Cutting down on global deforestation
For as long as I can remember, we’ve been hearing about deforestation, usually expressed as an area of old-growth forest the size of...
Giving nature the legal right to exist
Mankind’s relationship with the rest of nature has been overwhelmingly predatory for centuries, with the natural world used as both a quarry from...
Is a social tipping point on climate within sight?
It is often said that nothing seems to happen for decades, then decades can happen within a matter of months or even weeks....
Biosphere buckling under weight of human pressures
Rapid population growth has seen another billion humans added to world population in just the 11 years since 2011. In tandem with dramatic...
All easy options are now off the table
Irish political leaders have an unfortunate habit of showing up at international climate conferences and delivering eloquent, impassioned speeches that are clearly not...
Bringing the climate emergency to book
When this blog first when live in late November 2007, the world was a quite different place. That year, global CO2 levels, as...
Tackling stubborn climate myths & misinformation
Despite the mountains of scientific evidence, as well as what we can see with our own eyes, myths and misinformation about climate change...
Risky business for insurers as climate crunch bites
As extreme weather ratchets ever upwards, it seems inevitable that more and more locations will become uninsurable over time, whether as a result...
Turning climate protest into an art form
An ingenious protest involving soup and a famous painting threw the global spotlight on the climate emergency in a way that a thousand...
Silent killers of the biosphere revealed
I ran this article in the Irish Examiner in early October to mark and honour the 60th anniversary of the publication of ‘Silent Spring’...
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Reasons for Japan to dump nuclear power more obvious now than ever.
It has been nearly six years since the triple-meltdown at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant. Two things seem symbolic of this time: the...
Pruitt's political friends come to lobby.
Glenn Coffee and Crystal Coon, both associates from U.S. EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt's political days in Oklahoma, have registered to lobby in Washington. Photo...
Hydrology: Increasing river flood risk
Earth's Future http://doi.org/bzpc (2017)
GARY DYSON / ALAMY STOCK PHOTO
The hydrological cycle is predicted to strengthen with global warming, increasing the amount and intensity of...
Cosumnes River provides model for floodplain restoration in California.
With California’s surface drought over, the state can prioritize investing in groundwater recharge and floodplain restoration to help fight one of its biggest lingering...
Cold-water corals: Acidification harms, warming promotes growth
The cold-water coral Lophelia pertusa is able to counteract negative effects of ocean acidification under controlled laboratory conditions when water temperature rises by a...