Last Week in Collapse: December 24-31, 2023
2024 has begun. It will be a year of Drought, War, Flooding, and Disease.
Last 8 Days in Collapse: December 24-31, 2023
This is Last Week in Collapse, a weekly newsletter compiling some of the most important, timely, useful, soul-crushing, ironic, astounding, or otherwise must-see/can’t-look-away moments in Collapse.
This is the 105th newsletter, and it covers 8 days instead of the usual 7. You can find the December 17-23 edition here if you missed it last week. Thank you for subscribing to the Substack.
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Germany is expecting its warmest year ever in 2024….until next year, that is. According to the an Irish Climate Report, 2023 was Ireland’s warmest year on record, over 1.5 °C hotter than their 100-year average. The UK had one of its warmest Christmases ever.
While Canada felt a very warm December, Beijing felt its coldest December on record. Meanwhile, the Antarctic peninsula is melting. The UK has gone 18 months without a climate commissioner.
The Denver Post did a deep dive into the slow death of the Colorado River. Pakistan is spraying salt water onto clouds above Lahore, in an attempt to trigger rainfall that will clean up some air pollution; they call it “blueskying.” For the first time in 10 years, China’s air pollution worsened.
27,000+ people in Malaysia were forced to evacuate from flooding. In the DRC, floods killed 40+. Storms in Australia killed 10. Lake Powell is projected to have a bad 2024.
Europe is predicted to suffer years-long droughts by 2030, a result of manmade climate change. Water shortages are causing protests in Pakistan; India too.
Record Christmas temperatures across Europe. A 7.4 earthquake hit Japan; tsunami warnings followed. Heat waves are becoming a fierce threat for Australians.
Brazil’s soy production is expected to slide down in 2024. Potato News Today reports that 5-10% potatoes in the Netherlands cannot be harvested because of extreme weather. Forbes reports that the crops most impacted in 2023 were olives, blueberries, potatoes, rice, and grapes. Growing dependency on farmers insurance in the U.S. is not remedying the situation.
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Microplastics have been identified as a major factor in soil health, according to AI. According to a study, we humans poison the soil annually with microplastics between 4 and 23x more than we do the oceans. Microplastics reduce good bacteria concentrations, and can be absorbed by plants, and then passed up the food chain. The impact on soil moisture and temperature is unclear.
A strong year for chronic wasting disease has scientists worrying about the spread of CWD to humans. Chronic wasting disease is a prion disease affecting mostly cervids, believed to be spread through bodily fluids. A prion is basically an infectious protein.
Across Central/West Africa, malnutrition, displacement, and illness become more common. Worldwide, it is estimated that 16,000 children are pushed into hunger every day—a 32% increase from 2022.
COVID: The JN.1 variant of COVID has become the dominant strain in the United States. U.S. hospitalizations for COVID are at 11-month highs. Officials say 2023 COVID wasn’t as bad as 2022, but I’m not sure if anyone knows what to believe now. The WHO wants a global pandemic accord to sort out how we will deal with the next pandemic. The de facto accord on COVID was basically surrender, normalization, and then forgetting all about it.
Cholera cases are up in Zambia and South Sudan. A large number of people were sick on New Year’s Eve.
An Israeli soldier reportedly died from a fungal superbug that he contracted from soil in Gaza.
Ethiopia defaulted on its sovereign debt, failing to pay a $33M interest payment. Allegations of Pakistan defaulting on several debts in December was denied by the government. Economists are also warning that American debt will be defaulted on in ~20 years unless significant changes are made. The Chinese economy is stalling and the government isn’t denying it. Israel’s War is hurting their economy, and has basically destroyed Gaza’s economy entirely. It’s no surprise that economic troubles can lead to authoritarianism.
Five nations joined BRICS at the turn of the new year: Egypt, Ethiopia, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, and Iran. A fuel truck exploded in Liberia, killing 40+.
Despite widespread impoverishment, bankruptcies, inflation, and financial stress, it’s easy to find stories from CNN or from NPR, or from Business Insider, or from the Financial Times that claim the economy is still strong. Looking ahead, observers worry about Chinese real estate sliding and the potential for a larger Middle Eastern War that drives oil prices way up. Oil is currently enjoying low prices due to OPEC oversupply. Yet Central Africa still suffers from a fuel shortage.
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The President of the DRC was “reelected” with about 73% in a suspicious election. Other candidates are demanding a new election after irregularities and administrative issues, but it won’t happen. Protests were put down by security forces. Over 1,000 Burundi soldiers were deployed into eastern DRC to deal with the M23 armed group.
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