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Carnivore Style, originally uploaded by Diana Pinto.
Food writer Michael Pollan recently suggested that if Americans went meatless one night a week, it would be equivalent to taking “30 to 40 million cars off the road for a year.” Regardless, if you can’t bear to be without meat, be careful what kind you eat. According to the journal Environmental Science & Technology, producing red meat requires about four times more greenhouse-gas emissions chicken or fish.
Chew on that. More info here.
Painting your roof white will reduce global warming and conserve energy, according to Steven Chu, the Nobel prizewinning physicist who now runs the U.S. Department of Energy. Chu says that if we paint all our roofs white, and paint pavements a concrete-type of color rather than black, and we do this uniformly, it would save the equivalent of 11 years of carbon emissions from all the cars in the world. More information here.
An ad from the new Diesel campaign: “Global Warming Ready.”
Hotter temperatures, an increase in heavy downpours, and rising sea levels are among the effects of “unequivocal” warming, concludes the first major climate report from the Obama administration. Winters are now shorter and warmer than they were 30 years ago, with the largest temperature rise — more than 7 degrees Fahrenheit — observed in the Midwest and northern Great Plains. The changes are already affecting human health, agriculture, coastal areas, transportation and water supplies. And climate change will intensify over the next century even with significant action to limit greenhouse gas emissions from human activities.
“I really believe this report is a game changer. Much of the foot dragging is a reflection of the perception that climate change is way down the road,” said Jane Lubchenko, head of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. “This report demonstrates and provides the concrete scientific information unequivocally that it’s happening now and in our own backyards, and it affects the things people care about.”
Hat Tip: nytimes.com
NOTE: 15 square kilometer of rainforest disappears every minute.
Advertising Agency: Uncle Grey, Denmark
Art Directors: Rasmus Gottliebsen, Jesper Hansen, Rasmus Dunvad
Creative Director: Per Pedersen
Copywriter: Michael Paterson
Published: April 2007
Just one post today. Put aside an hour and a half (we know, impossible) and watch the film. It’s called, HOME. The aim of the filmmakers is to reach the widest possible audience and to convince us all of our individual and collective responsibility towards the planet. For this purpose, HOME is free. A patron, the PPR Group, made this possible. EuropaCorp, the distributor, also pledged not to make any profit because it is a non-profit film.
HOME can also be viewed via the official website:
http://www.home-2009.com
PPR is proud to support HOME
http://www.ppr.com
HOME is a carbon offset movie
http://www.actioncarbone.org
Namaste: Scarlett Wallingford
When the ice melts….., originally uploaded by Abllo™.
Indonesia is considering renting some of its 10,000 islands to climate change refugees. Friends of the Earth representative, Damien Lawson believes the idea is worth considering, pointing out that “people in places like the Carterets (Papua New Guinea islands) are being forced to relocate already.” More here.
the Fat Lady Sings, originally uploaded by Subject is too Cute.
Sir Jonathan Porritt, Chair of the UK’s Sustainable Development Commission, believes that to solve the problem of climate change, we must also address the issue of obesity. “The World Health Organisation recently published some data showing that each overweight person causes an additional one tonne of CO2 to be emitted every year.,” he said. “With one billion people judged to be overweight around the world – of whom at least 300 million are obese – that’s an additional one billion tonnes.” He further points out that overweight people eat more protein-rich food such as beef or lamb, which is responsible for producing greenhouse gases and suggests that obese people are more likely to use cars rather than walk or cycle, therefore producing more carbon emissions. Definitely something to chew on.
Hat Tip: telegraph.co.uk
All I need is the air that I breathe, originally uploaded by inkyblacklomo.
More than 300 000 people are killed due to climate change every year, a new report on the human impact of climate change has said.
The findings also indicate that climate change affects 325 million people seriously and also results in losses of US$125 billion to the global economy. In addition, four billion people are left vulnerable with 500 million others at extreme risk. The report says human activities, including in particular emissions of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide are recognized as its principle cause, while clearly showing that climate change is already causing widespread devastation and suffering around the planet today.
Click to learn more about: Human Impact Report: Climate Change – The Anatomy of a Silent Crisis – the first ever-comprehensive report looking at the human impact of climate change.
garbage on Mt Everest #8865, originally uploaded by Nemo’s great uncle.
A Sherpa from Nepal who holds the world’s record for scaling Mount Everest said Monday the planet’s highest peak was littered with trash and warned that its glaciers were melting because of global warming.
“We have only one Everest, we need to clean it, protect it,” said Appa, who flew back to Katmandu on Monday after reached the 29,035-foot (8,850-meter) summit last Thursday for the 19th time. “The warming temperature is increasing the volume of glacial lakes.”
Appa, 48, placed a banner at the summitt last week that read, “Stop Climate Change _ Let the Himalayas live,” to urge the world to take action against global warming.
Read more at huffingtonpost.com.
Engineer James Peret’s Vegawatt is the first all-in-one device that processes grease to continuously provide a building with electricity and hot water. The Vegawatt can process about 80 gallons of grease a week (standard for large restaurants) and produces five kilowatts of energy an hour, which could translate to monthly savings of $1,000. Last December, after a year of 80-hour weeks on the development, Peret, 33, installed the first Vegawatt at Finz, a restaurant in Dedham, Massachusetts, that specializes in fried seafood.
Hat Tip: popsci.com and more about the Vegawatt at vegawatt.com.
This ad/poster was created by VVL BBDO Belguim for the World Wildlife Fund. The copy reads: “The first signs of global warming are now clearly visible. We urgently need to limit greenhouse gas emissions.”
Demon child, originally uploaded by MsBlueSky.
The Belgian city of Ghent has declared Thursdays meat-free. The Flemish university town of some 200,000 people has now introduced a weekly “Veggie Thursday.” The city hopes to improve public health, reduce its impact on the environment and enhance animal welfare. “If everyone in Flanders (population: six million) does not eat meat one day a week, we will save as much CO2 in a year as taking half a million cars off the road,” said an Ethical Vegetarian Association spokesperson. You can read the meat of the story here.
Bicycle + Plants = Going Green, originally uploaded by Mohan.M.
The bicycle-friendly city of Muenster, Germany, has an advertising campaign that compares the space used by various modes of travel. These are the relevant statistics: (1) 72 people transported on 72 bikes requires 90 square meters (2) based on an average occupancy of 1.2 people per car, 60 cars are needed to transport 72 people, which takes 1,000 square meters and (3) 72 people can be transported on 1 bus, which only requires 30 square meters of space and no permanent parking space, since it can be parked elsewhere. For more information, click here.
Turn of the turbines?, originally uploaded by Dave JG (away).
Europe’s largest onshore wind farm has recently begun operating in Scotland. It’s called Whitelee and its 140 turbines are enough to power Glasgow. Plans to expand it—and build another, bigger one—are already underway. This and a future project could help ensure that half of all of Scotland’s electricity would come from green sources by 2020. More of the story here.
Mona Hatoum – Hot Spot, originally uploaded by Lateefa.
Results of a 2007 study by a blue-ribbon panel of retired admirals and generals indicate that global climate change presents a serious national security threat which could impact Americans at home, impact US military operations, and heighten global tensions. The report concludes that “the decision to act should be made soon in order to plan prudently for the nation’s security. The increasing risks from climate change should be addressed now because they will almost certainly get worse if we delay.
You can read the full report at securityandclimate.cna.org.
For information and inspiration, visit: veteransgreenjobs.org/
Save the Earth, originally uploaded by Puhleebu.
These days, New Zealand students are busy cleaning up Mother Earth. Over 600 Kiwi schools are involved in a program called, Enviroschools, in which every classroom has compost and paper recycling bins. Classes sponsor dolphins, design eco buildings on computers, and stock bird feeders they’ve built. There are “wheels days” for bikes and scooters, designed to promote exercise and take more cars off the road. According to officials, Enviroschools students don’t just learn about the environment; they do something about it. Details here.
Glamour Boy, originally uploaded by flipkeat.
Behavioral ecologist Elizabeth Derryberry, a behavioral ecologist at Louisiana State University, has discovered evidence that “vegetation density can influence birdsong over time.” Derryberry plans to extend her research to investigate how habitat changes associated with global warming might cause birds to change their tune.
Source: physorg.com
Consumerism, originally uploaded by jefftolentino.
Biodegradability may not be a worthy goal at all. Most landfills are tomb-like and, in the absence of oxygen, the process produces methane, a greenhouse gas that’s 21 times more effective at trapping heat than carbon dioxide. But all’s not lost. In answer to the problem, companies like the UK’s Symphony Environmental Technologies have developed a special formulation called d2w, which makes plastic self-destruct in the presence of oxygen on land or water. While normal plastic may emit methane while decomposing, oxo-biodegradable plastics are made to degrade leaving no fragments and emitting no methane. So, do we have future or don’t we? You can begin to find the answers here. And here.
Related article: Breakthrough In Methane Research (popularlogistics.com)
Polarizing Global Warming Politics – © 2009 Jan Baughman Hat Tip: swans.com
First, the good news: “The long-term impact of a West Antarctica (meltdown) is not be as serious as previously believed,” said Jonathan Bamber, a professor at Bristol University in England. World sea levels would rise by 3.3 metres (eleven feet) rather than 5-6 metres as previously estimated.
And now, the bad news: “17 million people in Bangladesh alone would be displaced by a sea level rise of 1.5 metres. The consequences for the planet and stability of society as a whole for even a 1-2 metres rise is very, very serious.” And “levels on the U.S. seaboards would still rise 25 percent more than the global average and threaten cities like New York, Washington DC, and San Francisco.”
Visit reuters.com for details.
Kids vs Global Warming is a non profit organization founded and led by Alec Loorz, who is now 14 years old. “We are a group of kids that educate other kids about the science of global warming and empower them to take action. Through educational presentations, community activism projects, action teams, and hands on demonstrations, we teach youth that they have a voice, and that they can do something about global warming.”
Colin Carlson directs a climate change organization called the Cool Coventry Club, a service project to educate people about global warming and encourage energy conservation at individual, business and governmental levels. He also works with businesses to develop “energy action plans.” He is a Nestle Very Best In Youth winner and a recent winner of a Do Something Plum Grant, which he is using to produce climate change information booklets he created for Coventry’s second grade public school students. Born on Harry Potter’s birthday, twelve year-old Colin is currently a student at the University of Connecticut.
Hat Tip: nytimes & photographer Shana Sureck
Son of Tarantula, originally uploaded by TCM Hitchhiker.
As if global warming isn’t giving us enough to worry about, now scientists say it could lead to bigger spiders of at least one species. Danish scientists have discovered that, with early spring and longer summers, the hairy, meat-eating wolf spider of northeastern Greenland has grown progressively bigger. One theory is that the extended summer allows the spiders to molt more often and thereby grow larger during their lifetimes.
You can continue to feed your paranoia here.
Mollie created her own blog and letter-writing campaign as a way to help polar bears gain protection on the Endangered Species list. After reading at school about the plight of the polar bear, Mollie and some friends created “Save the bears!” posters and marched around the playground. Many of her peers taunted the girls, saying their march was accomplishing very little, and later that evening, Mollie realized they were right. She decided to take more concrete action and started a blog, where she posted statements such as “Polar bears like to swim, but they can’t swim forever!”, referring to the dire consequences of melting Arctic ice. She also asked people to write letters to the Fish and Wildlife Service supporting the polar bear’s inclusion on the Endangered Species list, and collected 171 letters. When the Alaska Wilderness League learned of Mollie’s work, they asked her to speak at an Arctic rally on Capitol Hill, where she shared the stage with Senators John Kerry and Bernie Sanders – and stood on a box in order to reach the microphone.
Hat tip: barronprize.org/
Make 18 minutes and 16 seconds. When you’re sure you can spare them, watch the following video – Monday’s only post. Don’t let anything or anyone interrupt you.
Los Angeles Skyline & Smog, originally uploaded by TravelingOtter.
The American Lung Associated reports that 6 out of 10 U.S. residents –more than 186 million people — live in areas with dangerous levels of air pollution.
The air in many U.S. cities became dirtier last year, the association said in its annual “State of the Air” report.
Los Angeles ranks first in ozone pollution while Bakersfield, California, was worst for year-round particle pollution and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, was worst for short-term particle pollution. Particle pollution is composed of tiny bits of soot, diesel exhaust, chemicals, metals and aerosols.
Studies confirm that contaminants in the air can take months to years off you and your children’s lives.
Hat tip: uk.reuters.com
Off-shore Wind Farm Turbine, originally uploaded by phault.
In 2001, a Massachusetts entrepreneur named Jim Gordon proposed that a wind farm be built in Nantucket Sound. Despite the fact that the wind turbines would be six miles offshore, Cape Wind ran into some opposition from, of all people, environmentalist activist Robert Kennedy, Jr. The project is still in limbo eight years later, though the area’s oldest and largest environmental group just endorsed the proposal this month. The answer, my friend, is blowing in the wind.
Hat tip:http: mnn.com
Hugging the Earth, originally uploaded by Curly-Q.
These commercials were produced for MTV in 1990. Time flies, the situation remains pretty much the same.
Air Pollution ! Viva Kyoto ! !, originally uploaded by pfala.
In what could be a historic moment in the struggle against climate change, the Environmental Protection Agency on Friday confirmed what most people have long suspected but had never been declared as a matter of federal law: carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases constitute a danger to public health and welfare. More “wow” factor here.
With 26 time lapse cameras in Greenland, Iceland, Alaska, Canada, and Glacier National Park, the Extreme Ice Survey – founded by photographer James Balog – is creating the most comprehensive photographic survey of glacial change as it happens. Behold:
