Few people are as agile with the English language as Dougald Hine, and it was a complete pleasure to prowl around with him in this territory I refer to as the living climate. I gained some fresh concepts, one of which is the notion that the CO2-only, model-derived narrative of Earth’s climate has created a kind of dashboard thinking, by which with the turning of a few nobs we can “fix” our climate problem. But as with all living things, it’s far more complicated, and interesting than that. I hope you enjoy the conversation as much as I did.
I thoroughly enjoyed your conversation with Dougald. I kept thinking about Jean Giono‘s book. “The man who planted trees,” and real-life examples of arid landscapes restored to lush beauty using permaculture principles. There are people who know how to do this, and who are doing it, which gives me great hope. Is it enough? Not yet, but trees are being planted and landscapes restored, and others can follow their example. Your remarks about trees reinforces my misgivings about the current sustainability craze in my field of mass timber buildings. Sure, they’re less carbon intensive than either concrete or steel, but trees are a carbon sink standing in a forest, not only in a highrise. Plus all the other countless “ecosystem services” (another kind of functionalist dashboarding) that a forest provides.
I had the same thoughts about wood construction materials. Any suggestions where to dive deeper in understanding this complex topic?
During the conversation I thought about the quote attributed to Olivier Wendell Holmes; "for the simplicity of this side of complexity I wouldn't give a fig, for the simplicity on the other side of complexity I would give you everything I have".
- Possibly case studies to give rough ideas of levels of coordination/scale (e.g. Willie Smits borneo example supposedly of 4sq mi. restoration effort supposedly increasing rainfall by 25%, cloud cover 10% ; can't find a reference but I thought Millan Millan or someone said there starts to be change when things are done around 5sq mi large) - not trying to become too rational-minded here but wondering how to feel into what might be approachable.
Yes, that sounds right. I think he said 10 square kilometers. I'll look forward to following your links. May watersheds become the new maps for situating ourselves more organically. Thanks for your note.
I thoroughly enjoyed your conversation with Dougald. I kept thinking about Jean Giono‘s book. “The man who planted trees,” and real-life examples of arid landscapes restored to lush beauty using permaculture principles. There are people who know how to do this, and who are doing it, which gives me great hope. Is it enough? Not yet, but trees are being planted and landscapes restored, and others can follow their example. Your remarks about trees reinforces my misgivings about the current sustainability craze in my field of mass timber buildings. Sure, they’re less carbon intensive than either concrete or steel, but trees are a carbon sink standing in a forest, not only in a highrise. Plus all the other countless “ecosystem services” (another kind of functionalist dashboarding) that a forest provides.
Thanks, Julie. Yes, timber buildings are in my opinion a real problem. Most of the carbon is lost in the logging and milling.
I had the same thoughts about wood construction materials. Any suggestions where to dive deeper in understanding this complex topic?
During the conversation I thought about the quote attributed to Olivier Wendell Holmes; "for the simplicity of this side of complexity I wouldn't give a fig, for the simplicity on the other side of complexity I would give you everything I have".
That’s a brilliant quote! I think something Einstein said, along the lines of “Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler.”
As for wood construction, the Yale360 site has some good articles. So does Building Green.
Looking forward to hearing more. I’m a big fan of this planet!!
A Canadian Grandma
Thank you again Rob
Thank you, Rob. We need these rays of hope. There is strength in connecting through such conversations. That strength plays out in our daily living.
A few concepts that mull around in my mind in trying to see not a dashboard, but map(s) and forms of inviting for participation might be:
- 'Watershed as a coherent concept' from an interview with Ann Davis - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nLWIxjmvlJI
- https://watershedmaps.com/ - an example from Paul Cereghino (who also worked on Salish Sea Wiki)
- Possibly case studies to give rough ideas of levels of coordination/scale (e.g. Willie Smits borneo example supposedly of 4sq mi. restoration effort supposedly increasing rainfall by 25%, cloud cover 10% ; can't find a reference but I thought Millan Millan or someone said there starts to be change when things are done around 5sq mi large) - not trying to become too rational-minded here but wondering how to feel into what might be approachable.
Yes, that sounds right. I think he said 10 square kilometers. I'll look forward to following your links. May watersheds become the new maps for situating ourselves more organically. Thanks for your note.
I just received this, and haven't read it yet. But it seems to be of interest to what's being explored here.
https://theproudholobionts.substack.com/p/how-to-stabilize-earths-climate