Climate Stories

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Cassandra: Thoughts on Climate and Credulity from a Hong Kong Activist

Pictured above: Michael Lai, a Hong Kong activist with 350.org, in front of the famous Star Ferry  Activists often struggle at the borders of hope and despair, fraught by the seeming indifference of the public and the necessary limitations of pragmatism. Here, Michael Lai, a Hong Kong activist currently involved with the local 350.org chapter, weaves together stories … Continue reading Cassandra: Thoughts on Climate and Credulity from a Hong Kong Activist

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The First Pedal Strokes

Hey! Well, this is it. I’m headed out tomorrow. I’m done with a year teaching English, done with a year in Jishou, soon-to-be missing the mouth-numbing food of Xiangxi. A week ago, I was nervous. There’s an uncountable amount of things that can go wrong on a trip like this. Some days, things as simple … Continue reading The First Pedal Strokes

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Rosaries, Small Business, and the Environment: Justine’s Story

Justine Zhang’s (张婷) workshop is well hidden. In the middle of downtown Jishou, the bustling capital of an autonomous minority prefecture in western Hunan, China, her converted garage-door storage space is tucked away in a shaded side alley. Set back from the chattering masses of vendors and pedestrians, its presence barely registers from the street. … Continue reading Rosaries, Small Business, and the Environment: Justine’s Story

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The Pope’s Encyclical: Joining the Conversation

The release of Pope Francis’s encyclical (full text) on the environment, Laudato Si, has created a furor that has caught both environmental and theological circles off-guard. This sudden interest may be a sign of growing disillusionment with our globalized, consumerist lifestyle, but the pontiff also extends a direct invitation to all readers of the letter: Now, faced as we are … Continue reading The Pope’s Encyclical: Joining the Conversation

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When a Billion Chinese Jump: How China Will Save Mankind — Or Destroy it

Environmental triage is particularly difficult in China, which can be afflicted by drought, floods, dust storms, and pollution disasters in a single week. That is not the only reason this is no ordinary developing nation. China is a 3,000-year-old civilization in the body of an industrial teenager; a mega-rich, dirt-poor, overpopulated, underresourced, ethnically diverse mass … Continue reading When a Billion Chinese Jump: How China Will Save Mankind — Or Destroy it

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If you read one piece of climate-related reporting this month…

Make it this one: http://www.theguardian.com/news/2015/may/27/why-india-is-captured-by-carbon David Rose demystifies the seeming hypocrisy of India PM Modi’s Environmental message. As with many developing countries, enforcement of environmental protections is an open question and the obvious weak point in any potential environmental advances for India. The biologist in me is highly skeptical that covering exhausted coal mines and replanting … Continue reading If you read one piece of climate-related reporting this month…

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Fast For Climate

Today I fasted for the climate. I fasted in solidarity with people who are losing their lives and livelihoods to climate change, and with those who are dedicating every ounce of themselves to fighting it. Climate change is going to bring hungry days to the world, more than we’re prepared to cope with. Most fundamentally, … Continue reading Fast For Climate