Net-Cool
Honoring NP U.S. Nat'l Parks NP Photo TourMore than 1,000 cities in 80 countries observed Earth Hour 2009 on Saturday March 28th, as homes, office towers and landmarks turned off their lights for an hour starting at 8:30 pm local time to raise awareness about climate change and the threat from rising greenhouse gas emissions. Boston.com has collected a wonderful series of before-and-after photographs which will fade between "on" and "off" when clicked.
The C. Crane Company has introduced a new energy-efficient light bulb, calling it the “the best light bulb in the world.” The GeoBulb LED light bulb uses only 7.5 watts to provide as much light as a 60-watt incandescent light bulb. It also boasts an impressive lifespan of 30,000 hours (10 years). The bulb is available in three color spectrums: cool, warm and soft.
“It’s best light bulb in the world. It’s the most efficient and the longest-lasting,” said President Robert C. Crane. He also believes the bulb could reduce worldwide energy use by 10 percent.
But as always, there is a catch: the bulb currently sells for $119. The company hopes to drop the price significantly as production increases.
There’s a good chance that fresh, clean water will become the world’s most precious resource by the end of this century. Good Magazine has produced an interesting chart that shows how simple choices you make during the day can greatly affect your water consumption.
For example, the difference in water consumption between a hamburger and salad is over 600 gallons!
Of course, that’s 600 gallons of “virtual water,” meaning it’s the water required during the entire cycle to produce that product. For a hamburger, this includes water required for the cow; water for the grass and corn the cow eats; water required to produce, clean and transport the meat, etc. Much of this water may currently be free, such as rainfall or river water. But in a water-restricted future, there may be no such thing as free water.
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(NAPSI) Want to reduce your impact on the environment but are not sure where to begin? Follow these simple steps to leave a lighter eco-footprint:
According to the American Water Works Association, if each American used the water-saving functions on his or her water sources, we could preserve more than 5 billion gallons of water each day. Simply install low-flowing showerheads and turn off the water while brushing teeth to dramatically reduce daily usage.
Reduce the amount of pollutants in your home by using environmentally friendly products, such as the Earth Essentials. It features Aromatic Room Mists, which use ultra-concentrated, all-natural essential oils to remove unpleasant household odors effectively–without additives proven to cause harm to people, pets and the environment. The nontoxic sprays even come in recyclable cans. Earth Essentials also offers paper products made with 100 percent recycled fibers.
Start planning in advance and map out the shortest driving routes to save on fuel costs and cut carbon emissions. Pick one-stop shopping destinations to maximize gas usage, and since 50 percent of Americans live within two miles of a CVS/pharmacy, you could even walk!
The National Park Service (NPS) is concerned about Alaska’s new predator control effort of shooting wolves from helicopters. The Alaskan Department of Fish and Game began killing wolves Saturday to boosting caribou numbers in the state. The goal is to shoot as many as 150 wolves before they eat too many caribou calves and before the snow and wolf tracks disappear. The state has killed at least 30 wolves so far.
But NPS officials questioned what the shooting will mean for wolves who travel between state land and a neighboring 2.5-million-acre national preserve. They also worry that the state overestimated how many wolves live in the area and will kill too many.
“We don’t want to see the wolf population, or those packs that frequent the Yukon-Charley Rivers National Preserve, be eliminated or reduced significantly,” said Debora Cooper, NPS associate regional director for natural resources.
After meeting with the head of the national preserve last week, the state agreed not to shoot wolves wearing NPS research radio collars, and to limit shooting wolf packs that are known to move in and out of the preserve, said regional Fish and Game supervisor David James. “We’re not trying to eradicate the wolf population,” he said.
Defenders of Wildlife, a national environmental group that targeted Governor Sarah Palin’s support of aerial hunting, criticized the new helicopter kill. “This is an extreme response to what has never been more than an arbitrary target with no scientific backing. There is no biological emergency to justify this kind of action.”
A top Chinese official said that China is not responsible for its emissions: the countries that import its products are. China’s top climate negotiator Li Gao said that any fair international agreement to curb greenhouse gases should not require China to reduce the emissions it released to manufacture exported goods.
China has surpassed the United States as the world’s largest emitter of greenhouse gases. But Gao said that 15-25% of its emissions are generated by manufacturing goods for export. “As one of the developing countries, we are at the low end of the production line for the global economy. We produce products, and these products are consumed by other countries. … This share of emissions should be taken by the consumers, but not the producers," Gao said.
China’s stance could be one of many stumbling blocks facing the countries that hope to broker a new international emissions treaty in Copenhagen in December. Neither China nor the U.S. ratified the last agreement, the Kyoto Protocol, which expires in 2012.
It has been a tough week for climate watchers. Each day brought depressing news as scientists meeting in Copenhagen told us global warming is taking place more rapidly than expected. The seas are rising faster than predicted; the polar ice caps are melting more quickly; and the Amazon rainforest is doomed unless urgent action is taken.
The main solutions are widely agreed. Use energy more efficiently, increase the share from renewable sources. Nuclear power and biofuels are much more controversial, but are likely to be used to some extent. But new, much less familiar solutions are also emerging. The UK Independent offers 10 suggestions on how to save the world. For example:
Barack Obama, David Cameron and Eric Schmidt, the chairman of Google, are all sold on creating a “smart grid,” which the Tory leader describes as like moving from “the plain old telephone system to the internet.” The present “dumb grid” just delivers electricity from generators to consumers; the smart one would enable them to communicate with each other. So, it can make fridges and washing machines and other appliances use power when it is abundant and cheap, and avoid peak times when it would be much more expensive. Smoothing out demand in this way means that the grid needs fewer power stations, and can accommodate renewable energy more easily. It would also provide a huge boost to a “rooftop revolution” where households generate their own electricity from the sun or the wind and sell what they do not need back to the grid.
From xkcd: A webcomic of romance, sarcasm, math, and language
National Park Week is an annual Presidentially-proclaimed week for celebration and recognition of the U.S. National Parks.
Our National Parks are living examples of the best this nation has to offer — spectacular natural landscapes and places that reflect our diverse culture and heritage. Parks can provide recreational experiences, opportunities to learn and grow, and places for quiet refuge.
In 2009, National Park Week is celebrated April 18-26 at hundreds of parks throughout the country. There will also be a National Junior Ranger Day in 2009, so be sure to check among the nearly 300 National Parks that offer activities for kids at the Junior Ranger Program web site.
Take a moment, an hour, a day or a week to visit the national parks near you.
National Park Week Website
National Park Week Events
Find a national park near you
National Park Photo Tour
An international panel of scientists has warned that he world is facing an increasing risk of an “irreversible” climate shift because worst-case scenarios presented just a few years ago are now coming true.
Temperatures, sea levels, and acid levels in oceans and ice sheets were already moving “beyond the patterns of natural variability within which our society and economy have developed and thrived,” scientists said in a new report. These are the conclusions from a three-day conference in Copenhagen, Denmark, where two thousand researchers gathered to discuss climate change.
“Recent observations show that societies are highly vulnerable to even modest levels of climate change, with poor nations and communities particularly at risk,” the report said.
