Scott Solomon— In today’s world, it’s easy to imagine that the evolutionary forces that gave rise to our species are no longer at work. Nature may be “red in tooth and claw,” as Tennyson observed, but the callous forces of nature seem hardly to affect us when we live in
Connor J. Fitzmaurice & Brian J. Gareau— It’s fall in New England, and in the region’s many farmers’ markets, mountains of corn and heirloom tomatoes have given way to bountiful displays of pumpkins, apples, cabbages, cranberries, and leafy greens. It’s a relief for many. This summer’s harvest was a lean
Max Page— In our “sour little age,” as playwright Tony Kushner once called the world we live in, lines from a law passed fifty years ago this weekend offer welcome uplift. “The spirit and direction of the Nation are founded upon and reflected in its historic heritage,” declared the National
Carl Death— The Paris Agreement on climate change is set to enter into force on November 4, 2016, after its ratification by more than fifty-five countries representing over 55% of total greenhouse gas emissions in early October 2016. This was hailed by US President Barack Obama as “a historic day
Brian Cowan— It should be easy to identify what a coffeehouse was at the dawn of the eighteenth century: a place where people gathered together to drink coffee, learn about the news of the day, and perhaps to meet with other local residents and discuss matters of mutual concern. Yet
Dieter Helm— The trouble with strong sustainability is that it contains very little by way of guidance as to what we should do, except ‘preserve everything’. It is in essence the claim that natural capital should be regarded as non-substitutable, and hence, following Eric Neumayer, strong sustainability can be called
Jon Willis— “So you want to fly to an iron ore mining town in the NW of Australia, drive 200 km into the desert to the Outback’s hottest town, then follow a 4WD track to a rock outcrop in the middle of nowhere, all to look at some wavy lines
Nancy J. Jacobs— June 2016 brought me to Kenya, where birders of all feathers are flourishing. As the easternmost remnant of Guineo-Congolian rain forest, the Kakamega Forest is an attractive destination for avi-tourists, who are inspired by its list of 358 species, including some not otherwise found outside the forests of Central and West Africa. I
Stephen W. Kress and Derrick Z. Jackson— The animal on everybody’s mind in June 1973 was Secretariat, the first Triple Crown–winning horse in a quarter century. For much of the rest of the world, it was a summer of tumult. Watergate was exploding in President Nixon’s face, and the environment
Lee Jackson— In 1899, the Chinese ambassador was asked his opinion of Victorian London at the zenith of its imperial grandeur. He replied, laconically, ‘too dirty’. He was only stating the obvious. Thoroughfares were swamped with black mud, composed principally of horse dung, forming a tenacious, glutinous paste; the air