"Live Urgently" - What to do about Near Term Human Extinction plus an Interview with Guy McPherson. By Willi Paul & Planetshifter.com

Little round planet
In a big universe
Sometimes it looks blessed
Sometimes it looks cursed
Depends on what you look at obviously
But even more it depends on the way that you see

Hear the wind moan
In the bright diamond sky
These mountains are waiting
Brown-green and dry
I'm too old for the term
But I'll use it anyway
I'll be a child of the wind
Till the end of my days

From "Child of the Wind" by Bruce Cockburn

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Warnings hastening our near-term human extinction (edited):

1. Climate lag
Adding the climate lag to the current level of global temperature increase would take us past the 2-degree Paris Agreement climate target within a decade.

2. Ice-free Arctic
Not only will melting Arctic sea ice raise global sea levels, it will also allow the earth to absorb more heat from the sun because ice reflects the sun's rays while blue open water absorbs it.

3. The 50 gigaton methane "burp"
Methane is a greenhouse gas much more potent than carbon dioxide. A 50 gigaton burp would be the equivalent of roughly two-thirds of the total carbon dioxide released since the beginning of the industrial era.

4. Accelerated ocean acidification
The accelerating loss of ocean biodiversity and continued overfishing may result in a collapse of all species of wild seafood by 2048, according to a 2006 study published in the journal Science.

5. From global warming to global dimming
Pollution from coal power plants, airplanes and other sources of industrial soot, aerosols and sulfates are artificially cooling the planet by filling the atmosphere with reflective particles, a process known as global dimming.

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What to do about Near Term Human Extinction?

1. Garden with sustainable agriculture techniques (less pesticides and fertilizer (organic or better yet permaculture)).

2. Buy food and manufactured goods made locally

3. Pay down debt

4. Learn skills they will be useful in the future and make friends that have useful skills you don't have (related to providing food, water, shelter, and medical care. A necessary skill is organic/permaculture gardening/farming). Very important: medical plant and medical skills are the best way to ensure your survival. All others will gladly sacrifice their life to protect your life, so you are around to use your medical knowledge to keep their families alive.

5. I recommend to invest some money into technologies to increase the "carrying capacity" of the planet (high risk investments);

A. decrease environmental impact per capital

B. alternatives for our food system input to improve production

C. alternatives to our current living arrangements,

D. alternatives to our plastics industry,

E. alternatives to disaster capitalism

F. "Savior technologies", i.e. faster-than-light travel, "game changer" technologies, i.e. Cold fusion energy & "delaying technologies", i.e. deep drilling technologies.

6. I also recommend you inform and prepare your family, friends, and others. It is best to initially suggest people have an emergency kit... for any emergency such as flood, earthquake, tornado, hurricane, loss of electricity due to a winter storm. Then, if the friend or relative puts together a disaster kit, what I do is introduce Peak Oil (by telling them of the 43 second movie trailer http://m.natgeotv.com/-/2210-theco-/videos/collapse-of-earth, the "National Geographic Collapse" movie on YouTube, & free book downloads;

7. For the truly motivated, a community-based organization to mitigate Climate Change and Peak Oil is: http://www.transitionus.org/ or https://transitionnetwork.org/

Check-out the free "Plan C" workbook (download)

Have you seen: "2010: The Collapse?" - National Geographic movie

- Thanks to Prepping for NTHE Facebook Group

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Interview with Guy by Willi -

There is the bad science and the truth, but isn't near extinction an emotional challenge first?

Accepting near-term human extinction is a tremendous emotional challenge. Understanding the science underpinning human extinction in the near term is pivotal to tackling the emotional challenge. Taking this rational approach is helpful for some. For others, their intuition allowed them to reach the conclusion of human extinction without much evidence.

Can you speak to the paradox of preparing for the end? Isn't this anti-sustainability?!

Sustainability is a myth. Other than that, I don't see any paradox associated with preparing for the end. For the most part, the preparation for the end is intellectual and emotional.

Do you have any mantras or prayers that help you through your crisis prep days? My mantra is: "technology won't save you."

"At the edge of extinction, only love remains"

What exactly are "savior technologies?"

This is the first time I've seen the phrase "Savior technologies." My mantra is nature bats last.

Some would say a three-day disaster kit is ludicrous; a farce. Is this act an empowering prepping solution for your household?

I do not have a three-day disaster kit. I don't even know what that is.

Many will be unprepared in the end times. How will you ensure your safety while protecting your family and friends?

There is no safety to ensure. I am not acting to ensure my safety. I am acting to prepare me and my tribe for the intellectual and emotional challenges ahead.

How do you see the regenerative agriculture vs. permaculture debate? Do you have a grey water system?

Distractions abound! The homestead I occupy in the Central American country of Belize has a gray-water system, and we harvest rain water for the domestic water supply. We also pursue the principles of permaculture.

Why would you want to "survive" the end time only to live on a zero-carrying capacity, blackened, and toxic Earth?

I have no interest in attempting to survive on an essentially dead planet.

Are the Near Term Human Extinction folks calling for a sharing economy that diminishes the need for profit taking? Are you involved in this movement?

I have no idea what you're talking about. I am not involved in any such movement.

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Bio - Guy McPherson (edited)

Guy McPherson is an energetic speaker and talented moderator. Professor Emeritus at the University of Arizona, he has appeared before countless audiences to speak about the two primary consequences of our fossil-fuel addiction: global climate change and energy decline. Because these phenomena impact every aspect of life on Earth, his talks reach a wide variety of audiences such as universities, associations, nonprofits, and numerous educational and scientific symposia and conferences. Selected presentations are available at McPherson's YouTube channel or, more recently, Nature Bats Last's YouTube channel, but each presentation is uniquely prepared for the specific audience. Please contact Guy here: guy.r.mcpherson at gmail.com

Guy taught and conducted research for more than twenty award-winning years. His scholarly work, which has for many years focused on conservation of biological diversity, has produced more than a dozen books and hundreds of articles. Guy developed a comprehensive set of durable living arrangements in response to the ongoing collapse of the industrial economy and global climate change. He is available for consultation if you are serious about doing the same.

McPherson is asked nearly every day for advice about living. He recommends living fully. He recommends living with intention. He recommends living urgently, with death in mind. He recommends the pursuit of excellence. He recommends the pursuit of love. It's small wonder he is often derided, mocked, rejected, and isolated by his contemporaries in the scientific community. In light of the short time remaining in your life, and his own, McPherson recommends all of the above, louder than before. More fully than you can imagine. To the limits of this restrictive culture, and beyond.

Bio - Willi Paul

Willi draws deeply on the emerging values in the permaculture and transition towne movements. He is creating sound myths based now after an eight year exploration of myth, alchemy, compost soil and sound archetypes for Planetshifter.com and his experimental sound project, the chaos era. Please discover him at Regenerative Mythology, a new Community of Practice, on LinkedIn. Email Mr. Paul at willipaul1 at gmail.com