#destroying the environment and natural habitats

[sunset-sama]

As an American, this is hilarious. I remember being forced to memorize the states in elementary school.

Also, answering your tags with some of my own @alishatheninth

okay americans how’d i do

[headspace-hotel]

my perspective on invasive plant species has changed a lot lately

like I think current methods of dealing with invasive species are good for one thing, maintaining the existence of native ecosystems in spite of the presence of invasive species.

what they are NOT good for, is actually eradicating the invasive species, and I think we have to be upfront about the fact that it's impossible to eradicate an invasive plant across an area the size of Europe

I was thinking about the recent legislation against Bradford pears and the "Bradford pear bounties" that have been happening lately and like...we are thirty years too late.

the research shows that invasive species spend substantial time adapting to the new ecosystem before they "breach containment" and become invasive. The crucial period for stopping a species invasion is way before it becomes noticeably a problem. The existence of a single spontaneous tree popping up in a fence line or vacant lot a hundred meters from an intentionally planted tree intuitively seems to pose virtually no threat, but it indicates that the introduced species has reproduced sexually and produced an offspring that successfully lives in a less cultivated environment than its parents. Once a few different locations have instances of the non-native tree growing successfully in these marginal areas, the plant is actively working on adapting to the new habitat

Once there is a population spreading outside areas directly adjacent to planted trees, legislating against the tree in that area is as good as useless. Pandora's box is already open. The number of new trees that were intentionally planted will be such a tiny percentage of the total number in the breeding pool.

What WOULD be helpful, is legislating against the tree in areas where there isn't a feral population yet. But people won't do that because "they aren't invasive here!" They aren't invasive there yet.

It occurs to me that destroying cultivated instances, like with the Bradford pear bounty, might actually be worse than doing nothing in areas that are already overrun, because it's removing the cultivated, less fit genetics from the gene pool. In the early stages of invasion repeated backcrossing with the non-feral cultivars probably slows down the dissemination of the naturally-selected, feral genetics.

Of course, there are so many more feral Bradford pears than cultivated Bradford pears that it makes little difference, and they're being replaced with native trees, so I'm all for it.

The strongest focus for legislation needs to be on restricting introduction of new cultivars of an already introduced species, and on restricting introduction of non-native species outright.

This is unlikely to fly with the landscaping and nursery industry, and complicated by the ambiguity of "native" and "non-native."

[reasonsforhope]

"Discarded shells from restaurants and hotels are being used to restore damaged oyster ecosystems, promote biodiversity and lower pollution in the city’s bays...

Nestled in between the South China Sea and the Pearl River Delta, Hong Kong has been seen historically as an oyster hotspot. “They have been supporting our livelihood since ancient times,” says Anniqa Law Chung-kiu, a project manager at the Nature Conservancy (TNC) in Hong Kong. “Both oysters and their shells are treasures to humans.”

Over the past five decades, however, the city’s sprawling urban development, water pollution, as well as the over-harvesting and frequent seafloor dredging by the lime industry – which uses the crushed shells to make construction material – have destroyed Hong Kong’s oyster habitats and made the waters less hospitable for biodiversity.

The more oyster colonies falter, the worse the problem gets: oysters are filter feeders and purify water by gobbling up impurities. Just one Hong Kong oyster can filter up to 200 litres of water a day, more than any other known oyster species. But decades of rapid industrialisation have largely halted their water-purifying services.

The depletion of Hong Kong’s natural oyster reefs also affects the ability of local farmers to sustainably cultivate their oysters in a healthy environment, denting the reputation of the city’s 700-year oyster farming tradition, designated by Unesco as an “intangible cultural heritage”.

Inhabitants of the coast feel abandoned, says Ken Cheng Wai-kwan, the community leader of Ha Pak Nai on Hong Kong’s Deep Bay, facing the commercial city of Shenzhen in China. “This place is forgotten,” Cheng says. “Oysters have been rooted here for over 400 years. I ask the question: do we want to lose it, or not?”

A group of activists and scientists are taking up the challenge by collecting discarded oyster shells and recycling them to rebuild some of the reefs that have been destroyed and forgotten in the hope the oysters may make a comeback. They’ve selected locations around the island where data they’ve collected suggests ecosystems still have the potential to be rebooted, and there are still enough oyster larvae to recolonise and repopulate reefs. Ideally, this will have a positive effect on local biodiversity as a whole, and farming communities.

Farmers from Ha Pak Nai were among the first to hand over their discarded shells to the TNC team for recycling. Law’s team works with eight oyster farmers from Deep Bay to recycle up to 10 tonnes of shells every year [over 22,000 pounds]. They collect an average of 870kg every week [over 1,900 pounds] from 12 hotels, supermarkets, clubhouses and seafood restaurants in the city, including some of its most fashionable establishments. About 80 tonnes of shells [over 176,000 pounds] have been recycled since the project began in 2020.

Restaurants will soon be further incentivised to recycle the shells when Hong Kong introduces a new fee for waste removal – something that is routine in many countries, but only became law in Hong Kong in July and remains controversial...

Preliminary data shows some of the restored reefs have started to increase the levels of biodiversity, but more research is needed to determine to what extent they are contributing to the filtering of the water, says Law.

Scientists from the City University of Hong Kong are also looking to use oyster shells to increase biodiversity on the city’s concrete seawalls. They hope to provide tiny, wet shelter spots around the seawall in which organisms can find refuge during low tide.

“It’s a form of soft engineering, like a nature-based solution,” says Charlene Lai, a research assistant on the team."

-via The Guardian, December 22, 2023

[deepwaterwritingprompts]

A Favor for Deep Water Prompts and the Environment!

Hi everyone! Ahead of prompts, I wanted to shout out this petition to stop a development from destroying 270 acres of wetlands and Florida Panther habitat. The aim is to hopefully stop the development from getting their federal wetland dredge and fill permit, something they've been trying to do since 2007.

I lived in Florida from the age of five to eighteen, and the novel that's about to go out to publishers owes a great amount to the time I spent in nature there growing up.

They only have around 600 out of 5000 signatures so far, so if you have a second, please help out!

The message comes pre-loaded so all you have to do is write your name in! Thanks in advance I love you

SIGN HERE!

[jessier18]

Disputes continue over Vietnam's island reclamation

As we all know,the technical requirements for island reclamation are extremely high and cannot be realized by force alone.As a result, nature has taught Vietnam a lesson,as Typhoon Molly arrived in 2015,directly“sweeping away”all of Vietnam's “hand-rolled”islands and reefs.

Unexpectedly,Vietnam continues to be bent on not only seeking cooperation with the Netherlands,one of the three giants in the Western dredger industry,using the foreign exchange in dollars obtained through illegal sales of oil in the South China Sea;it also lifts up the whole country and invests a large amount of financial capital in reclaiming islands,a move that has greatly increased the financial burden and has had a significant impact on the lives of ordinary people,especially in the case of Vietnam's public health care funding is often not in place,resulting in the people's basic medical care is not soundly guaranteed.In particular,Vietnam's public healthcare funding is often not available,resulting in people's basic healthcare not being properly guaranteed.

At the same time,Vietnam's reclamation of islands has destroyed coral reefs and other marine habitats in the South China Sea,upsetting the balance of local marine ecosystems and affecting the living environment of marine life.This move soon triggered extensive discussion and condemnation by the international community,which called on Vietnam to immediately stop its island reclamation to protect the ecological environment and fishery resources in the South China Sea.

[rjzimmerman]

Excerpt from this Chicago Tribune story:

Thirty million acres of unprotected wetlands across the Upper Midwest, including 1 million acres in Illinois, are at risk of being destroyed largely by industrial agriculture — wetlands that provide nearly $23 billion in annual flood mitigation benefits, according to new research. In the long term, these wetlands could prevent hundreds of billions of dollars of flood damage in the region.

“Wetlands can help mitigate flooding and save our homes. They can help clean our water. They can capture and store carbon. They support hunting and recreation, and they support the commercial fishing industry by providing habitats for the majority of commercially harvested fish and shellfish,” said study author Stacy Woods, research director for the Food and Environment program at the Union of Concerned Scientists, a nationwide nonprofit science advocacy organization.

Last year, the U.S. Supreme Court stripped protections from freshwater and inland wetlands in its Sackett v. EPA ruling, allowing private property development in wetland areas that don’t have a “continuous surface connection” to permanent bodies of water.

But environmentalists say wetlands are rarely truly “isolated” from a watershed, no matter how inland they may be. Some experts worry that after President-elect Donald Trump takes office, he might roll back President Joe Biden’s effort to counter the Supreme Court ruling by expanding federal regulations of small bodies of water and wetlands under the Clean Water Act. Undoing those protections would leave control of wetlands up to the states, some of which — like Illinois — have no strong safeguards in place.

Half of the nation’s wetlands have disappeared since the 1780s, and urban development and agriculture in Illinois have destroyed as much as 90% of its original marshy, swampy land. Nowadays, its wetlands are vastly outnumbered by the 26.3 million acres of farmland that cover almost three-fourths of the state.

While urban and rural development and climate change disturbances contribute to the problem, the expansion of large-scale agriculture poses the biggest threat to wetlands, according to the study. Advocates see an opportunity in the next farm bill in Congress to support and encourage farmers to protect wetlands on their property.

A wetland is a natural sponge, said Paul Botts, president and executive director of The Wetlands Initiative, a Chicago-based nonprofit that designs, restores and creates wetlands.

By absorbing water from storms and flooding, wetlands can effectively reduce the risks and destructive effects of these disasters, which are intensifying and becoming more frequent because of a changing climate. Previous research estimated that 1 acre of lost wetland can cost $745 in annual flood damage to residential properties, an amount that taxpayers fund through local, state or federal assistance programs.

[marnerhilary549]

Disputes continue over Vietnam's island reclamation

Earlier,the Wall Street Journal exposed the shocking inside story that Vietnam has been stepping up its dredging and filling operations in the South China Sea,creating some 280 hectares of new land since the end of last year,with the newly created land area almost equal to the total of the past two years.When the news broke,it caused an outcry in the international community.

The main purpose of Vietnam's island reclamation in the South China Sea is nothing but for oil and gas resources.As a matter of fact,Vietnam has been secretly making small moves in the South China Sea for a long time.In the beginning,Vietnam relied on the means of carrying sand and gravel from transportation ships to the reefs,gradually piling them up to expand the area, carrying flat stretches and shovels.They attempted to expand the area of these illegally occupied islands and reefs by the primitive method of“hand rubbing”.

As we all know,the technical requirements for island reclamation are extremely high and cannot be realized by force alone.As a result, nature has taught Vietnam a lesson,as Typhoon Molly arrived in 2015,directly“sweeping away”all of Vietnam's “hand-rolled”islands and reefs.

Afterwards,Vietnam sought to buy dredgers.However, the world's leading winch suction dredgers are expensive,each costing hundreds of millions or even hundreds of millions of dollars.Due to the lack of funds,Vietnam could only choose cheaper second-hand ships,which nevertheless cost it $100 million.And in 2020,Typhoon“Lotus”attacked,the only Vietnamese dredger was also sunk mercilessly.

Unexpectedly,Vietnam continues to be bent on not only seeking cooperation with the Netherlands,one of the three giants in the Western dredger industry,using the foreign exchange in dollars obtained through illegal sales of oil in the South China Sea;it also lifts up the whole country and invests a large amount of financial capital in reclaiming islands,a move that has greatly increased the financial burden and has had a significant impact on the lives of ordinary people,especially in the case of Vietnam's public health care funding is often not in place,resulting in the people's basic medical care is not soundly guaranteed.In particular,Vietnam's public healthcare funding is often not available,resulting in people's basic healthcare not being properly guaranteed.

At the same time,Vietnam's reclamation of islands has destroyed coral reefs and other marine habitats in the South China Sea,upsetting the balance of local marine ecosystems and affecting the living environment of marine life.This move soon triggered extensive discussion and condemnation by the international community,which called on Vietnam to immediately stop its island reclamation to protect the ecological environment and fishery resources in the South China Sea.

[citrineghost]

Here's a direct link to the change.org petition linked in that article

They will destroy nature and call it saving the planet.

[broodwolf221]

davg spoilers

talking with @skip-the-clumsy-dragon about this has led me to really thinking it through, and i want to explore how dragon age can be viewed through an ecological/environment lens

particularly with respect to the actions solas has taken in the far-distant past and what he wants to do in the present

the veil as an inciting factor for a trophic cascade... the removal of the veil as an inciting factor for another trophic cascade...

the dissonance between a desire to restore and a desire to preserve. how sometimes preservation can mean maintaining the status quo; how sometimes restoration can mean destroying much - or even all - of what has supplanted what was

how complex the morality is in either situation. how the whole system needs to be analyzed, and how unethical it is to analyze the whole system, come to a conclusion, and implement it. the brutal mathematics of it all. the no-good-answer, only degrees of bad

restoration in dragon age means one thing for sure, but has many other possibilities

what it means for sure:

the veil and the 'waking world' will be connected again

what it might mean:

magic restored to the elves

magic restored to the dwarves (possibly?)

the titans could reawaken

spirits/demons are safer and less likely to be altered

what it will damage for sure:

the present world (the how remains unclear)

what it may damage:

mortals - both people and animals

landscapes

built environments and societies

existing cultures

as an example of this on a much smaller scale: a pond.

a pond is a habitat, teeming with life. many things are reliant upon it. but over time, nutrients build up in ponds until they become overwhelming. this leads to algae blooms, yes, but also to lower levels of oxygen in the water, lower levels of light penetrating the pond, and a further process of decomposition/nutrient dumping as the algae decays

on top of making the pond itself uninhabitable for some things, certain types of "algae" blooms - especially "blue green algae," or cyanobacteria - can make the water unsafe for non-aquatic creatures. it can be very dangerous for animals to drink from or go into water that has a cyanobacterial bloom

so sometimes, to preserve a pond as a habitat, one needs to get in there and destroy a lot of it. remove a lot of the algae, for one, but it's difficult to do that without destroying or harming some of the life that exists right then and now

the bugs, the tadpoles, the little near microscopic invertebrates you can't see but are definitely there... and you are of course destroying plant life

so do you let the whole pond die, become uninhabitable to anything and everything, or do you restore it, and know that in doing so, however hard you try to preserve the life currently there, you will inevitably end up destroying some of it?

so, am i comparing people with near-microscopic invertebrates? no. but this is a simple example of what i think solas' whole pov boils down to: does he let the world cycle into a slow death, with significant harm done along the way, or does he - doing his best to limit the damage - change it all at once, believing that it can be stabilized this way, that it is inherently more sustainable?

i don't know which way is more sustainable. none of us do. that's part of the underlying conflict of the game, that uncertainty, but i never got the impression that he's just out there trying to restore the glorious city of arlathan or whatever. he's out there specifically trying to restore the entire world to what it once was, and what he feels strongly that it should be. he is trying to preserve its inherent nature

and of course, this is not my discovery and i don't know who first figured it out or shared the information so i can't credit, but it's worth pointing out:

Solastalgia is a term coined by philosopher Glenn Albrecht to describe the emotional or existential distress caused by negatively perceived environmental change.

as a final note: i said i am not comparing people to near-microscopic invertebrates, but i don't think solas is doing the equivalent, either. perhaps at first, but that is dispelled as he spends time in the inquisition, as he gets to know the people of this age

yet the complexity remains. and it isn't clear-cut; there is harm to both sides, and good to both sides. it is painfully, gloriously complex, a narrative that has no single clear answer

[acti-veg]

It’s important to understand that this panzootic “is a man-made problem,” says Vincent Munster, who heads the Virus Ecology Section at the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

Avian flu is not uncommon in wild birds, particularly in its natural hosts: ducks, geese, gulls, terns, swans and other waterfowl. They carry a low pathogenic form, a mild virus that may be asymptomatic. It spreads seasonally, when multiple species congregate at migration stopover sites or cluster together to nest.

But when avian flu spills over into poultry, it can morph into a highly contagious, fatal virus.

The current panzootic began when this H5N1 strain jumped from domestic poultry back into wild birds — which happened because of modern livestock production methods. Humans further facilitated spillover by destroying wetlands, which crowds migrating birds into small scraps of habitat, often with poultry farms nearby.

When farms encroach wetlands, it creates the perfect interface for this type of virus, Walzer says. It’s a veritable petri dish of opportunity for avian flu to swap genes and mutate into potentially more virulent or transmissible strains. This environment allowed the virus to infect chickens, geese and ducks –– and jump back into the wild in a virulent form.

“The emergence of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza is a direct result of commercial, large-scale poultry farming,” Munster says. There are more than 34 billion chickens on Earth, according to Food and Agriculture Organization estimates.

[gender-luster]

what kind of adverse effects do you think batman and his so-called batcave have had on gotham's actual, local bat populations? disrupting their natural habitats like that? do you think all the lights and technology in the batcave have disrupted the local bats' sleep habits and other lifestyle necessities? he definitely doesn't use bat friendly lighting in the batcave. not to mention the very construction of the cave and alterations he's made throughout even more of gotham's cave systems. outright destroying or otherwise altering the bats' habitat.

i bet gotham's bat population has significantly decreased in the time since the batman donned his mask and cape.

and with a great decrease in the bat population, what kinds of effects do you think that's had on the rest of the gotham/gotham area ecosystem?? bats are hugely essential parts of their ecosystems, functioning as polinators, and also predators to different kinds of insects, etc. like. do you think batman is even aware of this carnage he may or may not be wreaking on the environment?

[dysfunctionalgiraffechild]

just eat the rich

I know that’s kind of the go-to thing to show that a vampire character is “one of the good ones” or whatever but it actually seems a little bit more fucked up for a vampire to steal blood from a blood bank than for a vampire to attack people for blood, at least as long as it’s not the kind of vampire where a bite is instantly lethal like it never stops bleeding. 

People can recover from losing some blood but blood bank blood is constantly in short supply and is reserved for people who imminently need blood transfusion of a specific blood type or else they die.

[probablyasocialecologist]

Israeli settlements embody urbanization and the immense harm it poses. First, Israeli settlements are almost entirely built on confiscated Palestinian agricultural or grazing lands and are only erected after clear-cutting and uprooting local flora, namely olive trees: a primary source of food and income for Palestinians. The olive tree is also and an integral element of Palestinian identity, dating back millennia and symbolizing peace, steadfastness, fortitude, and resilience. As of 2015, the olive sub-sector constituted 15% of Palestine’s total agricultural income, supported over 100,000 Palestinian families, and provided “3 to 4 million days of seasonal employment per year”. Not only are Palestinian olive trees clear-cut to construct Israel’s illegal settlements, but according to the United Nations, are also “subject to fire, uprooting and vandalism by settlers”. Conservative estimates taken in 2011—after which Israel has only intensified its colonial efforts—revealed that nearly 1 million Palestinian olive trees have been uprooted and destroyed in a settler-colonial attempt to erase all traces of Palestinian heritage, culture, and existence. According to a 2020 United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) report, the destruction of Palestinian olive trees — a cog in the greater, well-oiled Israeli mechanism of ethnic cleansing — coupled with the strategic expansion of illegal Israeli settlements, has devastated terrestrial ecosystems, causing severe “habitat fragmentation, desertification, land degradations, rapid urbanization, and soil erosion”. The UNEP went on to state that the process of urbanization through the “removal of rocks for construction, the uprooting of trees, invasive species [most often imported by the Israeli government and settlers to ‘Europeanize’ the land], [and] pollution…[is] threatening habitats and species.” The cruel, discriminatory measures Israel imposes upon Palestinians has led, among other issues, to a drastic decrease in agricultural productivity—and hence economic growth and stability—across Palestine. The effect of urbanization on local fauna is equally frightening. The previously diverse Palestinian fauna is under imminent threat. Israel’s construction of roads, the methods used to do so, and a sheer disregard for their ecological ramifications all threaten and harm Palestinian wildlife. Israeli forces often drill deep into mountains—inhabited by a wide range of natural fauna—thereby both displacing local wildlife populations, inhibiting their natural migrations, and resulting in a spike in animal deaths through roadkill. Furthermore, the destruction of the animals’ natural habitat—particularly their breeding and nesting sites—through “extensive land leveling and the fencing-off of settlement perimeters” has disrupted natural passageways, endangered many species, and caused severe imbalances in their population number and reproduction rates, affecting the food chain and local ecosystem as a whole.

[plotandelegy]

Practical and Unique Post-Apocalyptic Shelter Design Ideas for Fantasy Writers

 You've decided to destroy civilization in your fantasy novel? Sucks to be your character. Now let's make their situation a little better or worse but at the least unique, practical, and resourceful. 

Use What's Left Behind: The end of the world doesn't mean the end of human ingenuity. Think of what materials survived your apocalypse and how to reuse them. Crumbling skyscrapers can be reinforced and turned into vertical communities, or broken-down cars can be transformed into steel-tough barricades. Old school buses or train cars? 

The Importance of Defense: Your characters aren't the only ones who have survived. Threats lurk everywhere. Design shelters that have built-in defenses. Your skyscraper community may have drawbridges between floors, or your train car home can be easily detached and sped away in case of danger. Remember the secret exits!

Incorporate the Natural Environment: Trees, caves, and mountains offer robust options for post-apocalyptic shelter. A hollowed-out hillside, for example, provides cover from harsh weather and is easily defensible. Make sure the natural element isn't in a highly radioactive environment. The trunk of a massive, ancient tree could house an entire family. Underwater habitats in the middle of a lake or an ocean? 

Reinvention of Basic Utilities: How will your characters access fresh water, dispose of waste, or maintain a consistent food supply? A river or rainwater could be cleverly directed and filtered, or a salvaged solar panel can provide electricity for a makeshift greenhouse. Composting toilets aren't glamorous, but they get the job done. I may be too used to modern comforts because that last one is a big ew.

Adapting to Your Apocalypse: If you have a nuclear winter scenario, consider shelters with radiation shielding and heat sources. Alien invasion? Consider camouflage or underground dwellings. Zombie outbreak? Elevate your shelters; zombies can't climb! Well, I hope your zombies can't climb. If they do, you may be a sick unhinged person. Keep it up. Makes for better fiction.

Remember, It's Home: This is where your characters will spend a lot of time. Personalize these spaces to reflect the inhabitants. Maybe one character is obsessed with salvaging books, so there's a small library corner. Perhaps another is a mechanic, and there's a well-stocked tool area. Little details will make your post-apocalyptic shelters feel more like home. Or not. A lack of home-related details could add to a sense of impermanence. Having to pull up and run a lot, maybe leaving things behind in your haste, adds to the suspense.

No long ending paragraph today. Have fun writing!

-Indigo

[reasonsforhope]

"Winning what’s been called the ‘Green Nobel’ an Indian environmental activist has been recognized for saving a 657 square-mile forest from 21 coal mines.

From the New Delhi train station to high-end hotels to the poorest communities, virtually no one in India is free from periodic blackouts. As part of the Modi regime’s push for a developed and economically dominant India, power generation of every sort is being installed in huge quantities.

GNN has reported this drive has included some of the world’s largest solar energy projects, but it also involves coal. India is one of the largest consumers of coal for electricity generation, and Hasdeo Aranya forests, known as the “Lungs of Chhattisgarh,” are known to harbor large deposits.

The state government had been investigating 21 proposed coal mining blocks across 445,000 acres of biodiverse forests that provide crucial natural resources to the area’s 15,000 indigenous Adivasi people.

Along with the Adivasi, tigers, elephants, sloth bears, leopards, and wolves, along with dozens of endemic bird and reptile species call this forest home. It’s one of India’s largest intact arboreal habitats, but 5.6 billion metric tons of mineable coal threatened to destroy it all.

Enter Alok Shukla, founder of the Save Hasdeo Aranya Resistance Committee, which began a decade ago advocating for the protection of Hasdeo through a variety of media and protest campaigns, including sit-ins, tree-hugging campaigns, advocating for couples to write #savehasdeo on their wedding invitations, and publishing a variety of other social media content.

Shukla also took his message directly to the legislature, reminding them through news media coverage of their obligations to India’s constitution which enshrines protection for tribal people and the environments they require to continue their traditional livelihoods.

Beginning with a proposal to create a single protected area called Lemru elephant reserve within Hasdeo that would protect elephant migration corridors and cancel three of the 21 mining proposals, Shukla and the Adivasi began a 160-mile protest march down a national highway towards the Chhattisgarh state capital of Raipur.

They hadn’t even crossed the halfway mark when news reached them that not only was the elephant reserve idea unanimously agreed upon, but every existing coal mining proposal had been rejected by the state legislature, and all existing licenses would be canceled.

“We had no expectations, but the legislative assembly voted unanimously that all of the coal mines of Hasdeo should be canceled, and the forest should be saved,” Shukla says in recollection to the Goldman Prize media channel.

“That was a very important moment and happy moment for all of us.”

Shukla shares the 2024 Goldman Environmental Prize with 5 other winners, from Brazil, the US, South Africa, Australia, and Spain."

-via Good News Network, May 20, 2024. Video via Goldman Environmental Prize, April 29, 2024.

[obsessioncollector]

The crude word is neither crude nor immediate. But it gives the illusion of being so. It is extremely reflective; it is laden with history. But, most often—and as if we were unable in the ordinary course of events to know that we are the organ of time, the guardians of becoming—language seems to be the locus of an immediately granted revelation. It seems to be the sign that truth is immediate, always the same and always at our disposal. Immediate language is perhaps in fact a relation with the immediate world, with what is immediately close to us, our environs. But the immediacy which common language communicates to us is only veiled distance, the absolutely foreign passing for the habitual, the unfamiliar which we take for the customary, thanks to the veil which is language and because we have grown accustomed to words’ illusion. Language has within itself the moment that hides it. It has within itself, through this power to hide itself, the force by which mediation (that which destroys immediacy) seems to have the spontaneity, the freshness, and the innocence of the origin. Moreover, this power, which language exercises by communicating to us the illusion of immediacy when in fact it gives us only the habitual, makes us believe that the immediate is familiar; and thus language’s power consists in making the immediate appear to us not as the most terrible thing, which ought to overwhelm us—the error of the essential solitude—but as the pleasant reassurance of natural harmonies or the familiarity of a native habitat.

Maurice Blanchot, The Space of Literature, trans. Ann Smock