2024 Winners, British Wildlife Photography Awards

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Three’s a Crowd. Hidden Britain, Winner. “I think I have a slight addiction to photographing blue butterflies—I just love them! They are such beautiful little insects, and they enhance any wildflower meadow or garden they inhabit. Blues are quite social insects, and they can often be found roosting quite close together—or even on the same grass or flower. I found a dozen or so blues all resting close together one evening last summer.” 
© Ross Hoddinott / British Wildlife Photography Awards

Our annual thanks to Alan Taylor for these selections:

Organizers of the 2024 British Wildlife Photography Awards just announced their collection of winners and runners-up. More than 14,000 images were submitted in 11 different categories, celebrating the wildlife and wild spaces found across the United Kingdom. Competition organizers were kind enough to share some of this year’s amazing images below. Captions were provided by the photographers.

Daisy Danger. Hidden Britain, Runner-up. “This photo was taken in a patch of land along the A30 in Devon that has been left untouched for a long time, making it a haven for wildflowers and the wildlife that inhabits it. Using the Laowa wide-angle macro lens, I aimed to capture this scene. While walking, I came across a flower crab spider wrestling with a bee on an ox-eye daisy.” # © Lucien Harris / British Wildlife Photography Awards

 

McKibben On Responsibility & Accountability

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Vermont’s capitol city, underwater in epic July flooding that wrecked most of Montpelier’s retail district

Holding the responsible accountable is part of Bill McKibben’s objective; he also provides sunshine. Subscribe to this newsletter if you can:

You flood it, you pay for it.

States are considering ‘climate superfund’ laws to hold Big Oil accountable

One prong of the climate fight involves installing so much renewable energy that fossil fuel use actually declines dramatically—a few places are finally showing that’s possible, like sunny Germany which last week said emissions in 2023 dropped more than ten percent. Continue reading →

Solar’s Impressive Portion Of USA Energy Supply Increase

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Robert Nickelsberg/Getty Images

Thanks to Tik Root, Senior Staff Writer at Grist:

Solar hits a renewable energy milestone not seen since WWII

With supply chains finally open, solar provided most of the nation’s new electricity capacity last year.

Solar accounted for most of the capacity the nation added to its electric grids last year. That feat marks the first time since World War II, when hydropower was booming, that a renewable power source has comprised more than half of the nation’s energy additions.  Continue reading →

The Vertical Forest In Milan

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The Vertical Forest, a residential complex in Milan. Marta Carenzi/Archivio Marta Carenzi/Mondadori Portfolio, via Getty Images

Italy has not figured in our climate change solutions coverage, until now. Our thanks to Stephen Wallis and the New York Times for this:

A Growth Spurt in Green Architecture

Buildings made shaggy with vegetation or fragrant with wood are no longer novelties.

In the lineup of climate villains, architecture towers above many. The building and construction industries account for some 37 percent of worldwide carbon dioxide emissions, according to the United Nations Environment Program. Three of the most commonly used building materials — concrete, steel and aluminum — generate nearly a quarter of all carbon output. Continue reading →

A Tiny Forest For Roosevelt Island

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An artist’s rendering of the Manhattan Healing Forest. Courtesy of SUGi

Thanks to Cara Buckley for another in her long line of tree stories:

Coming Soon to Manhattan, a Brand-New Tiny Forest

Pocket-size forests filled with native plants have been embraced worldwide for their environmental benefits. Now one is planned for New York City.

A trend that’s gaining momentum around the world is set to finally arrive in Manhattan. It’s a tiny forest, to be planted on the southern end of Roosevelt Island, in the East River, this spring. According to its creators, it would be the first of its kind in the city and would consist of 1,000 native plants, trees and shrubs, covering just 2,700 square feet. Continue reading →

Hacienda La Amistad, 2024

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Amistad label circa 2019

Amistad label 2020-2023

We have been offering this Hacienda La Amistad coffee since 2019. The original label, seen in the photo above, was one we thought perfect for its simplicity.

During the pandemic, with time on our hands, we redesigned all of our labels and came up with this label to the left.  It served us well over the last few years,  as we expanded from selling only in the Authentica shops in Costa Rica to also roasting and selling in the USA.

Starting in early 2024 we began rethinking all of our coffee labels. We approached the task region by region, with the blends and the single estates following a common design style. We saved this coffee for last, for no particular reason, but yesterday the rainbow over the farm was our signal that it was time to release the new label:

Hacienda La Amistad March 10, 2024

Thank you to the farm for the inspiration:

Amistad label, 2024

Walking, 1862

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Lisel Ashlock

Thanks to The Atlantic for sharing its archival treasures, specifically this essay  by one of the writers we turn back to from time to time. Here is Henry David Thoreau in his own words from the June, 1862 issue of that magazine:

Walking

The writer extols the virtues of immersing oneself in nature and laments the inevitable encroachment of private ownership upon the wilderness.

Editor’s Note: Henry David Thoreau, the naturalist, philosopher, and author of such classics as Walden and “Civil Disobedience,” contributed a number of writings to The Atlantic in its early years. Continue reading →

First Nations’ Food Sovereignty

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Delphine Lee

Thanks to Mother Jones for this:

Tribal Nations Are Taking Back Their Food Systems

A new farm bill program aims to undo centuries of federal mismanagement.

The farm bill is one of the most important but least understood pieces of US legislation, and it’s overdue for renewal. Continue reading →

New Landscape Vision For Dia Beacon

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Rendered view looking north toward the new wet meadow after a big storm. “This will actually be something that you could come to experience in and of itself,” Dia’s director, Jessica Morgan, says of the landscape. Studio Zewde

We are impressed with the new direction that this institution is taking with one of the profession’s rising stars:

In a high-profile commission, Sara Zewde, a landscape architect, is designing eight acres of varied terrain at Dia Beacon that includes meadowlands, wetlands, rolling topography and pathways for visitors. Rafael Rios for The New York Times

Sara Zewde Sows, and Dia Beacon Reaps

On eight acres, a landscape architect challenges ideas about the legacy of the land, the museum’s history and climate change.

When it is introduced this year, the new and varied terrain of Dia Beacon, with its sculptural landforms, meadowlands and pathways, may surprise and delight.

Sara Zewde, the landscape architect who received the high-profile commission in 2021 to reimagine the museum’s eight back acres, says the goal wasn’t just dressing up Dia’s buildings with attractive plants. She sees her profession as a field “that has the skill set to take ecology, to take culture, to take people and tap into something bigger.” Continue reading →

Embodied Carbon

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Photo of a polluting factory.

Reporting credit: Ethan Freedman/ChavoBart Digital Media

Thanks to Yale Climate Connections for expanding our vocabulary:

What is ‘embodied carbon’?

It’s a little-known but major factor in the carbon footprint of our buildings.

Buildings can create a lot of global warming carbon pollution, from the electricity for lights and appliances to the oil or gas used to power the furnace.