Crew Commentary Author
Madrid’s Plan to Fight Climate Change
tsedevino • 02.21.2016
“In an epic move to restore the balance between city and nature, Madrid, Spain is working on plans to cover pretty much every bit of unused city space with plants, in an effort to combat the city’s rising temperatures. Madrid has already taken big steps towards making their city more environmentally-friendly by redesigning twenty-four of their busiest streets for pedestrians only. Under their new plan-of-action to fight climate change with plants, the city’s Department of Environment may turn some of those streets into beautiful, tree-lined parks.”
Shell’s Heir Goes Green
tsedevino • 02.19.2016
“It is perhaps no surprise that a country house bequeathed to the nation by the family that made its fortune from Shell petroleum should run entirely on barrel after barrel of oil – 25,000 litres of it each year.
But after a green makeover, the Upton House estate in Warwickshire has ditched the polluting fossil fuel and is now producing the equivalent energy from two wood pellet boilers.”
The 5 Main Drivers of the Water Crisis
tsedevino • 02.17.2016
“The California drought has grabbed America’s attention, but our water problems — and the coming scarcity — stem from a lot more than a few years of diminished rain and snow. The U.S. government’s National Intelligence Council predicts that, in less than 10 years, many large countries will be at risk of “state failure,” directly due to the global water crisis.”
Cars to Run on Cactus
tsedevino • 02.15.2016
Read the full article on http://www.climatechangenews.com/ “In Mexico, cars will soon run on cactus. A company has built the world’s first digester to make biogas from the desert plant’s fruit, according to media reports. The fruit or prickly pears are pureed, mixed with manure, then left to decompose, producing methane. That gas is used for […]
Helpful Tips to Reduce Your Carbon Footprint
tsedevino • 02.13.2016
“There are thousands of little actions you can take to reduce your carbon footprint — but you should consider a few major factors first.
Sustainability experts say, for instance, that changing your diet or the way you get to work can significantly cut the amount of planet-warming emissions released into the atmosphere as a result of your daily life.”
Mark Ruffalo and the Water Crisis
tsedevino • 02.12.2016
“For the past two years, the 100,000 residents of Flint, Michigan, drank, cooked and bathed with lead-contaminated water. Rates of lead poisoning—which can impair brain development and cause other serious health ailments—among the area’s children have skyrocketed, from 5 percent before the water turned bad to 16 percent today.”
The First Phase of the World’s Largest Solar Plant
tsedevino • 02.09.2016
“Morocco’s King Mohammed VI switched on the first phase of the world’s largest concentrated solar plant today in the southern town of Ouarzazate. A ceremony was held to officially inaugurate Noor 1 and break ground on the second phase which includes the Noor 2 and 3 projects.”
Asda puts the “Wonky Veg Box” on the market
tsedevino • 02.07.2016
“The UK’s first supermarket ‘wonky vegetable’ box goes on sale on Friday, containing enough ugly potatoes and knobbly carrots to feed a family of four for an entire week for just £3.50.
The Asda box is filled with in-season winter vegetables and salad ingredients at a price that is 30% cheaper than standard lines.
The vegetables – currently carrots, potatoes, peppers, cucumber, cabbage, leeks, parsnips and onions – have been selected from farmers’ crops because they are misshapen, have growth cracks or are smaller or larger than average. The produce is washed but the discount reflects the fact that customers may need to spend extra time peeling it or they might not be able to use the whole vegetable.”
France to build 1000km of road with solar panels
tsedevino • 02.03.2016
Read the full article on http://www.solarcrunch.org “France is planning on a project to build 1000 kilometers of road with specially designed solar panels. This project will supply 5 million people in France with electricity if it is successful. Though many solar experts are skeptical of this project, the french government has given the go ahead […]
The Future Sea Level Rise
tsedevino • 02.02.2016
“World leaders have begun to get serious about fighting climate change, but we still face the incredible risk of a rising sea in this century and far into the future. According to Climate Central, a research organization, a 4-degree Celsius (7.2 degrees Fahrenheit) global temperature increase, which is our current path, could result in sea level rise that would submerge land where 470 – 760 million people now live.
If the world’s governments actually meet the declared goal of the UN climate summit in Paris and reduce and draw down carbon emissions, keeping the world to a 2 Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) temperature increase, 130 million would need to evacuate over coming decades. To understand how serious this could be, here’s some perspective: 4 million Syrians have fled their homeland since their civil war began in 2011, with 380,000 making their way to Europe this year. Imagine millions more on the move each year, all over the world, and the political, social, and environmental effects of this migration.”
The Authors
David Houle
David Houle is a futurist, strategist and speaker. Houle spent more than 20 years in media and entertainment. He worked at NBC, CBS, and was part of the senior executive team that created and launched MTV, Nickelodeon, VH1 and CNN Headline News.
Houle has won a number of awards. He won two Emmys, the prestigious George Foster Peabody award, and the Heartland award for “Hank Aaron: Chasing the Dream”. He was also nominated for an Academy Award. He is the Futurist in Residence at the Ringling College of Art+ Design.
He has delivered some 700 speeches on six continents and thirteen countries. He is often called “the CEOs’ Futurist” having spoken to or advised 3,500+ CEOs and business owners in the past eight years.
Houle coined the phrase the Shift Age and has written extensively about the future and the future of energy. This is his seventh book.
His primary web site is www.davidhoule.com
Tim Rumage
Tim Rumage is a planetary ethicist and naturalist. Taking an interdisciplinary and systems thinking approach to education, he has been teaching at the intersection of Science, Ecology, Art, Design and Architecture for more than 30 years.
Tim is the Coordinator/Developer of Environmental Studies at Ringling College of Art and Design where he teaches courses on environmental science, sustainability, creating ecological cities, applied environmental design, food, water, biodiversity and environmental ethics. He is also a Coordinator for Sustainability in Design Education for CUMULUS and a frequent lecturer at other colleges and for community organizations.
As a trained field biologist, Tim has done research on Marine Mammals, Pelagic Birds, Bats, Habitat Restoration and Land Planning. He has been involved in a variety of interdisciplinary projects in the US and Africa involving habitat restoration and protection, green infrastructure, local food production and sustainability. Tim’s current work focuses on the economic value of nature and nature’s services.
His primary web site is http://planetaryethicist.com/
