Pete Harvey

Another great Zooniverse project:

This is a great project on language and sustainable materials. Do sign up to take part if you can!

Humans and nature in the anthropocene

It was a privilege today to present my work on how Annie Proulx’s Barkskins might help us understand the climate crisis, and what online reviews can tell us about conceptualising environmental destruction. Thanks to all the panellists for inspiring papers.

humaniora.ucu.edu.ua/en/events/in...

Seven of nine planetary boundaries now breached – ocean acidification joins the danger zone 24.09.2025 - A new report from the Planetary Boundaries Science Lab at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) reveals that 7 of the 9 critical Earth system boundaries have now been b...

“We are facing a planetary emergency. The breach of the Ocean Acidification boundary is a stark scientific warning and a moral call to action. Without healthy oceans, peace, prosperity & stability are at risk everywhere. We must act now...to safeguard this life-support system for future generations"

Ed Miliband looking into more North Sea drilling despite Labour pledge Exclusive: Energy secretary examining ways to allow oil and gas exploration without breaking manifesto promise

Note to politicians: Physics doesn't care whether or not extra CO2 emissions break manifesto promises: www.theguardian.com/business/202...

World’s oceans fail key health check as acidity crosses critical threshold for marine life Scientists call for renewed global effort to curb fossil fuels as seven of nine planetary boundaries now transgressed

“To be a good scientist, I have to take emotions out of work. Still, I would say looking at this data, when I allow myself to connect to it emotionally, then I am afraid. This really scares me”

- Dr. Levke Caesar, co-lead of Planetary Boundaries Science Lab

Another great post from @bnerlich.bsky.social on the metaphors of geoengineering.

#linguistics #ecolinguistics @granthamcsf.bsky.social

Ragnarök and Our Need to Be Inspired by Stories in Our Modern Eco-Crisis Ragnarök and Our Need to Be Inspired by Stories in Our Modern Eco-Crisis

Check out my column on why stories have a crucial role to play in helping us face up to the eco-crisis and showing us ways through what is coming.

www.edp24.co.uk/news/2539857...

“In its 2007 edition, the Oxford Junior Dictionary, widely used in classrooms in the United Kingdom, removed dozens of entries related to the natural world, including “acorn,” “bluebell,” and “magpie,””

This was the hottest summer on record. If it happens again next year, Britain’s ecosystems won’t cope | Lucy Jones A future of extreme heatwaves, drought and collapsing habitats awaits if we continue to ignore the danger signs, says author Lucy Jones

Solastalgia: "the distress that is produced by environmental change impacting on people while they are directly connected to their home environment”

www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

‘Literature can be a form of resistance’: Lea Ypi talks to Elif Shafak about writing in the age of demagogues The Albanian author of Free and the Turkish novelist discuss the rise of populism, censorship – and how today’s conflicts all come from the unresolved trauma of the past

"[Contrast] this really rich life that you find in literature and in academia, and the platitudes of politics. In literature there is an experimentation with genres and with cultures and with languages, and so you get this sense of complexity.”

Lea Ypi, via

www.theguardian.com/books/2025/a...

Tony Juniper CBE is Chair of the British Government’s official conservation agency Natural England and a Fellow with the University of Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership. His books include the award-winning What Has Nature Ever Done For Us?

This October, I’m curating a strand of the Off the Shelf festival called Human/Nature. I’m very excited to be talking to @tonyjuniper.bsky.social on 18th about his book ‘Just Earth: How a Fairer World will Save the Planet’. Details👇

offtheshelf.org.uk/events/just-...

@sheffielduni.bsky.social

Blue sky thinking: why we need positive climate novels Environmental fiction is booming – but can it move beyond dystopia to a brighter vision of the future?

Anyone citing The Overstory by Richard Powers and Flight Behaviour by Barbara Kingsolver as inspiration is going straight to the top of my reading list:

www.theguardian.com/books/2025/a...

"The stories we tell about our future are not merely reflections of our hopes and fears; they are the architects of the world we are shaping."

Interesting reflections on the climate crisis and the importance of thrutopias:

Why language matters when talking about climate change:

Back at my desk after #PALA2025 with a full notebook and so many new ideas. Thank you to the Aston team for hosting us, and to everyone for your inspiration and support - can't wait for ‪@pala2026.bsky.social‬

Thousands meet their MPs to show huge demand for climate action Mass lobby in Westminster kicked off with giant image on white cliffs of Dover stating ‘89% of people want climate action’

"New polling data... provides further evidence of the climate silent majority, with many British people backing net zero goals but just one in 10 saying they regularly share their climate views."

www.theguardian.com/environment/...

‘A war of the truth’: Europe’s heatwaves are failing to spur support for climate action Voters may feel hotter summers are ‘too much’ but they appear to tolerate roll-back of policies to stop global heating

Too many people in power or with platforms “have not yet understood that we’re in a war of language – and a war of the truth – about the climate”

Luisa Neubauer, from: www.theguardian.com/environment/...

If you're worried about the current 'grim' news from climate scientists, it only takes two minutes to email your MP and let them know.

"We should remember that fish are wildlife, not “seafood”. They are not put on Earth for our consumption. They do not exist in “stocks”, but in populations and ecosystems. There is no such thing as “underexploited” or “underfished” "

#Ecostylistics

Our future may depend on the humanities For Peter Sutoris, the humanities hold the key to understanding and responding to the many civilisational crises we face

Our future may depend on the humanities wonkhe.com/blogs/our-fu...

What we should fear is that this cloud will clear.

We desperately need rain.

Please @metoffice.bsky.social do step up and help raise awareness of the reality.

The wrong use of language is dangerous.

#languagematters

Robin and baby robin

One of the joys of working from home is having an office next to this family:

Another one for the reading list...

Given up on reading? Elif Shafak on why we still need novels Recent studies suggest we’ve fallen out of love with reading – but the more chaotic our times, the deeper is our need to slow down and read fiction

"We live in an era in which there is too much information but not enough knowledge, and even less wisdom [...] For wisdom, among other things, we need the art of storytelling. We need the long form." - Elif Shafak

www.theguardian.com/books/2025/m...

Could a new wave of urgent theatre hold the key to tackling climate change? From a New Forest giant inspiring an asthmatic teen to a herd of animal puppets walking to the Arctic Circle, theatre far and wide is taking action – but with energy and optimism, rather than doom-lad...

"'Climate scientists we’ve spoken to say there is good, meaningful data,' says Lan, 'but they need artists to tell it as a story people can connect with.'"

www.theguardian.com/stage/2025/m...

Watching 'Life on Earth' with my dad is one of my first - and still favourite - TV memories. Happy Birthday, Sir David.

Canada geese attending the PALA 2025 Digital Stylistics conference

📣#PALA2025📣

Poetics and Linguistics Association 2025 conference, 7th - 12th July

A reminder that the early bird (/goose??) registration closes 2 weeks from today, on the 16th May!

Register here -- pala2025.com/registration/

A nice example of conceptualising an abstract concept in terms of an embodied experience (which presumably the AI would also struggle with).