Author: The CNCL Team

Op-Ed: Are We Really so Different from Other Species?

As a biologist who documents new species and behavior in remote places, from sinkholes in Venezuela to treetops in Borneo, I see abundant signs that the future is grim. A recent United Nations report confirmed the terrible truth: One million species on Earth are threatened with extinction.

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Jane Goodall on Climate Change: ‘Something’s Got to Give’

At the age of 26, Dr Jane Goodall pioneered new ways of researching animals including by living with them. Now, aged 85 and a UN Messenger of Peace, she travels more than 300 days a year to share the urgency of taking action on climate change on behalf of all living things and the planet we share.

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James Cameron’s New Docu-Series Will Make You Ditch Plastic and Seafood

James Cameron is teaming up with National Geographic to make a groundbreaking ocean documentary series, which may convince you to ditch plastic and seafood. Named “Mission OceanX,” the six-episode series will follow a hand-picked team of scientists, cinematographers, and filmmakers on board the maiden voyage of the Alucia2 as it sails across the Indian ocean.

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Paul Hawken: ‘We Need to Be Fierce and Fearless’ to Reverse Climate Change

Social entrepreneur and author Paul Hawken is a leading voice in the environmental movement. His visionary ideas emphasize changing the relationship between business and the Earth. As humanity seeks to rise to the challenge of our time, Hawken provides a refreshingly positive and comprehensive approach to global warming solutions…Bioneers sat down with Paul Hawken to learn more about his work and his plan for helping build a more connected world.

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12 Years to Save the Planet? Make That 18 Months

Do you remember the good old days when we had “12 years to save the planet”? Now it seems, there’s a growing consensus that the next 18 months will be critical in dealing with the global heating crisis, among other environmental challenges.

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Why Some People, But Not Others, Choose A Plant-Based Diet

Transitioning to a plant-based diet can be an easy choice for some people, while others may either find it extremely difficult or resist it vehemently. Understanding why some people are amenable to a veg*n diet but others are not is extremely valuable, not just for animal advocates who are trying to reduce animal suffering, but also for companies that are trying to facilitate a shift toward plant-based diets by offering plant-based alternatives to animal products.

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The Great Reckoning

In essence, the postmodern age was ending, though few seemed to know it — with elites, in particular, largely oblivious to what was occurring. What would replace postmodernity in a planet heading for ruin remained to be seen.

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Earth Overshoot Day is July 29, the Earliest Ever

It’s official. We’ve exhausted Earth’s natural resources for the year… and it’s only July. According to the Global Footprint Network, July 29 is Earth Overshoot Day this year, the date that human demand for ecological resources and services has surpassed what the Earth can regenerate in a year.

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Wild Imagination

One antidote to the colonization of the mind is the wild imagination. Cultivating the extraordinary human capacity to imagine alternate possibilities is, I believe, at least part of an essential navigation strategy for our times of multiple crises and ecological peril.

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Diversity Makes Countries Stronger in the Long Run, New Research Shows

New research shows that, despite initial resistance, humans can cope with the documented challenges of diversity. It also shows that, by focusing only on the short term, we may draw an inaccurate, pessimistic conclusion about the impact of diversity. An increase in diversity offers the opportunity for members of different groups to engage in contact, get to know each other, and cooperate. And when this occurs, this positive effect of diversity trumps the initial challenges.

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The U.S. Plot to Overthrow Venezuela: An Interview with Daniel Kovalik

In his last book on Venezuela, Daniel Kovalik, a lawyer and a long standing friend of latin american people in countries such as Colombia and Central America, is tearing away the veil of war propaganda : “the humanitarian part of the intervention is now barely a fig leaf for the real and usual intention – the control of another country’s oil supplies“. To know more about the ins and outs of “The Plot To Overthrow Venezuela,” we have interviewed author Mr. Kovalik.

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Fighting Climate Change Means Ending War

We have to start revering the whole planet, indeed, thinking as one planet, and valuing the people on both sides of the border. All of us are equal. At some point, even the war profiteers and the politicians they presume to own must wake up to this.

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Spain’s Cruel Bullfights Have No Place in the 21st Century

The annual running of the bulls at Pamplona has just come to a close in Spain. Tradition and tourism are not excuses for animal cruelty. Increasingly, consumers are also beginning to shy away from travel experiences that involve animal cruelty. It’s time for Spain’s politicians – and its travel industry — to wake up to modern sensibilities on this issue, listen to Spanish citizens and help foster respect for all sentient animals by ending cruel blood fiestas and bullfights once and for all.

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Why I’m Not a Vegetarian

A non-graphic, fact driven look at veganism and vegetarianism. Particularly, how basic math keeps vegetarian animal products forever intertwined with meat and a look at several studies comparing health benefits of these diets.

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Cigarette Butts in Soil Hamper Plant Growth, Study Suggests

Discarded cigarette butts can hamper plant growth, new research suggests. The study, led by Anglia Ruskin University, found the presence of butts in soil reduced the germination success and shoot length of clover by 27% and 28% respectively. For grass, germination success reduced by 10% and shoot length by 13%. An estimated 4.5 trillion butts are littered globally each year making them the planet’s most pervasive form of plastic pollution, the study said.

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In a Crisis of Democracy, We Must All Become Julian Assange

The US government’s indictment against WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange marked the worst attack on press freedom in modern history. James Goodale, former general counsel of the New York Times, who urged the paper to publish the Pentagon Papers during the Nixon administration noted, “If the government succeeds with the trial against Assange, if any, that will mean that it’s criminalized the news gathering process.”

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‘Unprecedented’ Decline of Plants and Animals as Global ‘Red List’ Reveals Nearly One-Third of Assessed Species Under Threat

The Red List, published Thursday by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), revealed that one third of all species the group has assessed are now under threat due to overfishing, pollution, illegal logging and trafficking, threats to water sources and habitats due to the climate crisis, and other factors, including many human activities.

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Breaching a ‘Carbon Threshold’ Could Lead to Mass Extinction

Daniel Rothman, professor of geophysics, has found that when the rate at which carbon dioxide enters the oceans pushes past a certain threshold—whether as the result of a sudden burst or a slow, steady influx—the Earth may respond with a runaway cascade of chemical feedbacks, leading to extreme ocean acidification that dramatically amplifies the effects of the original trigger. This response likely occurred within 4 of the 5 great mass extinctions, and it’s happening right now.

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16 Tons of Madness

Author John Hall describes a day in the life of an Arizona town, where “an extremely large percentage of my new neighbors’ lives depend upon the continuation of the sick-ass system of wars, violence, resource theft, border walls, and incarceration for fun and profit.”

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It’s Prime Time to Boycott Amazon

The idea behind non-profit Threshold’s new campaign, Cancel Prime, is for people to pledge to cancel their Amazon Prime accounts and stop shopping at Whole Foods—when there is a critical mass of people who will divest together.

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Working for Peace in a Violent World

This is a reminder that we can benefit from becoming more deeply involved in life, not to brood or fixate on our roles in violent systems but to care for and connect with each other. We cannot escape the destructiveness of the world, but we need not be crushed by it. Even as the peace virus tests and pushes us toward our edges, it can empower us and help us heal.

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As Cost of Climate Crisis Grows, Climate Movement Escalates

The warnings of climate chaos are coming so fast they are difficult to keep up with. Storms, heatwaves and climate-related weather disasters are increasing at a rapid pace. But along with the climate chaos has been an increasing movement of people protesting the inaction of political leaders, and insisting on putting the climate issue front and center.

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Israel’s Machinery of Dispossession Has Crushed the Hopes of an Inspirational Family

Israeli police forced out the Siyam family from their home in the heart of occupied East Jerusalem last week, the final chapter in their 25-year legal battle against a powerful settler organisation. The family’s defeat represented much more than just another eviction. It was intended to land a crushing blow against the hopes of some 20,000 Palestinians living in the shadow of the Old City walls and Al Aqsa mosque.

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Revealed: How the Global Beef Trade Is Destroying the Amazon

Between 1980 and 2005, Amazon deforestation levels reached 20,000 sq km per year — with an area the size of Wales being lost. Although there have been political murmurings about trying to halt the destruction, the latest data shows that deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon has risen by 73% since 2012. The number one cause? Raising cattle for beef.

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The Work That Reconnects: A Tribute

In this hour-long tribute to “The Work the Reconnects,” Pat van Boeckel explores the stories of activists who have used Joanna Macy’s writings to enhance and support their service and their lives.

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Climate Change is a Poor People’s Issue

If you’ve read anything about climate change over the past year, you’ve probably heard about the IPCC report that gives a 12-year deadline for limiting climate change catastrophe. But for many parts of the world, climate change already is a catastrophe. The truth is, vulnerable communities have been dealing with the effects of climate change and environmental pollution for decades now.

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6 Simple Steps for Mindful Eating

If the term “mindful eating” conjures up visions of lithe Los Angelinos in expensive yoga pants meditating over a plate of raw greens, you are not alone. But the truth is, mindful eating is so much more than that; and in fact, I maintain that it is one of the best diets out there.

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Hidden Plastics: Glitter Gum and the Air We Breathe

The plastic contamination of the natural world flows from three main sources: complacency, apathy and ignorance, a poisonous trinity that is itself the result of a narrow and destructive approach to living. While there are signs of a shift in attitudes among many people, resistance to changing the lifestyle habits that feed the environmental crisis, is strong.

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The Rights of Nature with Mari Margil and Thomas Linzey

Communities are now passing legislation to recognize the legally binding rights of nature. This spreading network is honoring and upholding the personhood of the environment, instead of the personhood of the corporations destroying it. Featuring Mari Margil, Associate Director of the Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund, and Thomas Linzey, co-founder of the Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund.

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Africa and Palestine: A Noble Legacy That Must Never Be Betrayed

Palestine fell under Brtish occupation around the period that Kenya also became a British colony. Palestinians, too, fought and fell in their thousands as they employed various methods of collective resistance, but the power was transferred from the Brits to the Zionist Movement to establish the State of Israel, and the Palestinians remain oppressed through the present day. The history of colonization shared by the Kenyans and Palestinians suggests the mutual benefit of their maintaining solidarity as they continue to struggle for their freedom.

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Brazil Deforestation Exceeds 88% in June Under Bolsonaro

Deforestation in Brazil’s portion of the Amazon rainforest soared more than 88% in June compared with the same month a year ago, the second consecutive month of rising forest destruction under new President Jair Bolsonaro, who has called for development of the region.

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16 Companies Rethinking Packaging

Packaging is also the main source of the plastic pollution that is clogging the ocean and expected to exceed the weight of all fish by 2050 at current rates. The food industry is largely responsible for this growing packaging problem. Recognizing this issue, and under pressure from consumers, several of these very same corporations have recently pledged to reduce the environmental impact of their packaging.

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Global Effort to Plant a Trillion Trees ‘Overwhelmingly’ Among Most Effective—and Cheapest—Solutions to Climate Emergency: Study

Amid record-setting temperatures worldwide and predictions by experts that this year will be among the hottest humanity has ever seen, researchers behind a new study say a rapid global effort to plant billions of trees and the restoration of forests would be the “most effective” strategy for battling the planetary climate emergency.

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Israel Is Disappearing the Proof That It Oppresses Palestinians

Hagar Shezaf at the Israeli newspaper of record, Haaretz [“The Land”], reveals that a secretive Israeli agency has been systematically going through the country’s archives, including local repositories, and removing and classifying documents having to do with repressive and embarrassing Israeli actions toward Palestinians and Palestinian-Israelis.

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Return of the Village – An Ecology of Community

There is a type of revolution going on in modern community design. It has been called different names, such as the New Urbanism, Traditional Town Planning, Transit Oriented Development (TOD) or Village Design. At the heart of this movement lies a respect for the ecology of community.

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Why These 7 Doctors Are Vegan

A vegan diet is just what the doctor ordered. As the health benefits of a plant-based lifestyle are going mainstream, these doctors are leading the charge on advocating for plant-based nutrition as medicine.

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Gaza (Documentary – Official Trailer)

Gaza brings us into a unique place beyond the reach of television news reports to reveal a world rich with eloquent and resilient characters, offering us a cinematic and enriching portrait of a people attempting to lead meaningful lives against the rubble of perennial conflict.

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A Sense of Wonder

A Sense of Wonder is a one-woman show written about Rachel Carson by the award winning Broadway actress, Kaiulani Lee. First performed in 1991, Lee has been performing it ever since. An enormous undertaking, it took three years of study and research to complete and is composed almost entirely of Carson’s own words.

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