Indigenous leaders from all over the world pray as they sail on the Seine during a gathering demanding true climate solutions in Paris during the COP21 climate change conference.
Canadian scientists have collected stories from more than 90,000 Indigenous people, in an effort to capture signs of climate change where weather stations are absent.
Their findings, published in the journal Nature Climate Change, fill a knowledge gap in climate change science, which is dominated by data and computer models, said the six researchers from Simon Fraser University.
Western climate data tends to be absent from places like Central Africa, Central America and the Himalayas, Dana Lepofsky, co-author of the paper, told the Thomson Reuters Foundation. “But we have some people data.”
In all, the researchers gathered observations covering 137 countries that were contained in more than 1,000 published studies.
Their approach to studying climate change reflects an emerging trend among Western researchers to tap into climate knowledge recorded by people who have subsisted off the land and oceans, often for lifetimes or generations, noted Lepofsky.
“You can’t look at Indigenous people, who are so in tune with their specific places, without hearing about changes in the environment today,” said Lepofsky.
Among a trove of observations — whose origins ranged from Crow Nation hunters in Montana to farmers in Iran — the researchers found some 70 percent of those interviewed had witnessed changes in seasons, rainfall patterns and temperature.
In those places, farmers and others with close ties to the land and sea witnessed climatic changes because these had disrupted ancestral farming, food-gathering or cultural practices.
Sweden’s Sami herders, for instance, said they were abandoning traditional ways due to changes in ice formation and weather.
In Bangladesh, an upsurge of punishing windy and stormy days was forcing some fishermen to moor their boats rather than set out to sea, the study said.
And in Canada’s remote Nunavut, an Inuit community suspected the grizzly habitat was changing when they noticed the bears roaming in areas where they had not been seen before.
The observations, mostly collected from Indigenous people, generally align with data and models developed to predict changes in the climate.
But the researchers hope they add layers of nuance that could guide policy on how to adjust to climate shifts going forward.
“It’s not just observations of climate change but people’s adaptations (to climate change) too that were compiled,” Lepofsky said. “Ways that people are diversifying crops — all kinds of things people are doing that are working.”
You can call a random Swedish person
and talk to them about their country. Just for fun. If you’re into that kind of thing.
Swedish Tourist Association CEO Magnus Ling says, “In troubled times, many countries try and limit communication between people, but we want to do just the opposite.”
“We are making Sweden the first country in the world with its own phone number and giving our fellow Swedes the opportunity to answer the calls, express themselves, and share their views, whatever they might be.”
To be connected to a random Swede, call +46 771 793 336. That’s +46 771 SWEDEN. Awwwww.
hey!! sorry to hijack this post, but there are a bunch of ways you can make videogames without knowing shit about computers!!
for starters, there’s Twine, which is fucking great for making all kinds of interactive experiences (it’s what Crystal Warrior Ke$ha was made in so you KNOW it’s good) at all skill levels (i picked it up and made a game in two minutes a few nights ago)
if you want a bit more involved experience there’s Inform 7 which is a simple language for text-based adventure games that reads like slightly-weird English and also relatively easy to learn
you can do some pretty fucking cool stuff with Unity (my personal engine of choice) but you may need to dig a bit farther to get at the good stuff. there’s lots of really good presets though (i made an entire game just mixing and matching pre-existing templates and adding in my own art, won an award at a game jam for that one) and if you want help the community’s pretty dang friendly from what i’ve seen!
this is just a taste of what’s out there from what i’ve seen, but there’s so many cool resources out there. if anyone wants help getting started, i’m around to give you a leg up on making something in the coolest, most unexplored art medium around!
I’m addin’ to this post because lowering the barrier to entry for making games is super important to me!!!! If y’all have any questions about making games, you’re welcome to come and ask! I made this list a while back with some friends, so it has some of the programs John already mentioned.
2D Editors:
GameMaker : Potential for pure drag-and-drop “programming”. It is recommended to read-up on the program’s functions to make good use of it. Good for prototyping. Uses its own language called Game Maker Language (GML) that is similar to a C language (e.g. C++ or C#). For both Mac and PC; free version available.
Construct2 : Drag and drop level editor that uses an “If-Then” event sheet structure for programming. Good for prototyping and for beginners. For PC; free version available.
GameSalad : Drag and drop with no code requirement. Good for programming. For both Mac and PC; free version available.
Solpeo : HTML5 based game engine for 2D and isometric game development. Some programming knowledge needed. Platforms supported: Chrome, Firefox, Internet Explorer 9+. Free version available.
Stencyl : Drag and Drop “programming,” templates you can edit the variables/values for.
Scratch : Lego-block-style coding platform by MIT; totally free and a great intro to thinking in code. Very kid-friendly and comes with a community site. Browser version available.
3D Editors:
Unity : 3D editor that creates 3D games. Can build games for browser, as an app, or for mobile devices (iOS and Android). For both Mac and PC; free version available.
UDK (Unreal Development Kit) : Full-fledged, highly advanced editor. Features a complete set of tools that go from level design to visual scripting to cut-scene creation. Uses it’s own programming language called Unreal Script that can be arranged with Kismet, a visual code editor. For Mac and PC; free.
2D Art/Animation Software:
GIMP : Free photo editing and digital painting software.
Easy Paint Tool SAI : Free digital painting software with a UI similar to Photoshop.
Mischief : Free digital painting software with an endless canvas.
3D Art/Animation Software:
Sculptris : From the company that created Zbrush, this free software is ideal for beginning 3D sculptors.
Maya : Animation, VFX, lighting, and rendering software.
Magical Voxel : Voxel Art (3D Pixel Art). Very intuitive and quick to pick up.
SketchUp : Architectural modeling software, great for creating 3D environments and buildings. Free version available.
Text-Based Games:
Twine : Create interactive text stories using Twine’s visual map system that links your game together. Easy to learn and use. End result is browser-based. For Mac and PC; free.
Quest : Interactive text stories that you can build in-browser.
Ren’Py : Create visual novels using a modified version of Python that reads like a combination of stage directions and a CYOA novel. For PC, Mac, and Linux; free.
Audio Resources/Editors:
Indie Game Music : This site offers free indie music with no need to worry about royalties or licenses.
Audacity : A free, open-source, cross-platform sound editor that allows you to record and arrange sound.
Super Flash Bros. : This site allows you to record theremin-like (8bit) sounds and export them as .wav files for your games.
I’ve never seen something that caterers so directly and completely to me
THIS IS EVEN BETTER THAN YOU THINK IT IS! It’s promising to be a “campier, more historically informative” version of your typical ghost hunter show and it’s going to focus on investigating the queer histories to locations and people that are usually erased, rewritten or minimized.
The ghost hunting team includes “gay, transgender, lesbian, bisexual, and gender-fluid members
“ and I love every one of them with all my heart already.
This section would honestly be massive on its own, so it can be found over on its own masterlist. Even if you’re not cosplaying from FEA, it has some interesting stuff.
da-moose-mcgillycuddy told me it was Izetta: The Last Witch, a new series about a witch kicking Nazi ass in 1940. First episode is on Crunchyroll if you’ve got an account.
Holy shit, I need to see this
Update: upon watching the first episode I can confirm that this is a quality anime unless it takes an unexpected and severe downturn in the future. However I must amend my previous description:
It’s about a lesbian witch and her badass princess girlfriend kicking Nazi ass in 1940.
We apologize for these omissions.
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Episodes 1 & 2 (subbed)
Judging from the title credits, the witch flying on her boomstick is going to be a motiff
nomad-hermit 