Oct 10 2008
Climate Changes
Here's a roundup of some of the week's major news on climate change:
- The director of the U.N. University's Institute on the Environment and Human Security warned this week that environmental damage caused by climate change, including flooding and desertification, could displace 200 million people by 2050.
- As many as three-quarters of major Antarctic penguin colonies could be damaged or killed if global temperatures are allowed to climb by more than two degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit), according to a report released by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF).
- Keeping world temperatures from rising beyond that level will require cutting greenhouse gas emissions about 60 percent below current levels, according to Britain's independent Climate Change Committee. For Great Britain, that will mean eliminating nearly all use of fossil fuels to produce electric power.
- A new report by health experts at the Wildlife Conservation Society cites 12 deadly diseases that could spread into new regions as a result of climate change, putting human health at risk. The "deadly dozen" include plague, Ebola, tuburculosis, cholera, and avian flu. Sleep well on that tonight.
- Enough bad news. While most of the world is warming, one part of south-eastern Spain has actually been cooling an average of 0.3 °C per decade since 1983. The secret is the region's 26,000 hectares of greenhouses. According to a Spanish researcher, the white structures reflect so much sun that they cool the earth!
Posted by: Jonathan Marshall
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This is being rather generous to Lutz.
1. The "Volt", in no small part, will be targeted as a product to people who care about energy and environmental issues. These people don't embrace Lutz' antideluvian concepts of rejecting science. How responsible is it for a GM executive to be rejecting the science?
2. As well, Lutz didn't exactly sound too enthusiastic about the Volt itself.
3. And, GM public communications has 'defended' Lutz in rather absurd ways.
-A Siegel
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This article is right on - small businesses have a huge role to play in sustainability. Not only do they add up in aggregate, but many small businesses operate in industries that can have a significant environmental impact depending on the exact practices, like dry cleaners, auto repair shops, etc. Green is also starting to affect the bottom line more and more, customers are increasingly voting with their feet for more sustainable businesses as can be seen from the growth of sites like http://www.ecovian.com. This is also a huge opportunity for small businesses to leapfrog their bigger brothers by being more agile in adopting these measures.
-Emily
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Great entry, Katie. Love the level of detail you managed to get in there! Probably won't be able to compete with coal and oil any time the next decade, but definitely a great technology to look into! Keep it up :)
-Rune (Norway)
> view entry
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