New species of carnivorous mammal found in Madagascar A mongoose-like creature has been discovered in Madagascar, BBC reports to http://news.bbc.co.uk/earth/hi/earth_news/newsid_9080000/9080783.stm Leicester Geographers forensically tap pee ancient deposits to learn about desert area’s climatic changes According to the media release, issued by the University of Leicester Press Office, Scientists at the University of Leicester are usingContinue reading “The Week’s Environmental News roundup”
Author Archives: Norm Benson
Hal Lewis Resigns From The American Physical Society
This letter of resignation from the American Physical Society by Dr. Harold Lewis is being placed on science and environmental blogs. Highlights and emphasis have been added by me. From: Hal Lewis, University of California, Santa Barbara To: Curtis G. Callan, Jr., Princeton University, President of the American Physical Society 6 October 2010 Dear Curt:Continue reading “Hal Lewis Resigns From The American Physical Society”
The Week’s Environmental News
The White House will go solar…again It’s déjà vu all over again. Department of Energy Secretary Steven Chu, announced plans to install solar panels and a solar hot water heater on the roof of the White House Residence, “a project that demonstrates American solar technologies are available, reliable, and ready for installation in homes throughoutContinue reading “The Week’s Environmental News”
Rotting Swill: The “No Pressure” video from 10:10UK.org stinks
Recently a four-minute video titled No Pressure, written by the writer of Notting Hill, bombed worse than Ishtar because it bombed innocents. No Pressure promotes the 10:10 movement’s goal to lower carbon emissions by ten percent. The video went viral in an ebola sort of way. Because banners and billboards are so déclassé, the 10:10Continue reading “Rotting Swill: The “No Pressure” video from 10:10UK.org stinks”
Envirasceticism
I think Brendan O’Neil’s essay on the new enviro-asceticism is brilliant. I especially liked: Eating, drinking, playing, procreating – everything is carbon-calculated, everything is carbonised. These carbon-calculations really represent a moral judgement on our lives. They [today’s environmentalists] make everything into a potential sin, a crime against the planet. They send the very powerful messageContinue reading “Envirasceticism”
The Week’s Environmental News Roundup
Brazil’s Petrobas raises $70b Brazil’s oil company, Petrobas, raised $70 billion in a sale of it’s stock. According to a report on the Economist website, “The share issue is an important element in Brazil’s plan to exploit the sizeable oilfields it discovered off its coasts in 2007. These ‘pre-salt’ fields (so called because they areContinue reading “The Week’s Environmental News Roundup”
Deforestation diminishing the Snows of Kilimanjaro
Last year a Huffington Post post conjectured that the loss of snow on Mount Kilimanjaro was another sign of global warming. A team observed that Kilimanjaro’s glaciers were receding and “The increase of Earth’s near surface temperatures, coupled with even greater increases in the mid- to upper-tropical troposphere, as documented in recent decades, would atContinue reading “Deforestation diminishing the Snows of Kilimanjaro”
Green quote of the day
“When scientists align themselves with anti-science political movements, like Rifkin’s anti-biotechnology crowd, what are we to think? When scientists lend their names and credibility to unscientific propositions, what are we to think? Is it any wonder that science is losing its constituency?” – Dr. Norman Borlaug, Feeding a World of 10 Billion People: The MiracleContinue reading “Green quote of the day”
Locally produced organically grown. Better for the environment?
Last week we looked at the locavore movement (called Not livin’ la vida locavore). My conclusion was that while local is tasty, food-miles are less than half the energy of storage and prep. Transport accounts for only 14 percent of the energy of a product in the food system. The locavore movement also touts organicallyContinue reading “Locally produced organically grown. Better for the environment?”
This Week’s Environmental News Roundup
Here’s a list of the previous week’s stories that were interesting (to me at least). Are there any others that you think should be on the list? Leave a comment. Japan releases Chinese fishing boat captain Japan released the last member arrested, the boat’s captain, of a Chinese fishing boat the government of Japan accusedContinue reading “This Week’s Environmental News Roundup”
Nullius in Verba 