Ed Dowding

Category: Sustainability

Rail strikes

Instead of public transport strikes, have “fun & free travel” days. Everyone turns up to work, but no one charges, all the gates are open, and musicians are invited to platforms. #railstrike #JustStopOil (Yes, it breaks ‘the law’, but laws are sometimes counterproductive.)

137 years of climate anomolies

This climate visualization shows the temperature anomalies by country from 1880 through 2017, based on data from NASA. Data source: NASA GISAnimation via Washington Post

Monarch butterfly numbers fell by 86% last year alone

Monarch butterflies, whose numbers have already declined an estimated 97 percent since the 1980s, fell 86% last year alone in California. You can help butterflies by: – Don’t buy GMO food – the leading cause of their decline. (This is mainly for the Americans – there’s not a lot of GMO in use elsewhere.) Don’t ...

Which fossil fuel companies are most responsible for climate change?

This is the best thing on the internet today. Which fossil fuel companies are most responsible for climate change?. Top 90ProducersInvestorownedAlpha Natura…Fuel & cementOwn footprintMethane leaksAnadarkoFuel & cementOwn footprintMethane leaksAnglo Americ…Fuel & cementOwn footprintMethane leaksApacheFuel & cementOwn footprintMethane leaksArch CoalFuel & cementOwn footprintMethane leaksBG GroupFuel & cementOwn footprintMethane leaksBHP BillitonFuel & cementOwn footprintMethane leaksBPFuel & ...

Blue sky statistics

Since 2000 business flights by residents of the UK have fallen by 25%: a rate far beyond the general impacts of the recession. There are two likely reasons. Business travel is treated by many companies as a luxury, which is quickly cut when conditions tighten. And much of the perceived need to travel has been ...

Excerpts from John Ashton’s Alternative Mansion House speech

“My generation has done a terrible thing. We closed our eyes and surrendered our capacity to build the future. We surrendered it to a modern day secular cult. The cult has no single name, only labels that identify sectors within its sphere of influence.” Source: http://www.neweconomics.org/blog/entry/excerpts-from-john-ashtons-alternative-mansion-house-speech

A film about The Prince and Global Sustainability

“”I have long been deeply concerned about the effect our modern, highly industrialised approach is having on nature’s capacity to sustain life on Earth.” Source: http://www.princeofwales.gov.uk/news-and-diary/news-film-about-the-prince-and-global-sustainability

“The Great Feast” – TEDxOxbridge

This is the transcript from my talk at TEDxOxbridge last weekend. —————–   If you a have a phone, take it out and hold it up. This device makes us magicians: At any time, from any where, we can know almost ANYTHING that is known to mankind. Ok – hands down. But what is truly ...

14 big trends to watch in 2013

http://radar.oreilly.com/2012/12/14-trends-for-2013.html

The 32 most alarming charts from the government’s climate change report | Grist

Oh Jesus.. There is nothing to see here. Move along. Everything will be fine. Keep flying, buying stuff you don’t keep, and eating meat at least 5 times per week. I SAID MOVE ALONG: NOTHING TO SEE HERE. The 32 most alarming charts from the government’s climate change report | Grist.

The world is on track for disaster. Who wants to buy a farm?

Written by MIT researchers for an international think tank, the Club of Rome, the study used computers to model several possible future scenarios. The business-as-usual scenario estimated that if human beings continued to consume more than nature was capable of providing, global economic collapse and precipitous population decline could occur by 2030. However, the study ...

The social tipping point is 8%

Someone told me recently that the tipping point for lasting social change is 8%. I don’t know where they got that number from but it seems believable. Especially if there’s no reason to resist the change. (A quick google turned up affirmation, so let’s go with it.) So if it’s true, this report from Germany ...

Manifestos for life

Posters in the Hub Westminster with typographical design by Robert Reed. Source: This is Reed

Simple Critical Infrastructure Maps

Simple Critical Infrastructure Maps

Building on allotments

@SaveFarmTerrace tweeted me yesterday: @eddowding Our mayor wants to sell our fab beautiful allotments in Watford UK to developers to build more houses on. Pls follow and rt us! — Sara jane trebar (@SaveFarmTerrace) December 26, 2012 So I’ve written a letter to the Mayor. Right now the comment is held in moderation so I’m ...

Please watch these two films.

Overview OVERVIEW from Planetary Collective on Vimeo. http://www.overviewthemovie.com/ Chasing Ice This is the trailer – there are UK screenings happening now. http://www.chasingice.co.uk

“Somebody thought of it, and someone believed it” – a generation steps forward at London Sustainability Jam

The room is dark. About fifty people sit with silent and energetic expectation. The screen shows a sky full of bright stars. A couple walk arm in arm, and as their faces are lit by the projected starlight, a voice comes through the darkness: “Imagine it’s 2015, and you’re taking an evening stroll down a ...

Why climate change doesn’t spark moral outrage, and how it could

http://pocket.co/sdtCQ

What resources do we have left? (A: not many)

  Source: http://www.newscientist.com/data/images/archive/2605/26051202.jpg

And this is only talking about cars

Watch from the 30 minute marker for about 10 minutes. The average American car uses 100 times its weight in ancient plants (converted to oil). 7/8th of the energy never gets to the weheel is lost in engine, idling, driveline, etc 1/2 of the remaining 1/8th heats tyres, road, air Only 1/20th of the mass ...