Category Archives: environment
New diseases are a predictable result of our attack on nature
This was one of my conclusions in 1972, after 9 months of studying the available evidence. We have had “lucky” calls with Ebola, Zika, SARS, AIDS and several others. Our luck is still holding: despite the global panic, COVID19 is … Continue reading
Virus or no, climate change is still a bigger threat
COVID19 may well end up killing millions of people. It is a severe crisis. However, climate change has already killed tens of millions of people, and is likely to kill billions. So, it is important to understand the natural mechanisms … Continue reading
Spend less money to save the world
This is Katherine Martinko’s message, and not for the first time. Even if you have read my essay, How to change the world, you will gain from reading Katherine’s brief essay. As usual, I went looking for a royalty-free image … Continue reading
Red snow celebrates summer in Antarctic autumn
You can see more spectacular pics on the Facebook page of an Ukrainian Antarctic research station, but they are copyrighted. The red colour is an algal bloom. This is perfectly natural in high summer, and the algae are food for … Continue reading
An inspiring modern explorer
David is from one of the wealthiest families on Earth, but instead of doing a playboy, or using money and power to steal from poor people, or playing games that hurtle us toward extinction, he is doing the opposite. Please … Continue reading
Two of my favourite young women meet
That’s Malala and Greta.
Great Australian Bight SAVED
The Great Australian Bight is one of the marine wonderlands of this planet. It is the breeding place for several whale species. Its kelp forests are under attack from warming waters, but even so are the home of many endangered … Continue reading
No, I won’t jump off the planet
Once a month, I participate in Rhobin Courtright’s round robin on writing. This month’s topic was how politics influences what I write. Well, it STRANGLES MY WRITING! The issue inspired me to write a major essay on how to cope … Continue reading
India will stop importing thermal coal by 2024
Good news indeed, although part of their way of doing it is to mine more coal in India. However, they do have one of the world’s most ambitious large scale solar plans as well. Australian politics has been riven by … Continue reading
Web intelligence
No, I am not referring to the internet, but to that wonderful web-creating form of life, spiders. This New Scientist article demonstrates that a spider’s web is as much a part of its intelligence as, say, my computer is mine, … Continue reading
