Your Green Ability » climate

Manchester climate risk lecture special offer extended

Tue, 26 Apr 2011 02:00:41 +0000

Readers have until 3 May to take advantage of special ticket price

Read the original post:
Manchester climate risk lecture special offer extended

Young Voices on Climate Change

Mon, 25 Apr 2011 03:35:11 +0000

, Sometimes, when Looking at the treasure trove that is the web, we find things that just appeal. And this video clip which is actually a year old, was one of those ones that just appealled . Thanks for making it guys. We think what you are doing is great.

Read the rest here:
Young Voices on Climate Change

2012 Summer Games Environmental Report Released

Sat, 23 Apr 2011 21:07:31 +0000

Unlike the majority of Olympics preceding it, the 2012 Olympic Games in London are making a point to focus on the environment. The work which goes into creating an Olympics is immense, such as the amount of building which generally goes into the games. In addition, the number of people attending the games increases the carbon footprint significantly. So for the 2012 games, officials are aiming to drastically reduce the carbon footprint of the games. The organizers of the 2012 London games recently released a report detailing the progress made to include the environment in their decision making. Five aspects the organizers have taken a great effort to include in the planning include climate change, waste, biodiversity, inclusion and healthy living.

See the original post:
2012 Summer Games Environmental Report Released

10 non-boring ideas about the environment

Sat, 23 Apr 2011 06:37:51 +0000

by Jess Zimmerman. Climate alarmism is counterproductive , and rah-rah Earth fandom is boring. But there are still some fresh perspectives out there — some are a little nutty, sure, but they’re a change from the standard fare. Alexis Madrigal at the Atlantic has rounded up ten interesting ideas about the environment, so you can try them on for size. Think of it as a shopping spree to expand your idea wardrobe — even if none of them end up being your idea LBD. Some of our favorites: Looking at nature makes you a better human (#2) Instead of saving the habitats, we should just move the animals (#5 — Richard Branson likes this one already !) Bacteria may be basically a giant brain (#8) We are the most environmentally-conscious generation yet — screw you, agrarian ancestors (#9) More at the Atlantic , plus pretty pictures. Happy Earth giant metaorganism (#4) day, folks!

View post:
10 non-boring ideas about the environment

A faith-based wake-up call on Earth Day

Sat, 23 Apr 2011 06:37:50 +0000

Bishop Gene Robinson in a CAP repost . Earth Day 2011 is also Good Friday. In the midst of budget cut proposals, compromises on services to the poor and needy, and a rush to preserve the wealth of America’s top-earning 1 percent, it is not surprising that the environment is all but forgotten. Ignoring environmental issues will cost us, too, however. Current efforts to rein in spending and reduce the federal deficit are all done in the name of future generations who, the thinking goes, should not have to shoulder the burden of massive federal debt perpetrated by previous generations. This sounds reasonable. But at the same time we are neglecting climate change and other environmental problems that will affect not just our children and grandchildren but every living thing on earth. What good will a manageable debt be if we can’t breathe the air, drink the water, or withstand the sun’s harmful rays? The little attention that is paid to the environment in the current budget debate is troubling.

More here:
A faith-based wake-up call on Earth Day

How Tim Pawlenty ditched his arctic explorer bestie and turned his back on climate change

Fri, 22 Apr 2011 23:47:02 +0000

by Jess Zimmerman. This is like something out of Mean Girls : Former Minnesota gov Tim Pawlenty used to pal around with this amazing arctic explorer dude, Will Steger, having slumber parties and plotting how to get the GOP to believe in climate change. Then Pawlenty fell in with a clique, the GOP Presidential Hopefuls, and if he wanted to impress his new friends, he had to turn his back on his old one. And they didn’t even talk anymore! And they sat at different lunch tables! And Pawlenty wrote mean things about climate change anonymously on the bathroom wall! Seriously, Steger seems like a mensch and is trying not to say anything too mean, but there is a lot of pathos here: The governor backed out of the trip and then skipped his final scheduled forum with Steger. Later, he ignored the recommendations produced by the Minnesota Climate Change Advisory Group (of which Steger was a member) that he had convened with much fanfare just a little more than a year earlier. And he began using global warming as a punch line, not a talking point. Pawlenty’s split with Steger—and climate change 180—was striking. When the Republican National Convention came to St.

View original post here:
How Tim Pawlenty ditched his arctic explorer bestie and turned his back on climate change

Why did environmentalists pursue cap-and-trade and was it a doomed strategy?

Fri, 22 Apr 2011 00:34:45 +0000

We’re starting to see pieces of counterfactual history on the climate bill in The New Republic and elsewhere based in part on discredited scholarship . Since cap-and-trade has been so vilified by the entire right wing and even some on the left, I thought I would try to set the record straight on some key points. I’m not here to say cap-and-trade was the “correct” strategy. And it may be that any strategy was extrinsically “doomed to fail” — that the Senate’s anti-democratic, super-majority 60-vote “requirement” meant that a dedicated minority could have killed any approach — once the Republican Party decided to become the only major political party in the world dedicated to denying science and blocking any action.

See original here:
Why did environmentalists pursue cap-and-trade and was it a doomed strategy?

Solar Screens and Solar Film for Windows, An Overview

Wed, 20 Apr 2011 14:28:54 +0000

If you’re looking for a simple way to reduce home cooling costs, solar film and solar screens can be great solutions. Screens, a special mesh that blocks sunlight from reaching your window, and film, which is essentially a special tinting application that blocks heat and glare, are two cost-effective simple solutions to beat the summer’s heat. By blocking the sun from hitting windows and entering your home or office, you prevent heat from building up that will then need to be cooled by air conditioning

More here:
Solar Screens and Solar Film for Windows, An Overview

What is it that Makes Republicans on the House Energy Committee all deny climate change even exists?

Wed, 20 Apr 2011 06:16:35 +0000

Last month the Republicans tried to block the EPA from regulating to mitigate the impacts of climate change. In the course of the debate Democrats introduced three amendments that said climate change was real, that it was caused by humans and that its impact is potentially severe.So the Republicans had to vote on these amendments. And here is the extraordinary thing

Read the original post:
What is it that Makes Republicans on the House Energy Committee all deny climate change even exists?

How to solve world hunger by bringing farming indoors

Tue, 19 Apr 2011 06:34:10 +0000

by Jess Zimmerman. What if the only way to save crops from climate change was taking the climate out of the equation entirely? Researchers in the Netherlands think that artificially lit, carefully irrigated “sunless farming” may have the power to reverse world hunger. With the right crops and the right equipment, researchers think that a space as small as 1,075 feet — roughly a two-bedroom apartment — could feed up to 140,000 people. Indoor farming uses a fraction as much water, too — a little over a liter for a kilogram (2.2 pounds) of tomatoes, versus 16 gallons in an irrigated field. Growing plants indoors, in climate- and light-controlled environments, seems like a crazy energy suck. But climate change is threatening crops, driving up commodity prices, and increasing already-dangerous food insecurity.

Continue reading here:
How to solve world hunger by bringing farming indoors