Tuesday, February 28, 2012

Climate Change and the Power of You


350.org PowerPoint Slideshow
I came across this old slideshow from 350.org meant to inspire others to join an effort to bring about change to the way humans impact the environment. The slideshow includes dates for the 2009 climate conference, so in that regard this is outdated. However, the bulk of this slideshow is helpful in showing the evidence of a warming globe and changing climate. It is also a massively important slideshow in that it calls to mind that there are solutions and that, we, the average person, can effect change. The situation may be dire, but we are not gone, so we can still do something about it. We are the hope for the future. Enjoy the slideshow and venture over to the 350 website. Nothing is better than the power of you!

Monday, February 27, 2012

Weather and Climate Change

There is another great article on the BBC. This one involves a just-released study that has linked some of the recent cold and snowy winters in Europe with melting ice in the Arctic. In brief, the study has found that with larger portions of the Arctic ocean staying ice-free longer into the Autumn season the atmosphere warms which then creates easterly winds which block milder, moister air that usually makes its way north in the winter. This blocking effect then allows cold air from the Arctic region to spill in, bringing with it heavy snow and bitter cold. During the mid-winter season this year, more than 200 people died when a deep freeze settled over Europe.

This study helps draw another link to the dangers of melting Arctic ice. It can radically change weather patterns, which can ultimately affect a regional, and then global, climate. It is also important to note, however, that weather and climate change is not global warming. For all the skeptics out there, snow and cold do not disprove a warming globe.

One scientist interviewed in the BBC article has pointed out that the changing climate and the extreme weather patterns are part of a amalgamation of changes from the "norm" which are working together to drive a changing climate. Each of these changes can ultimately be traced back to human impacts and activities. These changes are working together synergistically to create a far different world than we are used to as humans.

Studies like this are important, and the more they are done, the more they confirm that the planet is warming, and that there is a link between that warming and climatic patterns. As the human race continues to experience more and more extreme weather, I am confident that they are going to turn on the governments that aren't doing anything proactively to reduce human impacts on the environment and to encourage its citizens and businesses to change its bad environmental habits. I feel sorry for those in power at the time, because they will have to reckon with truth that day at the cost of their career. Science continues to show us that the truth will come forward.

Saturday, February 25, 2012

What Climate Change influences Outside of the Environment

We often do not think of the social and civilization implications of a changing climate. In this video we see that climate change doesn't just affect the environment. Serious climate change will reach right into the heart of society. I like this video because it shows how skeptics, who weren't scientists, became believers as they looked at the trends and threats from their field of expertise, in this case National Security.

Friday, February 24, 2012

66 Square Feet: The Jamaica Bay Gas Pipeline

I have just learned via 66 Square Feet that a gas pipeline has been approved by the U.S. House of Representatives. This natural gas pipeline is proposed to run through very sensitive marine and coastal ecosystems in both Queens and Brooklyn, here in New York City. This pipeline has not made it onto the radar for most individuals. My partner, who is on Manhattan's Community Board 2, chairs the committee on Environment, Public Health, and Public Safety and is fighting a similar pipeline that will run from New Jersey through the Hudson River and terminate in Manhattan's West Village. Even that proposed pipeline is not very well known by the general public.

This sort of steamrolling by oil and gas companies, along with their cronies in the legislatures of states and the nation, is all too common. Why was no public hearing held on this pipeline and the neighborhoods they will serve? Where is the environmental impact study? Surely with the pipeline running so close to wildlife reserves and known fragile ecosystems, there is an environmental impact study condemning such pipeline construction, or any other type of construction for that matter. We've got to send the message this election year that we are tired of such sneaky, back door deals that threaten the well-being of our natural environment and of our future health and safety. Vote the cronies out!

Please visit the above link to 66 Square Feet and read the important news with accompanying pictures. I thank Marie for being a valiant guardian and guide of the natural beauty this planet has to show us. Without her posting, I doubt any of us would know about what has happened.

Wednesday, February 22, 2012

A Little Humorous Truth

Here is a funny cartoon that aptly sums up what is going on in the media and politics about a variety of issues, especially global warming. This fits in with yesterday's post on Dr. Krosnick's expert viewpoint on why people are having a hard time accepting the reality of global warming. The cartoon is also sadly pointing out how scientific research is being marginalized in this nation by those in media, politics, and the public who would rather listen to pundits and special interests than experts with evidence. The cartoon is on ClimateBites.org which has several hilarious cartoons dealing with climate change.

Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Why It Is The Way It Is

Treehugger.com has a very good article with an accompanying video on why we have a continual debate in this country about global warming and climate change. It is a very informative video interview with Jon Krosnick who is a social psychologist. I'm including a similar interview video with Dr. Krosnick in this post, but I encourage you to visit the Treehugger post as well, in order to see the new interview. Remember, it's about understanding our opponents in order to make progress with them.


Monday, February 20, 2012

A Novel Idea

On Friday, The New York Times published an editorial that brought to light a change at the way scientists and politicians combat global warming. For the longest time, the largest scapegoat - justifiably so - has been Carbon Dioxide, or CO2. While it is the main greenhouse gas, CO2 is not the only one. The three other big contributors to raising global temperatures are soot, methane, and hydrofluorocarbons.

The Times editorial correctly identifies a problem that is happening with focusing our goal of stopping global warming by cutting CO2 emissions. With all the haggling and obstructions caused by the skeptics and denialists, it is hard to put into place meaningful reductions of this most odious of greenhouse gases. Also, CO2 stays in the atmosphere for a very long time. Between these two factors, we are seeing little effect on the atmospheric content of CO2 and so the globe continues to warm.

Now, scientists and politicians are banding together in a few nations to reduce their emissions of the three other greenhouse gases. While we can continue to work on reducing carbon dioxide emissions, we can also focus attention on reducing these other gases that warm the planet, but don't stay in the atmosphere for nearly as long as CO2. Not only can we combat all the major greenhouse gases, but we can actually have a chance at getting some of those gases out of the atmosphere sooner, giving us a chance to make the 2 degree Celsius cut that scientists say is the last acceptable temperature rise before disastrous climate change really sets in.

This solution fits into the regulatory category that many people despise. However, we must look at our approach to mitigating global warming - which is warming because of our energy activities - in a balanced way. We cannot just rely on technology, and we cannot just rely on regulations. We need both cleaner and more sustainable technologies to reduce our greenhouse gases, but we must also do all we can to make sure that our current practices of energy consumption do not continue to massively increase atmospheric greenhouse gases. I applaud the efforts of United States, Canada, Sweden, Mexico, Ghana and Bangladesh in creating a solution that is just another part of the grander solution in dealing with global warming. I encourage more of this brainstorming and implementation to take place, worldwide.

Saturday, February 18, 2012

Getting There

A recent report on Treehugger.com finds that the European Union's total gross energy consumption using clean renewables rose to 12.4% by the end of 2010. It may seem like a small number, but that is all of the energy consumed by Europeans: cars, homes, offices, water treatment plants, power plants, etc. The use of  "green" electricity rose to 19.8% in 2010. That is nearly a quarter of electrical consumption powered by clean alternatives to fossil fuels.

While it this is a laudable achievement for the Europeans, the rest of the world is still far behind. It would take major - maybe even radical - changes for the rest of us to catch up. That includes the United States. Beyond that, the small percentage raise in total energy usage from 2009 to 2010 (11.5% up to 12.4%) means it would take a much longer time than the 5 years the IEA projects we need to significantly reduce our greenhouse gas emissions by in order to stave off disastrous climate change. We need stronger and more significant jumps into producing and consuming clean energy worldwide.

We are getting there, but instead of taking the slow boat to China, let's get on the A-380. It requires bold decision making on the part of world leaders and it demands better ethics and morals from business and energy leaders. We must make the noise that is necessary (peacefully) in order for everything to come together. It's doubtful that we will see the perfect solution come about, compromise will be certain. However, we must ensure our world leaders get the compromise right in developing a clean and livable course for the future of humanity and every other living thing on this planet.

Friday, February 17, 2012

Eagle Webcam



Video streaming by Ustream I apologize for the ad that plays, but enjoy the live video of the Bald Eagle, an amazing bird of prey. Live webcam by Decorah Eagles

Thursday, February 16, 2012

The Tiger


 The tiger is a fearsome, but mysteriously magnificent, creature. Ranging from Siberia to India, tiger species have long been a part of several ecosystems. They are ferocious, to be sure. They are beautiful, beyond doubt. Because of their tendency to kill, and because of their amazing fur, tigers have been hunted and killed to the brink of extinction. There are only six subspecies left, and from those six subspecies, we get a meager 4,000 tigers today.

Approximately 100 years ago, there were more than 100,000 tigers in the world. It doesn't seem like a huge number, but there was a greater viability and diversity in that population than there is today. In the last decade alone, tiger populations have dropped 40%. It is sad to see this most elegant and mysterious predator brought to its knees.

Poaching for tiger parts is one of the leading causes in the decline of tiger populations. Combine that with habitat loss and understandably angry humans (when a tiger eats one of us), and you have a recipe for disaster. Fortunately, the BBC reports that the 13 countries wherein tigers reside have agreed to toughen up their laws for, and enforcement of, tiger protection. They are diverting money and manpower to crack down on poachers and the illegal tiger trade in an effort to keep tigers from the brink.  While many of these countries are considered "developing nations", it is heartening to see them take this stand. Without the support of wealthy nations, however, many of these 13 countries will have a hard time finding the money and retaining the political willpower to keep up the fight to save the tiger.

It is up to us to donate to organizations, such as the World Wildlife Fund, WWF, that can help these nations, and to encourage nations with the money and manpower (such as Russia) to help lead the way in habitat protection and effective crackdowns on poachers. Tigers have been a part of human cultures for so long, and unless we do something, several of the six subspecies are projected to become extinct in 20 years. To lose this predator would be to lose a part of ourselves and another predator which plays an important part in many ecosystems.

Wednesday, February 15, 2012

Coral Reefs

The above video is a bit vintage, but it helps identify the wonders of the coral reef ecosystem. Coral reef take up 0.1% of the ocean's subsurface, but they are home to 25% of marine life. That is a huge deal. Coral reefs are also thought to be more biodiverse than even tropical rainforests because the specialization of each species that inhabit the reef system.

I bring up coral reefs because they are in danger of becoming the first actual ecosystem that humans drive to extinction. While coral reefs are suffering from a range of maladies, each one can be traced back to human impacts. It is true that coral reefs are very sensitive, and in all other mass extinction events that have occurred on this planet, reefs were one of the first things to go. However, never before have another species been the cause of the ruin of this entire system. If we lose the corals, it could be tens of millions of years before they return.

I would like to share two excerpts from Dr. Peter F. Sale's book, Our Dying Planet. Dr. Sale is an expert in coral reef ecology. The first excerpt is about the importance of coral reefs to humans now. The second excerpt is what coral reefs are actually telling us about ourselves.

Hectare for hectare, coral reefs are economically the most valuable of all coastal marine ecosystems, whether one measures only the products we obtain from them or includes the environmental services they provide. With a growing world population that is increasingly coastal, these valuable ecosystems are only going to become more valuable if we can keep them with us. Their shoreline protection value alone will increase as sea levels rise and storm intensity increases. The economic cost of their loss will be felt.

Coral reefs are already telling us that pollution and overexploitation of biological resources can act synergistically to tip an ecosystem from one state to another, one of substantially lower economic value for us. They are also showing us how local stressors of various types can interact with climate change factors to result in less satisfactory outcomes for an ecosystem than if each operated separately. And their obvious decline in many locations over the past half-century is driving home to us just how serious our overuse of this planet may be.

We need coral reefs to survive and we need to get the whole globe on board. We couldn't live with ourselves if we lost the rainforests of the world. Why should we let their marine equivalents disappear? Help raise awareness of the dire state of coral reefs by bringing it up in conversation. They aren't gone yet, so there is time to save them.


Monday, February 13, 2012

Transportation Is For Schmucks!

I have heard mutterings around New York City about outrage over a proposed transportation bill in the U.S. House of Representatives that would take away the majority of funding for mass transit provided by the federal government to cities and states throughout the nation. I didn't know much more about it, until I came across this blog post on Triplepundit.com earlier this morning. House Bill HR 7 is another Republican attempt, it seems, to hand this country over to the fossil fuel industry, namely Big Oil.

While the bill is touted by the Republicans as an effective means of saving time and money in getting road projects done, there are a few snippets of information within the "propagandized" summary version of the bill made available to the public that gives away what they don't want you to know. The Republicans are proposing that environmental assessments be reduced so that there isn't so much red tape when it comes to renovating, expanding, or building a new roadway. They are also proposing much freer regulations that allow a more privatized approach to highways and other forms of public transportation (you should read that as higher costs to the public consumer).

What they don't tell you within their summary - at least I failed to find it - is that they want to free up most coastal areas, including the much hotly debated Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska, to oil and gas drilling. That is the key. The Republicans are puppets, and the fossil fuel industry is the puppet master. Many coastal areas where drilling isn't allowed have unique and fragile ecosystems that would be unalterably hurt by any kind of drilling, even exploratory drilling. The bill does take away funding from mass transit programs by allocating the funds obtained from a federal gas tax to other "more important" issues. You know that there is a problem with the bill when even Transportation Secretary, and Republican, Ray LaHood refuses to stand by the bill, saying that there are serious flaws with it.

Republicans, Republicans what shall we do with you? You have no good ideas to share with us. You feign patriotism and morality, but you push ecologically, economically, and socially immoral legislation our way. It's time the American public woke up to your tricks and slimy ways. I think it's time America found two new political parties to represent them.




Saturday, February 11, 2012

The Results Are In

2011 was another hot year. The 10th hottest on record actually. According to a report published on Skepticalscience.com, while many places on the planet were a bit cooler due to La Nina, the overall global temperature continued to be hot. The report also tears apart a scientific prediction put forth by a climate skeptic three years ago that the planet would cool due to La Niña.

This is another piece of evidence that should tell us, the general public, that global warming in separate from local weather. While global warming does bring about climate change which can affect local weather habits, even to the extreme, it is in reference to global average temperature increasing. Many skeptics of global warming point to local weather as proof that it is all a "hoax". However, the science is in the planetary average, hence, global warming. It is important to point this out if you happen to find yourself in a conversation with an "unbeliever." This is scientific data that has been gathered again and again. Are we really going to discount it?

Friday, February 10, 2012

"Sir, Is This The Entire Bill?"

If you travel the world outside the United States, more often than not, you will have no idea how much a tank of gas costs in a foreign country. You may see a station sign advertising gasoline at a number that looks much lower than ours over here. However, you should be reminded that they sell gasoline by the liter, not by the gallon. One gallon is 3.79 liters. Many of us have been told that gas prices are higher in foreign countries, via the news, but do we really know the cost of a gallon of gas in a different nation? The current price for a gallon of gas in the UK, after all the conversions, is $8.15. In Turkey, it is roughly $9.63 a gallon. Only in very, very oil rich countries do you see gas prices sink below $1 a gallon.

So, how is it that in the U.S. our gas prices have always been significantly lower than the majority of the world? On Treehugger.com is a startling, and thorough, exposé on why fuel prices (coal and oil) remain so low, and why they don't reflect the true costs of obtaining the material, refining, and transport. This post delves into what the actual cost of our tank of gas should be per gallon based on what goes into getting making that product available to us at the pump or when we turn on the lights at home. When you think about it, you realize that we have become a nation that is addicted to fossil fuels because the fossil fuel industry has joined with the government in baiting us with prices that we can't resist.

If Americans were to pay an amount equal to Great Britain or Turkey for that gallon of gas, I think it is safe to say that the general public would demand better forms of public transportation to get them around, and more of it. They would be clamoring for biofuels, wind energy, solar energy, and other cleaner alternatives, because these newer technologies are actually bringing their associated energy prices below those of fossil fuels. We wouldn't be so hesitant to leave the bed of fossil fuels.

I know the economy is tough, but I think it's about time Americans pay the true cost of oil, gas, and coal like much of the world does. I'm confident that it would make the public angry enough they would demand a change from a fossil fuel based economy to a clean, renewable energy based economy. Until then, America will continue to lag behind the movement to lessen human impacts on the environment because we are just too comfortable with our inexpensive fossil fuels to give them up.

Wednesday, February 8, 2012

Make the Future Sustainable Now

Here is a great video of Dr. Paul Raskin describing what it will take to create a sustainable world in which we can live and reduce our negative impact on the global environment. It takes knowledge and imagination to create the solutions to our problems.



Tuesday, February 7, 2012

Conservatives Are the Same Everywhere

It seems that the UK has a large share of conservatives within Parliament that have also been bought out by the fossil fuel industry. According to the BBC news, more than 100 members of Parliament, known as MPs, signed a letter to Prime Minister David Cameron  asking him to reduce subsidies to the wind farm industry. They also asked Mr. Cameron to make it easier for residents to derail plans for new wind farms. Gee, that sounds like something the Republicans would do over here in the States.

For the time being, Mr. Cameron's office has made clear that it believes the UK needs to encourage the move to clean, sustainable energy. That is comforting, for now. 99% of the signatures on the letter were from members of the Tory party, the Prime Minister's own party. If these MPs continue to make noise over this, Mr. Cameron may bow to pressure if he feels his authority is threatened. Any readers in the UK should make diligent effort to let Mr. Cameron know that wind farms should not be suppressed, and that policy regarding wind energy should not be dictated indirectly by the fossil fuel industry.

Interestingly enough, The Guardian posted a map that shows all wind farms which are operating, under construction, or proposed. The map also shows the districts the conservative MPs are from within the UK.  It is intriguing to see that the conservatives who wrote and signed the letter were from England and Wales only. The Scots and Northern Irish don't seem to have too much of a problem with the wind farms as no one from those countries signed the letter.

As I have said before, wind energy is one of many solutions to reducing our greenhouse gas emissions while producing usable energy. It deserves to be lifted up by the same subsidies that has benefited the fossil fuel industry for so long. I don't see conservative leaders, regardless of which nation they are in, proposing to cut subsidies for oil, coal, and gas companies or to make it easier for residents to oppose a new oil or gas derrick from going up. If you want to be a leader, then lead. You don't get points for being a puppet to a company, especially if that company happens to be a part of an industry that wants to deny scientific reality.





Monday, February 6, 2012

Our Dying Planet

I've been reading the book Our Dying Planet by Peter F. Sale and I must say this is definitely a book that everyone should read. I am not yet finished with the book, but I am very impressed with what I have read. Dr. Peter Sale is an ecologist and he writes about the various forces that are converging upon our global ecosystems that threaten the very balance of life. When we think of things like global warming, climate change, loss of biodiversity, overfishing, etc. we tend to make it a separate entity, brought about by one or two influences, and solvable in a direct, if not isolated, way. What Dr. Sale brings to the table as an ecologist, is a knowledge of how all of these things are interconnected, are influenced by many various factors, and are not easily solvable because of their interconnectedness.

One may be afraid that because Dr. Sale is a scientist and expert that the book would be largely written in "science-speak". That is hardly the case. Dr. Sale writes with ease, confidence, and an ability to make the scientific data absorbable to the general public and those unfamiliar with scientific methods. Ecology is a science that deals with the interconnectedness of all living things and the environment that they live in. Therefore, this discipline is essential in helping us understand what is happening to our planet - with the great threats that lie ahead - and in developing the solutions to the problems.

Despite the title being a bit gloomy, the author is quite adamant throughout that we can help solve the mounting problems and there is no need to be in complete despair. We all need to be aware of the cacophony of issues our planet is facing ecologically. We also need to know that we can be a force for positive change. We don't have to continue on the present path, we can both be prosperous and respect the other living things on this planet. I encourage you to either buy the book, or check it out from your local library. It is worth the read, and it is one more tool in becoming informed. Remember, when we become correctly informed, we can then effect change for good.


Saturday, February 4, 2012

How Do You Deal With Illogical Thinkers?


A very interesting news article was posted yesterday on The New York Times website. It was also re-posted on msnbc.com. It deals with a very specific issue concerning various individuals and groups who are linking up with the Tea Party over green projects being instituted by local and state governments. These groups are fighting the implementation of green initiatives adopted by the government on the basis that these projects are part of larger plan by the United Nations to take over the world. Their view is that the U.N. is bent on world domination and will take away our freedoms, and they will do it by encouraging green technology being used by federal, state, and local governments as a means of spying on the people.

Now, you need to read the New York Times article to really appreciate the length of time these groups have been about this business, what some of their specific concerns are, and how they have been gaining momentum with the help of the Tea Party in the last two years. It is a bit scary to me, even though their numbers may be small, how these individuals can be this reckless in their reasoning and their claims. Everyone has a right to their opinion and point of view, and I'm sure they found some sort of basis for their claims, but I am baffled by this. This very loud minority of individuals is gaining sway with an even louder Tea Party that wants to stop any further implementation of government backed "green plans". Many have dismissed the Tea Party, and many more have dismissed these groups afraid of a U.N. take over, but even the Times article points out that they have started to actually become effective because we haven't taken them seriously.

My question is how do you deal with these people? They are obviously not thinking in reality, and no matter of reasoning with them will make them see the error of their logic. However, we now know that we cannot just ignore them, because they are starting to cause chaos in the move to a more sustainable and eco-friendly future. I have absolutely no idea how to deal with this problem. We need to think of a solution, because we risk the chance of having a "greener" future derailed by people who view global warming as a hoax and the U.N. as an evil "Orwellian" empire-in-the-making. Let's brainstorm this for a bit, and will someone in the smart think tanks of the nation also take this up and help develop a solution? We cannot let crazy and unfounded claims guide our society or the human race. We risk our future and we risk our lives by giving into such misinformation and falsehoods. This much is clear from the last three years though, we cannot just dismiss them, because they will cause massive damage. Developing a good solution to deal with these groups is the only correct course of action.



Thursday, February 2, 2012

Wind On The Water

Today's post will be brief. On Treehugger.com is an article about how the Obama administration has finally put into motion an off-shore windfarm in the Mid-Atlantic region of the U.S. The article points out how this would be the very first off-shore windfarm to actually be built in the U.S. The article also draws attention to the fact that it has taken nearly a decade just to move forward with this one project. Across the world, many nations have already built off-shore windfarms. The U.S. is making steps, but it is showing how far behind it has fallen.

Wednesday, February 1, 2012

Remember Reality

Skepticalscience.com referred yesterday to the latest op-ed written by climate skeptics on why nothing should be done to address climate change. The author of the blog article pulled apart the skeptics and their tactics one by one, showing both their lack of knowledge and ties to the fossil fuel industry. The author then proved point by point that the "facts" that these skeptics used in their op-ed were completely cooked up.

It's important to be reminded that disinformation continues to be spread to the general public regarding global warming and climate change. It is done in a way that tries to mask reality and present it as the truth. Because there even continues to be a debate about global warming proves that these tactics are effective enough. The longer that action and solutions to addressing the warming globe are deferred, the more fossil fuel giants and other industries win.

These climate skeptics may indeed be scientists, but their ties, their outdated credentials, and their fake facts prove that they don't speak for science. The consensus among scientists has been communicated to the public, and the real facts are disseminated for our consumption. Reality is in front of us, and even if skeptics try to disguise it to throw us off the trail, it is still reality. Unmask those who try and offer you this false reality.