A website exploring the novel's themes of climate change and artificial intelligence
Psychologist Bob Rich advises people who are suffering from climate anxiety to “Do the best you can then don’t worry”. Ryan Hagen’s book Your Guide to Climate Action takes this advice a step further by coaching us on how to do our ‘best’. It is one of the most comprehensive books I […] Read More
Modern society is heading steadily toward collapse. To avoid it requires us making some difficult short-term decisions. Are we capable of doing so? History suggests not. That’s the take away from Luke Kemp’s book, Goliath’s Curse. Kemp surveys the lessons of societies on all continents over many millennia. He identifies the common […] Read More
The latest climate models show that the opportunity window for achieving the Paris 1.5o target goal for climate warming has closed. Indeed, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) suggests that 1.5 degrees of warming will be reached before the end of this decade. Modelling of emissions trajectories predict that warming will blow […] Read More
Tree rings can be used to reconstruct climate records because they are strongly linked to summer temperatures in high latitudes and provide exact dating especially of extreme events. A new study1 about to be published in Nature provides a fascinating glimpse into climatic conditions in the arctic region over the last five […] Read More
The prospect of a sudden shift in climate due to a rapid change in a key climate moderator such as the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) has long worried climate scientists. But has their use of the term “tipping points” to instil some urgency into the climate debate and foster more urgent […] Read More
One of the problems with conventional nuclear power plants is that they rely on an extremely hazardous fuel which persists for thousands of years. What if we could engineer a reliable and simple solution for dealing with these nuclear power hazards? By using a radically different engineering approach, a California-based start-up, Deep […] Read More
There are multiple signs that the urgency of climate action in developed countries is receding. Is it because of growing geopolitical unrest? Concerns over the economy? Trumpian claims of a hoax? Or just plain climate fatigue? Whatever the reasons, it is reminiscent of the period straight after the Global Financial Crisis when […] Read More
Weaving themes as diverse as oceanography, social divides, artificial intelligence and many others, the genius of Richard Powers is on show again in his latest novel Playground. Powers’ main characters are a Quebecoise marine specialist, a nerdy computer entrepreneur from northside Chicago, his bête noir a literary genius from the southside, and […] Read More
Human progress has largely been achieved during cycles of open societies which institute dramatic and transformative change followed by cycles of closed thinking which stills or even reverses progress. We are currently in an ‘open’ phase which is under threat from forces wanting to return to ‘simpler’ times. That is the well-argued […] Read More
Economist Kenneth Boulding once said that “anyone who believes that exponential growth can go on forever in a finite world is either a madman or an economist.” Despite this warning, the mantra that “growth is good” remains barely questioned today. Christopher Jones’ book The Invention of Infinite Growth provides an insightful review […] Read More