Climate Games starting to be developed

Al Gore has a blog that I have started to follow. Here is a link if you are interested: Al Gore: Game Change. He has put together a list of 19 game websites that teach adults and teen gamers about climate change and what we can do about it. He is still an optomist.

Looking down the list and giving each game a try, the one that drew me in and actually wanted to make me try it was MY2050. Plan It Green had some good resources. It was info overload for me about half way through. That is the problem when it comes to talking about climate change for lots of people, I'm afraid. But have fun checking it out.

Are Petabytes the key to solving climate issues?

I’m in Northampton, Massachusetts today; interesting little town. On the plane I read the recent copy of Wired Magazine. Interesting article about the End of Science, Google and the way cloud computing is changing many of the things we are doing and things we assumed. It is written by Chris Anderson, the author of “The Long Tail.”

Bottom line, we are not going to solve our climate crisis without the use of some really high powered technology number crunching computing power. (Google) There are some really big projects in the works according to the article. Not all climate related, but it gives an idea of what is possible. Here are some:

The CluE Initiative
Lanworth
Large Hardon Collider
e-discovery firms: Fios, Attenex
Europe Media Monitor
ESSENCE
Global emerging infections surveillance and Response system
Google Mapreduce
Large Synoptic Survey Telescope
Majumdar (bone research)
Fastcast ( tracking airfare)
Catalist (political forecasting)
Microtargeting example: Republican National Committee Voter Vault and Aristotle Inc.
(give them false information!) Aristotle Inc.
Narrowcasting
Visualizing Data: Watson Research Center: Martin Wattenberg: Many Eyes

Jeffrey Sachs: Love him or Hate him- his new book

Here is a video of him talking about his new book. Some hiss at him others sing his praise. He was instrumental is spreading the "shock therapy" in Bolivia and Russia. You can read about him on Wikipedia. He also is much spoken about in Daniel Yergin's book/PBS series, "Commanding Heights." In layman's terms: Jeffrey Sachs use to promote on a global stage the Milton Friedman, neo-liberal, free markets will solve all problems if left alone by governments doctrine, etc. He was a true believer. I don't know if he still believes parts of this ideology, but he is definitely taking a different stance now and seems to favor a modified approach to solving our world's problems. He now has become an eco-economic advocate for government interventions that will stop us from destroying our habitat and our planet. He is practical, not an alarmist, but looking for solutions.

I just ordered his book from Amazon, so I'm looking forward to reading it, understanding that there are many critics of Mr. Sachs. Should be an interesting read though.

Here are his points in his video: What we need to do as soon as Bush is out of office and he prays McCain will not be elected.

1. Get out of Iraq $200 billion
2. End Bush tax cuts $250 billion dollars
3.Invest in sustainable technology- New National Institute for Sustainable Technology $30 billion: battery, biomass, solar, food supply needs R & D
4. Global Commons: Need a cooperative framework
Ratify: Kyoto reach agreement on post Kyoto framework
Ratify: Convention on Biological Diversity
Ratify: UN Convention of the Law of the Sea
5. Honor: Geneva Convention
6. Stop corn to ethanol program - $6 to $7 billion No corn based ethanol. Corn needs to be used for food. It makes not sense because it still produces green house gases and it drives up food price. It is a profound blunder. $6.5 billion dollars wasted
7. Invite world leaders of Dry-land regions to a world conference and discuss water conservation.
8. Reinstate giving money to United Nations’ population fund to help control world growth.
9. Rebuild competence in Washington: cabinet level-Department for Sustainable Development. Interlink climate, food, water production—Cabinet Level Department
10. The Millennium Development Goals put into practice in policy.

Jibjab has a funny on Global Warming

I have a real case of "eco-anxiety" when I think about the problems our planet is going to be facing in the near future. It's nice sometimes though to find a way to interject humor into the argument. Jibjab, two very clever guys, came up with a really good take on Global Warming. I've watched this five times already. Thanks guys for this great parody of the Bush doctrine on Global Warming.

Can the human race change?

Link for picture: Click Here

Not a fun article to read in the Los Angles Times about Jim Hansen's statement last week:

A few weeks ago, NASA's chief climatologist, James Hansen, submitted a paper to Science magazine with several coauthors. The abstract attached to it argued -- and I have never read stronger language in a scientific paper -- that "if humanity wishes to preserve a planet similar to that on which civilization developed and to which life on Earth is adapted, paleoclimate evidence and ongoing climate change suggest that CO2 will need to be reduced from its current 385 ppm to at most 350 ppm."

The article goes on to say that in order for us to succeed, we would have to have perfect governments all pulling together toward a common goal. The questions remains, are we as a species able to do this?

Look at what was reported in the New York Times today. There are thousands of dead bodies floating in the rivers from the deadly cyclone that smashed into Myanmar. People say, it's not their job to deal with the dead. Refugees staying in schools for shelter are thrown out so that the government can hold a referendum that will keep them in power. The government is more worried about them retaining their power than allowing aide from foreign governments attempting to send desperately needed supplies to keep people from dying.

And we think the whole human race is going to suddenly wake up and "do the right thing"?

Fat Chance!

Google's Google Earth Blog has Animation for Cyclone Nargis

Google Earth Image and Animation for Cyclone Nargis

This was an interesting animation of the Cyclone. I can't imagine the Burmese government not telling the citizens in the path of the storm that a gigantic cyclone was coming. I've read a recent estimation of 100,000 dead. The Google Earth animation is really frightening. This was a huge HUGE storm. I live in Florida! We have had our share of hurricanes. Having lived through three hurricanes in one year, this really makes me nervous.

Dear Al 'Galileo' Gore,

A modern day Galileo. Galileo tried to explain that the earth was NOT the center of the universe. He too was persecuted for this by the Catholic church who refused to abandon outdated or incorrect teaching.

Fast forward to the 21st century and global warming. How dare Al 'Galileo' Gore say that our thinking about our carbon consumption is wrong. The nerve to suggest that we should tax carbon. How dare he say that we might be turning our planet into an Inferno.

Galileo died in 1642 and was pardoned for his heresy September 1, 1999. It only took 3 1/2 centuries for the Catholic church to admit they were wrong.

Hang in there Al, you will eventually be vindicated...

Al Gore's TED 2008 video

Religion is not about belief but about behavior.

Faith without works is dead.

Our laws have to change. Believing that we can overcome the climate challenges we face without changing the laws is empty hype. We as citizens have to beat the drum and demand change. What is the change? Put a price on carbon. Here is his video...

Al Gore and Tipper on 60 minutes

Click here to see interview

It is so good to see both of them on 60 minutes. I can't believe they live near my old house in Nashville. He opened my eyes and changed my life in my early years of environmentalism. I laugh and tell people that the only reason I voted for Bill Clinton was because he picked Al Gore as his running mate and I hoped that he would one day be the president. His campaign in 2000 was the first presidential campaign that I ever volunteered for. It was so horrible to watch the recount from ground zero. I'm so proud of what he has been able to do in spite of the stolen election.

I think of the movie "The Gladiators" and compare it to Al Gore. The character that Russell Crowe played was to become emperors but it was stolen from him and he was sold into slavery. But in the end, his character is triumphant and is able to destroy the enemy. And so will Al Gore. He, in the end will be able to change the world, withouth the presidency.

This is a good interview. He is now 60 years old. Let's hope they both live a long and prosperous life and continue to succeed in their efforts to wake up the world to the threat of climate change and global warming.

If not now, when?

I read about America's reluctance to join in on combating climate change. We are afraid of economic downturn. I read argument after argument on the web and in the news by politicians, scientists, religious leaders, economists, etc,. Like so many others, I keep asking "If not now, when?" What does it take to make Americans open their eyes and realize we have a problem? When are we going to stop arguing about it and decide it is time to act?

REVERBERATE VIDEO WINNER! What?

I really like the winning video. I watched it twice right off the bat. Straightforward and funny. "Coal burns the hell of me." I loved the girl with the ribbons! I was surprised at the people in the video. No hippie looking people! The activists of today look nothing like the activists of the 60's.

James Lovelock, father of the Gia theory says get ready for a global catastrophe. It's coming!

We're all doomed! We are 40 years from global catastrophe - and there's NOTHING we can do about it, says climate change expert.

The Queen of England, James Lovelock, Shell Inc., Margaret Thatcher agree... To read article click here. Bottom line, move north.

Lovelock basically says that there is little we can do about global warming. We have put as much CO2 into the atmosphere to imitate what happened on earth 55 million years ago when volcanoes erupted and spewed out CO2. Life was almost wiped out. He said that we are past the tipping point and in by 2040 the CO2 levels will be the same as 55 million years ago. He says it's too late.

Lovelock says that he feels sorry for the Americans because we will not let go of the fantasy that the problem can be solved. Green/Clean Tech will make a lot of money but not change the outcome. He says the Chinese will see their continent decimated first and they will move to Africa. (He thinks they have already begun.)

Lovelock thinks something bad is about to happen. Survival will depend on the ability to migrate and move as needed. Most people will be heading north. We have too many of our species for the earth to support and natural selection will eliminate the weak.

Basically, he thinks that our effort to change human industry and behavior is a waste of time. Pleasant thoughts... :-(

I think it is human nature to not give up! We have to try!!!

Why can't we change?

Earth Clock

David Suzuki is an emeritus professor at the Sustainable Development Research Institute, at the University of British Columbia. I found an article he wrote titled, "Blind Date with Disaster". As a biologist, he emphasizes the intelligence of our species yet bemoans our unwillingness to change even when we know that "business as usual" will lead to disaster. He sites New Orleans and reminds us how scientists' warnings pre-Katrina predicted the outcome long before it happened. Now I hear about Southwest Airlines intentionally skipping inspections knowing they were gambling with the lives of their customers.

I'm wondering if the climate-change-train-wreck is just another calculated risk that businesses and governments are willing to take while accepting that the potential loss of lives and habitat destruction will be cheaper than trying to fix the problem. I hate to be so cynical but it makes one wonder when the media yawns at dire warnings highlighted in David Suzuki’s article.

A Site for Scientific Debate on Climate Issues

Prometheus is a website where you can read the latest on scientific policies that are being considered in the US. I've read some really good, level headed debates and reports by the scientific community. It's an interesting site that allows you to bypass some of the hype.

I poked around while looking at the comments and found a visitor who had posted an analysis of what was making the snow melt on Mt. Mount Kilimanjaro:

Deforestation seems to be causing Mount Kilimanjaro’s shrinking glacier. Researchers think deforestation of the mountain’s foothills is the most likely culprit. Without the forests’ evapotranspiration of humidity into the air, previously moisture-laden winds blowing across those forests now blow drier. The summit, no longer replenished with water from those winds, started shrinking. Studies show the ice is evaporating through a process called sublimation. You can witness this effect at home, have you ever noticed that ice cubes left in your freezer tend to shrink with time?

I'm not sure what is causing the deforestation. It could be caused by climate change as pointed out by Tim Flanery in "Weather Makers". I think it must be hard for the scientific community to come to any real consensus on anything when they have to tip toe around the issue because of political pressures by the Bush administration and corporate funding which tries to influence their results. But I like to read all sides of the argument. We need to know what is true and not what the ruling elite what us to believe.

Is NASA hiding the truth?

Dr. James Hansen

From Architecture 2030 :

A Global Emergency... and a Call to Action! Recently, it was reported in The New York Times that (it appears) procedures are being put in place at NASA to prevent "the public from fully grasping recent findings regarding climate change". This comes in response to a lecture recently delivered at the annual meeting of the American Geophysical Union in San Francisco by Dr. James Hansen, NASA's director of the Goddard Institute for Space Studies. In his lecture titled "Is There Time to Avoid 'Dangerous Anthropogenic Interference' With Global Climate?" Dr. Hansen presented two startling conclusions regarding recent research conducted at NASA.

Global Crop Diversity Trust

Europe is building an ark. A site to store all of the seeds on earth in the event the worse case scenario happens, what ever that happens to be. The US on the other hand is building a facility to store nuclear waste. Seems like there is something wrong with this picture.

Now the Pentagon tells Bush: climate change will destroy us

What will future generations say?

• We had a chance to do something about climate change but we elected George Bush instead.
• We had a chance to invest in clean energy but what did we do instead? We went to war in Iraq so we could have plenty of oil.
• We had a chance to educate citizens about the need to modify our behavior and use less natural resources but what did we do instead? We went shopping and let the lobbyist run Washington and had our teachers "teach to the test."

That's what future generations will say. Now we find out the the Pentagon knew all along that Climate Change was real and that GW Bush knew all along. What a legacy he will leave behind.

Gulf State builds on renewable energy sources

The world moves toward a carbon reduction economy of some sort. The are naysayers beginning to see the futility of their protest. Abu Dhabi will build the Masdar City, a zero-carbon, zero-waste zone. and sell their carbon trades or credits. Who do they turn to for assistance in building this magnificent new city? They are going to Germany. Where is the U.S. A in this new global economy. Let's get on board!

Insurance is starting to feel the pinch of Climate Change

Munich Re estimated that worldwide insured losses related to natural disasters doubled last year. Natural catastrophes consequently made up 5 percentage points of last year's combined ratio, compared with 1.3 percentage points in 2006, according to a presentation to investors filed on the company's Web site.

GreenDimes and EarthHour 2008

I signed up for GreenDimes to get rid of my junk mail. We get at least 3 pieces daily. I often wonder how in the world they got our names. We have been living here for 10 years and the person who lived her before still gets mail! In reading their blog today I found out about EarthHour. Everyone turns off their lights for one hour. Worked last year and had lots of participants. They are planning for 2008.