Global Warming and Hurricanes

Global Warming and Hurricanes

Last week, a Florida State team of scientists added a study in support of the global warming-stronger hurricane link, and the Associated Press quoted some experts stating that the strength of Hurricane Gustav and other hurricanes could be seen in some ways as a result of global warming.

While experts disagree over the global warming link, they are unanimous in their warning about coastal development in hurricane-prone areas. As sprawl has reached once-remote coastlines, the number of people at risk from hurricanes has grown greatly.

http://www.thedailygreen.com/print-this/environmental-news/latest/hurricane-ike-47090901


The Daily Green
Wikia Green Launches as a "Wikipedia" for Enviros -
Jimmy Wales and Wikia, Inc. Hope to Engage an Online Community
September 9, 2008

Jimmy Wales sleeps better at night these days. In the past, he fretted that cyber vandals would ruin Wikipedia, but now the future of open, wiki-like projects seems bright.

"I have seen that the vast majority of people are good, and the number of troublemakers is very tiny," Wales told TDG in a phone interview. He added, "In the past, I would have thought doing a green wiki would be impossible, because all you'd get would be huge global warming flame wars. But now I think people realize, that even those people who are really into that debate, they can understand this isn't the right place for it. You can ask people not to disrupt the wiki. If they continue to do so, the tools can be used to block them, and all this works out much better than I ever would have imagined."

That's good to hear, because today Wales and others at Wikia, Inc. announced the launch of a new eco-focused project, which they're calling Wikia Green. The goal is to create a flexible, dynamic community wiki that covers anything and everything in the environmental and sustainable universe.

Given the ease of start-up and open source nature of wikis, it's true that Wikia Green isn't the first such attempt (a quick Googling brings up Play Green, green thing wiki and Green Living Pedia) -- but this is the first on the block to have the know-how and muscle of Wikia, Inc. The company has no relation to Wikipedia, although they share the same founder. Wikia is best known as a major host of wiki communities, particularly in the geek space (see the Star Wars-themed Wookieepedia and Fantendo, a community of Nintendo fan fiction).

As a way of explaining what Wikia Green can offer that something like a more general Wikipedia can't, Wales says consider Leonardo DiCaprio. "Look at his regular entry on Wikipedia, and it will be about his movie career, with a few sentences about his activism. Well a green wiki would cover mostly that," said Wales, who hopes the site will become a repository of info that will educate, engage and energize a diverse audience, from bloggers to typical consumers. In fact, it is particularly consumers that Wales hopes most to target with the site.

As another example, Wales suggested that a Wikia Green article on biodiesel would be packed with the stuff that consumers want to know, and not necessarily detailed analysis of the underlying chemistry.

Of course all that depends on the quality of the community, and Wales hopes to attract the best minds to come together to participate. He says he's going to promote the new site heavily through Wikia's resources (as of this writing it is listed as a featured section on the company hub), and the company has already seeded the community by reaching out to potential contributors and diving in to the process.

"A wiki is a place for people with shared interests, and although we're not going to agree on everything, you can address different points of view," said Wales. "I think it's really important, because we see a lot of conflicting info through channels that are compromised, especially regarding motivations, and communities are really good at seeing through that." The process is quite simple: anyone can edit a page, though those who take the time to create profiles and login have their changes viewed less skeptically. Trusted users can be granted more powers, such as the ability to lock an article if it is being targeted by vandals.

Jimmy Wales says he believes sustainable living will soon be seen as something that is integrated into everything in mainstream society, as opposed to merely a separate category. If it takes off, perhaps Wikia Green will play a role in that goal.

A few years ago, the Mars Odyssey spacecraft found, from orbit, signs of vast quantities of water ice a few inches below the planet’s surface. In July, mission scientists confirmed that patches of white seen in the soil near the lander were indeed ice.

Phoenix’s weather station has also detected wisps of water vapor in the thin Martian air, and scientists expected that as the nighttime temperature plunged to minus-110 degrees Fahrenheit from minus-20 — and with it the amount of moisture that the Martian air can hold — minuscule specks of moisture would glom onto dust particles at the surface. The presence of water would show up in electrical measurements by a probe stuck into the soil. Except Mars has not cooperated.

“We’re seeing nothing,” said Aaron Zent of the NASA Ames Research Center at Moffett Field, Calif., the lead scientist for Phoenix’s thermal and electroconductivity probe. “Big fat nothing.”

Actually, the first measurement did yield the expected readings. “A lovely signal,” Dr. Zent said. “But we never saw it again.”

Every subsequent measurement, taken at almost all hours of the day, indicated dry soil.

On Earth, dropping moisture level in the air leads to the condensation of morning dew; on Mars, because the water layer on the dust particles would be only a couple of molecules thick, it would not freeze into the crystal structure of ice, but instead remain more liquidlike, with molecules able to move along the surface of the grains.

The moisture in the air during the day has to go somewhere at night, and that somewhere seems almost certain to be the soil. “It has to,” Dr. Zent said. “There’s no other place for it to go. The soil is sucking it up at night. We certainly expect that we should be able to see some of this.”

Dr. Zent said that perhaps the signal was more subtle than expected. It is possible that the water layer is somehow thick enough to freeze into ice, which would not show the expected electrical behavior. (Photographs of the landscape do show frost on the ground in the morning.) Or the water layer is so thin that the molecules bind tightly to the dirt; that, too, would suppress the electrical signal.

The next step is for Phoenix to jam its electroconductivity probe deeper into the soil, closer to the ice layer. Maybe then, Phoenix will once again discover water.

Fashion trends come and go, but "green" is here to stay, say designers and sponsors at New York's fashion shows this week.

Scores of lines boasting biodegradable fabrics, recycled thread or organic materials are sashaying down the catwalks and, if sales of the often more-costly clothing meet expectations, designers and labels will have profitable new revenue streams.

But fashion is fickle, and any hot fad risks being pushed to the back of the closet like 1980s' shoulder pads.

Still, companies such as cosmetics powerhouse Aveda and designers such as Abi Ferrin are banking that the sustainable approach to style has staying power.

"To characterize the environment as a 'trend' is extremely shortsighted," said Aveda spokeswoman Ellen Maguire. "Going green is good business."

Backstage at the Rodarte, 3.1 Phillip Lim shows and others at the semi-annual Fashion Week sponsored by Mercedes Benz, Aveda stocked steel bottles filled with New York tap water.

The designers, in turn, agreed to avoid fur and use only post-consumer recycled paper for invitations.

Aveda is one of the fastest growing brands in cosmetics giant Estee Lauder Companies Inc's portfolio, said Maguire.

"Consumers are gravitating to companies that care for the environment," she said. "It's not a niche, it's not a trend."

So-called green clothes are being stocked in top venues. Macy's high-end department chain Bloomingdale's carries organic cotton tops and jeans, while Saks Fifth Avenue offers a $2,815 Behnaz Sarafpour organic wool coat.

"Sales people today care about how your product is made," said designer Ferrin, whose flowing garments feature environmentally friendly thread and buttons carved by Nepalese women rescued from the sex trade.

CAN IT LAST?

Ferrin also uses recycled materials for her clothing tags and, while her recycled paper printing costs are 15 percent higher, "you have more people buying your products so it evens out," she said.

Ferrin said she expects to double her sales this year to more than $1 million.

Environmentally conscious fashion "is a megatrend," said Margaret Jacob, sustainability director at Invista, which owns Lycra, a synthetic fiber used in garments to increase wear and strength. "It's a mentality, a way of thinking about business."

The focus on green manufacturing and recycled materials is galvanizing the fashion trade but will not last unless the industry sets specific standards or until consumers believe green materials will noticeably improve their lives, said Susan Scafidi, a Fordham University fashion law professor.

"The consumer needs to be convinced it's not only good for the environment but also for her," she said. "That's true of sustainability in architecture. No one wants to work in a sick building. But do we feel the same about our clothes? Not yet."

Even eco-conscious designers know the trend won't expand unless the world's highest profile stars bring "green" sensibilities into their fashions. "It's really when you have the Tom Fords and the Michael Kors of the world using (non-plastic fibers) that we'll really start seeing an impact," said designer Elisa Jimenez, who uses soy and bamboo fiber in her garments.

Jimenez, who competed in Bravo cable channel's "Project Runway" reality show and grabbed attention for marking her fabric with spit, said most of her private clients ask for gowns using alternative fabrics, despite the higher costs. Jimenez said events like Fashion Week are vital for making trends like eco-fashion cool and lasting.

"It has to be the highest price-point before middle class America wants it," she said. "It's like a red velvet rope."

http://www.reuters.com/article/environmentNews/idUSN0930626120080910
Reuters
Alaska Divided on Palin’s Environment Policies
By Ed Stoddard
September 10, 2008

KENAI FJORDS NATIONAL PARK, Alaska (Reuters) - Sarah Palin makes some greens see red, not least because her Alaskan home is a battleground in America's "environmental wars."

One frontline is the Exit Glacier in Kenai Fjords National Park, which has been receding so fast that signs mark the years where it once stood -- vivid testimony to climate change. The 1917 sign is now about a mile from the imposing wall of ice.

Alaska Gov. Palin has clashed with environmentalists by favoring shooting wolves from the air and expanded drilling for oil, while challenging a Bush administration decision to list polar bears as threatened because climate change is causing their icy habitat to melt away under their paws.

Her views on the environment have come under renewed scrutiny since Republican presidential candidate John McCain picked her last month to be his running mate in the November 4 election against Democrat Barack Obama and his vice presidential pick, Joe Biden.

Palin believes global warming is occurring and will hit places like Alaska hard, but rejects the notion that human activities cause it -- putting her at odds with the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, and with McCain, who has sponsored legislation to curb greenhouse warming and has visited the Exit Glacier.

Some environmental groups in Alaska are appalled, but for some Alaskans and many conservative Republicans, Palin is just doing what is right for her state and country.

"When it comes to environmental issues, the only difference between (U.S. President) George Bush and Sarah Palin is lipstick," said Kate Troll, executive director of Alaska Conservation Voters, a local green group.

"She doesn't agree with the most powerful scientific consensus in the world that climate change is linked to human activity," Troll said.

The U.N. climate panel, comprising hundreds of scientists and policy makers, found last year that with 90 percent certainty climate change is spurred by human activities, specifically the burning of fossil fuels that release climate-warming carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.

The warming is most severe at high latitudes like Alaska. Evidence for this includes the retreat of the Exit Glacier and vanishing ice in the Arctic Sea. The summer ice cover in 2007 was the least ever recorded and this year could see another record, according to the U.N. National Snow and Ice Data Center.

The region's vulnerability is heightened by the fact that ecosystems in such latitudes have far fewer species than those in warmer areas, so the loss of just one or two can be a huge blow to its biodiversity.

In a recent and widely cited interview with Internet news site Newsmax, Palin was quoted as saying: "A changing environment will effect Alaska more than any other state, because of our location ... (but) I'm not one though who would attribute it to being man-made."

BEARS AND BIRDS

Palin is also in the cross hairs of environmentalists for supporting the shooting of wolves from planes. Supporters say "predator control" is a wildlife management tool.

Palin is also a strong advocate of more U.S. drilling including in Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

She has opposed the listing of the polar bear as threatened under the Endangered Species Act because that status could hamper expanded drilling in remote regions. She has appealed against the decision to put the big white bear on the list; environmental groups have sought to have the suit dismissed.

Some Alaskans link its listing to attempts to thwart drilling in the bear's habitat.

"The polar bear is just a symbol of anti-drilling. If it's global warming we must be in the shadow of the sun," said 61-year-old Garret Schnel, an auto parts dealer in the Alaskan fjord town of Seward.

Like many Alaskans skeptical about climate change, he pointed to this past summer, which was one of the state's coldest in recent memory.

Perhaps more endangered than the polar bear but less of a "poster creature" is Kittlitz's murrelet, a marine bird whose rapid decline may be linked to receding tidewater glaciers which flow into the sea near Exit.

In and around Kenai Fjords National Park, the bird's numbers are estimated to be down about 80 to 90 percent over the last 10-15 years, according to the park's chief of resource management, Shelley Hall.

"They forage in areas that are found close to the glaciers," she said, adding that it was also a candidate for an endangered species listing.

Its status may not generate bear-sized passions but the bird is one of many fronts, big and small, in Alaska's green wars.

There may not be peanuts and pretzels anymore on airplanes, but someday there may be algae oil.

Solazyme - a South San Francisco startup focused on producing oil from algae - said Tuesday that it had produced the world's first algal-derived jet fuel.

Company officials said that their algae-based fuel had been tested by one of the nation's leading fuel analysis laboratories and had passed eleven tests necessary for use in aviation.

"This is not like conventional biodiesel, where you can take french fry grease from McDonald's and turn it into oil in your garage," said Harrison Dillon, president and co-founder of the 50-person company. "Planes will fall out of the sky if you don't have a high-quality fuel that meets strict standards. ... What Solazyme has done is demonstrate the first-ever manufacture of high-quality jet fuel from algae."

Solazyme has been experimenting with different strains of algae since 2003 in an effort to develop renewable alternatives to petroleum for use in transportation, cosmetics, cooking and manufacturing.

The company genetically modifies algae from around the world to consume a wide range of feedstocks, such as wood chips, switchgrass and sawdust. When the algae consume more of these substances than they immediately need, they produce oil as an energy storage mechanism.

Last winter, Solazyme produced fuel that powered a Mercedes diesel car around the Sundance Film Festival.

Its initial output of jet fuel was a modest 5 to 10 gallons - just enough for lab testing.

But Dillon said that the potential output will only be limited by the availability of feedstock.

"You won't replace 100 percent of fuel with biofuel for a long time, but this is not something that is going to top out at half a percent of all jet fuel," he said. "It's got a lot of potential."

Dillon predicted that Solazyme will be able to bring production costs down to a point where its fuel will be competitive with $40- to $80-per-barrel oil in two or three years.

Before then, though, there is a lot more testing to do.

So visitors to this year's Sundance Film Festival are not likely to be able to fly there in an algae-fueled plane.

"There is a pretty stringent process for bringing new jet fuels to market," said Dillon. "I can't give you an exact date when we are going to fly a plane on this stuff, but we are in active conversations with oil companies as well as aviation companies."

No peanuts and pretzels, and no algae oil - yet.

ENVIRONMENT NEWS FROM THE

“The world is growing more interdependent,” he noted. “The key question is whether we will keep pace – whether we will develop a global mindset. I believe we will. Slowly but surely, people are beginning to think globally.”

He announced that the UN is currently developing an initiative called “Academic Impact” aimed at building stronger ties with institutions of higher learning which it hopes to launch soon.

Mr. De Schutter stressed that the Council must ensure that acting in the interests of tackling climate change does not impede food protection and protecting human rights.

To date, with the exception of Brazil, production of biofuels has not proven to be a sustainable alternative to fossil fuels, given the use of fertile land, water and energy necessary. Mr. De Schutter called on the 47-member Council to quickly adopt global agreements and guidelines to scrutinize agrofuel production.
Although the surge in food prices caught people around the world off guard, the poor are hungry because they cannot afford to eat, not because of a lack of food, he said.

In a related development, three UN agencies are scheduled to brief a special meeting of the Development Committee of the European Parliament in Brussels today on the current food crisis.

The WFP has already announced a package of more than $200 million to help ease hunger in 16 hotspots.

IFAD, meanwhile, has provided some $200 million in loans and grants to help farmers in the developing world, and continues to call for longer-term investment to allow the almost half a billion planters in these nations to increase their incomes and resilience against price fluctuations.

ENVIRONMENT NEWS FROM THE