This week we covered tipping points, critical thresholds in the Earth’s climate system. Crossing a tipping point can trigger self-reinforcing, cascading shifts in the behaviour of Earth’s systems that can be irreversible. Learning more about tipping points at the University of Exeter with Tim Lenton feels like going to the source. The University of Exeter …
This week was lectured by Prof. Tim Lenton, and this module keeps setting off lightbulb moments for me. How did life on earth get to be self-regulating? What is life, and what is its effect on the planet? James Lovelock had started looking at the composition of atmospheres of different planets while working at NASA. …
You might start a day with the best of intentions, but sometimes it takes just a few things for it to go off the rails, and the best thing to do is just accept the loss and move on rather than making it worse beating yourself up about it. I have great difficulty achieving focus …
Global Systems Thinking is an optional module for the Food Studies MA at Exeter, but the more I follow it, the more relevant it feels. I wanted a solid underpinning in systems thinking, having been interested in it for some time, but not being able to properly articulate what it was about, or really understand …
My social local is currently Bluesky. Bluesky does starter packs, ready-to-go lists of accounts to follow around a particular topic, with suggested feeds that aggregate further content. I’ve created a starter pack on agroecology and food systems that you might want to follow if you’re interested in a quick start in a new place. I …
This week, we’re looking at systems; a lot of this is through the lens of population change. World population and exponential growth Note, the decreasing amount of time between each 1 billion increase. What is the limit to human population growth? James Dyke suggested that this may be a thermodynamic limit, other limits may include …
Food Systems, Agroecology, Nature Recovery and Connection
© Nathan Nelson 2025