Artefacts of a
Burning World

Opinionated collection of 51 articles, films, podcasts and other artefacts related to the climate crisis.

Article

When the Arctic Melts

By Elizabeth Kolbert

“ When it comes to tipping systems, the future is in our hands until it isn’t.”

— Elizabeth Kolbert

Elizabeth Kolbert, author of the 2015 Pulitzer Prize winning “The Sixth Extinction” and “H is for Hope”, writes about the devastating effects of climate change on the Greenland ice sheet. The consequences of its melting will be global, ranging from the obvious rise in sea levels to difficult-to-model effects on the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) (also listen to "The Hole in the Map of the World" from the September–October 2024 issue of Wired at New York Times Audio). The gripping (and long) article tells the story of Eismitte, explains the mechanism of feedback loops and ice cores.

Same topics: The Last Words of a Dying Glacier; Political divisions on climate change; Scientists have captured Earth’s climate over the last 485 million years. Here’s the surprising place we stand now.; Overview of mitigation options and their estimated ranges of costs and potentials in 2030; Who rules Earth? Wild mammals far outweighed by humans and domestic animals; The Sunday Read: ‘Has the Amazon Reached Its “Tipping Point”?’; Streitraum: Emanzipation und Klima – wovon wir uns befreien müssen/dürfen; 100 gute Gründe gegen Atomkraft

Same formats: The Cooled vs. the Cooked; An Environmental Crisis Haunts the Ruins of Gaza; The Road Not Taken; The environmental dimension of Russia’s war on Ukraine; Speaking of Nature; Scientists have captured Earth’s climate over the last 485 million years. Here’s the surprising place we stand now.; Why climate despair is a luxury; What if climate change meant not doom — but abundance?; Our Attention Spans Are Being Stolen; „Ich wollte schon immer erzählen, wie wir trotz Klimakrise eine bessere Welt erschaffen können.“; Wir haben kein Recht, vor der Klimakrise zu kapitulieren; There’s no planet B

Same publisher: “I hate how pretty the end of the world is.”; Quick—tell us who you’re wearing!; Looks like Congress might finally do something about TikTok.; Nuisance Bear; Haulout; Is Artificial Light Poisoning the Planet?