Lauren Sommer reports in NPR that over 200 prominent medical journals issued an unprecedented joint statement, proclaiming a “rapidly warming climate is the ‘greatest threat’ to global public health," and urging world leaders to cut heat-trapping emissions immediately to avoid "catastrophic harm to health that will be impossible to reverse."
The joint statement states, "Governments must intervene to support the redesign of transport systems, cities, production and distribution of food, markets for financial investments, health systems, and much more.
“Rises above 1.5° C increase the chance of reaching tipping points in natural systems that could lock the world into an acutely unstable state. This would critically impair our ability to mitigate harms and to prevent catastrophic, runaway environmental change... Insufficient action means that temperature increases are likely to be well in excess of 2° C, a catastrophic outcome for health and environmental stability.”
Read Lauren Sommer’s NPR report here.
The joint statement is linked above.
Photo credit: Pxfuel CC
BOOK GIVEAWAY IS BACK!
The Great Healing is just $13.99 on Amazon! ($10.99 Kindle). The non-Kindle e-book is also $10.99 on our website.
To celebrate pending announcements regarding my upcoming book, I want to give a personalized signed copy of The Great Healing to a new subscriber selected randomly from new newsletter subscribers over the next two weeks. This includes prepaid shipping worldwide.
Please have your friends visit our website and sign up for the newsletter. Subscribe on any page on our website: thegreathealing.org
THE HEALTH BENEFITS OF MORINGA
One of my favorite sources for nutrition information is the Food Revolution Network. Ocean Robbins and his father, bestselling author John Robbins, run this popular site. I'm proud that they endorsed my first book, The Great Healing.
This is what Ocean has to say about moringa: “Today, I want to convince you to pay attention to one of the most nutritious and eco-friendly plants ever studied, even though the only way you can get it in most parts of the US and Europe is as a powdered supplement. Why? Because not only is the moringa tree an incredible source of nutrition, it also has the potential to reverse global warming, provide food for the starving, create thriving agricultural economies in some of the poorest places on earth, and even remove toxins from drinking water.”
Moringa has more than twice the protein of kale, six times the iron, and 97 times the vitamin B2. This is a powerhouse. Numerous researchers have concluded that, “there is likely no plant equal in terms of its combination of nutritive, medicinal, and disease preventative value.”
I mix a teaspoon into my morning smoothie every day.
Read Ocean Robbin’s report here.
Photo credit: MKOPT, CC
EU COUNTRIES MAKE A 55% EMISSION REDUCTION BY 2030 LEGALLY BINDING
The leaders from all countries of the European Union enacted laws last December to cut greenhouse gas emissions 40% from 1990 levels by 2030.
In the face of our accelerating climate emergency, negotiators from Parliament and the EU member states have now agreed to a new set of laws which will reduce emissions 55% by 2030.
Congratulations to the EU for leading the world in taking resolute, legally binding action to corral our climate crisis.
Read the Reuters article here.
Photo credit: ©European Union 2015 - European Parliament
THE COLORADO RIVER IS DRYING UP
This beautifully produced report shows why the Colorado River, which supplies 40 million people in 7 states and irrigates more than 5 million acres of farmland, is drying up — and what the consequences soon in store for us throughout the Southwest will be.
The Colorado River's flow has shrunk by 20% on average since 2,000, due primarily to our climate crisis.
California is apportioned a set amount of water from the Colorado River. Find out how that’s going to change as the river flow diminishes in the years ahead.
This insightful CNN report has wonderful design graphics that make an engaging read.
Find it here.
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EATING A PLANT-BASED DIET HELPS PROTECT AGAINST COVID-19 IN A BIG WAY
A new study published in The BMJ Journals - BMJ Nutrition, Prevention and Health, determined that people eating plant-based or pescatarian diets are 73% less likely to get COVID-19.
It concluded that, "These dietary patterns may be considered for protection against severe COVID-19."
Read Agi Kaja's insightful article on this study which includes interviews several of the study’s leading researchers, here.
Read the study here.
Photo credit: The Vegan Kind News
PLANT-BASED FOOD MARKET TO SKYROCKET TO $162 BILLION!
A new report by Bloomberg Intelligence reveals that the plant-based meat and dairy sectors are growing at an unprecedented rate. It predicts they will exceed $162 Billion within 10 years.
At $29.4 Billion in 2020, this means the plant-based market is projected to expand by 451%.
The report notes that, “Flexitarians, people who eat a primarily vegetarian diet but occasionally eat meat or fish, constitute as much as a third of the U.S. population and are a key demographic for plant-based alternative meat products... Households that favor meat alternatives tend to have children, skew to college educated and have incomes over $50,000.”
Read the report here.
Photo credit: Ted Eytan/CC
IF BACON COSTS MORE NEXT YEAR, BLAME THE PORK PRODUCERS, NOT THE LAW TREATING PIGS BETTER
In the November 2018 election, 62.7% of Californians voted for Proposition 12 — the Prevention of Cruelty to Farm Animals Act.
The Los Angeles Times reports, starting on January 1, 2022, “The law will require that all eggs sold in California come from cage-free hens and that pork sold in the state come from breeding pigs that are not held in cramped cages.
“Pork producers have had the longest time to comply. Some big companies like Hormel Foods have pledged to do so fully, but others have spent the last few years fighting the law rather than figuring out how to implement it. They say that the law will significantly raise the price of pork and that it violates the Commerce Clause of the Constitution, which gives Congress sole power over interstate business activity. So far, that fight has been a waste of time that pork producers could have better spent figuring out how to reconfigure their farms.
“Trade associations representing pork producers have sued the state, but so far they have been rebuffed by the federal courts.”
When the law goes into effect on New Year’s Day, it will be a new dawn in the struggle to eliminate needless animal suffering.
The Los Angeles Times agrees. “For fans of bacon and other pork, any rise in cost is the price of not having a pig suffer before it’s killed for food. It’s a price the animals shouldn’t have to pay.”
I’m very heartened by voters in my home state for passing Proposition 12 in a landslide. And proud of our state legislators who crafted an immaculate bill that has withstood repeated — and increasingly desperate — court challenges by the out-of-state poultry and pork trade associations representing farmers operating factory farms, which are concentration camp Hells-on-Earth for animals, as well as massively polluting operations which are a blight on our humanity.
Read the Los Angeles Times article here.
Photo credit: talseN/Shutterstock
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WANT TO MEDITATE? HERE'S THE SIMPLE WAY TO START
No need to climb a mountain before you begin. This Time article explains the health and well-being benefits of meditation. And it contains a wonderful linked resource.
Patricia Karpas writes, “Meditation is one of the greatest tools you can have in your toolbox when life-changing events happen, or if you simply need help dealing with everyday triggers. It not only helps to calm the nervous system, but it influences all sorts of benefits like better sleep, increased focus, lower blood pressure, greater self-awareness—the list goes on.”
Her article contains a link to the Meditation Studio App where you can explore different types of guided and unguided meditations, and listen to an essentials course — for free.
Read the article and find the link here.
Photo credit: MaxPixel .net / CC0
THE U.S. HEALTHCARE SYSTEM RANKS DEAD LAST AMONG RICH NATIONS — AGAIN
A comprehensive new report ranks the U.S. healthcare system last among rich nations regarding access to care, administrative efficiency, equity, and healthcare outcomes.
Jake Johnson reported on August 4th in Common Dreams, “The United States spends far more of its GDP on healthcare than other rich countries yet still has the highest infant and maternal mortality rates, the lowest life expectancy at age 60, and the most glaring inequities, according to a new report released Wednesday by the Commonwealth Fund."
The report concludes that “four features distinguish top performing countries from the United States: 1) they provide for universal coverage and remove cost barriers; 2) they invest in primary care systems to ensure that high-value services are equitably available in all communities to all people; 3) they reduce administrative burdens that divert time, efforts, and spending from health improvement efforts; and 4) they invest in social services, especially for children and working-age adults.”
For U.S. Congressional Representative Pramila Jayapal, the lead House sponsor of the Medicare for All Act of 2021, the solution is clear: "There's no question: our cruel, for-profit healthcare system is broken. It's time to fix it. It's time to guarantee health care as a human right. It's time for Medicare for All."
Read Jake Johnson’s article here. Check out more of the report’s conclusions here.
Photo credit: TaxRebate .org. uk / Flickr CC
THE AMOUNT OF GREENLAND ICE THAT MELTED ON TUESDAY COULD COVER FLORIDA IN 2 INCHES OF WATER
Rachael Ramirez reported on CNN that, “Greenland is experiencing its most significant melting event of the year as temperatures in the Arctic surge... Greenland lost more than 8.5 billion tons of surface mass on Tuesday, and 18.4 billion tons since Sunday.”
Alejandra Borunda writes in National Geographic that, “The Greenland ice sheet, which would raise global sea levels about 24 feet if it disappeared, is shrinking faster than at any time in the past 350 years and is on track to exceed melt rates for the last 12,000 years.”
And the ice sheet won’t be coming back in our lifetimes:
The United Nation’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) stated in its 3900+ page report from 234 leading scientists delivered this week, “Many changes due to past and future greenhouse gas emissions are irreversible for centuries to millennia, especially changes in the ocean, ice sheets and global sea level.”
The Vice Chair of the IPCC report, Ko Barrett, senior climate advisor for the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, said, “This report tells us that recent changes in the climate are widespread, rapid and intensifying, unprecedented in thousands of years. The changes we experience will increase with further warming.”
Our existential climate crisis today, and every day going forward, is the most pressing problem facing all of us, and should be the top news story until we fix it — or there is no more human news.
Photo credit: MaxPixel. net / CC0
HERE ARE THE 8 BEST ANTI-INFLAMMATORY FOODS
“Nutrient-dense foods and specifically, a large selection of vegetables, fruits, herbs and botanicals, are shown to dramatically support health at the core—thanks in large part to their powerful anti-inflammatory actions.” This from a recent article, Best Anti-inflammatory Foods.
Discover the 8 best anti-inflammatory foods and learn more about inflammation in the body here.
A CLIMATE-FOCUSED INFRASTRUCTURE PLAN WILL CREATE 26 MILLION JOBS
This is the path forward for America.
This report from Data for Progress and Evergreen Action reveals in detail how an infrastructure package with $2.6 trillion in climate investments will create 26 million green jobs over a decade.
Kenny Stancil writes in Common Dreams that, “by following the recommendations outlined in their ‘Clean Jumpstart 2021’ plan, congressional Democrats can deliver on President Joe Biden's campaign pledge to put millions of Americans to work building ‘modern, sustainable infrastructure and an equitable clean energy economy.’”
This will convert our antiquated, decaying infrastructure, into a modern, climate-friendly one. This will enable America to enter the $26 trillion-dollar New Economy.
From my upcoming book:
What is the $26 trillion-dollar New Economy?
The New Economy is based on business endeavors adhering to four principles: sustainable, Earth friendly, humane, and just. The 2018 report, “Unlocking the Inclusive Growth Story of the 21st Century,” prepared by the Global Commission on the Economy and Climate that includes former heads of government, business leaders and economists, reveals that strong action to fight global warming can create 65 million new low-carbon jobs and add $26 trillion to the global economy just between now and 2030. It strongly advocates that all governments incentivize economies to move rapidly in this direction: “This is the only growth story of the 21st century. It will result in efficient, livable cities; low-carbon, smart and resilient infrastructure; and the restoration of degraded lands while protecting valuable forests. We can have growth that is strong, sustainable, balanced, and inclusive.”[i]
Photo credit: Iulian Ursache / Pixabay
[i] The New Climate Economy 2018 Report, “Unlocking the Inclusive Growth Story of the 21st Century”, Global Commission on the Economy and Climate, 2018, https://newclimateeconomy.report/2018/key-findings/
UPCOMING BOOK NEWS
The Great Healing, which was published in September 2019, has now won four book awards.
* 2021 Next Generation Indie Book Award Finalist
* 2021 Barry Lopez Creative Nonfiction Prize Finalist/Honorable Mention
* 2020 Readers Favorite International Book Award Finalist
* 2020 Top Shelf Book Award Finalist
The most recent, the 2021 Next Generation Indie Book Award, was announced in May. It would have been a lot of fun to attend the ceremony but this year’s was virtual.
Time now for a new book to arrive on scene.
I’ve just delivered my latest to my agent. It’s out to publishers now.
GLOBAL SCIENTISTS JUST REVOLUTIONIZED HOW WE TALK ABOUT CLIMATE BY LINKING JUNE'S HEAT WAVE TO CLIMATE CHANGE IN 9 DAYS
The record-breaking heat wave across the Pacific Northwest inspired “a nine-day round-the-clock scientific sprint, with dozens of climate researchers worldwide working in shifts to analyze the unprecedented temperatures that killed hundreds and hospitalized thousands across Oregon, Washington and Canada’s British Columbia.”
Read Alejandro de la Garza’s story in Time Magazine about the seminal importance of this research — which conclusively linked this heat wave to climate change.
“For those seeking to point to big, newsworthy weather events to emphasize the need to address climate change, such speed is crucial. Being able to confidently say that a given weather disaster was caused by climate change while said event still has the world’s attention can be an enormously useful tool to convince leaders, lawmakers, and others that climate change is a threat that must be addressed. But that speed hasn’t been possible until relatively recently, thanks to the work of Van Oldenborgh, Otto and others like them.”
Photo credit: Jean Beaufort
THESE TOP 3 CROSSFIT COMPETITORS ARE ALL VEGAN
The top three CrossFit competition athletes in Germany are all vegan. They each attribute their lifestyle change to boosting their performances.
They share their vegan journeys here.
The purpose of this post is not to try and convince anyone to go vegan. Rather, to correct a misunderstanding I keep encountering.
When ordering a restaurant salad that has a menu option of adding chicken or fish, the server will always ask, “Can I add a protein to your salad?”
My response usually is, “No thanks. The salad is protein enough for me.”
Vegetables are major protein sources. They contain all the protein your body needs. The three CrossFit competitors in this article are extreme athletes, among the best at what they do — and each one is vegan. Vegan athletes now include pro football and basketball players, MMA fighters, soccer players, weightlifters, competitors in numerous high-energy sports.
The server’s question is always phrased exactly the same way. The way management, and the food industry, wants it phrased: implying that the salad, by itself, lacks protein.
That’s deceiving and incorrect — and many of us don’t recognize that.
Adding chicken or fish to your salad can be a tasty healthy choice, and is an up-sell for the restaurant — however, it’s also a choice that's adding more protein to your protein.
Photo credit: Instagram
AMERICAN MEAT CONSUMPTION DROPS 12% FROM LAST YEAR
A report published in Bloomberg, Meat Demand is Under Threat Like ‘Never before’ as Prices Surge, states “In the U.S., sales of meat at grocery stores are down by more than 12% from a year ago. In Europe, overall beef demand is predicted to fall 1% this year. And in Argentina, home to one of the world’s most carnivorous populations, per-capita beef consumption has dropped almost 4% from 2020... Now demand is waning across the globe in what could signal the start of a new broad shift away from animal protein.”
Price increases certainly have something to do with decreasing demand, as does the rise in popularity of plant-based meats like Impossible Burgers.
However, the most important aspect of this trend is a global “broad shift away from animal protein.” Quoting from my upcoming book:
“86% of American healthcare costs go toward the treatment of preventable diseases and illnesses that are the result of eating vitamin and mineral depleted, toxin laden, nutrient barren, unhealthy food.” Overconsumption of meat puts you on track for ill health, disease, and a shortened lifespan. The research on this is abundantly clear.
Furthermore, Big Ag — industrial agriculture and factory farming — is far and away, the most polluting industry on the planet. Stop being their supporter. Reduce your meat consumption for your health — and to help put the brakes on our accelerating climate emergency.
Read the article here.
Photo credit: Anthony Albright _ Flickr CC
WILDFIRES RAGE – CLIMATE CHANGE IS “FRYING THE NORTHERN HEMISPHERE”
In British Columbia last week, temperatures rose to 121°F in the town of Lytton. Then an uncontrollable wildfire swept through it killing residents and destroying most of it.
In Unprecedented Heat, Hundreds Dead and a Town Destroyed. Climate Change is Frying the Northern Hemisphere, Angela Dewan reports for CNN that Canadians experienced highest-ever temperatures, “in an unprecedented heat wave that has over a week killed hundreds of people and triggered more than 150 wildfires across British Columbia, most of which are still burning... Scientists have warned for decades that climate change will make heat waves more frequent and more intense. That is a reality now playing out in Canada, but also in many other parts of the northern hemisphere that are increasingly becoming uninhabitable.”
Watch a harrowing video as a resident of Lytton drives fleeing the flames in the CNN report here.
In the Los Angeles Times report, California Hit by Record-breaking Fire Destruction: ‘Climate Change is Real, it’s Bad’, Hayley Smith writes, “California is off to another record-breaking year of wildfires as the state enters its most dangerous months, with extreme heat and dry terrain creating the conditions for rapid spread... More than twice as many acres burned in the first six months of this year than during the same period last year — and hundreds more fires, officials said...
‘The exceptional fire weather this year and in recent years does not represent random bad luck,’ said Jacob Bendix, a Syracuse University professor who specializes in pyrogeography, or the study of wildfire distribution. ‘It is among the results of our adding carbon to the atmosphere — results that were predictable, and indeed that have been predicted for decades.’...
“Though last year was the worst wildfire season California has seen — with over 4 million acres burned — the potential to surpass it is there, said Cal Fire spokeswoman Lynne Tolmachoff. ‘We just kind of have to wait and see what Mother Nature does,’ she said.”
Across the globe, Mike Hudema reports that raging Siberian wildfires in Russia’s Yakutia region are burning 250,000 acres per day. Watch video of firemen on the road to Magadan surrounded by flames.
Read the L.A. Times report here.
Photo credit: Jean Beaufort