“The age of extinction is here” writes Umair Haque, “some of us just don’t know it yet” – a striking essay on the heat waves in South Asia.
On the same incident, World Weather Attribution reckon that climate change made that heatwave 30 times more likely. (See Friedericke Otto’s book Angry Weather for a great explanation of weather attribution studies and how they work.)
This article in Nature Food looks at what degrowth thinking can contribute to a sustainable food system. It feels like a maturing of degrowth ideas too, really moving from ideology to practical application.
Luton friends – the group-buying scheme Solar Together has launched across Bedfordshire. If you’ve been considering getting solar, this is a really good time to register for a no-obligation quote. You can also add storage to an existing PV system through the scheme, which I’ve applied for myself. The more people join, the cheaper the prices will be – but be quick, because it’s only open until June 14th.
Bookshop.org won book retailer of the year at the British Book Awards. This is the platform I use for Earthbound Books, as it is a certified B-corps, offers carbon neutral delivery, and pays its taxes.
Quieter week this week, as I’ve been pre-occupied with some freelance deadlines, and with a new children’s book project. Slow week to come as well, as it’s half-term and I’m going to be camping in Shropshire.
Some highlights from this week:
Book review: How to Blow up a Pipeline, by Andreas Malm
How to Blow up a Pipeline is a much discussed climate book of the moment, from the Swedish activist and academic Andreas Malm. It poses a provocative question: “At what point do we escalate? When do we conclude that the time has come to also try something different? When do we start physically attacking the…
But what about the planes?
Last week I took part in a BBC news item about Luton Airport expansion. The report looked at the airport’s plans for ‘green controlled growth’, and whether expanding an airport could ever be sustainable. I said what I always say in these sorts of conversations: what about the planes? Luton airport only deals with emissions…
Movable homes for a movable landscape
A friend recently pointed me to the Architect’s Journal Climate Champions Podcast, where I listened to an interview with the Bangladeshi architect Marina Tabassum. A recent recipient of the Soame Prize, her work is directed towards those who would most benefit from good architecture, rather than those most able to pay for glamourous buildings. In…
The Earthbound Report 