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Planetary interventions
2008-02-03 22:49:00
Changing behavior and infrastructure takes time and that is something we don't have a lot of right now. What can we do now if we had to cool the planet rather immediately in order to avoid setting off a climate avalanche? Some say the quickest and cheapest way is geoengineering. If we are to take these radical measures when would that be and by whom? What if individual states(or companies/groups)started doing their own planetary interventions irrespective of each other? If used too early would there be a decline in the efforts to reduce carbon emissions? Environmental scientist David Keith gives a talk on the issue of geoengineering.

The degrees-one by one
2008-02-03 20:36:00
National Geographic Channel is launching a documentary based on Mark Lynas ' book Six Degrees : Our Future on a Hotter Planet. Here are some previews from each degree.One degreeTwo degreesThree degreesFour degreesFive degreesSix degrees

Energy Quality, Net Energy, and the Coming Energy Transition
2008-02-01 22:34:00
Here is an interesting paper about energy by Cutler J. Cleveland: Energy Quality , Net Energy, and the Coming Energy Transition ....and a talk by Richard Heinberg with a similar topic.

No more people
2008-01-31 21:28:00
What would happen to life on Earth if all people suddenly disappeared? This documentary gives us a clue.Download DivxPlayer to watch.
More About: People

Dry screeches
2008-01-30 21:13:00
I have used my bicycle an awful lot. I have worn it down real good. A couple of months ago it started giving off dry screeching sounds. I tried to lubricate the chain but the screeching wouldn't go away. I tried spraying all moving parts but that didn't help either. It got harder and harder to peddle and each day was a struggle. Today when we had heavy wet snow my bike and I couldn't take it any longer so I finally decided to stop by at the bicycle store on my way to work.Turning in the bike to the repair man was one of my best decisions in a long time. Driving home was a real treat. The bicycle repair man had put on a new shiny chain and taken care of the back hub cap. The bike felt like new again and I didn't have to struggle anymore. I almost fucking smiled at the car drivers at the crossings.

Manners
2008-01-29 21:05:00
When I stand at a crossing clad in a highly visible reflective vest with my bike at my side, clearly indicating that I am going to cross the street and there is a fair distance to the oncoming car it should be reasonable that I should be able to cross the street safely. Normally drivers slow down when they approach a crossing when a person is on his way to cross. Today I had two separate encounters with drivers that clearly lacked the judgment to do so, even though I was already in the street moving across. When they saw me they accelerated and swooshed pass me close by. In these nearly life threatening situations my body reacts primitively by ejecting the the middle finger. An unstoppable message from the inner core, a projection of my strong climate angst.Later on I heard a middle aged lady on the radio describe how she had once, in rage, opened an empty idling car and turned off the engine (the people using the car was within a distance of 25 meters). She had also at numerous...
More About: Manners

Spanish killer driver sues victim's family
2008-01-29 20:49:00
clipped from uk.reuters.com MADRID (Reuters) - A Spanish driver who collided with acyclist is suing the dead youth's family 20,000 euros (14,800pounds) for the damage the impact of his body did to his luxurycar, a Spanish newspaper reported on Friday. Businessman Tomas Delgado says 17-year-old Enaitz Iriondocaused 14,000 euros (10,400 pounds) of damage to his Audi A8 inthe fatal 2004 crash in La Rioja region, the El Pais newspaperreported. Delgado, who has faced no criminal charges for theincident, wants a further 6,000 euros to cover the cost ofhiring another vehicle while his car was being repaired, ElPais said.
More About: Family , Driver , Killer

Green opportunism
2008-01-28 21:38:00
If you are tired and bored of the job you have today you may want to look into the new emerging job sector of green. Just imagine the jobs that will be created when the economy starts to go low or non carbon. Maybe it is time to break loose from the paralyzing climate angst and catch the opportunities that lie ahead. A new economic engineApollo's FireApollo Alliance
More About: Green

Economic growth
2008-01-27 23:33:00
Professor of economics Herman Daly discusses economic growth and what it does to our planet and climate. Excerpt from the film "The Planet".
More About: Growth , Economic

Psychology of climate change
2008-01-27 23:05:00
Right now many are getting more and more carbon conscious but still quite few act accordingly. Perhaps because they are afraid of sticking out and making a fool of themselves or because of cemented habits. In the clip below psychologist Niki Harre discusses the challenge of getting people to take personal responsibility about climate change.
More About: Climate Change , Climate , Change , Psychology , Holo

Peak oil game
2008-01-27 00:13:00
Frontlines: Fuel of War"Not too far in the future? The global natural resources are on the brink of depletion. As our economies and our way of life tumble into chaos, the superpowers clash to gain control?"Shooter game for Xbox.
More About: Peak Oil , Game , Peak

Anthropocene
2008-01-26 22:36:00
The development of human enterprise can be seen in the diagrams below (click on them to enlarge). Notice the great acceleration from around 1950.The great acceleration has left some disruptive footprints on the Earth systems.According to scientists Earth has endured changes sufficient enough to leave a global stratigraphic signature distinct from that of the Holocene. A new epoch hasn't yet been formally established but a suggested name for it is the Anthropocene.The diagrams above are taken from a presentation by professor Will Steffen. If you have seen the film The Planet you will recognize the facts in it.

Electric car venture in Israel
2008-01-25 22:55:00
clipped from www.bloomberg.com Jan. 21 (Bloomberg) -- Renault SA, France's second-largestcarmaker, and affiliate Nissan Motor Co. said they will developan electric car network in Israel in a venture with entrepreneurShai Agassi as a first step toward global mass-marketing. Renault plans to supply the vehicles, which will be poweredentirely by electricity, while Agassi's Project Better Placewill construct and operate a battery-recharging network, thecompanies said today at a news conference. The vehicles would beavailable starting in 2011. Better Place will construct 500,000 recharging points inIsrael, the companies said. Car buyers will subscribe to energy,including use of the battery, on the basis of kilometers driven. Better Place hopes to use sustainable ``green'' sources togenerate the electricity needed for the cars, including solarand wind energy, Agassi said. He added that even if traditionalsources of energy are used, carbon emission...
More About: Venture , Electric , Electric Car

Rage against the machine
2008-01-25 21:26:00
I saw a small item in the local paper about a pedestrian that had attacked a car that hadn't taken notice of him while crossing at a zebra crossing. The man shattered one of the side windows leaving the female driver in a state of shock...Rage Against the Machine - Bulls on Parade
More About: Rage Against the Machine

Devour to the End
2008-01-24 23:12:00
Advert for Ford Endeavour. Notice the polar bear family to the right.

Bush's commitment
2008-01-24 22:19:00
Listen to George Bush welcome anti abortion marchers in Washington. Have environmental activists ever gotten this warm kind of treatment when marching outside the White house? Bush fights for the protection of souls, but what is the point in doing so if not also showing any true concern to abort the planetary crisis we are in? See George Bush not welcoming No war No warming marchers at Capitol Hill.
More About: Commitment

Are we changing?
2008-01-24 20:40:00
Yesterday we had snow and temperatures way below freezing point. A day quite normal for the season. But this morning we had leaped back to normal abnormality again; it rained and later during the day the temperature was up at +5 C.Have people grasped that we are in a state of global emergency? If you look around it is hard to believe so. I have been writing on this blog for nearly a year now and during this time I haven't really noticed any big shifts of behavior in people. The streets are still full of guzzlers. I see advertisement all over for cheap flights and people are buying them more than ever. A madman is even planning to open up a new airport just 4 km from Uppsala city! A majority of the parents I see are still taking their children to school or daycare by car. I would think that parents of innocent children would be the strongest agitators for change. People may be buying green products and recycling a bit more, but other than that I don't see much commitment in every d...
More About: Changing

Balancing your mind and body
2008-01-23 07:01:00
Taking in stuff about the threat of climate change may put you off balance at times. Yoga and other body therapies may be good tools to keep you on track.Download DivXplayer to see film.
More About: Body , Mind

Manufactured landscapes
2008-01-22 22:25:00
Manufactured Landscapes is a film that explores man-made landscapes. It opens up with a tracking shot through an almost endless Chinese factory. Stunning footage. Seeing this makes you conscious about the origins of the things we buy. We know theoretically that we are virtually consuming ourselves off the planet, this film gives you a better connectedness to this understanding. Download DivXplayer to see film.Manufactured Landscapes is based on the work of photographer Edward Burtynsky. Here he appears at TED-talks.

Corporate food
2008-01-22 21:04:00
Market and political forces are changing what we eat as huge multinational corporations seek to control the world's food system.Download DivXplayer to see film.
More About: Food , Corporate

Crashed windshield
2008-01-21 21:21:00
My workplace is located in one of Uppsala's wealthier areas. I cycle 9 km to get there. After having covered this distance I am usually pretty worked up. Inside a thrusting feeling of frustration and anger is often pounding because of all the cars I see on the way. The row of cars lining the street that leads to my workplace irritates me the most. The first car in this row is usually a fat dark blue SUV. Every morning I glare at it as I pass by.This afternoon when I passed the SUV I noticed that the windscreen had been smashed. It looked like as if it had been hit by a hard flying object.Earlier on I saw a man with a bike equipped with a child chariot heading toward the street with the blue SUV. He was in his sixties or seventies and I was a bit surprised to see a man of his age pulling a child carrier. He had stopped to talk to some other elderly people and I could see that he was transporting a bunch of stones.I doubt the old man with the rocks had anything to do with the demolit...
More About: Crashed

Planète blue
2008-01-19 21:53:00
Our planet's sea life is quite amazing. The blue whale for instance has blood vessels wide enough for a man to swim through. DivX needed (click to download)In this unconventional animated film 3 people end up in the stomach of a whale: Mind Game.
More About: Blue

Unreal creatures
2008-01-19 21:44:00
Deep down at the bottom of the sea, where light doesn't reach, surreal species dwell. They seem like taken from some computer animation but they're for real. Amazing footage.
More About: Creatures , Unreal

Amory Lovins: We must win the oil end game
2008-01-17 23:50:00
Another guy listed in The Guardian's "50 people who can save the planet" is Amory Lovins:clipped from www.guardian.co.ukThink of a world where cars burn no oil and emit drinking water - or nothing at all. Where central power stations are redundant and buildings and parked vehicles produce enough energy to drive factories. Where no house is built that cannot generate electricity for others. Where carbon emissions have long been declining, and industries no longer waste almost all their material. This is not a pipe dream, but an increasingly likely scenario, here within a generation or two; that is the prediction of Amory Lovins, 60, an experimental physicist turned energy reduction pioneer who has had as profound an influence on the way people use energy as any man alive. 
More About: Game

Hermann Scheer
2008-01-17 23:14:00
clipped from www.hermannscheer.deThe Guardian has nominated Hermann Scheer as one of the "50 people who could save the planet".Hermann Scheer, 43, is the MP who persuaded the German government to get rid of nuclear power and invest heavily in renewables such as wind and solar power. As a result, in less than 10 years, Germany is heading towards selfsufficiency in energy.

What has happened to the winter?
2008-01-17 22:06:00
It is January but it feels like March. I have been biking to work without a hat the last weeks. Buds are emerging on tree branches. People are commenting the weather.
More About: Winter

Carbon strike
2008-01-16 23:16:00
Some hunger strike to get attention for a cause, this doctor goes on carbon strikes. The terms of his carbon strikes are:- not getting into a car - not getting into a plane
More About: Carbon , Strike

Solar power
2008-01-16 22:48:00
Documentary from PBS about solar power. China's third richest person is a producer of solar panels Tim Flannery told us in the previous clip.
More About: Power , Solar Power , Solar

Tim Flannery from Down Under
2008-01-16 22:35:00
Author of Weather Makers. A recording of Weather Makers(the introduction)

Beyond global warming
2008-01-16 22:06:00
Documentary from Discovery HD.
More About: Global Warming , Global , Armin