environment

“There are no passengers on Spaceship Earth. We are all crew.”

Does Keynes still have the secret to happiness? And even for parents?

By hatbluemilk on 2012-09-28 • ( 8 )

You must read this wonderful essay in aeon magazine from economist, John Quiggin – “The Golden Age: The 15-hour working week predicted by Keynes may soon be within our grasp – but are we ready for freedom from toil”. Quiggin… Read More ›

Heroic women: Grans lock on

By Helen on 2012-07-28 • ( 2 )

VicForests has been clearfelling coupes near Toolangi (Mt St Leonard) in the Central Highlands of Victoria. This cool temperate rainforest is part of the tiny remnant which remains to us in this, the most cleared State in Australia. It’s the… Read More ›

To Save Some Species, Zoos Must Let Others Die

By tigtog on 2012-05-29 • ( 2 )

Sobering article from the NYT, as part of their new series The Animal Lifeboat: A Conservation Dilemma: zookeepers are increasingly being pressed into making cold calculations about which animals are the most crucial to save.

A poster appearing around Brisbane

By hatbluemilk on 2012-05-23 • ( 3 )

Text from the spoof newspaper article poster that has started anonymously appearing around Brisbane, Queensland: DEMOLITION WILL HONOUR SIR JOH BEJELKE-PETERSEN An unnamed source within the Brisbane electorate today accused Queensland Premier Campbell Newman’s LNP government of secretly planning… Read More ›

Redheads For Orangutans – Jungle VIP Auction

By tigtog on 2012-02-29

A bunch of ginger celebrities have donated stuff for the Sumatran Orangutan Society (SOS) to auction on E Bay from March 1st to 11th.

A cartoon of a globe with a burner at the bottom and an ostrich putting its head in the sand at the top

Reminder: 9 of the 10 hottest years on record occurred since the year 2000

By tigtog on 2012-02-03

And that’s just one of the datasets supporting the fact that the planet’s climate is warming. The Bad Astronomer provides a case study of the tactics of climate change denial: it’s a textbook case of denialist sleight of hand, of distraction, distortion, error, and misdirection.

carcharias taurus, Maroubra, Sydney, by Doug Anderson, CC BY-NC

BFTP — Endangered Sunday: grey nurse shark

By Mary on 2012-01-08

I’ve been in the water with a lot of sharks: leopard sharks, wobbegongs, Port Jackson sharks, grey and white tipped reef sharks and grey nurse sharks. What’s a scary thing I’ve encountered diving? That dreaded apex predatory homo sapiens. Homo sapiens is of course the big threat to today’s Endangered Sunday species, the grey nurse shark or carcharias taurus.

Durban: a modest agreement

By tigtog on 2011-12-12

Delegates agreed to start work next year on a new legally binding treaty to cut greenhouse gases to be decided by 2015 and to come into force by 2020.