My news today was that I came within a whisker of being hit by a double cab ute on my bike commute to work. It was big and black with tinted windows and it came out from a side road without seeing me. I saw it coming though and instinctively swerved to avoid it. I ended up peddling furiously out by the centre line of the road before it finally saw me and braked. No acknowledgement. It just drove off.
If you must drive these large vehicles in cities, please pay attention!
New satellite data shows NZ’s major cities are sinking – meaning rising seas will affect them sooner
Nick Young
6–7 minutes
Rising seas are already affecting coastal communities in Aotearoa New Zealand. On a global average, the sea level is now 18 centimetres higher than it was in 1900, and the annual rate of increase has been accelerating to currently 4.4 millimetres per year
Another #RStats colour palette I learned about is the excellent Manu package that has colour palettes inspired by New Zealand birds.
"#Paraquat is still manufactured in the #UK and #China, sprayed across farms in the US, #NZ and #Australia, and exported to parts of #Africa and #LatinAmerica — regions where Parkinson’s rates are now rising sharply.
"paraquat helped drive major profits for its maker, Swiss-based and Chinese-owned...#Syngenta [which in the US and Canada alone] faces thousands of lawsuits from people who say the chemical gave them Parkinson’s"
https://www.politico.eu/article/bas-bloem-parkinsons-pesticides-mptp-glyphosate-paraquat/
#parkinsons #farming #pesticide #usa #canada
Introducing the New Zealand Bush Boba!
We found this pretty orange fungus last week during our survey of Mount Grand Station near Lake Hāwea, as part of the #LincolnUniversityNZ Masters-level Conservation Biology course.
The fungus is in the genus Heterotextus (thanks to Jerry Cooper on #iNaturalist for the ID). It doesn't seem to have had a common name, at least not until now. The students have declared it NZ Bush Boba, and I reckon that's good.
Here are some of the many (554) species we found on last year's Takahē to Tāone Hīkoi for the #CityNatureChallenge in Ōtautahi-Christchurch, NZ.
You'd be most welcome to join us if you'd like to be part of the adventure this year.
#nature #nz
https://ccc.govt.nz/news-and-events/whats-on/event/takahe-to-taone-hikoi
On Sunday of the #CityNatureChallenge, 27 April, I'll be leading the Takahē to Tāone Hīkoi, a nature walk from the Sign of the Takahē to the Botanic Gardens. It's free and everyone's welcome.
We did it last year and it was great fun. We took our time and explored lots of city reserves and parks along the way.
We weave in and out of the Number 1 bus route so if you're not up to the whole walk, you can hop on a bus whenever you like.
https://ccc.govt.nz/news-and-events/whats-on/event/takahe-to-taone-hikoi
#nature #nz #Ōtautahi #Christchurch
The international #CityNatureChallenge fast approaching. It's a 4-day look-for-everything-alive event that celebrates all of the wild species that live with us in our cities. Use #iNaturalist to upload all the species you can find on 25–28 April (Friday–Monday).
If you're in Ōtautahi-Christchurch, #NZ, like I am, there are plenty of events on offer, from night-time critter hunts to guided bird walks to events in the city libraries.
https://inaturalist.nz/projects/city-nature-challenge-2025-otautahi-christchurch
Annual emissions fell two percent in 2023, new data reveals
The country's official climate balance sheet shows emissions continue to fall.
All parts of the economy shrank their emissions in 2023, the latest official numbers show.
The country's greenhouse gas inventory, which always lags reality by over a year, shows emissions fell two percent in 2023, about the same as the emissions produced by a quarter of New Zealand cars in a year
Wellington Library trials new shelving system based on Māori deities
According to Stuff, this is a "rare" view of a bus.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/nz-news/360652906/bus-gets-stuck-tight-wellington-street
Auckland Council, the Crown and tangata whenua are proposing a formal deed of acknowledgement to help guide the protection of Te Wao Nui a Tiriwa. #Trampstodon #Aotearoa #NZ #Hiking #Tramping #CoGovernance #Indigedon #Indigenous
Picture getting caught doing 64kph in a 50kph area. Then imagine being so stubborn you'd fight an $80 speeding ticket all the way to the Supreme Court, and lose most of the way.
Aucklander Peter Prescott racked up $34,000 in legal fees and was declared bankrupt when he couldn’t pay them.
The lessons? Don't speed in 50kph zones and don't pursue a hopeless case through the courts. That's only for wealthy folk.
https://www.odt.co.nz/news/national/how-80-speeding-ticket-spiralled-34k-and-bankruptcy
Youngest ever winner of the Adam NZ Play Award Announced
Alex Medland is only 24, yet she has won a major theatre award for her play about climate change and how it all goes wrong for a group of teenage vigilantes
https://www.rnz.co.nz/life/culture/youngest-ever-winner-of-the-adam-nz-play-award-announced
Thousands of students were outside Parliament in Wellington on Friday for the School Strike 4 Climate protest. The core team organising were aged between 14 and 17 & their overarching theme "Don't Fast Track Our Future" was in response to the government's launch in February of a regime aiming to allow major infrastructure projects to be built more quickly and easily
https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/culture-101/audio/2018983039/alex-medland-wins-multiple-national-play-awards-for-unnerving-commentary-on-climate-activism-and-inaction
#Wellington #NZ #ClimateChange #GlobalWarming #IrreversibleOverheating #environment #climate #ClimateStrike
When life gives you feijoas, make feijoa muffins. 
I found a feijoa recipe online at justamumnz.com and it’s scrumptious.
“It is obvious that the drafters of the bill were not only appallingly ignorant, deliberately or otherwise, of Aotearoa New Zealand history, but also British history.” — Vincent O’Malley #TreatyPrinciplesBill #Aotearoa #NZ #ToituTeTiriti #Indigenous #Indigedon #ETangata
https://e-tangata.co.nz/comment-and-analysis/a-shallow-unconscionable-political-stunt/
