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morwennastower · 11 hours ago

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Planet's Fucked: What Can You Do To Help? (Long Post)

Since nobody is talking about the existential threat to the climate and the environment a second Trump term/Republican government control will cause, which to me supersedes literally every other issue, I wanted to just say my two cents, and some things you can do to help. I am a conservation biologist, whose field was hit substantially by the first Trump presidency. I study wild bees, birds, and plants.

In case anyone forgot what he did last time, he gagged scientists' ability to talk about climate change, he tried zeroing budgets for agencies like the NOAA, he attempted to gut protections in the Endangered Species Act (mainly by redefining 'take' in a way that would allow corporations to destroy habitat of imperiled species with no ramifications), he tried to do the same for the Migratory Bird Treaty Act (the law that offers official protection for native non-game birds), he sought to expand oil and coal extraction from federal protected lands, he shrunk the size of multiple national preserves, HE PULLED US OUT OF THE PARIS CLIMATE AGREEMENT, and more.

We are at a crucial tipping point in being able to slow the pace of climate change, where we decide what emissions scenario we will operate at, with existential consequences for both the environment and people. We are also in the middle of the Sixth Mass Extinction, with the rate of species extinctions far surpassing background rates due completely to human actions. What we do now will determine the fate of the environment for hundreds or thousands of years - from our ability to grow key food crops (goodbye corn belt! I hated you anyway but), to the pressure on coastal communities that will face the brunt of sea level rise and intensifying extreme weather events, to desertification, ocean acidification, wildfires, melting permafrost (yay, outbreaks of deadly frozen viruses!), and a breaking down of ecosystems and ecosystem services due to continued habitat loss and species declines, especially insect declines. The fact that the environment is clearly a low priority issue despite the very real existential threat to so many people, is beyond my ability to understand. I do partly blame the public education system for offering no mandatory environmental science curriculum or any at all in most places. What it means is that it will take the support of everyone who does care to make any amount of difference in this steeply uphill battle.

There are not enough environmental scientists to solve these issues, not if public support is not on our side and the majority of the general public is either uninformed or actively hostile towards climate science (or any conservation science).

So what can you, my fellow Americans, do to help mitigate and minimize the inevitable damage that lay ahead?

I'm not going to tell you to recycle more or take shorter showers. I'll be honest, that stuff is a drop in the bucket. What does matter on the individual level is restoring and protecting habitat, reducing threats to at-risk species, reducing pesticide use, improving agricultural practices, and pushing for policy changes. Restoring CONNECTIVITY to our landscape - corridors of contiguous habitat - will make all the difference for wildlife to be able to survive a changing climate and continued human population expansion.

**Caveat that I work in the northeast with pollinators and birds so I cannot provide specific organizations for some topics, including climate change focused NGOs. Scientists on tumblr who specialize in other fields, please add your own recommended resources. **

We need two things: FUNDING and MANPOWER.

You may surprised to find that an insane amount of conservation work is carried out by volunteers. We don't ever have the funds to pay most of the people who want to help. If you really really care, consider going into a conservation-related field as a career. It's rewarding, passionate work.

At the national level, please support:

The Nature Conservancy

Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation

Cornell Lab of Ornithology (including eBird)

National Audubon Society

Federal Duck Stamps (you don't need to be a hunter to buy one!)

These first four work to acquire and restore critical habitat, change environmental policy, and educate the public. There is almost certainly a Nature Conservancy-owned property within driving distance of you. Xerces plays a very large role in pollinator conservation, including sustainable agriculture, native bee monitoring programs, and the Bee City/Bee Campus USA programs. The Lab of O is one of the world's leaders in bird research and conservation. Audubon focuses on bird conservation. You can get annual memberships to these organizations and receive cool swag and/or a subscription to their publications which are well worth it. You can also volunteer your time; we need thousands of volunteers to do everything from conducting wildlife surveys, invasive species removal, providing outreach programming, managing habitat/clearing trails, planting trees, you name it. Federal Duck Stamps are the major revenue for wetland conservation; hunters need to buy them to hunt waterfowl but anyone can get them to collect!

THERE ARE DEFINITELY MORE, but these are a start.

Additionally, any federal or local organizations that seek to provide support and relief to those affected by hurricanes, sea level rise, any form of coastal climate change...

At the regional level:

These are a list of topics that affect major regions of the United States. Since I do not work in most of these areas I don't feel confident recommending specific organizations, but please seek resources relating to these as they are likely major conservation issues near you.

PRAIRIE CONSERVATION & PRAIRIE POTHOLE WETLANDS

DRYING OF THE COLORADO RIVER (good overview video linked)

PROTECTION OF ESTUARIES AND SALTMARSH, ESPECIALLY IN THE DELAWARE BAY AND LONG ISLAND (and mangroves further south, everglades etc; this includes restoring LIVING SHORELINES instead of concrete storm walls; also check out the likely-soon extinction of saltmarsh sparrows)

UNDAMMING MAJOR RIVERS (not just the Colorado; restoring salmon runs, restoring historic floodplains)

NATIVE POLLINATOR DECLINES (NOT honeybees. for fuck's sake. honeybees are non-native domesticated animals. don't you DARE get honeybee hives to 'save the bees')

WILDLIFE ALONG THE SOUTHERN BORDER (support the Mission Butterfly Center!)

INVASIVE PLANT AND ANIMAL SPECIES (this is everywhere but the specifics will differ regionally, dear lord please help Hawaii)

LOSS OF WETLANDS NATIONWIDE (some states have lost over 90% of their wetlands, I'm looking at you California, Ohio, Illinois)

INDUSTRIAL AGRICULTURE, esp in the CORN BELT and CALIFORNIA - this is an issue much bigger than each of us, but we can work incrementally to promote sustainable practices and create habitat in farmland-dominated areas. Support small, local farms, especially those that use soil regenerative practices, no-till agriculture, no pesticides/Integrated Pest Management/no neonicotinoids/at least non-persistent pesticides. We need more farmers enrolling in NRCS programs to put farmland in temporary or permanent wetland easements, or to rent the land for a 30-year solar farm cycle. We've lost over 99% of our prairies to corn and soybeans. Let's not make it 100%.

INDIGENOUS LAND-BACK EFFORTS/INDIGENOUS LAND MANAGEMENT/TEK (adding this because there have been increasing efforts not just for reparations but to also allow indigenous communities to steward and manage lands either fully independently or alongside western science, and it would have great benefits for both people and the land; I know others on here could speak much more on this. Please platform indigenous voices)

HARMFUL ALGAL BLOOMS (get your neighbors to stop dumping fertilizers on their lawn next to lakes, reduce agricultural runoff)

OCEAN PLASTIC (it's not straws, it's mostly commercial fishing line/trawling equipment and microplastics)

A lot of these are interconnected. And of course not a complete list.

At the state and local level:

You probably have the most power to make change at the local level!

Support or volunteer at your local nature centers, local/state land conservancy non-profits (find out who owns&manages the preserves you like to hike at!), state fish & game dept/non-game program, local Audubon chapters (they do a LOT). Participate in a Christmas Bird Count!

Join local garden clubs, which install and maintain town plantings - encourage them to use NATIVE plants. Join a community garden!

Get your college campus or city/town certified in the Bee Campus USA/Bee City USA programs from the Xerces Society

Check out your state's official plant nursery, forest society, natural heritage program, anything that you could become a member of, get plants from, or volunteer at.

Volunteer to be part of your town's conservation commission, which makes decisions about land management and funding

Attend classes or volunteer with your land grant university's cooperative extension (including master gardener programs)

Literally any volunteer effort aimed at improving the local environment, whether that's picking up litter, pulling invasive plants, installing a local garden, planting trees in a city park, ANYTHING. make a positive change in your own sphere. learn the local issues affecting your nearby ecosystems. I guarantee some lake or river nearby is polluted

MAKE HABITAT IN YOUR COMMUNITY. Biggest thing you can do. Use plants native to your area in your yard or garden. Ditch your lawn. Don't use pesticides (including mosquito spraying, tick spraying, Roundup, etc). Don't use fertilizers that will run off into drinking water. Leave the leaves in your yard. Get your school/college to plant native gardens. Plant native trees (most trees planted in yards are not native). Remove invasive plants in your yard.

On this last point, HERE ARE EASY ONLINE RESOURCES TO FIND NATIVE PLANTS and LEARN ABOUT NATIVE GARDENING:

Xerces Society Pollinator Conservation Resource Center

Pollinator Pathway

Audubon Native Plant Finder

Homegrown National Park (and Doug Tallamy's other books)

National Wildlife Federation Native Plant Finder (clunky but somewhat helpful)

Heather Holm (for prairie/midwest/northeast)

MonarchGard w/ Benjamin Vogt (for prairie/midwest)

Native Plant Trust (northeast & mid-atlantic)

Grow Native Massachusetts (northeast)

Habitat Gardening in Central New York (northeast)

There are many more - I'm not familiar with resources for western states. Print books are your biggest friend. Happy to provide a list of those.

Lastly, you can help scientists monitor species using citizen science. Contribute to iNaturalist, eBird, Bumblebee Watch, or any number of more geographically or taxonomically targeted programs (for instance, our state has a butterfly census carried out by citizen volunteers).

In short? Get curious, get educated, get involved. Notice your local nature, find out how it's threatened, and find out who's working to protect it that you can help with. The health of the planet, including our resilience to climate change, is determined by small local efforts to maintain and restore habitat. That is how we survive this. When government funding won't come, when we're beat back at every turn trying to get policy changed, it comes down to each individual person creating a safe refuge for nature.

Thanks for reading this far. Please feel free to add your own credible resources and organizations.

#climate solutions #us elections

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morwennastower · 2 days ago

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On why I am sad about S03

TW- Child sexual assault, rape, domestic violence, religious trauma, child abuse, self harm.

In this fandom, I am pretty much no one. I have my little circle that I run with. I have a couple of good friends that I have made. For the most part, I am just another Tumblr name that no one pays too much attention to. I don't expect anyone to read this, but I need to get it off my chest. I have seen so many terrible takes in the last few days. I am in a fragile state irl, so I may be taking things to heart more than usual. However, I want to say my piece, regardless of whether anyone reads it.

I have seen so many posts proclaiming "The fandom SHOULD feel this way. "If you don't feel THIS way then you don't care about victims," or "If you don't feel like THIS then you're not a real fan." You know what? Fuck that. Fuck ALL OF THAT.

I have been a mess since the season three news broke a few days ago. I feel endless gratitude to Rhianna Pratchett and Rob Wilkins for their miracle in getting us, and Terry, an ending. But I also despair for what we've lost and have found myself in fits of big ugly tears more than once. If you ask a certain subset of this fandom, such a reaction is pathetic. It makes me a rape apologist. I have no concern or empathy for victims of sexual assault. I have blocked most of these accounts before, for unrelated reasons. But, some of their "enlightened" views have reached me via reblogs and the grapevine.

Because how could anyone put fictional characters above real assault victims?

You know what? I haven't seen ANYONE doing that. If anyone IS doing it, they are certainly in the minority. The thing about humans is that we are capable of complex emotions. Sometimes those emotions even contradict each other. Shades of grey, anyone? It's almost as if the people making these accusations have never even watched the show. I am positive that one of the loudest voices hasn't watched it or read the book. But, that's a post for another day. Or not because I am not interested in stooping to the level of the fandom police.

So, grieving a lost third series means I don't care about rape victims, says someone who knows nothing about my life, or of those that feel the same. This person who knows not how many times I have survived rape and sexual assault myself. You know, I don't even know the answer to that question either. The first time I was sexually assaulted, I was three years old. THREE. YEARS. OLD. The perpetrator was a high-ranking member of The Jehovah's Witness Church Cult. This man assaulted and raped me repeatedly until I was thirteen years old; when my maternal grandmother died, we finally escaped the cult. During that time I was also tied up and assaulted at least twice by a "friend" of my older brother. After breaking up with my first serious boyfriend at 18, I went on a date with someone I met at a party. We were going to Moomba (an Australian festival) but before we got there he stopped his car and date-raped me. I pretended it didn't happen and went on with the date. At 18, I thought that's just what happened. The fact that my ex had never assaulted me seemed more of an anomaly than being date-raped by someone who was on the outskirts of my circle of friends. There were a couple of other instances after that. I won't detail them all but to say the last time I was assaulted was in 2020 during lockdown, in my own home. His hands around my throat, and me trying desperately to claw my way free, terrified that I was about to become a statistic. I don't know how I freed myself. You know what I do remember? I remember later that night, the bedroom door locked. Curled up on my bed in a fetal position. Too defeated to even cry. Watching Good Omens because that was the only thing that made me feel safe.

I've only just realized it in the last two days. Since 1994, Good Omens has been my one, constant source of comfort. Since the day I picked up a now long-lost copy of the novel that a friend of my brother's left at our house. It wasn't the kind of book I'd normally read, but it was there and I was bored. And I, the person who can never read any book more than once, read that book until it fell apart because it made me feel safe.

When I was recovering from a life of religious trauma, I read Good Omens.

When my mother read my diary and made me go to the police about the decade of child sexual abuse I endured, I read Good Omens.

The night I was date-raped, I read Good Omens.

When my brother died, I read Good Omens.

When my first daughter died, I read Good Omens.

When my now ex-husband abused me and cheated on me, I read Good Omens.

Then the TV show was announced. Not just a TV show. A TV show starring my two favourite actors. David Tennant had been my actor. I followed him since I stumbled upon Takin' Over the Asylum when I was 16. I info-dumped about him on my friends for years to reactions of rolled eyes and indifference. Then, he became the Doctor and finally, those same people agreed with me. When Wilde was released, I was thrilled. Stephen Fry AND Oscar Wilde! What could be better? Nothing, I thought, until I watched it. Michael Sheen dominated the screen and I forgot my original reasons for wanting to see the movie. Then it was 2017. The book that had comforted me through every trauma of the past 20+ years was going to be brought to life by my favorite actors? It was as if someone had peered into my soul. They plucked out the one thing I needed, without my even knowing it.

Then it was released. And it was perfect.

By then I had moved to the other side of the country, for a new relationship. Anyone with stronger boundaries and less trauma would have seen the red flags a mile away. But for me, it was a chance to escape my ex-husband's abuse. I wanted a better life for my kids and me. For unconditional love. That's what they promised me. They were lying, of course.

When I got screamed at because I didn't stack the dishwasher correctly, I watched Good Omens.

I was falsely accused of trying to 'trigger' my partner's epilepsy by turning on a ceiling fan in summer. My 'victim' always had the fan on in her own bedroom. But I still got screamed at, I watched Good Omens.

Curled up in agony one night, after the man who claimed to love me violently thrust his fist inside my body, without my consent, I watched Good Omens.

After the choking incident happened, I watched Good Omens.

I sought help from a domestic violence service. All they did was send an ambulance to take me to the ED for a couple of hours. Then, they sent me back to face the wrath of my abusers for daring to seek help, I watched Good Omens.

When my ex-boyfriend and best friend died during lockdown, I couldn't get to Melbourne for his funeral due to flight restrictions; I watched Good Omens.

Later that week, the female partner began to lash out at me. My grief had stolen attention from her, which was not allowed, and I was made to suffer; I watched Good Omens.

Another time I was in her firing line. I stole her thunder when I had to recount my years of CSA to a psychiatrist during the inquest into CSA in the Jehovah's Witnesses. I did it to try to prevent other children from enduring what I had been through. That night I was screamed at for attention-seeking; I watched Good Omens.

One day she chased my child with scissors. My other partner tried to gaslight me into believing they deserved it. I watched Good Omens while my child cried themself to sleep in my arms.

That was the last straw. I took my two AUDHD kids and our two cats to a shelter. We had no money and few possessions. I watched Good Omens.

We spent ten weeks in that shelter. I knew we had a total of twelve weeks to find a house during a housing crisis. If I failed, the RSPCA would take the cats, and we'd be on the street. Every night we were there, I watched Good Omens.

We did find a house.

In the three years since. Navigating life in a largely unfamiliar area, with no friends that I can visit. Dealing with my children's and my own PTSD. I have watched Good Omens more times than I can count.

This year, my health has declined. I have been in hospital. I have seen countless doctors and specialists. None have been able to tell me what is wrong, only that "It is definitely something." And you know what? On nights when I can't breathe, and it feels like my lungs are being crushed from the inside. Good Omens has been there for me.

Crowley and Aziraphale are not just fictional characters. They have been friends. They have comforted me and kept me going through all the traumas I've endured since I was sixteen years old. They have been more consistent than any actual human in my life. So don't dare tell me that my grief means I don't care about victims.

I am sick over what that man has done.

In February this year, I got the Why? Love. tattoo with his signature on my wrist.

I got it to remind me that despite the overwhelming evidence shown to me by the men in my life, there are still decent men out there. How stupid do I feel now? How many times in the last few months have I wanted to rip his name from my flesh? How often have I considered placing my wrist on the hot stovetop because I can't afford to have it removed or covered? Don't dare tell me that I am an apologist for what he has done. I hate him. I hate what he did to those women. I hate what he has done to this fandom. I hate what he has done to Terry's legacy.

But Good Omens is more than him. As relieved as I am that we are getting 90 minutes, I will grieve for the ending we will not get for as long as I want to and however I see fit. And fuck anyone who judges me or any other member of this fandom for being sad. Direct your anger at the one who deserves it. Not at other fans. We should be supporting each other. We should be in this together. Our different experiences will spark varied reactions. There is nothing wrong with that. Be kind.

#good omens #neil gaiman allegations

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