The Banality of the Anthropocene
There are plenty of troubling things about the Anthropocene. But to my mind, one of its most troubling dimensions is the sheer number of people it fails to trouble.
Environment featured
Stock hedges, home insurance, and our misunderstanding of risk
There is no insurance policy that will protect us against catastrophic climate change. We cannot get our habitable climate back on any time scale that matters to humans once it’s gone. The insurance policy is us, that is, changes in our behavior and our technology done quickly enough to matter. There is no other hedge that will help us.
On the Thawing Tundra, Researchers Race to Understand Black Carbon’s Impact
Black carbon is a product of incomplete combustion from forest fires and the burning of both wood and fossil fuels, and its influence on the Arctic is like the proverbial death by a thousand cuts.
The Implications of Isolation
Isolation is a common driver of speciation, consider for example the unique fauna found on islands like the Galapagos, and they wondered to what extent these chuckwallas had been isolated from other populations.
Toward a Climate Insurgency
Neither glitzy, eloquent nor subtle, Brecher methodically lays out an interlocking vision of direct action within a constitutional legal framework to build the powerful nonviolent climate insurgency necessary to turn the ship around.
Cognitive Dissonance on Climate
Suffice it to say that, at a time when our president openly denies that climate change is real, let alone the most consequential challenge we face, the NYT screwed up by hiring yet another columnist to cast doubt on the scientific consensus that immediate action is necessary to avoid the collapse of human civilization.
Captives to the Scent of Freshly Cut Grass
For the past four years a group of enthusiasts has been meeting on the hilly meadows above Velké Karlovice in the Valašsko region to cut grass with scythes. In their free time they are helping to preserve the rare flora growing on the local meadows.
Huge Victory in Seneca Lake: After Years of Protest, Gas Storage Project Abandoned
After a years-long popular resistance against a proposed fracked gas storage project in Seneca Lake, N.Y., the people have emerged victorious. The Arlington Storage Company announced Wednesday that it was finally abandoning a contentious plan to store fracked gas in unlined salt caverns along the pristine lake in New York’s Finger Lakes region.
The Paris Climate Agreement: Should We Stay or Should We Go? Update
Predictably there’s been a lot written over the last few weeks about the Paris Climate Agreement and whether the Trump administration will continue to sit with other nations. Driving the coverage is the on-again off-again meeting between Trump and a pack of senior advisors. The ultimate decision will remain for The Donald to make–purportedly after the G-7 summit at the end of May.
Being Right, and Being Persuasive: A Primer on Talking Climate
Given that most people in industrialized countries accept that climate change is a scientific reality, why do so few rank climate change as one of their high priorities? Why do so few people discuss climate change with their families, friends, and neighbours?
On the Winds of Change: The 2017 1/2 Omnibus Spending Bill
The smooth passage of money bills–from the House to the Senate and on to the President–envisioned some 230 years ago– has not been the norm since Jimmy Carter took office.
How Green is your Bike?
All over the world, bicycles from renewable materials are gaining ground. Egyptian Karim Creta is experimenting with a local variety: palm midribs.
