Did it rain on the 12th of March, 1863? It’s a good question. In order to better understand our climate and its weather systems, we need as much data as possible. The more we know about the weather in the past, the better we can predict the weather in the future. But where do you [...]
Archive | June, 2011
The End of Growth, by Richard Heinberg
When the first post-growth thinkers began to formulate the possibility of a steady state economy, it was in response to future scenarios. The famous report The Limits to Growth explores some of these scenarios, predicting an eventual peak and decline of industrialisation. At the time, these were speculative, projections and extrapolations. They were warnings: if [...]
The E F Schumacher legacy
Catch it while you can – there’s a great radio piece up on the BBC’s website, exploring E F Schumacher’ ideas. In particular, the programme investigates the influence of his thought on David Cameron’s ‘Big Society’ idea, but it ranges across the limits to growth, materialism and wellbeing. Family and friends contribute, and so do [...]
Why I write about climate change
There has been an energetic exchange of comments about climate change on the blog over the last couple of weeks. It has sprawled across a number of posts, some relevant, some not. So here’s a post specifically for discussing climate change. I’m adding this post precisely because this is not a climate change blog. It’s [...]
What we learned this week
That didn’t take long. Earlier this month I said of Bitcoins that “someone will work out how to defraud the system, or more likely, steal them.” $9 million worth of Bitcoins was stolen last week. Following up on the good work of ipaidabribe.com, here’s another inspiring anti-corruption campaign in India, this time using mass protest [...]
Another reason to give up your car
A couple of months ago I listed ten reasons to give up your car. Here’s one I missed: the cost. According to a recent survey, the annual cost of running a car has risen to £3,089. That’s a 21% rise on last year, down to high oil prices and some bizarre shenanigans within the insurance [...]
Madagascar: a new species a week
I had the immense privilege of growing up in Madagascar. It’s one of the world’s most fascinating countries, from an anthropological and biological point of view. A vast island, it separated from the African mainland so long ago that its wildlife evolved more or less independently. As a result, the majority of its plants and [...]
Let’s get serious about food speculation
Today, G20 agricultural ministers are meeting in Paris, and food speculation is on the agenda. Will this be the week we finally see some political action on commodities speculation? The hosts are serious about the issue. “Speculation, panic and lack of transparency have seen prices soaring,” said president Sarcozy recently. “Is that the world we [...]
What’s next for political reform?
The political reform movement in the UK is at a bit of a turning point at the moment. Fresh from a flop of a referendum on voting reform, it’s time to regroup and choose the next battle. To be honest, it was always going to be this way. The vote on AV was a win/win [...]
Scrap those commenting guidelines, here’s an ethos instead
Last week I wrote some commenting guidelines, as there has been a spate of aggressive comments over the last few weeks. Having written them, I realise that I wasted my time. Responsible commenters don’t need them, and irresponsible commenters will ignore them anyway. So I’ve scrapped my initial set of policies and I’ve decided to [...]
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