Climate change video contest
http://vimeo.com/climatematters The three winners will receive cash prizes through a pre-loaded Brighter Planet Visa credit cards: 1st place: $3,0002nd place: $1,0003rd place: $500 Overview and guidelines The contentof the video must relate to climate change and not to the support of oropposition to any candidate for public office or any political party. […]
Eco Geek
The name says it all. These guys blog about green technology. Our attention was caught by a product review, an electric product producing compost in your apt. or house. Priced around $300, this product is a luxury—you can actually make compost in a 5-gallon pickle bucket (which you can usually get for free by asking […]
EPA admits climate change a human health problem
Well, the EPA (US Environmental Protection Agency) has acknowledged that climate change poses health and lifestyle risks. In a Reuters report filed last week, Joel Scheraga, agency representative is quoted as saying ""Climate change poses real risk to human health and the human systemsthat support our way of life in the United States." Possible risks […]
Facebook app tracks energy consumption
Peer pressure’s getting employed in a new Facebook application that monitors power consumption. Called GreeNet, it tracks the user’s energy consumption patterns via data from electric companies. If you engage in energy-saving activities you get virtual flowers on Facebook. GreeNet is designed by Kevin Muise, an MA student and Jin Fan, a third-year undergrad, of […]
Fishmobiles galore
We were looking for the Fishmobile designed by Urban Studio Brooklyn and Habana Works and found this one instead, an art car which frequents Burning Man–we like it so much we couldn’t resist posting it here.(What can we say: we’re fans of Burning Man, even though it may have gotten too big for its britches.) […]
Green For All
Greening the US plus jobs for the job-less. A win-win if I ever saw one. increasing the flow of green to the disenfranchised in the forms of jobs hence income increasing American’s use of green energy http://www.greenforall.org/
Half US corals reported at risk
In a 569-page document released Monday at the 11th International Coral Reef Symposium, NOAA reports that almost half of all coral reef ecosystems under U.S. jurisdiction are in poor or fair condition. Threats to corals include coastal development, fishing, sedimentation,recreational use, and climate-related effects of coral bleaching,disease and ocean acidification.
House passes ocean acidification bill
The US House of Representatives passed H.R.4174today, ocean acidification-related legislation. Details: Title: To establish an interagency committee to develop an oceanacidification research and monitoring plan and to establish an oceanacidification program within the National Oceanic and AtmosphericAdministration. Sponsor: Rep Allen, Thomas H. [ME-1](introduced 11/14/2007) Cosponsors (17) Related Bills:S.1581Latest Major Action: 7/9/2008Passed/agreed to in House. […]
Islands in the line of fire
It seems that, just as island nations have to come to terms with global warming before the rest of us, the same may be true of ocean acidification. When you think about it, it stands to reason: many islands are protected by coral reefs from storms and cyclones. If the reefs are endangered, so are […]
Marine Ecosystem Response to “Ocean Acidification” Due to Atmospheric CO2 Enrichment
ReferenceVogt, M., Steinke, M., Turner, S., Paulino, A., Meyerhofer, M.,Riebesell, U., LeQuere, C. and Liss, P. 2008. Dynamics ofdimethylsulphoniopropionate and dimethylsulphide under different CO2 concentrations during a mesocosm experiment. Biogeosciences 5: 407-419. What was doneEffects of atmospheric CO2enrichment on various marine microorganisms and DMS production werestudied in nine marine mesocosms maintained within 2-meter-diameterpolyethylene bags submerged […]
More about the European Project on Ocean Acidification (EPOCA)
More about EPOCA, from gattuso’s website: "The EU FP7 Integrated Project EPOCA (European Project on OCeanAcidification) was launched in June 2008 with the overall goal toadvance our understanding of the biological, ecological,biogeochemical, and societal implications of ocean acidification (Fig.1). The EPOCA consortium brings together more than 100 researchers from27 institutes1 and 9 European countries. The […]
Ocean acidification and the Southern Ocean
http://www.aad.gov.au/default.asp?casid=33583 "Scientists at the Australian Antarctic Division and the Antarctic Climate and Ecosystems Cooperative Research Centre,based in Hobart, are conducting a range of experiments on plankton andsediments from the Southern Ocean, to determine the effect ofincreasing CO2 on marine organisms and the impacts this will have on the ecosystem. A research voyages in 2007, the […]
Ocean chemistry 101 for the lay person
The Yale Forum on Climate Change & the Media just published a very good article by Marah J. Hardt and Carl Safina explaining ocean acidification. Their primary audience is journalists, but any layperson will find it a valuable resource for understanding the issue. "Changing ocean chemistry threatens the survival of marine life asmuch as warming […]
Perusing the Peterkin Papers
The more I read about possible solutions to the problem of oceanacidification which involve adding things to the ocean, the more I’mreminded of a chapter in The Peterkin Papers, a classic collection ofchildren’s stories. The Peterkins are a large family, characterized bytheir complete lack of commonsense. One morning, Mrs. Peterkinmistakenly adds salt to her tea […]
Photos from our California shoot, Jan. 2008
Portland becomes a perennial food forest
We’re hearing a lot about eating local as one of the best ways to reduce your carbon footprint. So increasing the amount of food grown in urban areas seems to make sense. In this video, depave.org instigates the conversion of a disused parking lot in Portland, OR, into a community garden and gathering place. The […]
Prince Charles fuels his Aston Martin with wine
"It is certainly a vintage vehicle. And now Prince Charles’s beloved Aston Martin DB6 is running on vintage too. A nice little white from a vineyard in Wiltshire, to be precise. Aspart of cutting his carbon footprint, the prince has converted the38-year-old classic car – a 21st birthday present from the Queen – torun on […]
Reefs may “unglue” in high carbon-dioxide oceans
"Cements that bind individual coral skeletons and larger coral reefstructures are predominantly absent in waters with naturally highlevels of carbon dioxide (CO2), making these reefs highly susceptible to a wearing down of their physical framework, say scientists with NOAA’s Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory in Miami, Fla. and other institutions. The study, released in the […]
Sea fertilizing solution for ocean acidification
Can phytoplankton absorb the excess CO2 in the oceans? Some scientists have suggested this as a solution: adding iron to the ocean’s surface to encourage the growth of these tiny plants. The first to suggest this was oceanographer John Martin in the late 1980s. In May, 200 countries reached an agreement during the ninth Conference […]
Shopping for a green sleeve for our new laptop
We just invested in a new laptop, a MacBook Pro. We’re shopping for a protective sleeve, so we can carry it around safely. Want to go as sustainable as we can with the purchase, live up to our aspirations if we can. We’ve done a bit of research, and have found the following links to […]
Shopping for green laptop sleeve
Well, such a thing may exist only in our dreams.But thanks to a kind friend–Steven Volynets from GoodCleanTech–we’ve found something pretty close from a company called Simple Shoes. Affordable, cute, responsively sourced: yup, pretty close. The materials are hemp, organic cotton, jute, felt. No cherry red or golden scales. We’re leaning toward the burnt brick. […]
The Eur-Oceans Project offers ocean acidification 101
A short video intro to the basics of ocean acidification, courtesy of the Eur-Oceans Project, a network of research teams co-funded by the European Union. A bit dry but some nice graphics. Also available in French for our francophone friends.
The Gore 10-Year Challenge
Al Gore threw down the gauntlet yesterday, challenging the U.S. to go completely carbon-free in its energy sources within ten years. We have the technology to do it, he claimed, speaking in DC to an enthusiastic crowd. The 50-year goals politicians have been setting, eg, at the recent G8 meetings, just don’t cut it: they’re […]
Up-to-date info on climate issues from scientists
RealClimate is a commentary site on climate science by working climate scientists for the interested public and journalists.Their goal: " to provide a quick response to developing stories and provide the context sometimes missing in mainstream commentary." They eschew discussion of the political and economic implications of their reports; however, their posts often engender extensive, […]
What we know is a drop in the ocean
It’s darn expensive studying the ocean, as two Australian scientists pointed out recently. That’s the reasonwe know a lot more about what’s going on above sea level. ‘"Marine ecosystems are undoubtedly under-resourced,overlooked and under threat and our collective knowledge of impacts onmarine life is a mere drop in the ocean,’ wrote Dr Anthony Richardson,from The […]