The Climate Historian

https://mastodon.social/@Climatehistories

I write about geopolitics and the history of climate change.
Sometimes, I just chat about books or whatever else grabs my attention.

Posts auto-delete because the Internet's too cluttered and most posts are not worth keeping anyway.

https://theclimatehistorian.home.blog/: The Climate Historian Blog
https://theclimatehistorian.substack.com: The Climate Historian

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Last Notes

2026-06-23 16:34:04 GMT

Every time the UK experiences another heatwave I end up sharing this clip, because it captures a recurring feature of climate communication.
Scientists describe a dangerous and increasingly abnormal event, while much of the public discussion revolves around whether we should simply enjoy the sunny weather while it lasts.
https://youtu.be/00uGSlFBVDs?si=pGmW3WzibaAZQUPk
#climate #uk #extremetemps

2026-04-04 12:31:22 GMT

Hungary’s heading to the polls next Sunday.
These are very important elections, not only for the future of democracy in Hungary but also for the future of the European Union.
Here’s a very interesting and useful segment on Orbán’s corrupt regime, by John Oliver.
Let’s hope he falls. Orbán. Not John Oliver.
https://youtu.be/SkRw83GV-wA?si=USL8UZaAcfdthjhf

2026-03-21 11:18:52 GMT

"Although President Donald Trump says he has “destroyed 100% of Iran’s Military Capability”, the 0% that remains is playing havoc with the global economy".
-- The Economist
https://www.economist.com/united-states/2026/03/18/how-the-iran-war-is-hurting-donald-trump

2026-03-18 13:41:49 GMT

Analog connection: always on, never drops, no password required, just lean out the window.
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/116/250/463/620/096/861/original/686eaa05a548354c.jpg

2026-03-18 07:25:32 GMT

I wrote recently about breaking the link between electricity prices and gas, and Zack Polanski has now made it part of the Green Party’s three‑point economic plan.
https://open.substack.com/pub/theclimatehistorian/p/why-ed-miliband-is-right-about-britains?utm_campaign=post-expanded-share&utm_medium=web
Most of the proposals are basic economics, but he’ll still face a lot of resistance, especially over the “shocking” idea of taxing capital gains like income.
A simple act of fairness, but for some is pure blasphemy. You’d think he proposed collectivising the City of London.
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2026/mar/18/basics-of-life-in-britain-have-been-sold-for-profit-says-polanski

2026-03-13 19:11:44 GMT

Humans can make the world an ugly place, but nature is always here to remind us that beauty still exists.
This photograph, which won the 2026 British Wildlife Awards, captures a toad gliding through the clear waters of a Sheffield lake, beneath the quiet shelter of bare treetops - a small, still moment of grace in an imperfect world.
The weekend is here. Take a moment to slow down and hold close the people and things that matter most.
https://open.substack.com/pub/theclimatehistorian/p/the-toad-the-lake-and-everything?utm_campaign=post-expanded-share&utm_medium=web
#nature #wildlifephotography

2026-03-12 18:32:50 GMT

Sam Altman: “We see a future where intelligence is a utility, like electricity or water, and people buy it from us on a meter.”
Meaning: We stole all your knowledge , writing, and art, and now we’re gonna put a meter on it and sell it back to you. You’re welcome.”
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/116/217/633/236/997/714/original/6ce80a893f2855c2.mp4

2026-03-01 13:56:50 GMT

Sam Altman, the high priest of Silicon Valley, told us this week that we shouldn’t complain about AI’s masive energy use because “humans consume a lot of energy too.”
In other words: stop whining, carbon-based peasants-your children are the real environmental problem. Do you know how much energy it takes to raise and educate one of those inefficient little mammals?
https://open.substack.com/pub/theclimatehistorian/p/training-humans-vs-training-machines?utm_campaign=post-expanded-share&utm_medium=web

2026-02-07 07:26:55 GMT

"Democracy is now back to 1985 levels according to some metrics, with 72 percent of the world’s population now living under autocracy. Russia and China are less free today than 20 years ago. And so is the United States".
-Human Rights Watch, World Report 2026
https://www.hrw.org/world-report/2026

2026-02-06 12:53:55 GMT

Friday's post: Why climate change will not respect the assumptions built into our economic models?
Because the economic models that shape public policy, financial regulation, and corporate strategy have a curious flaw: they are built for a world that no longer exists.
Read more 👇
https://open.substack.com/pub/theclimatehistorian/p/the-comfort-of-elegant-equations?utm_campaign=post-expanded-share&utm_medium=web

2026-02-05 06:57:31 GMT

About a year ago I started using more European services. It hasn’t been easy — I’m still on Substack, for example — but I’m getting there.
If you’re trying to make the same shift, here’s a community‑driven directory to help you find European products and services based on real recommendations.
https://www.goeuropean.org/

2026-02-02 13:58:51 GMT

Could one day future generations look at our extractive habits, the environmental devastation, the coerced labour, and casual disposability of human lives, and judge us with the same moral clarity that we now apply to slavery?
Rare metals, global power, and the invisible human cost of the digital age
https://open.substack.com/pub/theclimatehistorian/p/the-mephistophelean-bargain-of-power?utm_campaign=post-expanded-share&utm_medium=web
#books

2026-02-01 17:36:13 GMT

The incredible Jane Fonda says organize, resist, fight back ...
https://youtu.be/YKtA7lxh7BA?si=ejTTchN0LuTeKwTJ

2026-01-29 13:43:58 GMT

#Wikipedia needs you
“Everything about Wikipedia is a worship of expertise,” aid its co-founder Jimmy Wales said in an interview with Nature.
That’s the part of the approach that makes it so valuable — and one of the reasons why researchers should take the time to get involved.
As the web gets ever more polarized and swamped with untrustworthy content, "editors who are fair and civil, and who know how to weigh up evidence, are sorely needed.”
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-026-00074-1

2026-01-27 13:58:00 GMT

So, it’s that time of year again when we need to remind people that a few icy days don’t magically erase decades of planetary warming.
https://open.substack.com/pub/theclimatehistorian/p/why-cold-winters-still-happen-in?utm_campaign=post-expanded-share&utm_medium=web

2026-01-25 01:17:19 GMT

"Please get the truth out about our son."
He was a good man.
Please reboot.
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/115/953/091/375/230/387/original/99d98085434a9e2f.png

2026-01-21 03:00:24 GMT

Wondering about the Trump regime’s impact on American science? The graph below says everything
This assault will haunt U.S. science for decades.
https://www.nature.com/immersive/d41586-026-00088-9/index.html
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/115/930/829/138/611/794/original/12c5e60d7d44c6be.png

2026-01-20 18:39:13 GMT

I wrote this article about Greenland about ten months ago. It was the third in a series on the Arctic, examining why Greenland matters — and why Donald Trump’s fixation on the region was never as erratic as it first appeared.
With tensions now escalating and the Arctic once again moving to the center of geopolitical attention, it seems timely to republish it.
https://open.substack.com/pub/theclimatehistorian/p/copy-greenland-the-icy-crossroads?utm_campaign=post-expanded-share&utm_medium=web

2026-01-15 13:57:24 GMT

More money doesn’t always mean more wealth.
Explore Lauderdale’s paradox, the Industrial Revolution, and why accumulating riches often comes at everyone else’s expense.
Thanks to all of you who’ve subscribed to The Climate Historian.
https://open.substack.com/pub/theclimatehistorian/p/when-wealth-make-societies-poor?utm_campaign=post-expanded-share&utm_medium=web

2026-01-12 12:33:09 GMT

"At its core, the novel warns that the greatest danger is not error itself, but the violent certainty of those who believe they possess absolute truth and are willing to destroy others in its name. … When people are willing to die, or more often to demand that others die, for a truth they claim as their own, truth ceases to be a moral guide and becomes a destructive force."
https://open.substack.com/pub/marginalspace/p/rereading-the-name-of-the-rose-as?utm_campaign=post-expanded-share&utm_medium=web

2026-01-09 16:10:32 GMT

I was one of the people who answered @npub1u0q…9mcc 's call to boycott Spotify over the ICE ads, and today there’s a sense of vindication.
It doesn’t undo the harm, and it certainly doesn’t absolve Spotify, or any tech company that cashes government checks to help ICE recruit.
But it does prove something important. When you boycott and tell the company exactly why you’re walking away, sometimes they actually listen.
https://variety.com/2026/digital/news/spotify-confirms-ice-recruitment-ads-are-no-longer-running-1236626243/

2026-01-08 12:08:47 GMT

Trump moves to pull US out of bedrock global climate treaty, becoming first country to do so.
Meanwhile, China's National Energy Administration has introduced new trial rules for its Green Electricity Certificate (GEC) system, aiming to give companies a more credible way to verify their use of clean power.
The scale of China’s renewable push is staggering, 1.23 billion GECs issued in October 2024 alone, reflecting China’s massive renewable build‑out.
https://guangfu.bjx.com.cn/news/20260107/1478458.shtml

2026-01-08 08:38:57 GMT

ICE’s “wartime recruitment” ads are running on national television, proliferating on social media, and popping up on platforms such as Hulu, HBO Max, Spotify, and YouTube with alarming frequency.
Remember that these platforms survive on our attention and our subscriptions. Resist.
https://www.newyorker.com/culture/infinite-scroll/ices-new-age-propaganda

2026-01-06 07:31:59 GMT

A virus that sickens marine mammals has been found in Arctic waters for the first time. The article focuses on the drone / petri-dish tech used to detect it, but misses the bigger story.
As the Arctic warms and sea ice collapses, seals, walruses & other marine mammals are forced into smaller, crowded areas. Overcrowding and new species overlapping, accelerates the spread of deadly viruses.
Climate change isn’t just melting ice, it’s opening new pathways for disease.
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/02/science/arctic-drones-whales-virus.html?unlocked_article_code=1.CFA.KmHr.S84C6YhtTDwe&smid=url-share

2026-01-05 07:28:26 GMT

As I get older, I’ve noticed a shift in how I live. I’m drifting back toward the analogue, reading physical books, writing notes by hand, deliberately closing the laptop and turning off my phone.
It isn't nostalgia, but a growing need for focus, clarity and quiet. I keep wondering whether this is just a personal thing -an evolution if you like, or if others feeling the same pull away from the digital noise?

2026-01-04 13:18:29 GMT

Today I’m telling the story of a strike - how ten shop workers in Ireland challenged the apartheid in the 1980s with nothing but their conviction and a stubborn refusal to play along.
Mainly is a story of persistence and courage, a reminder that sometimes the first step toward changing the world is simply refusing to handle seven grapefruits.
https://open.substack.com/pub/theclimatehistorian/p/ten-shopworkers-seven-grapefruits?utm_campaign=post-expanded-share&utm_medium=web

2025-12-13 11:21:48 GMT

Meanwhile, OpenAI is preparing its new tool, an achievement that will undoubtedly justify the investment of a gazillion dollars in supercomputers that burn as much energy as cities and drain water reservoirs.
What are they preparing? A cure for cancer? Nuclear fusion?
No. The revolution we’ve all been waiting for is 'ChatGPT adult mode.'
Pornography. It will create pornography.
https://www.theverge.com/news/842657/openai-chatgpt-adult-mode-debut-q1-2026

2025-12-12 09:56:41 GMT

A decade after the Paris Agreement, we can see it for what it was, a rare moment when humanity briefly aligned around science, and the possibility of collective action.
Ten years ago, many believed that the impossible might finally become possible, that we could redirect the trajectory of a warming world.
The years that followed reveal a story of both real progress and deep contradictions.
https://open.substack.com/pub/theclimatehistorian/p/ten-years-of-the-paris-agreement?utm_campaign=post-expanded-share&utm_medium=web
#climate

2025-12-03 15:59:41 GMT

Switzerland recently voted down a proposal to tax extreme wealth to fund large-scale climate action. 79% said no.
We say we care about inequality. We say we care about climate change. Yet when faced with policies that might actually shift power or alter the status quo, resistance prevails.
From obscene wealth concentration to the climate crisis, today I' m thinking about the chasm between our proclaimed values and our political choices.
https://open.substack.com/pub/theclimatehistorian/p/the-age-of-the-untouchable-rich?utm_campaign=post-expanded-share&utm_medium=web

2025-11-20 07:53:29 GMT

GDP tells us how much we produce - not how well we live.
It worked after WWII, but today we need new metrics that reflect how long we live, how secure we are, and whether our environment can sustain us.
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-025-03721-1

2025-11-06 15:07:51 GMT

UN secretary António Guterres is right.
“Every fraction of a degree higher means more hunger, more displacement, more economic hardship and more lives and ecosystems lost."
Fossil fuel companies are deceiving the public and undermining climate progress. Every dollar poured into subsidies for fossil fuels is a dollar diverted from our health, our communities and shared future.
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/nov/06/missing-15c-climate-target-is-a-moral-failure-guterres-tells-cop30-summit
#cop30

2025-11-05 13:24:38 GMT

The impacts of climate change are already brutal, and global, and yet, many still imagine it as a distant or abstract phenomenon, picturing melting ice and distant storms, as something that happens “elsewhere” or in some imagined future.
The 2025 Lancet Countdown report shatters that delusion. It lays bare a world already in crisis, where environmental breakdown is not a forecast, but a lived reality.
https://open.substack.com/pub/theclimatehistorian/p/hotter-sicker-poorer-why-climate?r=1qy42b&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=false

2025-11-01 11:18:38 GMT

I often wonder what those two fearless Washington Post reporters who exposed the Watergate scandal would think if they were suddenly transported from 1972 into today, forced to witness what has become of their nation, the democracy, and the moral values of its people.
I imagine the shock, the heartbreak,perhaps even the urge to flee back to a time when truth and integrity still held some weight.
Both are still alive today, now in their 80s. Aging, after all, is its own kind of time travel.

2025-10-31 13:18:17 GMT

When a Sleeping City Met a Toxic Dawn
On the night of December 3, 1984, the Union Carbide India Limited pesticide plant in Bhopal released a dense cloud of methyl isocyanate-a colorless, highly toxic gas.
It burst into the night and drifted close to the ground, seeping through open doors and windows. People awoke choking, their eyes burning, their lungs on fire, as panic spread through the dark streets in a desperate search for air that was no longer safe to breathe.
https://open.substack.com/pub/theclimatehistorian/p/bhopal-when-a-sleeping-city-met-a?r=1qy42b&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=false

2025-10-30 14:56:57 GMT

Iran’s President has warned that Tehran’s severe water shortages and environmental pressures have made the city unsustainable, calling relocation of the capital a necessity, not a choice.
Over-urbanization and agivulture intensify the crisis, while rising heat and declining rainfall show a climate-driven aridification
Tehran’s situation is not unique. Many major cities are facing water stress so severe that their long-term survival is now in doubt.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/oct/02/iran-must-move-its-capital-from-tehran-says-president-as-water-crisis-worsens

2025-10-28 18:46:36 GMT

Climate change will have serious consequences – particularly for people in the poorest countries – but it will not lead to humanity’s demise, Gates said today.
True, climate change may not end humanity entirely, just millions of people, countless species, and the ecosystems that keep the rest of us alive.
But at least wise billionaires will still be around to advise us.
https://edition.cnn.com/2025/10/28/business/bill-gates-climate-change

2025-10-24 10:51:51 GMT

How Europe’s skies are subsidized at the expense of rail, the climate, and our patience.
Trains are greener, calmer, and more comfortable than planes. So, why do they cost so much more than a flight?
From messy booking systems to hidden subsidies, I write about the absurd economics pushing travellers into planes over trains.
🚆✈️ 🚄
https://open.substack.com/pub/theclimatehistorian/p/lets-talk-about-trains?r=1qy42b&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=false

2025-10-23 03:46:03 GMT

In 2022, Ireland did something bold. It trusted its artists. 2000 creators received €325 a week, no strings attached. The result was more art, less anxiety, stronger communities, and even economic gains.
The program is now permanent, making Ireland the first countryto prove that supporting imagination pays off.
Trusting people does not weaken societies, it makes them stronger, more inventive, and more resilient. I hope other nations will find the courage to follow.
https://open.substack.com/pub/theclimatehistorian/p/what-happens-when-a-nation-invests?r=1qy42b&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=false

2025-10-21 04:49:32 GMT

So, Prince Andrew retreats from public duty yet continues to style himself as a prince and live within the comfort of Windsor Castle.
This isn’t accountability but a tactical evasion, an act of damage control rather than remorse, as though canceling a schedule of ceremonial ribbon-cuttings were a meaningful sacrifice.
And the longer this charade persists, the more it erodes the credibility of the institution he claims to serve.

2025-10-18 08:54:47 GMT

Scientists have identified more than 40 methane cracks - vents in the seafloor that release the potent greenhouse gas- in the shallow waters of Antarctica’s Ross Sea.
These seeps are appearing in areas where none had been observed before, pointing to “a fundamental shift in regional methane release” likely linked to warming temperatures, shifting sea levels, and Ice Age–era glacier melt.
“What was once considered rare now appears to be rapidly becoming commonplace.”
https://edition.cnn.com/2025/10/10/climate/methane-seeps-antarctica

2025-10-15 09:11:35 GMT

In 2022, Ireland did something bold. It trusted its artists. 2000 creators received €325 a week, no strings attached. The result was more art, less anxiety, stronger communities, and even economic gains.
Now the program is permanent. Ireland becomes the first country to prove that supporting imagination pays off.
This is a vision of what a humane society can be. If we can trust artists to create, why not teachers, caregivers, or researchers?
Who will follow?
https://www.artnews.com/art-news/news/ireland-basic-income-artists-program-permanent-1234756981/

2025-10-13 12:41:10 GMT

Ubisoft canceled an Assassin’s Creed game set after the Civil War, where a freed slave takes on the Ku Klux Klan.
Apparently the game has been considered “too controversial” for today’s “political climate” in the US.
This is where we’ve come to. The KKK, a terrorist gang whose atrocities are deeply embedded in American history is now considered a controversial topic.
Welcome to 2025, where stabbing Templars is fine but confronting white supremacy is off-limits.
https://www.techradar.com/gaming/ubisoft-reportedly-canceled-an-assassins-creed-game-featuring-a-black-assassin-confronting-the-ku-klux-klan-during-the-1800s-due-to-yasuke-backlash-and-the-political-climate-in-the-us

2025-10-12 10:49:26 GMT

In other news, we sometimes forget that Elon Musk did not buy Twitter on his own, but with money from Saudi Arabia.
Saudi Arabia was already Twitter’s biggest shareholder before Musk bought it and reportedly planted engineer-spies inside the company to unmask dissidents.
After the acquisition, they gained more influence over the algorithm using it “to silence government critics and human rights activists, or to further state-sponsored disinformation campaigns.”
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2025/oct/09/twitter-saudi-arabia-deep-ties-elon-musk-prince-mohammed

2025-10-10 09:42:58 GMT

The Nobel Peace Prize 2025 has been awarded to Venezuelan democracy activist María Corina Machado for her tireless work promoting democratic rights and for her struggle to achieve a just & peaceful transition from dictatorship to democracy.
Machado has been forced to live in hiding. Despite serious threats against her life, she has remained in the country.
When authoritarians seize power, it is crucial to recognise courageous defenders of freedom who rise and resist.
https://www.bbc.com/news/live/c1l80g1qe4gt

2025-10-08 12:24:36 GMT

A few years ago, hardly anyone outside green politics had heard of Zack Polanski. Today he leads the Green Party of England & Wales and is at the heart of a remarkable transformation in British politics.
Since his election as party leader in early September 2025, the Greens have become the fastest-growing political party in the country, attracting new members and media attention, and positioning themselves as a credible alternative to the long-established parties.
https://open.substack.com/pub/theclimatehistorian/p/who-is-zack-polanski?r=1qy42b&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=false

2025-10-01 08:43:45 GMT

Just when it seems things could not get more surreal ...
Peter Thiel, the billionaire cofounder of Palantir Technologies, a company long tied to surveillance and law enforcement, has reportedly warned that regulating artificial intelligence could actually speed up the arrival of the Antichrist.
https://www.thetimes.com/article/05d08343-125c-4cfe-b8d4-dbcfd7f9a198?shareToken=c36e82343b70972addbe47c634358269

2025-09-25 12:20:02 GMT

‪Take lessons from England. When essential utilities are handed over to private profiteers, the public and the environment always pay the price.
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2025/sep/25/united-utilities-underspent-work-windermere-water-company-pollution

2025-09-21 10:41:08 GMT

The Day Humanity Fixed the Sky
September 16 is not only a day to remember the ozone layer, but also a day to remember what humanity is capable of when it puts aside division. We literally fixed the sky.
(New post from the Climate Historian)
https://theclimatehistorian.substack.com/p/the-day-humanity-fixed-the-sky

2025-09-11 15:05:04 GMT

There is no excuse for men who moved in Jeffrey Epstein’s orbit. Those who try to dismiss his crimes as the excesses of the powerful should ask themselves: would you accept your girlfriend, sister, or daughter, being reduced to one of those “girls”, used, bought, and discarded by wealthy men?
This is not about poor choices; it's about complicity in abuse. To shrug and look the other way is to participate in the same system that allows money and power to strip the vulnerable of their dignity.

2025-09-03 11:08:18 GMT

Men and their guns. Because nothing asserts masculinity like needing a weapon to feel powerful.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c7545p2px5no

2025-08-28 06:13:37 GMT

In Greece, neo-Nazis like the Spartans posed as “helpers” shopping for the elderly, escorting voters then entered into parliament.
Now UK extremists are copying the same playbook. They call it “concierge nationalism,” with street patrols, escort apps and fake charities that sell hate as care.
Don't be fooled. This isn’t protection. It’s fascism repackaged.
https://bylinetimes.com/2025/08/27/concierge-nationalism-how-the-far-right-is-selling-extremism-as-a-lifestyle-service/

2025-08-24 07:49:42 GMT

"For years, I refused to use the word 'genocide.' But now I can't hold back from using it, after what I've read in the newspapers, after the images I've seen and after talking to people who have been there."
David Grossman, Israeli author
https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2025-08-01/ty-article/leading-israeli-author-david-grossman-calls-gaza-war-a-genocide/00000198-6606-dc50-a9bf-ef7702510000
#Gaza #israel

2025-08-08 14:16:39 GMT

France's Constitutional Council on Thursday blocked a provision in the Duplomb law that would have reintroduced acetamiprid, a pesticide banned in France since 2018 for harming bees and other pollinators.
The court ruled the measure failed to protect the environment and future generations, violating France's constitutional commitment to environmental protection while allowing the rest of the farming law to stand.
https://www.lemonde.fr/en/france/article/2025/08/07/french-constitutional-council-strikes-down-return-of-banned-pesticide_6744172_7.html
#France #politics #environment

2025-08-04 10:19:26 GMT

Financial Times has a breaking story today
“BP has made its biggest oil and gas discovery in 25 years after drilling a successful well in a field off the coast of Brazil, in a boost to the energy giant as it refocuses on fossil fuels.”
That means more oil to burn, just what the climate needed.
Profits come first, our future second.
https://www.ft.com/content/f793e403-904b-47e6-9749-9e20a4aa9173
#climatechange #fossilfuels

2025-08-02 12:56:22 GMT

In the Pacific Ocean, a nation is disappearing, not through war or political upheaval, but in silence, beneath the tides of a warming world.
Tuvalu is not just a climate case study. It is a warning. It signals what is possible to happen in a world that continues to burn fossil fuels. If a nation can vanish and the world barely takes notice, what does that say about our collective future?
https://open.substack.com/pub/theclimatehistorian/p/when-a-nation-sinks?r=1qy42b&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=false
#Tuvalu #climatechange

2025-07-28 16:57:32 GMT

Words can hardly capture the horror unfolding in #Gaza.
The killing of tens of thousands, the destruction, forced displacement and deliberate starvation, meet the definition of genocide under international law.
Calling this what it is, a crime against humanity, has nothing to do with antisemitism. It is about standing up for human rights, international law, and the value of every life. Condemning state violence is not an attack on a people or a religion.
Silence make us complicit.

2025-07-27 11:06:15 GMT

In 2001, Philip Morris argued that smoking was economically beneficial, because smokers die early, saving the government money on pensions.
Today, I'm writing how that same logic -harm as savings, disaster as an inconvenient cost—migrated from Big Tobacco to Big Oil.
From cancer to climate collapse, the strategy hasn’t changed: deny, delay, deflect, and profit.
https://open.substack.com/pub/theclimatehistorian/p/death-as-savings-disaster-as-profit?r=1qy42b&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=false

2025-07-24 09:40:38 GMT

There’s a new acid in our rain
Trifluoroacetic acid (TFA), a persistent pollutant, is now falling with rain and accumulating in water, crops, trees, and human bodies.
Its unbreakable carbon–fluorine bonds classify it among #PFAS “forever chemicals.”
While some PFASs are banned for their toxicity, TFA remains unregulated, quietly spreading spreading on a global scale.
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-025-02259-6
#environment #pollution

2025-07-23 17:48:44 GMT

The real question isn’t whether to air condition or not.
The real dilemma is how to keep cool while the planet turns into an oven of our own making.
https://www.wsj.com/world/europe/europe-air-condition-heat-waves-politics-24aceab4?st=ZaU6e5&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink
#climatechange #heat
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/114/903/844/328/561/697/original/c0b056679c53847b.png

2025-07-22 08:57:52 GMT

Just today, major oil giants like Shell, Aker BP, and Enbridge quietly walked away from the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi), the advisory group tasked with setting credible corporate climate standards. Why?
Because actually meeting net-zero targets would mean doing the unthinkable: stopping the expansion of new oil and gas fields.
Faced with the choice between climate integrity and business as usual, they chose business as usual.
https://www.ft.com/content/21c8dab8-567b-4926-925e-6f56ba36acb2
#climatechange

2025-07-20 17:33:59 GMT

Trump would shut down Mauna Loa and three other major observatories — Alaska, American Samoa, and Antarctica — effectively gutting most of the climate research conducted by NOAA.
After all, if you stop measuring CO₂, it's much easier to pretend it isn't rising.
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/17/climate/budget-cuts-climate-observatories.html?unlocked_article_code=1.Xk8.yfUW.1agibFambb2H
#noaa #climatechange

2025-07-20 13:19:13 GMT

This is an excellent overview of alternatives to US tech if you’re trying to move away from it.
I'm not as digitally savvy as Paris Marx, and stepping away from U.S. tech isn't exactly easy. Fully disentangling from it is incredibly difficult, still, I believe there's value in making the effort.
I've already made a few transitions:
Email – I've been using Proton Mail for the past two years.
Browser – Switched to Vivaldi.
Search – I now use Ecosia.
https://www.disconnect.blog/p/getting-off-us-tech-a-guide
#technology

2025-07-11 16:20:08 GMT

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If you want to understand the true danger of extreme heat, 'The Heat Will Kill You First' is a must-read.
We've normalized heat as a manageable nuisance, but Jeff Goodell reveals how it’s a deadly force we underestimate, with heat stroke killing many simply because we don’t take the risk seriously enough.
#climatechange #heat #books
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/114/835/504/205/329/999/original/fb59555ac877798b.jpg

2025-07-11 15:54:06 GMT

Today in the U.K. at 15:00
Temperatures is some areas are 11°C to 13°C above average.
UK average temperature at this time is +8.3ºC above normal.
It's very hot.
Updated every hour: https://istheukhotrightnow.com/
#climatechange #extremetemps
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/114/835/386/532/233/647/original/0fc2081eefae7df4.png

2025-07-10 08:56:04 GMT

“The rise of temperature has sent a shiver down our spines. We have never before witnessed such weather here.”
As the death toll from severe flooding continues to climb in Texas, USA — and conspiracy theories spread — Pakistan is grappling with its own climate crisis.
Accelerated glacial melt driven by record-breaking summer temperatures, combined with monsoon rains, has triggered deadly flash floods and landslides across the country.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/jul/09/accelerated-glacial-melt-and-monsoon-rains-trigger-deadly-floods-in-pakistan
#flood #climatechange

2025-07-04 10:31:32 GMT

Brazil’s #COP30 chief André Corrêa do Lago insists that ramping up oil and gas production is perfectly compatible with fighting climate change, because, apparently, fossil fuels and global warming are best friends now.
Meanwhile, Brazil’s state oil giant Petrobras is planning one of the world’s biggest oil production surges.
How better to showcase climate leadership than by doubling down on oil drilling.
#climatechange #Brazil #fossilfuels
https://www.ft.com/content/4b8caca7-265d-4f34-ab6b-3a391520e6a2

2025-07-01 09:04:59 GMT

This Is Not a Drill: Living the Climate Emergency
🌡️ Japan had hottest June on record
🌡️ Spain records highs of 46C
🌡️ Portugal recorded 46°C in some regions
🌡️France recorded 41.9°C in Vinsobres on June 30, with dozens of monthly records broken.
🌡️Greece reported a high of 43.2°C with minimum temperatures exceeding 31°C in some areas.
🌡️Turkey hit 45°C, with minimums as high as 33°C in some areas.
#climatechange #extremetemps 😓

2025-06-28 21:08:04 GMT

Orban banned Budapest Pride. In response the country responded with one of the biggest pride protests in modern history.
https://www.euractiv.com/section/politics/news/major-turnout-as-budapest-pride-defies-orbans-ban-in-hungary/
#Pride #Hungary #Politics

2025-06-28 09:14:58 GMT

Interesting article in The Nation discusses Zohran Mamdani’s victory in the Democratic primary for New York City mayor—and why it may signal the start of a new political era.
Mamdani ran on a clear platform: rent freezes, free buses, and public groceries—integrating his policies to dignity and inclusion. He made democratic socialism feel like common sense, inviting people to build something bigger together.
https://www.thenation.com/article/politics/zohran-mamdani-win-analysis-coalition/?custno=&utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Weekly%206.27.2025&utm_term=weekly
#USPolitics #US #newyork

2025-06-05 14:28:44 GMT

Let’s just say I’m not exactly shedding tears about it.
"Tesla UK sales down 45% in new blow for Elon Musk"
https://www.thetimes.com/business-money/companies/article/tesla-uk-sales-down-45-percent-in-new-blow-for-elon-musk-sp3jx57r2?utm_source=cbnewsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_term=2025-06-05&utm_campaign=Daily+Briefing+05+06+2025

2025-05-09 06:16:20 GMT

More than half of the children born in 2020 will face unprecedented exposure to heatwaves over their lifetime — even under a conservative projection for how climate change will unfold over the next 75 years.
Under a more pessimistic forecast, that figure rises to 92%, compared with just 16% of those born in 1960.
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-025-01417-0?utm_source=Live+Audience&utm_campaign=92113a48c9-nature-briefing-daily-20250508&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_b27a691814-92113a48c9-50598580
#climatechange #health
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/114/476/401/571/849/391/original/98a870504b1bffbd.png

2025-05-05 16:52:03 GMT

“The philosophers have only interpreted the world, in various ways. The point, however, is to change it.”
Karl Marx, political philosopher, was born on this day in 1818
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/114/456/253/811/143/919/original/040ddb6f0e38f4e3.jpg

2025-05-02 10:40:48 GMT

At the height of the Cold War, 30,000 scientists from 67 nations set aside their differences to study the only home we all share — Earth. Their collective effort, known as the International Geophysical Year (IGY), transformed our understanding of the planet & laid the foundation for global scientific cooperation.
The problems we face today are bigger and more pressing than ever. So, can we come together again—before it's too late?
https://theclimatehistorian.substack.com/p/the-science-of-peace
#environment #history #climate

2025-05-02 10:15:57 GMT

For the first time in history, China’s combined wind and solar power capacity has exceeded its thermal energy sources (primarily coal and gas) according to industry outlet BJX News.
https://news.bjx.com.cn/html/20250425/1438761.shtml
#china #climate #energy

2025-05-01 08:31:04 GMT

Today, Thursday, Germany will get 99% of its power from solar and wind.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-04-30/green-power-set-to-meet-99-of-germany-s-demand-on-thursday?utm_source=cbnewsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_term=2025-05-01&utm_campaign=Daily+Briefing+01+05+2025
#germany #renewables #energy
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/114/431/644/788/811/202/original/4c518b2e4c09b977.png

2025-04-30 09:16:18 GMT

I recently wrote why Canada’s election matters, not just domestically, but how it could reshape the North American order
Canada is the world’s 12th-largest emitter. A Conservative win would have scrapped carbon pricing for big polluters and expanded oil and gas production.
Mark Carney, a former UN climate envoy, focuses on promoting investments in renewable energy to drive the transition to a low-carbon economy.
https://theclimatehistorian.substack.com/p/why-canadas-upcoming-election-could
#Canada #energy #climatechange

2025-04-28 18:46:18 GMT

Ecuador bans oil drilling to protect 700,000-hectares of rainforest and indigenous peoples living in voluntary isolation.
These are the type of announcements we need.
https://insideclimatenews.org/news/13032025/landmark-ruling-uncontacted-indigenous-peoples-rights-ecuador-oil-industry/
#equador #rainforest #nature

2025-04-28 10:32:30 GMT

Dear The Guardian,
I've been paying for my Guardian subscription for years, because I wanted to support independent journalism.
But now, I don't feel comfortable paying knowing that part of my money is going toward AI
https://openai.com/index/openai-and-guardian-media-group-launch-content-partnership/

2025-04-24 08:22:33 GMT

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The days of Goggle Docs are ending. Welcome to the age of Docs.
Developed by France, Germany, and the Netherlands, Docs is a crucial step toward digital sovereignty.
For too long, a few private companies have controlled vital digital infrastructure, leaving governments dependent on corporate platforms. It's time to reclaim control.
https://www.techspot.com/news/107225-france-germany-unveil-docs-collaborative-tool-rival-us.html
#degoogle

2025-04-23 19:17:32 GMT

Given the current political landscape in the US, it's astonishing that the numbers aren't even higher.
About 20% of U.S. adults—and 37% of adults under 30—get their news from social media influencers.
8 of the 10 most popular online shows have spread false or misleading climate information.
Some influencers go beyond skepticism, dismissing climate concerns as nothing more than "pseudo-religion" or an government ploy for control.
https://yaleclimateconnections.org/2025/04/eight-of-the-top-10-online-shows-are-spreading-climate-misinformation/?utm_source=cbnewsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_term=2025-04-23&utm_campaign=Daily+Briefing+23+04+2025
#climatechange #US
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/114/388/879/576/113/033/original/2936c66a0ae0bf2e.png

2025-04-21 09:13:25 GMT

De-Googling Update: That’s it, I’ve done it. I’ve officially broken up with Google.
No more Gmail, no more Google services. I wasn’t exactly a superfan to begin with, but even so, I was still surprised to see just how much of my data had accumulated there over the years.
It's a clean break, a small act of rebellion, if you will. And it feels good.
#degoogle

2025-04-19 03:24:22 GMT

A London bus stop, not too far away from Amazon HQ.
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/114/362/482/507/291/094/original/44795945b980e868.jpg

2025-04-17 20:23:42 GMT

Today, cloud computing has a larger carbon footprint than the airline Industry.
Add to that cryptocurrency mining which uses ~0,5% of electricity worldwide.
Combined with AI, the two emerging technologies account for 2 % of the world's power consumption.
https://www.iea.org/reports/electricity-2024
#cryptocurrency #energy #AI

2025-04-15 14:42:38 GMT

There is no doubt in my mind, especially after yesterday's staged meeting with the President of El Salvador, that this is the beginning of state terror in American policy.
Traveling to the United States now may involve significant personal risks.
https://www.bbc.com/news/live/cwy03j9vddlt
#USPolitics #usa

2025-04-13 16:42:07 GMT

The impact of sea levels rise will have profound global consequences, not in some distant future, but within the lifetimes of most people living today.
https://open.substack.com/pub/theclimatehistorian/p/our-rising-seas?r=1qy42b&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=false
#climatechange
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/114/331/648/112/493/581/original/31f2e96c3cfcecc3.mp4

2025-04-12 08:53:07 GMT

If you're considering travel to the United States right now for whatever reason —but especially for events related to climate science and similar fields—you should be aware that doing so may involve significant personal risk.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/apr/11/australian-with-us-working-visa-detained-insulted-deported
#usa #USPolitics

2025-04-11 17:35:29 GMT

To make a single 135-gram T-shirt consumes 2,500 liters of water and requires a kilogram of chemicals, while generating 2-5 kilograms of greenhouse gas emissions.
The mindless cycle of buy-and-discard consumerism is taking a devastating toll on our planet.
https://phys.org/news/2025-04-sweden-discarded-fast-fashion-items.html
#fastfashion #Wwater #environment

2025-04-09 09:44:36 GMT

“I wish it need not have happened in my time," said Frodo.
"So do I," said Gandalf, "and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.”

2025-04-08 18:22:04 GMT

Despite decades of warnings, global carbon emissions keep rising. At this rate, we’re headed for a 2.2C to 3.4C warmer world.
Insurance may become unaffordable—or vanish entirely—in high-risk areas, making mortgages and investments unviable.
As it spreads we’re no longer facing isolated market disruptions but systemic breakdowns—where the climate crisis begins to undermine the structural foundations of the global capitalist economy.
https://open.substack.com/pub/theclimatehistorian/p/climate-and-the-end-of-capitalism?r=1qy42b&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=false
#climatechange #economy

2025-04-08 08:38:40 GMT

The climate crisis is on track to destroy capitalism, an Allianz insurer has warned, with the vast cost of extreme weather impacts leaving the financial sector unable to operate.
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/apr/03/climate-crisis-on-track-to-destroy-capitalism-warns-allianz-insurer
#climatechange #capitalism
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/114/301/430/257/040/139/original/3c4657e0d5847a62.png

2025-04-08 07:28:49 GMT

In this op-ed, Sir David King—former Chief Scientific Adviser to the UK Government and founder of the Climate Crisis Advisory Group—delivers a clear message: our climate reality has changed, and our response must evolve with it. .
He argues that traditional emissions reduction alone may not be enough, and that the world must also explore more extreme solutions, including carbon removal and climate repair techniques.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/apr/07/climate-solutions-extreme-options
#climate #climatechange

2025-04-01 07:09:26 GMT

“We now expect a 3°C world,” Morgan Stanley analysts wrote earlier this month, citing “recent setbacks to global decarbonization efforts.”
... and they adjust their strategies to profit form catastrophic climate change.
As aways blind to the long-term consequences of their opportunism.
https://www.eenews.net/articles/big-banks-predict-catastrophic-warming-with-profit-potential/
#climatechange

2025-03-30 09:21:11 GMT

Today I deleted my Notion account. After 5 years of daily use, I've decided to prioritize #privacy
I've switched to Standard Notes. It’s much simpler and limited but as the #US government expand its reach, with the help of Big Tech, control over our lives online is at risk of slipping away. We need services that put privacy first.
And when you see US scientists to use burner phones in conferences, then you know that America is not your friend or safe for digital privacy anymore.

2025-03-27 18:55:40 GMT

Efficiency Trap: Can becoming too efficient actually worsen climate change? From coal in 1865 to smartphones today—the Jevons paradox reveals why saving energy might be fuelling our planet’s crisis. Time to rethink efficiency and energy solutions.
https://open.substack.com/pub/theclimatehistorian/p/the-jevons-paradox-why-our-obsession?r=1qy42b&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=false
#climatechange #energy

2025-03-27 10:13:06 GMT

Record-high temperatures are driving energy demand, particularly for cooling which further exacerbate #climatechange if supplied by fossil fuels.
But it's not just the heat to blame.
Our insatiable appetite for data— everything from AI to social media — and our desire for EVs, which have been hitting the roads in greater numbers than ever before, have sent electricity consumption soaring by 4.3%, nearly double the average of the past 10 years.
https://www.iea.org/news/growth-in-global-energy-demand-surged-in-2024-to-almost-twice-its-recent-average
#energy #climate

2025-03-24 10:25:50 GMT

On April 16th 1981, Reagan called for an end to the “national scandal of waste, fraud and abuse,” framing cuts to public programmes as a push for fiscal responsibility.
If that reminds you of a similar, recent announcement, it’s no coincidence.
This wasn’t a moment of political whimsy but part of a long-developing plan that had been quietly taking shape since the 1970s.
The messaging may have changed, but the playbook is strikingly familiar.
https://shorturl.at/AMgMQ
#USPolitics #history
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/114/216/908/526/461/560/original/2c238bd3aa42f9b5.png

2025-03-23 16:26:54 GMT

A report from the World Meteorological Organization confirms that 2024 was the hottest year on record and the first year to be more than 1.5 degrees Celsius above the pre-industrial era.
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/18/climate/global-temperatures-wmo-report.html
#climatechange

2025-03-23 08:50:33 GMT

Researchers in Australia, Europe, the UK, and Canada funded by the US are being asked if their work touches on topics like DEI or climate & environmental justice— topics denounced by the current administration.
It's another example of the deteriorating climate for the freedom of scientific practice in the US.
As someone studying climate history and politics with a focus on the United States, I find this deeply alarming.
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-025-00850-5
#USPolitics #science #research

2025-03-21 20:21:28 GMT

GLOBAL DAY OF ACTION #teslatakedown
https://www.teslatakedown.com/
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/114/202/263/300/400/288/original/ffffe18ab3e63877.jpg

2025-03-21 08:00:17 GMT

The wars of the future will be fought over water not oil
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/mar/20/glacier-meltdown-risks-food-and-water-supply-of-2bn-people-says-un
#climatechange #water #glaciers
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/114/199/360/461/471/970/original/1d26174916305e35.png