So Where To From Here

Excellent presentation on population growth trends by

Hans Rosling, a doctor and researcher who is a professor of global health at Karolinska Institute in Sweden

What stops population growth? from Gapminder Foundation on Vimeo.

I started this blog with a caveat stating that I am by no stretch of the imagination a scientist or an expert on the subjects discussed in my posts.  Just how little I know on about global warming and renewable energy becomes more evident each day as I explore articles written by folks who are vastly more qualified to talk about these topics, so please bare with me as I attempt to bring you small glimpses of their accumulated knowledge.

I will always provide you with links back to my original sources so, should a topic peaks your interest, you can jump over and read further into some very technical writings.

Today I came across a group call the The Energy Collective that is an incredible collection of people who are mostly real experts in their fields.  I say mostly because evidently they have an open enrollment, as they let me join, and therefor they apparently don’t qualify the membership.  However, a brief browse through their contributors reads like the “whose who” of sustainable consciousness.

The article that caught my eye and brought me to their site was
Study| Electric Cars Show “Great Promise” in Fight Against Global Warming but once on the site I was lost for several hours. If you want to learn more about Plug-In Cars they have a free publication from the Environment America Research & Policy Center.

Copenhagen Accord in Action

With the Copenhagen Accord fresh on the table awaiting the official endorsement by President Zuma, organizers of the Soccer World Cup are faced with the monumental task of ‘greening 2010′ events.

The global impact of the 2010 event has been estimated to be eight times greater than the 2006 World Cup which was held in Germany BEFORE adding in the emissions from the international travel required for those attending the activities.

In a study of the projected carbon footprint of the coming event, which was funded by the Norwegian Embassy, carbon emissions were calculated to be over 2.7 million tons.  The Norwegian report indicates the cost of balancing out these with carbon offsets will be between R40.6 – $76.7 million ($5.4 to $10.2 million in U.S Dollars).

The cities hosting the World Cup are adopting the ‘greening 2010′ framework in an effort to reduce this footprint by focusing on all aspects of the event.  These include waste, energy, transport, water, biodiversity and tourism.  On the positive side, the planners are looking to job creation, public communication and education.

Whenever  possible, alternative energy sources will be used.  Lighting for everything from cameras to roads will be based on solar power.  Wind power and biogas will fuel Cape Town and Pretoria. Durban plans on implementing industrial offset programs and reforestation projects to balance out the impact of the event.

Dr. Danny Jordaan, CEO of the 2010 FIFA World Cup Organizing Committee, was quoted as saying:

Nations have 12 Days left to join Copenhagen Accord.

Cuba rejects non-binding agreement put together by President Obama (U.S.), Premier Wen Jiabao (China), President Zuma (South Africa), PM Singh (India) and President Lula de Silva (Brazil).  Thus far only nine countries have submitted formal commitments.  These include Turkey, Singapore, Papua New Guinea, Serbia, Ghana and the Maldives and the three latest partiscipants: Australia, France and Cananda.  The five countries who brokered the document, the United States, China, South Africa, Brazil and India have not yet presented their formal submittal but the European Union has indicated their 27 nations are in support of the agreement along with Ethiopia and Grenada.  This leaves 190 nations not yet heard from.

Each countries participating is expected to submit a detail pledge to cut emissions, which are attributed with causing global warming.

Today (yesterday?) Prime Minister John Key of New Zealand was quoted as saying

New Zealand will not be signing a commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the post-2012 period under the Copenhagen Accord’s deadline of February 1.

Keys states that New Zealand will sign the Accord eventually but not by February 1 deadline.

By Abraham R Chacko

According to Wikipedia, ‘A carbon footprint is a measure of the impact that human activities have on the environment in terms of the amount of greenhouse gases produced, measured in units of carbon dioxide.’

Individuals, nations and businesses are able to conceptualize their personal carbon dioxide contribution by means of the Carbon Footprint and thus react responsibly to the problem of global warming by reducing individual footprints.

The conceptual opposite of carbon footprint is ‘carbon offset’, or the removal of carbon emissions through use of alternate gadgets/technologies/processes that adequately reduce carbon emissions.

Global warming is caused by the accumulation of greenhouse gases (primarily carbon-di-oxide, or CO2) in the upper levels of the earth’s atmosphere. The earth receives and releases heat periodically to maintain its balance. However, greenhouse gases interfere with the heat capture-and-release cycle by forming a kind of ’shield’ or ‘barrier’ that prevents heat rays escaping from the earth. This leads to the gradual accumulation of heat in the atmosphere and consequent rise in temperatures all over the globe (the phenomenon that we all know as ‘global warming’). Its consequences are all too well known by now – ecological imbalances, rise in the level of water in the oceans (hence, the seas gradually entering and taking up the dry land on which we live), outbreak of several, dangerous diseases, catastrophic changes in weather and a myriad other effects.

Carbon footprint is a quantity (measured in pounds, kilo grams etc.) on account of the obvious advantages that numbers have over subjective verbal descriptions – some of these are discussed below:

A) Ability to quantify and compare objectively: Consider activity ‘A’ that has a 50 pound (carbon) footprint (say, driving a distance of 2 miles by car) and activity ‘B’ that has a 10 pound footprint (possibly, jogging the same distance). On account of carbon footprint being a number, we can say without any ambiguity or uncertainty that ‘A’ has a bigger carbon footprint compared to ‘B’, since 50 is greater than 10. (Hence, if A and B are activities that serve the same purpose, it will be beneficial to do less of A and more of B instead).

B) Ability to sum-up and Prioritize: (Carbon) footprint of industrial work-processes can be determined by summing up the footprints of their constituent activities. It is, therefore, possible to identify those work-processes that have bigger footprints and deal with them first while leaving out less important ones for later remedial action

C) Ability to forecast and aid better planning in cases of maintenance and new industrial projects

D) Statistics made possible and thus monitoring (control/feedback) of carbon-offset/carbon footprint reduction exercises

E) Enables precise calculation of taxes and other Government levies in case legislation is enforced at any point in time restraining the carbon footprints of businesses/individuals to acceptable limits

F) At a global level, to identify countries that are the biggest contributors to global warming

Like to know what your carbon footprint is? Then visit http://www.bp.com/iframe.do?categoryId=9027929&contentId=7050956 now!

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Abraham_R_Chacko
http://EzineArticles.com/?Carbon-Footprint-Demystified&id=3319243

By Rod Dagan

Environmental damage is becoming more and more of a concern with each passing year. For centuries we have been doing great damage to the environment through the way we produce products and through the products that we use. Now everyone is starting to see that the damage done is serious and we must begin to change our ways.

Sustainable products are one way to help minimize the damage to the environment. Sustainable products are products that do not do damage to the environment at all. In many cases, sustainable products are actually beneficial to the environment.

photo credit: digerati9

Building Better

One of the easiest to use sustainable products is wood. Wood is produced naturally, it comes from trees that are good for the environment and it is used in construction, which is one industry which has done major environmental damage.

Another sustainable product that can be used is clay. Clay has a lot of uses. It can be used in construction as well. It is a great building product because it is easy to use and it provides long lasting benefits to the consumer. A home, for example, that is built using clay will have natural insulation from the properties of the clay. This helps keep the home warm in the cold and cool in the heat.

What’s For Dinner?

Another area where a lot of environmental damage is done is related to food. The containers used that are made of plastic are very harmful to the environment. Better options are paper packaging. Additionally, pesticides used on vegetables and other crops can be very damaging to the environment. Organic foods are much healthier for you and the environment. They are also readily available at supermarkets all over the place.

Energy

Perhaps, the largest cause of environmental damage is energy. Energy has long been derived from fossil fuels. Fossil fuels are not renewable. They are often difficult to get and harvesting these fossil fuels causes great environmental damage. Burning fossil fuels produces a great amount of pollution, as well.

Natural energy options are much better. These sustainable products are clean to use and they are a source of energy that will never be depleted. Renewable products include solar energy, wind energy and thermal energy. There are vehicles on the market that use electricity to operate instead of gasoline. There are energy companies that are using natural energy sources rather than using fossil fuels. There are many changes being made on the front of energy that are moving us towards using more sustainable products.

Using sustainable products is one of the top things that we can do to help save the environment, reduce damage and prevent future damage. In many cases using sustainable products is simple. You simply need to make the choice of a sustainable product over one that is not. In other cases, it can take a major change to switch to sustainable products, but when you consider the benefits then you know that it is well worth your time to make the change.

Rod from Sustainable Products Site provides help and guidance for your Sustainable Living

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Rod_Dagan
http://EzineArticles.com/?The-Move-to-Sustainable-Products&id=2740813