Welcome to the week.
It’s way too hot outside to start seeing Halloween decorations in stores. How can anyone start thinking about cozy season at a time like this?
This Week
And more.
Have a great week,
— Willow
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Have you ever taken an "Action Step" that we've recommended?
Last week, we asked: When you're feeling overwhelmed by global problems, what helps you stay engaged?
You said:
🟨🟨🟨⬜️⬜️⬜️ Focusing on one issue at a time (22%)
“Focusing on the one issue helps me put things into perspective rather than becoming overwhelmed.”
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 Learning about the science behind issues (36%)
“I've always had an interest in all that's connected to the science of things. So, the scientific facts concerning an issue whether backing up that premise or disputing it would be something worth knowing about to me.”
🟨🟨🟨⬜️⬜️⬜️ Taking concrete action steps (17%)
“After taking a short break to breathe out the bad juju in the air, it's back to doing as much "good and necessary trouble" as I can. Now is not the time to let our guard down. #grannyactivist”
🟨⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ Connecting with my community (9%)
🟨⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ Zooming out to see long-term progress (8%)
🟨⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ Something else (write in!) (8%)
“Finding other communities in our own country and in other countries who have tackled the problem and what they found and how they proceeded.”
New Shit Giver Alyssa is here because “I am worried about the state of our environment and what we are leaving for future generations.“
Same here, big time. Let’s do something about it.
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⚡️ Climate change:
A climate scientist criticizes how the DOE and EPA selectively cited and misrepresented his research to justify rolling back climate policies (The Climate Brink)
Humanity has reached “escape velocity” in the green energy revolution, meaning the world is steadily moving away from fossil fuels despite efforts to promote drilling and dismantle environmental regulations (Vox)
🌎 The International Maritime Organization could become the first UN body to adopt a globally binding treaty for any industry when nations vote in October on a net-zero framework requiring ships to reduce emissions by 65% by 2050 or pay substantial fees (Mongabay)
The nuclear power industry is experiencing its biggest dealmaking boom since the 1970s (HEATMAP)
🇳🇿 New Zealand is looking to double the country’s use of geothermal energy by 2040 (Bloomberg)
🦠 Health & Bio:
Many common medications for heart disease, allergies, and other conditions have a little-known side effect of increasing the risk of heat-related illness (Bloomberg)
🌍 A study of over 29 million participants found that long-term exposure to air pollutants significantly increases dementia risk (Mongabay)
The US has the world’s highest incarceration rate driven by policies that disproportionately affect Black and Latino communities, yet research shows mass incarceration has failed to improve public safety (American Inequality)
🇮🇳 Residents of an Indian community are experiencing widespread hearing loss due to prolonged exposure to air pollution (The Xylom)
The shingles vaccine may reduce dementia risk by 20% over seven years, suggesting that vaccines could have broader therapeutic benefits beyond preventing infectious diseases (The Conversation)
💦 Food & Water:
🌍 While the UAE and Saudi Arabia race to become AI superpowers, they are facing a critical water crisis, with data centers projected to consume over 426 billion liters annually by 2030 in one of the world’s most water-stressed regions (Rest of World)
🗾 Japan’s rice crop faces significant threats from record-breaking heat and the lowest rainfall in nearly 80 years in key producing regions (Bloomberg)
🇸🇬 Singapore has transformed from losing most of its original forest cover to becoming a “city in a garden” with 47% green spaces, including 18-20% secondary forests (Mongabay)
Environmental contamination has become so pervasive that plastic, PFAS, and other pollutants are now found everywhere, from Antarctic snow to human blood, creating what scientists call the “exposome” (The New York Times)
👩💻 Beep Boop:
Wikipedia editors have adopted a new “speedy deletion” policy to quickly remove AI-generated articles to address the flood of AI content threatening the platform’s quality and volunteer-driven editorial process (404 Media)
🇨🇳 Big Pharma is striking multibillion dollar deals with Chinese AI biotech firms (Rest of World)
A researcher discovered over 130,000 conversations with AI chatbots are publicly accessible on the Internet Archive (404 Media)
🌍 AI chatbots and language models are creating a new form of global inequality by systematically excluding the vast majority of the world’s languages from their training data (Undark)
🌎 = Global news
Data centers can’t have it all (yet)
Together With Bookshop
Want to read what the people working on the frontlines of the future are reading?
Every week, I ask our podcast guest, "What’s a book you’ve read this year that’s opened your mind to a topic you haven’t considered before, or that’s changed your thinking in some way?"
And every week, we add their picks to a list on Bookshop, where every purchase on the site financially supports independent bookstores.
Want an ad-free experience? Become a Member!
Last week’s most popular Action Step was volunteering with People For Bikes to bring better bike access and infrastructure to your city.
Donate to the Student Legal Defense Network to advance students’ rights to educational opportunities free from predatory loans.
🌏 Volunteer with AI for Good and join researchers, professionals, and students working in AI research to design, build, and support projects that ethically solve global problems.
Get educated about accessing affordable, high-quality food that benefits farmers, prevents food waste, and saves the environment with Misfits Market.
Be heard about expanding ballot accessibility in Florida by bringing full language access to Florida elections.
Invest in a climate-friendly 401(k) regardless of where you work using Sphere.
🌎 = Global Action Step
NEW: Find the action steps that mean the most to you at WhatCanIDo.Earth
This week, Claire and Quinn tackle the brutal summer heat while diving into the complexities of maintaining a relationship with your co-parent.
Finding couple time when everyone just wants to retreat to their separate corners is an eternal struggle, especially when you're balancing getting body-shamed by your own children and finding out your kid has been playing inappropriate games online.
📖 Prefer to read? Get the transcript here.
🤝 Thanks for reading. Here’s how we can help you directly:
☎️ Work with Quinn 1:1 (slots are extremely limited) - book time to talk climate strategy, investing, or anything else.
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