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Hi friend,

Last week, I sent out a survey, asking for feedback on this newsletter.

But the survey link wasn’t working 😒

So, here it is again, in case you tried to complete it but couldn’t (thank you).

If you completed it after I fixed the link, thank you, too.

Click here to take the survey. This link works. I’ve checked it 40 times.

I gotta say, the results that have come through so far have been encouraging.

As much as I love writing this newsletter, it was giving me anxiety.

What if I missed an important story?

What if, by the time I hit "publish," the news was no longer relevant?

Is obsessively reading all the bad news making my climate anxiety worse? (Yes.)

Does anyone really give a shit about what Google and Tesla are doing? (No.)

Here’s what else I learned from the survey:

• Most readers don’t care much for the bad news or business news, so I’m cutting those. Yay!

• Most readers appreciate the intro spiel, the good news, and the ‘One Small Thing You Can Do’ section, so I’m keeping those. Yay!

• A few aren’t bothered with the happy note at the end. But it makes me happy, so it stays. Sorry, not sorry.

It’s nice to have limitations: clear boundaries with padded walls for my overactive brain to play within.

So, this newsletter looks a bit different. The next will probably be even more different, depending on the next batch of survey results.

Again, you can take it here. Please and thank you 🙂

— Tarryn ✌️

P.S. Did someone forward this to you? You can subscribe here and get it straight in your inbox.

Wildfires and reforestation: Robots and doggos to the rescue! 🎉

As wildfires continued to choke Brazil, Turkey, and Bolivia this week, two unlikely heroes have emerged to help prevent fires and fast-track reforestation after one.

Wildfires are one of the biggest threats to forests and habitats. They’re also one of the biggest contributors to carbon emissions.

When trees burn, they release all the carbon they've ever stored back into the atmosphere in one toxic belch. Times that by thousands of tree burps and you get a situation like the one Australia had in 2020, when smoke from the infamous bushfires depleted the ozone layer by 3% to 5%. (It takes a decade for the ozone layer to recover 1% to 3%.)

Over a billion wild animals were killed in those fires.

And then there’s Canada’s wildfires, which in 2023 released more greenhouse gases than some of the largest emitting countries 🤯.

Climate change has increased the risk of extreme fire weather by about 20 times in some parts of the world.

But there’s hope.

Prescribed, or controlled, burns can significantly reduce the damage and duration of wildfires—something that Indigenous people have known all along.

Aboriginal people used a practice known as “Cool Burning” for thousands of years to clear underbrush. Cool Burning, aka cultural burning, not only prevents wildfires from getting out of control but also generates patchy habitats preferred by small animals and ensures that seeds and nutrients in the soil are not destroyed.

Controlled burns are not without their challenges. They take a lot of manpower and could unintentionally spark larger fires if you don’t know what you’re doing.

Fighting fire with fire

Now, a company in California is deploying robots to conduct controlled burns with no open flames, minimal smoke, and much less manpower. 

Tractors driven by remote controls pull BurnBots, which ignite everything in their path.

BurnBot says its robots can cover 100 times more acreage and are ten times more efficient than manual burning.

Watch these babies go:

Ok, so that’s preventing fires. But what about restoring forests that have already been raised?

Turns out, dogs don’t only piss against trees; they can help plant them too! 🐕

Dogs with backpacks

In Chile, two sisters fitted their three dogs with backpacks filled with seed and let them run through areas devastated by wildfires. The dogs can travel up to 30km in one day, dispersing 10kg of native seeds.

Watch these babies go:

The idea has gained international recognition and has been replicated in other countries.

In England, people had trampled a nature reserve to the point where grasses and wildflowers stopped growing.

In an attempt to reseed the area, dogs were fitted with backpacks filled with seed and set loose in the reserve, spilling and scattering seeds as they ran and tumbled through sections that are tricky for humans to reach, as well as covering far more distance than humans could in the same amount of time.

Five months later, new shoots started popping up 🌱

Proof that, yes, we need high-tech robots to help fight climate change, but sometimes low-tech solutions, like energetic pups, and human ingenuity, like Indigenous knowledge, work just as well.

More good news

• 💪 If world leaders won’t save us, the youth will. A court in South Korea has ruled that the country’s measures to fight climate change are insufficient for protecting the rights of its citizens. The ruling comes after a four-year legal battle led by The Youth 4 Climate Action. The best part? The lead plaintiff was “Woodpecker”, a 20-week-old foetus at the time of the filing who is now a toddler.

One small thing you can do

Practice good fire etiquette.

Authorities suspect that the fires in Brazil were started by some dickheads in an act of arson.

First of all, don’t do that.

Second, ensure you don’t unintentionally start a wildfire by practising good fire etiquette.

That means:

✅ Check local restrictions and campsite rules, and don’t start one during fire-ban season.
⭕️ If you’re at a campsite, look for an existing fire ring—a patch of land that has already been burned—and light it there.
💨 Don’t start a fire if it’s windy and dry. Runaway embers can spark bigger fires.
🧯 Keep a fire extinguisher nearby. You can also use a bucket of sand or water to put out a fire.
🪵 Don’t cut down trees for firewood. Forage for sticks, fallen branches, and kindling.
👀 Never leave your fire unattended. And ensure it’s completely extinguished before leaving the campsite.

Because lots of little actions combined can add up to something remarkable.

I'll leave you on this happy note...

Me.

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