“Cities are the 21st century’s dominant form of civilization — and they’re where humanity’s struggle for survival will take place … Half the planet’s population lives in cities. They are the world’s engines, generating four-fifths of the global GDP … As the economist Ed Glaeser puts it, ‘we are an urban species.’” ~ Robert Muggah […]
Category Archives: human nature
“It is because persistent warnings from scientists are so much starker in the wake of the IPCC’s (climate change) report last October. And most of all, it is because record heat, fires, storms, droughts and species decline show we are hitting ecological limits. There is no margin left.” ~ Jonathan Watts So, We’ve been dancing […]
“From a coyote’s-eye view, you could see what the trees were up to: Growth, failure, decay and the drip of acid water through the gravel were mixing a dirt out of the detritus. This hideous forest, I suddenly realized, was there to repair the damage done, and not at our bidding. Its intent was not […]
“Descend, bold traveller, into the crater of the jökull of Snæfell, which the shadow of Scartaris touches (lit: tastes) before the Kalends of July, and you will attain the centre of the earth. I did it. Arne Saknussemm” ~ From Jules Verne’s Journey To The Center of the Earth One of my favorite movies as […]
“It’s not nice to fool (with) Mother Nature” ~ Apologies to Chiffon Margarine I think it started with the dirty diaper panic. Years ago, it suddenly became the cause celebre among environmentalists (few of whom, I suspect, were actually parents). Dirty diapers littering the landscape and bursting out of the landfills. Dirty diapers oozing baby […]
“All I maintain is that on this earth there are pestilences and there are victims, and it’s up to us, so far as possible, not to join forces with the pestilences.” ― Albert Camus, The Plague Given the plague of zombies we’re seeing this Halloween, I thought I’d remind everyone that zombies are brought back […]
Soil is the “excited skin” of the earth, as soil scientists put it, and whether we nourish that skin or scrape away at it has big implications for mitigating and weathering climate change. ~ Ula Chrobak I have played and worked in the dirt and mud in many places. From ocean beach sand castles to […]
“As ocean temperatures rise, marine species are moving away from their warming and acidifying habitats to seek colder waters. There is, in effect, a mass migration of sea life towards the poles.” – Zoë Schlanger A couple of years ago while vacationing on the Oregon Coast, we were startled by the tsunami alarms going off […]
“Come mothers and fathers, throughout the land And don’t criticize, what you can’t understand Your sons and your daughters, are beyond your command Your old road is rapidly agin’. Please get out of the new one If you can’t lend your hand For the times they are a-changin’.” ~Bob Dylan, The Times They Are A-Changin’ […]
The National Audubon Society reports the average population of common birds in North America has fallen by 68 percent since 1967; some individual species’ numbers are down by as much as 80 percent. ~ Margaret A. Haapoja Our yard is something of a mess. The lawn is mowed less often than most and full of […]
