It appears that over the past 18 months or so we have pushed the earth into an irrevocable spiral. The accumulating feedback loops cannot now be contained, though with concerted effort we may be able to diminish them. Dr Thomas Crowther wrote “It’s fair to say we have passed the point of no return on global warming and we can’t reverse the effects.” And from Stephen Hawking “We are at the most dangerous moment in the development of humanity.”

Carbon in the earth is now being released through manyfeedbacks that that need no encouragement from us. Its just hit the news that soil respiration “is about to add between 0.45 and 0.71 parts per million of CO2 to the atmosphere every year” which is another fifth added to what we do. We know that methane in Arctic permafrost and clathrates is being released 200 times faster than usual. The impact of forest fires can be enormous, as high as half the total emissions from fossil fuels. Droughts that now circle the globe have reduced forest ability to absorb carbon. And so on.

Everybody knows the changes are speeding up. We seem to be past the point of no return. We will see multi-metre sea level rise, expected over the next decade or so. There is no escape from these consequences. As James Hansen said, “this is inevitable”.

When we follow the connections between rising seas, fleeing populations and the collapse of industry its obvious we will find it increasingly difficult to import the fuel, food and manufactured goods on which we depend.

Think about the consequences, and the tensions and panic that would follow.

We the people now have to act for our own survival. Wecannot trust the politicians. Its up to us, and we can, as long as we startnow.

On the South Coast of NSW in Australia we have begun aprocess that we would like to see advanced everywhere. We intend to implement local alternatives for all aspects of our lives so we are independent of endangered supplies.

We have oversimplified these aspects into eight headings. There are answers to each one as long as we act while there is still time.

Food, Water and Goods, equipment, clothes, shoes, winter food storage;

Transport and Trawling, cartage, busses, distribution of food and stuff, ambulance;

Flooding and Heatwaves, roads, wharves, sewage,homelessness, keeping cool;

Communication, the internet can be switched off, so we need another way;

Wellbeing and Resilience, panic when people feel threatened by change;

Building and Maintenance, repair of equipment, spare parts, power outages;

Essential Services, health, dental, security, trash, bushfires, school, burials;.

Money and Governance, publicity, exchange, charities, grants

We are calling ourselves The Platform, from the image that when the train bears down on the station it is best to get off the tracks and onto the side. Perhaps when others come on board we will become The Platform (AU.se). But, in the meantime we have agreed down here in the Bega area that we have to start planning now.

We still have all the benefits of an industrial society to help us. Lets use what tools we have, and start now.

This is a call to action – it is now time – as everybody knows this moment is propitious.

References:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2016/11/30/the-ground-beneath-our-feet-is-poised-to-make-global-warming-much-worse-scientists-find

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-3703458/The-Arctic-leaking-methane-200-times-faster-usual-Bizarre-gas-bubbles-create-trembling-tundras-speeding-global-warming.html

http://joannenova.com.au/2015/07/forest-fires-may-produce-as-much-co2-as-half-of-all-fossil-fuels-burned/

http://www.climatecentral.org/news/drought-amazon-carbon-capture-18733

https://www.theguardian.com/science/2016/mar/22/sea-level-rise-james-hansen-climate-change-scientist

John James is an Australian architect, builder, farmer, therapist and medieval historian with a passion for the truth. He founded the www.planetextinction.com site ten years ago and issues a regular newsletter on global issues. He has lectured and corresponded around the world on environmental issues since the 70s. He has a solar house and is learning to be self-sufficient – a much harder task than people let on. For more information on The Platform contact John James on jrhj99@gmail.com