Archive for February, 2011

Climate change doubled likelihood of devastating UK floods of 2000

Posted: 22 February, 2011 • Category: News • Tags: Climate Change • Comments(0)

New research has found that global warming made the floods that devastated England and Wales in 2000, between two and three times more likely to happen.  This is the first time that scientists have shown that global warming is to blame for a specific event and not just a cause of extreme weather. Read Full Article: Guardian.co.uk

NYC Is the Cutting Edge for Urban Transportation and a Vision for a Sustainable Future

Posted: 22 February, 2011 • Category: News • Tags: Built form, Transport • Comments(0)

New York City, America's most populous city, is often seen as lumbering when it comes to change.  However Janette Sadik-Khan, the transportation commissioner, has made great strides in moving New Your City into the 21st Century.  She has overseen the building of hundreds of innovative bike lanes; she has secured huge grants from the Feds to improve bus service, and she has made the streets safer than they have been in many decades.  Some people believe she is moving too ...

International Energy agency downgrades oil production estimates

Posted: 22 February, 2011 • Category: Peak Oil • Tags: Peak Oil • Comments(0)

The day of reckoning on oil as an energy source is approaching and the world does not have a contingency plan. The world's output of conventional crude oil has peaked and global oil exports are past their prime. The unconventional sources (tar sands, heavy sour crude, ethanol, natural gas liquids, bio-fuels and shale) are struggling to keep up with the ongoing depletion in the world's largest oil fields. Therefore, it is probable that the world's current production of total liquids is ...

Extreme weather forecasts: web users unite to power climate change project

Posted: 22 February, 2011 • Category: News • Tags: Climate Change • Comments(0)

From today, anyone with a computer and internet access can be part of a huge, pioneering climate change experiment, probing the controversial question of whether extreme weather events will become more or less common as the world warms. Full Story

The Story of Stuff

Posted: 22 February, 2011 • Category: News • Tags: • Comments(0)

The Story of Stuff is a short animated documentary about the lifecycle of material goods.  The film is written and narrated by Annie Leonard who brings to light the connections between a number of social and environmental issues.  The 20 minute video appeals to each and everyone of us to create a more sustainable and just world. Read Full Article: The Story of Stuff Project

Future of Food

Posted: 17 February, 2011 • Category: News • Tags: Food • Comments(0)

New BBC documentary series: The Future of Food explores the growing global food crisis that could impact the world in coming years.  TV journalist, George Alagiah, travels the world to discover the truth behind growing concerns that the global population is increasing so rapidly that in years to come we will not be able to produce enough food to feed everyone. Read Full Article: BBC

New evidence cities rule and suburbs drool

Posted: 17 February, 2011 • Category: News • Tags: Built form, Pollution/Chemicals, Transport • Comments(0)

According to a new study published in the journal Environment and Urbanization, carbon emissions in cities are lower than in the suburbs.  So if you are looking to lower your environmental impact, and are not keen on living in an earthbag hut, it looks like big cities are the way to go.  Public transportation and walkability reduce per-capita carbon emissions making densely populated places greener. Read Full Article: Grist

Peak Oil=Peak Food=Peak People

Posted: 17 February, 2011 • Category: News • Tags: Energy, Food, Peak Oil • Comments(0)

It should be reasonable to most people to understand that energy is an analog for food. If you look at a chart of oil production and compare it to population, it seems obvious that food and fuel are the same thing under a different cloak. Energy is food is population. That creates a giant problem. Peak oil means peak food means peak population. The revolution in Tunisia first; now Egypt and soon in Serbia are not about religion or dictators or police states. ...

Climate Change Causing ‘Massive’ Food Disruptions

Posted: 17 February, 2011 • Category: News • Tags: Climate Change, Food • Comments(0)

The change in climate around the world is already starting to have a huge effect on global food supplies. Adverse weather conditions, like the flooding in Australia and the droughts in Russia, have ruined harvests, causing massive food disruptions.   Food prices have already become too high for some developing countries to buy the agricultural products they need. Read Full Article: Bloomberg

10 Ways Weather Is Wreaking Havoc On The Global Economy

Posted: 17 February, 2011 • Category: News • Tags: Climate Change, Economy • Comments(0)

Floods in Australia, Brazil and Pakistan, drought in America and China, Snow in the UK.  The global weather situation is terrible.  It is a story everyone wants to ignore but it is having a massive effect on the worlds' economies.  If you don't believe the weather is having an impact, think again. Read Full Article: The Business Insider

WikiLeaks cables: Saudi Arabia cannot pump enough oil to keep a lid on prices

Posted: 17 February, 2011 • Category: News • Tags: Peak Oil • Comments(0)

Wiki Leaks has released information that Saudi Arabia's crude oil reserves have been overstated by as much as 300 billion barrels - nearly 40%.  The US fears that the world's largest crude oil exporter may not have enough reserves to prevent oil prices from escalating. Read Full Article: guardian.co.uk

It Will Take 131 Years To Replace Oil, And We’ve Only Got 10

Posted: 16 February, 2011 • Category: News • Tags: Peak Oil • Comments(0)

Both green enthusiasts and peak oil pundits should be starting to panic after the release of a new paper by researchers at the University of California, Davis.  The paper states that it would take 131 years for replacement of gasoline and diesel given the current pace of research and development. Full story