February 2012
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AtlanticCities: How Climate Change Could Be the... →
“L.A. still gets nearly 90 percent of its drinking water from out-of-town resources, just as it has for more than a century. But the Sierra Nevada snowpack could shrink by as much as 90 percent by 2100, experts say. Runoff already peaks 10 to 15 days earlier today than it did 50 years ago, according to a 2008 Purdue University study.
Meanwhile, aquifers along the coast of Los Angeles...
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U.S. cities try to adapt to climate change →
Adapt to climate change? While some members of Congress debate its scientific validity, U.S. cities are going beyond efforts to mitigate climate change with lower greenhouse gas emissions. They’re at the forefront of an emerging trend: adaptation.
“It’s a new field,” says Brian Holland, director of climate programs at ICLEI-Local Governments for Sustainability USA. His...
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WatchPosted by a great tumblrer: skepttv:
Short film dives into landfill gas
I want to share a short video by documentary filmmaker Gary Hustwit and director Jessica Edwards. The Landfill is a short (three minute) film about the often overlooked business of dealing with the things we no longer want to deal with – you know, things like old tires, uneaten food, and other gross things that I won’t...
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How to stop fishermen fishing →
“Fishermen generally understand the risks of overfishing. Yet still they flout quotas, where they exist. That is often because they take a short-term view of the asset—they would rather cash in now and invest the money in something else. And it is invariably compounded by a commons-despoiling feeling that if they don’t plunder, others will.
In most fisheries, the fishermen would make...
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“The lack of scientific evidence proving cause and effect between incidents like...”
– Read more: BBC, Indian Country Today
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FLASH! Obama caves: Keystone XL Pipeline to be... →
The White House issued a statement supportive of TransCanada’s latest plan, saying, “The President welcomes today’s news that TransCanada plans to build a pipeline to bring crude oil from Cushing, Oklahoma, to the Gulf of Mexico.”
“As the President made clear in January, we support the company’s interest in proceeding with this project, which will help...
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MIT: China's pollution costs $112B in annual... →
“China’s unprecedented growth is carrying a steadily steeper price tag as its air pollution hikes the nation’s health care costs, finds a new study by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Although China has made substantial progress in reducing its air pollution, MIT researchers say its economic impact has jumped from $22 billion in 1975 to $112 billion in 2005. The...
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What is California SB 375? (HealthyCal.org) →
Been waiting for this. Brown’s Office of Planning and Research called me late last year to help with the California’s adaptation workshops.
latimes:
healthycal:
Groundbreaking legislation could change how neighborhoods are designed in California, curbing sprawl and creating safer, more walkable communities. But to make sure the law promotes public health on all of these fronts,...
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The Callus: GM's Sticky Green Issue →
Thanks man! Below, The Callus responds to me about GM’s new green campaign. The issue ties into GM contacting me to plug their green campaign called “Carbon Stories” on my tumblr. I posted something last month about it, publicly questioning various aspects of their intent and sincerity. Privately, though, I complained to their PR contact that 1) the public would be confused by...
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This Week's Free Science Online Seminars from... →
OneNOAA Science Seminars: February 2012 (click on seminar title to access full presentation details; subject to change) Note: Every seminar includes a link to add the presentation to your personal google calendar. You can view also all of the seminars in google calendar format. Feb 27: The NOAA Habitat Blueprint: A Framework to Improve Habitat for Fisheries, Marine Life, and Coastal...
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““In 1989 when I first climbed Everest there was a lot of snow and ice but now...”
– ‘Super sherpa’ says climate change may make Mount Everest unclimbable, via Rawstory
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Sea Level Rise Adaptation Strategy Approved for... →
The Sea Level Rise Adaptation Strategy for San Diego Bay, released on February 16th - one of the nation’s first regional approaches to sea level rise adaptation - resulted from the efforts of a broad collaboration of stakeholders, including the local governments around San Diego Bay, the Port of San Diego, San Diego Airport Authority, and many others. The strategy document, prepared by ICLEI...
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Watchr3darch:
Lowline: An Underground Park in NYC’s Lower East Side
Learn more and help fund this project over at Kickstarter.com
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Breaking: BP looks to settle Gulf of Mexico oil... →
Over 225,000 claimants have already split nearly $20 billion from BP. The trial was set to begin in Louisiana Federal Court tomorrow. But, it’s being speculated that BP is looking to avoid a $100 billion liability.
More from USA Today
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Analysis: US Farmers May Fail in Fertilizer... →
Interesting pushback by farmers against fertilizer makers. Farmers are delaying buying fertilizer in protest of high prices. Free markets, indeed…
fertilizermarkets:
Steve Georgi is playing chicken with the world’s biggest fertilizer makers.
The Indiana corn grower has postponed buying the fertilizer he needs for spring planting for only the second time in 35 years, angry that prices for...
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LEGO buys $500 million worth of wind turbines →
Only in Denmark…
citymaus:
The world’s third-largest toy manufacturer is going to be putting “made with wind power” labels on all those boxes of LEGOs, and not just because they bought their power from utilities with wind turbines. Kirkbi A/S, the family holding company that owns LEGO, will be buying actual wind turbines representing fully a third of an offshore wind farm, reports...
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Free sustainable materials book. Click here to... →
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Arctic temperature anomaly patterns →
visualoop:
Via
hersquishy asked: Hi Michael, my name is David and I am extremely interested in the line of work that you are in. I am currently serving in the Army but am trying to get on the right path of schooling in order to be able to pursue some sort of "green" degree. I would like to do more engineering and design work so if you have any tips, advice, or general experiences to share, they would be much...
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A nurse has recorded the most common regrets of... →
kateoplis:
1. I wish I’d had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me.
2. I wish I hadn’t worked so hard.
3. I wish I’d had the courage to express my feelings.
4. I wish I had stayed in touch with my friends.
5. I wish that I had let myself be happier.
Read on.
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No Evidence That Fracking Contaminates... →
“It’s not fracking itself, but the sloppy practices surrounding it—or pre-existing issues that hadn’t been studied before fracking started—that cause groundwater contamination, a study released in Vancouver has found.
In other words, fracking is only as good, or harmful, as the companies that practice it. And groundwater needs to be studied in places where fracking is planned, as well...
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Ecuador court rejects $18 billion Chevron oil... →
(Reuters) - A court in Ecuador has rejected an order by arbitrators that an $18 billion pollution ruling against Chevron should be frozen, but the judges referred an appeal by the U.S. oil company to the country’s Supreme Court.
A year after the landmark decision against Chevron, a panel working for The Hague’s Permanent Court of Arbitration told Ecuador last week to take all...
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GOP Not Listening to Its Own Scientists on Climate... →
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Greg Melander: What We Still Don't Know →
gregmelander:
The big questions still unanswered. What’s at Earth’s Core? Is time an illusion? How does a fertilized egg become a human? What happened to the Neanderthals? Why do we sleep? Where did life come from? How can observation affect the outcome of an experiment? How do entangled particles communicate? Why do placebos work? What is the universe made of? What is the purpose of noncoding...
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Supreme Court to Hear Affirmative Action Case →
Heads up:
infoneer-pulse:
In a 2003 decision that the majority said it expected would last for 25 years, the Supreme Court allowed public colleges and universities to take account of race in admission decisions. On Tuesday, the court signaled that it might end such affirmative action much sooner than that.
By agreeing to hear a major case involving race-conscious admissions at the University...
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Indigenous People Vulnerable to Climate Change →
“Researchers say indigenous people are among the most vulnerable to climate change. They’re studying how extreme weather events can trigger more disease outbreaks.
Scientists say extreme weather events have accompanied a rise in global temperatures. Droughts, heavy rains and floods have put indigenous people around the world at risk.
“I would say that indigenous people are particularly...
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National Fish, Wildlife and Plants Climate... →
In partnership with state, tribal, and federal agency partners, the Obama Administration released the first draft national strategy to help decision makers and resource managers prepare for and help reduce the impacts of climate change on species, ecosystems, and the people and economies that depend on them. The draft National Fish, Wildlife and Plants Climate Adaptation Strategy, is available for...
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Peter Gleick Admits to Deception in Obtaining... →
Mixed feelings abound as famed scientist admits to being the source of leaking the Heartland Institute’s internal climate denial strategy plus other documents.
Since the release in mid-February of a series of documents related to the internal strategy of the Heartland Institute to cast doubt on climate science, there has been extensive speculation about the origin of the documents and...
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An Exodus From the 'Burbs? →
Excellent story from USNews.
usnews:
Suburbs May be Losing Their Luster to Home Buyers.
“Many dwellings built during the boom years—whether now offered for sale by banks or homeowners wishing to move—are in the wrong locations or badly configured,” Peter Morici, professor of economics at the University of Maryland, wrote in an E-mail. “Much of that housing was premised on cheap energy—far from...