Earth’s catalogue now holds 1.9 million species

The number of species on the planet that have been documented by scientists has risen to 1.9 million, according to the world’s most comprehensive catalogue of plants and animals. more…

Kicking the travel drug

I am forty-five years old. I consider myself to have lived a luxurious life in terms of the spectrum of experience that has been available to me and the leisure to seek it. Yet by the developed world’s standards of today, I have only ever been modestly privileged.

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Better than Star Wars: The Age of Stupid

The Age of Stupid is a must-see film. I recommend that you watch it before the climate negotiations in Copenhagen this December, because it will inspire you to take action and to push for a real and very ambitious deal. It is a real wake up call on the need to act now to save the planet. more…

Summit all up

Yesterday’s declarations by global leaders at a climate summit in New York are hot news world-wide. more…

In search of shelter


The climate undergoes constant and gradual change over the space of centuries and millennia. Since the mid-19th century, however, our world has been moving towards a warm period such as the earth has not experienced for several million years. more…

Transition to a climate smarter world

A  2°C increase in temperature due to global warming is the maximum acceptable limit that our planet can take without irreversible damage. That is the clear message from the just-released World Bank Development Report 2010, which this year focuses on climate change. more…

Biodiversity — What does it mean to you?

“When we lose species and their ecosystems, we are losing services, which are absolutely vital for preserving conditions that allow us to live.” more…

Fighting carbon with fire

Fire has been used by Bininj (aboriginal) people for managing habitats and food resources across northern Australian over millennia. The secret of fire in our traditional knowledge is that it is a thing that brings the land alive again. So we don’t necessarily see fire as bad and destructive — it can be a good thing. more…

Lights, climate, action

Young climate activist Zi Zi Searles believes that improving lighting efficiency standards is the “low-hanging fruit” of climate change mitigation — that is, it is easy to do, and for a small price. more…

Debate 2.0: What will it take to make you change?

Yesterday, Our World 2.0 ran a story on the launch of the 10:10 campaign in the United Kingdom to encourage individuals and businesses to reduce greenhouse emissions by 10% by the year 2010.  10:10 and campaigns like it around the globe ask us all to change our high carbon emitting behaviours to save the planet. more…