Climate Climate & Energy

Umbra on solar hot-water systems

Dear Umbra, I would like to change to solar heating for providing some of our electricity requirements, particularly for hot water. Can you advise me how to go about it? Leela Pienaar Grahamstown, South Africa Dearest Leela, I notice you’re in South Africa. I can talk about solar equipment as found in the U.S., and […]

Some guy and a camera

A homecooked argument for aggressive response to global heating.

How Much CO2 Does a Kegger Emit?

College and university presidents sign on to climate pledge Aiming to give greenhouse-gas reduction the old college try, 280 institutions have signed on to the American College & University Presidents Climate Commitment. Modeled after a pact signed by mayors across the country, the agreement commits schools to promoting research on global warming, keeping track of […]

It’s hard out here for a glacier

Feeling down? Probably not as down as the Arctic’s melting glaciers. And now you can listen to their sob story by giving the Icelandic glacier Vatnajokull a call, thanks to an art project that helps folks “connect emotionally” with Europe’s largest glacier. With the help of Virgin Mobile and DolphinEAR, Peterson dropped a hydrophone into […]

The tiny island nation of Tuvalu is threatened by global warming.

Possibly one of the most tragic outcomes that may result from climate change is the extinction of an entire nation's culture and homeland. As the United Nations discussed the threat that global warming poses to the security of nations, Afelee Pita, an ambassador from the tiny Pacific island nation of Tuvalu, was there to represent his country.

Tuvalu may be one of the first nations whose way of life could disappear as a result of the actions (or in this case, the lack of action) of other countries. NPR is covering this story as part of their year-long Climate Connections series. Here's a quote from the piece:

"We face many threats associated with climate change," Pita said to the U.N. "Ocean warming is changing the very nature of our island nation. Slowly our coral reefs are dying through coral bleaching. We are witnessing changes to fish stocks. And we face the increasing threat of more severe cyclones. With the highest (land) point of four meters above sea level, the threat of more cyclones is extremely disturbing."

Listen to the entire story on NPR.org.

And check out a small Grist slideshow of photos taken by Gary Braasch in 2005.

Update [2007-6-12 13:1:43 by Chris Schults]: NPR also has a related piece about the islands of Fiji.

Can You Hear the Drums, Hu Jintao?

Sweden hosts Chinese president, global environment ministers What we learned today: while researching eco-news from Sweden, you might stumble upon some juicy tidbits. Like the fact that tennis player Björn Borg was severely bitten by a dog this weekend, or that the organizers of a future museum dedicated to ABBA have found a location in […]

Johnson Pussyfoots

EPA chief will decide whether to regulate greenhouse gases … next year Climatic evidence notwithstanding, U.S. EPA chief Stephen Johnson would like to assure you that snoozers are not losers. On Friday, Johnson told a House special committee on global warming that he’s going to put off making up his mind about whether vehicle greenhouse-gas […]

What rules would you impose to address global heating if you were

America, nominally a democracy, acquired a strange fetish for "czars" during the Nixon administration (how telling).

I remember William Simon being appointed "energy czar" back in the 70s. Like the Romanoffs, he had a fearsome title and did nothing good for most of the people in his country.

Still, it can be a useful exercise to think about what you would do if you suddenly had responsibility for something like dealing with global heating, and you could make the policy changes you thought wisest. What would yours be?

Your math teacher knew you’d need this stuff someday!

During one of our many discussions here at Gristmill around cutting greenhouse-gas emissions, I did some figuring and realized that, if we started in 2008, we would have three "halving" periods between then and 2050 if we could just cut emissions by 5 percent per year -- not an unreachable goal for people who absolutely waste a buttload of energy.

I've been talking up what I've taken to calling "The 5% Solution" here in Springfield (where the Simpsons live), making contact with a local group to propose starting a campaign for it as a project of the organization, with the idea that it would spread to other towns, cities, and states, and then all over America (insert Howard Dean-like scream here).

This morning, the fellow I've been talking to sent me to this link about something I have not heard of, the Sierra Club's "2% Solution." What?! Have I been left at the gate? Did I invent something well after the patent had already been issued to someone else?

Turns out, no.

The days when they would take whatever you served up are gone

Why does Amory Lovins say that the market is deciding against nukes?