‘Yay! We can finally meet in groups outdoors!’ cry the people of England, as COVID-19 pandemic restrictions are lifted. But does that mean we should be heading en masse to beauty spots? Should you be shoving your kids, Great Auntie… Continue reading
“I really want more deadly viruses that kill millions of people and keep everyone else stuck at home for months on end,” said no-one ever. So why aren’t we talking about how to avoid another virus like COVID-19 spreading through… Continue reading
Thanks to the coronavirus pandemic, things are never going to be the same again. The status quo is over. Our economies are going to be broken and our societies radically altered. Everything is up for grabs. Of course, our attention… Continue reading
Human beings now consume a hundred billion tonnes of materials each year. Usually, I follow-up my first sentence’s factual statement with a joke, but I’m all out of gags right now. Our behaviour is the very definition of insanity. What… Continue reading
A bunch of Dutch sailors landed on Mauritius in 1598. The first Europeans to set foot on the Indian Ocean island, they encountered the awkward, slow-moving bird known as the dodo. Big and flightless, it was easy prey for them… Continue reading
And then they all lived happily ever after…Except they didn’t. Because temperatures and violence were soaring. Scavengers roamed the streets in packs. Ancient diseases were laying waste to millions. And Keith had got so hungry he’d barbecued the cat. The… Continue reading
The other day someone described my vegan diet as ‘extreme’. It was in an otherwise friendly conversation and only in passing. To be honest, I let it go. Partly because it was peripheral to our main conversation, partly because it… Continue reading
The climate emergency is now Here’s the thing, people, it’s now official. We are living through climate catastrophe. The IPCC’s recent seminal report warns that we have just one decade to change our ways. And, let’s be clear, this isn’t… Continue reading
An area of rainforest half the size of Paris has recently been cleared in Papua, Indonesia. The ice melt at the South Pole is nearly as bad as that of the North. The UK government is privatising our forests by stealth.… Continue reading
The threat of climate change is overwhelming. The problem’s so huge most people don’t feel they’ve the power to do anything about it. ‘What can I do? I’m just one itty bitty person, I can’t do anything about the global corporations responsible for most emissions,’ they say. Like… Continue reading