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UK National Emergency Briefing Wakes Up World

Photo by Valentin Antonucci is licensed by Pexels
Photo by Valentin Antonucci is licensed by Pexels

UK National Emergency Briefing Wakes Up World

By Robert Hunziker

An impressive display of world class scientists recently (Nov. 27th) held a UK National Emergency Briefing, informing the world of impending climate change disaster scenarios that can no longer be ignored. A war-time footing is necessary. Ten of the UK’s leading experts briefed politicians, business leaders, faith, sport, and the media in a marathon session.

The British are dead serious about the deleterious impact of climate change and intend to alert the public to this existential threat to civilization. Eighty-one (81) Members of Parliament and fifty-two (52) Peers attended the session headed by the UK’s chief scientific advisor, explaining why the UK must take emergency-level action like a war-time scenario. There were 1,200 invite-only attendees at the session. A 45-minutte documentary of the event is in the production stage.

Opening remarks by Professor Mike Berners Lee, Lancaster University, Sustainability Expert, Chair of the session: “For an understanding of the root causes of the most serious crisis that will ever impact our species we need people. We need to trust them because they are telling us the truth…. The information that we’re going to be looking at is extremely serious, urgent, and it affects us all here in the UK. That is why we’re calling this a National Emergency Briefing…. In the words of James Baldwin: ‘Nothing can be changed until it is faced.’ COP30 recently ended without any progress on fossil fuel emissions, in fact, the words ‘fossil fuel’ were stripped from the proceedings. We desperately need to reset the narrative on climate change and wipe out misinformation.”

The original video of the event d/d November 27th runs 3:05. Herein a sampling of excerpts of the first five speakers suffices to emphasize the critical nature of the subject prompting this emergency briefing. These excerpts are a combination of direct quotes as well as summaries of statements.

Excerpts of First Four Speakers:

Chris Packham, UK Naturalist: We are the only known life forms in the universe, and we’ve got nowhere else to go. This little blue planet is where we will either live in harmony with the environment or we will destroy ourselves and much of other life too… Do we want it on our conscience that we waste everything? Why are we unbelievably pulling back from addressing the greatest crises to ever threaten our species, climate breakdown and biodiversity loss… climate denialism is a mainstream thing again thanks to well-oiled machines of the rich, powerful, and influential lobbyists from the fossil fuel and other industries. A dangerous wave of misinformation and lies fills our lives. But worse, it fills the lives of our decision-makers… the people who shape policy. For example, the petro states said “no” and thrashed COP30 because of the crazed consensus requirement that allows oil to say “no” and abort any movement against CO2 emissions. Fossil fuel companies are some of the biggest contributors to our politicians, especially the less scrupulous. And the media is failing to explain to the public “the gravity of our predicament.” We must listen to the science… if politicians ignore science, billions of lives are at risk. Politicians in the audience today must listen to the scientists and act accordingly.

Nathalie Seddon, Professor of Biodiversity, Oxford Martin School: Nature is not simply nice to have. It’s not a luxury. It’s critical national infrastructure. When we destroy and degrade it, we expose this country to escalating risks, e.g. floods, fires, heat waves, insecurity and economic instability. When we protect and restore it, we can build resilience. The living creatures that support our entire life system are breaking down. We are facing a national emergency not only because the climate is changing but because the living systems that regulate that climate, protect homes and feed our people are breaking down here in one of the most nature depleted nations on Earth. The facts are sobering. Only about ½ of UK biodiversity remains. Only 14% of rivers in England are in good ecological health as the result of chemical pollution, sewage discharge and erosion, and agricultural runoff choking the arteries of the landscape. When rivers fail, so does resilience to droughts, etc.. Only 7% of our woodlands are healthy, only 3% of our lands, and 8% of our waters are effectively protected for nature. Over 5 million properties in England are at risk of flooding. Additional national concerns due to degradation, misuse, and abuse of nature are itemized in this speech skillfully transitioning the errors of society and government to the need to follow public opinion, which strongly supports protecting nature and redirecting public funds from inadvertent harmfulness to positive embracing of nature within government policymaking.

Kevin Anderson, Tyndall Centre for Climate Change: Let me start by framing the problem as I see it. And it’s very much that CO2 concentrations in the environment in the atmosphere that are rising at unprecedented rates… across the last 800,000 years, CO2 varied by 100 parts per million but over the past 10,000 years it only varied by 20 parts per million. This gave civilization a very stable climate. Now, in a blink of geologic time we’ve increased, since 1850 from 280 to 424 ppm or +134 ppm in less than 200 years, burying 9,800 years of the perfect climate system, not too hot, not too cold. That is gone. Therefore, we must eliminate, not cut, fossil fuels or temperatures will continue to go up. We are headed for 2C by midcentury and 3C to 4C by 2100. The planet system cannot handle it. We are looking at systemic collapse of economies within a collapsing climate system. 1.5C is no longer a viable target because of failure to cut emissions, which is a very depressing admission. There is new evidence that we are warming up much faster than science expected, which adds to the urgency of taking action now.

The world needs to cut carbon emission by 13% per year to hold temps down to 2C. We need a profound shift in our social norms to accomplish that, and you can forget carbon capture and storage. After 30 years of promises to do the job, according to the CCS Institute, it’s managed to store less than 0.03% of all fossil fuel emissions after 30 years of promises by the ‘delay technology” groupies, like the oil and gas industry. These are false solutions designed to avoid meaningful legislation to cut back emissions. Timely technologies are required, e.g. retrofitting homes, more public transport, EV charging stations, zero carbon electricity.

It is now too late for nonradical solutions. There is no way other than revolutionary rates of change, and the rich, luxury class of living must give up its overallocation of resources. Remarkably, the top 1% of the population of high income/high emissions people give rise to twice the level of emissions as the bottom half of the world’s population. This statistic makes the case for revolutionary change. Put another way, the top 1% generate twice the greenhouse gas emissions as 4,000,000,000 people.

According to an article in Oxfam (not provided by Anderson but this is a fact-check of his !% statement; the Stockholm Environment Institute also participated in Oxfam’s study, and several other independent studies show variations of the Oxfam study; all similar, some showing less some more but all show vast inequity in carbon polluting by class status) Oxfam (est. 1942) Richest 1% Use Their Entire Annual Carbon Limit in Just 10 Days d/d January 10, 2025: “The richest 1% are responsible for more than twice as much carbon pollution than half of humanity, with devastating consequences… To meet the 1.5°C goal, the richest 1% need to cut their emissions by 97% by 2030… Governments need to stop pandering to the richest. Rich polluters must be made to pay for the havoc they’re wreaking on our planet… Tax them, curb their emissions, and ban their excessive indulgences —private jets, superyachts, and the like. Leaders who fail to act are effectively choosing complicity in a crisis that threatens the lives of billions.”

Kevin Anderson (cont.) We need urgent legislation to drive down energy use within that 1% group. And I would argue that the second prerequisite of Paris is that fair and deep reductions in energy use… This will deliver immediate and substantial cuts in emissions; it gives us critical time to put in place zero carbon technologies that are very important, and it releases the labor, the materials, the finance, and even the political capital we need to drive the clean revolution… affordable low carbon homes, high quality public transport, etc., we need to move the resources and labor that furnish the private luxury of a relative few of us like me and many of us here to the public well-being for all.

Tim Lenten, Global Systems Institute, University of Exeter: Tipping Points.

If we carry on with current trajectory to three or maybe four degrees centigrade, then we will definitely be in a national emergency. We’ll likely be at a tipping point with a climate that’ll make this country a very different uninhabitable place. There is plenty of evidence that we are headed toward several tipping points, which interact, causing widespread climate disruption. We’ve already crossed a tipping point with the world’s coral reefs that support the livelihoods of ½ billion people and protects coastlines from rising sea levels and storm surges.

An upcoming example of the most dangerous tipping point is AMOC, the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation, which is already showing signs of slowing. Paleoclimate research shows us that AMOC has turned off and on several times over the last ice age.

If we lose the deep-water formation of AMOC, a state-of-the-art scientific model using 2°C of global warming shows what’ll happen with the decadal winter climate extremes, assuming we cross this tipping point, thereby losing the enduring circulation of tropical warm water to the North Atlantic, heretofore warming Europe.

Here are the theoretical consequences of losing AMOC because of a 2°C warming cycle:

(1) Remarkable comeback of Arctic sea ice reaches down to covering most of the North Sea by February each winter

(2) In London it is minus 20°C (-4°F) with three frozen months of the year

(3) Edinburgh minus 30°C (-22°F) with five and a half frozen months per year

(4) But the summers will still be hotter than today because of a 2°C warmer world, well beyond today’s 1.4-1.5C.

(5) The UK will be nearly 100% dependent upon import of food crops and suffer a shortage of potable water.

(6) On a global scale, regions where staple crops are grown will be reduced by 50%.

In closing, a radical acceleration of action towards zero emissions is required. And the only way to convince ourselves that that’s credible is to show positive tipping points achieved via transition from fossil fuels to renewables that can become self-accelerating, and we’ve successfully done that in the UK but only in the power sector. At the peak in 2012, 40% of UK electricity came from black coal. Today it is zero from coal. This was accomplished by a climate change act with cross-party consensus to gradually put a floor price on carbon levied just on the power sector, stepped up over time, enough to incentivize switching to renewables, which, with ever-larger economies of scale, serve as a tipping point to lesser costs and enhanced proficiency. Importantly, in the final analysis, mandates on a global scale are needed to take out fossil fuels, transitioning as soon as possible out of fossil fuels.

The full 3:05 session UK National Emergency Briefing is on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/live/2-PFKT1SNc4

This article was originally published on Dec. 5, 2025 © Counterpunch

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Robert Hunziker lives in Los Angeles and can be reached at rlhunziker@gmail.com.

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Pay to Pollute

 

Photo by Chris LeBoutillier is licensed by Unsplash
Photo by Chris LeBoutillier is licensed by Unsplash

Pay to Pollute, Starting in 2026

By Robert Hunziker

The United States of America was unofficially represented at COP30, the annual UN climate conference (November 10-21) in Belem, Brazil by Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI). He was not granted the privilege of officially representing the U.S. The State Department refused to facilitate his trip, refused to acknowledge the senator as a representative of a congressional delegation, refusing to acknowledge COP30, refusing to acknowledge global warming. This is the first time in Senator Whitehouse’s career that the executive branch of government has dictated a congressional member’s CODEL (Congressional Delegation paid trip for members).

The EU’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM)

In meetings with country representatives outside of COP30 official proceedings, Senator Whitehouse learned what’s happening to hopefully limit global warming, concluding that one way to climate safety is by imposing a fee on polluters. According to studies by Potsdam Institute, “a price on carbon” is one of the ways not yet implemented to tackle global warming.

The senator met with the Europeans, the Brits, and the Australians. The EU is instituting a Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism, which is a global price on carbon that comes via tariffs. It is already law and set to go into effect in 2026. The conservative UK government is also in the process of figuring out how they’ll handle a carbon tariff. Australia is also looking into it.

Whitehouse: “This is sending a global price signal that if your goods are more carbon intensive than ours, we are going to charge you for that. You cannot pollute and export for free any longer.” However, a fee on carbon pollution is no guarantee of climate safety; on the other hand, not instituting a carbon fee is a pathway for climate failure, likely taking down civilization at some unexpected juncture. It’s gotten that serious.

In that regard, the value of oil and gas subsidies in the U.S. are $700 billion per year. That’s the value of polluting for free that the fossil fuel industry receives. It’s no surprise they were willing to “grease” the president with several hundred million dollars to do whatever they want to do.

American Opinion Polls on Carbon Pollution

According to the senator, Trump does not represent American interests. He only represents fossil fuel interests, not the American public. Proof is found in recent polls, as expressed in Senator Whitehouse’s speech, stating that a proposal to “limit carbon pollution by big corporations” is supported by 72% of Americans. Whereas Trump’s Mar-a-Lago commitment to fossil fuel interests has been sealed with several hundred million dollars of grease following his open offer to do whatever they want for a one-billion-dollar quid pro quo. This is simply one more weird oddball difficult to rationalize stance against America’s best interests. Nearly 2/3rds of the American public want “limits to carbon pollution.”

According to the senator’s speech, when ask if a “fee should be imposed for polluting,” Americans polled said ‘Yes’ by a resounding 74%. Once again, Trump would certainly oppose such a fee since he has already sold his soul to the polluters. American citizens diametrically oppose Trump on carbon pollution. Two-thirds of Americans favor a fee on carbon polluters. Significantly, the EU is instituting such a fee; the UK is considering it; Australia is considering it. This may become a global movement now that all past approaches over the past 30 years by nations of the world, demonstrating concern about climate change at annual COPs, have so little to show for 30 years of meetings.

An updated poll Climate Change in the American Mind d/d June 17, 2025 conducted by Yale Climate Change Communications and George Mason University Center for Climate Change Communications d/d May 1-25, 2025 can be accessed.

COP30 Results- Global Warming Wins Once Again

According to Reuters d/d November 22, 2025: “World secures compromise deal at COP30 that sidesteps fossil fuels.” This is one more COP failure to properly address the key reason behind starting UN climate conferences 30 years ago. The first UN climate conference, COP1, held in Berlin in 1995 started a process of negotiations to create “legally binding emission reduction targets” for the developed countries of the world. That initial “statement of purpose” remains fluttering in midair directionless, heartless, meaningless, out of reach with each annual meeting. Next year Antalya, Turkey will host the staging arena for COP31’s chatter, wine, caviar, nearly guaranteed disappointing results, and photo ops for state leaders.

The Ultimate Impact of Failure to Challenge Climate Change

Senator Whitehouse’s Senate speech (Nov. 21) discusses the outcome of failure to address climate change. Accordingly, big trouble is on the docket by avoiding the climate change issue. This threat of upcoming trouble is voiced by leading figureheads in finance. Senator Whitehouse refers to it as the Great Climate Insurance Collapse, warned by finance authorities, claiming climate change alone could reduce global GDP by 10-20%.

“In 10 or 15 years, there are going to be regions of the country where you can’t get a mortgage” (Federal Reserve Board Chair Powell) because people will not be able to get home insurance. This, in turn, eliminates home mortgages. “Whole regions of the U.S. are going to become so climate risky that they’re uninsurable.” (Whitehouse)

According to the senator, Florida is on a fast-track: “In Florida the insurance market is already trembling, propped up, perhaps even fake.” The likely scenario is a cascade: “It goes from climate risk-to un-insurability-to mortgage failure-to property value collapse-to recession.” Still, a typical Florida family home is $407,830 in 2025 versus $410,000 in 2023, not too much of a decrease in value in two years but still a decrease as sources say typical Florida buyers experience “climate change denialism” to an extreme despite several obvious risks. Meanwhile, Florida is the most expensive state for home insurance in the country and likely going higher, pricing many buyers out of the market.

Extreme Climate Change Shows Up in the Damnedest Places, Clobbering a Town in Nebraska

“In Cozad, Neb., a hailstorm last year caused an estimated $100 million in damage, according to local insurance agent Brian Messersmith, in a town of just 4,000 people. After the storm, many homeowners and business owners in town say they were dropped by their insurers and forced to scramble to find new, generally more expensive, policies. Others saw the price of their existing policies go up significantly. The average cost of homeowners insurance in Nebraska this year is nearly $6,400, according to Bankrate. That’s the highest in the country, and almost $4,000 above the national average.” (It’s Harder to Get Home Insurance. That’s Changing Communities Across the U.S., NPR, November 12, 2025)

A cascading climate change situation is what the chief economist of Freddie Mac told a Senate committee could happen. Freddie Mac is not a green organization. Freddie Mac is a mortgage company warning the country of climate change negatively impacting the real estate market.

The finance community is warning of big economic trouble because of climate change. These are not green NGOs. The Economist magazine featured an article entitled The Next Housing Disaster, predicting a $25 trillion hit to global real estate because of climate change’s home insurance meltdown.

The president of Aon Insurance, one of the biggest in the country, testified before the Senate budget committee, saying climate risk is a “systemic risk,” which means the issue is not confined to where it originates, it spreads. For example, the 2008 recession was systemic with the mortgage meltdown hurting everybody throughout the economic system. But now we are confronted with global systemic risks that could be globally cataclysmic after years of ignoring climate change.

Two Million Canceled Home Insurance Policies

The climate-engineered home insurance crisis is already happening and threatens to get much worse as the Trump administration officially ignores climate change, labeling it a “hoax”: “In one five-year period, 2018-2023, insurers canceled nearly 2 million homeowner’s policies in the face of rising climate risks.” (How Climate Risks Are Putting Home Insurance Out of Reach, YaleEnvironment360, September 15, 2025) Why would major insurance companies cancel 2,000,000 home insurance policies if climate change is a hoax?

Gunther Thallinger of Allianz SE, the world’s largest insurance company warned about the prospect of hitting 3C, which Senator Whitehouse believes is coming: “The financial system as we know it ceases to exist and capitalism ceases to be viable.”

The Mortgage Bankers Association says the fiscal risk associated with climate change may exceed the capacity of insurance and governmental assistance in some regions of the country.

Climate Deniers Threaten Entire Financial System

If major finance executives, including the Chairman of the Federal Reserve, and leading finance entities like Aon Insurance and Allianz SE believe climate change is a systemic risk to the financial system, what more is needed to reverse the administration’s anti-science, anti-climate change campaign that will harm every American and take down the entire financial system. There are no winners under this scenario, only losers, including climate deniers.

This article was originally published on Nov. 26, 2025 © Counterpunch

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Robert Hunziker lives in Los Angeles and can be reached at rlhunziker@gmail.com.

Note: This article will also be posted on the Facing Future Now! Facebook group. If you would like to comment on this article, please go to the Facebook group and post your comments there under the article posting.

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Antarctica’s Red Flag Warning

Photo by Torsten Dederichs is licensed by Unsplash.
Photo by Torsten Dederichs is licensed by Unsplash.

Antarctica’s Red Flag Warning

By Robert Hunziker

Antarctica has moved to “the front of the line” as a global warming threat that’s already well beyond expectations, and it’s happening fast. Based upon statements by polar scientists over the past 18 months, it warrants a Red Flag Warning, meaning higher than expected risks of catastrophic meltdown within current lifetimes.

This meets criteria for the latest international concern surrounding climate change: “When is enough, enough” for world leaders to take to heart the risks of ecosystem failures and take extraordinary, drastic, unprecedented measures in unison to hopefully head off the onset of a maniacal worldwide climate system. There are people of stature who believe it (climate change) is already over the top, meaning “it’s too late.” But this is not universal belief.

Antarctica may be the catalyst that tips the scales enough to scare the daylights out of world leaders, but will this be recognized early enough for extreme mitigation measures to hopefully take hold well before EVs, with electron sparks flying, are left floating on city streets throughout the world?

Antarctica has been commanding more public attention as the principal ogre of global warming’s impact on sea levels simply because it is the biggest monster in the room, and it’s starting to move, a lot. Increasingly, the science that once, not so long ago, thought of Antarctica as an issue for the distant future, has turned tail as the rapidity of global warming has changed the entire complexity of the continent’s future. Its future is now, not a hundred years from now.

The risk of massive sea level rise flooding coastal megacities has jump-started from a distant hundred years hence, or more, to today’s generation, right now. This new unanticipated risk has been hammered home by statements from scientific meetings over the past 18 months with explicit warnings of Antarctica’s meltdown advancing much faster than ever expected:

The 11th Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research meeting d/d August 2024 attended by 1,500 scientists: “Antarctica’s glacial melt is advancing faster than ever before in recorded history.” Quote by Gino Casassa, glaciologist head of Chilean Antarctic Institute: “Based upon current trends, sea levels will be up 13 feet by 2100.” If this happens, sea levels by 2035-40 will shock the world. After all, 13 feet doesn’t suddenly happen in the year 2099. And this is the first time such a projection (13’) has gone public.

A couple of months after that scientific meeting, 450 polar scientists held an emergency meeting in Australia d/d November 2024 issuing a press release to the public: “If we don’t act, and quickly, the melting of Antarctica ice could cause catastrophic sea level rise around the globe within our lifetimes.” The 450 polar scientists claim: “Drastic action is necessary regarding CO2 emissions as soon as possible.” Immense global warming-induced shifts were found in Antarctica. And this is the first time a group of polar scientists has stated “catastrophic sea level rise within our lifetimes.”

Now, a new study has discovered evidence of Antarctica mimicking Greenland’s meltdown dynamics, which are pervasive: Ruth Mottram, et al, The Greenlandification of Antarctica, Nature Geoscience, October 2025. Indeed, this study adds a new layer to outcries by scientists that a very big problem is about to burst loose with Antarctica’s meltdown phase.

Disturbingly, the Mottram, et al study exposes new dimensions of meltdown risks in Antarctica that should shatter any opposition to confronting global warming with every available resource guided by top notch scientists: “Both satellite data and field observations in Antarctica reveal alarming signs of a Greenland-like meltdown, with increased surface melting of the ice fields, faster-moving glaciers and dwindling sea ice. Some scientists are sounding the alarm, warning that the rapid ‘Greenlandification’ of Antarctica will have serious consequences, including an accelerated rise in sea levels and significant shifts in rainfall and drought patterns.” (Bob Berwyn, Scientists Warn About the ‘Greenlandification’ of Antarctica, Inside Climate News, October 16, 2025)

The immediate risk for today’s generation could be West Antarctica coming apart at the seams with enough ice melt alone to raise sea levels by 10 feet due to its uniquely vulnerable geographic setting. Overall, the entire Antarctic continent contains approximately 200 feet of sea level rise, which would take hundreds of years for complete meltdown, keeping in mind that every foot of sea level rise on the way to 200 feet equates to 100 feet of flooded shoreline; this puts every coastal megacity in the world at risk, within today’s generation.

The Ocean Mega-Heat Threat, since 2023

It’s entirely possible that current projections of sea level rise should be tossed out the window as ocean heat content exceeds all expectations. Indeed, this new risk is already a measurable factor that’s truly “scary” in the words of the co-author of a recent ocean dynamic study: “Record-Breaking 2023 Marine Heatwaves,” which observed 500 days with 96% of the ocean in consistent extreme heatwaves (hard to imagine but true) in a continual pattern 2023-24-25 well above all expectations, a Red Flag Warning for Antarctica.

Uninhabitable Ocean Environments

A comparable heatwave of 500 days on land would cause immeasurable death and destruction. Already, western Australia in 2025 witnessed 30,000 dead fish washed ashore as ocean temps registered 5C above normal, and the LA Times reported unprecedented numbers of dead marine mammals on California shorelines: Marine Mammals are Dying in Record Numbers Along the California Coast, Los Angeles Times, October 3, 2025, which, according to the article: “Raises questions about whether some ocean environments are becoming uninhabitable.”

This supports the finding of a dangerous “regime shift” in the ocean, a staggering new development. The co-lead scientist of “Record-Breaking 2023 Marine Heatwaves,” Zeng Zhenzhong, PhD, Earth Systems Scientist, China Southern University of Science & Technology commented on the study results: “I am scared,” which scientists never admit, but they are saying it now.

According to crucial data (used worldwide by scientists) provided by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA, which is on Trump’s chopping block) the top 2,300 feet of the ocean has experienced a stunning 5-fold increase in heat content in only five years. This type of horrible news serves to destroy the climate denialism narrative.

Of special concern, if Greenland-type pervasive meltdown hits West Antarctica’s notorious Doomsday Glacier, Thwaites, the world’s largest most unstable glacier at 80 miles wide, then the world may be about to change beyond anybody’s worst nightmare. For the record, Antarctica’s sudden unruly behavior exposes the utter failure and downright stupidity of climate denialism and avoidance of the issue. Ocean heat not only turns regions of the ocean uninhabitable; it’s also the primary cause of Antarctic ice sheet/glacial meltdown.

Of additional concern, a new 20-year study by 35 international teams found worldwide glaciers, excluding Greenland and Antarctica, melting down with “staggering volumes of ice loss,” more than Greenland and Antarctica combined and accelerating by nearly 40% over the past decade, extraordinarily fast for massive ice glaciers. This throws a whole new ingredient into sea level rise as cascading terrestrial glaciers create havoc for surrounding villages and cities and major river systems while accelerating sea level along with Greenland and Antarctica.

All of which prompts serious questions: Is this new direction in worldwide glacier meltdown included in current scientific models for sea level rise? Probably not, which means nobody is sure which end is up.

“What can be done about it” is by far the most provocative question of the 21st century.

But more importantly, massive glacial meltdown throughout the world hasn’t been formally recognized as a major threat to the world’s coastal megacities by the world at large, meaning, a “world approach” to some kind of solution is not even on the table. And thinking out loud: Is there really a solution? Maybe sea walls?

This article was originally published on Nov. 14, 2025 © Counterpunch

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Robert Hunziker lives in Los Angeles and can be reached at rlhunziker@gmail.com.

Note: This article will also be posted on the Facing Future Now! Facebook group. If you would like to comment on this article, please go to the Facebook group and post your comments there under the article posting.

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Krill Defender Arrested by Moscow

Antarctic krill by Uwe Kils is licensed by CC BY-SA 3.0
Antarctic krill by Uwe Kils is licensed by CC BY-SA 3.0

Krill Defender Arrested by Moscow

By Robert Hunziker

Leonid Pshenichov, a 70-year-old biologist, has been arrested by the Kremlin for “undermining Russia’s industrial trawling for krill in Antarctica.” He’s been accused of High Treason. He was arrested while preparing to travel to Australia to attend a conference for protecting Antarctic marine life.

According to Russian authorities, Leonid is a citizen of the Russian Federation who defected by joining Ukraine’s delegation to an Antarctic conference, known as the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources. The accusation claims Leonid is using his position to undermine Russia’s fishing of krill in Antarctica by supporting a Ukrainian proposal to “restrict krill harvesting.”

The Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources, consisting of 27 member states since 1982, proposes creation of a protected area around the Antarctic Peninsula specifically to protect krill, the prime ingredient in the marine food chain in the Southern Ocean. “This year, for the first time, the number of krill fished in Antarctic waters reached what scientists believe is an unsustainable level.” (Russia Arrests Ukrainian Biologist for Backing Curbs on Antarctic Krill Fishing, The Guardian, Oct. 26, 2025)

Russia and China have blocked proposals for Marine Protected Areas (MPA) in the region for decades. Members of the Commission have called for member states Australia, the US (really?) Japan, and others to condemn Moscow’s actions. Of note: Leonid has conducted research for the Commission since 1983 and as a Ukrainian scientist since 1994. He and family reside in Kerch, Crimea. According to several scientists familiar with his work: His contribution t0 the Commission is “difficult to overestimate.”

Dan Crockett, executive director of the conservation charity Blue Marine Foundation, claims Pschenichnov has been imprisoned for “nothing more than providing scientific evidence about the impact of krill fishing on the Antarctic ecosystem,” Ibid.

Krill Superheroes: According to the National Science Foundation, Antarctic krill are the “Superheroes of the Southern Ocean.” The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA, which is on Trump’s chopping block) refers to krill as: “Tiny Krill: Giants in the Ocean Marine Life Food Chain.”

Nature Communications describes krill as marine animals that create “the largest monospecific aggregations (swarms) in the animal kingdom,” which means they are easy prey for hungry whales as well as gigantic fishing trawlers.

Moreover, climate change has a position in the life cycle of krill: The Importance of Antarctic Krill in Biogeochemical Cycles, Nature Communications, October 2019, explains the significance of krill as a significant carbon sink: “The role of phytoplankton in atmospheric CO2 drawdown and fish production has been the central focus of many biogeochemical studies,” Ibid.

Industrial Scale Krill Fishing

“The huge trawlers move forward, slowly. Just a short distance from one another, each brand their nets – hundreds of metres in length – before submerging them in the icy waters of the Southern Ocean.” (Licensed to Krill: The Industry Pressures on the Southern Ocean, Oceanographic, September 4, 2025).

As of 2025, Alistar Allan remembers: “Recounting his experience of the fishing effort documented back in 2022 and 2023, Alistair Allan, Antarctic Director at the Bob Brown Foundation admits that he was “blown away” by what he saw, “amazed by the concentration of fishing effort in this small patch of ocean,” Ibid.

Krill fishing by gargantuan trawlers has steadily grown from 106,00o tons in 2006 to 518,000 tons in 2025. Krill is used in salmonid fish farming and as pet food and by humans for its remarkable omega3 content.

At this year’s United Nations Oceans Conference in Nice, France, personalities such as renowned oceanographer Sylvia Earle and actor Benedict Cumberbatch called for a complete ban on krill fishing, claiming the industry is a “non-essential activity.” And making matters even worse, industrial fishing not only negatively impacts one of the most fragile ecosystems of the planet but also directly worsens the climate crisis by eliminating a significant carbon sink.

“If you look at where krill goes, it’s into things that we really do not need,” says Alistair Allan. “It’s not providing an essential foundation for global food security; it’s not feeding the world. It’s been put into pet food, it’s put into salmon aquaculture to feed farmed fish, and it goes into supposed health supplements,” Ibid.

As it happens, human-oriented bizarre nature scenarios keep showing up in the oddest circumstances, for example, the Southern Ocean experiences a surrealistic battle scene of sea mammals, like whales, and human craving for health perfection and abrupt climate change and gigantic metallic trawlers at sea all simultaneously attacking tiny, very small, shrimp-like crustaceans typically 1-2 cm long found at the base, literally the foundation, of the marine food chain. Under normal circumstances the often-transparent creatures use quick backward swimming to escape predators. But trawler nets with total stretch length of 133 m (440 feet) and a mouth perimeter of 300 m (990 feet) wide are a bit too much for quickie escape techniques that have been perfected for centuries. The modern world may be too much for krill that miraculously withstood the aging of time with two lineages of krill surviving the mass extinction event 65 million years ago. Well now, give humans only maybe 200 hundred years to nearly wipeout 65 million years of rugged evolution. Something doesn’t seem right.

The average krill fishing trawler catches roughly 100 tons of krill per day, which is equivalent to 100,000,000 krill per day per ship, so it takes an average trawler about 10 days to catch one billion (1,000,000,000). Krill fishing trawlers can stay at sea for several weeks to months at a time, and sometimes for an entire season (up to 8 months), by using transshipment to offload their catch onto refrigerated cargo vessels (reefers) at sea.

This article is proof positive that civilization is in deep, deep trouble, as it scavenges for the last remaining, most fundamental to life, creatures on the planet. Nothing else compares to such a perfect metaphor for a dying civilization as “harvesting krill.” Welcome to the world of insanity and some strange level of stupidity.

As a footnote to this story and as an alternative to industrial fishing of krill: Ashlan Cousteau, award-winning environmental journalist, producer, and co-founder of EarthEcho International is tackling the krill crisis with a simple but transformative solution. Through her new company, SeaVoir, she’s launched an algae-based omega-3 that delivers the same nutrition as fish and krill oil at the same cost — without harming marine ecosystems.

This article was originally published on Nov.7, 2025 © Counterpunch
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Robert Hunziker lives in Los Angeles and can be reached at rlhunziker@gmail.com.

Note: This article will also be posted on the Facing Future Now! Facebook group. If you would like to comment on this article, please go to the Facebook group and post your comments there under the article posting.

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The Great Barrier Reef, Collapsing?

The Great Barrier Reef photo by NASA is in the public domain.
The Great Barrier Reef photo by NASA is in the public domain.

The Great Barrier Reef, Collapsing?

By Robert Hunziker

It’s the largest living structure on Earth, 3,000 individual reefs, 900 islands, 1,430 miles, and it may be collapsing. Alas, The Great Barrier Reef Annual Summary Report of Coral Reef Conditions, 2024-2025 presents a dire picture, the poorest condition ever, the worst report in recorded history. Moreover, mass bleaching of coral has been confirmed in 83 countries. Something is seriously wrong with the oceans; this is too anomalous, too massive to ignore as a passing one-off event.

Coral reefs have experienced bleaching events over the years because of ocean heatwaves and recovered, but nothing in the past compares to this onslaught. A new all-time record of ocean heatwaves was set in 2023-24-25 with 500 days of continuous excessive heatwaves, suggesting a dreaded ocean regime shift. The Oceans are Overheating – and Scientists Say a Climate Tipping Point May be Here, ScienceDaily d/d July 26, 2025.

Alarm bells should be ringing throughout the world, waking up the world’s leadership to an omen that nobody in their right mind wants to hear; Anthropogenic (human) generated greenhouse gas emissions, like CO2, have already heated up the oceans enough to threaten the survival of the world’s most iconic natural treasure, considered one of the “Seven Natural Wonders of the World.” Too much ocean heat is more than warm-water coral can handle. After all, over 90% of the heat trapped by greenhouse gas emissions is absorbed by the ocean.

The world of coral is on life support. Coral reefs, aka; the rainforests of the sea are crucial to marine life and importantly serve as an early warning signal of worldwide climate system trouble turning deadly serious. This new risk comes through loud and clear in the newest edition of the Global Tipping Report 2025 just released, a compilation of 160 authors from 23 countries and 87 institutions.

“Even under the most optimistic future warming scenario — one in which global warming does not exceed 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial times — all warm-water coral reefs are virtually certain to pass a point of no return. That makes this ‘one of the most pressing ecological losses humanity confronts.” (Coral Collapse Signals Earth’s First Climate Tipping Point, ScienceNews, October 12, 2025)

But humanity does not satisfactorily “confront pressing ecological losses.” It holds huge world conferences to talk about troubles and chit chats about this and that, but no major coordinated solutions ever play out. For example, at the Paris 2015 climate conference, the most significant climate meeting in history, the nations of the world committed to cutting CO2 emissions, taking mitigation measures, etc. to halt global warming.

Alas, 10 years later, it is universal knowledge that they are not even close to meeting Paris ’15 Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC) to stop global heat. Not even close. In fact, CO2 emissions are up more than 200% since 2000, up from an annual rate of 1.25 ppm in 2000 to a soaring 3.75 ppm in 2024. As a result, all kinds of bells and whistles and alarms are going off with red lights flashing danger ahead on several global overheating fronts.

Indeed, coral reefs are the most sensitive natural ecosystems on the planet. Across the globe they are in deep trouble because of record ocean heat. And oceans do not generate heat, they absorb it. Now, it’s kicking back into the face of humanity. Enough is enough.

“A marine heat wave across much of Australia’s northwest reached unprecedented levels from December 2024 through to April 2025. In January and February, there were extremely high levels of heat stress (+3 to 4°C) off the Kimberley coast.” (Coral Bleaching Events, Australian Institute of Marine Science, 2025)

“NOAA (in partnership with the International Coral Reef Initiative) confirmed the world is in the midst of its 4th global coral bleaching event. From 1 January 2023 to 11 September 2025, bleaching-level heat stress has impacted 84.4% of the world’s coral reef area and mass coral bleaching has been documented in at least 83 countries and territories.” (Current Coral Bleaching: Status Update & Data Submission, Updated Sept. 12, 2025, NOAA National Environment Satellite Data and Information Service)

“The ongoing global coral bleaching event is the biggest to date. The previous record was during the 3rd global coral bleaching event, which occurred from 2014-2017, when 68.2% of the world’s reef area experienced bleaching-level heat stress. The 1st and 2nd global coral bleaching events occurred in 1998 and 2010, respectively,” Ibid.

When nearly 85% of the globe’s coral reef area is hit by “bleaching-level heat stress” something is terribly wrong. Of course, this does not mean that all coral immediately dies, as prior heat stress events have seen some recovery at later dates, But, that may be the rub, will the ocean’s heat waves and ocean temperatures moderate, or not?

“Global sea surface temperatures have remained at near-record levels in 2025, following a record-shattering jump in 2023 and 2024.” (Rapid Ocean Warming, Climate Central, July 30, 2025) Furthermore, September Sees Persistently High Land and Sea Surface Temperatures Globally, Earth.org, October 9th, 2025.

According to EcoFlow, there is a La Niña watch for winter 2025-2026, which hopefully brings a cooling trend in the Pacific. This is a natural occurrence that can provide some temporary relief; however, the major trend of heatwaves persisting in the ocean may be a new shift in the ocean regime that has scientists nervous. The Oceans are Overheating – and Scientists Say a Climate Tipping Point May be Here, ScienceDaily d/d July 26, 2025)

Because of the alarming sudden jump shift, since 2023, in global heat on land and in the ocean, several climate scientists are calling for not only a halt to CO2 emissions but also a commitment to SRM or solar radiation management via geoengineering the climate system to block solar radiation. This is a “yes or no” issue, “no maybes,” that raises the shackles of advocates and opponents alike as compromise seems a distance away. Nevertheless, as global heat continues to deteriorate major ecosystems, like coral reefs, and continues to accelerate meltdowns, West Antarctica and Greenland, with rising sea levels encroaching upon coastal megacities around the world, it grows increasingly likely that SRM becomes a World Panic Button of last resort.

But there are several unknowns.

Will it be soon enough fast enough?

Will it work as advertised?

Will it damage the Ozone layer or other atmospheric molecules necessary for survival?

But, beyond the wherefores, buts, maybes and hopefuls of SRM, can anything stop nature’s sudden eruption of carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane (CH4) emissions into the atmosphere from former carbon sinks like the Amazon rainforest and Arctic permafrost and now in concert with cars, trains, planes and factories?

Indeed, this grisly consortium, including nature spewing emissions into the atmosphere alongside cars, trains, planes, and factories is by far the most disturbing event of the decade and maybe of the 21st century. It likely cancels out the benefits of renewable energy. Unfortunately, there’s no on-off switch to control nature’s carbon emissions, up up and away into the atmosphere alongside (‘strange bedfellows’) human-generated CO2 emissions; together, nature/humanity are on the road to who knows where?

The danger is only too obvious as nothing could be worse than losing legendary carbon sinks converted to carbon sources at the same time as the ocean is suffering record-setting heatwaves, up to 500 days consistently. This kind of ‘out of this world, unbelievable’ stuff is not supposed to happen. But it is happening. Does this spell the onset of a runaway hot Earth scenario, a very big question mark that may be on the minds of scientists.

This article was originally published on Oct. 24, 2025 © Counterpunch
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Robert Hunziker lives in Los Angeles and can be reached at rlhunziker@gmail.com.

Note: This article will also be posted on the Facing Future Now! Facebook group. If you would like to comment on this article, please go to the Facebook group and post your comments there under the article posting.

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Eating Global Warming

Photo by blackieshoot on Unsplash
Photo by blackieshoot on Unsplash

Eating Global Warming

By Robert Hunziker

A new report by EAT-Lancet Commission (EAT 2.0) explains how we are eating global warming, and what to do about it. This is the second go around by the Commission. An earlier report in 2019 EAT 1.0 was met by fierce meat-lover opposition to EAT’s credo: “Eat less meat and more plants.”

Regardless of fierce opposition, after all EAT doesn’t completely eliminate meat from your diet, rather, the rationale behind EAT’s credo carries solid logic, and it’s superbly helpful as a control mechanism, hopefully modulating excessive global heat, which has become a systemic problem for all life on Earth, as a similar issue reigns across the globe with ocean water turning into a gigantic hot tub, disrupting, destroying marine life, as sea surface temperature in August 2025 hit 20°C, a record for the ERSST data base going back to 1854. Global warming is hitting all aspects of humanity’s easy living off nature.

Industrial agriculture and burning fossil fuel for energy are major contributors to greenhouse gases and global warming. In that regard, the “climate realism” school of thought, which has been adopted over the past two years by the fossil fuel industry and corporations across the board, claims we need to accept climate change for what it is, live with it, adapt to it… “git a life.” However, the global warming issue has grown into a monster that’s bordering on complete takedown of major ecosystems supportive of thousands of years of the foundation of civilization, no laughing matter, in which the entire climate system re-engineers into a very bad dream, a worse-than-ever nightmare come true. Senior respected climate scientists claim ecosystem tipping points are on the verge of collapse. Oops… what to do? Is SRM (Solar Radiation Mgmt.) an answer, or is it Frankenstein in a sheep’s skin?

According to the EAT 2.0 report: “Food systems account for about a third of global greenhouse gas emissions, driven largely by animal farming, which is a major source of methane and a drain on land and water resources. Even if the world transitions away from fossil fuels, food alone could push temperatures past the 1.5°C threshold needed to limit warming. The onus falls disproportionately on the wealthy: The richest 30% of the world’s population are responsible for more than 70% of food-related pressures.” (Agnieszka de Sousa, Dinner Without a Side of Global Warming, Bloomberg/Green, Oct 4, 2025)

EAT’s prescription is not a radical concept. It’s called “planetary health diet” and provides for a mixture of flexibility and does not push veganism as a worldly solution. Animal-sourced foods are optional and recommend moderate use guided by the 1+1 principle of one dairy serving and one other animal protein daily. One goal of the planetary health diet is cutting greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture by 15%.

However, pushback is almost certain to overwhelm EAT’s best intentions. As things stand, global meat consumption continues to grow, and alternative protein is weakening in popularity. Plus, a new kid on the block threatens social acceptance of EAT as the manosphere and kissing cousin MAGA lather their chops on red meat. Indisputably, veganism doesn’t score well with right-wing politics, which is experiencing a worldwide renaissance. EAT 2.0 is thus up against powerful odds even as its prescription for better personal health and a cooler planet are commendable-plus.

All of which comes full circle back to the problem of climate change. Of course it’s real; just check nightly news broadcasts for the latest in climate system destructiveness. Ask anybody who’s been around decades, never seen anything like it. Of course it’s real, an email message from a 45-year wilderness guide who has logged over 5,000 miles canoeing found a disturbing number of dead trees amongst far-reaching loss of insect life in several regions as the wild turns still. Of course it’s real; climate change chases property insurance companies out of some regions of the country. Of course it’s real; it hammers the Midwest with pounding torrential rains/instant flooding and punishing hail that spikes up property insurance rates. Of course it’s real; flash floods, e.g., Texas 2025, becoming a regular feature. Of course it’s real; within just the past two weeks the European Union declared: EU Climate Breakdown.

A crescendo of historic proportions is brewing, on one side fossil fuel interests push more oil and gas production and pooh-pooh climate mitigation measures and turn up noses at ‘sissy’ planetary health diets. On the other side, climate scientists across the globe are warning, stop CO2 and all greenhouse gases or suffer a loss of centuries of nature’s support network as oceans also rise to the occasion in high fashion. The options are to live with chaos and fossil fuels or to live with nature and green solutions. There is no time to waste; the world must choose: (a.) Steak or Beyond Meat (b) Vivid Green or Smokestack Black.

Yet, ecosystems throughout the planet, e.g., (1) Greenland (2) Arctic ice mass (3) Tibetan glaciers (4) the Amazon rainforest, have been vastly altered by the human footprint, aka: the Anthropocene (Age of Humans) to such an extreme that nature is turning lopsidedly dangerous. By all appearances, something big must be done very, very soon to stem this increasingly out-of-control climate system or simply toss in the towel on massive worldwide mitigation and bear the burden of a slashing climate system that upends every source of life support.

But the problem is even bigger than that because the costs factor to ‘right the ship of state’ is humongous at $7 trillion per year installing/building renewables to achieve Net Zero by 2050. Last year (2024) was a record year for renewable installations globally at approximately $2 trillion. That’s a shortfall of $5 trillion. Therefore, only an all-in all-world commitment can maybe solve this. But the all-in world can’t even come together to stop the utter insanity of slaughter of innocent people with the highest number of countries engaged in armed conflict since World War II according to the Peace Research Institute Oslo; where does that leave worldwide prioritizing of $7 trillion/yr for Net Zero/2050?

“Our entire infrastructure & civilization are based around climate that no longer exists.” (John Marsha, Professor of Atmospheric Science, University of Leeds)

This article was originally published on Oct. 10, 2025 © Counterpunch

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Robert Hunziker lives in Los Angeles and can be reached at rlhunziker@gmail.com.

Note: This article will also be posted on the Facing Future Now! Facebook group. If you would like to comment on this article, please go to the Facebook group and post your comments there under the article posting.

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EU Climate Breakdown

Photo by Dietmar Rabich is licensed by CC BY-SA 4.0
Photo by Dietmar Rabich is licensed by CC BY-SA 4.0

EU Climate Breakdown

By Robert Hunziker

In the sharpest possible contrast to the US approach to climate change, in a very grown-up adult fashion, the EU has publicly stated: “EU officials warn climate breakdown and wildlife loss are ruining ecosystems that underpin the economy.” (Environmental Damage is Putting European Way of Life at Risk, Says Report, The Guardian, Sept. 29, 2025)

Whew!!! The world is still sane.

Like a cool refreshing late afternoon breeze, a great sense of relief has spread across the Continent. With a remarkable pitch-perfect admission, the EU informs its citizens of the truth no matter how much it hurts. The upside to this admission is an understanding by the citizens that something horrible is wrong. Ipso facto, they must pull together to do something about it. Definitively, this pulls everybody into the mix to be aware, be prepared, make sacrifices, if necessary, to make it right.

Not only has the EU warned about environmental degradation but also warned against “… weakening green rules… as far-right parties that deny the science of climate change gain ground across the continent. The US has also put pressure on EU leaders to buy its fossil fuels and ditch pollution standards that affect imported goods,” Ibid.

It’s even worse than that: “In a speech at the UN on Wednesday, Donald Trump claimed without evidence that many European countries were on the ‘brink of destruction because of the green energy agenda’. The US president blamed a 37% drop in EU emissions since 1990 for lost jobs and factory closures,” Ibid.

Clearly, the way forward for climate change mitigation measures is truly and literally the fight of a lifetime as right-wing interests, which are rapidly gaining a foothold, adhere to anti-science conjecture sans evidence. Even Greta’s green Sweden is retreating from its commitments: “Last year, its fossil fuel emissions saw their biggest increase in 15 years. During that time period, carbon uptake by its vast forests have halved. And since the country swung to the right in its last general election, the government has slashed its investments in climate action. Researchers say Sweden’s policy shifts, and its evolving role as a frontrunner, is now contributing to the weakening of Europe’s climate agenda.” (Sweden, an Early Climate Leader, Is Retreating From Its Environmental Commitments, Part of an EU Trend, Inside Climate News, August 3, 2025)

The timing for withdrawals from climate change mitigation efforts and abandonment of national commitments to the Paris 2015 climate agreement could not possibly be worse. Evidence is ubiquitous that the climate system has morphed into the equivalent of a runaway freight train barreling down a mountainside with severely weakened brake linings.

And climate scientists are uniformly warning that disaster is right around the corner unless CO2 emissions are halted. Recent statements by climate scientists: “I am scared… Unless immediate action is taken, catastrophic sea level rise will hit during current lifetimes… We do not yet understand this abrupt 10-fold shift in global mean temperature in only one year; it’s never happened before… Global ecosystems are starting to fail… Earth is losing its resilience… This is the first time in human history we are forced to seriously consider we are destabilizing the entire planet, etc.”

The scientific community is speaking out at the highest levels like never before, warning that we are treading on dangerous levels of climate change, spewing CO2 into the atmosphere at all-time record amounts, well over +200% annualized rate since the turn of the century. Nobody in the year 2000 thought it was possible for annual CO2 emissions of 1.25 ppm in 2000 to skyrocket to 3.75 ppm in 2024, marking the largest yearly increase on record since measurements began in the 1950s. Indeed, given enough time, excessive CO2-heat-generation becomes a surefire destroyer of precious ecosystems that support life, e.g., the EU warning discussed herein.

It’s almost as if the Curse of Oblivion has overtaken sensibility. This curse erases identification of events from existence. It’s a preamble to an extinction event. But of course (wink-wink) extinction is not realistically possible, or is it? After all, in the real world, civilizations do go extinct, e.g., the Indus Valley Civilization went extinct around 1900 BCE because of environmental factors, as drought caused Saraswati River to die with widespread drought-caused agricultural failure; the Mayan Civilization Classic Period went extinct from overpopulation, environmental degradation, and prolonged drought (sounds too familiar). According to fact-based science, at least eleven (11) civilizations have gone extinct. Extinction is always in the cards; it’s just a matter of who’s dealing.

The recent European Environment Agency 7th report, published every five years, unintentionally endorses the onset of extinction; (1) 80% of protected habitat in poor or bad condition (2) the EU’s carbon sink has declined 30% due to logging, wildfires, and pests damage (3) transport and food emissions have barely budged (4) water stress is affecting 33% of Europeans (5) the entire EU is struggling to meet 2030 emissions targets. The EU report only found two of twenty-two specific policy targets for 2030 on track. Of major concern, the state of the natural environment was judged to be extremely worrying as no biodiversity indicators are on track to meet 2030 targets.

At issue is abrupt change in policy directions by EU leaders that have clearly shifted focus “from climate action to economic competitiveness,” thus weakening green policies as part of “simplification” that campaigners claim as “deregulation.” Oh My! climate change mitigation policy is now beholden to “deregulation,” which is the soft term for “elimination.” America has taken the leading role in deregulation, as the EU, in puppy dog fashion, follows along.

In simplest of terms, right-wing anti-science policy shifts as well as EU leadership shifts of climate action to economic competitiveness are derailing climate change mitigation and undercutting any chance to meet 2030 emissions targets as Net Zero 2050 looks like a distant apparition. The Curse of Oblivion never had it so good.

This article was originally published on Oct. 3, 2025 © Counterpunch
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Robert Hunziker lives in Los Angeles and can be reached at rlhunziker@gmail.com.

Note: This article will also be posted on the Facing Future Now! Facebook group. If you would like to comment on this article, please go to the Facebook group and post your comments there under the article posting.

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The Curse of the Blob

Photo by Everaldo Coelho on Unsplash.
Photo by Everaldo Coelho on Unsplash.

The Curse of the Blob

By Robert Hunziker

It’s back; it’s bigger; it’s hotter. The Blob has returned to the Pacific Ocean in style, extending all the way from Japan to the US West Coast, haunting the very essence of marine life and igniting additional global warming on land. Nobody thought it could return with so much vigor and ferocity and expansiveness so soon. But here it is in 2025, once again setting all-time heat records.

The Blob’s current record-breaking heatwave extends 5,000 miles across the Pacific Ocean from Japan to the US West Coast. In due course, this could negatively impact (kill) marine life (e.g., 2025 Western Australia, 30,000 dead fish wash ashore) and goose up the severity of global warming on land; alternatively, it could, hopefully, modulate. It’s all about climate system interconnectivity. But regardless, it keeps coming back.

This version of The Blob established a sea surface temperature record in August 2025 of 20°C, a record for the ERSST data base going back to 1854. This data is provided by NOAA/NCEI aka, National Centers for Environmental Information, which is the world’s leading authority for weather and climate data. (The 2025 Trump administration proposed budget calls for major cuts in NOAA/NCEI funding, meaning society will likely be blindfolded).

There has been a recurring presence this century of The Blob in the Pacific Ocean, for example, in 2013 a very severe heatwave occurred followed by another Blob heatstroke in 2019. This recurring behavior is cause for concern by scientists as massive die-offs of marine life litter coastlines. But in past circumstances the heatwaves eventually modulate as strong fall and winter storms track across the water and upwelling occurs, bringing cooler waters from depth to surface. However, the entire ocean complex may be entering a new state, a new threatening regime change never experienced nor expected.

Massive Ocean Regime Shift

The Blob’s record-setting heat curiously jives with a recent study claiming a fundamental shift in ocean behavior, referring to the dreaded tipping point at hand, ScienceDaily d/d July 26th, 2025: The Oceans are Overheating – and Scientists Say a Tipping Point May be Here. In fact, this new study is accompanied by a statement showing deep concern by Zhenzhong Zeng, PhD, Earth Systems Scientist, China Southern University of Science and Technology, co-author of the study clearly stating: “I am very scared.”

Scientists are not supposed to make statements like that lest they are labeled as scaremongers. Climate scientists almost always take the conservative approach because the field of study demands rigorous supporting factual data, thus begging the question of what should be expected of a scientist confronted by actual scary data?

“I think almost all of the Earth system model projections are wrong… Record marine heatwaves may signal a permanent shift in the oceans.” (Zeng) The Zeng study, starting in 2023, identified heatwaves classified as massively extensive on a scale never registered before covering 96% of the world’s oceans consistently for 500 days. Zeng has good reason to be “scared.”

And Zeng is in good company. A US EPA (subject to Trump funding cuts) study showed ocean heat content to 2,300 feet depth increasing 5-fold since 2020. A 5-fold increase in only 5 years; that’s incredible and incomprehensibly scary and a remarkably chilling development.

The current version of The Blob is one more extension to Zeng’s study and another good reason to be concerned. Moreover, marine heatwaves this decade have lasted four times (4x) longer than the historical record. Hot oceans accelerate climate change. As water temperatures rise, oceans lose ability to absorb excessive heat and land temperatures rise accordingly.

Indeed, the bottom line to all above is “it’s scary,” as global warming’s impact has turned ubiquitous across land, ocean, and sea as a menacing threat to everything we hold dear.

The Zeng study identified peak ocean temperatures exceeding normal by 3C and hitting levels that surpass what most marine organisms can survive. Moreover, five hundred (500) days of consistent heatwaves with peak temperatures at 3C happens to be well above the level that contributing scientists of the IPCC say exceeds “ecosystem tipping points of no return,” accelerating a hell-on-wheels climate system. (World on Track for Catastrophic 3 Degrees Celsius Warming, UN Warns, Politico, October 24, 2024).

The ’hell-on-wheels’ climate: (1) Based upon climate disasters on nightly mainstream news the past 2-3 years, in real time, the world climate system has already gone bonkers (2) Leading climate scientists warn of six (6) impending major ecosystems on edge at sensitive tipping points ‘of no return’ (3) Polar scientists, claiming fossil fuel CO2 emissions must stop now, warn of a massive Antarctic catastrophic scenario within current lifetimes (4) Fossil fuel CO2 emissions, up annualized by a whopping 200% since 2000, set new records (5) Global heat sets new records (6) Ocean heat sets new records (7) Top scientists stymied by a sudden, radical 10-fold jump-shift in global mean temperature within only one year, never happened before (8) Key world players decrease or withdraw entirely from climate mitigation (95% of Countries Miss Deadline to Submit Climate Pledges, CarbonBrief, Feb. 2025)

Ergo, expectations of a bumpy road ahead are grossly understated.

This article was originally published on Sept. 28, 2025 © Counterpunch
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Robert Hunziker lives in Los Angeles and can be reached at rlhunziker@gmail.com.

Note: This article will also be posted on the Facing Future Now! Facebook group. If you would like to comment on this article, please go to the Facebook group and post your comments there under the article posting.

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China Is Greening the Global South

Photo by Zhang Fengsheng on Unsplash
Photo by Zhang Fengsheng on Unsplash

China Is Greening the Global South

By Robert Hunziker

But Net Zero Needs $7 Trillion/Yr

China is establishing a world leadership role via green energy as the consummate bargaining tool. Its foreign direct investment, led by its green tech industry, over the past three years, is upwards of $227 billion. According to Bloomberg (China’s Marshall Plan Is Running on Batteries d/d September 9, 2025) adjusted for inflation that figure equals the post WWII Marshall Plan. China’s green tech alone came to $138 billion in 2023-24

But, “Net Zero” is the costliest endeavor in human history.

According to an extensive study by Bloomberg NEF, it requires a staggering $7 trillion a year in renewable investments to achieve net zero by 2050, totaling $175 trillion by 2050. Hmm.

Accordingly, in 2024 the world invested a record amount, or roughly $2 trillion, which was $5 trillion short of what is necessary per annum for net zero/2050. That $5 trillion shortfall increases the bogey next year and the years after for every year below $7 trillion, until it’ll take $8 trillion in one year, then $9T, then more.

For comparison purposes: The Marshall Plan, or European Recovery Program, cost approximately $13.3 billion between 1948 and 1952. Adjusted for inflation, it would be roughly $130 billion in today’s dollars, looking very peaked next to Net Zero.

China is rapidly gaining favor to win the Green Award of the 21st Century. Thanks to Chinese foresight, nearly 2/3rds of emerging markets now have a larger share of solar power in grids than does the US at roughly 9%. “The US is increasingly resembling a steampunk relic still dependent on 19th century furnace and turbine technology to fuel its dreams of artificial intelligence.” (Bloomberg) This backwardness is reminiscent of the 19th century’s final wagon train lumbering West as trains sped by.

In a direct shot at the heart of America’s archaic oil production CO2 emissions, China’s solar exports alone in 2024 were enough to cut global CO2 emissions by 4 billion metric tons. This is happening as China’s greenfield spending takes stride, e.g., COBCO, a $2B lithium-ion battery factory opened in Morocco in June with capacity of 70 gigawatt hours of batteries per year, or sizeable enough to power 1.2 million EVs annually.

Another China victory, in Jakarta, a solar panel factory has been built to produce 1.6 gigawatts of modules per year, which will accommodate Indonesia’s plans for 17.1 GW of photovoltaic power generation by 2035.

China’s foreign investments in the Global South brings in its path jobs, energy independence, economic growth, clean air, and hopefully, reprieve from the threat of disruptive climate change, although this challenge is nearly out of control after a couple hundred years of burning fossil fuel with CO2 emissions. It’ll take decades and trillions upon trillions of dollars to tame the CO2 beast.

Aside from China’s direct foreign investment in the Global South, US tariffs have been a bonanza for China’s solar panel industry as African imports increased by 60% over the past year.

The US abandonment of green energy is quickly looking like one of the greatest blunders in US history, missing out on a moonshot of rapid growth with high paying jobs, the formula for national greatness. There is evidence that the clean-energy revolution isn’t losing because of Trump policies. Rather, it is relocating by leaving the US behind coughing in clouds of dust. For example, the EU increased green investment dollars up 63% to nearly $76 billion, double the US paltry $37 billion.

Investment capital is fleeing the US renewable market to go elsewhere for razor-edge green investments, e.g., both TotalEnergies SE and German energy giant RWE AG are rerouting wind energy plans to the North Sea at the expense of US investment projects in wind. Major international green players are abandoning the US market as the president claims wind energy is “ruining our country.”

Fascinatingly, both India and China are working hard towards becoming clean energy superpowers. For example, India is installing record amounts of renewables and retiring fossil fuels but still forced to add coal power plants to meet heavy power requirements of a rapidly emerging middle class, and extraordinary demands for power to counter global warming to meet surging sales of air conditioners, 13.3 M units in 2024, up 30% over 2023, and demand is skyrocketing, as global warming leaves its mark on India.

“As the climate warms, extreme weather events are becoming more frequent and severe across India. Indians have recently experienced extreme heat waves, floods, water shortages, and irregular monsoon patterns.” (Yale Climate Change Communication, May 22, 2025)

Meanwhile in America, according to a recent Bloomberg subtitle: “When will US citizens realize how badly they’ve been shortchanged on renewables?

It wasn’t that many years ago when the US was the world’s sole clean energy superpower, leading the world in connecting wind and solar to the grid. It was an enviable position that others sought to emulate. And they are doing just that. China added eight times (8x) more renewables than the US last year. Now, India is on the hunt, connecting 22 gigawatts of wind and solar in the first half of 2025, as America sucks up into its tailpipe.

Renewables investment dollars are universal and do not honor national borders. They honor return on investment (ROI), and international investment is rapidly shifting from US renewables to India and the EU where governmental policies actively promote development. Indeed, it is one of the major growth stories of the 21st century.

Only a few years ago nobody would have predicted America’s world leadership role in renewables would deteriorate, stooping to a level where, finally, “the US is the big loser”.

This article was originally published on Sept. 26, 2025 © Counterpunch

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Robert Hunziker lives in Los Angeles and can be reached at rlhunziker@gmail.com.

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Senator Whitehouse: “It May Be Too Late”

Climate change today is all about a massive dislocation of the climate system, not unlike the loss of ozone molecules 40 years ago. Photo by Wolfgang Hasselmann on Unsplash
Climate change today is all about a massive dislocation of the climate system, not unlike the loss of ozone molecules 40 years ago. Photo by Wolfgang Hasselmann on Unsplash

Senator Whitehouse: “It May Be Too Late”

By Robert Hunziker

Real estate has become climate change’s biggest victim. Climate change is attacking America’s most valuable, biggest asset class. For the first time in history there are regions of the country where major property insurers have dropped coverage altogether as elsewhere rates are on the climb, pricing some buyers out of the market.

America’s politicians punted on tackling climate change decades ago, except for Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, who has masterfully delivered more than 290 “Time to Wake Up” climate speeches to the Senate, calling out deniers and demanding bold action. If Congress had been composed of “Whitehouse intellect,” the world climate system would be in much better shape today. And not threatening the American Dream of Homeownership.

At a Senate confirmation hearing for Trump appointee Michael Faulkender as Deputy Treasury Secretary, Senator Whitehouse opened up all firing cylinders, blasting away like there’s no tomorrow, which may be where we’re headed after listening to the senator’s scolding rendition of how Congress has failed climate change impacting the financial system and US economy. In short, climate change is raising hell with the financial system as US property insurance goes up in flames.

In his opening remarks, the senator referenced “very dark economic storm clouds on the horizon,” because of climate change which the administration cannot seriously address because massive political funding has made it “an article of faith to deny climate change,” in fact, claiming “it’s a hoax.” This perverse attitude is now holding America’s homeowner’s hostage.

Interestingly, over past decades, scientists have gotten it right, even the Exxon scientists got it right, meaning, fossil fuel emissions (CO2) cause climate change. Nevertheless, Congress has failed to act because of pressure by fossil fuel interests, including the “largest campaign of disinformation that America has ever seen,” as dark money spills out all over the place. As a result, all serious bipartisan efforts on The Hill on climate change have been squelched. Poof!

Disinformation, disinformation, disinformation has been the guiding light of climate denialism. It’s a hoax; it’s a hoax; it’s a hoax; it’s fake news; it’s fake news, repetition creates fact.

As the senator and the Trump appointee discussed in a meeting beforehand in the senator’s office, the consequences of climate change are severe based upon professional risk judgement where fiduciary responsibly is considered. For example, the chief economist of Freddie Mac told committee hearings we are headed for a “property insurance collapse” that will cascade into a crash in coastal property values that will be so significant that it will cascade into the entire economy, same as 2008. That’s the warning on coastal properties. Additionally, wildfires have now added new property insurance risks that are far removed from coastal property. Climate change knows no boundaries as congressional ineptness and timidity to challenge it clobbers American homeownership.

Senator Whitehouse offered one example after another of how climate change is undermining the financial system of America. In a recent Senate banking committee hearing, the Fed Chairman said there will be “areas of the country where you can’t get a mortgage any longer” because of climate change; a very stern warning that something has to change.

Also, as related by the senator, the Financial Stability Board, the entity that warns the international banking system of impending issues gives the same warning that “property insurance has become a major risk to the survival of the economic system.”

And even closer to home base, meaning Congress itself, a recent bipartisan CBO (Congressional Budget Office) report identified fires, floods and climate change in toto, threatening to undermine our financial system. Yet, Congress ignores its own warnings.

And The Economist magazine cover story in April 2024 depicted climate damage undermining insurance markets and threatening the biggest asset class in the world, RE. predicting a 25 trillion dollar hit to RE because of climate change.

Senator Whitehouse: “The lie that climate change is a hoax is no longer just an act of political malfeasance. It is now an act of economic malfeasance.” Climate change is hitting America’s pocketbooks throughout the country like an early summer thunderstorm crackling in the sky.

The financial/Wall Street/economic impending upside down collapse due to radical climate change should be item number one on Congress’s docket to do whatever is necessary, but it’s not even given a glancing look. Yet, the insurance industry is feeling the heat; homeowners are feeling the heat. Mortgage companies are feeling the heat. And Wall Street is starting to feel the heat. Can the Trump climate hoax syndrome, “ignore it, it’s not real… it’s fake news” hold up in the face of extremely severe financial strain impacting the world’s largest asset class, real estate?

“President Trump issued an executive order aimed at dismantling many of the key actions that have been undertaken at the federal level to address climate change. The order, ‘Promoting Energy Independence and Economic Growth.” (Trump Issues Executive Order on Climate Change, Sabin Center for Climate Change Law, Columbia Law School)

Nobody’s Insurance Rates Are Safe From Climate Change, Yale Climate Connections, January 14, 2025.

Property Values to Crater Up to 60% Due to Climate Change, Business Insider, Aug. 9, 2024.

U.S. Department of the Treasury Report: Homeowners Insurance Costs Rising, Availability Declining as Climate-Related Events Take Their Toll, U.S. Department of the Treasury, January 16, 2025.

Next to Fall: The Climate-driven Insurance Crisis is Here – And Getting Worse, Senate Budget Committee, Dec. 18, 2024.

Climate Risk Will Take Trillion-dollar Bite Out of America’s Real Estate, Report Finds, USA Today, Feb. 7, 2025.

Homeowners Insurance Sector Slammed by Climate Impacts, Insurance Business America, May 14, 2024.

Climate Change Is Coming for U.S. Property Prices, Heatmap News, Feb. 3, 2025.

Insurers Are Deserting Homeowners as Climate Shocks Worsen, The New York Times, Dec. 18, 2024.

Climate Resiliency Flips the Housing Market Upside Down, Forbes, Feb. 20, 2025.

Climate Change Set to Lower Home Prices, Business Insider, Feb. 4, 2025.

How Climate Change Could Upend the American Dream, Propublica, Feb. 3, 2025.

Climate Change to Wipe Away $1.5 Trillion in U.S. Home Values, Study Says, The Wall Street Journal, Feb. 3, 2025.

Opinion: That Giant Sucking Sound? It’s Climate Change Devouring Your Home’s Value, The New York Times, Feb. 3, 2025.

How and Where Climate Change Will Lower U.S, Home Values, Context News, Feb. 10, 2025.

Climate Change Is Driving an Insurance Crisis, The Equation – Union of Concerned Scientists, June 19, 2024.

Risky Real Estate: How Climate Risk is Changing Prices, Medium, March 3, 2025.

At Least 20% of U.S. Homes Will be De-Valued Due to Climate Change, Says DeltaTerra CEO Dave Burt, CNBC, Feb. 19, 2025.

Climate Change is Fueling the US Insurance Problem, BBC, March 18, 2024.

US Housing Market May Face Losses Due to Climate Change, Realty, Feb. 21, 2025.

Nearly Half of U.S. Homes Face Severe Threat from Climate Change, Study Finds, CBS News, March 13, 2024.

The Possible Collapse of the U.S. Home Insurance System, The New York Times, May 15, 2024.

The Climate Crisis Will End Home Ownership as We Know It and Eventually Crash the Economy, Splinter, Jan. 8, 2025.

Fake news?

The big question going forward is whether climate change’s real estate devaluation, which impacts every American household, will take MAGA down to its knees, drowning its lameness in a sea of turbulent financial chaos followed by a massive irrepressible political tsunami payback event that cleanses the nation of lies?

This article was originally published on Sept. 19, 2025 © Counterpunch

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Robert Hunziker lives in Los Angeles and can be reached at rlhunziker@gmail.com.

Note: This article will also be posted on the Facing Future Now! Facebook group. If you would like to comment on this article, please go to the Facebook group and post your comments there under the article posting.

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