Here are the writings and paintings that made up my exhibit, “Gaia Songs: Seeking Equilibrium.” The exhibit included my essay, “Earth is a Person” and my article “Building Climate Stability” and six paintings with Artist’s Statements. The Artist Statements include two paragraphs for each painting about how they relate to the conference “The Uses and…

Keep water on your property. Install rain barrels, rain gardens, and gray water systems. Posted: February 3, 2025

Introduction by Jim Laurie Erling Jorgensen was a student in my “Systems Thinking and Scenario Building” course (Biodiversity 6) in the summer of 2022.  He is determined to learn how life processes work and develop a scenario of restoring these processes.  His goal is also to create a story that young people and adults with…

Soils This compendium is, if nothing else, a testament to the key role soils must play if we are to preserve life on earth through the anthropocene. Soils, the engine of every terrestrial ecosystem, are themselves wildly diverse subterranean ecosystems providing habitat to countless trillions of micro- and macro-organisms. These organisms themselves create the soil…

This workshop follows Jan’s talk: Soak Up the Rain! What We Can All Do to Reduce Drought, Floods, Heat Waves and Severe Storms Jan Lambert: environmental writer and editor of The Valley Green Journal Learn more about Biodiversity for a Livable Climate: https://bio4climate.org/ Connect with usFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/bio4climateTwitter: https://twitter.com/bio4climateInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/bio4climate/ Presented at Blessed Unrest conference via…

With the rise of civilizations, humans began having significant impacts on bodies of water and the water cycle.  The early “hydraulic civilizations” appeared along major rivers (Nile, Tigris-Euphrates, Indus, Yellow River and others), changed watercourses and built canals for agriculture and transportation.  As populations and cities expanded, demand for food led to soil depletion while…

Water and vegetation are climate heroes, co-starring in a story about as old as terrestrial life on Earth yet under-recognized in mainstream climate politics. Not only does the vegetation embedded in ecosystems act as a giant CO2-absorption machine, constantly removing the greenhouse gas from the air and storing much of it in soil and biomass,…

Earth is heating up: “Global surface temperature was 1.09°C higher in 2011– 2020 than 1850–1900,” according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)’s 6th Assessment Report.[3] Yet the mercury is not rising uniformly around the world – the Arctic is warming faster than are the lower latitudes, and temperatures over land are higher than over the…

Play. Learn. Restore. “What you do makes a difference, and you have to decide what kind of difference you want to make.” Jane GoodallPrimatologist: Someone who loves chimps and studies them Start Here Become a Climate Apprentice Bee in A Bonnet Ready to start the buzz-tastic adventure? Fly as a busy little bee through a…

Learn more about Biodiversity for a Livable Climate: https://bio4climate.org/ Please donate to our ecosystem restoration work: https://bio4climate.org/donate/ Jan Lambert introduces, by way of photos and illustrations, the richly varied ways in which rainwater is now being successfully restored into landscapes. From holistic green pastures in America to green roofs in Scotland, from using beaver dams…

We know how to enhance resilience to extreme weather where we live and work. Communities throughout the world are utilizing these approaches, and here we highlight several initiatives in a variety of habitats to illustrate potential paths forward. More information is included just below each project description. Following this section is a collection of summaries…

We already know that trees bring the rain. But new research demonstrates how deforestation in the Amazon doesn’t just reduce rainfall, it redistributes it. During wet seasons, deforested areas see a slight increase in rain due to shifting air circulation, but rainfall drops significantly in areas surrounding the bare ground, disrupting regional water cycles. In…

Did you ever stop to think about what happens with all the water that goes down the storm drains in your town or city every time it rains? Jan Lambert, even though a lifelong nature advocate, never gave that question much thought until 2014, when as an environmental journalist she learned about the profound and…

Highlighting the significance of Makarieva and Gorshkov’s “biotic pump” hypothesis (above), Sheil and Murdiyarso explain it in layman’s terms in this article for the benefit of a broader public, and examine its validity. They point out that the biotic pump hypothesis offers an explanation for a question not otherwise resolved in conventional climate theory. Conventional…

Cabezon Peak after rain, Photo by John Fowler (CC BY 2.0) Although climate change is a global issue, it can and must be addressed locally. Our overall climate is shifting drastically, but local climates are also changing, and they don’t always get the same amount of attention. Local climates change when the environment is drastically…

Cloud cooling effects of afforestation and reforestation at midlatitudes, Cerasoli, Jin & Porporato 2021 Reforestation and afforestation (R&A) are well-established climate mitigation strategies in the wet tropics due to high carbon sequestration rates of forests/trees. However, at high latitudes (boreal regions), the low albedo of trees–compared to snow and other lighter land surfaces–leads to the…

Evapotranspiration – A Driving Force in Landscape Sustainability, Eiseltová 2012 Vegetation cover cools Earth when it intercepts the sun’s energy. This is not just by providing shade, but also through evapotranspiration, which is how plants regulate their own internal temperatures. For a plant … transpiration[5] is a necessity by which a plant maintains its inner environment…

Droughts and flash floods are becoming a new normal in our warming world. What changed? Our landscapes are losing water as people alter the environment, cut trees, drain wetlands, and use chemicals that destroy the soil. And we’re feeling the heat. On Friday, October 21 at 12:15pm ET, join Anastassia Makarieva, Jan Pokorny, Andrei Nefiodov,…

Droughts and flash floods are becoming a new normal in our warming world. What changed? Our landscapes are losing water as people alter the environment, cut trees, drain wetlands, and use chemicals that destroy the soil. And we’re feeling the heat. On October 21, we hosted Anastassia Makarieva, Jan Pokorny, Andrei Nefiodov, and Jon Schull…

United Nations, New York CityMarch 23-24, 2023 Biodiversity for a Livable Climate was in New York meeting with attendees of the Conference of Parties (COP) on Water. Board member Sue Butler and Assistant Director of Regenerative Projects Maya Dutta, working with Jon Schull from EcoRestoration Alliance, had meetings with several exciting global Water Advocates. Meeting…

This spring, Bio4Climate is sharing select excerpts from the late Jan Lambert’s book, Water, Land and Climate, The Critical Connection: How We Can Rehydrate Landscapes Locally To Renew Climates Globally. First published by The Valley Green Journal in 2015, Water, Land, and Climate introduces the transformative ideas of the New Water Paradigm—showing how retaining, rather than draining, rainwater can restore local water cycles, renew ecosystems, and even help stabilize the global climate.

Take a peek inside Bio4Climate’s 2025 educational series, Water: The Missing Climate Solution, led by instructor Hart Hagan, with exclusive access to the presentation and discussion with Atmospheric physicist Dr. Anastassia Makarieva. She explores the biotic pump and explains how forests generate rainfall, transport moisture, regulate water cycles, and function as active climate regulators not…

After decades of drought, water is coming back to the southern edge of the Sahara, with well levels rising more than 13 feet in some parts of the Sahel and Lake Chad beginning to recover. It’s not just rainfall driving the shift. Ancient water-harvesting techniques and Great Green Wall plantings are contributing to the shift.…

Solutions – What You Can Do In your Home or Business: Restoring ecosystems stores carbon and reverses climate change. There are a number of approaches applicable to different ecosystems, and all of these methods can show remarkable results. Each of us has only limited time and resources to play our part, but we can also…

While previous issues of the Compendium have addressed ecosystem strategies to reverse global warming, here we discuss ecosystem restoration to adapt to the consequences of climate change. From drought in Cape Town and wildfire in California and Greece to flooding in Beijing, Paris, Houston and North Carolina, each new report of catastrophe makes climate change…

This article (also highlighted in Compendium v2n1) reviews research on the benefits of tree cover in relation to water and energy cycles. Forests help produce rain. Vegetation releases water vapor through transpiration, increasing atmospheric moisture that is then transported by wind. In fact, “over most of the tropics, air that passes over forests for ten…

Scenario 300: Reducing Atmospheric CO2 to 300 ppm by 2061         by Jim Laurie, Staff Scientist Biodiversity for a Livable Climate bio4climate.org jimlaurie7@gmailcom  March 20, 2018 Danger in the Arctic: The Urgency of the Climate Situation Atmospheric carbon dioxide levels have increased from 315 ppm in 1958 to 410 ppm in 2018. This is the…

The concept of hydrological drought (as distinct from meteorological drought) helps explain the success of these age-old techniques to enhance surface and groundwater supply. Meteorological drought is the occurence of abnormally low rainfall for a given region. Hydrological drought is a consequence of meteorological drought – it happens when surface and ground waters run low thanks…

From California to Minnesota, Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Washington DC, people are coming together in their communities to learn what river their watershed drains into, how urban stormwater management has impaired that river, and how to restore river-floodplain ecosystems through a grassroots approach. A watershed is an area of land over which any rain that falls…

Indigenous hunters have positive impacts on food webs in desert Australia, Penn State 2019 When Australian authorities removed indigenous Martu people from their traditional lands in the desertic center of the continent in the mid-1900s, endemic species there declined or went extinct. Researchers observed that the Martu’s hunting regime of small burning patches of land…

The Gaia hypothesis invites us to imagine Earth as an integral living system in order to explore the mechanisms by which life helps create and maintain the conditions for life, such as an oxygenated atmosphere. “The Gaia theory proposes that organisms contribute to self-regulating feedback mechanisms that have kept the Earth’s surface environment stable and…

Voices of Waterfor Climate global research on the role of water in cooling our planet A message from the late Jan Lambert in 2021 Greetings! Welcome to Voices of Water for Climate (VoW), a 2021 addition to our growing family at Biodiversity for a Livable Climate. I have been volunteering for Bio4Climate since 2014, when…

Most of what you hear climate activists talk about when it comes to beef or cows is methane. Methane is a greenhouse gas and cows emit methane as part of their digestion process. What you don't hear is that this is primarily a problem of the commercial cattle industry and that nature has an ingenious way of balancing this methane production. Learn about this natural system and how cattle can be managed as part of eco-restoration and climate mitigation.

After taking the Water Stories Core Course in 2025, this month I joined a wonderful group of volunteers for a week of camping to support their East Coast team with whatever they needed as they built two earthen ponds and connected them to a third.

Restoring nature’s climate-cooling systems The Climate Cooling Initiative A large-scale plan to protect, restore, and strengthen the living systems that cool our planet. Bio4Climate is a founding partner of the initiative. Visit the initiative Why we’re involved Our role Our science, working at global scale Since 2013, Bio4Climate has shared a simple idea: nature is…

Innovative Slovakian hydrologist Michal Kravčík gives an introduction to his New Water Paradigm and the critical importance of regional or “small” rainwater cycles. The result is a set of empowering ecological concepts that enable people everywhere to secure clean and adequate water, prevent floods and drought and moderate local climate, simply by harvesting rainfall. Since…

Tropical ecologist Mike Hands and soil scientist Rattan Lal joined our Life Saves the Planet lecture series to discuss the Inga Alley Cropping technique and the promise of agroforestry for promoting biodiversity, sequestering carbon, and providing food security for farmers. 

“The world is divided politically, but ecologically it is tightly interwoven.” – Carl Sagan, 1980, Cosmos The magnitude of troubles ailing humanity is dizzying, if not terrifying – any 10 minutes of exposure to the daily news can attest to this. It’s hard to untangle the problems from each other, or to connect causes to…

“You must have had a lot more rain because how else can water appear where it has not existed before?” asked Zimbabwe Minister of Water Development Sam Nkomo when he saw a clear water-lily-covered pool that had only come to exist in the upper river catchment two years prior [Savory 2009]. Two herders and their…

The following articles were selected and summarized by Bio4Climate’s Compendium editors and writers. The purpose of this collection is to highlight the scientific evidence and argumentation showing healthy restored and protected ecosystems as a powerful (albeit under-recognized) tool for managing the weather extremes wrought by climate change.   Floodplains and wetlands: making space for water…

Close up on California in the era of climate change: a verdant vision for fire-prone land Picture California in the 1700s, around the time the first Spanish missions appeared. It must have looked like heaven on earth for the 100,000s of native people living there [Ecological Society of America 2014], cradled between forested mountains and…

Picture California in the 1700s, around the time the first Spanish missions appeared. It must have looked like heaven on earth for the 100,000s of native people living there [Ecological Society of America 2014], cradled between forested mountains and sparkling ocean. Meandering streams and rivers teeming with salmon criss-cross the valley and are knit together…

A spatial overview of the global importance of Indigenous lands for conservation, Garnett et al. 2018 Indigenous people make up less than 5% of the global population, but their lands encompass 37% of the planet’s remaining natural lands and (partially overlapping with natural lands) 40% of Earth’s protected area, much of this in sparsely inhabited…

Forests currently cover a quarter of Earth’s terrestrial surface, although at least 82% of that remaining forest is degraded by human activity. While a handful of international accords rightly encourage forest conservation and reforestation to limit global warming, these agreements fail to prioritize protection specifically of intact forests, or forests that are free from human…

All over the world, from Australia to Europe to North and South America, wildfires have waged destruction on natural landscapes and human settlements alike. The devastation of these disasters is heartbreaking, and the images of catastrophe – walls of flame, scorched wildlife, a world gone red – are unforgettable. There is no more potent image…

After hosting a successful series of courses on Biodiversity and Symbiosis with staff scientist and restoration ecologist Jim Laurie, we at Biodiversity for a Livable Climate have recognized the need for a larger curriculum on ecosystem restoration, nature-based solutions to climate change, and the transformations required for our civilization to navigate the challenges ahead of…

In northwestern Australia, far from roads or major cities, a herd of wild donkeys carries a valuable promise. This remote region is the Kimberley, home to Kachana Station, a family-owned holistically managed landscape. The Henggelers have overseen Kachana Station for decades, and their management techniques have brought benefits for the soil, wildlife, and local climate. …

Nature’s Solutions as National Policy Code Red at Glasgow: What did they miss? November 20, 2021 10:00 am – 12:00 pm ET This November, Biodiversity for a Livable Climate continued its series of mini-conferences on how we can leverage nature’s solutions to shape policy on climate action and resilience. We turned our attention to the Glasgow…

The amount of Earth’s green cover (measured as Leaf Area Index[6]) has increased globally since 1980, especially in northern latitudes, where growing seasons have lengthened. This is due mainly to increasing CO2 concentration, but also to warmer temperatures and changing precipitation patterns, nitrogen deposition, and land-use change (such as afforestation in China). Higher ambient CO2 can stimulate…

Redesigning Our Communities for Life After Fossil Fuels A series of virtual and in-person community events in 6 locations in the U.S. and Canada Fourth Event: CLEVELAND • on Zoom Saturday, March 25, 2023 1:00 – 4:30 pm EST  •  on Zoom Agenda Biodiversity for a Livable Climate is partnering with the Post Carbon Institute and…

by Fred Jennings, Ecological Economist for Biodiversity for a Livable Climate Part One: “Water Cools The Planet” Runtime 41:43 John Feldman introduces himself and expresses surprise that this work got him thinking a lot about water. The film proceeds to talk about water in its many diverse aspects: as a powerful greenhouse gas; in its…

To a climate conversation long dominated by computer models and technological jargon, Regenerating Life: How to Cool the Planet, Feed the World and Live Happily Ever After brings some badly needed rain, along with dung beetles, sweating trees, fungal mycelia, cloud-making forests, beavers, worms, soil microbes, cow patties and whales. As more and more people…

What tree has adapted to grow directly in lava rock and is a keystone species of the Hawaiian watershed?

Proforestation Beyond the Human:Forests, Climate Emergency, and the Undoing of Mastery Author: Pavan Muntha Abstract This article develops a philosophical and ecological argument for proforestation, understood as allowing existing forests to grow into their full ecological complexity, as a response to the climate emergency. It critiques the dominant human-centred framing in proforestation and forest–climate debates, in…

Comment to NEPA Project Number DOI-BLM-ORWA-0000-2026-0001-RMP-EIS Fellow Citizens: I write as someone whose career, like yours, was in public service as a government employee (administrative law judge). I know you know that you are required to read every comment you receive and give it due consideration before taking further action on this matter. In retirement,…

Today, we are excited to share artwork by one of Bio4Climate’s board members. Susan Farist Butler’s exhibit, “Gaia Song: Seeking Equilibrium,” was featured on the Bio4Climate website in 2023, and it takes readers on a journey through essays, articles, and paintings about climate. Keep reading to read part of the artist statement for Map of…

The Bio4Climate Film Club Presents Thinking Like Water January 20 – February 17 Tuesdays | 7:30 pm ET / 5:30 pm MT Did you know there are thousands of watersheds across North America that flow into seven major drainage basins? Imagine if each of us took steps to restore our own local watersheds, and return…

Precious grew up in Zimbabwe and will tell us about her evolution as a trainer in Holistic Management and community facilitation. Her work currently focuses on working with rural communities and collaborating with networks in Africa to reduce poverty, rebuild soils, and restore food and water security for people, livestock and wildlife – and most…

Increasingly frequent droughts are destroying food production levels in the more drought-prone half of sub-Saharan Africa. Although most people have attributed this gathering crisis to climate change, about 80% of the cause of the droughts is that fallowing–allowing the forest to grow for fifteen years or more to replace the soil’s organic matter–is on its…

Learn more about Biodiversity for a Livable Climate: https://bio4climate.org/ Please donate to our ecosystem restoration work: https://bio4climate.org/donate/ Slime molds aren’t really molds, some of them are multiple amoebas that cohabit within a single cell membrane. They have no brain or nervous system, yet they can perform remarkable feats of decision-making and memory. Enter the life…

Learn more about Biodiversity for a Livable Climate: https://bio4climate.org/ Please donate to our ecosystem restoration work: https://bio4climate.org/donate/ Trees share a wealth of information to the willing listener, well beyond aesthetics, recreation or “natural resource.” They offer details about the connections above and below ground – from birds and insects, to parasites and fungi, to humans…

Learn more about Biodiversity for a Livable Climate: https://bio4climate.org/ Please donate to our ecosystem restoration work: https://bio4climate.org/donate/ The many species of bacteria, optimally established during our trip down the birth canal, affect everything from our immune systems to our moods to our digestive health. We might say that it’s quite an accomplishment for the trillions…

Learn more about Biodiversity for a Livable Climate: https://bio4climate.org/ Please donate to our ecosystem restoration work: https://bio4climate.org/donate/ Almost a quarter of all mammal species are bats. Some consume insects, others pollinate a wide range of plants, and some are highly effective seed dispersers in tropical rainforests. In sum, they provide people and the planet with…

Learn more about Biodiversity for a Livable Climate: https://bio4climate.org/ Please donate to our ecosystem restoration work: https://bio4climate.org/donate/ Policy panel: Building Water Cycles into the International Climate Debate Walter Jehne, Tom Goreau and Jan Lambert with Michal Kravčík each speak on the opportunities for broadening the debate over climate as we approach COP21 in Paris. How…

Precious Phiri directs engagement and training for villages in the Hwange Communal Lands region that are implementing restorative grazing programs using Holistic Land and Livestock Management. This cost-effective, nature-based and highly scalable solution helps rural communities in Africa to reduce poverty, rebuild soils, restore food and water security, and reduce drought and flood risks. Precious…

Learn more about Biodiversity for a Livable Climate: https://bio4climate.org/ Please donate to our ecosystem restoration work: https://bio4climate.org/donate/ Trained as a chemist, for ten years Karl Thidemann was the Marketing Director for Solectria, an MIT spinoff that became one of the leading early developers of electric cars in the 1990s. He is closely aligned with the…

Learn more about Biodiversity for a Livable Climate: https://bio4climate.org/ Please donate to our ecosystem restoration work: https://bio4climate.org/donate/ Dorn Cox is a founding member and board president of Farm Hack, an open source community for resilient agriculture. He is also the executive director of GreenStart and manages his family’s 250-acre organic farm in Lee, NH where…

Learn more about Biodiversity for a Livable Climate: https://bio4climate.org/ Please donate to our ecosystem restoration work: https://bio4climate.org/donate/ The earth’s forests have been decimated by human overuse and development, leading to cascading effects of biodiversity loss, soil erosion and massive emissions of carbon into the atmosphere. Mark Leighton joined the Harvard faculty in 1983 and has…

Many of our events are recorded. You can find links below. If you can’t find what you are looking for, you might find it on our Announcements page, or try the search box above. Our events can also be found on our Life Saves the Planet series on the GBH Forum Network and our Meetup.…

Jan’s Quick-Take: Didi is a world class educator and a real Vermonter who knows her stuff, and how to teach it to anyone who cares about soil and water. She is the great source for all aspects of the famed “soil carbon sponge.” We at Voices of Water for Climate consider her to be a…

Restoring Water Cycles – Program – Home     Speakers     Sponsors/Partners   Scroll down to view videos and slideshows! Our program addressed science, land management practices and activism.   There was ample time for Q&A, and attendees and speakers were encouraged to attend the entire conference in order to be available for thought-provoking dialogue and creative networking. On Sunday…

Blessed Unrest – Program – Conference Home    Speakers    Program    Sponsors and Partners All sessions will take place from 10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., EDT.  On each day at around 1:30 p.m. there will be an option to attend a free hour-long workshop with one of the day’s speakers, depending on speaker availability. 10:30  Welcome and…

Roland Bunch is one of the most well-respected leaders in regenerative land management, both in terms of food security and for addressing ecological degradation and climate change. He has worked as a consultant in sustainable agricultural development for over 45 NGOs and governments in 50 nations, including Cornell University, the Ford Foundation, Oxfam, Save the Children,…

Note: As mentioned in the Release notes, we have a small staff, and therefore have had to postpone some important material for the next release, scheduled for January 2018.  This is particularly true of forests and we will include a more thorough examination of their importance in addressing climate moving forward.  Nonetheless, we felt that the…

Agricultural production must produce enough food for almost 10 billion people by 2050 [FAO 2017],[10] and yet a third of all land is degraded [FAO 2015] and nearly all agricultural land has lost significant amounts of SOC (Soil Organic Carbon). So we have a puzzle to solve: how to produce more from less, and in the face…

Natural climate solutions, Griscom 2017 This is one of the most comprehensive mainstream studies to date of a broad spectrum of natural climate solutions by thirty-two co-authors and supported by The Nature Conservancy. The report examines “20 conservation, restoration, and/or improved land management actions that increase carbon storage and/or avoid greenhouse gas emissions across global…

Edited by innovator and entrepreneur Paul Hawken, Drawdown is a remarkable and comprehensive work presenting eighty well-vetted solutions and twenty promising “coming attractions” to remove carbon from the atmosphere and restore planetary health.  Hawken engaged numerous scientists, modellers, advisers, artists and writers, resulting in a beautifully illustrated and comprehensive exploration of possibilities for reversing global warming.…

Regenerating the soil carbon sponge is our greatest point of leverage for salvaging the planet from the point of existential climate crisis. “Sponge” refers to the quality of a biologically active soil with high organic matter content to have lots of pore space for water absorption. Jehne states that every additional gram of soil carbon…

​The authors examine ecological and geophysical principles to explain how land far inland away from the ocean can remain moist, given that gravity continuously pulls surface and groundwater into the ocean over time. All freshwater on land originates in the ocean from which it has evaporated, is carried on air flux, and precipitates over the…

This climate model simulation illustrates how the biosphere affects the climate system. With “maximum vegetation,” more water is absorbed in the ground, allowing for evaporation to cool the land surface while also recycling more rain. This simulation resulted in an average temperature reduction over land of 1.2C. The authors describe their approach: We quantify the maximum…

Managing rainwater within a landscape so that neither heavy storms nor long dry spells devastate human endeavors and constructions is referred by Yu Kongjian as the “art of survival” [Yu 2012]. This Chinese landscape architect with an ecological mindset learned the art of survival by studying the ways of ancient peasant farmers. He contrasts the wisdom…

“In the past, humans have taken the land away from the water; now we need to give the land back.” – Professor Hui Li [Guardian 2017] Faced with severe flooding in many cities across China, such as a major 2012 Beijing flood, the Chinese government announced the Sponge Cities Initiative in 2014 as a remedy.…

China’s Loess Plateau, roughly the size of France, lies between Tibet and Beijing just south of Mongolia, and is traversed by the Yellow River. Once covered in forest and grassland and the center of Chinese power and wealth, this area eventually became severely degraded by agriculture and unmanaged grazing. The fragile loess soils, composed of…

Beaver dams and overbank floods influence groundwater–surface water interactions of a Rocky Mountain riparian area, Westbrook et al. 2006 This study provides empirical evidence that beavers influence hydrologic processes in riparian areas. Conducted at the headwaters of the Colorado River in the Rocky Mountains, the study examines patterns from two beaver dams of surface inundation,…

This study provides empirical evidence that beavers influence hydrologic processes in riparian areas. Conducted at the headwaters of the Colorado River in the Rocky Mountains, the study examines patterns from two beaver dams of surface inundation, groundwater flow, and groundwater level dynamics. The authors observe that : Beaver dams on the Colorado River caused river…

Hot days in the city? It’s all about location, NOAA 2018 In a project funded by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA), about two dozen citizen scientists measured temperatures in Baltimore and Washington DC on two of the hottest days of 2018. By measuring temperatures second by second with thermal sensors while driving prescribed routes…

This study distinguishes between meteorological droughts (lower than average rainfall) and hydrological droughts, where rainfall shortage has eventually led to surface or groundwater levels falling, to predict area burnt from wildfires. By contrast, most studies consider only climate data when predicting wildfire, yet “these overlook subsurface processes leading to hydrological drought, an important driver” [Taufik…

By Christopher A. Haines, Biodiversity for a Livable Climate Christopher Haines is a seasoned architect licensed in both MA and NY who applies expertise in regenerative architectural design, healthy materials, preservation, renovation and specification writing to small commercial and urban projects. He has spoken for years at US and international forums as well as formally…

In continuation of the “blessed unrest” section of Compendium V3N1, the following sketches illustrate how people throughout the world are coming to recognise the enormous value of intact ecosystems, and are doing their part to protect and restore. Adopting Paul Hawken’s terminology and characterization of “blessed unrest” as a spontaneous, decentralized global social movement, we…

Sacred forests/groves are not uncommon in India, especially in the biodiverse Western Ghats mountain range. These groves are community-protected patches of forest ranging in size from less than a hectare to several hundred hectares, and they are often believed to house gods [Ormsby & Bhagwat 2010]. A particular temple in the Western Ghats just outside…

The subject of infectious disease became both fascinating and uncomfortably relevant with the global breakout of Covid-19 in early 2020. Are bats to blame, hunting and selling of wild game or seafood markets? It turns out that the destruction of nature is the root problem, according to the UN environment chief and lead scientists for…

Our burning planet: why we must learn to live with fire, Pyne 2020 Steven J. Pyne is an emeritus professor at Arizona State University and the author of several books on fire history and policy. He wrote this opinion piece as a protest against the prevention and suppression of wildfires in our land management process.…

In this podcast interview, Dr. Chad Hanson, an ecologist and fire researcher, shares his perspective on the 2018 wildfires in the American West and some myths that have circulated about fire management in their wake. First, there is a perception that wildfires in forested regions are so devastating that they reverse the ‘carbon sink’ effect…

Water plays a critical role in restoring a livable climate. A New Water Paradigm is emerging to help us restore landscapes naturally, so we no longer wastefully "drain the rain" but instead "retain the rain" with water catchments, soil, plants and animals. The result? We can renew our climates through local action, by allowing rainwater to soak into the soil to restore local land-based water cycles. We can also expect reduced flooding and pollution, renewed springs and streams, more drinking water, more food, less poverty and conflict, and improved wildlife habitat. There is nothing to lose and everything to gain!

Elisabeth Cianciola has a B.S. in Environmental Science from Trinity College, where she conducted research in areas as diverse as water quality sampling in urban rivers, rain garden design, and the taxonomy of algae. She recently completed an M.S. in Natural Resources at the University of New Hampshire, where she taught courses focused on wetland and…

Soaking up the Rain to Recharge Water Cycles, Thinking Beyond Carbon, Restoring Water Cycles to Reverse Droughts, Floods and Global Warming with Michal Kravčík

Backyard Biochar and Beyond, Featured Event: Restoring Water Cycles to Reverse Global Warming, Alright Seattle, where’s the rain? 

William McCaffrey is a small farmer from East Taunton, MA, where his family grows cranberries, strawberries, and hay.  After eight years of studying agriculture in upstate New York and abroad, William has joined his parents to expand the range of production on Spring Rain Farm.  His primary interests are tree fruit and meat livestock, focusing on…

On Thursday, April 28 at 6pm ET, join Atossa Soltani, Rob de Laet, and moderator Jon Schull for Amazon Deforestation: Why it matters to us. The Amazon Rainforest is known as the “lungs of the earth” because it draws in carbon dioxide and breathes out oxygen. But it is also the biological heart of the…

This April, we hosted EcoRestoration Alliance members Atossa Soltani, Rob de Laet, and moderator Jon Schull for Amazon Deforestation: Why it matters to us. This is an essential discussion on the restoration that can repair this critical system of planetary regulation. If you didn’t catch it live, watch the recording here! The Amazon Rainforest is known…

Animals contribute vitally to Earth’s water, carbon, and nutrient cycles. Every ecosystem is supported by uncountable animal species, ranging from birds to insects and mammals to fish, as well as microscopic organisms. The devastating news is that the Earth is losing about 150 animal, plant and microbial species every day, mostly due to human activities.[8] Understanding…

Can large herbivores enhance ecosystem carbon persistence? Kristensen et al. 2021 This article considers the overlooked role of grasslands and large herbivores in carbon storage. The principal question the authors pose is: what is the impact of large wild and domestic herbivores on the ability of ecosystems to absorb and store carbon over the long…

Before the 1900s, wolves and other predators, such as bears and mountain lions, helped control the populations of herbivores in Yellowstone. However, the federal government exterminated these predators in a coordinated campaign. After the last wolf pack was killed, the elk numbers started increasing uncountably. The US Park Service subsequently attempted to control the elk…

Redesigning Our Communities for Life After Fossil Fuels A series of virtual and in-person community events in 6 locations in the U.S. and Canada Second Event: KANSAS CITY • on Zoom Saturday, November 12 1:00 – 5:00 pm CST  •  on Zoom Biodiversity for a Livable Climate is partnering with the Post Carbon Institute and many…

In a time of accelerating global warming, nature’s ability to cool the Earth is one of the most exciting and important prospects we can explore. We’ve been proud to host scientific experts at the forefront of this research like Dr. Anastassia Makarieva, Andrei Nefiodov, and Jan Pokorny. They joined us a couple of months ago…

To support efforts to stop deforestation, sign the Amazonia for Life pledge: https://amazonia80x2025.earth/declaration#déclaration The Amazon Rainforest is known as the “lungs of the earth” because it draws in carbon dioxide and breathes out oxygen. But it is also the biological heart of the planet’s hydroclimate system, the planet’s rain making machine. We have lost almost…

Nature Is Climate At Bio4Climate, we contribute to planetary regeneration through research, education, collaboration and action to restore essential global biodiversity . . . and create a new climate story. Biodiversity loss is not just the result of climate change, it is a primary driver of climate change.  Only solutions that prioritize this web of…

What creature preys on ants and other insects, invading their bodies, seizing control of their minds, and killing them off to reproduce, all the while inspiring zombie stories that terrify us humans?

What organism can grow up to 35 inches in a day, conduct electricity, and survive an atomic bomb?

I’d like to introduce this piece with a scenario. Suppose someone pointed out that you’d been looking at the climate through a pair of glasses with only one lens? Lifting them off your nose, they then provide you a new pair of glasses with two lenses. Suddenly, parts of the climate you couldn’t see before…

Voices of Waterfor Climate global research on the role of water in cooling our planet Global restoration of natural water cycles is absolutelyessential for biodiversity and climate restoration. Vision Rehydrating the continents to restore natural water cycles and climate. Mission Educating globally to empower people to act locally to renew natural small water cycles to…

I’ve loved Chicago from the first day I set foot there, and I’ve missed the Windy City since I left after college in 2018. When I had a chance to visit two weeks ago, I made it a point to try to understand Chicago’s ecosystems better, and check in on the many ways communities across…

Forests are more important than most of us realize. Forests make rain, cool the temperature, and send moisture to regions around the world. In many cases, forests have become monoculture “tree plantations” for the timber industry, lacking biodiversity and moisture. In a biodiverse forest, the soil soaks up water like a sponge, preventing wildfires, drought,…

A transformation is underway in Worcester, MA. In this mid-sized city in Central Massachusetts long known for its industrial activity, city leadership has undertaken ambitious initiatives to address some of their climate resilience goals using the Miyawaki method. Together, Bio4Climate, BSC Group, and the City of Worcester planned and created two Miyawaki Forests in the…

We, the undersigned organizations, are writing with the hopes of establishing a dialogue regarding the October 17, 2023 joint comment letter sent to Congress by the Outdoor Industry Association, Outdoor Alliance, and The Conservation Alliance concerning the Farm Bill.

Upcoming Event: No Trees, No Rain, Suggest a Featured Creature!, Voices of Water Corner, Eco-Restoration Stories Currently Inspiring us , Moving On, Staff Spotlight: Tania Roa, New on the Bio4Climate Blog, Compendium Notes

What bog-builder can hold 15-20 times its dry weight in water?

What insect spends years hidden underground, preparing for a brief but spectacular emergence into the sunlight, filling the air with the deafening, iconic song of summer?

What plant thrives in the harshest landscapes, conserving water like a desert camel, and produces a sweet yet spiky fruit enjoyed for centuries?

As I wiggle through dirt I don’t make a sound, But I help all the plants grow out of the ground. Who am I?

How Trees & Forests Shape Our Climate How trees and forests interact with wind, water, wildlife and carbon to cool our climate and bring rain February 5 – March 26, 2026 Thursdays — 12:00 Noon ET Featured Guest Speakers Anastassia Makarieva, PhD – February 5 Judith D. Schwartz – February 12 John Feldman – February…

In Biodiversity as Climate Infrastructure, Poulomi Chakravarty explores micrometeorology—the science of small-scale exchanges of heat, water, and gases between land, plants, and air. It shows how forests, wetlands, and even animals influence evaporation, rainfall, and temperature through hidden processes that quietly stabilize our climate. The article opens a window into this overlooked science, inviting us to see biodiversity not just as life on Earth, but as the machinery that regulates the atmosphere itself.

On October 4, Bio4Climate and the Miyawaki Forest Action Belmont (MFAB) community came together to plant a 3,000-square-foot Miyawaki Forest — 1,140 native trees and shrubs across 32 species — in front of Belmont High School. Around 275 local Belmont residents of all ages joined at some point throughout the day! Our eighth miniforest is especially meaningful—a true intergenerational effort shaped by persevering collective action from early planning to planting day and beyond.

Root to Canopy: Growing the Miyawaki Method In 2025, Biodiversity for a Livable Climate organized and hosted the inaugural Northeast Miniforest Summit, bringing together more than a dozen speakers across two virtual half-days and an in-person bus tour. Practitioners, researchers, and leaders from diverse fields gathered to explore the Miyawaki method of afforestation from root…

Protect and Restore Ecosystems toCool the Planet A Platform for the World’s Leading Restoration Thinkers What if the most effective ways to cool the planet are already in motion — and you could learn directly from the people leading them how you can make an impact? Biodiversity for a Livable Climate (Bio4Climate) is launching a…

What animal can outrun an Olympic sprinter, cares only for its own young despite living in communal dens, and looks like a cross between a rabbit and an antelope?

If you haven’t noticed, we talk a lot about the water cycle here. And for good reason–from the soil to tree-top canopies, healthy ecosystems are fuel for the local and global water cycles that keep things cool. But it’s not just about rain and evaporation. A research team led by the Alfred Wegener Center found…

Green your community. Cool your town with biodiverse Miyawaki forests, pocket parks and rain gardens. Posted: February 3, 2025

Over the last two decades, satellites have revealed something that we’ve been ringing the alarm bell on for some time: the planet’s land is drying out—and fast. Soil moisture levels are dropping across large parts of the Earth. And not just in historically dry regions, but in places once thought to be stable too. The…

Floods are getting more dangerous around the country. When storms hit, it’s easy to keep our focus on the weather and the rain. And we’ve certainly seen evidence that climate change is fueling wetter wets. But often, the other half of the story is what the land can no longer do…and all that water has…

This week, we’re highlighting Asphalt to Miniforest, a panel on how depaving and miniforests can help cities restore their hydrology, cool neighborhoods, and bring life back to paved places. Caseylee Bastien, RLA, CPSI (Landscape Architect/Ecologist, BSC Group Inc.), Leigh Meunier (Project Manager, Green & Open Somerville), and Max Rome, PhD (Director of Green Infrastructure, City…

We talk a lot about what forests give us. But what if they’re actually running the water cycle that makes life on land possible in the first place? Anastassia Makarieva, Andrei Nefiodov, and Ugo Bardi make the case that trees don’t just absorb rain; they summon it, drawing moisture in from the oceans through a…

Something strange is unfolding in the global water cycle: many regions are seeing more rainfall overall, yet landscapes are becoming drier. A recent article in USA Today highlighting a major new study in Nature using satellite-derived terrestrial water storage (TWS) data shows that climate change is intensifying not only rainfall, but the instability of how…

Alexandra Ionescu, Bio4Climate’s Associate Director of Regenerative Projects, recently spent a week volunteering alongside the Water Stories team as they built two earthen ponds and connected them to a third. Water Stories was founded by Zachary Weiss, a protégé of revolutionary Austrian farmer Sepp Holzer. Witnessing the genesis of a pond, Alexandra began to see…

PROTECT: Keeping Ecosystems Whole Key Concepts Healthy ecosystems are already cooling the planet, cycling water, and storing carbon. Protecting what’s still alive is the fastest climate solution we have. Right now we’re losing it to: Indigenous Leadership Indigenous peoples are less than 5% of the world’s population, yet their lands hold 37% of Earth’s remaining…

This workshop follows Reverend Dele and Lama Elizabeth Monson’s talk “The Necessity of the Divine Feminine in the Climate Crisis”This panel discusses: What is the Divine Feminine? Why should we care? How can the Divine Feminine significantly impact the climate movement? Reverend Dele: Climate Reality leader and spiritual directorElizabeth Monson: Spiritual Co-Director of Natural Dharma…

This workshop follows Precious’ talk “Building Community During Confusion and Uncertainty” Precious Phiri: Field Professional in Holistic Management education with the Savory Institute, she works with rural communities through her organization EarthWisdom Consulting, and is the African Coordinator for Regeneration International Learn more about Biodiversity for a Livable Climate: https://bio4climate.org/ Connect with usFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/bio4climateTwitter: https://twitter.com/bio4climateInstagram:…

Increasingly frequent droughts are destroying food production levels in the more drought-prone half of sub-Saharan Africa. Although most people have attributed this gathering crisis to climate change, about 80% of the cause of the droughts is that fallowing–allowing the forest to grow for fifteen years or more to replace the soil’s organic matter–is on its…

Spiritual leaders discuss the connections between feminism and environmentalism. Reverend Dele: Climate Reality Leader and spiritual directorLama Elizabeth Monson: Spiritual Co-Director of Natural Dharma Fellowship and the Managing Teacher at Wonderwell Mountain Refuge Learn more about Biodiversity for a Livable Climate: https://bio4climate.org/ Connect with usFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/bio4climateTwitter: https://twitter.com/bio4climateInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/bio4climate/ Presented at Blessed Unrest conference via online,…

Man-eating by lions is common throughout Africa, famously so in some places, but in the 1950s the lions in the interior did not hunt the San people. At the time the San were pre-contact, and for several reasons Elizabeth Thomas is the only person who seems to have noticed the San/lion relationship. No wildlife biologist…

Home    Partners and Sponsors Reversing Global Warming:Carbon Farming for Food, Health, Prosperity and Planet! Speakers and Books BOOK RECOMMENDATIONSComeback Farms by Greg Judy  (Green Park Press, 2008)Restoration Agriculture by Mark Shepard  (Acres USA, 2013)Cows Save the Planet by Judy Schwartz  (Chelsea Green, 2013)Grass, Soil, Hope by Courtney White  (Chelsea Green, 2014)Teaming with Microbes by Jeff Lowenfels & Wayne Lewis  (Timber Press, 2010)Water:…

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