Widening the aperture of action
Featuring fungal networks, coral regeneration, James Turrell + happenings in NYC
Dear Earthlings,
We started the Earth Action Index with a name—and have spent many months growing into it. Time and again, we hear questions about “action.” A word that activates associations for so many of us. Advocate, campaign, volunteer are common refrains: all valid verbs that we embrace and amplify. With the Index, our intention is to widen the aperture of action—to honor the diverse ways each of us can show up for the Earth. Echoing the evergreen wisdom of the late Joanna Macy:
Action isn’t a burden to be hoisted up and lugged around on our shoulders. It is something we are. The work we have to do can be seen as a kind of coming alive. More than some moral imperative, it’s an awakening to our true nature, a releasing of our gifts. (Schooling Our Intention, 1993)
I love this idea of action as a kind of coming alive. A way of being—a sharpened awareness, a deepened sensory connection, an active relationship with nature. Seen through this lens, action can be colored by delight, wonder, and awe. And it begins, as always, with attention: choosing to direct our energy to the living world around us.
Read on for a menu of invitations for action and happenings in NY.
This week’s invitations
Interact: The first global map of fungal networks
🗺️ The Underground Atlas from SPUN
A stunning visualization of what was once invisible beneath our feet. Scientists from the Society for the Protection of Underground Networks (SPUN) used environmental DNA and machine learning to predict where crucial concentrations of fungal biodiversity are found. They discovered hotspots in unexpected places, from the mountains of Ethiopia to the grasslands of Colombia. The trouble is: 90% of global fungal biodiversity is located in unprotected areas. SPUN’s research serves a sweeping effort to conserve these networks, which are critical carbon sinks and symbiotic partners with global plant life.
Watch: A thermal animation about marine heatwaves
This month, the planet reached a critical tipping point: the widespread bleaching of coral reefs, due to rising ocean temperatures and acidification. The devastating loss has unfolded over decades. This short 2min animation makes the problem vivid and visceral, using innovative thermal imaging. By “painting with heat,” form matches content perfectly. Nomint, a London-based animation studio, employs meticulous craft to visualize the cascading effects of marine heatwaves.
Support: Adopt a heat-resilient coral
Coral reefs can feel so far away from our lived experience—but their fate is entwined and interconnected for all of us. One of many ways to participate in the solution to warming reefs is by replanting resilient corals.
Coral Gardeners is a leading force in the movement to restore the coral reefs—and adopting a coral is the best way to support their work. With each adopted coral, the group is able to collect a fragment from a resilient coral species in the wild and place it in one of its nurseries in French Polynesia, Fiji, and Thailand, where it will grow to maturity. After over a year, your coral will then be outplanted onto a degraded reef to help revitalize the ocean ecosystem. — Hana Subrahmanyan
Explore: Find a James Turrell installation near you
☀️ The Atlas of James Turrell (by me!)
Speaking of atlases. This week, photos were revealed for Turrell’s largest Skyspace yet in Denmark, due to open in 2026. Recently, I struggled to find a global map or database of his public installations. So I decided to create one. Check out this tool to find a Turrell near you wherever you might live or be traveling.
In his Skyscape series, the sun and clouds cycle overhead, unfolding a spectacle of earthly light and color that lulls us into quiet awe. Years ago, I learned that the physiology of awe—the posture that best fosters the emotion—is craning your neck upwards. At something larger than yourself.
Happenings in New York
Here and now in Brooklyn, the persimmons are ripening. On a walk with Chimeras Collective, we found one introverted tree by the lakeside in Prospect Park. Releasing fruit with each gust of wind—soft, sweet, smushed, radiantly orange. In synchronous step with the sugar maples, themselves turning shades of vivid persimmon.
For friends in New York, we curate a calendar of earthly events in the city. The plan is to support more places soon. Check out highlights below or view the full calendar.
Corpse flower is blooming at NYBG on Friday 10/31 (link)
Three Sisters Harvest at BBG on Saturday, 11/1 at 10:30am (link)
Fall Forest Weekend at NYBG on Saturday and Sunday from 11am-4pm (link)
Friends of the Farm Community Market at Farm.One on Sunday, 11/2 from 12pm to 5pm (link)
Fall Climate Walk: The High Line to Little Island on Sunday 11/2 at 12pm (link)
Billion Oyster Project: Oyster Tasting at Barlume on Monday 11/3 at 6pm (link)
Wine as Experience at Index Greenpoint on Wednesday 11/5 at 7pm (link)
Appreciate you — back soon.
Michael & the Index team