Last Week in Collapse: May 28-June 3, 2023
Violence continues in Sudan, the cryosphere breaks down, recessions, harvest failures, heat waves, droughts, and floods. Mother Earth has got a terminal case of humans.
Last Week in Collapse: May 28-June 3, 2023
This is Last Week in Collapse, a weekly newsletter bringing together some of the most important, timely, useful, sad, ironic, amazing, or otherwise must-see moments in Collapse. Try not to overdose on this week’s Doom dose.
This is the 75th newsletter. You can find the May 21-27 edition (which I accidentally labeled the 73rd edition) here on Reddit if you missed it last week. Thank you for subscribing to the Substack.
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The World Meteorological Congress concluded on Friday, and it released a bunch of reports. The focus this year was on developing early warning systems for water/climate/weather disasters. Most countries report declining ability to monitor hydrological developments, and almost half of the world’s people lack reliable access to water for at least one month per year, a figure that is expected to grow considerably by 2050.
The WMO also reported on the state of emergency for the cryosphere, those places where ice is formed (and melts). Greenland’s ice has shrunk for 26 consecutive years. Permafrost threatens to release huge quantities of greenhouse gasses over the coming years. Sea levels continue to rise…but you know this already.
Montevideo, Uruguay’s capital, has come up with a plan to extend their almost-exhausted water supply: they’re adding salt to the tap water, against WHO recommendations. This causes people to drink less water—but what are the implications for health, and for small-scale agriculture?
Over 20 million tonnes of what was damaged in China by recent rain, not long before it was scheduled to be harvested. Analysts say this will raise grain prices worldwide. The scale of this blight is larger than recent blights. In the U.S. state of Georgia, 90% of the peach harvest was destroyed by abnormally warm weather; in Vermont, a freak cold snap damaged crops, potentially 30% of apples.
6 years. 800 million trees felled in the Amazon rainforest, all to create space for cattle farms. The loss of rainforest is equivalent roughly to two Corsica islands.
Environmental scientists have discovered a hopeful tool to lower CO2: Greenland’s “rock flour,” which is basically rock dust. A recent study claims that it can be scattered on fields to absorb CO2—and also boost wheat and potato yields. International lawyers are also working on the first global plastics pollution treaty that could be passed later next year.
Yet another study claims that Mother Earth is sick, and that most of our safety thresholds have been crossed. The feedback loops have been activated, the diagnosis is terminal. The Nature study lists the 8 Earth System Boundaries: 1) Climate, 2) Functional Integrity, 3) Natural Ecosystem Area, 4) Surface Water, 5) Groundwater, 6) Nitrogen, 7) Phosphorus, and 8) Subglobal Aerosols.
Some insurers in California are cutting homeowner insurance because they can’t make a buck betting against wildfires and desertification. Similar risk is expanding in Texas. Summer is coming. A mysterious wildfire in Scotland is growing out of control, and threatens to become the UK’s largest ever.
Record May rainfall in Bermuda. Part of South Africa also saw record rains in May. Strong rains in southern Spain—but the parched soil can’t absorb much of it. Meanwhile, the Philadelphia area had its driest May in recorded history.
Vicious drought and Afghan dams have raised tensions between iran and Afghanistan, where fighting killed a handful of people two weeks ago. In times of scarcity, no group can have enough water; even less if they’re forced to share. Most of the world’s lakes are drying up.
An official in India ordered the draining of two million liters of water from a reservoir……so he could retrieve his phone, which he dropped in the water while taking a selfie. He was suspended. The phone was recovered—but too damaged to function. The water could have irrigated 6 km² of land.
Wildfires grow in Nova Scotia. Millions going hungry in Madagascar. Record temperatures in Japan. Normalized heat waves across Asia with new records in Central Asia & the Caucasus.
Scientists warn of potential tsunamis caused by underwater landslides in Antarctica. New cold records in Australia. Heat waves in North Africa. Increasing reliance on expensive desalination plants in Barcelona as drought and water supplies worsen.
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Türkiye’s President, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, won reelection, and economists believe it portends the further Collapse of the economy. Investment is pulling out, and the lira is expected to continue sinking. “We will be together until the grave,” said Erdoğan at his victory speech.
The UN operation to drain the FSO Safer has begun now that technicians have boarded the vessel. 1.1 million barrels of oil aboard the derelict tanker, stranded off the coast of Yemen, will begin being drained next month.
Petrol prices rise in Benin as Nigeria cuts its fuel subsidies; Iran is limiting fuel purchases too. China’s declining birth rate, growing debt, and ongoing international decoupling is threatening its economy. Eurozone inflation continues. Trade-GDP ratios approaching 2008 levels worryingly.
Budapest is facing bankruptcy. Refugees in Tanzania are seeing their rations cut in half as financing falls off. Vicious conditions inside refugee camps in Chad take advantage of Sudanese refugees. Debts grow in Brazil. Complicated problems continue destabilizing the world’s economic equilibrium.
Another Russian missile attack struck Kyiv last week, after allegedly pro-Ukraine Russian volunteer soldiers made an incursion into Russian territory. Wagner Group’s chief continues provoking Russian leadership as infighting appears to grow, following a Ukrainian drone attack on Moscow. Zelensky says Ukraine’s counteroffensive is now ready.
Myanmar’s Civil War has entered its third year, depending on when you claim it began. In the desperation and chaos of prolonged warfare, it is the environment that pays the price. Wood, gold, jade, and other resources are being exploited by government and private actors after the old economic system broke apart.
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62% of Americans agree that the COVID pandemic is over (it’s not), an increase of 14% since February 2023. 56% of Americans admit that they never mask up in public anymore. An updated booster is coming in September to address the XBB.1.16 variant. Masks may go away, but (Long) COVID will stay with us.
The WHO’s treaty to manage future pandemics is being watered down, leaving humanity less prepared for the next pandemic. Although China denies the lab leak origin story, a prominent Chinese scientist claims it is possible. COVID is never going away, and neither is Long COVID.
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