Former EIC of Sierra; former editor of Earth Island Journal. Author of the forthcoming book, The Earth Said Remember Me (July '26; Norton). Author of Satellites in the High Country. Lily's Dad. Gardener + Hiker. Posts = ill-considered opinions.
@jasondovemark.bsky.social's THE EARTH SAID REMEMBER ME is a wonderful testament to ecological observation and recordkeeping in a time of “shifting baselines.” Join him (and me) at 4 pm PT / 7 pm ET today for a chat and some giveaways! Register: us02web.zoom.us/.../register...
"I’m not ready to throw the practice of land acknowledgments out... An acknowledgment that opens a conversation, that involves the tribe, that leads somewhere, is different. But the test isn’t in the words. It’s in what action comes after the words have been spoken." www.nytimes.com/2026/07/24/o...
Opinion | I’m Native American. Land Acknowledgments Are Infuriating.Conservatives who critique land acknowledgments aren’t acting in good faith, but they do have a point.www.nytimes.com
Climate change is leaving language in the dust: The Japan Meteorological Agency held a public poll to select a name for a day of temperatures of 104 degrees Fahrenheit or higher. The winner was kokushobi, meaning “cruel heat day.” www.nytimes.com/2026/07/23/w...
It’s So Hot That Japan Needs a New Word for ItJapan this week recorded its first kokushobi, a term that means “cruel heat day,” as temperatures reached 104 degrees. It is not the only country that has scrambled for a new summer vocabulary.www.nytimes.com
Daniel Pauly's "shifting baseline syndrome puts a name to something most of us have experienced: the ways in which forgetting allows the once-abnormal to blend into the background" (via @earthislandjournal.bsky.social @jasondovemark.bsky.social) www.earthisland.org/journal/inde...
Are We At Least as Smart as a Frog in Hot Water?As the aberrant becomes the ordinary, we can’t let our instinct for adapting lead to climate change acceptance.www.earthisland.orgThe heatwaves and smoke storms have come to seem like "the new normal." But there's a real risk in letting the once abnormal and aberrant become the ordinary, as I write in my latest column for @earthislandjournal.bsky.social. #Shiftingbaseline www.earthisland.org/journal/inde...
Are We At Least as Smart as a Frog in Hot Water?As the aberrant becomes the ordinary, we can’t let our instinct for adapting lead to climate change acceptance.www.earthisland.org
“The new normal: It seems the most apt way of describing a planet ... permanently out of whack." But there’s a real danger in this thinking: acceptance, “the gateway to indifference and inaction.” Today, @jasondovemark.bsky.social takes on "shifting baseline syndrome," the premise of his new book.
Are We At Least as Smart as a Frog in Hot Water?As the aberrant becomes the ordinary, we can’t let our instinct for adapting lead to climate change acceptance.www.earthisland.orgWhen I heard the publisher was licensing audio book rights to The Earth Said Remember Me, I asked if I could narrate. Luckily, someone had the good sense to tell me "no," and they gave the job to a professional! www.youtube.com/watch?v=9XSt...
Audiobook Sample: The Earth Said Remember MeYouTube video by Tantor Mediawww.youtube.comThank you for reading! I am so glad to hear the book struck a chord with you. Onward!
Jeff SealeI just finished this lovely book. I was struck by how much the climate world is stuck with the shifting baseline syndrome. How often we say, "this is the new normal." But this book shows us that it doesn't have to be and that memory - past and future - is the way. Highly recommended.
