Tag: Ark

Thirty-two years ago, on this day, November 9th, 1992,

Australian entertainment personalities joined forces last night (Monday) [9th] for the launch of Ark Australia, a local chapter of the English group launched in 1988- an international non-political, non-lobbying, positive action environmental organisation.

Anon, 1992. Celebrities join forces for environment . Greenweek, November 10, p.5.

The amount of carbon dioxide in the air was roughly 357ppm. As of 2024 it is 4xxppm, but check here for daily measures. 

The context was that this was the Australian version of the Ark. There had been a short-lived group in the United Kingdom called Ark from November of ‘88 to July really, of ‘89. And here was the same kind of business model; a bunch of celebrities smiling and gurning and telling people about how they can turn off the tap or pull the curtain.

What we learn is that, you know, these ideas or these tactics, techniques go around the world for all the good that they do. 

What happened next. Australian Ark staggered on. It joined the World Wide Web in 1996. And then got into trouble for its forestry tie-ins in 2014.

What do you think? Does this pass the ‘soThe what?’ threshold? Have I got facts wrong? Interpretation wrong? Please do comment on this post, unless you are a denialist, obvs.

Also on this day: 

November 9, 1988 – Tolba gives “Warming Warning” speech at first IPCC meeting

November 9, 1991 – Australian TV station SBS shows demented ‘”Greenhouse Conspiracy” ‘documentary’

November 9, 2000 – Tyndall Centre launched

Twenty eight years ago, on this day, April 19th, 1996, climate campaigners took to the web…,

Australian environmental education has been launched onto an international stage, with local group ARK Australia yesterday going live on the Internet with a World Wide Web site called Planet Ark.

The product of a significant cooperative effort involving the Seven Network , Austereo, Reuters and Sanitarium, the site will provide on-demand 24-hour environmental radio news on the Net, along with environmental software and celebrity campaigns that can be downloaded free of charge, including the “Save the Planet” videos featuring stars such as Pierce Brosnan, Dustin Hoffman, Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman.

Helen Meredith. 1996. Planet Ark’s world-first on the Net. The Australian Financial Review, 19 April 1996 p48

The amount of carbon dioxide in the air was roughly 362ppm. As of 2024 it is 425ppm, but check here for daily measures. 

The context was that the World Wide Web and cyberspace were just arriving. And therefore it was newsworthy when someone set up a website. The deeper context is that the Australian outpost of Ark seemed to have taken some sort of hold, though it had sunk in the UK.

What we learn is that celebrities have always been yammering about environmental issues, but are also often celebrities that are spectacularly badly placed. Because pretty much by definition, their lifestyles are high carbon, and they can be accused of being hypocrites, so out of touch, e.g. “Carbon Cate” in 2011… 

What happened next? The World Wide Web gave us a highly intelligent fact based public sphere. Now I’m just playing with you: look around you for a minute… 

What do you think? Does this pass the ‘so what?’ threshold? Have I got facts wrong? Interpretation wrong? Please do comment on this post, unless you are a denialist, obvs.

Also on this day: 

April 19, 1973 – first film to mention global warming released (Soylent Green)

April 19, 1943 – the Warsaw Ghetto uprising began.

April 19, 2002 – Exxon got a top #climate scientist sacked.