The ideas that guide The Planet newsletter

A summary of the main topics covered in these articles.

Oct 24, 2021

The dark side over the moon, photographed from 1 million miles away (photo: NASA)

It is Sunday, and I hope some of you find time to catch up with reading. Here are links to three articles I wrote this week.

I wrote about two crucial conferences that should stop our destruction of the stable climate and biodiversity essential to life on this planet.
I posted the text and video of an interview I had with A News.
And yesterday, I wrote about the four reports published by the Biden Administration that warn about the security risks of the climate crisis.

I just started working on an article about a historical event in Geneva more than a century ago, which I was reminded of when I walked along the beautiful lake and saw the classic hotels on the boulevard.

But I would first like to share some thoughts about why I would do so. Why would I write about events from so long ago, in a newsletter titled The Planet, and in which you would expect primarily stories about climate change or perhaps an article about the discovery of a new animal species?

The short answer is that I believe I have a good sense of what most subscribers to this newsletter like to read because I see your public comments, read and reply to your emails, and follow many of you on Twitter. So, after three posts on global environmental challenges, I guess you may want to do some virtual travel and join me to another place and another time.

Oxygen

A reader recently called my posts a fresh dose of much-needed oxygen to start the day. I loved to hear that, while I also saw it as a warning for too much writing about CO2 levels.

But there is also a more extended answer; there may be more structure and logic in the choices of my central themes than you may realize. So today's newsletter is to bring some coherence in all that I regularly send you.

Many of my talks and my writings are about preserving what we cherish for the next generations. I believe that saving the living conditions on this planet should be our highest priority. It saddens me to see how we are destroying the stable climate and abundant biodiversity, which is essential to conserve for our children and grandchildren.

We should appreciate all forms of life on the planet (Photo by Daniel Ross from Pexels)

The threats, and reminding what’s at stake

I, therefore, write about the threats to our ecosystems, like the climate crisis, the destruction of nature, or pollution. But those stories are not complete without knowing what is at stake, and that is why I often write about the beauty of nature. That can be about the forests, dunes, or wildlife that I see during my walks, or further away like in rainforests, the Arctic, or life under a microscope. If we would all better appreciate other forms of life on this planet, from tiny insects to magnificent whales in the ocean, we would be more open to the idea that we are an integral part of nature and not the owners who can do with it as we please.

Another element in the mix of stories that you find in this newsletter is effective governance. We desperately need it to deal with these existential crises because there is only one chance to get it right; when species go extinct by lack of sound policies, the next government can't do anything to get them back.

Leadership

We won't solve our troubles if we apply just slight cosmetic variations within the system that got us on this path towards extinction. Still, sadly that is what most governments offer their people. Instead, we need to change course drastically to keep this planet a cool place where we would all want to live our lives. That demands brave, visionary leadership instead of short-term patchwork solutions to the latest manifestation of the structural changes in the planet's ecosystems that will permanently alter our living conditions.

The core: climate - nature - governance

So my worries about climate change and the loss of nature are central to my writing. And to balance those sad messages, I write about the beauty of nature because you should know what is at stake before you are motivated to preserve it. And I mentioned governance: the choices made by our leaders got us into this scary and pivotal moment in world history, where we risk losing this paradise-like planet, and it will have to be leadership that gets us out of this predicament.

The broader concept

But there is a broader concept behind these newsletters; the title of this newsletter, The Planet, stands not just for the environmental aspects but also for geography, travel, history, science, and gaining knowledge about our only true home.

When I travel, I want to take you to the places that I visit so that you don't forget there is more happening in the world than you see in your hometown or on your screens. Unfortunately, I can't be everywhere, but the least I can do is take some pictures and tell you what I saw.

History

You may also have noted my frequent references to history when describing the places I visit. Partly it is just a hobby; most of the books I read are about history, but it is also the closest I can get to fulfill my wish of traveling back in time. I never lost the fascination I felt as a child when I realized that other people had lived their lives right where I am. And visiting old buildings or remarkable sites makes it easier to imagine how these people must have lived. For example, when I am in the Netherlands, I live just a minute walking from a 16th-century church. It stands next to a castle from the 12th century, and it is just a short walk from an excavated small settlement of three houses from 4000 years ago. As a geographer and history lover, I find it fascinating to feel that connection to the past.

This summer, while I lived on the island, I wrote, for instance, about the history of holidays on the beaches of the island and the bathing machines that the first tourists used. I also wrote about silted harbors and hidden gems on one of the (former) islands to the south and a small city on the island to the north, which received city rights in 1312 but is no bigger than a village. I often stop and wonder about the chain of humanity in which we are all just a tiny link and then share those experiences with you.

Photography

And then there is the photography. Like history, I have enjoyed photography all my life. I use it to share the beauty I encounter, hoping to give you some armchair travel, similar to how I dream away when seeing some of your pictures from far-away places. I try to post my photos as recently as possible; it makes the experience of briefly also being there more tangible.

My photos of the places I visit, combined with local history, also connect us to the future since the story of our time on this planet hasn't ended yet. The richness of human history adds to the beauty of our world and should remind us how much is at stake. It is the same reason why you find references to art in this newsletter. So it is not just nature but also our human history and the culture we created that all contribute to the beauty at stake.

A nice niche

I know that this is an extensive scope, and my approach to writing is the opposite of the advice I often hear from other writers of newsletters: find a niche and keep your focus on that subject to find a loyal following. I am happy with the growing loyal following, even if I need an entire page to describe the ideas that guide this newsletter. But, on the other hand, I admit that I envy the newsletters that can say as a one-liner that they focus on collecting 19th-century post stamps, or only on vegan recipes, or that specialize in painting techniques for tin soldiers. Perhaps my elevator pitch should be that my niche is writing about the planet.

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