Clipmarks | Climate change Clips

PAST THE TIPPING POINT ?

Mon, 13 Oct 2008 05:56:39 GMT

clipped by: klippety
clipper's remarks: Environmental balance act and the very real possibility that we are past the threshold of return or stall

Clip Source: www.sciam.com

Global Warming: Beyond the Tipping Point

The world's most outspoken climatologist argues that today's carbon dioxide levels are already dangerously too high. What can we do if he is right?

The basic proposition behind the science of climate change is so firmly rooted in the laws of physics that no reasonable person can dispute it. All other things being equal, adding carbon dioxide (CO₂) to the atmosphere—by, for example, burning millions of tons of oil, coal and natural gas—will make it warm up. That, as the Nobel Prize–winning chemist Svante Arrhenius first explained in 1896, is because CO₂ is relatively transparent to visible light from the sun, which heats the planet during the day. But it is relatively opaque to infrared, which the earth tries to reradiate back into space at night. If the planet were a featureless, monochromatic billiard ball without mountains, oceans, vegetation and polar ice caps, a steadily rising concentration of CO₂ would mean a steadily warming earth.

Futuropolis 2058

Sun, 12 Oct 2008 15:13:00 GMT

clipped by: zalisan
clipper's remarks: Creating Sustainable Urban Environments through Innovation

Clip Source: www.futureofcities.com

Today, one truth is undeniable. Cities must change radically to achieve long-term sustainability.

Dwindling resources, climate change and growing urban populations continue to add pressure to energy requirements, food and water sources, transportation systems and basic infrastructure.

So where do the answers lie when creating sustainable urban environments of the future? Bringing together thought-leaders in sustainability issues across various disciplines, discover only at Futuropolis 2058, how you can be a part of the dynamic incubation processes that are positively impacting the future of cities.

Dr. Michio Kaku is an internationally recognized authority in two areas. The first is Einstein’s unified field theory, which Dr. Kaku is attempting to complete. The other is to predict trends affecting business, commerce, and finance based on the latest research in science.

Conference Partners

Hosted By

Clip Source: www.futureofcities.com

www.fusionopolis.sg

www.FulbrightAcademy.org

www.a-star.edu.sg

Ration Milk, Meat to Combat Climate Change

Sat, 11 Oct 2008 22:25:34 GMT

clipped by: Gul Agha

Clip Source: www.dailymail.co.uk

Milk and meat will have to be rationed if the world is to avoid dangerous climate change, according to a Government-funded report.

Cattle, sheep and pig farming produces around 8 per cent of Britain's greenhouse gas emissions.

Most is in the form of methane, from belching livestock, or nitrous oxide from soil used to grow feed.

It says Britons will need to cut consumption by a quarter if emissions are to remain stable.

'This roughly translates to a 4oz portion of meat every other day - equivalent to a quarter-pounder hamburger or two sausages or three to four rashers of bacon,' the report says.

For milk, there would be just enough for cereal in the morning or three cheese sandwiches a week.

She said campaigns to persuade people to consume less meat and dairy produce were unlikely to succeed, and regulation and personal carbon trading schemes, where goods and services are rationed, might be needed.

Tags: animals, food, climate change, vegetarian

GLOBAL CRISIS AND WORLD POVERTY

Fri, 10 Oct 2008 22:45:17 GMT

clipped by: klippety
clipper's remarks: Displaced by conflicts, driven by environmental catastrophes and punished by greed

Clip Source: www.commondreams.org

Global Crises Compound Refugees' Woes: UN

WASHINGTON, Oct 8 (OneWorld) - The global financial, food, and fuel crises and the negative impacts of climate change pose a severe threat to the world's 37 million uprooted people, and will likely increase their numbers, warned the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Monday.

"Competition for scarce resources has become an increasingly important factor in provoking and perpetuating violence," said Antonio Guterres, addressing delegates from the UNHCR's 76-nation governing committee. As a result, the number of people forced to flee their homes is on the rise

At the end of 2007, 11.4 million people were living as refugees and 26 million were displaced within their own country -- known as internally displaced people, or IDPs.

These latest figures mark the second straight year of increases after a five-year decline in the number of uprooted people around the world.

Cost of Global Warming equivalent to solving ALL the major problems in the world 3x over

Fri, 10 Oct 2008 16:40:00 GMT

clipped by: infopunk
clipper's remarks: Details not included in this short clip.

Clip Source: www.timesonline.co.uk

To make a simple comparison, the UN estimates that for about £40 billion annually, we could solve all major basic problems in the world - we could give clean drinking water, sanitation, basic education and healthcare to every person in the world.

efforts to reduce the speed of global warming will cost huge sums of money and have a pitifully tiny effect

global warming's total cost will be only about one half of 1 per cent of the net worth of the 21st century; that is the current worth of all the wealth projected to be generated in this century.

£100 billion annually for the rest of the century.

best-case scenario

temperature at the end of the century would be 2.4532342C. The effect is a difference of about 0.00038C - or about one three-thousandth of a degree in a hundred years.

This is the equivalent of delaying the temperature increase by the end of the century by a little less than a week.

But instead we are spending a fortune achieving almost nothing.

we have to come to our senses.

Tags: global warming, poverty, climate change

Climate Change and Chipmonks in California

Fri, 10 Oct 2008 15:59:12 GMT

clipped by: nedhamson1
clipper's remarks: It's real and we can pretend it isn't

Clip Source: www.sciencenews.org

From California to Costa Rica, rising temperatures could be driving species to higher elevations

TIME TRAVELPlumper pine trees suggest that growing conditions turned milder at the north end of Vogelsang Lake in Yosemite National Park between the early 20th century (above) and 2004 (below). With climate warming, some of Yosemite's small mammals have edged up slopes to more familiar temperatures. Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, UC Berkeley

Chipmunks, mice and other small mammals pretty much moved up in the world as Yosemite National Park’s climate warmed during the last century.

As temperatures rose, these species tended to edge upward to higher and cooler ground, says Craig Moritz, director of the Museum of Vertebrate Zoology in Berkeley, Calif.

Tags: green, climate change, globalism

Global economy and trees

Fri, 10 Oct 2008 14:01:10 GMT

clipped by: JackieDel

Clip Source: news.bbc.co.uk

The global economy is losing more money from the disappearance of forests than through the current banking crisis, according to an EU-commissioned study.

It puts the annual cost of forest loss at between $2 trillion and $5 trillion.

The figure comes from adding the value of the various services that forests perform, such as providing clean water and absorbing carbon dioxide.

The study, headed by a Deutsche Bank economist, parallels the Stern Review into the economics of climate change.

It has been discussed during many sessions here at the World Conservation Congress.

Some conservationists see it as a new way of persuading policymakers to fund nature protection rather than allowing the decline in ecosystems and species, highlighted in the release on Monday of the Red List of Threatened Species, to continue.

The Middle Class & the Deficit

Thu, 09 Oct 2008 22:09:51 GMT

clipped by: nchnted
clipper's remarks: An interesting take of the economic crisis by Robert Reich.

Clip Source: www.nytimes.com

Here again, there’s marked difference between 1993 and 2009. Then, some of our highways, bridges, levees and transit systems needed repair. Today, they are crumbling. In 1993, some of our children were in classrooms too crowded to learn in, and some districts were shutting preschool and after-school programs. Today, such inadequacies are endemic. In 1993, some 35 million Americans had no health insurance and millions more were barely able to afford it. Today, 50 million are without insurance, and a large swath of the middle class is barely holding on. In 1993, climate change was a problem. Now, it’s an emergency.

The top 1 percent now takes home about 20 percent of total national income. As recently as 1980, it took home 8 percent. Although the economy has grown considerably since 1980, the middle class’s share has shrunk

The last time the top 1 percent took home 20 percent of national income, not incidentally, was 1928.

10 Simple Ways to Stop Global Warming

Thu, 09 Oct 2008 12:03:09 GMT

clipped by: mylodon
clipper's remarks: A U.N. climate change report details the possible effects of global warming -- food shortages, more hurricanes, more wildfires, coastal flooding and more. We don't need to wait for governments to find a solution for this problem: each individual can bring an important help adopting a more responsible lifestyle: starting from little, everyday things. Find out what steps you can take to help save the environment.

Clip Source: www.infospreads.com

10 Simple Ways to Stop Global Warming

Global Warming 101

A U.N. climate change report details the possible effects of global warming -- food shortages, more hurricanes, more wildfires, coastal flooding and more. We don't need to wait for governments to find a solution for this problem: each individual can bring an important help adopting a more responsible lifestyle: starting from little, everyday things. Find out what steps you can take to help save the environment.

The good news is we don't have to wait for technical solutions to reduce the impact of these big offenders. Solutions exist now to allow us to reduce our dependence on power plants and use cleaner transportation options. We just have to start using them. Here are 10 simple ways to do your part to start making a difference now. By saving energy, you’ll also save money.

According to the EPA, a typical U.S. household generates 45,000 pounds of greenhouse gas emissions each year.

Tags: global warming 101, global warming tips, ways to stop global warming, stop global warming, global warming consequences

Sarh's Pompom Palaver

Tue, 07 Oct 2008 21:46:15 GMT

clipped by: nchnted
clipper's remarks: She has such a way with words. Homespun haiku!! Ms Dowd you are a hoot! Oh, did you think I was talked about Palin?

Clip Source: www.nytimes.com

Darn right. And that, doggone it, brings us to a shout-out for the latest virtuoso of Frontier Baroque, bless her heart, the governor of the Last Frontier. Her reward’s in heaven.

Hillary Clinton and John McCain ran against Barack Obama by sneering that their prose was meatier than The One’s poetry. Sarah’s running against the Democrat’s highfalutin eloquence by speakin’ in homespun haikus.

Talking at the debate about how she would “positively affect the impacts” of the climate change for which she’s loath to acknowledge human culpability, she did a dizzying verbal loop-de-loop: “With the impacts of climate change, what we can do about that, as governor, I was the first governor to form a climate change subcabinet to start dealing with the impacts.” That was, miraculously, richer with content than an answer she gave Katie Couric: “You know, there are man’s activities that can be contributed to the issues that we’re dealing with now, with these impacts.”

HT, Mother Nature...

Tue, 07 Oct 2008 17:59:54 GMT

clipped by: graphictruth
clipper's remarks: Evolution, in action; documented and happening in ways we didn't anticipate. Real Science with Real Data.

Oh, and the evolutionary pressure? Pollution and Climate Change.

Clip Source: ecoworldly.com

Scientists Discover Fish in Act of Evolution in Africa’s Greatest Lake

In what could be a first in the world, a fish species known as cichlids has been observed by scientists in the act of splitting into two distinct species in Lake Victoria, Africa’s largest lake and one of the world’s biggest fresh water bodies.

This may be remarkable because what is causing them to diverge are adaptations to their vision as animals and plants try to cope with increased pollution and the effects of climate change. The change is also happening without geographical isolation, which was thought to be a precursor for evolution.

The researchers showed that the eyes have adapted to this difference so that fish that live in deeper water have a pigment in their eyes that is more sensitive to red light, while shallow-water fish were sensitive to blue.

http://ipcc.ch

Tue, 07 Oct 2008 16:36:48 GMT

clipped by: shankargallery
clipper's remarks: IPCC - Intergovermental Panel on Climate Change

Clip Source: www.ipcc.ch

Water Transportation Made Easier - The Q Drum

Tue, 07 Oct 2008 04:21:17 GMT

clipped by: infopunk

Clip Source: greenupgrader.com

The Q Drum eases the task of fetching water for peoples in developing nations. Climate change has required a countless number of people all around the world to travel greater distances to retrieve water for everyday use. The Q Drum allows a child to pull the full capacity of 50 liters of water over flat terrain with comparative ease.

Typical methods of water transport include a sundry of containers that must be carried, carted, driven, or hauled by animal or bicycle to and from the water source. This can often mean unhygienic conditions with inappropriate containers and exposure to pathogens, requires high energy output, and is labor intensive and time consuming.

The effort required to move the Q Drum allows children to be active helpers in a very important domestic duty, which could free adults from this job, which is typically the responsibility of women.

The drums are stackable, up to 40 high when filled, meaning storage space can be maximized and large scale transport possible.

Tags: water

CLIMATE CHANGE STOPPABLE?

Mon, 06 Oct 2008 19:38:57 GMT

clipped by: klippety
clipper's remarks: The chances for stopping or slowing down climatic changes seem to be less and less.

Clip Source: www.sciam.com

Global Warming: Beyond the Tipping Point

The world's most outspoken climatologist argues that today's carbon dioxide levels are already dangerously too high. What can we do if he is right?

Climatologist James Hansen of the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies warns that atmospheric carbon dioxide levels above 350 parts per million—lower than current readings—may trigger catastrophic rises in sea level.
FRED CONRAD New York Times/Redux Pictures (Hansen)

James Hansen, director of the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies, has been circulating a preprint of a journal paper saying that the outcome is likely to turn out worse than most people think.

emperature rise of three degrees Celsius, plus or minus 1.5 degrees—enough to trigger serious impacts on human life from rising sea level, widespread drought, changes in weather patterns, and the like.

.” The situation, he says, “is much more sensitive than we had implicitly been assuming.”

Nobel Peace Prize Misused

Mon, 06 Oct 2008 18:04:22 GMT

clipped by: ColoradoRight
clipper's remarks: And if they give it to a gasbag like Algore and the "Never Met A Palestinian Terrorist I Didn't Love" Carter - then we know they are not following Nobel's wishes.

Clip Source: www.aftenposten.no

Veteran peace activist Fredrik S. Heffermehl, thinks that most of the Nobel Peace Prizes that have been given conflict with Alfred Nobel’s will and testament.

Al Gore and the Panel on Climate Change, Muhammad Yunus, Wangari Maathai, Shirin Ebadi, Mohamed El-Baradei and the International Atomic Energy Agency - IAEA are among the many awards which Heffermehl think conflict with Nobel’s wishes.

"Disarmament and anti-militarism was what Nobel wanted to promote," says Heffermehl to Aftenposten’s English Desk.

In his book Nobels vilje (Nobel’s Will), analyses all the 118 Peace Prizes which have been awarded from 1901 until 2007. Up to 1940 some 85 percent of the prizes were in accordance with Nobel’s wishes. Since the Second World War a mere 45 percent make the grade. Only one of the prizes given during the last seven years fit Nobel's criteria.

Tags: nobel, peace, will