Every month I carefully track the most popular and significant environmental history articles, videos, audio, and other items making their way through the online environmental history (#envhist) community. You can read all of our past #EnvHist Worth Reading lists right here. Here are my choices for items most worth reading from January 2025:
1. History of History
In this piece coming out of the Civic Laboratory for Environmental Action Research (CLEAR), Alana Derry writes about their experience as “a research assistant and point person for CLEAR’s Nunatsiavut Government Natural History Sample project,” where they “have been researching the collection location, source, and context of natural history samples of birds taken from Nunatsiavut, Inuit homelands in northern Labrador.” The goal of this project is to provide a historical context for the samples in these collections and is part of a broader effort by CLEAR to use bird feathers to determine plastic and heavy metal contamination in Inuit foodways and environments.
2. We Saved the Planet Once. Can We Do It Again?
This Tyee article is an excerpt from Ontario NDP MP Charlie Angus’ new book Dangerous Memory. In it, Angus looks back on the climate and environmental political atmosphere of the 1980s in Canada and internationally. The summer of 1988 was brutally hot in Toronto, coinciding with rising concerns about climate change, Angus recalls. NASA’s James Hansen testified before the U.S. Senate, confirming that human-made carbon emissions were altering the atmosphere. Despite knowing the dangers since the 1950s, oil companies suppressed evidence and spread disinformation. While the Montreal Protocol successfully curbed ozone depletion, efforts to limit fossil fuel use have faltered, Angus writes. As global temperatures continue to rise, Angus argues that mass activism is needed to pressure governments and industries into meaningful climate action before it’s too late.
3. 3M knew firefighting foams containing PFAS were toxic, documents show
From the 1960s to 2003, 3M falsely marketed its firefighting foams as biodegradable, despite knowing they contained harmful PFAS chemicals, later dubbed “forever chemicals.” In this Guardian article, Rachel Salvidge and Leana Hosea write about uncovered documents that reveal that 3M was aware of PFAS’ persistence and toxicity since 1949, but continued misleading claims. PFAS pollution is now widespread, linked to cancers and health issues. Legal cases led to multi-billion-dollar settlements, but 3M has denied liability. “Despite 3M’s actions and the widespread concern over PFAS, the use of foams containing PFOS was not banned in the UK until 2011, and foams containing PFOA will not be fully restricted until July 2025. Foams containing other types of PFAS are still in use,” they write.
4. Cities Under Water: Valencia, Spain, and Urban Flooding
In October 2024, a catastrophic flood struck Paiporta, Spain, killing at least 60 people and 222 across the region. The disaster was caused by a DANA, an extreme weather event fueled by warming Mediterranean waters. In this post for Seeing the Woods, Paul Josephson writes that Paiporta’s inadequate drainage, urbanization, and blocked waterways worsened the flooding. Historical efforts like Valencia’s Plan Sur sought flood control, but modern urbanization has increased risks. The crisis underscores global warming’s role in intensifying storms and the need for sustainable urban planning, green infrastructure, and better emergency responses to prevent future disasters in flood-prone cities worldwide. “Urban waterworks are a blessing and a curse. They saved cities in the nineteenth century by supplying clean water and carrying away sewage in the fight against the plague and other epidemics … But today’s overbuilding in a time of climate change requires new attitudes toward city planning,” Josephson concludes.
5. Asbestos: a corporate coverup, a public health catastrophe
In this piece for Prospect, Charlotte Bailey uses her father’s memory and his tragic death from mesothelioma to explore the history and present conditions of asbestos exposure and its adverse health effects. Once thought a problem of the past, asbestos remains in homes, schools, and hospitals, causing thousands of deaths annually. Despite bans, industries continue asbestos production, disregarding its dangers. Bailey turns to Jessica van Horssen’s historical research on the asbestos industry to better understand the historical context of the lingering issue in the United Kingdom.
Feature Image: “Royal Alberta Museum” by IQRemix is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.
