The Tipping Points of Climate Change — and Where We Stand

Johan Rockström

11 a.m., September 14, 2025

Join us this Sunday, either in person or online, as we watch and discuss the most up-to-date scientific assessment of the state of the planet

Climate change refers to long-term shifts in temperatures and weather patterns. Human activities have been the main driver of climate change, primarily due to the burning of fossil fuels like coal, oil and gas.

We’re nearly halfway through the 2020s, dubbed the most decisive decade for action on climate change. Where exactly do things stand? Climate impact scholar Johan Rockström offers the most up-to-date scientific assessment of the state of the planet and explains what must be done to preserve Earth’s resilience to human pressure.

Johan Rockström is Director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research and Professor in Earth System Science at the University of Potsdam. He is an internationally recognized scientist on global sustainability and Earth resilience. He is deeply involved in research on the future trajectory of the Anthropocene and tipping points in the Earth system. With more than 25 years experience in applied water research in tropical regions, he is also a leading scientist on global water resources. Professor Rockström is a driving force behind myriad international scientific initiatives, including the Earth Commission and the Planetary Boundaries Science Initiative, as well as actively consulting on global sustainability issues for national and multilateral government organizations and business networks.

You can preview this 18-minute talk from August 2024 at: https://www.ted.com/talks/johan_rockstrom_the_tipping_points_of_climate_change_and_where_we_stand

Attend in Person:
Join fellow Humanists in Milpitas Library Group Study Room A, 160 N Main St, Milpitas, CA 95035.
Often after our meeting, we find a nearby inexpensive eatery for a luncheon.
If you can join us in person, please email vp@humanists.org to help us make sure we have room for you. If you have symptoms that may be COVID, kindly attend on Zoom.

Also, we will continue to present our forums on Zoom. To join and be able to ask questions and make comments, click here.
No password is needed — our host will admit you from the waiting room. Joining the meeting via the link will download and install the Zoom app on your desktop computer (if it’s not already installed), and then take you to the meeting. You can also install the Zoom app on your computer or smartphone, and then enter:
Meeting ID: 816 5389 0712
Passcode: 250634

Join the meeting by phone: +1 408 638 0968 US (San Jose)
Find an international phone number to call: here.

Subscribe to our events in your Apple Calendar:
webcal://p162-caldav.icloud.com/published/2/Mjk3Nzk1MTgyMjk3Nzk1MRBa7aU6zKSIJMfDjhqBP8r3muvKK3GLLCRnZoCneHpXv08CyGJAJRVI5yyh-SVWxGJE9xHfdUs72pmiBNlOBpY

Add this event to your Google calendar: Google Calendar

Like us on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/humanistcommsv/

Visit the Humanist Community web site:
https://www.humanists.org/blog/2025-09-14/

RSVP on Meetup:
https://www.meetup.com/humanistcommunity/events/311017189/

Retweet our announcement on the social-media platform formerly known as Twitter:
https://x.com/HumanistCommSV/status/1966713318065754208

Watch videos of our past Forums: https://vimeo.com/user2798508

Share our event on Patch: https://patch.com/california/paloalto/calendar/event/20250914/65517ab3-814e-4434-9d14-6bdb9641c4b1/the-tipping-points-of-climate-change-and-where-we-stand

Can Deep Fakes Destroy America?

Sam Gregory speaks at TED Democracy: Imagining our common future. November 14 – 15, 2023, TED World Theater, New York. Photo: Ryan Lash / TED

11 a.m., September 7, 2025

Join us this Sunday, either in person or online, as we watch and discuss two videos on the dangers of AI-generated “deep fake” videos.

In the first video, When AI can fake reality, who can you trust?, Sam Gregory warns us that we’re fast approaching a world where widespread, hyper-realistic deepfakes lead us to dismiss reality. What happens to democracy when we can’t trust what we see? Sam presents three key steps to protecting our ability to distinguish human from synthetic and explains why fortifying our perception of truth is crucial to our AI-infused future.

A technologist and committed activist for human rights, Sam has served on the Technology Advisory Board of the International Criminal Court, co-chaired the Partnership on AI’s Expert Group on AI and the Media and led the Threats and Harms Taskforce of a leading coalition to develop standards for media provenance. He’s testified on AI and deepfakes before the US Congress and to the National AI Advisory Council, written for WIRED, The Hill and a range of academic journals and is frequently interviewed by major media. You can preview this 12-minute video, made in November 2023, at
https://www.ted.com/talks/sam_gregory_when_ai_can_fake_reality_who_can_you_trust

The second, US Civil War in 2025 (It’s Closer Than You Think) is an animated video from The Infographics Show that illustrates the fictional collapse of the United States due to an expert AI generated, perfectly timed fake video. The Union ends, not with a bang, but an upload. Watch now to find out what could cause the next US civil war and consider how it could be avoided.

The Infographics Show focuses on making animated motion infographic videos, made in a fun and entertaining way. You can preview this 22-minute talk at: https://youtu.be/rdGsP7oNFDo

Attend in Person:
Join fellow Humanists in Milpitas Library Group Study Room A, 160 N Main St, Milpitas, CA 95035.
Often after our meeting, we find a nearby inexpensive eatery for a luncheon.
If you can join us in person, please email vp@humanists.org to help us make sure we have room for you. If you have symptoms that may be COVID, kindly attend on Zoom.

———-

Also, we will continue to present our forums on Zoom. To join and be able to ask questions and make comments, click here.
No password is needed — our host will admit you from the waiting room. Joining the meeting via the link will download and install the Zoom app on your desktop computer (if it’s not already installed), and then take you to the meeting. You can also install the Zoom app on your computer or smartphone, and then enter:
Meeting ID: 816 5389 0712
Passcode: 250634

Join the meeting by phone: +1 408 638 0968 US (San Jose)
Find an international phone number to call: here.

———-

Subscribe to our events in your Apple Calendar:
webcal://p162-caldav.icloud.com/published/2/Mjk3Nzk1MTgyMjk3Nzk1MRBa7aU6zKSIJMfDjhqBP8r3muvKK3GLLCRnZoCneHpXv08CyGJAJRVI5yyh-SVWxGJE9xHfdUs72pmiBNlOBpY

Add this event to your Google calendar: Google Calendar

Like us on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/humanistcommsv/

Visit the Humanist Community web site:
https://www.humanists.org/blog/2025-09-07/

RSVP on Meetup:
https://www.meetup.com/humanistcommunity/events/310896056//

Retweet our announcement on the social-media platform formerly known as Twitter:
https://x.com/HumanistCommSV/status/1964100471594918231

Watch videos of our past Forums: https://vimeo.com/user2798508

Share our event on Patch: https://patch.com/california/paloalto/calendar/event/20250413/ac0864d9-e26a-49eb-a3e5-ecc9a1abed1b/erasing-history-how-fascism-works

Yuval Harari on the Modern World

Yuval Noah Harari, in 2013.
Join us this Sunday, either in person or online. We’ll watch and discuss three videos of Historian Yuval Noah Harari as he discusses significant issues of the modern world.
 
The first video, from May 23, 2025, is Harari on coping with the Trump eraーNHK WORLD-JAPAN NEWS. Historian Harari speaks to NHK (a Japanese public broadcast service) about the rise of populism, exemplified by the reelection of Donald Trump as US president. You can pre-watch this 7-minute video at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qvAXqyWJxwg.
 
The second, Yuval Noah Harari on AI and Human Evolution | WSJ Leadership Institute is a June 12, 2025 WSJ (Wall Street Journal) Interview. Harari joins the WSJ Leadership Institute to examine, through his work on human evolution, ethics, and power, how AI is reshaping global institutions, executive decision-making, and our very concept of intelligence. You can pre-watch this 25-minute video at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ki5hosohNtQ.
 
The third video is Stupidity: A powerful force in human history from May 29, 2024 deals with the questions; are we in the midst of World War III? What’s the role of fiction in human evolution? Why do we tend to overconsume food? Big or small, every detail in our behavior can be explained by looking at the past, from dietary choices to how we’ve used stories to advance. But if progress is narrative-driven, what comes next? In Yuval’s take, he speaks on humanity’s superpower, the paradox of wisdom and the relationship between government and war. You can pre-watch this 12-minute video at https://youtu.be/zvjcJsy51oc 
 
Prof. Yuval Noah Harari is a historian, philosopher, and the bestselling author of Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind, Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow, 21 Lessons for the 21st Century, the series Sapiens: A Graphic History and Unstoppable Us, and Nexus: A Brief History of Information Networks from the Stone Age to AI. His books have sold 50 Million copies in 65 languages, and he is considered one of the world’s most influential public intellectuals today.

Attend in Person:
On the last Sunday of the month, like this Sunday, attend our forum in person with fellow humanists at the Neutra House Conference Center, 181 Hillview Ave, Los Altos, CA 94022. Lunch will be served after the forum. We request a $10 donation.

If you can join us in person, please email vp@humanists.org to help us make sure we have room for you. If you have symptoms that may be COVID, kindly attend on Zoom.

———-

Also, we will continue to present our forums on Zoom. To join and be able to ask questions and make comments, click here.
No password is needed — our host will admit you from the waiting room. Joining the meeting via the link will download and install the Zoom app on your desktop computer (if it’s not already installed), and then take you to the meeting. You can also install the Zoom app on your computer or smartphone, and then enter:
Meeting ID: 816 5389 0712
Passcode: 250634

Join the meeting by phone: +1 408 638 0968 US (San Jose)

Find an international number to call: https://zoom.us/u/afYkAuvE6

———-

Subscribe to our events in your Apple Calendar:
webcal://p162-caldav.icloud.com/published/2/Mjk3Nzk1MTgyMjk3Nzk1MRBa7aU6zKSIJMfDjhqBP8r3muvKK3GLLCRnZoCneHpXv08CyGJAJRVI5yyh-SVWxGJE9xHfdUs72pmiBNlOBpY

Add this event to your Google calendar:
Google Calendar

Like us on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/humanistcommsv/

Visit the Humanist Community web site:
https://www.humanists.org/blog/2025-08-31/

RSVP on Meetup: https://www.meetup.com/humanistcommunity/events/310760857/

Click the Interested button or share on Patch:
https://patch.com/california/paloalto/calendar/event/20250824/30b056d5-d180-4053-b7bb-b833a0c5123e/the-tipping-point-update

Retweet our announcement on the social-media platform formerly known as Twitter: https://x.com/HumanistCommSV/status/1961303996745822497


Watch videos of our past Forums: https://vimeo.com/user2798508

Global Skeptics in the Pub, 24 Hours of Conviviality

August 22, 2025

The Second Annual Global Skeptics in the Pub

The Second Annual Global Skeptics in the Pub began this morning, on Friday, August 22 and ends at midnight Pacific Time. (That is UTC 0700 August 22 until UTC 0700 August 23.)