Sitemap - 2021 - The Planet

The biggest climate and nature stories of 2021

Merry Christmas!

21:12:21/21-12-21

The Great Melt: accounts from the frontlines of climate change

A morning run with ponies in the dunes

Christmas season on the island and traditional "oliebollenkraampjes"

The birch fungus that Ötzi the iceman found 5,300 years ago

New: The Planet podcast, where you can"call in"

Iconic species' survival is at risk now that they feel the heat.

Amazing wildlife photography

How to effectively destroy a beautiful planet

Only three percent of the planet's land ecosystems are still intact

We have created a hot planet with egg-eating hungry polar bears and increasingly empty oceans around the equator

2021 was a better calving season for the North Atlantic right whales

Tales of animal species in the age of extinction

How to start a Substack newsletter

Seeing the world through the forces of nature and in harmony with humanity

The fascinating life of Wisdom, the world's oldest known wild bird

Why risk the collapse of everything that gives us our security?

The glacier collapse in India and the Paris Agreement

Looking to the other side of the river

This year, the predictions for maximum sea-level rise nearly doubled

A typo in the title...

Is there still hope for the south after COP26?

Can biophilic design help in times of climate change?

Looking back at 2021: week 2

Looking back at 2021: week 1

Lessons from James Dean for COP26

Obama tells young people at COP26: "I want you to stay angry"

Where is the anger about the climate crisis?

Why the Climate and Global Health Crises are a Strategic Threat

COP26: A meeting on the fate of our planet

Starting COP26 on Halloween, a festival for the dead doesn't give much hope

Paris in 24 hours in 12 pictures

Why I prefer traveling by train instead of flying

I visited the site where Empress Elisabeth, "Sisi," of Austria was murdered.

The ideas that guide The Planet newsletter

Just before COP26, a handful of new US reports all warn about the security risks of the climate crisis.

How to tackle the climate crisis

Humans only just arrived on this planet, and we wasted no time making a mess of it.

Utrecht, a city for biking and walking

Weapons that keep fighting after a war has ended

Join on a train ride through Europe

Try to see something beautiful every day

Children sent a unique message to world leaders asking them to stop climate change

Autumn in my village

The climate in 2100: The future is nearer than you think, and that is terrible news.

Fun facts you would like to know about wind turbines

The U.S. sees a vital role for the Security Council to tackle the negative impacts of climate on peace and security

UN Secretary-General warns: "We face the greatest cascade of crises in our lifetime."

Firefighters in California fight desperate battle to defend giant sequoias

Climate anxiety: how can you help your children?

The Planet's half-year celebration

Deer encounter in my village

When I found myself in nature in the last sunlight of the day

All I want for the perfect summer morning on the beach

The day after 9/11

What do you remember from 9/11?

Ten facts about jellyfish that make exciting conversation when you swim in the ocean.

I was briefly in paradise, where I took my best photo of the week for you

A view at my village

Why is Labor Day in the U.S. and Canada in September instead of May 1st? 

The Planet's special offer for Labor Day weekend

You're closer to nature than you might think

All those left behind

A moment of bliss: Shetland ponies in the dunes of Zeeland

New Orleans and the Louisiana coast have to deal with both Covid and hurricane Ida

History rhymes again

The State of the Planet: water crises everywhere

Building resilience faster

A lovely Sunday morning

A birdlovers’ island

A panorama in the dunes

Today is World Photography Day

A week after the IPCC report

Early morning on the island

I made some new friends: Shetland ponies in the dunes

Join me for a virtual trip to the beach

Thoughts about biodiversity and the climate crisis

Watching horses on the beach at sunset

The picturesque village of Goedereede

Celebrating my birthday on the island

Back in those beautiful dunes

'An immigrant from the continent'

The UN biodiversity summit likely delayed again

You can't escape climate change

A postcard from Middelburg

A morning in beautiful Zierikzee

One minute on the beach on the west coast.

How my day on the island starts

A beautiful sunset

Drinks on the grass in the center of the city

Silted harbors and hidden gems

A peaceful moment in the dunes

Start your weekend with Koniks

Why you should visit the city of Goes

The unique history of The Hague

History is all around you.

Sunset on the Brouwersdam

Beach pavilions and bathing machines

Zierikzee

Discovering Veere

Veere's monopoly on trade with Scotland

Sunset on the island

A monument for the over-ambitious

Battling the water

Konik horses in the beautiful nature reserve Oranjezon

Why you should visit Zierikzee

Semi-feral ponies in the Dunes

Getting through the day with pain

A spectacular sunset on the island

This small town has city rights since 1312

A church tower is all that is left of the village

Island Stories #3

Island Stories #2

Climate Change and Global Security

Island Stories # 1

G7 meeting disappoints on climate action.

GOP congressman asks U.S. Forest Service to alter the moon's orbit to combat climate change

What I saw in June

Ten articles I enjoyed to read or write

The art of public speaking and rediscovering

Swan TV interviewed me about climate change

How NATO should prepare for climate change

Memorial Day, memories and pictures

First Tasmanian devils born in the wild of mainland Australia in 3000 years.

Three reasons why this was a good day for the planet 

May 25, George Floyd Day

How your photo can win 2,500 dollars

What to read this weekend

Early experiences in fighting a pandemic.  

Tulips

The IEA calls for an end to coal, oil, and gas development to reach net zero in 2050

A podcast interview about the environment and climate change

On this day, in the past five years

Sunday morning

What the COVID-19 crisis taught us about the climate crisis

Teaching the next generation about the planet

The purge and the climate

Renewables account for 90% of new power capacity expansion globally.

The sad story of two lost whales in London and the Mediterranean

Hummingbirds

Idaho authorities say they're investigating where the girl got the gun; let me help you with that one

Why cutting methane can't wait, and what you can do to help.

Two minutes to relax

The five best recent animal stories

Brood X periodical cicadas and the amazing history of their first description

The mystery of the Ottawa Rockeries follies

Some fascinating articles you want to read this morning.

The world's glaciers are melting faster, and that is bad news for billions. 

In 20 years, three times more plastic is predicted to enter the oceans

You eat a credit card size amount of microplastics every week

Why you should spend a minimum of two hours per week in nature

Biden's climate policy challenges 

Reflecting on the past week while walking in nature

Saturday thoughts

The US is getting greener

Earth Day 2021

IEA predicts a worrying steep rise in global CO2 emissions 

12 reasons why 2020 was a bad year for climate change

Google Earth Timelapse, and stories to watch this week.

What to read this Sunday

The refugee cap, the climate summit, and the 25 million that fled for extreme weather events

The largest living structure on Earth is dying.

Governments spend ten million dollars per minute on fossil fuel subsidies

Spending more time in nature is good for you; here is why.

The average American family throws away 1,600 dollars in food per year.

Eight things to know about the Ingenuity Mars Helicopter

Race and policing, "What's going on?"

America's top 0.1 percent owns now nearly as much as the bottom 90 percent

What to watch and read today

Spring, a season for love?

The Planet's Plus-edition

Where will your 'revenge travel' take you?

The cicadas' last song

Why you should join the online CWA conference

Early morning in the peatlands of Mer Bleue

Two days left to restore nature; how you can help

In one year, the world lost forests in the tropics three times the size of the Netherlands.

Two weeks on Substack

Climate change leads to record-breaking early blossoms.

Suez: could climate change also have played a role?

The Suez Canal before the Ever Given

Three things to read and watch on Sunday

You have better chances of winning the lottery than by being hit by a meteorite. 

A brief walk through the history of melting ice

How to recognize bird sounds.

The Boulder mass shooting and the Australian example

55% of the world's population are without safely managed sanitation

UN days on happiness, forests, and water are intricately connected.

Four questions about your happiness

Waking up while listening to birds singing

Agriculture is hardest hit by climate disasters

Trawlers and aviation release the same amount of carbon

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News, ideas and opinions about climate change, biodiversity, resources, and many issues related to our challenges on this small beautiful planet.