April 2020 - Environment

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Table of Contents Hope from the ashes

Words and illustrations by Rachel Middleton

Earth’s Hero?

Words and illustrations by Rachel Sawyer

The Survivors

Words and illustrations by Jonathan Barrett

Drowning the Evidence

Words and illustrations by Margarita Louka

Cover and endpapers by Rachel Middleton


Hope from the ashes by Rachel Middleton

The latest fires of Australia and the Amazon has shocked so many in the world, it became a big

wake up call to many of us on the fierce effect that the current climate has on our ecosystems. Whilst wildfires are a natural occurring event, it is an undeniable fact that they have become

progressively worse over the past century. With Australia’s fires burning more than 46 million

acres, 2019’s summer was the hottest on record, showing the rising fire risks for the continent. Wildfires are not only a common event in Australia, they are inevitable. But how has Australia coped?

Australia has been detatched from the rest of the world by the surrounding oceans for 30 million

years. So the wildlife that is indigenous to the country has evolved completely separately and

many species can be found nowhere else on Earth. The various species that have evolved in

the intense climates have developed survival mechanisms such as animals lowering their body temperatures, and vegetation adapting their seeds to be triggered by wildfires. With many

of these well evolved attributes, the wildlife of Australia is normally at home with the severe temperatures that it endures. However, with the recent rise of temperatures from climate

change, the coping mechanisms that it’s inhabitants have developed may not be enough. With approximately 1 billion animals that have been lost to the wildfires and feared long term

damage to many sensitive ecosystems, the environment for Australia’s native species are becoming uninhabitable, even for the most robust lifeforms.

So is there any hope of life from the devastation of the fires? Fortunately, there are now signs of growth from the charred black trees as the plants are beginning their cycle of recovery. The small sparks of colour from growing buds are beginning to flourish in the ashes that the fires

left on Australia’s damaged habitats. Life is beginning to return to the areas which were left barren from the devastating natural disaster. Although the event was catastrophic, nature has

shown that it is capable of healing from such events. But that does not give us the excuse to continue ignoring these warning signs from the changing climate. Whilst Australia has suffered

a disaster that was clearly catalysed by climate change, it continues to be heavily dependent on coal mining and exporting, being it’s second-largest generator of income. If the

world hasn’t learnt by now from life threatening disasters that are being caused by it’s contribution to climate change, the earth may never recover. We need to react

to this period of recovery to clamp down on the climate damaging industries

that disregard their impacts on the world. The environment needs to rest, heal and grow back again. Perhaps with the current pandemic, there will

be a substantial recovery for the environment. But we cannot rely on occasional events of hope, there needs to be consistant action to

slow and reduce climate change if we are to see true recovery from the earth we all depend on.


Illustrations by Rachel Middleton


Earth’s Hero? by Rachel Sawyer

Greetings from the UK lockdown. It is now day 14 of isolation. Some semblance of a routine has begun to emerge in the household, the once daily exercise has become the highlight of the day and Netflix is now being rinsed for all its worth. Sound similar to you? Through this surreal and historic moment in our lifetime, it feels incredibly difficult to stay positive. The news is in full scaremonger mode, and if it’s not on the telly, it’s on the radio, newspapers, freesat or the general household conversation... Joy. Does anyone else feel like putting their head in between the cymbals of a wind up monkey? Not just me, well that’s a relief!

Illustration by Rachel Sawyer


It would probably be appropriate to pause your self spiral there however, and point out that you and I really aren’t the biggest victims in all this. For those that are healthy and uninfected, there is still a much larger and foreboding issue to deal with. The Climate Crisis. Yes I know, it’s the written equivalent of pouring lemon onto a graze, but I’m about to go there, so strap in. When I escape my four walls to walk the dog for an hour, there are few, if any people on the path; the road is all but empty of cars; and the general clash and clatter of modern life is... hushed. Instead I hear the odd radio and children playing in their gardens; the air smells clean, fresh and fume-less; and I can see wildlife running, skittering and swooping in places I never regularly saw it before. Whether you are a conspiracist or believe the C word (no not that, Covid 19 I mean) to be nature’s doing, you cannot for a second disbelieve the positive impact it is having on the planet. Sure, humans are suffering for it, but the land, air, water and wildlife are thriving in it. You only have to look at China’s recent pollution records to be amazed at how much nature has bounced back in such a short space of time. You could almost say that Covid 19 has been a super hero to the planet in the fight against humanity’s excessive material consumption and general planetary abuse. But that is not to say this pandemic cannot save us humans too. Your house is on fire. The Amazon and Australia were on fire only this year and we still refuse to see it. So instead it takes a worldwide virus for us to lower emissions, reduce frivolous expenditure and to realise the real necessities of life (cue music!). Joking aside, I truly hope that life does not go back to “normal” after this whole ordeal, because “normal” is blasé and self-destructive. We might as well live with the ostriches and stick our heads in the sand. Please allow this experience to wake you up and realise that if we all react as unitedly to the climate crisis as we have to Covid 19, we would no longer need a virus to be the planets saviour. We really can have an impact and reverse the decades of neglect if we act together and if we act now. WE can be our homes’ superhero.


The Survivors by Jonathan Barett

Who’s in need of some good news? I know I am. So I was thinking, What cheers people up the most? Animals, everyone loves animals. Although nowadays it’s even hard to think about animals and be happy. The bees are dying, everyday we kill more of the rainforest and just in general pollute countless animal’s homes. So, where is the good news? I hear you ask. Well, thanks to the help of some amazing people, charities, and even some countries governments, lots of animals have been given a second chance. Here is a list of animals that have all been taken off the endangered species list in the past 10 years: The Stellar Sea-Lion These cute and furry sea-lions live all along the west coast of America. Their numbers were as few as 18,000 in 1979 because of drift nets, off shore oil drilling and illegal hunting. Lucky for them they were granted protection in 1990, this lead to their numbers increasing to 70,000 in 2010 and officially coming off the list in 2013. Well done guys!

Bald Eagle This one surprised me. Americas national bird, a symbol of their freedom was almost lost forever. In 1963, their population had dropped from 100,000 individual birds to just 417 wild pairs in the lower 48 states. Due in part to loss of habitat and hunting but mostly because of the wide use of the insecticide DDT. It’s effects were not just limited to the Bald Eagle, all birds that came in to contact with DDT laid eggs with very weak thin shells that would break when the mother would sit on them. DDT was banned in 1975 and as of 2019 there are 10,000 wild breeding pairs of Bald Eagle.


White Rhino Thought to be extinct for years, in 1895 just under 100 White Rhinos were discovered in South Africa. Tragically the Northern White Rhino has officially gone extinct now with only 2 left in the world and both of them female. It’s not all bad though as thanks to breeding programmes the Southern White Rhino’s numbers now reach over 20,000.

Golden Lion Tamarin This adorable little monkey is native to Brazil and has even appeared on their money. But they weren’t always that popular, in the 1970s there was less that 200 alive in the wild. Thanks to the efforts of the Brazilian government, WWF, charities and zoos around the world, they’re now thriving in captivity and as many as 1700 can be found in the wild.

There are plenty of animals that have been given a second chance to live and thrive in the world again. There are also plenty of animals that still need help. Why not go check out some of the brilliant work that is being done by the WWF and other wildlife charities that are trying their best to make this beautiful blue marble the perfect place to live on for all creatures great and small. Illustrations by Jonathan Barett


Illustration by Margarita Louka

Drowning the Evidence by Margarita Louka

Imagine consuming carcinogenic chemical for years and years. Imagine consuming a chemical that causes teeth to turn black if drank for long periods of time. Imagine the company producing this toxic chemical, knowing of its health risks when consumed, and then dumping it into the water supply of a town. There is no need to imagine it; this already happened.


Have you watched the movie Dark Waters? If not, I would definitely recommend it- it’s an eyeopener! Dark Waters follows the lawyer Rob Bilott, who one day receives a call from a farmer in Parkersburg, Wilbur Tennant, telling him that a large number of his cows were getting sick and dying. The farmer believed that was because the company Dupont disposed chemicals into a landfill near his home, which ended up in the river that his cows drank water from. Soon Bilott was dragged into a more and more complex case; what caught his eye was when he saw a chemical in DuPont’s letter to the EPA (US Environmental Protection Agency) that he had never heard of before: PFOA. Bilott demanded a court order to force DuPont to release information about PFOA. They sent him a room full of boxes of information; when I saw the amount of boxes fill the screen, I thought it would take a special kind of person to even bother going through them at all. But Bilott went through all the boxes, organised them, and found that DuPont knew about the dangers of PFOA, not just on animals, but on their employees, as well. He also concluded that DuPont had no idea the amount of information that they had just handed over to him. It’s important to note that Bilott worked for a firm that defended chemical companies; to take on a chemical company instead was unheard of. Bilott read of some alarming health risks related to this unclassified chemical, which is found in water supplies and consumer goods, such as non-stick pans. In the end, Bilott demanded that scientists test 70,000 residents of West Virginia to prove that exposure to PFOA was linked to those health problems. The results took 7 years to come out; this case took up 20 years of Bilott’s life! It was proven that PFOA could cause testicular and kidney cancer, problems for unborn babies, liver damage, thyroid disease and other health concerns. PFOA is still in 99% of living creatures in the planet because it’s in so many consumer goods. The real surprise for me wasn’t that DuPont poisoned a town’s residents and animals. It was how a lawyer had to fight for half his career to prove them guilty. I can’t imagine how much corruption it took to attempt to hide the huge amounts of evidence against them. DuPont didn’t win the case- the results were too clear. What Bilott did- putting his career and reputation on the line to do the right thing- was heroic. I came out from the cinema feeling slightly disheartened but very empowered. Because Billot proved that it is possible to take on the most complex problems and the biggest industry giants, and make a difference.



Copyright 2020 by Rachel Middleton, Jonathan Barrett, Rachel Sawyer and Margarita Louka. All rights reserved. This publication or any portion thereof may not be reproduced, copied, reprinted, reworked, redistributed, or used in any manner whatsoever without the explicit written permission of the copyright holders.



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