Author name: nicole

Last month, Cascade Institute fellows Leighton Gall, Emily Smejkal, and Rebecca Pearce attended the Geothermal Rising Conference (GRC), in Waikaloa, Hawaii. The conference featured highly technical scientific presentations on emerging […]

Last month, New York Times climate reporter David Gelles wrote about the enormous effect A.I. is having on global energy demand, which led to the following discussion between Cascade Institute Executive Director Thomas Homer Dixon, Director of the Cascade Institute’s Geothermal Energy Office in Ottawa Peter Massie, and Cascade Institute Energy Systems Visiting Fellow Ian Graham. 

Cascade Institute Polycrisis Fellow Michael Lawrence and Visiting Polycrisis Fellow Luke Kemp offer their insights on the recent United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the International Science Council “Navigating New Horizons” report.

Earlier this month, Resilience.org published a blog post analyzing Jonathan Rowson’s 2023 article, “Prefixing the World”, in which Rowson argues that “meta[crisis], not poly, should be our prefix of choice” and emphasizes that what is most needed to effectively address the interconnected issues facing humanity is a shift in societal beliefs.  The surfacing of the Rowson piece prompted an engaging discussion between Cascade Institute Executive Director Thomas Homer-Dixon and Polycrisis Fellow Megan Shipman.

Rebecca Pearce, the Cascade Institute’s Energy Systems program fellow and Ultradeep Geothermal Science Lead, visited Iceland’s Hellisheiðarvirkjun geothermal power plant plant on an excursion facilitated by the Iceland Geothermal Conference (IGC) that took place May 27 – 29.

On May 27 and 28, a Cascade Institute-led workshop assembled the rapidly emerging global community of polycrisis researchers and analysts in Potsdam, Germany.
The workshop explored the biggest obstacles and opportunities facing the field of polycrisis analysis—from the underlying causal mechanisms to meaningful action by policymakers. 

This Earth Day, a few of us at the Cascade Institute got together for a themed edition of book club—sharing our current reading (and movie) picks and recommendations around the

The Anthropocene: While geologists have rejected the term, the term itself has shifted to capture something more compelling yet even more worrisome. It is not about how the human impact is inscribed in rock, it is about how the human activities are pushing the planet beyond key boundaries and out of its “safe operating space,” leaving our future deeply uncertain.

When we think of volcanoes, fear often grips our minds as we envision the catastrophes they can bring—violent eruptions, lava flows, and devastation paint a picture of danger and destruction.

The polycrisis is hitting home: CBC News has brought to light a 2022 report from Canada’s federal police force that recognizes the country’s response to overlapping national and global crises will be a tremendous challenge.