November 2023

Social media brims with dubious solutions to health problems we didn’t even know we had. In her latest piece for The Guardian, writer and journalist Katherine Rowland asks why health and wellness have become a quasi-religion for so many and what possible underlying systemic issues this points to.

“The industry’s offerings run the gamut from the tried and true (walking) to the benignly absurd (crystal dildos) to the predatory and dangerous (castor oil for cancerous tumors). [Author of The Gospel of Wellness Rina Raphael] writes that being healthy once meant dutiful visits to the doctor, but now entails a never-ending quest to overcome sickness, sadness, stress and even death.”

Website & Report.

• Global greenhouse gas emissions increased by 1.0% in 2022 to reach their highest levels in human history, driven mainly by a rise in coal, oil, and gas use.
• The world is failing to cut emissions and remains far off track from limiting warming to 1.5°C as outlined in the Paris Agreement goals.
• Nationally determined contributions (NDCs) submitted since the Paris Agreement have strengthened ambition somewhat but are still insufficient to narrow the emissions gap by 2030.
• High-income and high-emitting countries like the G20 need to take more ambitious action to cut emissions and support developing nations in their transitions.
• Land-based carbon dioxide removal and novel removal technologies will need to play a stronger role later in the century to achieve net-negative emissions targets.
• Clean energy transitions present opportunities for countries but also challenges, including entrenched fossil fuel interests and the need for international finance.
• Low- and middle-income countries can develop roadmaps for ambitious low-carbon development and specify their finance and technology needs.
• Carbon dioxide removal technologies require strong policy support, priority-setting, and accelerated innovation to play meaningful roles in mitigation.
• Equity principles must guide responsibilities for deploying large-scale carbon dioxide removal between countries.
• The next Conference of the Parties (COP28) is an opportunity to strengthen climate action and support for developing nations.

PDF Summary via Kagi.

Via Kottke.

Source: Kottke

Grrr, I hate Shorts and videos in that aspect ratio.

Source: Daring Fireball

Software is typically sold on the promise of increased convenience or productivity, or both. If we were to believe all the clichéd marketing lingo about time-saving, our lives would now consist largely of uninterrupted leisure time. 

In a recent post, Brett Scott argues persuasively that, far from making our lives easier, technology is making them faster and more discombobulated. To understand how this shift happens, Scott tells us to look at the issue from a systemic perspective: