Rio’s famous beaches take battering as scientists issue climate change warning

Scientists in Rio de Janeiro have warned that the city’s sea defences may not be able to cope with the effects of climate change after a record storm surge swamped beaches, dumping hundreds of tonnes of sand across nearby roads and buildings. Waves of almost four metres in the weekend storm left beach flags fluttering in tatters, forced the closure …

Suicide: Not All in the Head

Why are suicide rates going up after a decline in the 1980s? Why do people feel that death is a better option than staying alive? Suicide seems to be like politics. We have simple and terminal solutions to very complex and nuanced problems. Just like in politics, we keep making the same mistake by treating suicide as one problem rather …

Jake Johnson – If Nature Is Sacred, Capitalism Is Wicked

In his remarkable study When Corporations Rule the World, David Korten recounts a meeting he attended ahead of the 2012 United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The meeting was led, Korten notes, by indigenous leaders who were anxious about the direction in which global environmental policy was being steered. They were also, quite justifiably, worried about who was doing the steering. “In …