News Insights

The Mountain Has a Name: Nepal’s Rasuwa Flood Disaster, One Month On

The satellites have named the mountain — the same massif that destroyed Langtang village in 2015. K.J. Parker sorts a month of evidence into fact, inference, contested and speculation, states the Langtang hypothesis, and sets out how it could actually be tested

El Niño Explained: 2026 Impact & the Future Prognosis

Ocean temperatures hit a record 21.1°C in August, out of season. El Niño, climate change and what the hottest sea ever measured means for 2027

Latest Posts

The Trainable Heart: Buddhism and the Discipline of Kindness

Buddhism treats kindness as something you practise rather than something that visits you. On mettā as a trainable skill, Buddhaghosa's near enemies, and what happens when the most developed doctrine of loving-kindness in the world is set beside its own record

The Mountain Has a Name: Nepal’s Rasuwa Flood Disaster, One Month On

The satellites have named the mountain — the same massif that destroyed Langtang village in 2015. K.J. Parker sorts a month of evidence into fact, inference, contested and speculation, states the Langtang hypothesis, and sets out how it could actually be tested

Our Planet

Europe’s Second Genesis: The Audacious Plans for Rewilding a Continent

The air in Portugal’s Greater Côa Valley, thick with the scent of rockrose and...

Life on the Edge: How Extremophiles Redefine Biology and Expand Our Cosmic Search

Listen to our Deep Dive for an insight into this article Descend into the crushing,...

Epitaph for the Marl: The South-Western Barred Bandicoot

News in brief — October 2025 IUCN has listed the Marl / south-western barred bandicoot...

Featured

Why the World Is Burning: The 2026 Wildfire Crisis Explained

Inside the 2026 wildfire crisis across Europe and Canada — the climate and land-use causes, the human and ecological cost, and what actually works.

World Environment Day 2026: Climate Action – Why It’s Still So Hard — and What Works

Clean energy is booming, yet emissions keep breaking records. A clear-eyed 2026 look at climate action—what's working, what's failing, and what it will take.

Science & Future

Meditation & Mindfulness

Deepak Chopra: The Transformation of Wellness

The work and insights of Deepak Chopra have influenced my life and work and I am grateful for his contribution to human evolutionary promise....

The Science and Soul of Meditation

A personal reflection on my meditation practice and experience in relation to the insights of neuroscience- no claim to expertise, as still struggling to...

The Architecture of Inner Peace: Building a Sustainable Meditation Practice

Introduction: The Radical Act of Stillness In an age defined by perpetual connectivity and information overload, the search for silence has become a radical act....

Forest Bathing: The Ancient Japanese Practice of Shinrin-yoku

I have studied Shinrin-yoku and picked-up a Diploma in the practice along the way, so a modality close to my heart. Being in nature...

Breath of Life: A Comprehensive Guide to Mindful Breathing Techniques

Mindful breathing, also known as breath awareness meditation, is a type of mindfulness practice that involves focusing your attention on your breath. The practice...

The Architecture of Now: The Life, Philosophy, and Influence of Eckhart Tolle

Listen to our five-minute insights into the life and works of Eckhart Tolle, a philosopher and practitioner who many of us admire, to get...

The Transformative Power of Meditation: A Cross-Cultural Journey Through Mind and Spirit

In an era marked by unprecedented technological connectivity yet profound personal disconnection, millions worldwide are turning inward through the ancient practice of meditation. From...

Books by Kevin J Parker

Recent Posts

The Trainable Heart: Buddhism and the Discipline of Kindness

Buddhism treats kindness as something you practise rather than something that visits you. On mettā as a trainable skill, Buddhaghosa's near enemies, and what happens when the most developed doctrine of loving-kindness in the world is set beside its own record

The Mountain Has a Name: Nepal’s Rasuwa Flood Disaster, One Month On

The satellites have named the mountain — the same massif that destroyed Langtang village in 2015. K.J. Parker sorts a month of evidence into fact, inference, contested and speculation, states the Langtang hypothesis, and sets out how it could actually be tested

Melbourne, Australia: The Liveable City Under Heat Stress

Melbourne's liveability rankings measure the compact, tram-served inner city. They do not measure Tarneit on a 45-degree day. On 27 January 2026 the western suburbs ran three degrees hotter than the centre — and that gap, not the weather, is the story of a world-class urban forest, a sprawling metropolis, falling reservoirs and two cities under one name.

The Law of Laws: Theosophy and the Backbone of Kindness

"Is kindness merely a feeling, or is it a load-bearing structure for society? Kevin J Parker, author of 'The Backbone of Kindness: Restoring Our Oldest Virtue', explores the profound intersection of Theosophy and modern ethics, examining how compassion functions as the 'Law of laws' and the essential backbone of human arrangements."

The Reality of Global Warming

Explore the empirical reality of global warming right now. Uncover accelerating ocean heat, temperature overshoot pathways, and critical planetary tipping points.

Stonehenge: The Machine, the Landscape and the Making of a World

Hawkins's computer was too literal. But his instinct — that Stonehenge handled information — survives every test the sixty years since have thrown at it. An investigation through stone provenance, isotopes, ancient DNA and landscape archaeology, ending with a named, testable hypothesis: the Gathering Engine.

Smart City: The Word Finds an Owner

Cities ran sewers and traffic computers long before anyone sold them the word. Around 2008 “smart” acquired an owner. Four product cities show what it cost.

El Niño Explained: 2026 Impact & the Future Prognosis

Ocean temperatures hit a record 21.1°C in August, out of season. El Niño, climate change and what the hottest sea ever measured means for 2027

The Divine Within: Why I Keep Circling the Idea That the Sacred Is an Inside Job

The divine within: a personal reflection on Jung, mysticism, meditation and prayer, and why I still cannot decide whether the sacred is an inside job.

Commissioning Curiousity: Retraining the Our Social Media Echo Chamber to Serve Up Variety

Retraining Spotify revealed how AI recommendation algorithms narrow us — and why commissioning curiosity, not searching, is the literacy of the age.

The Compass and the Cosmos: Sacred Geometry

Sacred geometry, examined: the real history behind the ten forms, what nature actually does, and what physics has found in the shape of the universe.

The Greening of Riyadh Saudi Arabia

Riyadh is planting 7.5m trees and running a new metro against an Expo 2030 deadline. A look at the water, heat and money behind the desert city's greening

Ocean Plastic Pollution: Is the Tide Finally Turning?

Ocean plastic pollution is falling: 39% less on Australian coasts. The data, the clean-up technology and the policies proving change is possible

The Backbone of Kindness: Rekindling Our Oldest Virtue in Troubled Times

Kindness is not niceness. Kevin J. Parker argues it is civilisation's load-bearing structure—the backbone on which coexistence depends

The Digital Deva: The Future Relationship of Humans with Artificial Intelligence

As regular readers of this blog know I have an abiding interest in Artificial Intelligence, and, in particular, it's potential to develop proto-consciousness, or,...

Why the World Is Burning: The 2026 Wildfire Crisis Explained

Inside the 2026 wildfire crisis across Europe and Canada — the climate and land-use causes, the human and ecological cost, and what actually works.

Large Language Model Update August 2026- The Defenders Dilemma as Hugging Face Gets Cracked

An AI sandbox breach exposed a new risk: powerful agents can turn tools and permissions into action, leaving guardrail-bound defenders at a disadvantage.

Milan, Italy: Can Trees Cool a Dense European City?

Green Cities Series | Article 17 For a decade, the Lombard capital has captured...

Cape Town and the Watershed of Resilience: A Metropolitan Study of Post-Drought Transformation

GREEN CITIES SERIES | ARTICLE 15 The atmospheric tension in Cape Town during the austral summer of 2017–2018 was characterized by a distinct psychological phenomena...

Why Mexico City is Sinking: The Environmental History of a Modern Water Crisis

Mexico City faces sinking and water crises due to drained lakes and urban growth. Explore the environmental challenges and solutions shaping its future

The Common Table in a Burning World: Why the United Nations Must Be Revived, Not Abandoned

The chamber still looks improbably calm. Green marble. Translation headsets. Country names set out in alphabetical order, as though the world’s grief can be...

Los Angeles: Reinventing the Concrete River

Explore Los Angeles' ambitious efforts to transform its concrete flood-control river back into a living ecological corridor amidst urban and climate challenges.

Evolve

Green Cities

Curitiba, Brazil: The Classic Model Revisited

GREEN CITIES SERIES  |  ARTICLE 9 For fifty years, urban planners have...

Melbourne, Australia: The Liveable City Under Heat Stress

Melbourne's liveability rankings measure the compact, tram-served inner city. They do not measure Tarneit on a 45-degree day. On 27 January 2026 the western suburbs ran three degrees hotter than the centre — and that gap, not the weather, is the story of a world-class urban forest, a sprawling metropolis, falling reservoirs and two cities under one name.

The Sapphire Empire: A Chronicle of Britain’s Blue Belt and the Resurrection of the Wild

Introduction: The Map and the Territory The ocean is a memory. It remembers the iron taste of the harpoon and the heavy drag of the...

Western European Wilderness Lost: Rewilding the Tamed Lands

1. Historical Baseline Pre-1750 Wilderness Extent The aurochs' last bellow echoed through Poland's Jaktorów Forest in 1627, marking Europe's first recorded megafaunal extinction.¹ This wild...

Marine Wilderness: The Blue Heart of Earth

Marine wilderness is vanishing fast—climate, overfishing, pollution, and mining threaten ocean life. Indigenous wisdom and bold protection offer hope.

Take a Deep Dive

The Mountain Has a Name: Nepal’s Rasuwa Flood Disaster, One Month On

The satellites have named the mountain — the same massif that destroyed Langtang village in 2015. K.J. Parker sorts a month of evidence into fact, inference, contested and speculation, states the Langtang hypothesis, and sets out how it could actually be tested

The Ecological Crisis of Bee Decline: Nature’s Pollinators at the Brink

My wife and I are urban beekeepers with 3 hives that keep us and friends and family in honey most years. As I write...

Where We Stand in the Climate Crisis: November 2025

The article explores climate risks, global emissions, and AI’s role in resilience—urging urgent action to avoid tipping points and secure a livable future.

What is Shamanic Healing?

"Because it is not an organized religion as such, but rather a spiritual practice, shamanism cuts across all faiths and creeds, reaching deep levels...

Why Wilderness? The Case for an Earth-Centred World

Wilderness has intrinsic value beyond human use; decolonizing conservation and embracing ecocentric ethics are vital for Earth’s future.

Through Compound Eyes: Song of a Honey Bee

The world fractures into a thousand hexagonal truths through my compound eyes, each facet catching ultraviolet psalms that your kind cannot fathom. I see...

Consider

The Ecological Crisis of Bee Decline: Nature’s Pollinators at the Brink

My wife and I are urban beekeepers with 3 hives that keep us and friends and family in honey most years. As I write we are sadly having to...

The Deceptive Bite: Unmasking Ultra-Processed Foods

The Quiet Takeover of the Global Diet The modern global diet is undergoing a quiet, pervasive transformation, one driven not by nutritional science or consumer need, but by engineered profitability....

North America Wilderness: From Tundra to Desert

1. Historical Baseline Pre-1750 Wilderness Extent North America contained 3.9 billion acres of wilderness when Europeans first arrived—98% of the continent's land area.¹ From Arctic tundra to Sonoran desert, from Atlantic...