Kickoff For December 16, 2019
Welcome to this week’s edition of the Monday Kickoff, a collection of what I’ve found interesting, informative, and insightful on the web over the last seven days.
Once again, an edition on a single theme. That theme? The environment, and how we interact with it. Here are nine articles that will either get you thinking or will annoy you:
The air conditioning trap: how cold air is heating the world, wherein Stephen Buranyi looks at how air conditioners have become a driver of climate change, how we can reduce our dependency on it, and that obstacles in the way of that shift.
Can you cool a house without air conditioning?, wherein we learn that there are more traditional and effective ways to cool buildings, and that modern air conditioning should only be used as a last resort.
Who will pay for the huge costs of holding back rising seas?, wherein we learn about what needs to be done to protect towns and cities threatened by rising seas, how much that will cost, and how hard it is to find that money.
Flight Shame: The Climate Hazards of Air Travel, wherein Rebecca Tuhus-Dubrow takes a deep dive into the issues and ideas that the non-flying movement is wrapped up in.
Everything We Do Not Know, wherein Aaron Gilbreath examines, through his personal choices, the potential long-term environmental effects of the Fukushima reactor disaster upon the oceans and our food supplies.
Grow Up, wherein Soraya Roberts reminds us that when it comes to fighting climate change, the children are leading us but that many adults are refusing to listen to them.
Dreamboats, wherein we’re introduced to the ways in which the ocean shipping industry intends to go green, and discover the challenges the industry faces in making that move.
Kincade Fire: The Age of Flames Is Consuming California, wherein Matt Simon, by examining the spate of wildfires in California in recent years, introduces us to the Pyrocene, an era like the Ice Age, but with fire. Scary stuff.
What Japan can teach us about cleanliness, wherein we’re reminded that it’s up to all of us to keep our towns, cities, and countries clean and to do that we need to ingrain the idea into everyone’s consciousness.
And that’s it for this Monday. Come back in seven days for another set of links to start off your week.