Hello friends! This edition is presented in my favourite form of communication, a themed listicle. I’ll leave it to you to find a weaving thread/theme in this list, so do feel free to expand, tug, add, stretch, play.
Five Minutes as a Polar Bear 🐻❄️
I’m always at least passively thinking about polar bears, much like everyone I love. Also much like everyone, these kins are facing the brunt of a warming world. Lack of sea ice is making them increasingly land-bound. The study that shared the above footage also captured life moments of 20 different polar bears on land over 19–23 days from August to September (2019–2022) in Manitoba, Canada. Even as the bears adapted to a degree by making do on land-based food (we can see them munching on berries), they face risk of starvation from prolonged on-land periods, as punctuated by the loss of body mass in 19 of the 20 bears.
I’ve long had an affinity with these heart-melting kin, which became more pronounced when reading His Dark Materials. (Remember Iorek Byrnison and Iofur Raknison?) I’ll never forget my first visit to polar bear kingdom (Svalbard), with their presence imminent in the polar night, and marked on customised road signs. Next time, hopefully, I’ll spot a silhouette from afar. (As cute as they are, human proximity can be mutually dangerous!)
Where Tech and TEK meet 🌿
The importance of Traditional Ecological Knowledge harboured by Indigenous communities cannot be overstated. Ecological science must wholly integrate TEK for prolonged, holistic conservation. The Indigenous Knowledge Social Network, SIKU, is a story of such a successful weaving.
Designed by a group of Inuit elders and hunters from Sanikiluaq, Nunavut, the data-collecting app helps Arctic Indigenous members record observations of wildlife, water temperature and salinity data, among other data points. In addition to compilation of useful empirics, the digital interface is attractive to the younger generation, which allows for intergenerational knowledge-sharing. Hakai Magazine reports, “The app operates in multiple languages, such as Inuktitut, Cree, Innu, and Greenlandic, and includes maps with traditional place names.”
With its high functionality and user participation, SIKU forms a much-needed framework for how tech and TEK can work in tandem. The collected data is helping with local decision-making and keeping the communities abreast of changes in each others’ environments, and strengthening the call for Indigenous self-determination.
Multiform Art is an integral part of Climate Solutions 🎨
The artist community is often the first responder to changes in societies. It’s been the same for climate change, with an expansion in climate-focused art.
Art adds an ease of comprehension to scientific, often-dry climate reports. In the USA, the Fifth National Climate Assessment has included an art ‘gallery’ in the latest release, as did the UNFCCC for COP28 under #CREATECOP. Do check out the winning exhibit, The Passage of Storms, by Gab Meija, a Nat Geo Explorer and conservation photographer from the Philippines.
Three Climate x Culture Magazines I Adore 📚
Atmos. I sigh reading every article, especially essays by their nature warrior editor-in-chief, Willow Defebaugh. The compilation of her work is now weaved into a beautiful book, The Overview. (Full disclosure: I’m having a love affair with the book, and it may have been my Valentines date.)
Hakai Magazine. All things coastal find their way to this wonderful publication.
Emergence Magazine. They “share stories that explore the timeless connections between ecology, culture, and spirituality.”
On Californian Beneficial Fires 🔥
In October 2023, I attended the Climate & Wildfire Institute’s convening on Intentional Fire in Tahoe, and learnt bucketloads about how prescribed fire and cultural fire practices must be properly codified in policy and legislation, and how fire is an integral part of Indigenous stewardship. Following this, I co-authored this (lit) report to process the learnings.
Free Palestine 🇵🇸
Like many, many others, I am a witness to the atrocities taking place in Palestine. Humans should not be doing this to other humans, and no reasoning is reason enough for such callous violence. Every day, I hope to wake up to the news of a permanent ceasefire. Hopefully, the day is not far.
K-dramas Make Me a Better Person
When I’m not thinking about mama earth, Korean dramas are the next on the list. They’re so much more than TV to me - so many of them are filled with food, friendships and wholesome feelings (even Squid Game has food) that are surely shaping me into a better person (and a core romantic). If you haven’t seen one, here’s a starter pack (from my experience). Also, AMA!
Descendents of the Sun (my breakthrough drama) [drama; romance; military/doctor; funny]
Hospital Playlist / Reply 1988 [friendships; food; funny]
Itaewon Class / Bloodhounds [revenge; food]
Mr. Queen [Freaky Friday; period drama]
Hometown Cha Cha Cha / Summer Strike / Welcome to Samdal-ri [back to hometown trope]
Think afar and think close,
Shivani