Insight and inspiration in turbulent times.
Perhaps more than any other topic, climate change has been subject to the organised spread of spurious information. This circulates online and frequently ends up being discussed in established media or by people in the public eye.
The Arctic heat wave that sent Siberian temperatures soaring to around 100 degrees Fahrenheit on the first day of summer put an exclamation point on an astonishing transformation of the Arctic environment that’s been underway for about 30 years.
Far from saving the whales, it was oil that nearly obliterated them, and may yet still do so. The real lessons to be drawn from the history of whaling are more interesting and more complex than the oil salvation narrative.
As long as we think of COVID-19 as simply an implacable foe that must be vanquished, it is unlikely that we will learn to live with it or to deal effectively with the next pandemic.
To proactively prepare for the climate crisis, gaining insight into the parallels, differences and relationships between COVID-19 and climate change can help us to further build long-term resilience.
A landmark study in the journal Nature Communications, “Scientists’ warning on affluence” — by scientists in Australia, Switzerland and the UK — concludes that the most fundamental driver of environmental destruction is the overconsumption of the super-rich.
The general public is also taking cues and reducing their waste by reusing cloth masks and foregoing gloves when they shop or go out to eat, choosing to sanitize their hands, instead. While these choices may seem insignificant alone, together they help to save our oceans.
What is so heartening is how permaculture design in action is proving resilient! Whether in small urban spaces or large land-based projects, designing for multi-functional uses is proving how valuable a permaculture approach can be.
The relief we feel when we no longer have to pretend to be other than we really are will be echoed across the natural world, as we relax and put our energies into showering the love for ourselves, one another and the wider world that we are made for.
As our nation searches its soul for a response to racial injustice in policing, it must also reckon with profound environmental injustice. New research shows that a handful of egregiously polluting facilities account for the vast majority of toxic releases and that a disproportionate share of these facilities are located near black and brown neighborhoods.
I go to work kilometres away from my house, to organise people, to give them updates and reassure them that I am with them for real. I do it because people need someone they can lean on, someone they can trust their stories with, someone they feel could help them.
The COVID-19 contagion shows once again the disdain President Trump and his administration have for science-based policies and actions.
