Silent Summer - a never-ending heat wave, devoid of birdsong, insect hum, and all the weird and wonderful living noises that subconsciously keep us company.

At 1.24 am on 26 April 1986 Chernobyl’s Unit 4 reactor exploded after staff disabled safety systems and performed an ill-advised experiment to check – ironically enough – the reactor’s safety.

We humans, one species of animal amongst millions, have now become the de facto guardians of the planet's climate stability.

If we are to save humanity and the planet from the worst mass extinction of all time, worse even than that at the end of the Permian, we must stop at two degrees.

You'd be forgiven for thinking that climate change means we'll have to sacrifice our creature comforts. But it doesn't have to be that way.

This is like playing Russian roulette with a Luger rather than a revolver. One bullet, one chamber - and we're pulling the trigger.

Human releases of carbon dioxide are almost certainly happening faster than any natural carbon release since the beginning of life on Earth.

Our evolutionary psychology preconditions us not to respond to threats which can be postponed until later.

I discovered science, and in the process I hope I became a better environmentalist.

If substantial methyl hydrate melt begins to occur in the Arctic Ocean basin, then the (carbon) accelerator will be jammed, and there will be nothing we can do to cut the speed of climate change.

Once the 'portals of the future close - in Amazonia, Siberia or the Arctic - we will find ourselves powerless to affect the outcome of this dreadful tale.

Very nice, " said Rick after a while. "Very nice, " he repeated, with more emphasis the second time. "What is?" I asked, turning to him, though I knew. "Everything, " he said. And it was true.

you can't fight with who you are

Vision without power does bring moral elevation but cannot give a lasting culture.

I learned always to trust my own deep sense of what I should do, and not just obediently trust the judgment of others - even others better than I am.

Were it not for music, we might in these days say, the Beautiful is dead.

how should tasting touching hearing seeing breathing any lifted from the no of all nothing human merely being doubt unimaginable You?

The book to read is not the one which thinks for you, but the one which makes you think. No book in the world equals the Bible for that.

I'm looking for the teacher who is simple enough to be great, and great enough to be simple.

I'm a really huge John Prine fan; I love his clever conversationalist songs.

For what is the use of transmitting knowledge if the individual's total development lags behind?