What I’ve been reading this week, 11 October 2019

This is actually a list of worthwhile links I’ve collected over the last two weeks, edited down to a manageable size, because I was away last Friday and didn’t post an update. Enjoy.

Environment

Revealed: Google made large contributions to climate change deniers – the days of ‘don’t be evil’ feel so far away, don’t they?

State of Nature 2019 reports – disturbing but essential reading.

As the climate changes, the very alpine zone itself is rising – and this is an observable trend on human timescales. My brother James was recently hiking in the Californian Sierras and witnessed the plight of the American pika, a species highly sensitive to rising temperatures.

Are the Alps falling down? – Sarah Stirling writes about the radically changing nature of Alpine climbing.

Long-distance hiking and the outdoors

A whale of a time on Mull – John Burns goes to Mull in search of wildlife.

How to recover from a big altitude misjudgement – Mark Horrell writes about acclimatisation troubles in Ecuador.

Electronic and communication devices on my Colorado Rockies walk – an excellent post from Chris Townsend on the electronic gear he took to Colorado. Figuring out electronics can be a huge headache for backpackers but there is much worthwhile advice here, backed up by decades of experience.

The end of another camping byelaw ‘season’ and the implications of the byelaws for access rights – ‘If we don’t fight for our access rights we will lose them.’

Embrace the unknown – Emily Woodhouse is heading to Slovenia.

Miscellaneous

Before the internet broke my attention span I read books compulsively. Now, it takes willpower – ‘My brain on TikTok feels like Doritos crumbs. My brain on a good book is a better place.’

Editing with kindness – ‘Compliment the things the author’s done well (and there will always be something). Empower them to reject the changes they don’t feel comfortable with.’

What I learned from my year of reading outside the box – 151 books in six months! That’s nuts.

Readers can now support my writing by making a one-off donation via my tip jar. Your spare change helps keep me going on the trail!