Category: Ecology
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‘Liberate the tractors’: the right to repair movement that’s regaining control of our devices
Michael Stead, Lancaster University and Paul Coulton, Lancaster University The software that runs John Deere tractors was successfully “jailbroken” at this year’s DEF CON hacker convention, enabling farmers to repair or retune their equipment without engaging with the company that sold them their vehicles. The hacker involved, who calls himself Sick Codes, was responding directly…
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World Food Systems are in Crisis, and Big Agribusiness is at its Heart
By Lorena Cotza & Ouafa Haddioui, originally posted on OpenDemocracy, CC BY-NC 4.0 Article also available in Portuguese Public finance has a key role to play in agriculture. Instead of propping up corporate interests, it should learn from local producers In 2017, the people of Zagora, Morocco, took to the streets in what became known…
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How to destroy a ‘forever chemical’
scientists are discovering ways to eliminate PFAS, but this growing global health problem isn’t going away soon A. Daniel Jones, Michigan State University and Hui Li, Michigan State University PFAS chemicals seemed like a good idea at first. As Teflon, they made pots easier to clean starting in the 1940s. They made jackets waterproof and carpets…
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Analysis: China’s CO2 Emissions See Longest Sustained Drop in a Decade
By LAURI MYLLYVIRTA, originally published on carbonbrief.org, CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 China’s carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions fell by an estimated 1.4% in the first three months of 2022, making it the third quarter in a row of falling emissions. The new analysis for Carbon Brief, based on official figures and commercial data, shows that the three…
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Knowing our history means being able to continue the struggles
Originally published on komun-academy.com (now defunct), CC BY-NC-SA The Initiative “History and Resistance” introduces itself Who are the democratic forces in the history of the German-speaking world? What traces have they leave us? How did people live and organise before the emergence of the national state, which happened here comparatively late? These and many more…
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Indigenous People still Face Slavery in Brazil
Story by Lais Modelli, English translation by Maya Johnson Originally published on Mongabay Since Brazil began recording cases of workers found working in slavery-like conditions in 2004, 1,640 Indigenous people have been rescued from these situations. During the COVID-19 pandemic, more than 100 Indigenous people have been found working in these conditions. Sugarcane harvesting, which a…
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Earth’s Ecological Boundaries have been Violated. Here are 5 Steps toward Healing.
Article by Liz Kimbrough, originally published on Mongabay According to experts, we have passed the planetary boundary for land systems change — the human-caused loss of forest — and risk destabilizing Earth’s operating systems. Scientists calculate we must retain 85% of tropical and boreal forests, and 50% of temperate forests, to stay within Earth’s “safe…
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Chile to Ban Harmful Single-Use Products over 3 Years
Article by Rachel Teng Ruiqi, originally posted on Mongabay In May 2021, Chile announced a legislative ban on single-use products in the food and beverage industry to take effect over the next three years. Similar bans in other countries and cities also address the crux of the plastic pollution problem — the disposable culture — but…
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The plastic crisis has deep corporate roots: to protect our planet, they need to be exposed
Alice Mah, University of Warwick This spring, I taught a new undergraduate course in environmental sociology. Most of my students took the course because they were curious to see what their desire to live more sustainably had to do with sociology. By the third week – after a deep dive into the troubling connections between…
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Monarch butterflies join the Red List of endangered species, thanks to habitat loss, climate change and pesticides
Kristen A. Baum, Oklahoma State University On July 21, 2022, the International Union for the Conservation of Nature placed the migratory monarch butterfly on its Red List of threatened species and classified it as endangered. Monarchs migrate across North America each year and are one of the continent’s most widely recognized species. The Conversation asked…
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