Indigenous peoples of the far north struggle to preserve their way of life as the climate warms. A massive radio burst from the depth of space offers clues to the nature of the universe. And military leaders urge President Donald Trump to take the issue of global warming seriously. It's Earthy Thursday, our segment on science and Earth-related news. All this and more for the Pagan News Beagle!
When we talk about global warming usually it's in the context of environmentalism and protecting endangered species. But global warming is already having an impact on the livelihood of human beings too. Emily J. Gertz journeys to northern Finland to speak with Sami communities about the negative impact climate change is having on them.
A lot of the news lately has been a bit of a downer lately. In the interest of counteracting that, environmentalist and Pagan writer Fjothr Lokakvan shares some stories about what's going right in the environmentalist movement.
Why is it so hard often to motivate people to make changes to fight global warming? Part of it may be that the consequences are so distant they feel abstract, even if they're very real. At NPR, Tania Lombrozo talks about using psychology to change that.
Most of what we know about the universe comes from distant signals of electromagnetic radiation traveling through the vacuum of space from distant aeons in the past. Which also means new signals can change what we think we know. Discover magazine covers the recent observation of a new bright radio wave burst that is informing astronomers' understanding of the universe' structure.
President Trump has indicated he's skeptical of global warming and even that he believes it is a Chinese-perpetuated hoax. But most of the ranking officials in the national security community feel very different. Scientific American discusses efforts by military officials to convince the new president to take the issue seriously.
Top image by Skeptical Science