Archives
Why You Shouldn’t Eat Snow
WATCH on https://weather.com Scientists say eating snow is like snacking on a pollution flavored snow cone.
2015 is Officially the Hottest Year on Record
“The year was more than a quarter of a degree Fahrenheit warmer than the last global heat record—set all the way back in 2014—according to National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration figures released on Wednesday. A quarter of a degree may not sound like much, but on a planetary scale it’s a huge leap. Most previous records were measured by hundredths of a degree.”
Oceans will soon contain more plastic than fish
“‘The best research currently available estimates that there are over 150 million tonnes (165 million tons) of plastics in the ocean today,’ [a] report reads. ‘In a business-as-usual scenario, the ocean is expected to contain 1 tonne (1.1 tons) of plastic for every 3 tonnes of fish by 2025, and by 2050, more plastics than fish (by weight).’
In other words, in just 34 years, plastic trash in the ocean will outweigh all the fish in the sea.”
Jane Goodall at the UN Climate Change Summit
From http://democracynow.org – Jane Goodall is one of the world’s leading voices on the issue of climate change and protecting the environment. A renowned primatologist, Goodall is best known for her groundbreaking work with chimpanzees and baboons. At the U.N. climate summit in Paris last month, Goodall talked Republican climate change denial, the link between diet and climate change, her hopes “to save the rainforests” from corruption and intensive farming, and how climate concerns drove her to be a vegetarian.
Obama Makes Historic Change to Coal Leasing
“The Sierra Club applauds President Obama and Sec. Jewell for their leadership in reforming the federal coal leasing program and putting an immediate stop to all new and modified coal leasing. This program is broken, outdated and does not consider the threat of climate change in our communities and thanks to the Obama administration’s leadership, we can proudly say that big coal’s destructive reach over our public lands is coming to an end.”
Elon Musk Gives Drivers Vegan Options
Read the full article on http://www.nytimes.com/ “‘Tesla revolutionized the electric car and now it’s redefined luxury interiors by using these vegan materials, which are both animal- and environmentally friendly,’ said Anne Brainard, senior corporate liaison and manager of corporate affairs at People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. The group urged Tesla to stop using […]
A Seed Bank in the Arctic
“What happens if war or global warming threaten the key plants that the world depends on for food? A consortium of scientists is running what it believes is an answer: a deep-freeze for thousands of seed samples that is meant to serve as a back-up to cope with the worst-case scenarios. The Global Seed Vault is buried inside a mountain on the Arctic islands of Svalbard and science editor David Shukman was allowed inside.”
A Victory for the Delta 5
Read the full article on http://www.desmogblog.com/ In September 2014, five individuals — now known as the Delta 5 — blockaded a train transporting Bakken shale oil at the Delta rail yard in Everett, Washington. This action was taken to oppose the known risks of the explosive Bakken oil and the risks that fossil fuels pose […]
A Superhighway for Bikes
“Germany, the country that invented the modern highway for motor vehicles, is taking on the challenge of keeping bikers safe and enabling them to easily commute long distances. It opened a three-mile-long leg of the Radschnellweg, a new autobahn for bikes, just before the New Year.
Instead of forcing riders to avoid swerving vehicles on a busy street, the Radschnellweg is a dedicated multi-lane highway for two-wheeled transport. The bike lanes are about 13 feet wide, are lit at night, and, like a road for cars, will be plowed during winter to remove snow.”
Scientists create a MATERIAL THAT HARVESTS AND STORES SOLAR HEAT
“Imagine a sweater that could automatically increase its temperature on command. You’d no longer have to worry about grabbing an extra jacket when you go out at night in case it gets chillier. Or what about a windshield that can warm up on its own to automatically clear ice away? Both sound like things you might have glimpsed in Back to the Future 2, but each could soon be a reality thanks to a new material.
Researchers at MIT have invented a new transparent polymer film that allows heat to be harvested from the sun and saved for later use. Unlike traditional methods of storing solar energy, which takes heat from the sun and stores it as electricity, the new solar heat-storing transparent polymer film takes the sun’s energy and saves it in a chemical state. Once saved, the stored solar heat can be unleashed via a simple chemical reaction.”
