Up to that point, work on artificial brightening of the sky had been done almost entirely by astronomers, who (for obvious reasons) weren't really interested in cloudy nights. But because I was involved closely with ecologists from the Leibniz Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries @LeibnizIGB, we realized that it's also important to measure the extent to which overcast and clear nights differ.
Through a bunch of twists and turns I now work on #RemoteSensing using nighttime light, but that was the paper that launched me into this direction.
Most people in brightly lit countries probably take for granted that clouds are bright at night, but this is completely unnatural. You can see it better in this pair of photos we published in a later paper (titled "Red is the new black"): doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2966.20…
This probably matters a great deal for nocturnal animals, because it's a reversal of an environmental condition that existed during the hundreds of millions of years that life evolved.
I teach large university science courses. Hundreds of fairly privileged students in the room. It has been my habit to ask them to raise their hands if they have ever seen the Milky Way.
The results have always been disappointing. Over the past 20 years it has gotten worse and worse. Recently many students don't even know what I mean by the question, and I have to explain what a dark sky looks like.
"Raise your hand if you have ever been awed by a clear dark sky full of countless, countless stars." Always less than 5%.
Talking about my artwork Wrongmove: The London rental market, where it's easier to find a home with chandeliers & marble floors than step free access. Tech replicating inequality, failure of legislation & capital's disdain for access. Fri 6th March - Pm Studio Bristol & online watershed.co.uk/studio/events/…
In this Lunchtime Talk, Joseph Wilk will take us through WrongMove - a video work that explores the conditions of the Greater London rental market over a year.
Imagine a creature straight out of a fantastical computer game – this could be the Solomon Islands skink Corucia zebrata , also affectionately known as the monkey-tailed skink. Their silhouet…
From the Santa Fe Institute – #research to disprove research.
"Reassessing the scientific method"
'Within the computer program, the scientist-agents conducted a series of experiments, forming and refining theories based on the results...The model revealed that the most informative, predictive scientific results emerged when scientist-agents randomly collected data — not when they selected experiments to confirm, falsify, or resolve disagreement between theories.'
Is the scientific method really the best approach to learning about the world? A new paper in Collective Intelligence applies the scientific method to itself, finding that some common strategies scientists consider gold standards for designing experi…
EvoCreo 2 from Ilmfinity Studios is the second in the series of popular mobile monster catching games and it's confirmed for a Steam release on April 6th.
I quit windows last year. Have Linux mint on 2 laptops now.... Currently downloading more content to eventually go offline. Have 800x 1080p films & 60 series, documentaries.... Once OSA act is announced or its been shown that messaging apps compromised = I'll go offline.
I honestly don't know how people can still keep up with that trash. All I know is that if I kept using Windows today, I'd gneuinely lose my shit.
That thing traumatized and forced me to fix Windows 10 throughout high school. While I gained experience from it that I use to troubleshoot Linux, I wouldn't subject myself to that torture ever again.
When I heard 11 would have ads on explorer and some shit I forgot (it was back in 2021), I just ditched it. Nope. I'm done with Windows.
Nice, I especially like that they will be making improvements for steering wheels in the future, my sim rig works pretty good curently but there's still room for improvement on "trueforce" force feedback for direct drive wheels. The oversteer flat pak doesn't really do much for my Logitech pro wheel but im confident Bazzite will deliver... they have thus far for all my gaming needs in all three of my various machines and hardware setups.
Despite global retail giant Colgate-Palmolive forming a coalition with other brands in 2020, virtue-signalling that they will stop all deforestation, they continue to do this – destroying rai…
The government doesn't care about children. If they did, they would not stop giving vaccines, cut funding of SNAP, ban books, etc. This is all about controlling the population.
It's complicated in my opinion. I think there are plenty of justified reasons why something like this is wanted but I do think something like this can be expanded beyond its original intent. That's the best I can explain what my opinion is on this topic.
I deprecate Google apps of any kind. The german AusweisApp ( passport app) is distributed by german money creating and printing federal institution. It works only together with official passport. And It has no surveillance function.
I never liked this idea and tried to avoid it as much as possible. I heard all major operating systems will have some kind of age verification with your face or your ID. Some apps like Roblox or Discord heavily enforce it for example. This is a huge privacy risk, also just a note, it is about control.
Written by Ben Webster for Open Democracy, read original article. Republished under the Creative Commons Attribution Licence.
Virgin Atlantic and the UK government have been accused of misleading the public over what they claim will be “the world’s first net zero transatlantic flight” ahead of next week’s COP28 summit.
But openDemocracy revealed concerns earlier this year that SAF production in the UK may be linked to deforestation. A stock image of a Virgin Atlantic Airways Boeing 787 Dreamliner, pictured on the approach to Heathrow Airport | Nicolas Economou/NurPhoto via Getty Images “There are some incredible double standards at play here,” said Matt Finch, UK policy manager of green campaign group Transport & Environment.
The SAF market in the UK is largely dependent on used cooking oil from Asia – where sellers are suspected of passing off unused palm oil as waste in order to attract lucrative credits. This is a particular problem for the environment, as producing palm oil drives deforestation.
Virgin last year bought more than 600,000 litres of “used” cooking oil from China and Indonesia to turn into SAF and mix with regular fuel for routine flights. Although it says the raw material for next week’s flight from London to New York will come purely from Europe and the US, the airline admitted it was still buying “feedstocks” from Asia for further SAF production this year.
“Some British airlines are – right now – greenwashing themselves by using used cooking oil made from Asian feedstocks,” said Finch.
“If airlines were genuinely trying to be sustainable, they would stop right now because of the huge risk of rogue palm oil getting into the SAF supply chain.”
“Sustainable” Aviation Fuel (SAF) is a biofuel alternative to using fossil fuels for powering planes and cars. SAF is being aggressively marketed by multiple industries as a greener alternative to burning fossil fuels in cars and airplanes.
However, SAF is produced from food crops such as rapeseed, palm oil, soy and sugar cane. This…
The aviation industry claims that SAF – which is almost all made from either biofuel crops or waste – could deliver around 65% of the reduction in emissions needed for airlines to reach net zero in 2050.
Under the Renewable Transport Fuels Obligation (RTFO), the government allows used cooking oil to be used to make the fuel. It currently accounts for the vast majority of SAF declared in the UK, most of which comes from Asia.
In 2024 alone, British airlines have bought more than 26 million litres of used Asian cooking oil – including 18 million litres from Malaysia, five million from China and two million from Indonesia.
Only about 15% of the used cooking oil purchased by airlines in 2023 has come from European sources, mainly the UK and the Netherlands.
Investigations suggest there is a high risk of fraud in the supply of biofuel from Asia, with particular concern over virgin palm oil being passed off as used cooking oil.
Labelling virgin palm oil as used makes it more valuable, partly because waste products earn double credits under the UK government’s rules for sustainable fuels.
Even genuine used cooking oil can indirectly cause deforestation because countries export waste oil they would otherwise have used domestically, and instead use virgin palm oil to meet their own local demand, according to T&E.
The campaign group says used cooking oil from Asia would be more effective at cutting emissions if it were used to replace diesel in road vehicles in the countries where it was produced – rather than being shipped across the world to be refined, using additional energy, into jet fuel.
The Royal Society, which represents the UK’s leading scientists, has also warned that an area at least half the size of the UK would be needed to grow enough biofuel crops to meet existing aviation demand in the UK alone. Increased levels of recycling are also likely to mean less waste material is available for making the fuel.
Green fuel mandate
Commercial jet engines are currently allowed to burn a maximum of 50% SAF, which is blended with traditional kerosene jet fuel. But next week’s demonstration flight is expected to show that it is safe to use 100% SAF. It is being funded with a government grant of up to £1m.
It comes only weeks before the government is due to announce details about the so-called “SAF mandate”, which will require at least 10% of jet fuel in the UK to come from “sustainable sources” by 2030.
The Department for Transport (DfT) is planning to cap the amount of used cooking oil and animal fat that airlines can use to meet this obligation, because demand could divert the products away from efforts to decarbonise road transport.
The cap, though, could be as high as 250 million litres a year of waste fats and oils.
Finch of T&E said: “The SAF mandate will be the biggest environmental regulation applied to UK aviation ever, and the government has a choice to make: should it carry on allowing SAF to be made from feedstocks that have dubious environmental benefits, or should it ensure that the sustainability criteria it sets genuinely achieve carbon reductions? Used cooking oil should be banned from UK planes.”
‘Undermining’ climate goals
Virgin and other UK airlines say their SAF has been certified by International Sustainability and Carbon Certification (ISCC), a scheme governed by a board that includes an executive from Air BP – one of Virgin’s SAF suppliers.
ISCC has nonetheless taken some action over SAF mis-selling. It launched an investigation this year into “potentially fraudulent behaviour” involving biodiesel that had been declared as waste from Indonesia or Malaysia and then exported from China to Europe.
It also suspended the sustainability certification of three Chinese biofuel exporters and last month pledged to clamp down on fraud by implementing “a traceability database by the end of the year”.
A Virgin Atlantic spokesperson told openDemocracy: “With all SAF purchases, we require suppliers to comply with applicable sustainability standards. In respect of HEFA (Hydrogenated Esters and Fatty Acids) SAF, we ask suppliers to ensure that feedstocks do not contain palm oil or its derivatives.
“SAF is an emerging industry and we source feedstocks from regions around the world and ask that suppliers undertake robust due diligence to ensure there is no palm oil or derivatives.”
However, the Aviation Environment Federation says the aviation industry’s enthusiasm for SAF is obscuring the urgent need for genuinely sustainable solutions to aviation emissions, including development of zero emission aircraft and an overall reduction in flying.
Even if every drop of used cooking oil available globally were refined into jet fuel, there would only be enough to power about one in every 40 flights, according to estimates by sustainable fuel consultancy Cerulogy.
The aviation industry says it is developing alternative sources of sustainable aviation fuel, including “non-edible industrial corn”, “forestry residues” and household waste.
But a study in August by Manchester Metropolitan University challenged the industry’s claims that sustainable aviation fuel can drastically cut emissions.
It said: “The scaling up of SAF to not only maintain but grow global aviation is problematic as it competes for land needed for nature-based carbon removal, clean energy that could more effectively decarbonise other sectors, and captured CO2 to be stored permanently. As such, SAF production undermines global goals of limiting warming to 1.5°C.”
Cait Hewitt, policy director of the Aviation Environment Federation, said one flight using 100% SAF “will make no difference to the fact that only 2.6% of UK aviation fuel is anything other than kerosene. And globally, the figure is more like 0.1%.”
She said the industry and DfT were wrong to suggest that waste-based SAF could be scaled up sustainably.
“It’s a nice idea to make fuel out of rubbish, which is what the UK government and others are pushing for, but producing more rubbish to turn into plane fuel is pretty obviously not a sustainable long-term option.”
She also said it was misleading to claim, as the DfT has, that SAF cuts greenhouse gas emissions by 70%.
“Even using 100% SAF, as with the forthcoming Virgin Atlantic flight, reduces tailpipe emissions by 0% compared with using kerosene. Any CO2 savings will be net savings, just as with carbon offsets.”
She said the flight would not achieve any net CO2 savings unless Virgin and the DfT could demonstrate that more carbon had been captured than would have happened anyway.
A Department for Transport spokesperson said: “Our sustainable aviation fuel programme is one of the most comprehensive in the world.
“We require that the fuel used [for the 100% SAF flight] must meet the specified sustainability criteria. However, it is for the operator and their fuel suppliers to determine the exact nature of the fuel within these parameters. Fuel suppliers are subject to independently verified checks to confirm the authenticity of their materials.”
Written by Ben Webster for Open Democracy, read original article. Republished under the Creative Commons Attribution Licence.
ENDS
Read more about deforestation and air pollution, climate change and palm oil deforestation
Forests offer climate protection and safeguard indigenous peoples, endangered animals and rare plants. Deforestation is a major threat. Boycott palm oil! Read more
Wealthiest people in USA and China responsible for 2/3 of global warming since 1990. Climate policies needed to target the richest people on the planet now! Read more
Mountain Tapirs are the most threatened large mammals of the northern Andes, hunting, climate change and mining are threats, take action and boycott gold! Read more
Saolas are rare and considered Southeast Asia’s ‘unicorns’, this Critically Endangered antelope is facing imminent extinction due to hunting and deforestation Read more
Frill-necked lizard AKA frilled dragons are endangered in southern Papua New Guinea and Indonesian-occupied West Papua due to palm oil ecocide, take action! Read more
Load more posts Something went wrong. Please refresh the page and/or try again.
Take Action in Five Ways
1. Join the #Boycott4Wildlife on social media and subscribe to stay in the loop: Share posts from this website to your own network on Twitter, Mastadon, Instagram, Facebook and Youtube using the hashtags #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife.
2. Contribute stories: Academics, conservationists, scientists, indigenous rights advocates and animal rights advocates working to expose the corruption of the palm oil industry or to save animals can contribute stories to the website.
3. Supermarket sleuthing: Next time you’re in the supermarket, take photos of products containing palm oil. Share these to social media along with the hashtags to call out the greenwashing and ecocide of the brands who use palm oil. You can also take photos of palm oil free products and congratulate brands when they go palm oil free.
4. Take to the streets: Get in touch with Palm Oil Detectives to find out more.
5. Donate: Make a one-off or monthly donation to Palm Oil Detectives as a way of saying thank you and to help pay for ongoing running costs of the website and social media campaigns. Donate here
Written by Ben Webster for Open Democracy, read original article. Republished under the Creative Commons Attribution Licence.
Virgin Atlantic and the UK government have been accused of misleading the public over what they claim will be “the world’s first net zero transatlantic flight” ahead of next week’s COP28 summit.
But openDemocracy revealed concerns earlier this year that SAF production in the UK may be linked to deforestation. A stock image of a Virgin Atlantic Airways Boeing 787 Dreamliner, pictured on the approach to Heathrow Airport | Nicolas Economou/NurPhoto via Getty Images “There are some incredible double standards at play here,” said Matt Finch, UK policy manager of green campaign group Transport & Environment.
The SAF market in the UK is largely dependent on used cooking oil from Asia – where sellers are suspected of passing off unused palm oil as waste in order to attract lucrative credits. This is a particular problem for the environment, as producing palm oil drives deforestation.
Virgin last year bought more than 600,000 litres of “used” cooking oil from China and Indonesia to turn into SAF and mix with regular fuel for routine flights. Although it says the raw material for next week’s flight from London to New York will come purely from Europe and the US, the airline admitted it was still buying “feedstocks” from Asia for further SAF production this year.
“Some British airlines are – right now – greenwashing themselves by using used cooking oil made from Asian feedstocks,” said Finch.
“If airlines were genuinely trying to be sustainable, they would stop right now because of the huge risk of rogue palm oil getting into the SAF supply chain.”
“Sustainable” Aviation Fuel (SAF) is a biofuel alternative to using fossil fuels for powering planes and cars. SAF is being aggressively marketed by multiple industries as a greener alternative to burning fossil fuels in cars and airplanes.
However, SAF is produced from food crops such as rapeseed, palm oil, soy and sugar cane. This…
The aviation industry claims that SAF – which is almost all made from either biofuel crops or waste – could deliver around 65% of the reduction in emissions needed for airlines to reach net zero in 2050.
Under the Renewable Transport Fuels Obligation (RTFO), the government allows used cooking oil to be used to make the fuel. It currently accounts for the vast majority of SAF declared in the UK, most of which comes from Asia.
In 2024 alone, British airlines have bought more than 26 million litres of used Asian cooking oil – including 18 million litres from Malaysia, five million from China and two million from Indonesia.
Only about 15% of the used cooking oil purchased by airlines in 2023 has come from European sources, mainly the UK and the Netherlands.
Investigations suggest there is a high risk of fraud in the supply of biofuel from Asia, with particular concern over virgin palm oil being passed off as used cooking oil.
Labelling virgin palm oil as used makes it more valuable, partly because waste products earn double credits under the UK government’s rules for sustainable fuels.
Even genuine used cooking oil can indirectly cause deforestation because countries export waste oil they would otherwise have used domestically, and instead use virgin palm oil to meet their own local demand, according to T&E.
The campaign group says used cooking oil from Asia would be more effective at cutting emissions if it were used to replace diesel in road vehicles in the countries where it was produced – rather than being shipped across the world to be refined, using additional energy, into jet fuel.
The Royal Society, which represents the UK’s leading scientists, has also warned that an area at least half the size of the UK would be needed to grow enough biofuel crops to meet existing aviation demand in the UK alone. Increased levels of recycling are also likely to mean less waste material is available for making the fuel.
Green fuel mandate
Commercial jet engines are currently allowed to burn a maximum of 50% SAF, which is blended with traditional kerosene jet fuel. But next week’s demonstration flight is expected to show that it is safe to use 100% SAF. It is being funded with a government grant of up to £1m.
It comes only weeks before the government is due to announce details about the so-called “SAF mandate”, which will require at least 10% of jet fuel in the UK to come from “sustainable sources” by 2030.
The Department for Transport (DfT) is planning to cap the amount of used cooking oil and animal fat that airlines can use to meet this obligation, because demand could divert the products away from efforts to decarbonise road transport.
The cap, though, could be as high as 250 million litres a year of waste fats and oils.
Finch of T&E said: “The SAF mandate will be the biggest environmental regulation applied to UK aviation ever, and the government has a choice to make: should it carry on allowing SAF to be made from feedstocks that have dubious environmental benefits, or should it ensure that the sustainability criteria it sets genuinely achieve carbon reductions? Used cooking oil should be banned from UK planes.”
‘Undermining’ climate goals
Virgin and other UK airlines say their SAF has been certified by International Sustainability and Carbon Certification (ISCC), a scheme governed by a board that includes an executive from Air BP – one of Virgin’s SAF suppliers.
ISCC has nonetheless taken some action over SAF mis-selling. It launched an investigation this year into “potentially fraudulent behaviour” involving biodiesel that had been declared as waste from Indonesia or Malaysia and then exported from China to Europe.
It also suspended the sustainability certification of three Chinese biofuel exporters and last month pledged to clamp down on fraud by implementing “a traceability database by the end of the year”.
A Virgin Atlantic spokesperson told openDemocracy: “With all SAF purchases, we require suppliers to comply with applicable sustainability standards. In respect of HEFA (Hydrogenated Esters and Fatty Acids) SAF, we ask suppliers to ensure that feedstocks do not contain palm oil or its derivatives.
“SAF is an emerging industry and we source feedstocks from regions around the world and ask that suppliers undertake robust due diligence to ensure there is no palm oil or derivatives.”
However, the Aviation Environment Federation says the aviation industry’s enthusiasm for SAF is obscuring the urgent need for genuinely sustainable solutions to aviation emissions, including development of zero emission aircraft and an overall reduction in flying.
Even if every drop of used cooking oil available globally were refined into jet fuel, there would only be enough to power about one in every 40 flights, according to estimates by sustainable fuel consultancy Cerulogy.
The aviation industry says it is developing alternative sources of sustainable aviation fuel, including “non-edible industrial corn”, “forestry residues” and household waste.
But a study in August by Manchester Metropolitan University challenged the industry’s claims that sustainable aviation fuel can drastically cut emissions.
It said: “The scaling up of SAF to not only maintain but grow global aviation is problematic as it competes for land needed for nature-based carbon removal, clean energy that could more effectively decarbonise other sectors, and captured CO2 to be stored permanently. As such, SAF production undermines global goals of limiting warming to 1.5°C.”
Cait Hewitt, policy director of the Aviation Environment Federation, said one flight using 100% SAF “will make no difference to the fact that only 2.6% of UK aviation fuel is anything other than kerosene. And globally, the figure is more like 0.1%.”
She said the industry and DfT were wrong to suggest that waste-based SAF could be scaled up sustainably.
“It’s a nice idea to make fuel out of rubbish, which is what the UK government and others are pushing for, but producing more rubbish to turn into plane fuel is pretty obviously not a sustainable long-term option.”
She also said it was misleading to claim, as the DfT has, that SAF cuts greenhouse gas emissions by 70%.
“Even using 100% SAF, as with the forthcoming Virgin Atlantic flight, reduces tailpipe emissions by 0% compared with using kerosene. Any CO2 savings will be net savings, just as with carbon offsets.”
She said the flight would not achieve any net CO2 savings unless Virgin and the DfT could demonstrate that more carbon had been captured than would have happened anyway.
A Department for Transport spokesperson said: “Our sustainable aviation fuel programme is one of the most comprehensive in the world.
“We require that the fuel used [for the 100% SAF flight] must meet the specified sustainability criteria. However, it is for the operator and their fuel suppliers to determine the exact nature of the fuel within these parameters. Fuel suppliers are subject to independently verified checks to confirm the authenticity of their materials.”
Written by Ben Webster for Open Democracy, read original article. Republished under the Creative Commons Attribution Licence.
ENDS
Read more about deforestation and air pollution, climate change and palm oil deforestation
Forests offer climate protection and safeguard indigenous peoples, endangered animals and rare plants. Deforestation is a major threat. Boycott palm oil! Read more
Wealthiest people in USA and China responsible for 2/3 of global warming since 1990. Climate policies needed to target the richest people on the planet now! Read more
Mountain Tapirs are the most threatened large mammals of the northern Andes, hunting, climate change and mining are threats, take action and boycott gold! Read more
Saolas are rare and considered Southeast Asia’s ‘unicorns’, this Critically Endangered antelope is facing imminent extinction due to hunting and deforestation Read more
Frill-necked lizard AKA frilled dragons are endangered in southern Papua New Guinea and Indonesian-occupied West Papua due to palm oil ecocide, take action! Read more
Load more posts Something went wrong. Please refresh the page and/or try again.
Take Action in Five Ways
1. Join the #Boycott4Wildlife on social media and subscribe to stay in the loop: Share posts from this website to your own network on Twitter, Mastadon, Instagram, Facebook and Youtube using the hashtags #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife.
2. Contribute stories: Academics, conservationists, scientists, indigenous rights advocates and animal rights advocates working to expose the corruption of the palm oil industry or to save animals can contribute stories to the website.
3. Supermarket sleuthing: Next time you’re in the supermarket, take photos of products containing palm oil. Share these to social media along with the hashtags to call out the greenwashing and ecocide of the brands who use palm oil. You can also take photos of palm oil free products and congratulate brands when they go palm oil free.
4. Take to the streets: Get in touch with Palm Oil Detectives to find out more.
5. Donate: Make a one-off or monthly donation to Palm Oil Detectives as a way of saying thank you and to help pay for ongoing running costs of the website and social media campaigns. Donate here
The Sumatran tiger is teetering on the brink of extinction. Recent findings underscore the urgency of protecting the last remaining populations of these majestic apex predators. Deforestation for palm oil and illegal poaching are wiping out their homes. In the Ulu Masen Ecosystem, a recent study detected only 11 tigers, highlighting severe population stress from snares and habitat loss. Without immediate action, they face the same tragic fate as the extinct Javan and Balinese tigers. Strict global rainforest laws, enforcement of anti-poaching units, and a consumer boycott of palm oil hold the key to protecting Sumatra’s last living tigers.
Tesso Nilo National Park in Sumatra has lost an alarming 78% of primary forest between 2009 and 2023. The primary driver of this devastation is the expansion of illegal palm oil plantations. This rampant deforestation threatens the homes of critically endangered species like tigers, orangutans, and elephants. When palm oil companies build roads, they increase accessibility for poachers, further endangering the animals who live there. Advocating for indigenous-led conservation efforts and adopting a plant-based lifestyle are vital steps to protect these ecosystems.
The destruction of wild ecosystems continues to push thousands of obscure species towards extinction finds a study by Norwegian University of Science and Technology. Researchers used advanced machine learning algorithms to assess the survival probability of thousands of under-researched animals, predicts that a staggering fifty-six percent of all “data deficient” species are currently threatened with extinction. 85% of unassessed amphibians face immediate existential threats, primarily driven by anthropogenic habitat degradation such as the unchecked expansion of palm oil plantations, meat agriculture, mining and timber logging. Right now is the time to fight for all life and reject products linked to ecocide. Always remember them and share out their posts! Start here on the forgotten animals page. These are the forgotten animals of the secretly destroyed forests
In Indonesia’s North Aceh district, Sumatran elephants find themselves increasingly encircled by shrinking patches of forest, hemmed in all all sides by massive palm oil expansion. Just 924 to 1,360 individual Sumatran elephants remain alive. They are trapped in dead lands, surrounded by the very industry that is eradicating their food sources. Ongoing attempts by researchers to measure their populations have been hampered by the Indonesian government, which attempts to hide the truth from the media. Boycott palm oil when you shop to protect these irreplaceable beings.
By holding to account the powerful corporations that control the world, we have the power to fight back against this ecocide. Here is how you can stand up for rainforest animals, farmed animals, indigenous people, and rainforests:
Next time you are in the supermarket, take photos of products containing palm oil. Share these on social media to call out the greenwashing and ecocide of the brands who use it. Congratulate brands when they go completely palm oil-free.
A viable path forward is to champion indigenous-led agroecology. Indigenous peoples possess the deep ecological knowledge required to protect forests and the intricate web of life that includes insects, birds, mammals and reptiles. Stand strongly with indigenous land defenders to protect what remains of the wild.
Learn about other animals endangered by palm oil and other agriculture
A 2019 World Health Organisation (WHO) report into the palm oil industry and RSPO finds extensive greenwashing of palm oil deforestation and the murder of endangered animals (i.e. biodiversity loss)
1. Join the #Boycott4Wildlife on social media and subscribe to stay in the loop: Share posts from this website to your own network on Twitter, Mastadon, Instagram, Facebook and Youtube using the hashtags #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife.
2. Contribute stories: Academics, conservationists, scientists, indigenous rights advocates and animal rights advocates working to expose the corruption of the palm oil industry or to save animals can contribute stories to the website.
3. Supermarket sleuthing: Next time you’re in the supermarket, take photos of products containing palm oil. Share these to social media along with the hashtags to call out the greenwashing and ecocide of the brands who use palm oil. You can also take photos of palm oil free products and congratulate brands when they go palm oil free.
4. Take to the streets: Get in touch with Palm Oil Detectives to find out more.
5. Donate: Make a one-off or monthly donation to Palm Oil Detectives as a way of saying thank you and to help pay for ongoing running costs of the website and social media campaigns. Donate here
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This is fabulous. Thanks for sharing. It's right up Cosmos.coop's alley. I've shared this to our forum for discussion, and I expect we'll be reaching out to explore collaborating with them.
#India’s fifty year long Project #Tiger has been a successful conservation project. A new research study finds that protecting tigers and their rainforest home has additional benefits to #car…
Pete Hegseth said this. Out loud. And then put a transcript of what he said up on a site called war.gov
Traditional allies who care about long-standing internationally agreed upon rules of engagement are deemed to be wringing their hands and clutching their pearls
This is as clear a declaration of, "We are committed to committing war crimes and will continue to war crime and just try and stop us!" as I have ever heard
it is really amazing how well it has aged, and not just in the "lol we told you war was bad" sort of way.
The downside of DS9 is that Americans can still look at themselves as the Federation. "Yeah we're not perfect, but look at the bad guys!" without zero introspection, not realizing that we are, in fact, the Cardassians.
@Rasp @jozeldenrust Interestingly, the Romulans were *always* a stand-in for China, just as the Klingons were a stand in for the Soviet Union. But yeah, the Federation being sort of an EU-cognate right now really tracks. Better question is who is the Earth in this analogy? I.e., the ones in the driver seat while everyone else does just enough to keep them from driving off a bridge?
Just watched the wonderful kinda solarpunky anarchist movie La Belle Verte (1996) about a future or alien peoples rejecting hierarchy, they are vegan, car free, post money and post scarcity in a way that is healthy for the world around them. Main character visits earth to see how screwed up we are, and tries to help deprogram those she meets. youtube.com/watch?v=zYNP4bt41J… #solarpunk #anarchism #cinema
@neauoire feels like something you'd enjoy if you haven't seen already (and the trapeze made me think of something else you've posted, maybe was this?)
hehe, it's a classic, one of my favourite movies. There are references to it in nearly every talk I've given, and all over my wiki, I've even used samples of it in songs I've released. One of the pinned posts on the my profile is a scene from the movie.
Indigenous peoples play a critical role in protecting nature and stemming biodiversity loss worldwide, yet their perspectives and knowledge remain underrepresented in national and international media coverage of environmental issues.
A stock image of a Virgin Atlantic Airways Boeing 787 Dreamliner, pictured on the approach to Heathrow Airport | Nicolas Economou/NurPhoto via Getty Images
These are the forgotten animals of the secretly destroyed forests
Christopher Kyba 🇨🇦🇪🇺
in reply to Christopher Kyba 🇨🇦🇪🇺 • • •Most people in brightly lit countries probably take for granted that clouds are bright at night, but this is completely unnatural. You can see it better in this pair of photos we published in a later paper (titled "Red is the new black"): doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2966.20…
This probably matters a great deal for nocturnal animals, because it's a reversal of an environmental condition that existed during the hundreds of millions of years that life evolved.
James Endres Howell
in reply to Christopher Kyba 🇨🇦🇪🇺 • • •I teach large university science courses. Hundreds of fairly privileged students in the room. It has been my habit to ask them to raise their hands if they have ever seen the Milky Way.
The results have always been disappointing. Over the past 20 years it has gotten worse and worse. Recently many students don't even know what I mean by the question, and I have to explain what a dark sky looks like.
"Raise your hand if you have ever been awed by a clear dark sky full of countless, countless stars." Always less than 5%.