An Outside Chance

magic in the mud

PHOTO POST The water level in Lake Ontario is extraordinarily low for this time of year, and so the shoreline marshes don’t have much depth. The diving ducks – Buffleheads, Mergansers, Long-tails and their ilk – are staying out on the lake or just migrating further north. But the dabblers – Northern Shovelers, Northern Pintails, … Read More

Going to extremes

It only took us a century to use up the best of the planet’s finite reserves of fossil fuels. The dawning century will be a lot different. Also published on Resilience In the autumn of 1987 I often sipped my morning coffee while watching a slow parade roll through the hazy dawn. I had given up … Read More

The fat-takers cross the oceans

Also published on Resilience Ecological overshoot is a global crisis today, but the problem did not begin with the fossil fuel age. From its beginnings more than five centuries ago, European colonization has been based on an unsustainable exploitation of resources. In Seeker of Visions, John (Fire) Lame Deer says “The Sioux have a name … Read More

spring forward

PHOTO POST We all have fond memories of that most welcome season, when instead of going out to play on ice, we sneak out and slop around in mud for the first time. But how many of us have had the thrill of sliding into the muck wearing a pristine white suit? A pair of … Read More

The marginal uselessness of muscle-cars

Also published on Resilience Waiting at a stop-light, sitting on my bicycle while leaning against a telephone pole, ready to step down hard on the pedals, it was only natural to think about the economic concept of “marginal utility”. I enjoyed my little game of beating fast cars through intersections after stopping for lights. Having … Read More

Beyond the green frog-skin world

Also published on Resilience Sometimes you ask a question and the answer doesn’t come for many years. That’s the way it worked for me when I first tried to make sense of economics. The time was the mid-1970s, I was an undergraduate student, and I was keenly interested in economics because it seemed key to … Read More

black and white in colour

PHOTO POST You may know that at this time of year lots of black and white ducks – Buffleheads, Greater and Lesser Scaup, Common Goldeneye, Long-Tailed Ducks – show up on Lake Ontario. You may have heard that they dive for their food, eat a variety of mollusks, crustaceans, fish eggs, aquatic insects, sometimes even … Read More

Can big science be sustained?

Reflections on Fundamentals by Frank Wilczek Also published on Resilience During a long career at the frontiers of physics Frank Wilczek has earned many honours, including a Nobel Prize for Physics in 2004. Fortunately for general readers he is also a gifted writer with a facility for explaining complex topics in (relatively) simple terms. Perhaps … Read More

wintering at sea

PHOTO POST In our house, if a lake is big enough so that we can’t see across to the far shore, then we’re allowed to call it “the sea”. Many ducks, we’re pleased to report, agree with our interpretation. In winter we have as company several species of ducks who ordinarily shun frozen lakes and … Read More

suite for january

PHOTO POST Perhaps no month can show so many moods as January,* particularly when we get a taste of real winter as in the past few days. On a clear crisp morning wave-spray has transformed every twig on the shoreline into a jewel. Even grains of sand have conspired with the water and the temperature … Read More

Will the sun soon set on concrete?

Also published on Resilience At the mention of our “fossil economy” or “fossil civilization”, most of us probably think immediately of “fossil fuels”. But as Mary Soderstrom’s recent book points out, not only our energy supply but also our most important building material has origins in fossilized ancient life. In Concrete: From Ancient Origins to … Read More

staying close to land

PHOTO POST These days can be ever so quiet. Some mornings the marsh is filled with geese and gulls, but other days the honks and screeches are far away. A pair of foxes might criss-cross the marsh before dawn, tracing the edges of every island, but leaving no evidence that they found a single mouse … Read More