Tag Archives: climate change
Time and the pandemic
There is this idea in physics that the fundamental laws of nature apply the same way for processes moving both forwards and backwards in time. So you can’t actually measure the passage of time by studying these processes. Where does … Continue reading
Posted in Life notes, Science
Tagged arrow of time, climate change, clock time, coronavirus, coronavirus pandemic, COVID-19, entropy, eternity, herd immunity, new coronavirus, novel coronavirus, second law of thermodynamics, time, time symmetry
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The potential energy of being entertained
Netflix just published a report drafted by its Sustainability Accounting Standards Board, estimating – among other things – its environmental footprint for operations during the year 2019. According to the report, as The Guardian columnist Arwa Mahdawi writes: Binge-watching Netflix doesn’t just fry your brain; … Continue reading
Posted in Culture, Science
Tagged cable, carbon accounting, climate change, climate change journalism, doomsday scenario, DVD, hope, neoliberalism, Netflix, positive news, social isolation
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Losing sight of the agricultural finish line
In The Guardian, Joanna Blythman pokes an important pin into the frustrating but unsurprisingly durable bubble of vegan cuisine and the low-hanging fruits of ethical eating: These days it’s fashionable to eulogise plant foods as the secret for personal health … Continue reading
Posted in Analysis, Op-eds
Tagged agriculture, climate change, detox diet, diets, eggs, electric vehicles, food, genetically modified crops, indoor farming, insecticides, keto diet, land use change, midday meal scheme, Monsanto, organic agriculture, pesticides, protein, subsidies, vegan, Veganuary, vertical farming
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Free speech at the outer limits
On January 12, Peter W. Wood, president of an American organisation called the National Association of Scholars (NAS), wrote an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal against attempts by one individual to prevent NAS from organising a conference on science’s … Continue reading
Posted in Op-eds, Scicomm
Tagged boycott, Central Civil Services (Conduct) Rules 1964, Citizenship Amendment Act 2019, climate change, Constitution of India, free speech, freedom of speech, Goop, Gwyneth Paltrow, Laurie Penny, Leonid Teytelman, Netflix, protest, reproducibility crisis, Tripura high court, Wall Street Journal
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A why of how we wear what we wear
There are many major industries operating around the world commonly perceived to be big drivers of climate change. Plastic, steel and concrete manufacturing come immediately to mind – but fashion doesn’t, even though, materially speaking, its many inefficiencies represent something … Continue reading
Posted in Culture, Scicomm
Tagged climate change, climate crisis, clothing, cotton, design trends, dress codes, dresses, enclothed cognition, fashion industry, garments, human behaviour, Kabali, Princeton University, proxy, psychology, water
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A windier world
A new paper in Nature Climate Change reports a reversal in “terrestrial stilling” since 2010 – i.e. global wind speeds, thought to be in decline thanks to deforestation and real estate development, actually stopped slowing around 2010 and have been … Continue reading
Posted in Scicomm
Tagged climate change, climate crisis, climate emergency, plastic, steel, terrestrial stilling, wind energy, wind turbine
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The climate and the A.I.
A few days ago, the New York Times and other major international publications sounded the alarm over a new study that claimed various coastal cities around the world would be underwater to different degrees by 2050. However, something seemed off; … Continue reading
Posted in Scicomm, Science
Tagged artificial intelligence, climate change, climate emergency, global heating, Global warming, LIDAR, sea-level rise
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The virtues of local travel
Here’s something I wish I’d read before overtourism and flygskam removed the pristine gloss of desirability from the selfies, 360º panoramas and videos the second-generation elites posted every summer on the social media: It’s ok to prioritize friendships, community, and … Continue reading
Posted in Culture, Life notes, Op-eds
Tagged Bengaluru, climate change, Delhi, extractive capitalism, flygskam, grifter, Max Weber, mental health, overtourism, Protestant ethic, remote working, Silicon Valley, work from home
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Prestige journals and their prestigious mistakes
On June 24, the journal Nature Scientific Reports published a paper claiming that Earth’s surface was warming by more than what non-anthropogenic sources could account for because it was simply moving closer to the Sun. I.e. global warming was the … Continue reading
Posted in Op-eds, Science
Tagged carbon dioxide, climate change, climate geoengineering, morality, Nature journal, Nature Scientific Reports, retraction index, Science journal
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The Meerut mahayagya
Did some back-of-the-envelope calculations about the Meerut mahayagya, where a bunch of Hindu priests are burning 50 tonnes of mango wood and approx. 10 million tablespoons of ghee in a mega-ritual to “purify the air”, over nine days. Can’t make … Continue reading
Posted in Science
Tagged air purification, climate change, climate conflict, Ghee, greenhouse gases, mango wood, Meerut mahayagya, pyrolysis, yagya
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