Over the eons, Earth's thermostat spent a lot of time stuck on either bone chilling cold or smothering hot saunas. If something pushes the climate out of one setting, it irreversibly wanders until reaching the other - there is no inbetween. You wouldn't know it, but we are currently living in the freezer. Humans evolved here and we find it quite pleasant and so do most species. Now, the fossil fuel emissions we put in the air risk switching the thermostat or even breaking it. In this [Infospill] Robi and Ani explore what this means for our future: will current global warming push the climate into a new warm phase? And what would this "Hothouse" trajectory mean for humans and non-humans? As an [Offering] to soothe our worried hearts, M. prepared a poetry reading of "Queer Ecologies" by Ceza Bularca.

Timestamps

00:37 [Infospill] Tipping cascades and the Hothouse Earth state

33:18 [Offering] Poetry Reading. Queer Ecologies by Ceza Bularca

[Infospill] Tipping cascades and the Hothouse Earth state

Over hundred of millions of years, the climate has switched back and forth between "Coolhouse" and "Warmhouse"/"Hothouse" phases. Natural processes, like volcanism and rock weathering, initiate these changes, which are then sustained by a chain-reaction or "cascade" of activating tipping point systems. On this timescale, Earth has been cooling for quite a while. Now, as we approach the threshold for several key Earth system tipping points, the major unspoken rick that we face is that our fossil fuel-driven warming could jolt the climate to a path leading irreversibly back to a Hothouse phase.

[Offering] Poetry reading. Queer Ecologies by Ceza Bularca

"Maybe there's no way back, / maybe the earth is too barren, / and the world is too much a hothouse" but maybe there is a way forward. As an offering, take this reading in translation of "Queer Ecologies" by Ceza Bularca, from "Luminișuri. Antologie de literatură queer ecologică" [Glades. A queer ecological anthology], an anthology born from the autonomous queer literary circle Cenaclul X, from Romania.

Resources:

Graph we mentioned:

Main reference:

Steffen et al. "Trajectories of Earth System in the Anthropocene". Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 115 (2018).

Further reading/listening:

B McGuire. "Hothouse Earth: An Inhabitant's Guide". Icon Books (2022).

R Alley. "4.6 Billion Years of Earth's Climate History: The Role of CO2". (2015).

Judd et al. "A 485-million-year history of Earth's surface temperature". Science 385 (2024)

M Reinsel. "Staggering temperature rise predicted for the Middle East and North Africa" Agu Press (Accessed Jan.2026)

You can read online "Luminișuri. Antologie de literatură queer ecologică" or buy it here.

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Hosted & Edited by: Robi, Ani & M.

Sound engineering by: Marius

Montage: Ioni

Theme music: Teo

Graphic artist & illustrator: Mina

Social media: Grc

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If you like our work, you can support us on Patreon https://www.patreon.com/cw/thelastfireflies or with a one time donation on ko-fi https://ko-fi.com/thelastfireflies

In this [Campfire Talk], you're dropped into the post-COVID lanscape of Polish grassroots activism, where our guest Nawi - an anti-gas campaigner - and her tight-knit crew of friends, known as bombelki, refused to settle for stagnation and instead ignited a new rebellion against the fossil-fuel lobby's carefully crafted lies. This is a story of success that hasn't stopped unfolding - and one we can learn from in real time. And perhaps, gather our own friends for strategy meetings, as we explore in the [How To] section of this episode.

Timestamps

00:31 [Campfire Talk] How do you organize in a small group? Learnings from Poland's climate activism

35:50 [How to] organize strategy meetings

[Campfire Talk] How do you organize in a small group?

Learnings from Poland's climate activism

You'll hear how bombelki built a narrative designed to expose industry greenwashing, how they took on GazSystem with fearless, playful defiance, and how four people - just four - proved that friendship, creativity, and a refusal to overcomplicate can grow local activism. What began as a small rogue collective soon evolved into a national force, growing rapidly as they re-emerged under a new name, The Last Generation (@ostatniepokolenie)

[How to] organise strategy meetings

When you are just starting out, strategy can be overwhelming, especially if the group is small and you don't have a lot of activist experience. Nawi tells us that the first things to figure out are what your short and long-term goals are, who are the people you are trying to reach and who are your enemies, the "bad guys". Once these are known, it will be easier to develop a plan of action.

🎧 Find the full episode on Libsyn, Youtube and Others.

Resources:

Ostatnie Pokolenie (Last Generation, ex-bombelki) instagram

The Artivist Network website; check their Movement Support section, especially if you need a big projector!

Gastivists's Creative Tactics to Fight Gas (and patriarchy, imperialism, capitalism and more) Zine

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Hosted & Edited by: Robi & Ani

Sound engineering by: Marius

Montage: Ioni

Theme music: Teo

Graphic artist & illustrator: Mina

Social media: Grc

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If you like our work, you can support us on Patreon https://www.patreon.com/cw/thelastfireflies or with a one time donation on ko-fi https://ko-fi.com/thelastfireflies

Is the planet's atmosphere like a boilling pot of stuff and are the Earth's possible states like two valleys connected by a hill? Welcome to an [Infospill] episode of weird metaphores trying to grasp the horrible truths of climate tipping points. "Grim" is our key word but do not despair! We still have a choice for which future we want. As an [Offering], we present to you the idea of the Climate Cafe - a space in which to discuss all the climate feels you might have.

Timestamps

00:33 [Infospill] The climate tipping points we trigger as the planet warms

30:03 [Offering] Climate Cafe: the place to breath climate-anxiety away

[Infospill] The climate tipping points we trigger as the planet warms

Climate tipping elements are subsystems that act like they have a mind of their own after crossing a certain threshold, continuing to unfold even if we cut emissions. As we cross 1.5°C in the following years, some elements will already be triggered (coral reef die-off, ice sheets melting); 3°C might trigger most of them (AMOC collapse, Amazon die-back etc). Not all will bring additional warming, but all will have an extreme impact on regional weather and potentially push the climate towards runaway warming.

[Offering] Climate Cafe: the place to breath climate-anxiety away

Climate Cafes are meant to be a quiet, reflective experience in which to process your feelings towards climate chaos with others like you. They are not designed to lead people to conclusions or action, not are they spaces of therapy. Anyone can lead one, and everyone can participate in making the space safe. Have you been to one, or started one? Tell us in the comments on Instagram or Facebook!

Resources:

Main reference:

McKay et al. "Exceeding 1.5°C global warming could trigger multiple climate tipping points." Science, 377 (2022)

*Note: in the ep. we talk about the figure on pg.1 (summary) and about Table 1.

Further reading/listening:

Lenton et al. "Climate tipping points - too risky to bet against". Nature, 575 (2019)

Lenton et al. "Global tipping points report 2025"; showing we have already crossed the tipping point for warm-water coral reef die-back.

Rockstrom. The Tipping Points of Climate Change - and Where We Stand (2024)

Watts. "We are perilously close to the point of no return": climate scientist on Amazon rainforest's future", The Guardian (2025).

Wunderling et al. "Climate tipping point interactions and cascades: a review." Earth System Dynamics, 15 (2024)

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Hosted & Edited by: Robi & Ani

Sound engineering by: Marius

Montage: Ioni

Theme music: Teo

Graphic artist & illustrator: Mina

Social media: Grc

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If you like our work, you can support us on Patreon https://www.patreon.com/cw/thelastfireflies or with a one time donation on ko-fi https://ko-fi.com/thelastfireflies

In our first [Campfire Talk] episode, Andrei, an ecology student and activist, shares his experience with studying firefly populations in Romania, where the lives of these diminishing groups of insects are especially understudied. You'll find out why they are having trouble surviving our current extractive era and also, what you can do about it, in our first [How to] segment!

Timestamps

00:35 [Campfire Talk]

30:44 [How to] Do citizen science

[Campfire Talk] The decline of firefly populations and the signs of ecological collapse. w/ Andrei

What are some signs that firefly populations are disappearing? From change in land use to the spread of pesticides, a lot of current practices are affecting the lives of firefly species. So much so that we might indeed be the last generation to see some of them.

[How to] Do citizen science: monitor firefly populations in your area! w/ Andrei

You can get to know where your neighbourhood fireflies live. Like our guest said, "you can't protect something [someone] before getting to know it [them] first". So learn how to do it and, when summer approaches, go out and look around.

Resources:

Will we still see fireflies this summer?

Decline of insect populations worldwide

Why the speed of climate change matters

Temperatures rising faster than at any time in the past 400 million years

iNaturalist app

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Hosted & Edited by: Robi & Ani

Sound engineering by: Marius

Montage: Ioni

Theme music: Teo

Graphic artist & illustrator: Mina

Social media: Grc

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If you like our work, you can support us on Patreon https://www.patreon.com/cw/thelastfireflies or with a one time donation on ko-fi https://ko-fi.com/thelastfireflies

In the first [Infospill] episode we are going over a few main points of actuality – what is the current level of warming, what climate projections say about the future and why the IPCC is recklessly conservative in its recommendations. At the end, we have an [Offering] to consider where we can start from if we want to fight for a different world.

Timestamps

00:50 [Intro]

02:40 [Infospill]

32:50 [Offering]

[Infospill] Mainstream climate projections and how they underrepresent risk

Robi shares with us grim climate projections about our common future. We talk about how fossil fuel emissions are still growing each year and how the IPPC fails to correctly represent the risk of a runaway warming. To avoid this future, we need drastic changes SOON.

[Offering] Don't know what to do? Check The Climate Action Venn Diagram

How can you come up with climate solutions? M suggests trying to do the Climate Action Venn Diagram invented by marine biologist Ayana Elizabeth Johnson. Fill up the answer to the following questions in three overlapping circles and tell us what you find out:

- What are you good at? What are your areas of expertise? What can you bring to the table?

- What work needs doing? Are there particular climate and justice solutions you want to focus on?

- What brings you joy?

➡️Resources:

Lenesx Radio: Episode 037. Organizing against climate collapse w/ Climaximo lenesxradio.ro/episodes/037/lene…climaximo-EN.html

Find the Climate Action Venn Diagram at: www.ayanaelizabeth.com/climatevenn

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🎧 Hosted & Edited by: Robi, Ani & M.

Sound engineering by: Marius

Mix & Montage: Ioni

Theme music: Teo

Graphic artist & illustrator: Mina

Social media: Grc

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If you like our work, you can support us on Patreon https://www.patreon.com/cw/thelastfireflies or with a one time donation on ko-fi https://ko-fi.com/thelastfireflies

⚡ Something's cooking and it's not cooking on gas, you can be sure of that!

🎧 Are you worried about the climate crisis? Don't let that worry sit with you forever. We're starting a radical climate podcast so you can learn more about the science & the tools for organizing against ecological destruction.

✨ Our trailer is out now! Listen to it to find out what's coming from The Last Fireflies podcast.

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If you like our work, you can support us on Patreon https://www.patreon.com/cw/thelastfireflies or with a one time donation on ko-fi https://ko-fi.com/thelastfireflies