Described in chaos theory, the butterfly effect is the sensitive dependence on initial conditions of non-linear systems, in which a small change can result in large differences at a later time and even in a different place. Explaining this, the mathematician and meteorologist Edward Norton Lorenz used the metaphorical example of a tornado being influenced by […]

Fifty years ago Oxford economist E. F. Schumacher wrote ‘Small Is Beautiful – A Study of Economics As If People Mattered’, challenging the state of excessive consumption in Western society; and challenging economic globalisation, with warnings related to the inevitable human cost. His premise was that economies should revolve around the […]

This month West Cork Branch Committee Member Jez Simms shares his experiences of a pelagic boat trip on August 13, organised by the Branch. Pelagic means living or occurring in the open sea. It was a glorious Sunday morning when members of Birdwatch Ireland set out on the Branch’s annual […]

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