Biosphere in Crisis
@cathobrian.bsky.social
The biosphere is in crisis due to factors that include global warming, biodiversity loss, overpopulation, overshoot, & plastic pollution. My aim is to increase awareness of urgency for action
Pinned
#Climate collapse is just one of the polycrises humanity faces as a result of #overshoot, which is the extent to which human activity is exceeding the carrying capacity of the planet. The key drivers of overshoot, population growth and consumerism, must be contained to meaningfully address this.
Reposted by Biosphere in Crisis
"French ban on the production and sale of cosmetics and most clothing containing polluting and health-threatening 'forever chemicals' goes into force on Thursday..A handful of US states..implemented a ban on the intentional use of PFAS in cosmetics beginning in 2025"
www.france24.com/en/live-news...
www.france24.com/en/live-news...
French ban on ‘forever chemicals' in cosmetics and clothes to enter into force
A French ban on the production and sale of PFAS chemicals – known as 'forever chemicals' as it takes them so long to break down – comes into effect on Thursday. The ban targets a wide range of cosmeti...
www.france24.com
December 31, 2025 at 5:35 PM
"French ban on the production and sale of cosmetics and most clothing containing polluting and health-threatening 'forever chemicals' goes into force on Thursday..A handful of US states..implemented a ban on the intentional use of PFAS in cosmetics beginning in 2025"
www.france24.com/en/live-news...
www.france24.com/en/live-news...
Reposted by Biosphere in Crisis
In December 2025, Arctic sea-ice extent reached a record low - a substantial decline from the previous record low in 2024.
January 1, 2026 at 11:26 AM
In December 2025, Arctic sea-ice extent reached a record low - a substantial decline from the previous record low in 2024.
Reposted by Biosphere in Crisis
Humanity emitted more Greenhouse Gases in 2025 than any year ever
January 2, 2026 at 12:34 AM
Humanity emitted more Greenhouse Gases in 2025 than any year ever
Reposted by Biosphere in Crisis
a livable planet is fading fast…
but hey great news for stock markets!
but hey great news for stock markets!
January 2, 2026 at 10:09 AM
a livable planet is fading fast…
but hey great news for stock markets!
but hey great news for stock markets!
Reposted by Biosphere in Crisis
Next SSW event inbound...
Would be second one in 2025/25...
Next threshold breached it seems
5-6 SSWs had been normal per decade
Since 2023 we reached a frequency of 2-3 events per winter season...
It's a highly non-linear system...
Would be second one in 2025/25...
Next threshold breached it seems
5-6 SSWs had been normal per decade
Since 2023 we reached a frequency of 2-3 events per winter season...
It's a highly non-linear system...
Polar Vortex 2026 Update: New Stratospheric Warming Detected, Winter Shift Likely in January
Is a major winter shift coming for the U.S. and Europe? New model data shows a Polar Vortex disruption is coming in January, following a Stratospheric Warming event
www.severe-weather.eu
January 2, 2026 at 9:36 AM
Next SSW event inbound...
Would be second one in 2025/25...
Next threshold breached it seems
5-6 SSWs had been normal per decade
Since 2023 we reached a frequency of 2-3 events per winter season...
It's a highly non-linear system...
Would be second one in 2025/25...
Next threshold breached it seems
5-6 SSWs had been normal per decade
Since 2023 we reached a frequency of 2-3 events per winter season...
It's a highly non-linear system...
Reposted by Biosphere in Crisis
“It is time we review the sycophantic lies our ancestors and their religions fabricated about nature, and restore its image as a system that we should be emulating rather than ridiculing”
Read my brand new essay
Read my brand new essay
January 1, 2026 at 6:36 PM
“It is time we review the sycophantic lies our ancestors and their religions fabricated about nature, and restore its image as a system that we should be emulating rather than ridiculing”
Read my brand new essay
Read my brand new essay
Reposted by Biosphere in Crisis
Meanwhile, back on Earth, everything continues to fall apart
Enjoy Trump's latest race for the Moon while it lasts
Within decades, space exploration will be unaffordable as climate breakdown hammers economies, and the last thing on anyone's mind
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...
Enjoy Trump's latest race for the Moon while it lasts
Within decades, space exploration will be unaffordable as climate breakdown hammers economies, and the last thing on anyone's mind
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...
Donald Trump wants the US back on the moon before his term ends. Can it happen?
After losing a year to havoc and job-slashing at Nasa, the pressure is on billionaire administrator Jared Isaacman
www.theguardian.com
January 2, 2026 at 12:34 PM
Meanwhile, back on Earth, everything continues to fall apart
Enjoy Trump's latest race for the Moon while it lasts
Within decades, space exploration will be unaffordable as climate breakdown hammers economies, and the last thing on anyone's mind
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...
Enjoy Trump's latest race for the Moon while it lasts
Within decades, space exploration will be unaffordable as climate breakdown hammers economies, and the last thing on anyone's mind
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...
Reposted by Biosphere in Crisis
Written during the UK's hottest week on record, and just ahead of the publication of my HOTHOUSE EARTH
Everything in it still applies, only more so
2025 was the hottest on record for the UK
Meanwhile, government measures to mitigate what's coming are derisory
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Everything in it still applies, only more so
2025 was the hottest on record for the UK
Meanwhile, government measures to mitigate what's coming are derisory
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
The terrifying truth: Britain’s a hothouse, but one day 40C will seem cool | Bill McGuire
This extreme heat is just the beginning. We should be scared – and channel this emotion into action, says academic Bill McGuire
www.theguardian.com
January 2, 2026 at 11:21 AM
Written during the UK's hottest week on record, and just ahead of the publication of my HOTHOUSE EARTH
Everything in it still applies, only more so
2025 was the hottest on record for the UK
Meanwhile, government measures to mitigate what's coming are derisory
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Everything in it still applies, only more so
2025 was the hottest on record for the UK
Meanwhile, government measures to mitigate what's coming are derisory
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Reposted by Biosphere in Crisis
If you are a financier or shareholder popping the champagne cork at this news
Make the most of it
Climate breakdown is set to tear the markets apart in the decades ahead
You have been warned
www.theguardian.com/business/202...
Make the most of it
Climate breakdown is set to tear the markets apart in the decades ahead
You have been warned
www.theguardian.com/business/202...
FTSE 100 breaks 10,000 mark for first time, capping stellar year for UK market
Blue-chip share index, created in 1984, has risen by more than 20% over past 12 months
www.theguardian.com
January 2, 2026 at 9:53 AM
If you are a financier or shareholder popping the champagne cork at this news
Make the most of it
Climate breakdown is set to tear the markets apart in the decades ahead
You have been warned
www.theguardian.com/business/202...
Make the most of it
Climate breakdown is set to tear the markets apart in the decades ahead
You have been warned
www.theguardian.com/business/202...
Reposted by Biosphere in Crisis
In case there was any confusion about this administration wanting a white rule apartheid state they just nakedly said it.
January 2, 2026 at 1:06 PM
In case there was any confusion about this administration wanting a white rule apartheid state they just nakedly said it.
Reposted by Biosphere in Crisis
"In the las 50 yrs we have cut down 1/2 the world's forests & >75 million tons of topsoil have washed off these lands. Nothing in human history prepares us for the sheer speed at which the consequences of these actions are now rushing toward us." ~David Kelly (The Forest Unseen) #ForestFriday
August 1, 2025 at 5:22 PM
"In the las 50 yrs we have cut down 1/2 the world's forests & >75 million tons of topsoil have washed off these lands. Nothing in human history prepares us for the sheer speed at which the consequences of these actions are now rushing toward us." ~David Kelly (The Forest Unseen) #ForestFriday
Reposted by Biosphere in Crisis
Pollution maps feel powerful because they make harm legible.
But legibility isn’t the same as control and precision isn’t the same as prevention. Counting damage can feel like action, even when the system producing it remains untouched.
apple.news/AHjWnWHuBS4W...
But legibility isn’t the same as control and precision isn’t the same as prevention. Counting damage can feel like action, even when the system producing it remains untouched.
apple.news/AHjWnWHuBS4W...
Pollution hotspots exposed in stunning new carbon maps — Earth.com
For 13 years, researchers tracked where fossil fuels were burned across the United States, block by block, revealing exactly where carbon pollution enters the air.
apple.news
January 2, 2026 at 12:27 PM
Pollution maps feel powerful because they make harm legible.
But legibility isn’t the same as control and precision isn’t the same as prevention. Counting damage can feel like action, even when the system producing it remains untouched.
apple.news/AHjWnWHuBS4W...
But legibility isn’t the same as control and precision isn’t the same as prevention. Counting damage can feel like action, even when the system producing it remains untouched.
apple.news/AHjWnWHuBS4W...
Reposted by Biosphere in Crisis
Your 'doom quote' for today:
"Growth will be stopped by pressures that are not of human choosing, and that, as the world model suggests, may be very much worse than those which society might choose for itself."
www.amazon.com/Limits-Growt...
"Growth will be stopped by pressures that are not of human choosing, and that, as the world model suggests, may be very much worse than those which society might choose for itself."
www.amazon.com/Limits-Growt...
Limits to Growth
Buy Limits to Growth on Amazon.com ✓ FREE SHIPPING on qualified orders
www.amazon.com
January 2, 2026 at 2:58 PM
Your 'doom quote' for today:
"Growth will be stopped by pressures that are not of human choosing, and that, as the world model suggests, may be very much worse than those which society might choose for itself."
www.amazon.com/Limits-Growt...
"Growth will be stopped by pressures that are not of human choosing, and that, as the world model suggests, may be very much worse than those which society might choose for itself."
www.amazon.com/Limits-Growt...
Reposted by Biosphere in Crisis
Breaking News!
Code Yikes!
And it's a wrap. The year 2025 came in at 1.47°C above the 1850-1900 pre-industrial baseline, making it the 3rd warmest year on record behind 2023 (1.48°C) and 2024 (1.60°C), and likely the 3rd warmest in the last 120,000 years.
Code Yikes!
And it's a wrap. The year 2025 came in at 1.47°C above the 1850-1900 pre-industrial baseline, making it the 3rd warmest year on record behind 2023 (1.48°C) and 2024 (1.60°C), and likely the 3rd warmest in the last 120,000 years.
January 2, 2026 at 2:30 PM
Breaking News!
Code Yikes!
And it's a wrap. The year 2025 came in at 1.47°C above the 1850-1900 pre-industrial baseline, making it the 3rd warmest year on record behind 2023 (1.48°C) and 2024 (1.60°C), and likely the 3rd warmest in the last 120,000 years.
Code Yikes!
And it's a wrap. The year 2025 came in at 1.47°C above the 1850-1900 pre-industrial baseline, making it the 3rd warmest year on record behind 2023 (1.48°C) and 2024 (1.60°C), and likely the 3rd warmest in the last 120,000 years.
Reposted by Biosphere in Crisis
i gave away nearly 50 paintings on the Free Art Tree this year
this is one
learn why: www.freearttree.com
this is one
learn why: www.freearttree.com
December 31, 2025 at 3:44 PM
i gave away nearly 50 paintings on the Free Art Tree this year
this is one
learn why: www.freearttree.com
this is one
learn why: www.freearttree.com
Reposted by Biosphere in Crisis
"If obesity is 'treatable' with a jab, why take on the food industry? Why invest in affordable fruit/vegs or healthy school meals? GLP-1s have become a way for many politicians to appear to be doing sthing while avoiding dealing with the systematic food production/consumption issues making us sick."
The WHO learned to love ‘anti-obesity’ jabs in 2025. I don’t fully agree, but I get it | Devi Sridhar
The WHO learned to love ‘anti-obesity’ jabs in 2025. I don’t fully agree, but I get it | Devi Sridhar
While GLP-1 drugs promise an easy fix, our bodies still need what they have always needed: healthy food and regular exercise, says chair of global public health at the University of Edinburgh, Prof Devi Sridhar
www.theguardian.com
January 1, 2026 at 7:29 PM
"If obesity is 'treatable' with a jab, why take on the food industry? Why invest in affordable fruit/vegs or healthy school meals? GLP-1s have become a way for many politicians to appear to be doing sthing while avoiding dealing with the systematic food production/consumption issues making us sick."
Reposted by Biosphere in Crisis
If you’re looking for a good read, thinking of getting out in the garden and helping wildlife next year. This is the book for you.
Nature’s Acre is my Irish gardening memoir: wildlife, neighbours, and recovery with soil under fingernails. Grab it:
Ebook
mybook.to/wFA3fQ1
Paperback
mybook.to/3MZxFf
Ebook
mybook.to/wFA3fQ1
Paperback
mybook.to/3MZxFf
Nature's Acre: An Irish Garden Memoir of Making a Place Where Life Grows
Amazon.com: Nature's Acre: An Irish Garden Memoir of Making a Place Where Life Grows eBook : De Buitlear, Ciaran, Reyes, Cynthia S: Kindle Store
mybook.to
January 1, 2026 at 12:19 PM
If you’re looking for a good read, thinking of getting out in the garden and helping wildlife next year. This is the book for you.
Reposted by Biosphere in Crisis
Reposted by Biosphere in Crisis
According to the Center for Immigration Studies, the foreign-born or immigrant population (legal and illegal) in March 2024 was 51.6 million. Thus, if the administration deported 100 million people, it would have to deport roughly 48.4 million U.S. citizens to hit that target. #holdfast #getsmart
January 1, 2026 at 1:17 PM
Reposted by Biosphere in Crisis
Every year we see two familiar lists: famous people who died, and species declared extinct. We notice them because they’re countable. Ecosystems don’t make lists. They thin, simplify, and disappear quietly long before extinction is named.
open.substack.com/pub/lylel/p/...
open.substack.com/pub/lylel/p/...
Why Lists of Extinction Travel Farther than Explanations
A short post naming species officially declared extinct in 2025 traveled farther than weeks of careful ecological writing.
open.substack.com
January 1, 2026 at 5:03 PM
Every year we see two familiar lists: famous people who died, and species declared extinct. We notice them because they’re countable. Ecosystems don’t make lists. They thin, simplify, and disappear quietly long before extinction is named.
open.substack.com/pub/lylel/p/...
open.substack.com/pub/lylel/p/...
Reposted by Biosphere in Crisis
Let’s make 2026 the year we face the climate and nature crisis together - and begin building a better, safer future.
#NEB205 #TimeToStepUp #NationalEmergencyBriefing
#NEB205 #TimeToStepUp #NationalEmergencyBriefing
Please ask your MP to watch the 9 expert briefings on the climate & nature crisis, and then add their name to the Parliamentary Call for a televised emergency briefing.
More info: www.nebriefing.org/take-action
Full talks: www.youtube.com/@nebriefing
Clips of all nine talks below 🧵1/10👇
#NEB2025
More info: www.nebriefing.org/take-action
Full talks: www.youtube.com/@nebriefing
Clips of all nine talks below 🧵1/10👇
#NEB2025
National Emergency Briefing
Take Action on the Climate and Nature Emergency | How to engage after the National Emergency Briefing and support science-led solutions
www.nebriefing.org
January 1, 2026 at 10:31 AM
Let’s make 2026 the year we face the climate and nature crisis together - and begin building a better, safer future.
#NEB205 #TimeToStepUp #NationalEmergencyBriefing
#NEB205 #TimeToStepUp #NationalEmergencyBriefing
Reposted by Biosphere in Crisis
No one randomly owes you information about their health, their loved one’s health, or, understandably, just wanting to avoid Covid, which is the only way to prevent Long Covid.
Hey Jon Stewart, jokes about wearing masks aren't funny
Critics of the host say he's a hypocrite.
www.motherjones.com
December 29, 2025 at 9:30 PM
No one randomly owes you information about their health, their loved one’s health, or, understandably, just wanting to avoid Covid, which is the only way to prevent Long Covid.
Reposted by Biosphere in Crisis
All very well
But we are still facing AT LEAST a catastrophic return to Pliocene conditions
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
But we are still facing AT LEAST a catastrophic return to Pliocene conditions
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
It’s easy to feel powerless about climate chaos. Here’s what gives me hope | Nina Lakhani
I’ve spent six years writing about environmental justice. The uncomfortable truth is that we’re not all in it together – but people power is reshaping the fight
www.theguardian.com
January 1, 2026 at 10:51 AM
All very well
But we are still facing AT LEAST a catastrophic return to Pliocene conditions
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
But we are still facing AT LEAST a catastrophic return to Pliocene conditions
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
Reposted by Biosphere in Crisis
Uhmmm.....what?
I think you will find - by almost every single metric - that this is very much NOT the case
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...
I think you will find - by almost every single metric - that this is very much NOT the case
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...
World is in better place than when Eden Project created 25 years ago, founder says
Tim Smit also says extreme political views will fade when people realise good things are around the corner
www.theguardian.com
January 1, 2026 at 10:43 AM
Uhmmm.....what?
I think you will find - by almost every single metric - that this is very much NOT the case
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...
I think you will find - by almost every single metric - that this is very much NOT the case
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...