A website exploring the novel's themes of climate change and artificial intelligence
In my last post I summarised some highlights from Hannah Ritchie’s book Not the End of the World. which gave an optimistic perspective on our efforts to manage global warming. Now, I am delving into her most recent book, Clearing the Air. This time, Ritchie has produced a hopeful guide to solving […] Read More
If you read the news today, it’s easy to feel like humanity is hurtling toward an inevitable ecological collapse. It is hard to avoid doomsday headlines warning us of runaway climate change, vanishing forests, and oceans choking on plastic. For many, this narrative breeds “climate anxiety” – a sense of dread that […] Read More
If you’ve spent the last few years wondering whether the world is coming apart at the seams, you’re not alone. In his book End Times: Elites, Counter-Elites, and the Path of Political Disintegration, author Peter Turchin argues that societal breakdown follows patterns. And, if his models are right, we’re living through one […] Read More
Imagine your house had a thermostat that measured not the temperature, but the rate at which heat was building up inside, even before you felt it. That’s essentially what scientists track when they measure Earth’s Energy Imbalance, or EEI. And the latest readings, released this year, are the highest ever recorded. Every […] Read More
We have all witnessed the rapid change brought about by technology, but has the world fundamentally changed? According to author Solomon Harrington, the answer is no. In his book Nothing New Under the Sun, he argues that human behavior changes very slowly and therefore “ambitions that shaped ancient kingdoms still shape modern […] Read More
The world has grown remarkably tolerant of global monopolies over the last thirty years. As a result, the world’s largest and most powerful firms have gained significant political influence. According to Tim Wu’s book, The Curse of Bigness, this produces a climate that threatens our democracy and has nasty parallels from history. […] Read More
Never before has a US President threatened that “a whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again.” And when challenged that such action could be a war crime, responded that he was “not at all” worried. Probably not since Hitler, has such a public statement from a western head-of-state […] Read More
Two massive forces are combining to disrupt the world and societies as we know them. Analogous to The Fujiwara Effect, named for the combinatory effect of two hurricanes, author Viktor Shvets sees the forces of an accelerating Information Age together with the loose capital of a highly Financialized global economy having a […] Read More
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