Focus on Arts and Ecology

What we’re reading 

Climate concern surges

A new poll in the UK shows that public concern about the environment has jumped 16 points in the past month. 32% of those surveyed listed climate change as a major issue for Britain, making it the second biggest concern for the country behind Covid-19.

Only in July of 1989 - during an unusually hot spell - had public concern on the topic been greater. This time the backdrop is the extreme weather events seen in Europe and the United States as well as the recent IPCC assessment report that found the climate was changing faster and greater than previously thought.

Interestingly, the poll found older people significantly more likely than their younger counterparts to list the environment as a cause for concern, and there was no major party political split on the issue — Conservative and Labour voters are similarly worried.

Extinction Rebellion is back

A year on from its last major action, Extinction Rebellion is around the halfway point of a two-week campaign in London designed to pressure financial institutions to stop funding new fossil fuel projects. Two hundred people have been arrested during the Impossible Rebellion and among the noteworthy protests are Wednesday’s demo outside the Brazilian embassy and tomorrow’s march on commodities corporations Unilever and Cargill.

In other news

Madagascar is on the precipice of the world’s first ‘climate change famine’.

2020 was Europe’s hottest year on record by a larger margin than previously thought: 1.9C warmer than the long-term average and 0.5C hotter than the previous high mark.

Scientists have calculated that climate change made the deadly floods in Germany earlier this summer up to 9x more likely.

A hotel in Oregon is housing more than 150 people who lost their homes in last year’s fires in the western United States. “Sometimes I feel like we’re lost, like they just forgot about us,” one of the victims said.

The Economist Intelligence Unit has ranked which cities are best prepared for climate change and Wellington, New Zealand ranked at number 1.

What we loved

The return of the beaver. Extinct in Britain since the 16th century, beavers will be reintroduced to the British wilderness - and given protected status - following a successful trial in Devon.

Got an idea, question or complaint? Contact the team on unearthed@greenpeace.org

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