Category Archives: Biodiversity
The heat is on: climate emergency deepens
After the savage heatwaves that swept the northern hemisphere in June and continuing into July, I was asked by TheJournal.ie to contribute a piece putting these ominous events into context. Here’s what I wrote: “WORDS CANNOT DESCRIBE this historic event”. That’s … Continue reading
Do we care enough about nature to bother saving it?
This piece ran in the Business Post in early May, inspired at least in part by the devastating fires that swept many of Ireland’s uplands yet again this Spring, an annual ritual, it seems, that comes around with depressing regularity, … Continue reading
Global food system hurts people, crushes nature
It’s hard to keep being shocked or even surprised at the litany of reports on the dire condition of our biosphere, but the recent Chatham House study on biodiversity is still an eye-opener. Politicians often claim their job is to … Continue reading
Posted in Agriculture, Biodiversity, Global Warming, Sustainability
Tagged agriculture, Biodiversity, Chatham House, food, Sunday Times
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Where greenwashing meet brainwashing
The piece below appeared in mid-December on the investigative website, DeSmog UK. I wanted to shine a light on the subtle agri-industrial marketing machinery which is cranking out ever increasing quantities of material aimed at the youngest and most impressionable … Continue reading
Posted in Agriculture, Biodiversity, Global Warming, Irish Focus
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Green in name, but not in nature
Despite huge ongoing investment of both political capital and marketing euros in selling the message that Irish agriculture is green, climate-friendly and sustainable, it still keeps on running into the knotty problem that this simply isn’t the case. Recent comments … Continue reading
Posted in Agriculture, Biodiversity, Global Warming, Irish Focus, Sustainability
Tagged agriculture, Bord Bia, EPA, Irish Wildlife Trust, Origin Green
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Eco-plenary indulgences won’t save our souls or environment
The below is a guest post from an occasion ToS contributor and concerned citizen who uses the pseudonym ‘Jeremy Hughes’. He takes a wry look at the new trend towards establishing tiny pockets of biodiversity while the bigger picture is one of … Continue reading
Posted in Biodiversity, Global Warming, Irish Focus, Sustainability
Tagged Biodiversity, Wildlife
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‘Our relationship with nature is broken’
The below piece ran on TheJournal.ie in late September. It was inspired by a combination of the surreal imagery emanating from the western US and the release of the 2020 Living Planet Report, which chronicles ever sharpening declines in planetary vital … Continue reading
Posted in Agriculture, Biodiversity, Global Warming, Habitat/Species
Tagged Insectageddon, Living Planet Report
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Overshooting ourselves in both feet
How much money have you got in your current account? What about your savings? Imagine if by now, you had already spent all your income for 2020, and you were forced to live on borrowings for the next four months. … Continue reading
Posted in Biodiversity, Global Warming, Sustainability
Tagged deforestation, Overshoot, plastic
3 Comments
Ecocide: the greatest crime against humanity and nature
It is extraordinary that ecocide is not formally recognised and codified as a crime under the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court. There are surely few greater crimes than the deliberate destruction of entire ecosystems, in many cases leading directly … Continue reading
Posted in Biodiversity, Global Warming, Habitat/Species, Sustainability
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Coronavirus an appetiser for what climate breakdown has in store
The piece below ran on Thejournal.ie in early May, and to my surprise, made quite an impact, with over 83,000 views, 142 online comments and thousands of tweets and reposts on social media. Thejournal.ie is now very much part of … Continue reading
Posted in Biodiversity, Global Warming, Habitat/Species, Pollution, Psychology, Sustainability
Tagged Coronavirus, Green Party, IPCC, pandemic, Paris Agreement, WMO
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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 Coronavirus, economics, extinction, Insectageddon, Living Planet Report
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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 extinction, Nuclear war, The Precipice, Toby Ord
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Earth Day – 50 years later, and deeper in ecological debt
This is piece ran on Cassandra Voices on April 22nd, the 50th anniversary of the inaugural Earth Day in 1970: FIFTY years ago today, more than twenty million people took to the streets in towns and cities across the U.S. … Continue reading
Shattering the illusion of control
Below, my piece for Greennews.ie, published on March 26th, just as the grim reality of the Coronavirus pandemic was finally hitting home in Ireland: ========== Right now, millions of people around the world are waking each day with a sensation … Continue reading
Posted in Biodiversity, Global Warming, Habitat/Species
Tagged Coronavirus, Covid-19, Zoonotic
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Rout of global biodiversity comes with a heavy price tag
Below, my article as it appeared in the summer edition of ‘Irish Wildlife’, the magazine of the Irish Wildlife Trust, an organisation well worth supporting. I gave a one-hour presentation followed by a Q&A at an IWT ‘Green Drinks’ event … Continue reading
Posted in Biodiversity, Global Warming, Habitat/Species, Sustainability
Tagged Biodiversity, EO Wilson, Irish Wildlife Trust, Luquillo
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