“We must re-wild the planet.”

Sir David Attenborough

Greta Thunberg


For an example of re-wilding in action, check out this recent (June 2023) BBC report on the jaguars of Argentina.


Yet humankind continues to reshape the surface of the planet — so often at the expense of our future, as in this BBC summary on what we have done in this past year alone (12/27/23)

And one of the less noticed effects of the continued violence of the human species is to dramatically effect carbon release into the Earth’s atmosphere, as in this recent Guardian report on the Mid-East war (1/10/24).


Here’s another bit of the ongoing evidence (Washington Post, June 20, 2023) that humankind has directly affected the warming of Earth.Digging deep into a humble lake in Canada, scientists found a spot on Earth like no other — and a record that could redefine our history of the planet.”


Valley of the Gods, Utah, USA / by Tony Balis

From the BBC on climate change: Thousands of penguins die in Antarctic ice breakup



Edited by Paul Hawken, produced by hundreds of outstanding writers and researchers from across the continents, this is indeed a visionary and comprehensive resource for understanding both the challenges and solutions of this climate change era, the Anthropocene. It is truly an exciting and hopeful read.

For the animal shall not be measured by man. In a world older than ours, they move finished and complete, gifted with the extension of senses we have lost or never attained, living by voices we shall never hear. 

They are not brethren, they are not underlings: they are other nations, caught with ourselves in the net of life and time, fellow prisoners of the splendor and travail of the earth.

~ Henry Beston, The Outermost House
Arctic wolf family in Canada

This wolf pack takes a dry-eyed look at the recent commitment of over 100 countries around the world to plant more than 3 trillion trees, as reported by The Financial Times


Yet of course so many efforts to make positive change have severe negative results as well. Here, for example, from The Washington Post (4/27/23), is what happens when the worldwide drive to produce more electric vehicles leaves hundreds of misled villagers in West Africa with false promises from mining companies – not to mention facing ruined crops and polluted rivers.


A quick aside for those who might have a five to eight year old in the house. There is a wonderful new book (July 2023) designed just for those ages:

Our Planet: There’s No Place like Earth

Here is author Stacy McAnulty reading it.

(THI is in fact working on creating an awesome space for kids on this site.)

It surveyed 10,000 sixteen to twenty-five-year-olds in ten countries (Australia, Brazil, Finland, France, India, Nigeria, Philippines, Portugal, the UK, and the USA) between May 18 and June 7, 2021. Data were collected on participants’ thoughts and feelings about climate change, and about government responses to climate change.

Respondents across all countries were worried about climate change (59% were very or extremely worried and 84% were at least moderately worried). More than 50% reported each of the following emotions: sad, anxious, angry, powerless, helpless, and guilty. More than 45% of respondents said their feelings about climate change negatively affected their daily life and functioning, and many reported a high number of negative thoughts about climate change (e.g. 75% said that they think the future is frightening and 83% said that they think people have failed to take care of the planet). 



The National Geographic‘s October 2023 issue features a compelling investigation, well laid out for clarity and access, on how technology is helping to fix the climate crisis (“Clearing the Air” page 64).



https://peacehouse.net/this-is-huge-judge-sides-with-montana-youths-in-historic-climate-ruling/



Here are five excellent BBC articles, reminding us of the basics:




Meltwater flows from the Greenland ice sheet into the Baffin Bay near Pituffik, Greenland, on July 17 as captured from the ground during a NASA mission along with University of Texas scientists to measure melting Arctic sea ice. (Kerem Yucel/AFP/Getty Images)

And what is happening in the fastest warming place on Earth, Svalbard?

The sun, with all those planets
revolving around it and dependent on it, can still ripen a bunch of grapes
as if it had nothing else in the universe to do. 

Galileo Galilei
(Makes one wonder what the sun thinks these days about our little planet…)
Afghanistan 1981 / by Luke Powell

To keep up to date, here is news on one of the latest climate conferences: The Africa Adaptation Summit, September 5, 2022.

Humans have the ignominious distinction of being the only species to be individually responsible for a global extinction crisis, and because of that we have a moral responsibility to protect species we have imperiled. But conservation is not just altruistic. It’s also selfish.

New York Times, 9/19/22 (from the article below)

The New York Times’s Tim McDonnell, reporting from Cairo, takes a thorough look at the remarkable ways humans are transforming our approach to species preservation.


In comprehensive and intimidating (and temporary!) conclusion to this section of our site, here’s a sophisticated and objective climate overview for our entire home planet: The United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Sixth Assessment Report, Climate Change 2021, The Physical Science Basis. It was finalized on 6 August 2021.

For further investigation into the complexities of humanity’s climate crisis, we also recommend these two brilliant books:

The first — Half-Earth: Our Planet’s Fight for Survival, by E. O. Wilson — examines how humanity has become both the architect and ruler of our anthropocene era, showing how this severely affects all sentient beings. Edward Osborne Wilson, who died this past December at age 91, was a world reknowned biologist, humanist, and distinguished professor at Harvard University. Author of many books, the world’s leading expert on ants (myrmecology), founder of the Biophilia hypothesis (with Dr. Stephen Kellert), Professor Wilson twice won the Pultizer Prize for General Non-fiction.

The next — Beyond Words, by Carl Safina — examinines how animals think and feel. The author is a professor and ecologist at Columbia University in New York City. Based on the lives of elephants, wolves, and killer whales, it is a humbling investigation into the ways in which humans have dramatically misunderstood — at our intense peril — how our fellow riders on Earth make their well considered way in life.


We must not only re-wild the planet, but also understand clearly how we are fast using our limited mineral resources — most dramatically by building electric vehicles. It’s instructive and worrisome to see how the top five minerals used in EV production are being mined around the world.