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Patrick ten Brink

@patricktenbrink.bsky.social

2.4K followers 4.6K following 210 posts

Environmentalist, writer, art reviewer, very occasional artist - appreciating what is there to be appreciated, criticising what merits criticism, and trying to do my penny's worth for environmental justice, art and culture and hopefully spark some hope. .. more

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Environmental science 44%

Economics 25%

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Patrick ten Brink @patricktenbrink.bsky.social · Aug 6

a growing body of evidence linking chemical toxicity with effects ranging from ADHD to infertility to cancer... with threats to human reproductive, immune, neurological, cardiovascular, respiratory, liver, kidney and metabolic systems. Surely it is time to act. www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Chemical pollution a threat comparable to climate change, scientists warn

More than 100 million ‘novel entity’ chemicals are in circulation, with health impact not widely recognised

www.theguardian.com

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Reposted by Steven French

Patrick ten Brink @patricktenbrink.bsky.social · 1d

A useful reminder: A Human on a Bicycle Is among the Most Efficient Forms of Travel in the Animal Kingdom | Scientific American share.google/PItKvNJhK84F...

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Patrick ten Brink @patricktenbrink.bsky.social · 9d

A lire avant de faire les prochaines courses....Pommes, oranges, tomates… Quels sont les aliments les plus contaminés aux pesticides et ceux qui en contiennent le moins ? share.google/BltJrn2l1i2B...

Pommes, oranges, tomates… Quels sont les aliments les plus contaminés aux pesticides et ceux qui en contiennent le moins ?

Roulement de topinambour. Notre nourriture est contaminée par au moins 183 types de résidus de pesticides. Une pollution stable, mais dont l’effet cocktail – le mélange de ces produits – est peu docum...

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Patrick ten Brink @patricktenbrink.bsky.social · 13d

This report is a wake up call & call to action. Anyone looking at the facts can see that deregulation, the unravelling of env. & social protections, is the opposite of what leaders should be doing. We need laws to be implemented & enforced, not undermined. What world will our children inherit?

European Environment Agency @eea.europa.eu · 14d

🚨🌍 New Report Alert
#EuropesEnvironment2025: Thematic Briefings are out!

Dive into 35 in-depth topics + assessments on how Europe is doing – where we are, where we’re headed, and whether we’ll meet the EU’s 2030 & 2050 environmental goals

Explore them here: eea.europa.eu/en/europe-en... [...]

Patrick ten Brink @patricktenbrink.bsky.social · 13d

It sounds banal, but it isn't. The importance of fixing the potholes in our roads. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Reposted by Patrick ten Brink

European Environment Agency @eea.europa.eu · 14d

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Patrick ten Brink @patricktenbrink.bsky.social · 19d

"The evidence grows. So does the threat. Planned or not, Trump and Putin... are working together, or at least in parallel, to undercut European democracy, security, prosperity and progressive values." We in Europe need a concerted collective resistance movement. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Trump and Putin are threatening to carve up Europe between them. Suddenly, it all feels a bit 1939 | Simon Tisdall

Forget the US president’s seeming volte-face on Ukraine this week: he and Putin fundamentally agree that European liberal democracy is the problem, says Guardian foreign affairs commentator Simon Tisd...

www.theguardian.com

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Patrick ten Brink @patricktenbrink.bsky.social · 24d

The facts underline that Trump and his team are trying to undermine the EU (and Russia likewise). Europe needs to chart it's own clear, fully independent, path. It is more than a cultural war. www.theguardian.com

Trump is waging culture war on Europe by promoting rightwing allies, report finds

Study finds US president seeks to interfere in elections and ‘move the ideological centre of gravity’ in European politics

www.theguardian.com

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Patrick ten Brink @patricktenbrink.bsky.social · Sep 15

A good article of agri-photovoltaics (in French) / Une article intéressant sur le agri-photovoltaic. Suspendre des panneaux solaires au-dessus des champs : le pari gagnant de TSE | Les Echos share.google/1UOW7UC78aBf...

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Patrick ten Brink @patricktenbrink.bsky.social · Sep 14

Good article on freedom of expression/freedom of protest in art, and censorship www.bbc.com/culture/arti...

Michelangelo to Banksy: The controversial artworks that fell foul of the law - and were erased

Prefiguring Banksy's latest Royal Courts of Justice mural depicting a judge attacking a protester, are centuries of art history where works have been censored or edited.

www.bbc.com

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Patrick ten Brink @patricktenbrink.bsky.social · Sep 2

I am pleased that my speculative fiction novel, The Death and Life of Amelia Borgiotti, was selected to be part of the Cheshire Novel Prize's Top 100 (CNPK Top 100) today, out of over 1500 entries. I wish all the best to the 15 who have been selected to advance to the next stage!

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Patrick ten Brink @patricktenbrink.bsky.social · Aug 29

Delighted that my poetry collection - Urban Enigmas - with 23 poems looking at Brussels through a new lens is out, published by Dipity Press. There are even poems about waste management, lost things, odd codes, and of course people: www.dipitylitmag.com/chappies

Chappies | Dipity Lit Mag

Check out chapbooks released by Dipity Press.

www.dipitylitmag.com

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Patrick ten Brink @patricktenbrink.bsky.social · Aug 25

As deregulation, anti-environmental, forces are growing, it is useful to remember that laws were never put in place for the fun of it. There are human, societal or env needs, supported by facts. & laws set responsibilities. Civilisation surely is about embracing responsibilities not abandoning them?

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Reposted by David Murakami Wood

Patrick ten Brink @patricktenbrink.bsky.social · Aug 19

"the rate at which humans are now injecting CO2 into the oceans and atmosphere today far surpasses the planet’s ability to keep pace. We are now at the initial stages of a system failure." An article worth reading to the end.

www.theguardian.com/environment/...

‘A climate of unparalleled malevolence’: are we on our way to the sixth major mass extinction?

The long read: Churning quantities of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere at the rate we are going could lead the planet to another Great Dying

www.theguardian.com

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Patrick ten Brink @patricktenbrink.bsky.social · Aug 19

there are now well-established links between common additives to plastics and falling sperm counts. ... since 1973 a 1% per year decline. studies published after 2000, show an over 2% decline. We need responsible regulation and that global plastics treaty... www.theguardian.com/world/2025/a...

Action needed on plastic additives linked to sperm decline, experts warn

Amid collapse of global pollution treaty, scientists highlight environmental factors causing fertility crisis

www.theguardian.com

Patrick ten Brink @patricktenbrink.bsky.social · Aug 17

The 23 Urban Enigma poems were fun to write, looking through a new lens at Brussels. Even waste management gets some poems... www.dipitylitmag.com/chappies. And a big thank you to the great Dipity LitMag team and their illustrators.

Patrick ten Brink @patricktenbrink.bsky.social · Aug 13

If only country "leaders" (starting with the warmongers) put more money into the arts and less into war...

womensartbluesky.bsky.social @womensartbluesky.bsky.social · Aug 12

'The 3 Graces' on the River Adur' stained glass and driftwood sculptures by UK artist Louise V Durham #WomensArt

Three oart sculture created with vertically sited pieces of driftwood inlaid with circles of coloured stained glass, placed on a riverbank against a gooden sky

Reposted by Patrick ten Brink

womensartbluesky.bsky.social @womensartbluesky.bsky.social · Aug 12

'The 3 Graces' on the River Adur' stained glass and driftwood sculptures by UK artist Louise V Durham #WomensArt

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Patrick ten Brink @patricktenbrink.bsky.social · Aug 7

Rivers globally release about 2 Gt/yr carbon emissions, human activity 10-15Gt. Over half of these river emissions may be coming from carbon stores considered relatively stable... we need to re-evaluate these crucial parts of the global carbon cycle." Facts matter.
scitechdaily.com/potentially-...

“Potentially Huge Implications” – Scientists Discover Ancient Carbon Is Leaking Into the Atmosphere

A new global study reveals that ancient carbon, once thought securely stored in soils and rocks, is leaking into the atmosphere via rivers. For the first time, researchers have confirmed that carbon t...

scitechdaily.com

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Patrick ten Brink @patricktenbrink.bsky.social · Aug 4

People have diverse views and insights on wolves. Did you know that Gray Wolves Reintroduced to Yellowstone Revived a Dying Ecosystem? share.google/bifNFLfzDv57...

Gray Wolves Reintroduced to Yellowstone Revived a Dying Ecosystem

Three decades after the reintroduction of wolves, the park is finally seeing the payoff. Aspen trees are back, taller than ever...

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Reposted by Steven French, Patrick ten Brink

womensartbluesky.bsky.social @womensartbluesky.bsky.social · Aug 2

Collaborative artwork, 2019 by the senior Indigenous women artists of Amata in the APY Lands of Australia, who founded a women's art centre #WomensArt

Painting with significant symbols, including circular motifs and lines in multicolours

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Patrick ten Brink @patricktenbrink.bsky.social · Aug 2

"...fighting corruption, holding power accountable and making sure companies pay for the social and environmental damages they cause. That’s just making our economy more honest.” from Dr Kemp's book warning of societal collapse: www.theguardian.com/environment/...

‘Self-termination is most likely’: the history and future of societal collapse

An epic analysis of 5,000 years of civilisation argues that a global collapse is coming unless inequality is vanquished

www.theguardian.com

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Patrick ten Brink @patricktenbrink.bsky.social · Aug 1

Looking forward to my little collection of Brussels-through-an-odd-lens poems come out very soon. With thanks to @dipitypress.bsky.social @dipitylitmag.bsky.social for their eagle-eyed work.

Dipity Lit Mag @dipitylitmag.bsky.social · Aug 1

Here’s poetry chapbook no. 4 Urban Enigmas By Patrick ten Brink @patricktenbrink.bsky.social We’ll share more later and will have a podcast “meet the author” episode soon!

Reposted by Patrick ten Brink

Dipity Lit Mag @dipitylitmag.bsky.social · Aug 1

Here’s poetry chapbook no. 4 Urban Enigmas By Patrick ten Brink @patricktenbrink.bsky.social We’ll share more later and will have a podcast “meet the author” episode soon!

Reposted by Patrick ten Brink

European Environmental Bureau🍃 @eeb.org · Jul 29

🚨 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐄𝐔-𝐔𝐒 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐝𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐥 𝐢𝐬 𝐚 𝐜𝐥𝐢𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠.

At its core is a €700 billion pledge to import U.S. fossil fuels and nuclear energy over the next three years - fundamentally incompatible with the EU’s 2030 climate targets.

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Reposted by Patrick ten Brink

European Environmental Bureau🍃 @eeb.org · Jul 29

🌊 Our message to EU Environment Ministers: Europe urgently needs a strong #WaterResilienceStrategy!

We must prioritise nature over short-term fixes, hold polluters accountable, and above all, take a systemic approach 🤝

Let's protect people, ecosystems, and our future. Joint letter in comments ⬇️

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Patrick ten Brink @patricktenbrink.bsky.social · Jul 28

PFAS, the forever chemicals, are a risk factor for several chronic diseases, such as obesity, liver disease, and diabetes as well as cancers, reproductive harm, and immune system suppression. Shouldn't they be banned and replaced by safe alternatives asap?
www.independent.co.uk/news/health/...

Forever chemicals in household objects linked to type 2 diabetes, scientists warn

PFAS can disrupt metabolism and increase diabetes risk, study finds

www.independent.co.uk

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Reposted by Gavin A. Schmidt, Rupert Read, Patrick ten Brink , and 2 more Gavin A. Schmidt, Rupert Read, Patrick ten Brink, Federica Genovese, Darío Hidalgo

Stephen Frost @sfrost.bsky.social · Jul 24

Interesting study from Germany on e-bikes and the modes they replace:

"43.1% of electric bicycle trips and 63.2% of electric bicycle mileage would have been undertaken using a car if no e-bike had been available, highlighting their substantial potential to reduce transport-related CO2 emissions"

Further, steeper, greener: Implications from an electric bicycle mode choice model

Electric bicycles are transforming the active mobility landscape, potentially increasing active mode uptake and delivering environmental and health benefits. This study examines electric bicycle mo...

doi.org

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Reposted by Patrick ten Brink

European Environmental Bureau🍃 @eeb.org · Jul 24

A victory for public health as a Dutch court upholds a ban on #pesticide intensive lily growing🧑‍⚖️

Why? Because the cocktail of 32 pesticides producers have been spraying just 15m from people's homes have been linked to Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, and cancer! www.dutchnews.nl/2025/07/cour...

Court upholds Limburg lily-growing ban over health fears - DutchNews.nl

Lily cultivation will remain prohibited next to a residential area in the Limburg village of Sevenum after the court of appeal in Den Bosch upheld an earlier ban. The case was brought by 35 residents,...

www.dutchnews.nl

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Patrick ten Brink @patricktenbrink.bsky.social · Jul 23

Deregulation gathers pace in the UK, putting lives, people's wellbeing and the environment at risk from increasing numbers of harmful chemicals if the deregulation reforms take hold. A better option: legislate to encourage innovation for safe & clean alternatives. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Want to import toxic chemicals into Britain with scant scrutiny? Labour says: go right ahead | George Monbiot

Jacob Rees-Mogg’s Tory fantasy of a post-Brexit bonfire of regulations is coming true. Our bodies and ecosystems will pay the price, says Guardian columnist George Monbiot

www.theguardian.com

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Patrick ten Brink @patricktenbrink.bsky.social · Jul 23

While many parts of the world are swamped in plastic waste, the global treaty negotiations trying to commit to collectively solving the problem is swamped by corporate lobbyists. Will private interests derail common interests, again? www.theguardian.com/environment/...

‘Total infiltration’: How plastics industry swamped vital global treaty talks

Petrostates and well-funded lobbyists at UN-hosted talks are derailing a deal to cut plastic production and protect people and the planet

www.theguardian.com

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