Musicians from Zambia (Africa) protest the destruction of the environment and the wildlife with the song titled “
Category Archives: Climate
Why We Need to Trust Technology to Fight Climate Change
By Morgen Henderson
Based on the Paris Climate Agreement, more than 6,000 cities, states, and provinces in dozens of countries must drastically reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 to save life as we know it. The latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report foretells an inhospitable Earth unless we achieve this monumental undertaking.
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Environmental Impacts of Saving Energy at Home
With constant reports of record-breaking heat waves, increased hurricane activity, and deadly winter storms caused by climate change, it can seem hopeless to change course as an individual. Dire warnings about climate change can certainly be discouraging, but making an impact all by yourself isn’t impossible. Even if saving the world isn’t your thing, being environmentally conscious also tends to save you quite a bit of cash. So, how can you help the planet by saving energy at home?
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Global Warming: Where Are We Now?
In the 1950s, the first reports of increasing global temperatures were found in local newspapers, where journalists referenced scientific studies on climate change. The term was casually used until the 70s when scientists began publishing their papers and other work regarding climate change. In the 80s, NASA climate scientists testified before Congress to the effects of climate change and the studies outlining the causes and potential consequences of rising temperatures.
Now, almost 70 years after the initial introduction to rising global temperatures, among growing natural disasters and extensive scientific evidence, global warming has become a political debate, dismissed by one party and spoken of with urgency by the other.
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We are heading for a New Cretaceous, not for a new normal
A lazy buzz phrase – ‘Is this the new normal?’ – has been doing the rounds as extreme climate events have been piling up over the past year. To which the riposte should be: it’s worse than that – we’re on the road to even more frequent, more extreme events than we saw this year.
We have known since the 1980s what’s in store for us. Action taken then to reduce emissions by 20
Video: NASA Balloon Mission Captures Rare Electric Blue Clouds
An amazing video: a recent NASA long-duration balloon mission observed a thin group of seasonal electric blue clouds which are known as noctilucent clouds or polar mesospheric clouds (PMCs). Forming 50 miles (80 km) above polar regions in summer they are Earth’s uppermost clouds and only visible around twilight. PMCs are composed of ice crystals that glow bright blue or white
We have an ethical obligation to relieve individual animal suffering
Last winter, unforgettable video footage online showed a starving polar bear, struggling in its Arctic hunting grounds. Because of global warming, the ice was thin and the food supply was scarce. The video generated a wellspring of sympathy for the plight of this poor
Such advocacy on behalf of wildlife usually focuses on species and the effects of human-caused climate change on their survival and wellbeing as the ecosystems on which they depend undergo drastic changes. Thus, we should act to save the polar bear – that is, the polar bear species – by doing what we can to preserve its natural ecosystem. I am fully behind this kind of advocacy. Anybody who cares about the future of our planet and its occupants should be.
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Artificial grass vs Natural grass: Which is greener?
The world’s leaders (the vast majority of them anyway) have finally come to terms with the dire implications of global warming on the Earth’s climate. With every passing day, the polar ice caps shrink in size, rising sea levels subsume another low-lying island, and the incidence of adverse weather conditions continues to swell. The Paris Agreement of two years ago is evidence of environmental concerns taking precedence on the international stage, but what can we do individually to slow global warming?
Ostensibly a signifier of environmentalism, a lush, natural lawn is, in reality, an energy-hungry indulgence. Many energy-conscious homeowners would actually be better off with an artificial lawn instead, owing to its economical consumption of both energy and water. In creating an artificial surface though, fossil fuels are used, creating carbon in the process. Concerning too is artificial grass’ longevity – it isn’t biodegradable so it can only add to landfill sites. In this post then, we have compared and contrasted natural and artificial grass, with hopes of declaring one environmentally superior. Everything from manufacture to installation to maintenance has been considered, so you can rest assured that our conclusion is a well-rounded and measured one.
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History of Global Warming in just 34 Seconds
Global warming is accelerating – that’s a fact. In April 2018, the level of carbon dioxide in Earth’s atmosphere hit the highest point for the last 800,000 years. NASA and NOAA analyses suggest that long-term global warming trend continued in 2017. This year (2018), on March 17, the Arctic sea ice cover peaked at only 5.59 million square miles (14,478,033.54 km2), the 2nd lowest max on record (and the lowest max on record was, guess it, in 2017). 25 years of NASA and European satellite data shows that rather than increasing steadily, global sea level rise has been accelerating in recent decades. Cooler-than-normal years start to become rarer and by the 1990s, they’ve almost disappeared completely. Climate Central channel has put the 116 years history of global warming (1900-2016) into a just 34-second video. The result is terrifying. The “Temperature Circle” shows every nation on the Earth is now in the red, which means now every year is warmer-than-normal.
Can global warming be held culpable for wildfires?
In the wake of the devastating wildfires that tore through the Pedrógão Grande region of Portugal just over a year ago, a group of children (in association with British environmental lawyers and the NGO Global Legal Action Network) affected by the fires are crowdfunding with the eventual aim of levelling the blame for the wildfire at a total of 47 European countries for their failure to adequately combat climate change. They have already accumulated over £27,000, and aim to eventually raise a total of £350,000 to take their case all the way to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg.
They certainly believe they have a legitimate claim – and so too do the people pledging money to support their cause. So, how interrelated are global warming and the frequency and severity of wildfires? And, when it comes down to it, just how responsible are the European countries for the Portuguese wildfire?
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