Tag: ecology

Last year the oceans absorbed heat equivalent to 7 Hiroshima atomic bombs detonating each second

I was fortunate to play a small part in a new study, just published in the journal Advances in Atmospheric Sciences, which shows that the Earth broke yet another heat record last year. Twenty-three scientists from around the world teamed up to analyze thousands of temperature measurements taken throughout the world’s oceans. The measurements, taken… Read More Last year the oceans absorbed heat equivalent to 7 Hiroshima atomic bombs detonating each second

Dilip

Bruno Latour: The pandemic is a warning: we must take care of the earth, our only home

The climate crisis resembles a huge planetary lockdown, trapping humanity within an ever-deteriorating environment. There is a moment when a never-ending crisis turns into a way of life. This seems to be the case with the pandemic. If so, it’s wise to explore the permanent condition in which it has left us. One obvious lesson is… Read More Bruno Latour: The pandemic is a warning: we must take care of the earth, our only home

Dilip

A green paradox: Deforesting the Amazon for wind energy

Balsa wood is used in Europe, and also more intensively in China, as a component in the construction of the blades of wind turbines. Already-installed wind turbines, with blades that stretch to 80 metres, can cover an area of approximately 21,000 square metres, which is equivalent to about three football pitches. More recent wind turbine designs can… Read More A green paradox: Deforesting the Amazon for wind energy

Dilip

US is world’s biggest plastic polluter // Nurdles: the worst toxic waste you’ve probably never heard of

The advent of cheap, versatile plastics has created “a global scale deluge of plastic waste seemingly everywhere we look”, the report states, with the US a leading contributor of disposable plastics that ends up entangling and choking marine life, harming ecosystems and bringing harmful pollution up through the food chain. Plastic waste has increased sharply… Read More US is world’s biggest plastic polluter // Nurdles: the worst toxic waste you’ve probably never heard of

Dilip

Adam Ramsay: World leaders failed us at COP26. But change doesn’t come from glitzy conferences

“Ultimately, you look at the global economy that we’ve created over the last 40 years, the neoliberal global economy – that’s what’s driving climate change. And no wonder, because the logic at the heart of that economy is that there is no right more important than the right to make profit…” NB: An excellent article.… Read More Adam Ramsay: World leaders failed us at COP26. But change doesn’t come from glitzy conferences

Dilip

Neoliberalism wrecked our chance to fix the climate crisis – and leftwing statements of faith have changed nothing

Why didn’t we nip climate change in the bud? Nathaniel Rich poses that question in an important article for the New York Times Magazine in 2018 (later published as a book). He notes that, for a brief period in the late 1980s, a consensus developed on the necessity for action. Back then, no one considered the science controversial… Read More Neoliberalism wrecked our chance to fix the climate crisis – and leftwing statements of faith have changed nothing

Dilip

Honest Government Advertisement: Net Zero by 2050

NB: If anything signifies the total takeover of democracy by capitalist robber barons and corporate (including communist) totalitarianism, it is the refusal to take necessary measures to halt global warming. A new internationalist, movement is required to save a sustainable ecological balance on earth. Labels such as Left/Right/Liberal etc., have no meaning any more. The… Read More Honest Government Advertisement: Net Zero by 2050

Dilip

Cristina Mittermeier: Photography and storytelling can turn apathy into climate action

I’ve spent most of my career as a storyteller, using stunning visual imagery and compelling personal stories to move people. Moving people is exactly what’s needed to save our planet. We cannot afford to stand still any longer, let alone go backwards. Too often, the very real threat of climate change can feel either distant or… Read More Cristina Mittermeier: Photography and storytelling can turn apathy into climate action

Dilip

WHITNEY WEBB: Wall Street now monetizes nature

Last month,  the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) announced it had developed a new asset class and accompanying listing vehicle meant “to preserve and restore the natural assets that ultimately underpin the ability for there to be life on Earth.” Called a natural asset company, or NAC, the vehicle will allow for the formation of specialized corporations “that hold… Read More WHITNEY WEBB: Wall Street now monetizes nature

Dilip

Climate protests go global as activists slam summit as 'failure' / It’s time to shift from the ‘war on terror’ to a war on climate change / Groundtruthed

Tens of thousands of protesters took to the streets all over the world on Saturday to call on world leaders to do more to tackle the climate crisis during COP26. The global protests came after tens of thousands of young people rallied in Glasgow on Friday to denounce inaction and greenwashing at the global climate summit. Organisers… Read More Climate protests go global as activists slam summit as 'failure' / It’s time to shift from the ‘war on terror’ to a war on climate change / Groundtruthed

Dilip