A warning: if you read The Planet for the happy articles, skip today's newsletter. I haven't any. The planet is a beauty, but one with a fever. The atmosphere and oceans get warmer, the weather gets more extreme, species die out, the water crisis is getting worse, and so are soil, water, and air pollution levels.
Feb 15, 2023·edited Feb 15, 2023Liked by Alexander Verbeek 🌍
Sobering ... I had heard about the lynx in France, but not about the cacti in Switzerland. Valais is one of the driest regions, so I'm not surprised that's where it's found to be invasive. I will need to read up on that. Thank you for this collection of news stories. Sad, but necessary.
Just back to add:
I can find news stories about the cacti in English, French and Italian. None in German. This is weird. Valais is bilingual (French/German) and German is the most widely spoken language in Switzerland. I'm gonna need to dig a bit deeper.
We must retain this from your worrying climate change newsletter : "because it is clearly here now, and if we do not act, it will get worse.". The mission is clear!
I hope you will write “the more” tomorrow if you can tolerate the pain it must surely bring. These are the facts we must have to share/ pummel our governments into immediate action to save the “gem of the Universe.”
💔 The final quote from Shaw seems to really capture the essence of this newsletter. Indeed, all the messages this time are tragic (to say nothing of those we didn't cover), but for some reason, the threat to edelweiss flowers feels especially sad. Maybe it's my association from childhood to The Sound of Music. *sigh*
It's heartbreaking, but we must be and remain aware. Thank you, Alexander.
“The major problems in the world are the result of the difference between how nature works and the way people think.”
- Gregory Bateson
Gregory Bateson’s book an ecology of the mind is difficult but inspiring . What a good surprise to find a quote !
Quoted from Ecology of Mind. A documentary film done by his daughter Nora Bateson. A friend of mine recorded it. There is a clip on YouTube.
Thanks 😊
Sobering ... I had heard about the lynx in France, but not about the cacti in Switzerland. Valais is one of the driest regions, so I'm not surprised that's where it's found to be invasive. I will need to read up on that. Thank you for this collection of news stories. Sad, but necessary.
Just back to add:
I can find news stories about the cacti in English, French and Italian. None in German. This is weird. Valais is bilingual (French/German) and German is the most widely spoken language in Switzerland. I'm gonna need to dig a bit deeper.
We must retain this from your worrying climate change newsletter : "because it is clearly here now, and if we do not act, it will get worse.". The mission is clear!
I hope you will write “the more” tomorrow if you can tolerate the pain it must surely bring. These are the facts we must have to share/ pummel our governments into immediate action to save the “gem of the Universe.”
💔 The final quote from Shaw seems to really capture the essence of this newsletter. Indeed, all the messages this time are tragic (to say nothing of those we didn't cover), but for some reason, the threat to edelweiss flowers feels especially sad. Maybe it's my association from childhood to The Sound of Music. *sigh*