A website exploring the novel's themes of climate change and artificial intelligence
We are a headed toward a very uncomfortable and disruptive ‘Steambath Earth’; a more humid and hotter climate, which humans are not adapted to tolerate. This is the conclusion of several recently published papers. For 6000 years humanity has thrived in a surprisingly narrow niche of climate conditions. Those conditions are characterized […] Read More
Is the global response to climate change just a slow motion version of our response to COVID-19? Let’s have a look at the similarities and differences, and see if there are lessons to be drawn. As we know, when the virus outbreak was first reported out of China, most in the west […] Read More
Where is the home of the oil industry? Most people would say Houston, Texas. What about the home of thermal coal? Well that mantle belongs to Queensland – the largest exporting state in the largest coal exporting country, Australia. Now here’s the thing, the states of Queensland and Texas share another feature. […] Read More
Australia is uniquely positioned to take advantage of its abundant renewable energy resources to transform its economy and energy systems. That’s the view of esteemed economist Professor Ross Garnaut in his latest book Superpower. With the tailwinds of dramatically falling technology costs, and record low interest rates, Garnaut shows how Australia can […] Read More
When the sea level rises by six feet, up to thirteen million Americans will be displaced. That’s the estimate from a team of researchers at the University of Southern California. The map shows those states and counties most affected. Florida is particularly impacted, especially Miami-Dade and Broward counties which would contribute 3.5 […] Read More
What’s better – an average human plus a computer using a sound process or an expert plus a computer and an average process? You probably guessed. It’s the former and this outcome is sometimes referred to as Kasparov’s Law. Former world chess champion Garry Kasparov held the number one ranking in chess […] Read More
The Australian Prime Minister, Scott Morrison, recently said “..to suggest that at just 1.3% of emissions, that Australia doing something more or less would change the fire outcome this season – I don’t think that stands up to any credible scientific evidence at all.” We’ll examine that statement in a moment. But […] Read More
You can’t shame anyone into taking climate action. It doesn’t work. That’s the advice of the amazing Dr Katharine Hayhoe – climate scientist and evangelical Christian. Her advice is simple – find common ground to talk about climate change, so that we talk to the things that matter most to our hearts. […] Read More
Some new words made it to the dictionary this year. Climate emergency among them…. Back well before 1984, Mr Orwell put the power of language directly into our heads. And we know they matter. Well, this year we see some words that I think will become more than everyday usage. I think […] Read More
The first post on this website was titled A Letter to the Future concerning the loss of a glacier in Iceland. This post looks at the report prepared in November 1982 by Exxon’s Environmental Affairs Program Manager for company management. That’s nearly forty years ago. It contains many prescient facts and forecasts. […] Read More