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Five-part ocean series exceeds expectations

It's hard enough to get reporters to write a story on the threats facing our oceans -- but five? The L.A. Times did just that this week with its "Altered Oceans" series (also discussed by Kif here). And I'm not just talking about a couple hundred words buried on page seven; they brought out the big guns for this one. This series is a full multimedia package: videos, graphs, and enough photos to fill the national gallery of art.

Extreme temps all over the place

Hmm ... record-breaking heat in the U.S. and Europe and an unusually severe winter in South Africa? What the heck?

(On a related note, this gets my vote for Best Unexpected Subhead Ever: "Concern for homeless, concert-goers, animals.")

Rev. Pat Robertson converts on global warming

WWJD? From Reuters:

Conservative Christian broadcaster Pat Robertson said on Thursday the wave of scorching temperatures across the United States has converted him into a believer in global warming.

"We really need to address the burning of fossil fuels," Robertson said on his "700 Club" broadcast. "It is getting hotter, and the icecaps are melting and there is a buildup of carbon dioxide in the air."

This week the heat index, the perceived temperature based on both air temperatures and humidity, reached 115 Fahrenheit in some regions of the U.S. East Coast. The 76-year-old Robertson told viewers that was "the most convincing evidence I've seen on global warming in a long time."

Next step: doing something about it.

Good idea

Making biodiesel from used restaurant grease and other waste products is a good idea. This article shows us how a large city is managing to turn waste into useful energy. They have convinced about 130 restaurants to donate their grease to the cause:

Restaurant owner Mike Dormont says that he could earn a few dollars per month selling the grease to recyclers for uses other than biodiesel fuel, but that he would rather do something that benefits the area.

Create your own PSA

Our friends over at Shifting Baselines have launched a new website and video contest where you can create and submit your own PSA:

The contest comes at a time when more than ninety percent of large fish in the oceans are being consumed, coral reefs around the world are dying due to coral bleaching, and large lifeless regions called "dead zones" are expanding each year. The problem of ocean decline has reached global crisis stage. Shifting Baselines' objective is to create solutions by having more effective "communication" to inform people about the problems and the goal of the contest is to give young creative filmmakers the opportunity to relay the message through creative outlets in filmmaking.

The videos will be reviewed by a host of celebrity judges. Read the full press release for more information:

It’s probably nothing

Glaciers in Alaska melting twice as fast as scientists predicted.

Dalai Drama

China plans massive diversion of Tibetan river water The Chinese never met a problem they couldn’t solve with a few billion dollars and a massive engineering project out of scale with anything ever attempted before by humanity. The latest is a $37 billion undertaking which would divert water from rivers in the high reaches of […]

Ports punting pollution

Recognizing they can't grow unless they clean up, the huge ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach will soon unveil a $2 billion effort to address the incredible air pollution they produce every day. According to today's Washington Post, the two ports that account for 40% of the nation's container trade will launch a plan next month to "reduce particulate matter by 81 percent and nitrogen oxides by 62 percent in five years."

And it sounds like it is needed; incomprehensibly, the L.A. port alone emits daily the equivalent particulate matter and nitrogen oxide produced by a half million cars, a typical refinery, and a typical power plant combined.

But looking at the numbers, it starts to make sense.

Could global warming kill the internet?

Apparently so.

California failin’

The Wall Street Journal has a lengthy and quite depressing story about California's long and futile attempt to reduce oil use in its transportation sector. I say skip it. Life's too short to be depressed!