I love reading your newsletters, and those upcoming topics on misinformation seem fascinating to me. When I think of how hard it is these days for people to come together and to pull in the same direction for policies that benefit us all, I often end up thinking about social media companies and their role in building these massively powerful tools that optimise for our attention; not social cohesion, accuracy, inclusivity, diversity, or kindness. As a result, I do believe that echo chambers, algorithmic bias, and the invisible, enormous power that the tech sector has over our communities and democratic processes have been a huge part of why it is so difficult to get consensus on climate action, when the science is clear and evidence-backed solutions are readily available.
So in short, a +1 to you writing about misinformation, I'm looking forward to reading it!
Thank you. I hope that the misinformation articles are useful for you. I agree about the negative impact of social media, that's one of the reasons I enjoy Substack.
Hi Melanie, I enjoy your newsletter and the research behind it. One topic I am also looking into is how climate change discussions often ignore the other big crisis -- the biodiversity crisis. I wrote about it here (https://sadnewsletter.substack.com/p/climate-change-and-biodiversity). Often the issue of climate change becomes all about carbon and such however your example of pest risk and food is more biodiversity than climate change. Of course, climate change, biodiversity, and food production are all related. We do not see those connections when the media talks about carbon footprint and emissions.
Thank you, that's a good point. Many of these big issues connect in complex ways. I hope I'll giving some insight into their interaction links in future newsletters.
Anyway, roundup gets a bad press. I’ve used it a lot on environmental weeds and in my garden.
What are the alternatives….I remember a few years ago a Green MP suggested steam. At that stage in the Brook Sanctuary we were working in thick scrub on 45 degree slopes! There less effective herbicides for for small scale environmental weeds but what about the crop folk. What are their alternatives?
HI Peter, I hear you about Roundup - it's very effective and can be applied in ways that are really targeted. I'll definitely be looking at that issue in relation to some of the crops I'm looking at in future.
I really enjoy your newsletters - they're reliably informative and extremely clear and easy to understand. I love the topics you have planned. I also have really enjoyed the recent issues that have a direct impact on what WE can do to positively impact the environment - for instance, the issue about plane travel, and the one that helped me see that reducing waste in landfills was actually more important than buying an EV. That's my small request - more info on what we can do to make an impact.
I’m a new reader, but find your content very useful. My particular interest would be knowing how crops will be affected by pests migrating to regions previously inhospitable, but possible due to climate change. I was researching this, but quickly realized the technical skillset to do it justice are not in my wheelhouse. Your expertise and writing skills would be great to shed light on this incredibly important subject.
Thank you, that's a topic that's really interesting to me because I've got a long history in biosecurity and invasive species. I'm full of ideas for this.
I ran a blog+podcast on climate change between 2017 and 2019 called ‘imagine my relief’ - the Wordpress layout is a mess now but the content is still around. I love thinking about the science side. Hydrogen is a very interesting area for us in Aotearoa, the evolution of lignite modifying enzymes really got me thinking, but the story I read around and never got to was ‘what is carbon anyway’. The layperson’s understanding of elements may be very superficial, and I imagine future generations taking a closer interest. Once I started learning about the Big Bang I think the story became too big to find my way around! Thank you for the great and valuable work, and hit me up if you’d like to talk. I’m in Poneke much of the time.
Thank you. I loved chemistry when I was a student, so questions about the different elements interest me a lot. I know what you mean about sometimes the story getting too big. Once you pull a thread, there's often so much there. I'll check out the content from your blog and podcast.
Thanks Melanie. I stopped adding to the blog and podcast some time ago but has recently been learning more about the physics, chemistry and biology behind where we are now, and working on some writing that makes use of it. The James Webb telescope is probably a needless tangent to follow in this path, but boy is it interesting.
Melanie, thanks for the great writing. Just as someone said earlier, I'm curious about New Zealand's ecology and environment. How does climate change play out there? Thanks for the great writing once again.
Hello, I really enjoy your newsletters; the detail on our planetary systems, and their complex interactions are among my favourites. I'm still in stunned awe over the flight emissions, and the atmospheric rivers amongst others. Like other subscribers have mentioned - any tips or ideas that come forth on possible actionable changes that we can either individually or work collectively towards are greatly appreciated. These keep the candles of hope burning! Thank you!
We hear a lot about degrowing the economy. What does this mean in real practical terms? Just consuming less? Regenerative farming (which looks a lot like farming before the heavy use of pesticides and artificial fertilisers)? I have friends who think hunting and gathering with a bit of subsistence farming will do the trick, but will surely not support 5million people.
Thanks Narena, that's a good point. I agree that we can't support our current (and likely future) population on traditional methods, whether pre-industrial like regenerative agriculture or modern industrial farming. So what that really means is definitely worth a closer look.
Conversely, the twitter mantra, "One cannot have a growth economy on a finite planet", leads one to ask whether or not a "green" economy can be a growth economy. Governments seem to be acting as if it can be.
Kia ora Melanie. The thing I’d love to see across all mainstream reporting of “climate” is a Te Tiriti analysis of the causes that have created the conditions within which current decisions must be made, and also constrain the solutions and responses. There’s some excellent environment reporting out there but the lack of interrogation of the historical causes of climate change is incredibly frustrating. The tipping point of the crisis has already happened/occurred for many Māori communities - and indigenous peoples all over the world. But within the dominant narratives you rarely get deep analysis or recognition of this. The cascading pressures are seen in all the social and economic indicators (housing, health etc). Some try to highlight indigenous responses to climate, but that isn’t the same as the critique that is required of the systems and values of colonialism that continue unchallenged. As someone also writing in this space, it would be really great to feel that there was some coordination on this, as we would be so much more effective in communicating across the complexity. Ngā mihi
Hi Melanie, I’m really enjoying (is that the right word for a crisis? Perhaps appreciating is better) your articles on climate change, they’re really breaking down some complex topics and making them understandable and readable in a way I haven’t found much elsewhere. I’d be interested in reading more along those lines.
I love reading your newsletters, and those upcoming topics on misinformation seem fascinating to me. When I think of how hard it is these days for people to come together and to pull in the same direction for policies that benefit us all, I often end up thinking about social media companies and their role in building these massively powerful tools that optimise for our attention; not social cohesion, accuracy, inclusivity, diversity, or kindness. As a result, I do believe that echo chambers, algorithmic bias, and the invisible, enormous power that the tech sector has over our communities and democratic processes have been a huge part of why it is so difficult to get consensus on climate action, when the science is clear and evidence-backed solutions are readily available.
So in short, a +1 to you writing about misinformation, I'm looking forward to reading it!
Thank you. I hope that the misinformation articles are useful for you. I agree about the negative impact of social media, that's one of the reasons I enjoy Substack.
Melanie, my favorite Turnstones are the ones on New Zealand ecology and environment. I'd love to see more of those.
Thanks Paul. and sorry for the delay in replying. I've got a couple of ideas for articles on those topics, so I hope to get to them soon.
Hi Melanie, I enjoy your newsletter and the research behind it. One topic I am also looking into is how climate change discussions often ignore the other big crisis -- the biodiversity crisis. I wrote about it here (https://sadnewsletter.substack.com/p/climate-change-and-biodiversity). Often the issue of climate change becomes all about carbon and such however your example of pest risk and food is more biodiversity than climate change. Of course, climate change, biodiversity, and food production are all related. We do not see those connections when the media talks about carbon footprint and emissions.
Thank you, that's a good point. Many of these big issues connect in complex ways. I hope I'll giving some insight into their interaction links in future newsletters.
Hi Melanie…not sure if I am paid or not.
Anyway, roundup gets a bad press. I’ve used it a lot on environmental weeds and in my garden.
What are the alternatives….I remember a few years ago a Green MP suggested steam. At that stage in the Brook Sanctuary we were working in thick scrub on 45 degree slopes! There less effective herbicides for for small scale environmental weeds but what about the crop folk. What are their alternatives?
HI Peter, I hear you about Roundup - it's very effective and can be applied in ways that are really targeted. I'll definitely be looking at that issue in relation to some of the crops I'm looking at in future.
I really enjoy your newsletters - they're reliably informative and extremely clear and easy to understand. I love the topics you have planned. I also have really enjoyed the recent issues that have a direct impact on what WE can do to positively impact the environment - for instance, the issue about plane travel, and the one that helped me see that reducing waste in landfills was actually more important than buying an EV. That's my small request - more info on what we can do to make an impact.
Thanks Heather and sorry for the delay replying. I feel hopeful when I write about what we can do, so I'll definitely try and focus more on that.
I love your scholarship and writing--thank you.
I'm fascinating learning about communication between stands of Sequoia and the Quaking Aspens.
I believe we need to go back to letting nature manage its forests so these communities of trees can survive.
Thank you. Time for a coffee.
Thanks Sandy. I definitely want to write more about how we are affecting natural ecosystems and how they are adapting to us too.
I’m a new reader, but find your content very useful. My particular interest would be knowing how crops will be affected by pests migrating to regions previously inhospitable, but possible due to climate change. I was researching this, but quickly realized the technical skillset to do it justice are not in my wheelhouse. Your expertise and writing skills would be great to shed light on this incredibly important subject.
Thank you, that's a topic that's really interesting to me because I've got a long history in biosecurity and invasive species. I'm full of ideas for this.
I ran a blog+podcast on climate change between 2017 and 2019 called ‘imagine my relief’ - the Wordpress layout is a mess now but the content is still around. I love thinking about the science side. Hydrogen is a very interesting area for us in Aotearoa, the evolution of lignite modifying enzymes really got me thinking, but the story I read around and never got to was ‘what is carbon anyway’. The layperson’s understanding of elements may be very superficial, and I imagine future generations taking a closer interest. Once I started learning about the Big Bang I think the story became too big to find my way around! Thank you for the great and valuable work, and hit me up if you’d like to talk. I’m in Poneke much of the time.
Thank you. I loved chemistry when I was a student, so questions about the different elements interest me a lot. I know what you mean about sometimes the story getting too big. Once you pull a thread, there's often so much there. I'll check out the content from your blog and podcast.
Thanks Melanie. I stopped adding to the blog and podcast some time ago but has recently been learning more about the physics, chemistry and biology behind where we are now, and working on some writing that makes use of it. The James Webb telescope is probably a needless tangent to follow in this path, but boy is it interesting.
Melanie, thanks for the great writing. Just as someone said earlier, I'm curious about New Zealand's ecology and environment. How does climate change play out there? Thanks for the great writing once again.
Thank you, I appreciate it. I do want to get to that topic, I'm definitely curious about how NZ's ecology will be affected by climate change.
I'm a recent subscriber, and I've really been enjoying The Turnstone, so thank you very much for writing it.
I'm also very interested in our food, and how much our personal choices actually have an impact on the climate. I've been following Glen Herud who has been developing Happy Cow Milk, trying to do dairy in a more sustainable and humane way. He has some interesting articles on plant vs livestock agriculture (e.g. https://preview.mailerlite.com/r1k3a7k2x0/2044050486369196742/w4i4/ and https://mailchi.mp/8b74bab1f00b/synthetic-fertilisers-help-feed-the-world-but-at-what-cost-649999?e=26f2e81208). I also found this recently: https://knowablemagazine.org/article/food-environment/2022/how-much-meat-can-we-eat-sustainably. It's interesting because I had really internalised the message that plant-based was always preferable, and as always the answer is much more nuanced than that. Mass cultivation of e.g. soybeans is nearly always a massive monoculture, and that is also an ecological disaster. I'm not sure if it's in your wheelhouse, but I'm always interested in content exploring these tradeoffs, which seems very relevant in NZ especially.
Thanks Colin. It is tricky, so much of our global food system is really destructive. I'll check out the links you suggested.
Hello, I really enjoy your newsletters; the detail on our planetary systems, and their complex interactions are among my favourites. I'm still in stunned awe over the flight emissions, and the atmospheric rivers amongst others. Like other subscribers have mentioned - any tips or ideas that come forth on possible actionable changes that we can either individually or work collectively towards are greatly appreciated. These keep the candles of hope burning! Thank you!
Thanks Greg. I agree, more on solutions does seem to be coming up as a theme so I'll look more at that.
We hear a lot about degrowing the economy. What does this mean in real practical terms? Just consuming less? Regenerative farming (which looks a lot like farming before the heavy use of pesticides and artificial fertilisers)? I have friends who think hunting and gathering with a bit of subsistence farming will do the trick, but will surely not support 5million people.
Thanks Narena, that's a good point. I agree that we can't support our current (and likely future) population on traditional methods, whether pre-industrial like regenerative agriculture or modern industrial farming. So what that really means is definitely worth a closer look.
Conversely, the twitter mantra, "One cannot have a growth economy on a finite planet", leads one to ask whether or not a "green" economy can be a growth economy. Governments seem to be acting as if it can be.
Kia ora Melanie. The thing I’d love to see across all mainstream reporting of “climate” is a Te Tiriti analysis of the causes that have created the conditions within which current decisions must be made, and also constrain the solutions and responses. There’s some excellent environment reporting out there but the lack of interrogation of the historical causes of climate change is incredibly frustrating. The tipping point of the crisis has already happened/occurred for many Māori communities - and indigenous peoples all over the world. But within the dominant narratives you rarely get deep analysis or recognition of this. The cascading pressures are seen in all the social and economic indicators (housing, health etc). Some try to highlight indigenous responses to climate, but that isn’t the same as the critique that is required of the systems and values of colonialism that continue unchallenged. As someone also writing in this space, it would be really great to feel that there was some coordination on this, as we would be so much more effective in communicating across the complexity. Ngā mihi
Thanks Nadine, that's a really good point. It's so complex and I feel ill-equipped to tackle it alone, but I'd love to discuss it further with you.
Hi Melanie, I’m really enjoying (is that the right word for a crisis? Perhaps appreciating is better) your articles on climate change, they’re really breaking down some complex topics and making them understandable and readable in a way I haven’t found much elsewhere. I’d be interested in reading more along those lines.
Thanks Kim, I really appreciate it. I get what you say about enjoying not being quite the right word. I feel the same writing the articles sometimes.