hello, earth

If you’d like a good laugh (or a shot of cynicism, depending on who you are) check out this video put out by the Competitive Enterprise Institute. One of several television spots funded by Exxon Mobil, it aired across the nation last year, just weeks before Al Gore’s film, An Inconvenient Truth premiered to critical acclaim.

Cleverly structured as a PSA, it’s a commercial defending carbon dioxide.  (Whaaatt?  Yeah. We know.) Set to calming piano music the video revolves around footage of nature and happy kids and is narrated with well-measured sincerity.  It touts the virtues of this greenhouse gas, describing how it “frees us from a world of back-breaking labor…allowing us to create and move the things we need, the people we love.” The narrator goes on to castigate “some politicians” who want to “label CO2 a pollutant.”  We’ll all rue the day we stop using fossil fuels, right?

Never mind that CO2 has been scientifically proven beyond a doubt as the leading cause of global climate change. In the tradition of big tobacco’s claims that “cigarettes aren’t addicting,” this spot isn’t even smart—there are plenty of ways to twist science into convincing audiences that global warming isn’t actually that dire.  Instead, the oil industry opted for a bald-faced lie.  Oh dear me.

By far my favorite is the ending line:  “They call it ‘pollution,’ we call it life”

Yeah? Well we call it “wrong.”

Since it’s the holiday and we’re taking a break from intellectual discussion (instead we’ll spend our time arguing with our families while eating turkey), this post is going to be about playing games.

The United States Environmental Agency hosts a Climate Change Kids Site. There are several games kids can choose from that are supposed to be educating. Try them. It’s a good idea to teach children about the current issues regarding global warming. They should know the terms and understand the main concepts, especially since it’s a hot issue in mainstream media.

Are these games effective? The links along the side are the most helpful in educating children. The games aren’t that engaging and need to be more clear. But the idea is smart, if you ask me.  Maybe a good subject for my Thanksgiving table.

Forget sailing the ocean blue, all Columbus needed was a can of shaving cream and couple hundred years to see his mission come to fruition. What are we talking about? The Northwest Passage has been found at last, ladies and gents…or at least freed up.

Finding the Northwest Passage, a navigable water route fabled to tie the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans together through the Arctic circle, was once the aim of virtually every nautical explorer on the planet because of the massive influx of trade and commerce it would bring to the lucky nation who controlled it. Until recently the polar ice cap has been frozen solid preventing any ship– no matter how modern– from navigating through easily.

But for the last 10 years, researchers have seen a rapid reduction in ice coverage, averaging at around 38,600 square miles per year and this September marked the first time in history that ships could cut through the circle. The key culprit according to researchers is (of course) global climate change.

In all fairness, this event was something that scientists saw coming a long time ago. Climate studies have projected that the passage would open for years…it’s just that nobody thought it’d be this soon.

“We’re probably 30 years ahead of schedule in terms of the loss of the Arctic sea ice,” said Mark Serreze, a senior scientist at the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) in a National Geographic article. “We’re on this fast track of change.”

What does that mean? Nobody’s 100% sure. Some caution against drawing dire conclusions from this news, as natural climate variability could have caused the melt. Others point to flaws in the climate modeling systems themselves. When it comes down to it though, nobody can deny that the world is heating up, and fast.

Meanwhile, international disputes are already cropping up over who gets control over the route… funny, how people never (really) change.

As record-breaking high temperatures continue, many wonder if global warming is to blame.

Jeffrey Rogers, an Ohio State University climatologist, completed a study that shows nightly low temperatures during Ohio summers have risen 3 degrees Fahrenheit over the past 40 years. According to an interview with The Columbus Dispatch, he believes that the temperature increase is caused by humidity and nightly cloud cover.

British scientists are predicting a succession of record-breaking high temperatures. They say every year has at least a 50% chance of exceeding the record year of 1998 when average global temperatures reached 14.54C.

The climate change has reached extremes this year. And there are weather events that can prove it. We’re looking at temperatures 15-20 degrees above the average for this time of year. Is this October or June? And with these temperatures, many are predicting a warmer winter. The fashion industry is designing in accordance to this prediction.

Even fashionistas are acknowledging global warming…

Across Africa, flash floods have submerged whole towns and washed away houses, bridges and farms in what some have called the worst downpours in 30 years. Over a million people have been affected by the rains since the summer, according to the United Nations. At least 300 people have been killed, and hundreds of thousands displaced in 22 countries, including Ethiopia, Niger, Sudan and Uganda.

Epidemic warnings are growing as the extent of the damage is revealed. Cholera and malaria have been major concerns. But, the flooding of key roads has paralyzed the delivery of aid. By mid-September, the number of floods in Africa that mobilized Red Cross aid was tallied at 42.

“I’ve lost everything,” Martha Amongin, 56, told The Associated Press. “Life is going to be bad.” Amongin is from Magoro, a town in eastern Uganda that is surrounded by floodwater and inaccessible other than by means of boats.

The situation is catastrophic and needs more media attention and international support. How can you help? Write letters to your politicians and local media outlets, voice your opinion or donate.

Check this out

You won’t be disappointed.

Ever feel like skipping class even when you know you have a group project to work on?

Well, that’s what President Bush has done, just on a larger scale. According to a New York Times article, on Monday dozens of world leaders met at the United Nations for a full agenda of talks on how to fight global warming. President Bush skipped out (that is, on everything but the dinner…). Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice, took the seat representing the United States.

Wouldn’t it be nice to ask a friend to go to class for you?

Bush will be hosting his own meeting with leaders in Washington later this week to address the same issue: how to reduce carbon emissions. However, he has a fundamentally different approach. The President’s aides say that he hopes to persuade the nations that produce 90% of the world’s emissions to come to a consensus that would allow each to set its own policies rather than having limits imposed by a binding international treaty.

Remind you of the Kyoto Protocol? Enacted in 2005, the Kyoto Protocol is an international agreement that limits the emissions of greenhouse gases from the most industrialized countries. The Bush Administration has refused to submit the protocol to Congress for ratification and has taken no specific action towards mitigation of climate change.

Back to that group project- ever feel like you disagree with the group because the decisions made don’t benefit you personally? Is it best to neglect the group or try to compromise?

The talks that took place Monday were directed toward how to replace the Kyoto Protocol, which expires in 2012.

“Unless the United States decides that it wants to be a major and committed leadership player in this and make very specific commitments, much of the rest of the world is effectively going to hide behind the skirts of the United States and not do anything,” said Timothy E. Wirth, president of the United Nations Foundation.

President Bush has proposed a “long-term global goal,” persuading countries to invest more in research on alternative energy sources and lower trade tariffs for products that reduce emissions. The President’s aides have emphasized that this approach would require each nation to make a contribution consistent with its own national circumstances. However, this proposition seems essentially voluntary, which many critics are skeptical of.

I think it would have been more responsible of President Bush to attend the United Nations’ meetings rather than hold his own.

He reminds me of a slacker college student.

Shave off unseemly inches on your margins! Instead of the traditional 1.25-inch border, try narrowing your margins just a little when you print. We suggest 0.75” …it looks sexy and it saves both loads of paper and loads of money. Think about this: the average office-worker uses 2.5 pounds of paper each week. One person=half a TON of paper every year=a hefty tab.

Not convinced? The paper industry has an ecological footprint that the oil industry can only dream about. It’s the number one industrial cause of deforestation, the number one industrial freshwater consumer AND the third largest generator of global warming pollution.

This “marginal” movement was started by actress/writer, Tamara Krinsky, who hopes something small will make some big changes. After all, as she says on her webpage, “When it comes to environmental disaster, the margin for error is small.”

(Even better, go nuts and throw in some double-sided printing along with your narrowed margins. Mother Nature will love you for it.)