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Trade deals boosting climate change: the food factor
Trade deals boosting climate change: the food factor The climate talks in Paris in December this year are viewed as a last chance for the world’s governments to commit to binding targets that might halt our march towards catastrophe. But in the countdown to Paris, many of these same governments have signed or are pushing […]
Canadian Election: A Study in Values
Canadian Election: A Study in Values Those who work on climate change were both chuffed and chagrined by its role in Canada’s federal election campaign, which peaked last week with the victory of Liberal leader Justin Trudeau and defeat of Conservative incumbent Stephen Harper. “The environment” – a catch-all concept that often encompasses concern about […]
Does China’s Nuclear Boom Threaten a Global Catastrophe?
Does China’s Nuclear Boom Threaten a Global Catastrophe? “China shows the way to build nuclear reactors fast and cheap.” That was the bullish headline in a Forbes magazine article last week. It went on to praise the scale of the planned nuclear investment in China’s new Five-Year Plan that runs from 2016 to 2020. Under the plan the government is […]
Soaring heat and humidity pose deadly threat
Soaring heat and humidity pose deadly threat Working outdoors in places such as Dubai could become seriously life threatening. Image: Carter S’ via Flickr Parts of the Arabian Gulf region – prime source of the oil that helps fuel climate change – are most at risk of becoming uninhabitable for humans unless global warming is tackled. A […]
Keeping heat in and near your body in a cool residence
Keeping heat in and near your body in a cool residence In the first post in this series, I focused on clothing that will help to keep you warm in a minimally-heated residence like ours. We typically heat our home to 60F / 16C from 6 a.m. to 5 p.m., 63F / 17C from 5 p.m. to […]
The Patience of the Sea
The Patience of the Sea I’ve commented here more than once that these essays draw their inspiration from quite a variety of sources. This week’s post is no exception to that rule. What kickstarted the train of thought that brought it into being was a walk along the seashore last weekend at Ocean City, Maryland, […]
Swarm Of California Earthquakes Continues A Series Of Unusual Events That Began In Late September
Swarm Of California Earthquakes Continues A Series Of Unusual Events That Began In Late September First it was wildfires, then it was unprecedented flooding, and now it is earthquakes. In the past two weeks alone, more than 400 earthquakes have shaken San Ramon – a small city that sits approximately 45 miles east of San […]
Why Exxon Executives Deserve the Ultimate Punishment
Why Exxon Executives Deserve the Ultimate Punishment On October 16, 1946, shortly after the conclusion of the Nuremberg Trials, ten prominent members of the political and military leadership of Nazi Germany were marched to the gallows. Some of the former elite Nazis did not die quickly of an intended broken neck but strangled slowly. Since […]
Shrinking the Technosphere, Part IV
Shrinking the Technosphere, Part IV In the previous parts of this series, we started picking away at a very big subject: what a successful strategy for bringing about rapid social change would look like, such social change being necessary if we were to avoid the worst ravages of catastrophic climate change. This change must introduce […]
Leaked TAFTA/TTIP Chapter Shows EU Breaking Its Promises On The Environment
Leaked TAFTA/TTIP Chapter Shows EU Breaking Its Promises On The Environment from the toxic-trade-deal dept As far as trade agreements are concerned, the recent focus here on Techdirt and elsewhere has been on TPP as it finally achieved some kind of agreement — what kind, we still don’t know, despite promises that the text would be released as soon as […]
To feed growing cities we need to stop urban sprawl eating up our food supply
To feed growing cities we need to stop urban sprawl eating up our food supply New season asparagus from farmland on Melbourne’s city fringe. Matthew Carey If you’ve eaten any of the new season’s asparagus recently, it probably came from Koo Wee Rup, a small town 60 kilometres to the south east of Melbourne. Koo Wee Rup […]
Wisconsin Groundwater Dispute Is a Warning Signal for the Eastern United States
Wisconsin Groundwater Dispute Is a Warning Signal for the Eastern United States Water problems in states east of the Mississippi River mirror those of the dry American West. Photo © Codi Kozacek / Circle of Blue Caroline Lake sits near the Lake Superior shore in northern Wisconsin. The state is one of many east of […]
Worries Build Among Investors Over Oil and Gas Industry’s Exposure to Water and Climate Risks
Worries Build Among Investors Over Oil and Gas Industry’s Exposure to Water and Climate Risks When it comes to financial risks surrounding water, there is one industry that, according to a new report, is both among the most exposed to these risks and the least transparent to investors about them: the oil and gas industry. This […]
Woodlot Management in the Anthropocene: Part Three
Woodlot Management in the Anthropocene: Part Three “A constructive and careful handling of the resources of the earth is impossible except on the basis of large co-operation and of association for mutual welfare.” — Liberty Hyde Bailey, The Holy Earth Winged Elm Farm has approximately 40 acres of hardwoods, and last year I posted a couple […]
Public health, endocrine disruption and the precautionary principle
Public health, endocrine disruption and the precautionary principle Several years ago over lunch a medical researcher I know told me that industrial chemicals were disrupting the human endocrine system leading to widespread obesity and diabetes. He said his research had revealed an important cause–the decline in the production of testosterone in both men and women (yes, women […]
