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Fresh water
2008-06-09 22:26:00
clipped from www.bbc.co.ukNearly 98% of the Earth's water is in the oceans. Fresh water makes up less than 3% of water on earth, over two thirds of this is tied up in polar ice caps and glaciers. Fresh water lakes and rivers make up only 0.009% of water on Earth and ground water makes up 0.28%.Water is essential for all life forms. For example it makes up 60 to 70% by weight of all living organisms and is essential for photosynthesis. The viability of all life on Earth is determined chiefly by the presence of water, which is not evenly distributed on the planet. If it were, it would cover the entire surface to a depth of 3 km.Planet Earth: Fresh Water

James Hansen backs Peter Barnes
2008-06-07 08:19:00
Climate expert James Hansen endorses Peter Barnes ' charge the polluters and pay the people approach. Dr Hansen has his own variant called Carbon Tax and 100% Dividend. Andrew Revkin writes about this on the nytimes science blog Dot Earth:clipped from dotearth.blogs.nytimes.comIn Dr. Hansen?s approach, a straightforward rising tax is imposed on the carbon content of fuels, instead of Mr. Barnes?s notion of a shrinking supply of purchased, and traded, permits. But the basic concept, making polluters pay while shielding consumers from rising costs, is the same. (It?s part of a menu of moves he seeks, including an end by 2030 to coal-burning power plants unless the carbon dioxide is captured; shifts in farming and forestry to pull more of the gas from the air; and cuts in other heat-trapping substances, including methane and soot.)Here are the slides summarizing Dr. Hansen?s ?tax and dividend? plan for cutting greenhouse gases ? excerpted from a longer presentation he gave recently on ...

Incredible oil spike
2008-06-07 00:19:00
Another oil price record and this time it was a giant leap. Perhaps not so good for the pocketbook but hopefully a good push for the transition to cleaner energies.clipped from money.cnn.comNEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Oil prices shot up nearly $11 a barrel and settled Friday at a record $138.54 on geopolitical jitters, a dollar decline and a forecast that oil would hit $150 by July 4.Americans scaling down:
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Food on the table
2008-06-06 23:05:00
A heatwave has been hanging over Sweden lately. When the sun and warmth arrives the Swedes instinctively bring out their grills to eat outdoors among friends and family. You can feel the scent of grilled meat all over. Last weekend we actually grilled three days in a row and yesterday we did it again. A lot of meat but we did at least not grill any beef. We had chicken, salmon and pork.This evening I thought it was time for some vegan burgers again to compensate for the previous meat gluttony. I have been experimenting with different blends. Tonight's blend turned out to be the best one so far. These burgers were delicious!For the blend I used:red lentils (precooked)chickpeas (whole)chopped tomatoeschopped onions (precooked)chopped zuccinichopped fresh herbs (oregano, sage and parsley)flour
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Who killed the electric car?
2008-06-06 00:15:00
It was among the fastest, most efficient production cars ever built. It ran on electricity, produced no emissions and catapulted American technology to the forefront of the automotive industry. The lucky few who drove it never wanted to give it up. So why did General Motors crush its fleet of EV1 electric vehicles in the Arizona desert?Part 1Part 2Part 3Part 4 Part 5Part 6
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Cap and dividend
2008-06-04 22:59:00
Here is an alternative climate policy to the cap and trade policy now being debated in Washington DC: cap and dividend. The principles are explained below.clipped from www.capanddividend.orgCap and dividend starts with a descending economy-wide cap on carbon suppliers rather than carbon emitters. The way the cap works is extremely important.There are two possible places to cap carbon: (1) where CO2 leaves the economy and enters the atmosphere, and (2) where carbon enters the economy in the form of a fossil fuel. Economists call the former a downstream cap and the latter an upstream cap. clipped from www.capanddividend.orgIn choosing where to put the cap, it?s important to recognize how carbon differs from other pollutants. Most pollutants are impurities that can be regulated or removed where they are emitted. Carbon, however, gushes not just from a few pipes, but from hundreds of millions. Capping carbon emitters is therefore extremely difficult. To the extent it can be done, it wi...
More About: Dividend

The dangers of nuclear power
2008-06-04 22:09:00
Thursday 26 April 1986 became a momentous date in modern history, when one of the reactors at the Chernobyl nuclear power station in northern Ukraine exploded. It was the most significant reactor failure in the history of nuclear power, a Maximum Credible Accident (MCA).While watching this film I checked a rss news feed and saw that there had been a nuclear incident in Slovenia. Don't forget the dangers of nuclear power.Disaster at Chernobyl part 1Part 2Part 3Part 4Part 5
More About: Power , Nuclear , Nuclear power

Bush and his consumers
2008-06-03 21:41:00
clipped from uk.reuters.comWASHINGTON (Reuters) - Even before debate began on Monday on the first comprehensive climate change bill to reach the Senate floor, the White House said President George W. Bush would veto it in its current form.clipped from www.upi.comPresident George Bush Monday criticized sweeping climate change legislation being considered by the U.S. Senate, saying it would cost taxpayers $6 trillion."There's a much better way to address the environment than imposing these costs on job creators, which will ultimately have to be borne by American consumers," Bush said after a meeting with economists in Washington. "And I urge the Congress to be very careful about running up enormous costs for future generations of Americans." President Bush is concerned of the American consumers but as the Secretary General of the OECD says: "The costs of saving the planet is a fraction of the costs of inaction."
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Humty dumpty
2008-06-03 21:20:00
Hummer Dummy sat on a wall, Hummer Dummy had a great fall.clipped from www.latimes.comFor GM, pickups and SUVs have been deeply problematic for some time. But by far its worst division has been Hummer. Through April, Hummer was the worst-performing vehicle brand in the country, with sales down 29.6% from a year earlier, putting it below runners-up Mercury, Chrysler and Bentley."At this point, we are considering all options for the Hummer brand," Wagoner said. "Everything from a complete revamp of the product lineup to partial or complete sale of the brand."No possible buyer has been named for the division, which was for a few years -- when gasoline cost less than $3 a gallon -- one of GM's strongest. Last week, GM stock hit a 26-year low, falling to $17.38. At 11:15 this morning, the stock was unchanged at $17.43.

A climate neurotic's life in pictures
2008-06-03 09:14:00
Yesterday I was contacted by a journalist from Dagens Nyheter. He was looking for people from the new climate movement sweeping across Sweden to portray in an article. He asked how I had changed my lifestyle and if I had any good climate related attributes in my home or everyday life that he could take pictures of. I couldn't come up with any radical things so I don't think he will contact me again.I was inspired by the call so here are some glimpses from my life of doom and gloom.I used to have a bicycle trailer for the kids which I sometimes used for transporting stuff but the kids outgrew it and the design was impractical so I sold it.At work I still use a trailer though.The soda streamer.The cloth shopping bags.Biking all year round.Books to read.Documenting fossil monsters (I caught this Hummer yesterday, it felt like shooting a wild trophy).Documenting temperatures (I think this was January or February)LED-lights.Water conservation.The badge.Buying organic food.Trying out ve...
More About: Pictures , Life , Climate

I need a trailer
2008-06-01 22:48:00
I still use my damned car every Saturday to go to the big box district to buy food and occasionally something at Ikea. I am so fed up with it, got to get myself a decent bike trailer.
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Pass the Climate Security Act Now
2008-05-29 23:42:00
clipped from www.usatoday.comThe Senate next week is scheduled to debate legislation that represents the most comprehensive climate measure to date. Sponsored by Sens. Joe Lieberman, I-Conn., and John Warner, R-Va., the bill would establish a "cap and trade" system, limiting greenhouse gas emissions while allowing companies to buy and sell the right to emit specified amounts of pollution. Related:Article by Tony Blair in the Washington Post
More About: Security , Climate , Pass

1700 leading US scientists and economists call for swift and deep cuts
2008-05-29 23:07:00
clipped from www.ucsusa.orgWASHINGTON (May 29, 2008) ? More than 1,700 of the nation's most prominent scientists and economists today released a joint statement calling on policymakers to require immediate, deep reductions in heat-trapping emissions that cause global warming. Issued just days before the Senate begins debate on the Lieberman-Warner climate bill, the statement marks the first time leading U.S. scientists and economists have joined together to make such an appeal."There is a strong consensus that we must do something about reducing the emissions that cause global warming," said James McCarthy, president of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and one of the statement's authors. "The debate right now is about how much we need to cut. The fact that so many scientists and economists have spoken out and signed this letter should give policymakers the confidence that we can avert serious adverse climate impacts." "We urge U.S. policy makers to put our n...
More About: Deep , Scientists , Call , Leading , Cuts

Water problems in Barcelona
2008-05-28 22:11:00
Emergency water supplies arrive in the Spanish port of Barcelona which is grappling with a severe drought.Reservoirs in the region are only 25 percent full ahead of what's expected to be a blazing hot summer.clipped from www.independent.co.ukThe political battles now breaking out here could be a foretaste of the water wars that scientists and policymakers have warned us will be commonplace in the coming decades. The emergency water-saving measures Barcelona adopted after winter rains failed for a second year running have not been enough. The city has had to set up a "water bridge" and is shipping in water for the first time in the history of this great maritime city. A tanker from Marseilles with 36 million litres of drinking water unloaded its first cargo this week, one of a mini-fleet contracted to bring water from the Rhone every few days for at least the next three months. So humbled was Barcelona when prolonged drought forced it to ship in domestic water from Tarragona, 50 mil...
More About: Water , Problems

It's interesting to be human...or perhaps a cat
2008-05-27 21:53:00
We are entering times of probably radical changes and we fear it. We fear for what our kids will go through. We imagine dreadful scenarios. We fear what we don't know. We fear the dark. How nice it would be to be a cat, peacefully napping away in the day without any worries whatsoever, and at night happily exploring the dark with glowing yellow eyes.
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Preparedness
2008-05-25 10:01:00
clipped from green.yahoo.comConvinced the planet's oil supply is dwindling and the world's economies are heading for a crash, some people around the country are moving onto homesteads, learning to live off their land, conserving fuel and, in some cases, stocking up on guns they expect to use to defend themselves and their supplies from desperate crowds of people who didn't prepare.These energy survivalists are not leading some sort of green revolution meant to save the planet. Many of them believe it is too late for that, seeing signs in soaring fuel and food prices and a faltering U.S. economy, and are largely focused on saving themselves.Some are doing it quietly, giving few details of their preparations ? afraid that revealing such information as the location of their supplies will endanger themselves and their loved ones. They envision a future in which the nation's cities will be filled with hungry, desperate refugees forced to go looking for food, shelter and water.clipped...

Grabbing the shitty end of the stick
2008-05-23 22:43:00
"This particular stick is well and truly covered with shit from end to end." Mad professor talking about peak oil. Funny but alarming.
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Personal carbon trading rocks
2008-05-23 21:57:00
Here is a clip with Blur's bassist Alex James promoting personal carbon trading.
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Exploring personal carbon trading
2008-05-22 22:27:00
Matt prescott
More About: Personal , Trading , Carbon , Exploring

Peak oil in the main stream media
2008-05-22 16:39:00
Robert Hirschclipped from www.cnbc.com"The prices that we're paying at the pump today are, I think, going to be 'the good old days,' because others who watch this very closely forecast that we're going to be hitting $12 and $15 a gallon, and then, after that, when world oil production goes into decline, we're going to talk about rationing," Robert Hirsch, Management Information Services Senior Energy Advisor, said on CNBC's "Squawk Box." "In other words, not only are we going to be paying high prices and have considerable economic problems, but in addition to that, we're not going to be able to get the fuel when we want it." Boone Pickens
More About: Media , Main , Peak Oil , Stream , Peak

Crude @ 133 dollars a barrel
2008-05-21 23:32:00
clipped from uk.reuters.com WASHINGTON, May 21 (Reuters) - U.S. Energy Secretary SamBodman said on Wednesday that record oil prices fairly reflecttight supplies and strong global oil demand, and thatspeculators were not at fault for pushing up petroleum costs. "When you look at the numbers, the production of oil hasreally been flat," Bodman told reporters. "Clearly, we have anincreasing demand for oil in the world."
More About: Dollars , Barrel

Street dance!
2008-05-21 22:40:00
This evening climate street parties where coordinated simultaneously by Klimax in six Swedish cities: Stockholm, Göteborg, Malmö, Uppsala, Lund and Umeå. Cars were blocked off for 30 minutes, with the assistance of the police, letting happy people have the street for themselves. I wonder if somebody grasped the opportunity to do some fresh moves.
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Bamboo!
2008-05-21 21:26:00
Bamboo is strong and resilient...clipped from www.newsweek.comDespite its lowly reputation, bamboo may be the strongest stuff on the planet. It has greater tensile strength (or resistance to being pulled apart) than steel, and it withstands compression better than concrete. Both qualities are essential to keeping the plant, which grows to nearly 60 meters but is only as wide at the base as the very top, from falling over. It needs the compression strength to hold up its own weight and tensile strength to bend in the wind without breaking. "Our concept of strength is, it doesn't move, it doesn't break," says Dan Smith, who owns Smith & Fong, the largest manufacturer of bamboo plywood in the United States. "The Chinese concept is, you've got to bend with things. If you don't bend, you break. Bamboo's strength is in its ability to bend, and that's the miracle."...it grows quickly as weed and it grows up again when cut.clipped from www.newsweek.comThe Western mind is also open...
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Climate impact of food
2008-05-19 22:57:00
If we are going to make it or not depends on thousands of decisions. The decisions are seldom obvious and what was considered right one day may quickly change as new knowledge is gained. Going to the store to buy food is not a mindless task anymore- if you have insight it has become a nightmare. Here is a documentary from Swedish public TV (SVT) which discusses the complexities involved in indicating the climate impacts of various food productions. Unfortunately it is only in Swedish. Double click the window to enlarge. Clip from CNN featuring Tim Lang, creator of the Food Miles concept, discussing the carbon intensive food system of today.
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Eating oil
2008-05-19 21:36:00
A short animated film which depicts the tight oil linkage conventional food production has .
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New climate movement born
2008-05-18 21:50:00
Today a broad-based Swedish climate coalition was formed: Klimataktion. A lot of people showed up to participate in the birth of a movement that will hopefully be the beginning of a strong mobilization to fight the greatest threat we have ever faced. Join the movement here.
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Van Jones
2008-05-17 23:15:00
clipped from www.vanjones.netVan Jones is the founder and president Green For All, based in Oakland, California. The mission is to help build an inclusive, green economy - strong enough to lift millions of people out of poverty. Van is a tireless advocate, championing "green-collar jobs and opportunities" for disadvantaged people. He is committed to creating "green pathways out of poverty," while greatly expanding the coalition fighting global warming.Van has worked to combine solutions to America's two biggest problems: social inequality and environmental destruction. Under the slogan "green-collar jobs, not jails," he is calling for green economic development in urban America. Lecture by Van Jones: Building a green economy

Green collar jobs
2008-05-17 14:12:00
I know a plumber who as a side project has started selling and installing solar panels for water heating. So far his solar thing hasn't taken off but I guess it will in the years to come. Entrepreneurs like him will become the green collar people we so badly need to shift our destructive economy to a sustainable one.Van Jones on green collar jobs.
More About: Jobs , Green , Collar

Washing rugs
2008-05-16 23:42:00
Today when I came home with the kids a neighbor was washing rugs outside with a water hose. The kids went inside to watch a dvd about dinosaurs and I ended up chatting with a friend on facebook. After the dvd the kids went outside to play. The lady was still washing her rugs, the water rushing steaming hot from the hose. Then I finally pulled myself together to make dinner. When the food was ready about 40 minutes later I went outside to get the kids. The water was still running. Afterwards a the dinner table I could hear the irritating sound from the water flushing through the plumbings. After dinner the kids went out to play again and we could still hear the water running. Then I phoned my wife who was on her way home from Stockholm. I mentioned the water situation and she told me to talk to the neighbor but I didn't have the guts to do so. Did I have the right to? Shouldn't I mind my own business? After all, the water had just been flowing for three hours. Instead I went insid...
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Uproot the fossil fuel addiction!
2008-05-16 21:45:00
A Swedish climate change movement called Klimataktion is taking shape and it will officially be launched on May 18. It is meant to be a politically and religiously independent movement gathering individuals and groups from all parts of society. It has been proposed that the movement's objectives will be to:inform and educate the public about climate change. conduct research and study climate change and mitigation measures and policies.mobilize people to join public manifestations.collaborate with the international climate movement.The movement needs to grow into a massive strong being giving us the momentum and power necessary to uproot the fossil fuel addiction and take society to the next level.You can become a member by signing up here or by attending the constituting meeting held at the launching day. You can also join the facebook group. Unite!
More About: Fuel , Addiction , Fossil Fuel , Fossil