Newsletter No 25 - Salome Zourabichvili -Georgia’s Last Line of Defense
Weekly thoughts, readings, musings and links from Athena Drakou, best known as The Climate Historian
Salome Zourabichvili - Georgia’s Last Line of Defense
For weeks, tens of thousands of Georgians have taken to the streets protesting what they see as the erosion of democracy under the ruling Georgian Dream party. The initial wave of demonstrations sparked by allegations of electoral fraud following the October 2024 parliamentary elections, where the ruling Georgian Dream party secured a parliamentary majority.
Last weekend, a fresh wave of protests began, after Mikheil Kavelashvili, a former footballer-turned-far-right politician, was appointed president by a 300-memberElectoral College dominated by Georgian Dream. Kavelashvili, known for his hardline criticism of Western influence, is seen as a setback to Georgia's path of joining the European Union.
By the end of her term (it ends on Sunday, December 29), Salome Zourabichvili had become one of the Georgian Dream-led government's most outspoken critics and a champion of pro-democracy protests. She emerged as a symbol of resistance, calling for snap elections and denouncing the legitimacy of the Georgian Dream-led parliament. In a powerful moment on the streets, Zourabichvili stood face-to-face with black-clad, helmeted riot police.
Read more on The Heretic Witch
This week on YouTube, I discuss how deniers shape public opinion and policy by manufacturing doubt. I revisit Carl Sagan’s bold opposition to Ronald Reagan’s ‘Star Wars’ defence initiative and his warnings about nuclear winter—lessons that resonate in today’s battles against misinformation, climate denial, and the erosion of scientific trust. History reminds us that defending the truth has never been more urgent.
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Climate News
The Keeling Curve
The Keeling Curve is a daily record of global atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration maintained by the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego.
Latest CO2 reading December 20, 2024: 423.25 ppm (parts per million)
10 years ago - December 2014: ~399.08 ppm
20 years ago - December 2004: ~378.02 ppm
Storm Darragh
Storm Darragh swept across Ireland and the UK on December 6-7, 2024, hitting the region with winds over 160 km/h and heavy rain. As the fourth named storm of the 2024-2025 season, it left almost 400,000 homes in Ireland and 130,000 in the UK without power, and caused major transport problems.
ClimaMeter says this storm’s extreme nature comes from unusual weather conditions that are linked to human-caused climate change.
A Major Oil Spill
Two tankers, including Volgoneft-212 (carrying around 4,300 tons of fuel oil), sank in the Kerch Strait, the narrow waterway linking the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov. As a result, a major spill of toxic fuel oil polluted a wide area—reports say around 50 km of shoreline near Anapa (on the Russian coast of the Black Sea) became heavily contaminated.
Government officials and environmental groups scrambled to contain the spill, but the damage was already done. Experts warn this is one of the worst environmental disasters the region has seen, threatening not only marine life but the local economy.
Record Russian LNG imports to Europe in 2024
The EU has seen its imports of Russian liquefied natural gas (LNG) reach a record high this year, despite the bloc's efforts to reduce its dependence on gas from this country after the beginning of Moscow's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Europe imported 16.5 million tonnes of Russian LNG between the beginning of the year and mid-December. Last year it imported 15.1 million metric tons, according to a report in the Financial Times.
This year's LNG volume is even higher than the previous record of 15.21mn set in 2022.
Book of the Week: The Count of Monte Cristo
Reading the Classics
This Christmas, I finally decided to read The Count of Monte Cristo.
It’s been on my TBR list forever, and then a few days ago, I had that moment of "aha" and thought, “Enough waiting—this Christmas, it’s happening.”
With over 1,000 pages to go it’s not exactly a weekend read, but hey—what’s a holiday without a little bookish adventure?
What else I am reading
What Is Entropy? A Measure of Just How Little We Really Know.
“Exactly 200 years ago, a French engineer introduced an idea that would quantify the universe’s inexorable slide into decay. But entropy, as it’s currently understood, is less a fact about the world than a reflection of our growing ignorance. Embracing that truth is leading to a rethink of everything from rational decision-making to the limits of machines.” _Quanta magazine
A Journey Unlike Any Other
Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Paul Salopek has been retracing humanity’s ancient migration route—an epic 38,000-kilometre walk stretching from Africa to the southern tip of South America. He set off in 2013 from Herto, Ethiopia, where some of the oldest known fossils of modern humans were found, and has now reached Seoul, South Korea. His arrival there coincides with a moment of intense political tension with the declaration of martial law by President Yoon Suk Yeol. Amid these developments, Salopek continues documenting the timeless resilience of human travellers—past and present—on a journey unlike any other. (Celebrating Art, Storytelling—and Democracy—in South Korea, National Geographic)
Looking for a mental escape from Alzheimer’s? Taxi drivers may have the answer.
An analysis of 400 occupations found that taxi and ambulance drivers had the lowest proportion of deaths from Alzheimer’s—raising the possibility that constant stimulation of the hippocampus, used for navigational and spatial processing, might be protective.
I must admit, I find the results of this study a little surprising, since, in my experience, most drivers today rely heavily n GPS. (The BMJ)
The B4 Movement or How Women Are Redefining Power
The Revolutionary Power of Women's Non-Participation
Lysistrata, Aristophanes' daring comedy from 411 BCE, introduces us to a sharp-witted Athenian woman with an audacious plan to end the prolonged war between Athens and Sparta. Tired of the endless conflict, Lysistrata rallies the women of Greece—including those from Sparta—and persuades them to wield an unexpected weapon: abstinence. No sex until peace prevails.
The battle of wills that follows is equal parts hilarious and revealing, as men, frustrated and bewildered, struggle to resist their own desires while their wives stand firm in their resolve. And in the end? Lysistrata wins.
Fast forward to the 21st century, and echoes of this ancient play resound in unexpected places—like the modern B4 women's movement in South Korea. Read the article on The Heretic Witch
Image of the Week: Ride Share
Photographer Enric Gener shot this surreal scene of a seagull riding a turtle after spending hours searching for marine life in the Mediterranean Sea.
The image was a finalist in Oceanographic’s Ocean Photographer of the Year competition.
Nature is amazing!
All the best for the new year - try to enjoy every moment.
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