Tag Archives: extinction

Austerity or catastrophe: options grow ever narrower

Our chronic dependence on an invented system of growth-based capitalism that is destabilising the global climate system and laying waste to the natural world looks increasingly like a Faustian bargain, and metaphorical Mephistopheles is now knocking at the door looking for … Continue reading

Posted in Global Warming, Psychology, Sustainability | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Feeding the planet without destroying the Earth

My review of ‘Regenesis’ by George Monbiot appeared in The Irish Times in mid-June. The author has, since its publication, been on the receiving end of what looks like a co-ordinated campaign to smear and discredit both him and and … Continue reading

Posted in Agriculture, Global Warming, Habitat/Species, Sustainability | Tagged , | 1 Comment

The ecological point of no return draws ever closer

The first invasion of a sovereign European state since the second world war got underway on February 24th with the Russian assault into Ukraine. Just four days later, the IPCC Working Group 2 report, “Climate Change 2022: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability” … Continue reading

Posted in Biodiversity, Global Warming, Sustainability | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Could global warming trigger deadly new ozone crisis?

It’s an extraordinary privilege to inhabit the only known oasis of abundant complex life in the galaxy. We know from paleoclimatology that life on Earth has ebbed and flowed over the ages, including surviving five epic global mass extinction events. … Continue reading

Posted in Global Warming | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

In climate emergency, BAU is the road to unmitigated ruin

In early May, my first post appeared on The Currency, a business-oriented subscriber-only website launched by journalists Tom Lyons and Ian Kehoe and specialising in in-depth reportage. It’s not where you might typically expect to find a fairly downbeat assessment … Continue reading

Posted in Biodiversity, Economics, Global Warming | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Approaching the Precipice

My review of ‘The Precipice’ by moral philosopher, Toby Ord appeared in The Irish Times on May 1st. It’s an intriguing exercise, with Ord estimating humanity at having a one-in-six chance of becoming extinct by the end of this century. … Continue reading

Posted in Biodiversity, Global Warming, Sustainability | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Day of reckoning on global extinction crisis draws near

Below, my article as it was published in the Irish Times last month, with some referencing added back in. To borrow one of my own lines, “A solitary species has, in a heartbeat of geological time, overturned and routed half … Continue reading

Posted in Biodiversity, Global Warming, Habitat/Species, Sustainability | Tagged , , , , | 7 Comments

We mourn for Cecil while ignoring destruction of natural world

Below, my article, as it appears in this weekend’s Irish Times. WITH modern technology and firepower, it takes little courage and even less skill to kill wild animals. This week US dentist and recreational ‘big game hunter’ Walter James Palmer found … Continue reading

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Humanity’s killing spree about to come full circle

With apologies for an uncharacteristic outbreak of navel-gazing, below, my article as it appears in the current issue of ‘Village’ magazine… My interest in environmentalism is barely 10 years old. For the bulk of my adult life, far meatier concerns … Continue reading

Posted in Global Warming, Irish Focus, Media | Tagged , , | 15 Comments

It’s a race to the bottom – we’re winning as the oceans die

To me, nothing says summer down-time quite like finding a shady spot on a warm day and settling in for a great read. This year, I had the good fortune of picking two exceptional books – ‘The Ocean of Life’ … Continue reading

Posted in Biodiversity, Global Warming, Habitat/Species, Media, Sustainability | Tagged , , | 4 Comments

Ireland’s looming bird crisis

Back in 2002, the parties to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity set a target of halting biodiversity loss by 2010. It is now 2010, the declared UN Year of Biodiversity, and although some endangered species have been saved, notably … Continue reading

Posted in Biodiversity, Global Warming, Habitat/Species, Irish Focus, Sustainability | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Where have all the fish gone? (we ate them)

The world’s oceans are in deep, deep trouble. Industrialised fishing, in full swing since around 1950, has in essence waged a war against the marine ecosystem. And the bad news is: we’re winning. Species extinctions, population crashes and vast disruption … Continue reading

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Where will you be when the lights go out?

Prices in Ireland have, mercifully, started to ease back from the highs of a year or two ago, yet some things remain extraordinarily cheap. The two things that contribute probably more than anything else to our overall well-being, comfort, security … Continue reading

Posted in Energy, Global Warming, Nuclear, Sustainability | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Ssssh, don’t mention the ‘E’ word

There’s an episode of the 1970s comedy, Fawlty Towers, in which German visitors come to stay in the hotel. Basil Fawlty goes to great lengths to avoid any references to World War 2 (it was then barely 30 years after … Continue reading

Posted in Global Warming, Habitat/Species, Irish Focus, Sustainability | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

A vision of beauty

Nature is under relentless assault, entire ecosystems are being obliterated, an area of natural forest the size of Croke Park is burned or cleared every second. Around every 12 minutes, yet another species goes extinct. The news is, to put … Continue reading

Posted in Global Warming, Habitat/Species, Sustainability | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments