climate change | Chris Aldrich

Read How Much Can Dietary Changes and Food Production Practices Help Mitigate Climate Change? (Pacific Standard)

Food policy experts weigh in on the possibilities of individual diet choices and sustainable production methods.

Agriculture, forestry, and other types of land use account for 23 percent of anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions, according to the IPCC. ❧

Annotated on March 07, 2020 at 11:49AM

While there is limited data available that can confidently measure the expansion of the meatless population, societal indicators like the double-digit sales growth of plant-based food options between 2014 and 2017 reflect a growing consumer demand for vegan and vegetarian foods. Still, an analysis by Animal Charity Evaluators found that between 2 and 6 percent of Americans self-identify as vegetarians, and only 1 percent of Americans self-identify as vegetarians and report never consuming meat. ❧

Annotated on March 07, 2020 at 11:53AM

“The fundamental problem with climate change is that it’s a collective problem, but it rises out of lots of individual decisions. Society’s challenge is to figure out how we can influence those decisions in a way that generates a more positive collective outcome,” says Keith Wiebe, senior research fellow at the International Food Policy Research Institute. ❧

Annotated on March 07, 2020 at 11:55AM

Consumer demand is one of four important variables that, when combined, can influence and shape farming practices, according to Festa. The other three are the culture of farming communities, governmental policies, and the economic system that drives farming. ❧

Annotated on March 07, 2020 at 11:57AM

Festa argues that this is why organic farming in the U.S. saw a 56 percent increase between 2011 and 2016. ❧

A useful statistic but it needs more context. What is the percentage of organic farming to the overall total of farming?

Fortunately the linked article provides some additional data: https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2019/01/10/organic-farming-is-on-the-rise-in-the-u-s/
Annotated on March 07, 2020 at 12:01PM

🎧 The World’s Biggest Problem | On the Media | WNYC Studios

Listened to The World's Biggest Problem from On the Media | WNYC Studios

The messaging behind the Green New Deal; a former insider's look at Facebook's problems; a potential solution; and the godfathers of the modern newspaper column.

At Tuesday's State of the Union, President Trump continued to call for a wall at the southern border. Meanwhile, some Democrats point to the real crisis: climate change. A look at the messaging of urgency and hope around the Green New Deal. And, a former mentor to Mark Zuckerberg lays out his deep criticisms of Facebook. Then, a Facebook employee makes the case for one potential solution. Plus, a new documentary about Pete Hamill and Jimmy Breslin, two New York City reporters, who helped turn column writing into an art form.

1. Kate Aronoff [@KateAronoff], contributing writer with The Intercept, on how Democrats are selling the urgent need to address climate change. Listen.

2. Roger McNamee [@Moonalice], author of Zucked: Waking Up to the Facebook Catastrophe, on the damage that Facebook has done. Listen.

3. Andy O'Connell [@facebook], manager of content distribution and algorithm policy at Facebook, on the network's new "Supreme Court" for content moderation. Listen.

4. Jonathan Alter [@jonathanalter], filmmaker and journalist, on the legacy of two masterful newspaper columnists. Listen.

🎧 Gillmor Gang: Day Zero | TechCrunch

Listened to Gillmor Gang: Day Zero from TechCrunch

Esteban Kolsky, Denis Pombriant, Keith Teare, Gené Teare, and Steve Gillmor. Recorded live Saturday, February 3, 2018.

An entire episode on water and sustainability.

Without seemingly knowing it they dance around the idea of needing a mixed economy. It’s almost as if they only know about capitalism and competition and there are no other options out there. We need protections (read “regulations” if you’re a Republican) put in by a planning and forward thinking government and then we can use capitalism as the fulcrum to ramp up and accelerate potential solutions when competition will bring them about.

🎧 ‘The Daily’: When We Almost Stopped Climate Change | New York Times

Listened to ‘The Daily’: When We Almost Stopped Climate Change from New York Times

The U.S. had an opportunity to solve the climate crisis in the 1980s. What went wrong?

A great history of climate change over the past 30+ years. Interesting to see a lot of the needle move under Republicans while it’s come to a dead stop now.

🎧 ‘The Daily’: A New Climate Tipping Point | New York Times

Listened to ‘The Daily’: A New Climate Tipping Point from New York Times

Last week, a long-awaited report from the United Nations’ scientific panel on climate change showed that the worst consequences of global warming would occur even sooner than previously thought. Here’s the story behind the findings.

🎧 ‘The Daily’: The California Wildfires | New York Times

Listened to 'The Daily': The California Wildfires from New York Times

What was once a seasonal concern has become a persistent, year-round threat across the state.

🔖 davidgchristian tweet: We humans have reduced the biomass of life on earth by 50%

Bookmarked a tweet by David Christian (Twitter)

We humans have reduced the biomass of life on earth by 50% #bighistory pic.twitter.com/dlDypTlU1l
— David Christian (@davidgchristian) October 21, 2018

🎧 Summer Series Episode 1: US Storm Edition | On the Media | WNYC Studios

Listened to Summer Series Episode 1: US Storm Edition from On the Media | WNYC Studios

This summer we revisit some of our Breaking News Consumer's Handbooks. To mark the ramping up of hurricane season, the first episode in this mini-series is the US Storm Edition.

For media professionals, hurricanes offer the very best kind of bad news because the story arc is predictable and invariably compelling. In this summer series revisiting some of our Breaking News Consumer’s Handbooks, we examine the myths, misleading language, and tired media narratives that clog up news coverage at a time when clarity can be a matter of life and death.

Brooke speaks with Dr. Robert Holmes, National Flood Hazard Coordinator for the U.S. Geological Survey; Gina Eosco, a risk communication consultant; and Scott Gabriel Knowles of Drexel University, author of The Disaster Experts: Mastering Risk in Modern America.

👓 We Aren’t Ready For Hurricanes Like Florence | Five Thirty Eight

Read We Aren’t Ready For Hurricanes Like Florence (Five Thirty Eight)

Despite Harvey and Rita and Sandy and Katrina and …
A FiveThirtyEight Chat

Hurricane Florence is headed for the Carolinas. What should the country do to prepare for storms that are getting stronger? NOAA / GETTY IMAGES cwick (Chadwick Matlin, features editor): Hello, everyone! We’re here to discuss the tremendously big, tremendously dangerous hurricane headed for the coast of the Carolinas. It has been a relatively quiet season — before Thursday, no named hurricane had made landfall in the contiguous 48 — but Hurricane Florence is piercing the calm. Many other sites have great graphics about Florence and the devastation it will likely cause, so we’re here to talk more about the science of what’s happening — and what governments should do about these destructive hurricanes that keep heading for our shores.

First question for you all: What about Florence is most striking for you?

👓 Climate Change Is Messing With Your Dinner | Bloomberg

Read Climate Change Is Messing With Your Dinner by Agnieszka de Sousa and Hayley Warren (Bloomberg.com)

The future of food looks like lots of lobsters, Polish chardonnay and California coffee.

This is a difficult story to tell, though the timelapse imagery here is relatively useful. If one had some extra money lying around, it certainly indicates which crops one could be shorting in the markets over the next few decades.

I can imagine Jeremy Cherfas doing something interesting and more personalizing with this type of story via his fantastic interviews on Eat This Podcast.

h/t Jorge Spinoza