So great to see so many amphibians out in the park tonight. Toads and newts mainly, also heard a frog calling. Had to put on my torch to avoid treading on them, it was warm today but is now cold so they were a bit lethargic moving across the path
#Phenology #Spring #biodiversity #ClimateDiary
Anyway, I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in understanding how we got to this point and how we might prevent ecological and societal collapse.
#Degrowth #Collapse #ClimateDiary (9/9)
A revolution in Japan?
I just got a university-wide email (so it's a ministry directive) that ends "Cool Biz!"
Now, every employee should dress according to their needs and to the actual temperature!!!
Japan is changing!
For those who don't know, "Cool Biz" is a policy that started in 2005 to use less electricity. Air conditioning in the country's offices shouldn't be set lower than 28°C and office workers were allowed to wear more "relaxed" outfits (i.e. short sleeve shirts, drop the jacket of their suit, etc - nothing fancy, shorts were not allowed).
The only change to the policy came a couple of years ago when they started to acknowledge climate change. Cool Biz was from July to September, it was extended from June to October.
And apparently, that's the end of it. Japan is starting to realize that to know if it's hot or cold, you check a thermometer and not the calendar.
It doesn't affect me directly, as I'm not an office worker, but I wonder if the engineering campus will realize that starting A/C in July only (and blocking the thermostat too high) is not a good idea anymore in this day and age (classrooms facing south have become unhealthy in summer over there, I'm not joking - students have fainted in the past)
#Japan #CoolBiz #ClimateDiary
#ClimateDiary What does techno-fascism have to do with climate, you might ask?
Everything. It’s so important to understand the people and forces rapidly reshaping our world; and this new piece by Amy Westervelt (one of the best climate journalists of all) does an excellent job introducing you to the inner world of Thiel, Musk and co. It’s crazy, it’s horrible, but it exists and affects us all.
• South Korea - Unprecedented destruction of wildfires.
• 1,300-year-old Buddhist temple, totally destroyed.
• fires ... "developing in a way that is exceeding both existing prediction models and earlier expectations."
#ClimateDiary Worst ever wildfires in South Korea. I heard about this through my sister. I wouldn’t have known otherwise - completely passed me by. Could be just me, zoning out too much. But it’s terrifying how easy it is to do so.
Do we need to know every climate catastrophe? I think it’s better, in so many ways (not least compassion) if we do. But overwhelm, fatigue is creeping in.. awful. Meanwhile, at least 23 dead in Korea.
Note: High temps on Mar 25. Top 5;
28.5C Akae, Miyazaki
28.2C Saito, Miyazaki
28.2C Oita City, Oita
28.1C Takanabe, Miyazaki
28.1C Miyazaki City, Miyazaki
(28.0C=82.4F, 28.5C=83.3F)
All as hot as it normally is in late June. #japan #climateDiary
Neoliberal politicians are so concerned about balanced fiscal budgets and so scared of deficit spending, but at the same time see no issues whatsoever with doing just that with our carbon budget. Our global carbon debt is totally unsustainable, has been for ages, and no one's doing anything to fix that.
#ClimateDiary
