I breathed a HUGE sigh of relief once I realized Pope Leo XIV was a climate activist and social justice warrior, like his predecessor, Pope Francis. With extreme right-wing movements growing across the world, seeing the Catholic Church move in that direction would have taken my last shred of hope. But one group is not happy – MAGA – and they are claiming he’s a ‘Woke’ Pope. How un-Christian fighting for the poor and marginalized, huh?
This guy in the video is a little excitable, but he provides a flavour of what’s being said, and I’m sure there’s a lot more to come. Only America would respond to their nations first Pope like this. Well, the US as it is today.
Now if you know me, you’ll know I despise the word Woke and when people use it around me as a form of criticism, I lose a little respect for them. Being woke is a positive thing and if the new Pope is Woke, then I’m all in. We’ll see what comes next, huh?
Not sure if this is attributable to the Pope, but it’s doing the rounds and feels like a perfect meme addition, although I’ll pop it in here, instead of below.
The media coverage on Pope Leo XIV has been fascinating and all consuming, which makes sense, because you know, he’s American. So far, it’s mostly positive, but keep your eyes open for the attacks too. Apparently, the extreme right in the US jostled for their choice of Pope (Opus Dei is very powerful in the US) so shenanigans are to be expected. I’m not sure how that’s going to play out for them – honestly.
And before moving on, can you imagine a more ridiculous headline than this? Maga criticises the first American pope as not ‘America First’. Alrighty then!
Let’s talk climate
On Climate Courage yesterday, we were far too ambitious with what we wanted to cover, so while all eyes are focused on the new Pope, Trump’s latest idiocy, war, etc… let me bring your attention to what really matters – a habitable and stable planet for all life on earth.
We started the show talking about the idea of hope within the context of discussing the climate emergency, and honestly, when you know what’s going on in the environment, as well as what is required to change that trajectory, talking about hope feels incredibly disingenuous to me. I’d love to talk about hope, but until we actually do something, yeah, nah, it would just be lying.
But have a read. I completely concur with the sentiments, because hope without action is completely pointless – Beyond Hope – The Minority Report Publication
There were two other articles we didn’t cover, which are in the philosophical space, and I wanted to make sure I referenced them too, because both ideas are absolutely correct and worth your time.
- Embodied Evolution Defined – Evolutionary Agents
- “We are collectively suffering through a crisis of imagination”
Pangolins!
Great news for Pangolins. China has announced that it will remove Guilingji, a traditional medicine containing pangolin ingredients, from its official 2025 Pharmacopoeia. The decision, confirmed in the revised edition released on the 25th of March, signals a significant step forward in wildlife protection and aligns with a growing global push to end the use of endangered animals in medicine.
The ingredients in Guilingji include red ginseng, deer antler, seahorse and pangolin – I mean, come on, seahorses? My favorite sea creature.
Fast Fashion, chemicals and the plastic crisis
Here’s two must-reads, especially if you’re following the plastic crisis.
Lobbying is one of the most pernicious forms of communications and it’s a field that had no appeal to me in my PR days. However, interesting huh? Can’t say I’m shedding any tears – Shein Bet Big on Donald Trump. It Lost Big, Too | WIRED.
BTW do yourself a favour and avoid synthetic fabrics. If you’re wearing synthetics, you are absorbing them too. Most importantly, think of your underpants – that’s not an area where you want to be absorbing microplastics.
Want to understand how we got ourselves into the chemical mess we’re in? Check out this story. When people wonder why trust was lost, this gives you a good feel for it – How the World Became Awash in Synthetics – The Atlantic.
Geoengineering
It’s on the agenda, but no one really understands the ramifications. Keep an eye on these developments – Experiments to ‘dim the Sun’ one step closer in the UK – BBC Weather.
Farmers issue a warning we need to heed
Did you know staple crops around the world are reducing by 5.4% per year? It might not seem like much, but it’s a growing issue due to extreme weather events. The articles below cover the UK, but these alerts are coming in thick and fast from everywhere. Not only will food security become a bigger issue, but the cost of food will continue to increase, adding to the cost-of-living crisis. Grow your own food and start now.
- Drought conditions already hitting UK crop production, farmers say | Water | The Guardian
- ‘Too wet, too dry’: Farmers sound alarm over uncertain weather patterns – FarmingUK News
- Fresh Warnings For UK Food Sup…–Macrodose – Apple Podcasts
But don’t worry, the UK banks are on your side, doing everything they can to make sure it doesn’t get worse – UK banks put £75bn into firms building climate-wrecking ‘carbon bombs’, study finds | Climate crisis | The Guardian.
Bird declines in the US
This is an important report, with North America losing nearly three billion birds since 1970. Bird populations across every U.S. habitat are plummeting, with 229 species in urgent need of help. Unfortunately, those losses aren’t slowing down, and experts say the reasons are due to habitat destruction, pollution, and extreme weather. Read more here: Scientists issue urgent warning after alarming collapse of bird populations across the US: ‘We have a full-on emergency’.
The deniers are going bonkers, but…
This article Antarctica’s Astonishing Rebound: Ice Sheet Grows for the First Time in Decades – appeared in SciTech Daily and the climate deniers have leapt on it, saying it means climate change is a hoax – yawn, is anyone else getting tired of short term thinking? Especially as everyone knows (or should know) this it is long-term trends that really matter?
Anyhoo, in response an article in The Daily Mail (of all places) published this Shocking Antarctica discovery sends climate change deniers into mass celebration. Here’s a quick summary of the key points.
- Antarctica has suddenly reversed its decades-long trend of catastrophic melting and actually gained record amounts of ice in recent years
- This is following nearly two decades of alarming ice loss, but that changed in 2021
- This is because Antarctica has experienced unusually ‘intense snowfall’ from 2021 to 2023 and has built up new layers of fresh ice
- Before this change, Antarctica lost about 120 billion tons of ice per year over the previous two decades. Between 2021 and 2023, the continent gained roughly 108 billion tons of ice each year.
- Researchers say this is expected to be a temporary change and it could eventually change back, because it’s the result of ‘abnormal weather patterns’ which brought more moisture to the continent, especially the Eastern half of Antarctica.
- Another ‘unprecedented’ event, these patterns were likely caused by shifts in winds or storms, possibly influenced by climate changes
- Despite these gains, Antarctica has suffered a net loss of 1.848 trillion tons of ice over the last two decades.
And to the deniers crowing about this, maybe read this news too – it’s not looking good for the Emperor penguins, and this has happened during this ice gain period – Emperor penguin colonies in Antarctica suffer as sea-ice diminishes – British Antarctic Survey – News.
AMOC in the news
AMOC is in the news again, and I encourage you to watch Paul Beckwith discussing the research. He’s not the most exciting presenter, but he’s always worth a listen.
World War III?
And sorry for more bad news, but our Northern Hemisphere brothers and sisters are pretty convinced we’ll be in all-out war in the next 5-10 years. We can’t afford war, we never could, but right now, war will just send us right over the edge. We MUST stand together and say no war! We can change this path, but we better start getting serious about it – Many in US and western Europe think ‘third world war likely within five to 10 years’ | VE Day | The Guardian
And if you want to understand how we’re moving so quickly in the wrong direction, know this truth. There is so much gaslighting going on, everyone is off balance and can’t see straight. This is what’s at play, and we better stop this in its tracks, before it’s too late – How Nazi Race Science Conquered the White House, and is Coming for Your Democracy – Byline Times.
It is time to come together and fight for the future we want. We cannot be apathetic; we cannot be silent. We have to stand up and speak up for ourselves and our families, wherever we are in the world. Please join me.
Favorite visuals or memes
It boggles the mind how this continues….
Owning the Libs is expensive
The blame game
American exceptionalism indeed!
My content and my pals
I wrote some reflections on the current state of social media, including AI and Bot farms, reflecting on some recent articles. Have a read: Can we save social media? Should we? – Uncommon Courage – An Invitation.
It was an absolute pleasure having Heather Cameron on Climate Courage yesterday to talk about the recent floods in outback Australia, but she also shared her powerful story. A true inspiration and I could tell Dr David Ko and Richard Busellato thoroughly enjoyed listening to her story. I did too.
Dig into the news
Plenty more to read, listen to or watch, so do click through to the reads at the image below, and a reminder, this platform has articles going back weeks, so have a scan and read/watch/listen to whatever jumps out at you.
Let me know what caught your attention? Or share with me what has your attention now? There’s a lot going on, which means none of us can cover everything. Besides, it’s always great to get feedback so I know I’m delivering something of value.
Cheers
Andrea
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