Crazy Gator

I took these pictures on a walk in the wetlands behind my house a few days ago. The light was failing on my way back, the bottom two pics are a few pretty neat images I managed to get. It was very cool, and a little disconcerting, as the images here are exactly what I was seeing through the viewfinder of my camera.

BUMP - I am bumping this up for my nephews in Alabama. Hi boys, we miss you! ;~)

Compare the Poles

Here is a nifty (... can I still use that word??) site I came across - Click: Polar Discovery. It is a great education site with everything from a side by side comparison of physical features of the two poles to the difference in seasons & weather and plants & wildlife.

Also within this site is - Click: Live from the Poles. This portion of the site is designed to give you an in-depth inside look at four major scientific expeditions to the south and north poles. They record their experiences - even what they eat for lunch, according to the site- through a tw0 person media team, a photographer and a science writer. The updates will consist of daily writings and photo essays documenting the expeditions experiences, from how they are keeping warm to the scientific findings and the tools used to obtain them. Two of the expeditions have passed, a third (to Antarctica) will start November 26th, 2007 and run through December 23rd, 2007. It looks to be an interesting experience for readers, I will definitely be checking in.

Update - The expedition has begun, to follow the journey click - To the ice at last

The New Black

TORONTO (Reuters Life!) - Global warming may not only affect climate and the environment, it will also have an impact on clothes and fashion, according to design and retail experts.

..."With Seventh Avenue proclaiming that 'green is the new black,' we can expect a surge in fashion innovations in response to climate change," said Jo Paoletti, a professor at the University of Maryland and an expert in design and fashion.

It will mean not only debates about the benefits of cotton versus polyester or other fabrics, but likely future innovations such as smart clothes that monitor and adjust to body temperature to reduce the need for air conditioning and heating, she added. Click: Green is the new black for savvy consumers, retailers

It is so encouraging to see environmentalism and climate change going mainstream. There is so much attention paid to the latest "in" thing, even if it is simply fad for most, it should leave an impression on all.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I have been busy with the holiday coming, and will be for the rest of the week. I will be back Monday, I hope eveyone has a safe and wonderful holiday :~)

Africa

OSLO (Reuters) - Africa is the "forgotten continent" in the fight against climate change and needs help to cope with projected water shortages and declining crop yields, the U.N.'s top climate change official said on Sunday.

... "Africa is not getting a lot out of climate change policy at the moment," he [Yvo de Boer, head of the Bonn-based U.N. Climate Change Secretariat] said. "But climate change will affect Africa very severely."

The U.N. climate panel's final 26-page summary report, released in Spain on Saturday, says that Africa, the Arctic, the deltas of major rivers in Asia and small island states are likely to be especially affected by climate change. Click: Africa "forgotten continent" in climate fight


TUNIS (Reuters) - African nations must forge a united front at climate negotiations next month to win help to protect millions from the harm warmer weather is expected to bring, experts say.

Tens of millions of Africans face increasing water scarcity by 2020, posing potential food shortages and a rise in disease, scientists say, and Africa must push hard for the finance and expertise to enable it to devise regional solutions, they say. Click: Africa needs united action on climate


JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - Africa's coastal infrastructure faces increasing danger of erosion from rising sea levels caused by climate change, the head of the U.N. Environment Program said on Thursday.

Achim Steiner, executive director of UNEP, told a news conference that port facilities, refineries and expensive private properties were already degrading as a result of global warming. Click: Rising seas threaten Africa's coastline

New "green-credit policy" in China

BEIJING (Reuters) - Twelve polluting enterprises have had crucial bank loans recalled, suspended or rejected as China's new "green-credit policy" kicks into action, Friday's China Youth Daily said.

Decades of heavy industrialization have made water from some of China's lakes and rivers so polluted it is no longer usable, with untreated waste from factories and other enterprises pumped directly into water sources. Click: China pulls bank loans to 12 major polluters.


I am happy to see this; where these polluting companies seemingly have no moral concerns about what they are doing, they most definitely have concern when it comes to their fat wallets. Hit 'em where it hurts 'em, it's well deserved.

LOL

Carma

What is CARMA? CARMA reveals the carbon emissions of more than 50,000 power plants and 4,000 power companies in every country on Earth.

Click: Carbon Monitoring for Action

This is a great site that just went live this week. Notice the map and legend on the home page, the large red dots indicate a plant that produces a lot of electricity and a lot of CO2 while the large green dots indicate a plant that produces a lot of electricity and almost no CO2. There are no large green dots... [EDIT- Upon reloading the Carma page I had a few orange dots show up that were not there before and it was incredibly slow to load, so maybe there are green dots and they are just having trouble at the moment]


Input your zip in the text box on the right ride of the page to see your local results.

90% of all living things remain unknown

BRONX, NEW YORK--Most people can tell the difference between some types of berries, or bugs or trees, but much of the planet's life remains unnamed and unseen.

..."We live, in short, on a little-known planet. When dealing with the living world, we are flying mostly blind," Wilson said. "When we try to diagnose the health of an ecosystem, such as a lake or a forest, in order to save and stabilize it we are in the position of a doctor trying to treat a patient, knowing only 10 percent of organs." Click: After 250 Years of Classifying Life, 90 Percent Remains Unknown

... interesting, in this "information age", to really comprehend how far we still have to go to be truly informed.

The techie geek in me

This is one of my all time favorite net videos. It has been around awhile now, but I wanted to share it with those of you that have not seen it. It is not environmental, it satisfies my techie side (although you definitely do not have to be a tech of any sort to find it appealing ;~)).

Where there is money, there is attention

LONDON (Reuters) - Banking group HSBC said on Tuesday it has launched a range of structured products offering exposure to two indexes and a fund that contain firms making their profits from fighting global warming. Click: HSBC launches climate-change structured products


The Wall Street Journal: Investors' Appetite Spurs Area's Growth; Relief From Volatility: A surge in investor appetite for environmentally friendly investment funds is leading investment banks to create special indexes and structured products related to the industry.

Along with derivatives linked to weather, banks are creating new stock indexes of companies that tackle or are affected by climate change, creating a new investment sector that isn't correlated to other asset classes. Click: Climate Funds Get Hotter

Russian Oil Spill

KAVKAZ PORT, Russia (Reuters) - Long stretches of Russia's Black Sea coast face an ecological catastrophe, local authorities said on Monday, after a fierce storm broke up a tanker, disgorging hundreds of tons of oil on to the shore.

..."The damage is so huge it can hardly be evaluated. It can be compared to an ecological catastrophe," Interfax news agency quoted Alexander Tkachyov, governor of Russia's Black Sea region of Krasnodar, as saying.

"Thirty thousand birds have died, and it's just impossible to count the loss of fish," he told regional officials. Click: Oil spill spells catastrophe for Russian coast


Click: FACTBOX: Key facts about oil spills

Click: Slideshow

California to sue EPA - Update

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - California sued the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Thursday, demanding a quick federal decision that would allow the nation's most populous state to limit greenhouse gas emissions from vehicles.

"California is ready to implement the nation's cleanest standards for vehicle emissions, but we cannot do that until the federal government grants a waiver allowing us to enforce those standards," Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said.

...Sixteen other states have either adopted or are considering similar emissions rules, and many joined the lawsuit. Click: California, other states sue U.S. on car emissions

California was supposed to file the lawsuit a few weeks ago, but delayed due to the massive outbreak of fires. Click: California to sue EPA for the original post.

And a Bad Thing - Update

KINSHASA (Reuters) - Congolese authorities arrested six people in connection with the dumping of tons of highly radioactive minerals into a river near the southeastern town of Likasi, the environment minister said on Friday.

A quarantine zone was also set up around the site, just 10 km (6 miles) from the mining town of 300,000 people, where tests on Thursday revealed radiation levels nearly 50 times the limit for mineral exports from Democratic Republic of Congo. Click: Six arrested in Congo radioactive dumping scandal

See And a Bad Thing for the first post on this.

Hoax

OSLO (Reuters) - A hoax scientific study pointing to ocean bacteria as the overwhelming cause of global warming fooled some skeptics on Thursday who doubt growing evidence that human activities are to blame.

...Blogger skeptic Neil Craig wrote: "This could not be more damaging to manmade global warming theory ... I somehow doubt if this is going to be on the BBC news." Click: Hoax bacteria study tricks climate skeptics

... not funny.

Florida

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Scientists and economists Tuesday warned lawmakers of consequences Florida faces from climate change, including more destructive hurricanes and a rising sea level, but they also said the state could be a leader in reducing global warming. Click: Experts warn Fla. about climate change


WASHINGTON (AP) -- Harmful red tide blooms along Florida's west coast in the fall are spurred when seasonal changes in wind patterns move nutrients east from the Mississippi River, scientists reported Wednesday. Click: Wind patterns spur Fla. red tide blooms


WEST PALM BEACH — The number of loggerhead turtle nests was substantially lower in 2007 than in past years, according to preliminary numbers from scientists statewide.

Scientists found 28,500 nests from 19 surveyed beaches, down from almost 50,000 last year. The number was so low that this could be the lowest nesting year on record for loggerheads, said Blair Witherington, a research scientist with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. The turtles' nesting numbers have declined in at least four of the past seven years. Click: Fla. Loggerhead Turtle Nests Drop in '07


A few headlines on Florida from the past few days.

Winner of the Peace Primary

True Majority won the $100,000 grand prize in the Peace Primary voting. The campaign raised a total of $326,000 which all twelve groups that were competing will share.

And a Bad Thing

KINSHASA (Reuters) - Authorities in the Democratic Republic of Congo have launched an inquiry into the suspected dumping of 18 tons of highly radioactive minerals into a river in southeast Katanga province, officials said on Wednesday.

..."The road was blocked. And since they couldn't access (Shinkolobwe), they decided amongst themselves to dump it into the river," he [provincial Mines Minister Bartelemy Mumba Gama] said. "I think they did it by ignorance." Click: Radioactive minerals dumped in Congo

... 18 tons of radioactive material dumped casually into a river...

A Few Good Things

Plantic - A new plastic like material that is biodegradable. It looks like the starting use for this would in food packaging. It looks and feels like regular plastic, but it is made from starch, so you can compost it or simply pour water on it and watch it dissolve. Click: Plantic for more info

Air Car - A zero-emissions vehicle that runs on compressed air. The first model, the OneCat, will be released in late 2008. The OneCat will fit up to 5 passengers, reach speeds up to 68mph, and go as far as 500 highway miles on one fill-up. The car refills by plugging it in at home and the built-in compressor will fill the tank in 4 hours. The company, MDI of France, has plans to release 2-, 4- and 6- cylinder engines at prices ranging from $4,800 to $12,900. While not a cross country traveling vehicle yet, local use seems ideal, especially with its low price tag. Click: Air Car for more info

Smog Scrubber - A cement coating developed by Italcementi that pulls smog out of the air. The material contains titanium dioxide which neutralizes nitrous oxide and sulfur dioxide when exposed to light. TX Active, the materials brand name, can be painted on buildings, bridges and streets. Click: TX Active for more info

Another Gorilla Post

What can I say, I have a deep sense of sorrow for these poor souls, both the gorillas and the people fighting to protect them.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - If the people of Congo save the mountain gorilla, might the gorilla return the favor?

That is the hope of environmental activists, who realize that wildlife conservation and tourism could be the key to survival for people as well as animals in a part of Africa where conflict has been the norm. Click: By saving gorillas, can Congolese save themselves?

As for the Virunga National Park I have posted on previously, Anderson Cooper with CBS 60 Minutes will be airing a segment about the rangers and their plight. For their posted details on the interview - Click: CBS 60 Minutes Interviews Congo Rangers about Gorilla Crisis

Sherwood Forest

EDWINSTOWE, England - Robin Hood might have a hard time hiding out in the Sherwood Forest of today.

The forest once covered about 100,000 acres, a big chunk of present-day Nottinghamshire County. Today its core is about 450 acres, with patches spread out through the rest of the county.

Experts say urgent action is needed to regenerate the forest and save the rare and endangered ancient oaks at its heart. Click: Robin Hood's forest is in trouble

It seems even our legends are in peril.

Clinton, Wal-Mart

SEATTLE (AP) — Former President Bill Clinton told more than 100 mayors Thursday that stopping global warming depends on them demonstrating that it makes economic sense. He said his foundation is teaming up with Wal-Mart Stores Inc. to save cities money on environmentally friendly supplies by buying in bulk.

...Wal-Mart, which has embarked on a broad environmental drive to cut costs and burnish its reputation, is offering to help the mayors as it has met resistance in some big cities, including New York and Chicago, to its plans to expand into metro areas from its rural and suburban base.

Wal-Mart has set targets for reducing energy use and packaging waste and selling more environmentally friendly products. Steps include switching to only concentrated liquid laundry detergent that reduces packaging and water use, converting its truck fleet to use less fuel, and asking suppliers to provide data on their greenhouse gas emissions. Click: Clinton, Wal-Mart Push 'Green' Cities

Wal-Mart being the quintessential corporate bully, hopefully they do more good than harm, but at least it looks like a step in the right direction.

Climate bill seen as sign of political shift

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A milestone, a landmark and "the political center of gravity is finally shifting on global warming."

Those accolades greeted a Senate subcommittee's approval on Thursday of a bill to cap greenhouse gas emissions, mostly because it is the first of a dozen such measures that might have a chance of becoming law. Click: Climate bill

Seeing a lot more forward movement being reported in the press lately, it's a needed shift in the attitude of the masses (read - the press). Happy to see it.