Rural ‘buffer ring’ can reduce urban heat island effect by more than 0.5C
Rural land cover surrounding a city has the potential to reduce the “urban heat island” (UHI) effect and cool the city centre by more than 0.5C, new research shows.
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Between Optimism and Despair: The Messy Middle Paths Through Climate Breakdown
In the escalating drama of climate breakdown — especially as we navigate the apparent crossing of the 1.5C warming threshold — a binary is emerging that wastes a huge amount of time, energy and passion, needlessly limiting our vision to confront and adapt to our situation at all levels of society: Are we (optimist) solutionists or (realist) doomers?
The first farmers often made landscapes more biodiverse – our research could have lessons for rewilding today
Our latest research shows farming and other human-driven ecosystem changes increased diversity as often as they reduced it.
Janine Benyus: “Biomimicry: Applying Nature’s Wisdom to Human Problems”
In this episode, Nate is joined by Janine Benyus, who has spent decades advocating for biomimicry – a design principle that seeks to emulate nature’s models, systems, and elements to solve complex human problems in ways that are sustainable and holistic.
MM #11: Renewable Salvation?
Ramming the iceberg wasn’t the coal’s fault. “Renewable” drive would be just as capable of meeting the same fate.
The Regeneration Handbook: Healthy groups
Although regeneration begins with us as individuals, we eventually have to join with others for it to ripple out into the world. We need other people not only to share in the work but also to shed light on our blind spots and remind us we aren’t alone.
Bram Büscher: Bridging the Human / Nature Divide through Convivial Conservation
The goal of convivial conservation is not to exploit nature for market purposes or lock it up as a preserve, but to build “long-lasting, engaging, open-ended relationships with nonhumans and ecologies.”
Heat pumps are expensive. What if billionaires bought them for everyone?
Be it in an apartment in New York City or a single-family home in the Dallas suburbs, a heat pump can work more efficiently and more cleanly than any fossil fuel system.
Positive Soundscapes: A Doubly-Cool Trend for Municipalities
Regardless of its origin, the notion of a ‘soundscape ‘opens up a welcomed alternative to speak positively about sounds. They counteract the negative reality we know as ‘noise pollution’.
Farm like an ecosystem Part IV: Rainwater harvesting
We can farm like an ecosystem, we can hold onto the rainwater and disperse it when needed. And, with trees nearby, they do much of the work for us. Why aren’t we paying attention?
The Next Dawn of Everything — Stories of Human Cultures
Human cultures of the past have always diverged; they have not converged on one model perceived as more advanced or even perfect.
Nurturing Seeds of Freedom in Palestine
The Om Sleiman farm in the village of Bil’in is part of a growing agroecology movement in the occupied West Bank that is turning to sustainable farming as a way to resist the Israeli occupation and stay rooted to the land. Established in 2016, Om Sleiman—Arabic for “ladybug”—aims to connect Palestinians to the produce they consume and to promote food sovereignty.
