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About Guy McPherson

Guy McPherson is professor emeritus of natural resources and the environment at the University of Arizona, where he taught and conducted research for 20 years. He's written well over 100 articles, ten books, the most recent of which is Walking Away From Empire, and has focused for many years on conservation of biological diversity. He lives in an off-grid, straw-bale house where he practices durable living via organic gardening, raising small animals for eggs and milk, and working with members of his rural community. Learn more at guymcpherson.com or email Guy at grm@ag.arizona.edu.

Waiting for the asteroid, eyes open

By April 15, 2013
Photo: ethermoon/Flickr.

I'm pretty sure you know the drill. You pose the scenario and ask the hypothetical questions: There's an asteroid headed for Earth. We know exactly when it will strike, and it will kill all humans. Do you want to know it will strike? Do you want to know when? Some people want to know everything. Others don't want to know anything. People who want to know when the asteroid will strike cannot fathom that people don't want to know. People who don't want to know the asteroid is headed our … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Climate Tagged With: ,

For sale, habitable planet, too late

By March 25, 2013
Wave Breaker

According to legend, Ernest Hemingway bet his 1920s-era colleagues he could write a complete story in just six words. Hemingway is said to have considered the resulting piece his best work: “For Sale, Baby Shoes, Never Worn.” Making no attempt to keep up with Hemingway, this article provides an overview of the dire climate-change situation in fewer than 300 words. Perhaps even Twitter users will find time for the entire essay. Addition by subtraction Until relatively recently, economic … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Climate Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Sadly, extinction is no laughing matter

By February 25, 2013
The wise fool.

Quoting Carl Sagan, I begin some presentations with this line: It is far  better to grasp the universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring. Many people disagree with Sagan, choosing delusion over reality, believing we can have infinite growth on a finite planet with no consequences for people or other creatures, other life forms, other organisms. The people in this latter group seek hope, and many of them disparage me and my actions for inducing … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Spirit Tagged With: , , ,

Roundup of distressing climate news

By January 30, 2013
Waterworld

I've long wondered why the Obama administration threw climate-change negotiations under the bus at the United Nations Conference of the Parties in Copenhagen (COP15) in 2009. Evidence generally available at the time did not suggest near-term human extinction as a result of climate change. In fact, the scientific community had reported none of the following self-reinforcing feedback loops (i.e., positive feedbacks, the term that implies the opposite of its meaning): Methane hydrates are bubbling … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Climate Tagged With: , , , ,

A new kind of Christmas story

By December 11, 2012
Dead Soldier Wreaths

'Tis the season for reaching out, connecting, and gifts, for good or for ill. One of the Christmas cards was unintentionally soaked in irony. I'll forgo the tempting rant about a religious holiday that has been co-opted to promote conspicuous consumption in an empire founded on secular ideals and skip straight to the card and its message. Filled with proud stories of the kids in the U.S. Army, it closed with, "We pray for peace." I don't know whether to laugh or cry. Never mind that the … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Politics Tagged With: , , , ,

A farewell to arms

By November 19, 2012
cross on a military grave

In previous essays in this space I have mentioned two phenomena worth fighting for: the living planet and freedom based in anarchy. I surrender. I no longer believe the struggle matters on either front. Kiss goodbye the living planet I no longer think we'll save the remaining shards of the living planet beyond another human generation. We'll destroy every -- or nearly every -- species on Earth when the positive feedbacks associated with climate change come seriously into play (and I've not … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Climate, Transition Tagged With: , , ,

Collapse now — it’s all the rage (without the rage)

By October 9, 2012
Fiddlers

American Empire provides bread, circuses, and all the toys we (think we) need, stolen from other countries and future generations. I can understand why people are reluctant to abandon the empire. In exchange for inhabiting a cubicle, you get to harvest the fruits of empire while avoiding any steps toward self-reliance. You get to shower in the morning, kibitz at the water cooler with your friends, flirt with the hot thirty-something in the next cube, and dine on Thai take-out. What's not … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Transition Tagged With: , , , , ,

Only love remains

By October 5, 2012
railway sign with word "love"

Most people would say I’m not religious. I’m not spiritually religious, although I exhibit some behaviors in a religious manner. I refer to myself as a free-thinker, a skeptic, and occasionally an indifferent agnostic or a militant atheist. So the apparently spiritual title of this essay would seem out of character for those who know me. I’ll not wander down the road of knowing me. Even after five decades of study, much of it characterized by the serious introspection allowed those who … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Climate, Spirit Tagged With: , , ,

Not even a spoonful of sugar could help

By August 10, 2012
kill your tv

Television anchor Edward R. Murrow is credited with this expression: "Just because your voice reaches halfway around the world doesn't mean you are wiser than when it reached only to the end of the bar." Murrow understood the power of television to misinform the masses. This strategy has worked brilliantly on every front, but none more pronounced than the all-important issue of global climate change. Seeking "balance" on the idiot box has meant presenting two sides to a one-sided issue until … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Climate Tagged With: , , , , ,

The gift liberation front

By July 17, 2012
gifts

I'm fussy about the words I use. For example, anarchy is not chaos, though you'd never be able to distinguish the two based on anything presented by the mainstream media. As a further example, I'm averse to any form of the word sustain because we don't and we can't, if only because of the Strong Suggestions Laws of Thermodynamics. If the Laws of Thermodynamics aren't compelling enough for you, consider this: Wal-Mart allegedly has poured more money into "sustainability" than any other … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Transition Tagged With: , , , , ,