"The peak of the next sunspot cycle is expected in late 2011 or mid-2012 -- potentially affecting airline flights, communications satellites and electrical transmissions. But forecasters can't agree on how intense it will be.
A 12-member panel charged with forecasting the solar cycle said Wednesday it is evenly split over whether the peak will be 90 sunspots or 140 sunspots.
The government's Space Environment Center in Boulder, Colorado, tracks space weather and forecasts its changes, which can affect millions of dollars worth of activities such as oil drilling, car navigation systems and astronauts.
Half of the specialists predicted a moderately strong cycle of 140 sunspots expected to peak in October of 2011, while the rest called for a moderately weak cycle of 90 sunspots peaking in August of 2012.
"We're hoping to achieve a consensus sometime in the next six to 12 months," said Douglas Biesecker, a space environment center scientist who is chairman of the forecast panel.
An average solar cycle ranges from 75 to 155 sunspots.
During an active solar period, violent eruptions occur more often on the sun, the agency said. Solar flares and vast explosions, known as coronal mass ejections, shoot highly charged matter toward Earth."
Source: CNN
It seems we might be facing chaos in a few years. I wonder though, how did we manage before. I mean, this isn't the first time this has happened. It seems to me that scientists, helped by the media, is making this into a bigger thing than it really is.
Friday, April 27, 2007
Wednesday, April 25, 2007
Scientists find most Earth-like planet yet
"European astronomers have spotted what they say is the most Earth-like planet yet outside our solar system, with balmy temperatures that could support water and, potentially, life.
They have not directly seen the planet, orbiting a red dwarf star called Gliese 581. But measurements of the star suggest that a planet not much larger than the Earth is pulling on it, the researchers say in a letter to the editor of the journal Astronomy and Astrophysics."
"Gliese 581 is among the 100 closest stars to Earth, just 20.5 light-years away in the constellation Libra.
A light-year is the distance light travels in a year, about 6 trillion miles (10 trillion km).
It is smaller and dimmer than the sun, so the planet can be close to it and yet not be overheated."
Source: CNN
Excellent! Now if Earth is destroyed due to globalwarming, we will have a refuge to evacuate to. And it's only 20.5 light-years away. It's a true find. Of course, first we have to find a way to actually get there, and that preferably before we destroy the planet we live on now.
They have not directly seen the planet, orbiting a red dwarf star called Gliese 581. But measurements of the star suggest that a planet not much larger than the Earth is pulling on it, the researchers say in a letter to the editor of the journal Astronomy and Astrophysics."
"Gliese 581 is among the 100 closest stars to Earth, just 20.5 light-years away in the constellation Libra.
A light-year is the distance light travels in a year, about 6 trillion miles (10 trillion km).
It is smaller and dimmer than the sun, so the planet can be close to it and yet not be overheated."
Source: CNN
Excellent! Now if Earth is destroyed due to globalwarming, we will have a refuge to evacuate to. And it's only 20.5 light-years away. It's a true find. Of course, first we have to find a way to actually get there, and that preferably before we destroy the planet we live on now.
Tuesday, April 24, 2007
Shell's nemesis and friend of fish win green awards
"An Irish farmer who was jailed for opposing Shell's plans to build a gas pipeline on his land and an Icelandic businessman who saved north Atlantic salmon from the brink of extinction are among the winners of a top environmental honour.
Willie Corduff, from Rossport in Ireland, and Icelander Orri Vigfusson will be among six campaigners who will receive the Goldman Environmental prize at a ceremony at the San Francisco opera house this evening.
The winners of the award, which celebrates grassroots environmentalists around the world, will each receive $125,000 (£62,500) in recognition of their efforts. They have been selected by an international jury from nominations put forward by green groups and individuals.
Mr Corduff was among five men jailed for three months in 2005, for attempting to stop the oil giant Shell laying a high pressure gas pipeline under their land in County Mayo.
The men, who became known as the Rossport five, refused the company access to their land and spent 94 days in jail as a result."
Source: The Guardian
The oil giant Shell markets themselves as environmentally friendly, innovative and so on ... working for the environment. Then why do they have to go and do something stupid like this, which so obviously will cause harm on the environment? All PR is not good PR. This is clearly what I would call "badwill", and doesn't do Shell any good in the eyes of the consumer.
Willie Corduff, from Rossport in Ireland, and Icelander Orri Vigfusson will be among six campaigners who will receive the Goldman Environmental prize at a ceremony at the San Francisco opera house this evening.
The winners of the award, which celebrates grassroots environmentalists around the world, will each receive $125,000 (£62,500) in recognition of their efforts. They have been selected by an international jury from nominations put forward by green groups and individuals.
Mr Corduff was among five men jailed for three months in 2005, for attempting to stop the oil giant Shell laying a high pressure gas pipeline under their land in County Mayo.
The men, who became known as the Rossport five, refused the company access to their land and spent 94 days in jail as a result."
Source: The Guardian
The oil giant Shell markets themselves as environmentally friendly, innovative and so on ... working for the environment. Then why do they have to go and do something stupid like this, which so obviously will cause harm on the environment? All PR is not good PR. This is clearly what I would call "badwill", and doesn't do Shell any good in the eyes of the consumer.
Monday, April 23, 2007
Raining bats and logs
"How to replant a rainforest cheaply
SINCE the dawn of agriculture, man's most enduring relationship with forests has been to cut them down, thus taking timber and liberating land in one fell swoop. But not all cleared forest is suitable for farming—and that is particularly so when the forest in question is in the tropics. Daniel Nepstad, a forest ecologist at the Woods Hole Research Centre in Falmouth, Massachusetts, estimates that about a third of cleared tropical rainforest is quickly abandoned, having been left in a condition from which it would take decades to recover if nature were to take its course unaided. Such land is, literally, of no use to man or beast. Indeed, it is worse, for natural forest promotes cloud formation and local rainfall, and thus helps nearby farmers. The clouds themselves may even keep the Earth cooler than it would otherwise be. Cleared land, by contrast, promotes drought. Replanting it with trees by hand, however, would be ridiculously expensive."
Source: The Economist
A very interesting article about how you can use the service of bats to spread seeds in order to replant the rainforest.
SINCE the dawn of agriculture, man's most enduring relationship with forests has been to cut them down, thus taking timber and liberating land in one fell swoop. But not all cleared forest is suitable for farming—and that is particularly so when the forest in question is in the tropics. Daniel Nepstad, a forest ecologist at the Woods Hole Research Centre in Falmouth, Massachusetts, estimates that about a third of cleared tropical rainforest is quickly abandoned, having been left in a condition from which it would take decades to recover if nature were to take its course unaided. Such land is, literally, of no use to man or beast. Indeed, it is worse, for natural forest promotes cloud formation and local rainfall, and thus helps nearby farmers. The clouds themselves may even keep the Earth cooler than it would otherwise be. Cleared land, by contrast, promotes drought. Replanting it with trees by hand, however, would be ridiculously expensive."
Source: The Economist
A very interesting article about how you can use the service of bats to spread seeds in order to replant the rainforest.
Think global, calculate local
"How high is Scotland? Given that it varies between sea level and 1344 metres at the top of Ben Nevis, Britain's highest mountain, it might sound odd just to say 200m. But that was the height that had to be used in 2001 for the Met Office's Hadley Centre modelling of the Earth's atmosphere with its HadCM3 Global Climate Model, using the fastest supercomputers then available. The 3D world divided the Earth's atmosphere into boxes roughly 300km by 300km, and 40 "layers" (from 5km below the sea to 30km above it); the entire British Isles were covered by just five grid cells."
Source: The Guardian
This is one complicated article about a very complicated subject. No wonder there are so many heated discussions concerning globalwarming and how to calculate the effects of it.
Source: The Guardian
This is one complicated article about a very complicated subject. No wonder there are so many heated discussions concerning globalwarming and how to calculate the effects of it.
Wednesday, April 18, 2007
U.N. Security Council holds climate debate
"The U.N. Security Council held a groundbreaking debate Tuesday on the impact of climate change on conflicts, brushing aside objections from developing countries that globalwarming is not an issue of international peace and security.
Britain holds the council presidency this month and organized an open meeting to highlight what its foreign secretary, Margaret Beckett, said was the "security imperative" to tackle climate change because it can exacerbate problems that cause conflicts and threatens the entire planet."
Source: CNN
Finally things are starting to happen. The question is whether it will stay at just talks or will they actually do something. Bringing an issue to the Security Council usually meens loads of opinion, arguments, but no action as one or two members won't agree with the others.
Climate change in your backyard
"Climate change is already affecting Britain's green spaces - hotter, drier summers and water shortages have been forcing gardeners to abandon thirsty lawns and parched native flowers in favour of Mediterranean-style plants. Garden centres have reported a tenfold increase in the sales of cordylines, grey foliage and other species accustomed to hot, dry climates, while British garden favourites such as pansies, lupins and delphiniums have been steadily declining in popularity.
Experts are so concerned that they have launched a drive to Save Our Great British Gardens."
Source: The Guardian
The British people are crazy about their gardening. Where it takes a threat to national security to open the eyes of Americans, perhaps a threat to gardening is what is needed to make the British more aware of globalwarming.
Experts are so concerned that they have launched a drive to Save Our Great British Gardens."
Source: The Guardian
The British people are crazy about their gardening. Where it takes a threat to national security to open the eyes of Americans, perhaps a threat to gardening is what is needed to make the British more aware of globalwarming.
Tuesday, April 17, 2007
Death in the rainforest: fragile creatures give the world a new climate warning
"A protected rainforest in one of the world's richest biodiversity hotspots has suffered an alarming collapse in amphibians and reptiles, suggesting such havens may fail to slow the creatures' slide towards global extinction.
Conservationists working in a lowland forest reserve at La Selva in Costa Rica used biological records dating from 1970 to show that species of frogs, toads, lizards, snakes and salamanders have plummeted on average 75% in the past 35 years."
Source: The Guardian
This article was some scary reading. Read it! It will make you think!
Ex-generals: Globalwarming threatens U.S. security
"Globalwarming poses a "serious threat to America's national security" and the U.S. likely will be dragged into fights over water and other shortages, top retired military leaders warn in a new report.
The report says that in the next 30 to 40 years there will be wars over water, increased hunger instability from worsening disease and rising sea levels and globalwarming-induced refugees. "The chaos that results can be an incubator of civil strife, genocide and the growth of terrorism," the 35-page report predicts."
Source: CNN
I guess it takes a "threat to US national security" to wake the Bush administration up and see the truth. Unfortunately there are people who think this report is to alarmist because the prediction is still 30 years ahead. Apparently they think nothing needs to be done about this until it actually happens. By then, and this is what they can't seem to get into their small brains, it will be too late.
The report says that in the next 30 to 40 years there will be wars over water, increased hunger instability from worsening disease and rising sea levels and globalwarming-induced refugees. "The chaos that results can be an incubator of civil strife, genocide and the growth of terrorism," the 35-page report predicts."
Source: CNN
I guess it takes a "threat to US national security" to wake the Bush administration up and see the truth. Unfortunately there are people who think this report is to alarmist because the prediction is still 30 years ahead. Apparently they think nothing needs to be done about this until it actually happens. By then, and this is what they can't seem to get into their small brains, it will be too late.
Monday, April 16, 2007
Rallies nationwide urge Congress: Step it up on climate
"Americans worried about climate change gathered Saturday on ski slopes and in cities for a nationwide day of demonstrations aimed at drawing attention to globalwarming.
More than 1,300 events were organized in every state under the banner Step It Up 2007 to push Congress to require an 80 percent cut in carbon dioxide emissions by 2050.
"When it comes to globalwarming, I don't exactly think President Bush is doing such a hot job," said 12-year-old New Yorker Tiffany Cordero. "A lot of people are thinking just of now. But we won't have a 'now' if we don't focus on the future."
Tiffany delivered a speech for a rally in lower Manhattan's Battery Park, overlooking New York Harbor, where people dressed in blue -- some equipped with scuba gear and beach balls -- gathered to form a Sea of People human line to symbolically mark New York's future coastline.
Scientists say melting polar ice caps and glaciers will cause ocean levels to rise, although estimates vary. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has projected that ocean levels will rise 7 to 23 inches this century, but other scientists warn the sea level could rise 10 feet or more, enough to flood Lower Manhattan and other low-lying coastal areas.
The threatened rise in the ocean also was dramatized by a New Coast Parade in Portland, Maine, one of more than 30 observances in that state."
Source: CNN
The US public is finally waking up, and now the children are voicing their opinion as well. I don't see how the Bush administration can resist this.
More than 1,300 events were organized in every state under the banner Step It Up 2007 to push Congress to require an 80 percent cut in carbon dioxide emissions by 2050.
"When it comes to globalwarming, I don't exactly think President Bush is doing such a hot job," said 12-year-old New Yorker Tiffany Cordero. "A lot of people are thinking just of now. But we won't have a 'now' if we don't focus on the future."
Tiffany delivered a speech for a rally in lower Manhattan's Battery Park, overlooking New York Harbor, where people dressed in blue -- some equipped with scuba gear and beach balls -- gathered to form a Sea of People human line to symbolically mark New York's future coastline.
Scientists say melting polar ice caps and glaciers will cause ocean levels to rise, although estimates vary. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has projected that ocean levels will rise 7 to 23 inches this century, but other scientists warn the sea level could rise 10 feet or more, enough to flood Lower Manhattan and other low-lying coastal areas.
The threatened rise in the ocean also was dramatized by a New Coast Parade in Portland, Maine, one of more than 30 observances in that state."
Source: CNN
The US public is finally waking up, and now the children are voicing their opinion as well. I don't see how the Bush administration can resist this.
Thursday, April 05, 2007
Ethanol tops U.S.-Brazil talks
"President Bush and Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva on Saturday discussed globalwarming, ethanol and trade, as well as poverty, hunger, disease and peace in the Middle East, the leaders said.
Lula da Silva was a guest at Camp David in Maryland. It was Bush's second meeting with the Brazilian leader in less than a month. They met three weeks ago when Bush stopped in Sao Paulo during his five-nation tour of Latin America.
At the top of Saturday's agenda was ethanol.
"For me, the biofuel issue is almost like an obsession," Lula da Silva told reporters through an interpreter.
During the past four years, Brazil has been able to reduce the deforestation of the Amazon rainforest by 52 percent, saving some 2 million hectares (5 million acres), he said. Through the use of ethanol, carbon gas emissions have been reduced by some 400 million tons.
"Either we take care of planet Earth very carefully ... or we regret that in the future," Lula da Silva said."
Source: CNN.com
We all have a lot to learn from Brazil when it comes to ethanol. I read somewhere that about 95% of all new cars sold in Brazil are fueled by ethanol. The perhaps most dominant brand of cars is Ford with its Flexifuel system. Most of Brazil's ethanol comes from sugar canes, of which the rest product is used as furtilizer. Therefore nothing is wasted.
Lula da Silva was a guest at Camp David in Maryland. It was Bush's second meeting with the Brazilian leader in less than a month. They met three weeks ago when Bush stopped in Sao Paulo during his five-nation tour of Latin America.
At the top of Saturday's agenda was ethanol.
"For me, the biofuel issue is almost like an obsession," Lula da Silva told reporters through an interpreter.
During the past four years, Brazil has been able to reduce the deforestation of the Amazon rainforest by 52 percent, saving some 2 million hectares (5 million acres), he said. Through the use of ethanol, carbon gas emissions have been reduced by some 400 million tons.
"Either we take care of planet Earth very carefully ... or we regret that in the future," Lula da Silva said."
Source: CNN.com
We all have a lot to learn from Brazil when it comes to ethanol. I read somewhere that about 95% of all new cars sold in Brazil are fueled by ethanol. The perhaps most dominant brand of cars is Ford with its Flexifuel system. Most of Brazil's ethanol comes from sugar canes, of which the rest product is used as furtilizer. Therefore nothing is wasted.
Easter eggs weigh in heavy with packaging
"It is not just a myth spread by cheapskates who balk at paying more for a hollow chocolate shape than a solid bar of the stuff - a study has revealed that some leading Easter egg brands really do contain almost as much packaging as confectionery.
Buy many of the eggs on sale this year and at least one-third of what you take home will be tinfoil, plastic and - probably unrecycled - cardboard, research by Oxfordshire county council has shown."
Source: The Guardian
Easter eggs - the greatest threat to the environment, the number one cause of globalwarming. In the spirit of globalwarming awareness2007 we need to boycott Easter eggs. Seriously speaking, is there nothing more important going on in the World today? Are Easter eggs really such a big threat to the environment that it requires a headline in The Guardian?
Buy many of the eggs on sale this year and at least one-third of what you take home will be tinfoil, plastic and - probably unrecycled - cardboard, research by Oxfordshire county council has shown."
Source: The Guardian
Easter eggs - the greatest threat to the environment, the number one cause of globalwarming. In the spirit of globalwarming awareness2007 we need to boycott Easter eggs. Seriously speaking, is there nothing more important going on in the World today? Are Easter eggs really such a big threat to the environment that it requires a headline in The Guardian?
Wednesday, April 04, 2007
US supreme court overrules Bush's refusal to restrict C02
"The US supreme court yesterday issued a landmark ruling in favour of environmentalists and against George Bush's stance on globalwarming. The court judged that the federal Environmental Protection Agency had the power through a clean air law to restrict exhaust emissions, and told the agency to re-examine the issue.
The ruling was in response to a lawsuit filed by 12 states and 13 environmental groups frustrated with the Bush administration's lack of action. Individual states, led by California, have been imposing regulations of their own. Car makers, public utilities, and others responsible for carbon dioxide emissions opposed the lawsuit. The decision opens the way for a new president in 2009 to curb emissions - all the Democratic and Republican candidates have made climate change a major part of their platforms."
Source: The Guardian
Is it only me, or do more people like to read how George W. Bush is overruled? It's time for Bush to join the real world, instead of sticking to his own where it's apparently ok to not sign the Kyoto treaty and other agreements in favour of the environment. To see how his own (partly) appointed Supreme court overrules him is a delight!
The ruling was in response to a lawsuit filed by 12 states and 13 environmental groups frustrated with the Bush administration's lack of action. Individual states, led by California, have been imposing regulations of their own. Car makers, public utilities, and others responsible for carbon dioxide emissions opposed the lawsuit. The decision opens the way for a new president in 2009 to curb emissions - all the Democratic and Republican candidates have made climate change a major part of their platforms."
Source: The Guardian
Is it only me, or do more people like to read how George W. Bush is overruled? It's time for Bush to join the real world, instead of sticking to his own where it's apparently ok to not sign the Kyoto treaty and other agreements in favour of the environment. To see how his own (partly) appointed Supreme court overrules him is a delight!
Monday, April 02, 2007
Sir Alex Ferguson joins Gore's climate A-team
"The scientists have warned of the dangers and the politicians have promised to act, but Al Gore is still not satisfied the world is taking climate change seriously enough. The answer, the former US vice-president has reasoned, could be Sir Alex Ferguson. The Manchester United manager was one of 150 or so high-level individuals brought to Cambridge this week to meet Mr Gore, who taught them to deliver their own version of An Inconvenient Truth, his Oscar-winning film on globalwarming."
Source: The Guardian
I can see that from a publicity point of view it make sence to have a guy like Ferguson on the team, but what is he supposed to contribute with, really?
Source: The Guardian
I can see that from a publicity point of view it make sence to have a guy like Ferguson on the team, but what is he supposed to contribute with, really?
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