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Ralph Martin

@ralphmartin.bsky.social
471 followers 451 following 27 posts

Ally of First Nations, Inuit and Metis and committed to organic agriculture, ecology, reducing waste and minimimizing consumption

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Ralph Martin @ralphmartin.bsky.social · 4h
“Magnitude of the carnage that was DOGE. They went in to destroy the U.S. federal government, and they did a pretty good job. Because of Musk’s attacks on USAID, NIH and CDC, millions will die” www.theglobeandmail.com/culture/film...
theglobeandmail.com
How Alex Gibney chronicled Elon Musk’s world-shaking arc in his new documentary
Filmmaker painstakingly builds case that richest man on Earth has a character containing almost 100% self-interest and 0% empathy
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Ralph Martin @ralphmartin.bsky.social · 4h
“Making all of us healthier and safer depends on making each and every one of us healthier and safer ... moral argument is inescapable: Every life counts … only solidarity will allow humanity to face the unprecedented challenges with which we are confronted” www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/arti...
theglobeandmail.com
Opinion: In the face of existential threats, solidarity, not security, is the only way to protect the world
From her front-line work with Médecins Sans Frontières, Joanne Liu saw firsthand how a security-obsessed agenda can erode our common humanity
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Ralph Martin @ralphmartin.bsky.social · 14h
“Former reservoir bed has, with startling speed, regenerated itself into something like its pre-dam self: a habitat of wetlands, grassland and islands, richly populated with the traces of thousands of years of human life” www.theguardian.com/world/2026/o...
theguardian.com
Don’t rebuild the dam: Ukrainian experts urge Unesco to protect site uncovered by Russian sabotage
As archaeologists find treasure trove along new floodplain, conservationists say another Nova Kakhovka would be ecocide
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Ralph Martin @ralphmartin.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
“Habitat loss a main driver of population declines, esp. among threatened species, but the impact of roadkill is still greatly underestimated … inbreeding occurs ... and degradation can prevent an individual from one population from migrating to another” www.theguardian.com/environment/...
theguardian.com
Animals crossing: the simple solution to stop roadkill in the Amazon
Installation of eight canopy bridges in Alta Floresta has enabled 15,000 safe crossings by animals including spider monkeys and marmosets – and more bridges are planned elsewhere
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Ralph Martin @ralphmartin.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
“In awarding this year’s Nobel peace prize, the Norwegian Nobel committee wants to remind the world that the rule of law – national and international – underpins the system we have set up to ensure peace and resolve conflicts non-violently” www.theguardian.com/world/2026/o...
theguardian.com
ICJ judge Navi Pillay wins Nobel peace prize for promoting international law
Committee recognises work of South African who chaired UN commission that concluded Israel was guilty of genocide in Gaza
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Ralph Martin @ralphmartin.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
“Nature-based infrastructure (NBI) delivers essential services like flood protection, water regulation, and climate resilience; difficult to finance, since value shows up as avoided costs, not direct revenue ... for every USD invested, NBI delivers USD 3.21 in benefits” nbi.iisd.org/report/the-e...
nbi.iisd.org
Nature-Based Infrastructure Global Resource Centre The Economic Case for Nature-Based Infrastructure
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Ralph Martin @ralphmartin.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
“Canada betting on current consumption patterns extending deep into the 21st-century, which has so far been notoriously wishy-washy in terms of predictability. In effect, Canada is future-proofing for the past … LNG prices could fall below $6 per [unit]” www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/arti...
theglobeandmail.com
Opinion: Canada is becoming an outpost of everyone’s empire
This country is becoming almost a parody of itself: a dark wood in which beaver pelts are traded under the cover of maple trees
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Ralph Martin @ralphmartin.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
“Volume of fish needed to farm some of world’s most popular species – salmon, shrimp, sea bass – far outstrips what fish farms ultimately produce. Before it reaches market, a farmed salmon at some farms might eat more than 6x its weight in wild-caught fish” www.theglobeandmail.com/world/articl...
theglobeandmail.com
Fish farming in Xinjiang is being sold as proof that technology can overcome geography. The reality is more complicated
The desert seafood boom is built on political control, imported feed, and a food system that masks its real burdens
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Ralph Martin @ralphmartin.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
“Cold Lake FN filed a legal challenge against Ottawa’s designating Pacific Link oil pipeline a national priority; argues the designation breached Canadian law and the honour of the Crown, and that oil sands development threatens the community’s treaty rights” www.theglobeandmail.com/business/art...
theglobeandmail.com
Alberta First Nation taking Ottawa to court over move to fast-track Pacific Link pipeline
The group is the first to bring a legal challenge against the federal push to speed approvals for the project, a key priority of both Ottawa and Alberta
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Ralph Martin @ralphmartin.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
“Electronic trash AI generates in next 25 years could fill shipping containers to encircle globe 6x … no plan to deal with that waste, with toxins like lead, mercury, cadmium and forever chemicals, as well as valuable metals that are challenging to reclaim” www.theguardian.com/world/2026/s...
theguardian.com
Datacenter rush will create ‘tsunami’ of discarded electronics, report says
Global push will triple toxic e-waste annually in 25 years, filling enough shipping containers to circle globe six times
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Ralph Martin @ralphmartin.bsky.social · 24/08/2026
“New ocean heat record in Aug is especially remarkable as global sea temperatures are typically highest in March and April, after austral summer. Southern hemisphere has significantly more ocean area than northern … hotter ocean is less efficient at absorbing CO2” www.theguardian.com/environment/...
theguardian.com
World’s oceans hit hottest temperature on record in August
Average sea surface temperature outside polar regions was 21.1C on Saturday, latest data finds
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Ralph Martin @ralphmartin.bsky.social · 08/08/2026
“A seafarer from Kenya has gone eight months without pay and needs to send money home to cover cost of an operation for his six-year-old son. A crew on one boat told him they were down to 1 meal a day. “This is modern slavery. This is systemic exploitation”" www.theglobeandmail.com/world/articl...
theglobeandmail.com
Crews on hundreds of ships in the Persian Gulf stuck at sea, many in dire conditions
Unable to pass through the Strait of Hormuz, many have gone without pay for months, and some are running out of food and medicine
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Ralph Martin @ralphmartin.bsky.social · 08/08/2026
“Canadian government can now quietly bypass the Species at Risk Act and other statutes by using its super law to clear any environmental hurdles — nixing legal protections for the southern resident killer whale population in the process” www.therecord.com/politics/pol...
therecord.com
Mark Carney’s Building Canada Act is a threat to the rule of law, and here’s a good example
The "national interest" legislation should be revoked rather than utilized, Althia Raj writes.
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Ralph Martin @ralphmartin.bsky.social · 12/06/2026
“Failure of ice to form could have intensified a heatwave over the continent’s peninsular last week that saw daytime temperatures peak at 15.4C which is more than 20C above average … third time in four years that sea ice had been very low in the region” www.theguardian.com/world/2026/j...
theguardian.com
Antarctica’s west coast missing an area of sea ice the size of France as temperatures peak 20C above average
A vast area of the Bellingshausen Sea should be covered by sea ice by now, with one expert calling the loss of ice ‘depressing’
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Ralph Martin @ralphmartin.bsky.social · 21/05/2026
“There is no health without land. The well-being of Indigenous peoples is inseparable from our lands, waters, and territories,” Kotierk said in her closing speech on Friday. “To restore health, we must advance decolonization.” www.nationalobserver.com/2026/05/21/n...
nationalobserver.com
The uncertain future of the UN’s leading voice on Indigenous rights
The UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues is facing questions about its effectiveness amid a broader budget crisis.
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Ralph Martin @ralphmartin.bsky.social · 13/05/2026
“Sand mined to build homes, roads and sea walls in concrete production, foundations, masonry work, windows, silicon chips and solar panels. Just as crucial left in place: it regulates rivers, protects coastal aquifers, filters water and sustains biodiversity” www.theguardian.com/environment/...
theguardian.com
The global sand crisis: it’s being used up faster than it can be replaced
It is the most extracted solid material on Earth – but this extraction can threaten ecosystems and livelihoods
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Ralph Martin @ralphmartin.bsky.social · 12/05/2026
“Between 2011 and 2020, Indigenous peoples and local communities involved in land tenure and forest management received less than 1 per cent of global funding for climate change mitigation and adaptation” www.nationalobserver.com/2026/05/12/n...
nationalobserver.com
Indigenous peoples bear the brunt of climate change — and get almost none of the money to fight it
Billion-dollar climate funds have structural barriers that keep Indigenous peoples from accessing them. Advocates say that's not a bug, it's a feature.
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Ralph Martin @ralphmartin.bsky.social · 02/05/2026
“She found that Otto Schaefer, member of Order of Canada described on federal website as “one of great pioneers of Arctic medicine,” had conducted “a slew” of “unethical studies done without informed consent on patients in segregated Indigenous hospitals” www.theglobeandmail.com/culture/arti...
theglobeandmail.com
With weeks to live, Elaine Dewar finished her most personal book
Oblivious puts a spotlight on systemic harms that she and many Canadians never knew had afflicted many Indigenous communities
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Ralph Martin @ralphmartin.bsky.social · 08/04/2026
“If people worldwide biked at rates of Dutch, avg 2.6 km per person per day, global emissions could fall by 686 million tonnes of CO2 annually, comparable to Canada’s total annual emissions … For short trips, cycling is often faster, cheaper, and healthier” www.nationalobserver.com/2026/04/07/o...
nationalobserver.com
What Ontario can learn from Amsterdam’s cycling culture
In Amsterdam, a bicycle is not a quirky accessory. It is standard urban infrastructure. That sight left me curious about its implications for mobility and emissions in Ontario.
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Ralph Martin @ralphmartin.bsky.social · 07/04/2026
“If the data centre project is entirely powered by natural gas and doesn't capture any of those emissions, it will set Canada back 20 years in carbon emissions reductions and wipe out the reductions gained by phasing out coal” www.nationalobserver.com/2026/04/03/n...
nationalobserver.com
Alberta scraps environmental assessment for Kevin O'Leary's 'world's largest' data centre
Danielle Smith's government is exempting celebrity investor Kevin O'Leary's massive Wonder Valley data centre near Grande Prairie, Alta., from a provincial environmental assessment, Canada's National ...
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Ralph Martin @ralphmartin.bsky.social · 08/08/2025
“Recycled wool saves 60% of the virgin alternative’s negative impacts. Annually, recycled textiles save 60 million kw of energy, 18,000 t of CO2, and 500,000 cubic m of water worldwide. … Mycelium Leather can see 85 to 94% reduction in CO2 emissions” www.nationalobserver.com/2025/08/08/a...
nationalobserver.com
How Canada's sustainable fashion startups are unravelling our throwaway clothing culture
As emissions from the global apparel sector keep rising, a handful of Canadian textile and clothing makers are challenging cheap fast fashion with sustainable alternatives. Will consumers pay more?
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Ralph Martin @ralphmartin.bsky.social · 07/08/2025
“Guardians, Indigenous version of park ranger or a coast guard, who pass province’s ranger training now have authority to enforce both BC and Indigenous laws in provincial parks, and they’re the main eyes and ears monitoring the Central Coast today.” www.nationalobserver.com/2025/08/07/n...
nationalobserver.com
Welcome to the Great Bear Sea
After decades of discord, Canada and First Nations are working together to build a network of marine protected areas stretching from Vancouver Island to Alaska.
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Ralph Martin @ralphmartin.bsky.social · 16/07/2025
“A classroom-worth of children killed each day in Gaza since war began.…Tens of thousands of children injured; many are amputees. Children of Gaza have rights of children anywhere – to water, to food, to shelter, to education, to play, to hope, to joy. To life.” www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
theguardian.com
The Guardian view on the children of Gaza: when 17,000 die, it’s more than a mistake | Editorial
Editorial: Israel’s military blamed the deaths of six Palestinian children on Sunday on a technical error. But a staggering toll continues to mount
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Ralph Martin @ralphmartin.bsky.social · 09/07/2025
“25% of the micro-agrivoltaics farmers reported no change in crop yield under solar panels; 35% reported marginally higher yields; while 40% reported significantly higher yields under solar panels (>20% higher).” www.iisd.org/articles/ins...
iisd.org
Micro-Agrivoltaics: Hiding in plain sight
As India explores the promise of agrivoltaics, small and marginal farmers are cultivating crops beneath solar panels without formal support or mainstream recognition.
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Reposted by Ralph Martin
The New Quarterly @thenewquarterly.bsky.social · 05/05/2025
Featured this week in The New Quarterly is Cate Sandilands' "Cli-Fi", from our latest Issue 174! Click here to read the full story: tnq.ca/story/cli-fi/
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Ralph Martin @ralphmartin.bsky.social · 13/05/2025
“In natural forest, trees die, decay where they fall. Nutrients are slowly recycled through complex, interconnected, interdependent processes that take centuries. Modern forestry speeds everything up. We log, burn, mulch, pelletize. We ship out whole trees.” www.nationalobserver.com/2025/05/13/o...
nationalobserver.com
The 'silent crisis' in BC's forest industry
We call current forestry “sustainable,” but it isn’t — not in any real or lasting way.
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Ralph Martin @ralphmartin.bsky.social · 26/08/2024
“Before 2018, CA's largest wildfire was the Thomas fire (280,000 acres). The current Park fire burned more in it's first 3 days. It's the state's fourth-largest on record, at 430,000 acres -- joining the rapidly swelling ranks of unprecedented megafires.” www.nationalobserver.com/2024/08/26/a...
nationalobserver.com
What this year's California megafire tells us about the future
Fossil fuel pollution has been searing the golden state into a hot, dry tinderbox. The megafires have followed in accelerating frequency and fury -- charts.
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Ralph Martin @ralphmartin.bsky.social · 22/08/2024
Guilbeault said, “species are still going extinct, we're still unsustainably using natural resources, we're not protecting critical habitats and we've still not collectively realized that in the fight against climate change, our biggest ally is nature.” www.nationalobserver.com/2024/08/22/n...
nationalobserver.com
Earth's 'combined crisis' demands common solutions, officials say
The planet is facing interconnected threats from climate change, nature loss and plastic pollution. Officials say that three upcoming environmental conferences could be key to develop strategies to ad...
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