it.
Yes, Francis, they only see and believe what they want to see and believe. The problem is that they (primarily) have a very limited sense of self… and as long as that little, (limited) self (enclosed by definite borders) is OK… then, to them, everything is fine. They were miseducated and, unfortunately, live — and the word “live” is stretching it here — in circumscribed, illusory concepts.
If only this was science fiction and not fact.
It and a lot of indifferent people’s brains sure seem like science fiction.
I see this Republican attempt at protest suppression (um…first amendment rights?) especially troubling.
Yes, Eilene and, additionally, they have been busy trying to suppress people’s voting and voting rights, like in Georgia and with, for instance, Native Americans. I like the work that Stacy Abrams is courageously doing to help nullify such nefarious suppression.
Yes, that is a big problem, too.
We can’t miss what is happening, even if we don’t read the newspaper or follow social media. How can others so blindly accept as gospel what is spoonfed to them, i.e. nothing to fear, there is no such thing as climate change. Beautiful thistle Tom, so delicate but has “bed head” or used too much gel to make its petals spiky. 🙂
It’s easy for the insidious (powers that be) to bamboozle the fragmented, unmindful masses. Win your election with big $ from the diabolical fossil-fuel industries and big pharma, then tell everybody that everything is hunky-dory.
I love Thistles; they are very cactus-like. A plant that says, “Keep away!” But to bees and butterflies it says, “Get your fresh meal here!” I take Milk Thistle supplements daily for the great antioxidants that it has (especially for the liver and heart). 🙂
Thanks for sharing these sad and scary statistics, Tom! I believe that it’s vital for every human being to pay attention to what’s really happening around us. We can only hope that caring for the environment and all living and breathing creatures becomes a trend!
There is no way to not see what is happening in the world. We are at the edge of human extinction and the Nimrods at the top are not smart enough to understand what they are doing to their grandchildren. I’m glad I don’t have any. I don’t know what else to do to stop the insanity.
Beautiful!