William McDonough: Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things
Michael Pollan: The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals
Eric Ryan and Adam Lowry: Squeaky Green: The Method Guide to Detoxing Your Home
by Justin Gillis, NYT
Thanks to Greg T. for sending this along!
This year’s extreme heat is putting the world’s coral reefs under such severe stress that scientists fear widespread die-offs, endangering not only the richest ecosystems in the ocean but also fisheries that feed millions of people.
By: Coral Davenport
Click Here for Full article
Climate change wasn’t the only environmental issue on
Congress’s agenda over the past three years — it just seemed that way.
With the cap-and-trade bill dead in the Senate, lawmakers and environmental
groups are looking to shine the spotlight on a slew of problems that received
almost no attention in recent years, such as acid rain, overfishing, polluted
drinking water and toxic chemicals in consumer products.
At 62.6 degrees in July, that's a full degree above 20th Century average
WASHINGTON - Steve Kramer spent an hour and a half swimming in the ocean Sunday — in Maine.
The water temperature was 72 degrees — more like Ocean City, Md., this time of year. And Ocean City's water temp hit 88 degrees this week, toasty even by Miami Beach standards.
Kramer, 26, who lives in the seaside town of Scarborough, said it was the first time he's ever swam so long in Maine's coastal waters. "Usually, you're in five minutes and you're out," he said.
It's not just the ocean off the Northeast coast that is super-warm this summer. July was the hottest the world's oceans have been in almost 130 years of record-keeping.
I had the good fortune of meeting Robert E. Lane when my friend Robert Lane (no "E" and no relation to the former) introduced us. They met by chance and by virtue of sharing the same name. When I first met Robert E. Lane, he had the idea for GrayisGreen.org and now, through his efforts and the efforts of others, it has come to reality.
Below is a description of the National Senior Conservation Corps. I love the energy and attitude that they, and their entire generation for that matter, bring to tackling tough problems (and they have tackled a few!).
So congratulations Robert E. Lane and thank you Robert Lane for the introduction.
__________
GrayisGreen.org is a product of the elderly residents of Whitney Center, a retirement home in Hamden, Connecticut. While the generation born in the 1930s may be called seniors, we elderly were born in the 1910s and 1920s. With one exception, ours is an honorable history. We grew up in – and survived – the depression, defeated Fascism, Nazism, and Japanese imperialism, created the United Nations, held steady in the Cold War and, along with our children, defeated the tyrannical Communist system. We have been called the “Civic Generation” because, more than earlier and later generations, we took an interest in public affairs, turned out to vote, organized civic groups to fight for civil rights, civil liberties, and the relief of illness and poverty.
Continue reading "GrayisGreen.org - The National Senior Conservation Corps" »
The United Nations is urging countries to invest in green jobs working with "sustainable forest management" to address the growing problem of unemployment worldwide.
At least 10 million such jobs could be created, the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization will say in a report to be released this week.
The report does not mention any countries but is aimed at "mainly regions with substantial rural unemployment and degraded land areas," said C.T.S. Nair, chief economist in the U.N. Forestry Department and one of the authors of the report.
Continue reading "U.N. Report: Forestry Can Create 10 Million Jobs" »
Who: Earth Hour (a global WWF climate change initiative where individuals, businesses, governments and communities are invited to turn out their lights for one hour to show their support for action on climate change.) and Experience Project (EP) (the largest site for anonymously connecting and sharing common experiences).
What: Earth Hour and EP have teamed up to urge the public to get involved by sharing their support, stories, and practical tips on going green as part of Earth Hour’s annual event where millions of people spanning 64 countries ban together and turn off their lights for one hour as a statement against global warming. Global landmarks such as the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, Rome’s Colosseum and the Coca Cola billboard in Times Square, will also stand in darkness, as symbols of hope for a cause that grows more urgent by the hour.
To show support for Earth Hour, EP will go dark. For every 100 points EP members pledge (points are earned by participating in challenges, posting stories etc.), the site will go dark for one second. The goal is to keep the site dark for as long as possible.
By visiting the EP links below, visitors will have the ability to get proactive in helping reverse climate change through various means such as: a 30 day challenge to turn off all unnecessary appliances, signing a petition to conserve energy, or playing trivia games where accrued points can be used to buy time to keep the EP homepage dark during the day of the event.
In addition, Earth Hour also has a Facebook application where members can earn “Earth Minutes” by sending messages to friends urging participation. The goal of the app. is to reach 60 friends to achieve 60 Earth Minutes.
When: March 23 through March 28, 2009
Where: http://www.experienceproject.com/index.php
Pledge to go dark: http://www.experienceproject.com/mk/earth_hour_pledge.php
Access the Earth Hour Facebook application: http://apps.facebook.com/ep-earthhour/
By Jacqueline Savitz
It's New Year's morning and I'm reflecting on my "to do" list over coffee. I need to plan this year's vacation to Australia to do some snorkeling and diving on the Great Barrier Reef. I also need to pick up groceries for a dinner party. I'm planning to serve salmon and Oysters Rockefeller.
While my list is certainly do-able today, the story could be very different by mid-century if we don't find a way to shift to a low carbon energy economy.
Scientists now predict with a great degree of certainty that unless we switch to a clean energy economy, climate change will result in increased severity and intensity of storms, melting sea ice, rising sea level, changes in food production and drinking water availability and importantly, the acidification of our oceans and a mass extinction of corals.
Ocean growing more acidic faster than once thought, study shows
The University of Chicago News
November 25, 2008
Increasing acidity threatens sea life
University of Chicago scientists have documented that the ocean is growing more acidic faster than previously thought. In addition, they have found that the increasing acidity correlates with increasing levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide, according to a paper published online by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences on Nov. 24.
"Of the variables the study examined that are linked to changes in ocean acidity, only atmospheric carbon dioxide exhibited a corresponding steady change," said J. Timothy Wootton, the lead author of the study and Professor of Ecology and Evolution at the University of Chicago.
