Breaking Down: Collapse

You might be surprised to find yourself in the top 10% of global income or wealth. What sort of distinction comes with that honor? Well, we carry the bulk of the responsibility when it comes to an outsized impact on the environment.World's richest 10% are costing Earth trillions, study findsWorld's Richest 10% Caused Two-Thirds of Global Heating, Study Finds : ScienceAlertAt least 18 dead in France, including two children in hot car, as Europe bakes | ReutersForty people have drowned in France over the past days as they sought to cool down to escape record heat, the prime minister said on Tuesday, as a heatwave swept across much of Europe. : r/collapse

Heatwaves are thrashing Europe, and the numbers are staggering. 200,000 deaths in the last 4 years alone. Additionally, what happens when nations who rely on AC suddenly lose access?Statement – Europe lost 200 000 people to heat in 4 years yet nearly all of them were preventableAll It Takes Is a Broken Car Air Conditioner for Climate Change to Kill YouUK Met Office issues a rare red warning for extreme heat in parts of England and Wales later this week : r/collapseJune, second heatwave in France, 2026 : r/collapse

This summer we take the next step down on the increasingly chaotic collapse staircase. This one could take us close to 2 degrees above the baseline this summer.Scientists Warn of Summer Heat Spikes as Global Warming Edges Toward 2C - Inside Climate NewsEarth’s climate swings increasingly out of balanceTheory: El Nino releases excess heat originally created by humans. Each El Nino going forward will be Super+ El Nino. : r/collapse

There are many direct consequences of climate change that will have a devastating impact on humanity. Equally so, perhaps, will be the indirect consequences that come as people make choices about what to do about it. This episode focuses on one such conflict already taking place, and expecting to worsen in the coming years:India ensuring ‘not a single drop of water’ flows into Pakistan after suspending major river-sharing treaty | The IndependentSwitzerland votes on plan to cap population at 10 million

Sources:FBI raid of Ohio voting rights group stokes fear of pre-midterm crackdown | Ohio | The GuardianThe FBI’s raid on free and fair elections - Democracy DocketArizona advances voter ID ballot measure for November - Democracy DocketFlorida Reinstates Trump Lawyer Chesebro Despite Guilty Plea (2)California sues county that just eliminated mail and early voting - Democracy DocketIn hopeful sign for mail-in voting, court fast tracks bid to block Trump order - Democracy DocketCourt tosses MAGA lawsuit seeking access to Georgia’s election operations center - Democracy DocketSurveillance footage shows election equipment being wheeled out of a Maricopa County facility in Phoenix in March 2026

Here we discuss a few examples of the impact of climate change on the natural world, according to recent research.Record winter temperatures in Antarctic raise fears over speed of climate breakdown | Polar regions | The GuardianAntarctica’s west coast missing an area of sea ice the size of France as temperatures peak 20C above average | Antarctica | The Guardian‘Simply mind-boggling’: world record temperature jump in Antarctic raises fears of catastrophe | Climate crisis | The GuardianHundreds of dolphins found dead in Amazon lake were in water hotter than a jacuzzi, study finds - CBS NewsEarth has warmed 1.4°C since 1850. The first half took 148 years. The second took just 27. The coming years will be hell. : r/collapseFour days of extreme rain in Indonesia killed 7% of world’s rarest great apes, study finds | Extreme weather | The GuardianScientists' warning to humanity on insect extinctions - ScienceDirectState of the world's plants and fungi report: 3 in 4 undescribed plant species already threatened with extinction

Sea Level Rise numbers just got more intense for large coastal cities, thanks to the double whammy of rising oceans and sinking ground levels.Subsidence more than doubles sea-level rise today along densely populated coasts | Nature CommunicationsSea levels rising dramatically in some areas due to land subsidence

This week I speak again with Juan Pablo Quinonez, nearly 4 years after our first interview. Juan Pablo has written and released a book about navigating collapse. Find it hereBooks – Juan Pablo Quiñonez

RCP 8.5 was removed as a potential emissions scenario. This is great news, right! Right? Right...The climate apocalypse is canceled. The merely terrible is not. | Vox