Switch off your lights tonight at 8:30 PM for Earth Hour

THIS SATURDAY 28 MARCH AT 8.30PM YOU CAN VOTE EARTH BY SWITCHING OFF YOUR LIGHTS FOR ONE HOUR – EARTH HOUR

More at earthhour.org >>>

The Age of Stupid

OK I admit … I love disaster films and the science fiction genre (even cheesy, predictable scifi/disaster made-for-TV movies). This film appears to have all the right ingredients – set in the future, global disaster, etc.  The thing is, this is a documentary.

“We could have saved ourselves, but we didn’t. It’s amazing. What state of mind were we in, to face extinction and simply shrug it off?” – The Archivist from the film

The Ecologist magazine: “Fantastic. Knocks spots off An Inconvenient Truth”

The Age of Stupid is the new movie from Director Franny Armstrong (McLibel) and producer John Battsek (One Day In September).

Pete Postlethwaite stars as a man living alone in the devastated future world of 2055, looking at old footage from 2008 and asking: why didn’t we stop climate change when we had the chance?

The film will be released in UK cinemas on 20 March 2009, followed by other countries.

“I defy anyone to come out and not feel like they’ve got to make a difference.”

Caroline Lucas, Leader of the UK Green Party

“It is not a film to make you happy. It’s a film to make you sit back and think ‘What is my role on this planet?’” -

Ashok Sinha, Director of Stop Climate Chaos coalition

“It is a captivating and constantly surprising film: the first successful dramatisation of climate change to reach the big screen”.

George Monbiot, journalist & author

“I was nodding to myself all the way through, thinking ‘How can I reduce my flights?, ‘Can I install a wind turbine at home?’. It is definitely going to change my life. It was so powerful and so moving I wanted it to go on for another hour.” 

Gillian Anderson, actress

“I hate this film. I felt as if I was watching all my own excuses for not doing anything about climate change being stripped away from me. And it’s tender and funny and wise as well.Can I just pretend I never saw it?”

William Nicholson, Oscar-nominated writer of Shadowlands and Gladiator

“Every single person in the country should be forcibly made to watch this film”.

Ken Livingstone, former Mayor of London

MORE TO COME …

Kudos to PEC on court decision

Kudos to Piedmont Environmental Council for their win in U.S. Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond. According to a news summary at the Loudoun Times-Mirror, on February 18 the court released its decision in a case brought by PEC, multiple states and parties, regarding rules set by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission in implementing the Energy Policy Act of 2005.

The article quotes Chris Miller, president of the Piedmont Environmental Council:

“The decision directly upholds a State’s right to reject a transmission line project without fear of the federal government stepping in to overrule that State’s determination. In plain language, the utilities do not get a second chance if the State rejects a line based upon the merits,” “The court also ruled that FERC must consult with the Council on Environmental Quality to ensure compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act.”

This lawsuit was the first of two filed by PEC. The second seeks to overturn the Department of Energy’s designation of multi-state corridors for transmission line siting.

Teens take lead in solar education, promoting sustainable energy

treehugger.com reports that teens are raising awareness and talking to schools about going solar.

photo courtesy of the British Council

Seventeen-year-old Climate Champion Adam Raudonis is the head of Students for Solar Schools, a grassroots organization that aims to outfit high schools with solar panels. The pupil-led group is currently focusing on its first four schools—three in California, one in New York—but has plans to unite with like-minded students around the country. Adam and other young scholars involved in his organization are hard at work, raising funds, collaborating with school leaders, creating petitions and talking to contractors in an effort to create solar-powered, sustainable schools.

“if wait for somebody else to do something, to make our communities better, it [will] never get done.”

More at treehugger >>>

US role in global CO2 emissions underestimated

This is from a report at Climate Progress …

The role of the United States in climate disruption is far greater than most people realize. Not only does the U.S. emit more carbon dioxide₂) than any other nation besides China, not only does the U.S. have one the highest per-capita emissions in the world, but the U.S. economy also accounts for a massive amount of emissions released by the rest of the world too. S&R has investigated just how much CO₂ the United States economy is actually responsible for, and the results suggest the real emissions are 20% greater than official estimates (CO.

Figure 1: The 15 nations to whom the U.S. outsourced the most CO2 embodied as a result of the net imports of goods and services from them. Total U.S. CO2 emissions are about 6,000 million metric tons

READ MORE >>>

Turtles respond to warming climate

ScienceDaily reports on research demonstrating that Turtles are Altering Nesting Dates Due To Temperature Change.

Fred Janzen, a professor in ecology, evolution and organismal biology, has studied turtle nesting habits and also accumulated research going back decades in order to track the habits of the turtles to find out when they make nests and lay eggs.

“The results have been astonishing,” says Janzen. “In some cases such as regional populations of red-eared sliders, they are now nesting three weeks earlier than they did in the early 1990s. That is the fastest response to climate change of any species that I know of.”

image from pixdaus.com

An aspect of the study that surprised Janzen was the gender of the offspring.

The gender of turtle offspring, as with many reptiles, is typically determined by the temperature of the ground where they lay their eggs. Janzen predicted that with warming temperature, the phenomenon of temperature-dependent sex determination would cause a disproportionate number of females since warmer conditions produce that gender. Just the opposite seems to be happening. Male babies are outnumbering the females.

Ches Bay salinity will increase with sea-level rise

Image by marrngtn (Manuel) via Flickr

Researchers from Penn State and the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science are studying the Chesapeake Bay to see how changes in sea level may have affected the salinity of various parts of the estuary.

The researchers, who also included Ming Li and Liejun. Zhong of the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science, studied the Chesapeake Bay, using two complementary approaches, one based on a statistical analysis of historical data and one based on a computer model of the bay’s flow and salinity.

They looked at historical data for the Susquehanna River as it flows into the Chesapeake Bay from 1949 to 2006. The flow of this fresh water into the bay naturally changes salinity. The researchers found an increasing trend in salinity, as reported in the Journal of Geophysical Research.

READ FULL ARTICLE at TERRA DAILY LINK HERE

Warming could suppress locust plagues in China

Good News! Warming global temperatures could suppress locust plagues, at least in China.

Zhibin Zhang of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and colleagues have found that the Oriental migratory locust (Locusta migratoria manilensis), which has been named as one of the most damaging agricultural pests in Chinese history, operates on a climate-driven cycle. Counterintuitively, the timing of the largest swarms coincides with cooler periods.

A Chinese girl shows off her catch of locusts in Beijing (Image: AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)

“The popular view is that global warming may accelerate natural and biological disasters like drought and flood events, and outbreaks of pests, as predicted by the IPCC,” says Zhang. “Our results suggest that warming reduced climatic extremes and locust plagues in ancient China.”

READ MORE AT NEW SCIENTIST >>>

We’re not programmed to respond to global warming threat

 

Image via Wikipedia

Via AlterNet …

“Many climate scientists find the response to global warming completely baffling,” says Elke Weber, a Columbia University psychologist and the chair of the Global Roundtable on Climate Change’s Public Attitudes/Ethical Issues Working Group. According to Weber, climate scientists just can’t understand why government and the public have been so slow to act on the extraordinary information these scientists have provided.

But now a growing number of social scientists are offering their expertise in behavioral decision making, risk analysis, and evolutionary influences on human behavior to explain our limited responses to global warming. Among the most significant factors they point to: The way we’re psychologically wired and socially conditioned to respond to crises makes us ill-suited to react to the abstract and seemingly remote threat posed by global warming. Their insights are also leading to some intriguing recommendations about how to get people to take action-including the potentially dangerous prospect of playing on people’s fears.

“… most of us do not rely on our analytic abilities to evaluate the risk of global warming-or any risk, for that matter. Instead, we rely on the second and more common way of perceiving risk: our emotions.

“For most of us, most of the time, risk is not a statistic. Risk is a feeling,” says Elke Weber, a Columbia University psychologist and the chair of the Global Roundtable on Climate Change’s Public Attitudes/Ethical Issues Working Group.

We are swayed by our feelings, and those feelings-while an essential part of the decision-making process-can be misleading guides, depending on the type of risk involved.

READ MORE AT ALTERNET >>>

How many light bulbs are you worth?

The amount of energy needed to support all of our lives is having a profound effect on the world’s climate. We must reduce our reliance on fossil fuels by increasing alternative energy infrastructure, but we also need to immediately start using less energy altogether.

This online tool from WattzOn show how YOU fit in.   See how much of an impact you have and what steps can you take to minimize your energy use. WattzOn provides a framework for thinking about climate and energy in the context of your own life.

WattzOn allows you to measure the amount of power needed to support all of the aspects of your lifestyle. By calculating every impact in watts, all the varied choices made in your life can be directly compared – including actions that happen on markedly different timescales. Measuring in power rather than carbon emissions also recognizes that there are not enough remaining fossil fuel sources to support the energy needs of the world.

TRY IT OUT HERE >>>

Hunters and Anglers may be greener than you think

Hunters and fishermen are often stereotyped in a way that you would make you think they aren’t “green”.  Despite the fact that fishing and hunting license fees are some of the largest supporters of wildlife and conservation, many think of sportsmen as a group that doesn’t give the environment a lot of thought.  The truth may surprise you.

image from www.pixdaus.com

A recent nationwide poll, conducted July 27-31, 2008 by American Viewpoint, surveyed 1,000 self-identified hunters and anglers, more than half of whom said they consider themselves conservative politically. More than half said they vote in every election, and another 22 percent indicated they vote in almost every election. Respondents tended to be white, male and middle-aged or older.

A post at targetglobalwarming.org highlighted some of the findings as follows:

• • Hunters and anglers believe the United States is on the wrong track in terms of meeting our current and future energy needs and they agree we need to set a bold, new vision on energy policy.
  • 85% agree with the statement “We can improve the environment and strengthen the economy by investing in renewable energy technologies that create jobs while reducing global warming.”
  • 81% agree with the statement “The United States needs to set a bold new vision on energy policy, and set a goal to achieve 100% of its electricity from clean renewable sources of power within 10 years.”
  • 55% believe additional development of renewable energy sources such as wind, solar and biofuels will do more to stimulate and help the United States economy, over 34% who believe additional development of oil and gas sources such as drilling off our coast and in our wildlife refuges will do more to stimulate the economy.

Eliav Bitan has a post at celsias called Hunters and Anglers Greener Than You Think that asserts

To begin with, hunters and anglers are a lot greener than Sarah Palin, or the Republican party.

The vast majority of this group (80%) think the United States should “set a goal to achieve 100% of its electricity from clean renewable sources of power within 10 years.” These voters are far from ‘drill baby drill.’ This poll is a dramatic endorsement of the green agenda from a major block of voters.

Hunters and anglers are not blinded by a dichotomy between protecting the environment and protecting the U.S. economy. Instead, eighty five percent of them think the U.S. can and should “improve the environment and strengthen the economy by investing in renewable energy technologies that create jobs while reducing global warming.” The environment and the economy are not opposed, instead progress in the two depend upon each other. … CONTINUED

Complete poll results are available at www.NWFactionfund.org or www.targetglobalwarming.org.

Earth-friendly ideas at “Make an Impact”

Alcoa’s Make an Impact website offers ideas on reducing your carbon footprint.

Alcoa and the Pew Center on Global Climate Change have formed a unique new partnership – harnessing their own resources to develop the tools enabling others to act, in their homes and in their communities – to make an impact.

7 environmental problems that may be worse than we thought

If you have the stomach for it earthfirst.com offers up “7 Environmental Problems That Are Worse Than We Thought.”

“... you’d think that we’d be further along in our fight to preserve the world’s species, resources and the beautiful diversity of nature. Unfortunately, things aren’t nearly that rosy. In fact, many of the environmental problems that have received the most public attention are even worse than we thought – from destruction in the rain forest to melting glaciers in the Arctic. We’ve got a lot of work to do.”

1. One in four mammals is threatened with extinction. That’s 25%, a huge number that will totally change the ecology of every corner of the earth.
2. In oceans around the world, there are eerie areas that are devoid of nearly all life. These ‘dead zones’ are characterized by a lack of oxygen, and they’re caused by excess nitrogen from farm fertilizers, emissions from vehicles and factories, and sewage.
3. Millions of people across the world depend upon fish as a major staple in their diet. As such, commercial fishermen have been pulling such a huge quantity of fish from the oceans that we’re heading toward a global collapse of all species currently fished – possibly as soon as the year 2048.
4. Half of the Amazon rain forest will likely be destroyed or severely damaged by 2030.
5. Polar sea ice is melting at an unprecedented rate, and it’s not showing any signs of slowing down. It’s perhaps the most dramatic, startling visual evidence of global warming, and it’s got scientists rushing to figure out just how big of an effect the melting is going to have on the rest of the world.
6. Greenhouse gas emissions caused by our modern way of life – vehicles, power plants, factories, giant livestock farms – will bring devastating climate change within decades if they stay at today’s levels.
7. Whether we like to admit it or not, our very own rapidly multiplying presence on this planet is the biggest environmental problem there is, and it’s getting bigger by the minute. We voraciously consume resources, pollute the air and water, tear down natural habitats, introduce species into areas where they don’t belong and destroy ecosystems to the point of causing millions of species to become endangered and, all too often, go extinct.

READ THE FULL ARTICLE AT EARTHFIRST.COM >>>

Coal is not the answer

Via The Sietch Blog

The coal industry continues to spend tens of millions of dollars pitching the myth of ‘clean coal’ as the only way the U.S. can meet its energy needs. To check out their claims, go to the new “Coal is Not the Answer” webpage.

Henry David Thoreau assisting climate research

“If a man walks in the woods for love of them half of each day, he is in danger of being regarded as a loafer. But if he spends his days as a speculator, shearing off those woods and making the earth bald before her time, he is deemed an industrious and enterprising citizen.”

– Henry David Thoreau

According to a New York Times post <HERE> Henry David Thoreau is contributing to climate research.

In 1851, when he started recording when and where plants flowered in Concord, he was making notes for a book on the seasons. Now, though, researchers at Boston University and Harvard are using those notes to discern patterns of plant abundance and decline in Concord — and by extension, New England — and to link those patterns to changing climate.

Conclusions are clear.

• On average, common species are flowering seven days earlier than they did in Thoreau’s day, Richard B. Primack, a conservation biologist at Boston University, and Abraham J. Miller-Rushing, then his graduate student, reported this year in the journal Ecology.
• Working with Charles C. Davis, an evolutionary biologist at Harvard and two of his graduate students, they determined that 27 percent of the species documented by Thoreau have vanished from Concord and 36 percent are present in such small numbers that they probably will not survive for long.

Those findings appear in the current issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Read Full Post at the New York Times >>>

What can brown do for hydraulic hybrids?

Via Gas2.0 >> In partnership with the US Environmental Protection Agency, UPS will begin testing a small fleet of hydraulic hybrid delivery trucks in the United States. The new vehicles can achieve 50-70% better fuel economy, a 40% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, and pay for their extra expense in less than 3 years… <continued>

Read More at Gas2.0 >>>

WWF smackdown on over-consumption. How many planets are we going to need?

Image via Wikipedia

Via Reuters Business & Finance

WWF says reckless consumption threatens the planet

By Laura MacInnis

GENEVA (Reuters) – The Earth’s natural resources are being depleted so quickly that “two planets” would be required to sustain current lifestyles within a generation, the conservation group WWF said on Wednesday.

The Swiss-based WWF, also known as the World Wildlife Fund, said in its latest Living Planet Report that more than three quarters of the world’s population lives in countries whose consumption levels are outstripping environmental renewal.

Its Living Planet Report concluded that reckless consumption of “natural capital” was endangering the world’s future prosperity, with clear economic impacts including high costs for food, water and energy…CONTINUED

View or Download WWF’s Living Planet Report 2008 <HERE>

Ignoring it won’t make it go away

How to be conversant on Global Warming

From National Public Radio’s Talk of the Nation, October 17, 2008

What does a person need to know to be able to discuss climate change in an educated way? Climate expert Michael Oppenheimer discusses the history of climate research and some common misconceptions regarding the global climate.

Listen HERE

Most still view Global Warming as political

Via treehugger.com …

“People also do not see climate action as personally relevant to their lives — to their health, safety and well-being. The ACVS survey found that this perceived lack of personal benefit is the result of too much focus on solving global warming for the sake of the environment alone, which is not enough to motivate all citizens.”

treehugger.com reports that a recent American Climate Value Survey found:

General Survey Findings
-73 percent of Americans believe global warming is happening
-But only 18 percent ‘strongly believe’ global warming is real, and is harmful and caused by humans
-74 percent said they want the US to be an international leader in global warming solutions

Political Findings
-54 percent of Republicans believe that global warming is real, while 90 percent of Democrats do
-34 percent of Republicans think global warming is ‘not a problem,’ along with 7 percent of
Democrats

Economic Findings
-90 percent agreed with this statement: “If I could afford it, I would be willing to install things to make my home more energy efficient than it is now.”
-85 percent said they were interested in hybrid cars

“Unsurprisingly, the survey confirmed climate change to be a largely politicized issue, viewed too often along party lines instead of according to factual analysis … CONTINUED at treehugger.com