David Higgins

Screenshot of a paper abstract in Geo: Geography and Environment by A. Jardine, K.A. Selby & D. Higgins (2025) entitled: 'The window of opportunity: Linking climate history and storms' with an orange banner at the top. High magnitude storms have impacted coastal maritime communities, instigating national government responses. Storm catastrophes can open a ‘window of opportunity’ that enables the implementation of new long-term disaster risk reduction measures. Analysis of historical storm events using written newspaper records identified the Royal Charter storm of 1859 as a catastrophe that opened a window of opportunity. The resulting actions prompted the first national (UK) storm early warning systems which continue today as the Meteorological Office forecasts. This historical case study demonstrates how the effective use of the window of opportunity can instigate beneficial long-term change that decreases vulnerability. However, policies emerging from such windows of opportunity must consider the diverse cause of catastrophe and avoid overreliance on top-down technocracy, instead promoting community engagement and autonomy for sustained success. Environmental history can contribute to improving the understanding of the limitations of technocracy and the importance of community agency in enhancing hazard understanding and effective early warning systems.

⛈️New in Geo!⛈️

'The window of opportunity: Linking climate history and storms' by A. Jardine, K.A. Selby & @davidhiggins.bsky.social

This paper uses the Royal Charter storm of 1859 to explore the implementation of long-term risk reduction measures following disasters.

doi.org/10.1002/geo2...

Cluster of tiny pink flowers against a background of long thin green leaves.

Hemp-agrimony at Rodley Nature Reserve, Leeds. A attractive flower that I’ve never really noticed before — but #wildflowerhour has encouraged me to look more carefully.

John Quincy Adama has made me slightly hysterical

A banner advert for the University of Warwick, which says "Beyond ignores curiousity". This is a spelling error.

The University of Warwick has paid a lot of money, I'm guessing, for their internet banner ads on the Guardian and elsewhere.

But they can't spell "curiosity". This isn't a US-UK variant. They just, genuinely, have a massive spelling error in their banner ads.

It baffles me that, as a society, we seem to have decided that the epitome of the Good Life — the highest of all aspirations — is to drive around like a twat in a bloated SUV with a stupid personalised number plate.

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that would be an exciting garden tick!

I hope you can see one in the flesh -- this is a good year for them, apparently.

Pleased to have finished my paper for the @asleuki.bsky.social conference in Galway, ploughing my usual cheery furrow of ecological and existential angst. Includes climate projections, coastal erosion, Stoicism, bitterns, and texts by Algernon Swinburne, W. G. Sebald, and Juliet Blaxland.

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a cartoon of milhouse from the simpsons says everything 's coming up milhouse ! Alt: a cartoon of milhouse from the simpsons says everything 's coming up milhouse !

Good day: finished writing a conference paper; saw a hummingbird hawk-moth for the first time; found a good Lebanese takeaway opposite campus.

Another decent play —- I’ve only just devoured /
Is Jean Racine’s Phaedra —- where passions overpowered /
Old Theseus’ wife —- who then dies for her dues. /
Which version did I read? —- Translation by Ted Hughes.

Just spent a while rushing around campus in pursuit of a weird, buzzy insect that turned out to be a humming-bird hawkmoth: my first ever encounter with this amazing species. Big credit to the estates and sustainability teams @universityofleeds.bsky.social for encouraging biodiversity. #teammoth

Also, what if a student came entirely for academic reasons and then, due to changed circumstances in their home country, needed to apply for asylum? The whole thing's ridiculous.

Cultural heritage and climate change networks to drive policy change Apply for DCMS funding to maximise the international partnership brokering and networking opportunities of UK arts and humanities research, as a step towards the Horizon Europe Resilient Cultural Heri...

Keen to explore this #climateheritage & #policy grant with potential partners. Historic England on board too. Get in touch if interested!

www.ukri.org/opportunity/...

I've been reading Swinburne, a very strange man.
Hendecasyllabic is not a sane plan
For poetry -- or skeets -- or anything else:
Such overwrought work is best left on the shelf.

I used to think that the phrase "the devil makes work for idle hands" was puritanical propaganda. Based on recent experience of the school holidays, I can confirm that it is in fact 100% accurate.

Environmental humanities & adjacent scholars: interested in collaborating on a panel for this @carsoncenter.bsky.social conference in July?!
#envhum #STS #envhist www.carsoncenter.uni-muenchen.de/news/news_ev...

I'm old enough to remember when "a giant computer generates artificial replication of dead child" was used to spark character reactions of *trauma and horror* in an early Rick & Morty episode

Rule 1. Don’t repost the Telegraph.

Rule 2. If you must repost the Telegraph, please check beforehand that the story is not total bollocks (it probably will be).

Rule 1. Don’t repost the Telegraph.

Rule 2. If you must repost the Telegraph, please check beforehand that the story is not total bollocks (it probably will be).

Harebells aplenty now I’m here

Brittlestem hempnettle

Marsh woundwort also a dead nettle

A whopper of a heath spotted orchid

I’ve managed to be in unerringly the wrong place for the #wildflowerhour #HarebellChallenge and #DeadnettleChallenge and now I’m in the Lake District I’m not #ByTheSea Here’s a belated thread anyway @wildflowerhour.bsky.social @bsbibotany.bsky.social

Sign the Petition Stop Mass Redundancies at Lancaster University – Hold Senior Management Accountable

Stop Mass Redundancies at Lancaster University
chng.it/6sqvT98BFb

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I can finally share the cover for ‘Neurodivergent, by Nature: why biodiversity needs neurodiversity’ with you all. Designed by the brilliant Lauren Marina, the rooted oak is the perfect symbol for my new book, and I absolutely love it! Published on July the 31st by Bloomsbury.

#booksky

Where most of my posts end up!

Long-eared owl and a pint of whiskey?

My son had friends over last night for his first ever sleepover, which was about as noisy and chaotic as you would expect. A welcome respite from kids shouting about Fortnite was a willow warbler (presumably on passage) gently singing outside my window this morning.

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The takeup of gen AI in academia symptomises an obsession with speed and productivity over research and critical thinking. We're continually given crazy and arbitrary deadlines to mark work/return proofs/review articles/submit publications/respond to grant reviews. It's corrosive and unnecessary.