Try this All-Natural, Free Screen Cleaner September 20, 2009
Posted by tkcollier in Enviroment, Humor, Technology.Tags: Environ, Environment, humo, Humor, Tech, Technology
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This free screen cleaner is all-natural and environmentally friendly. Thanks to Frank Andia.
Freon Fix Fries The Climate September 3, 2009
Posted by tkcollier in Enviroment.Tags: Environment, Global Warming
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This is not the funny kind of irony: Scientists say the chemicals that helped solve the last global environmental crisis — the hole in the ozone layer — are making the current one worse.
The chemicals, called hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), were introduced widely in the 1990s to replace ozone-depleting gases used in air conditioners, refrigerators and insulating foam. They worked: The earth’s protective shield seems to be recovering.
But researchers say what’s good for ozone is bad for climate change. In the atmosphere, these replacement chemicals act like “super” greenhouse gases, with a heat-trapping power that can be 4,470 times that of carbon dioxide.
Now, scientists say, the world must find replacements for the replacements — or these super-emissions could cancel out other efforts to stop global warming.
Mosquitoes Bite Mellow People September 3, 2009
Posted by tkcollier in Enviroment, health.Tags: Environment, health, Mosquitoes
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If you’re one of those people whom mosquitoes tend to favor, maybe it’s because you aren’t sufficiently stressed-out.
Insects have very keen powers of smell that direct them to their targets. But for researchers trying to figure out what attracts or repels the pests, sorting through the 300 to 400 distinct chemical odors that the human body produces has proved daunting.
Dr. Logan suggests that mosquitoes may deem hosts that emit more of these chemicals to be diseased or injured and “not a good quality blood meal.” Proteins in the blood are necessary for female mosquitoes to produce fertile eggs, and Dr. Logan says it might be evolutionarily advantageous for mosquitoes to detect and avoid such people.
via Mosquito Bites: The Real Reason Some People Are Immune – WSJ.com. (more…)
Swimming With Whales August 25, 2009
Posted by tkcollier in Cool photos, Enviroment.Tags: Cool photos, Environment, Whales
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In the deep blue waters of the South Pacific, cameraman Marco Queral gets up close and personal with a humpback whale.
The experienced diver even seems to be hitching a lift on the flipper of the 50ft female. Queral, 42, who has spent 17 years taking such remarkable pictures, said: ‘Whales are extremely intelligent. Just like humans, they have their own mind and come with strong personalities. Click the link below for more pictures.
The Politics of Lithium For Batteries July 12, 2009
Posted by tkcollier in Enviroment, Geopolitics.Tags: Alternative Energy, Electric Vehicles, Environment
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At the moment, China provides a lot of the batteries that go into consumer electronics, and Tibet is known to have a large source of lithium. Additionally, estimates are that Bolivia has the largest reserves of lithium in the world with 36% of the global pie. Currently, the U.S. holds about 3% of world reserves.
Regardless of whether they believe lithium is running out sooner or later, most experts have come to agree that lithium’s greatest abundance is in Bolivia, Chile, and Tibet. Bolivia’s president, Evo Morales, is already trying to avoid foreign investment, and talks consistently about the importance of Bolivia having state control over its natural resources. Automakers approaching Bolivia have not received a warm welcome either. The challenges China faces in Tibet (politically speaking) are already well publicized.
via The Politics of Lithium Reserves | Green Business | Reuters.
Extraordinary Clouds May 31, 2009
Posted by tkcollier in Cool photos, Enviroment.Tags: Cool photos, Environment, weather
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Click Picture for Slide Show
Extraordinary Clouds and The Cloud Collector’s Handbook – Telegraph.
Russia Could Benefit From Global Warming May 10, 2009
Posted by tkcollier in Enviroment, Geopolitics.Tags: Environment, Global Warming, Russia
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I suspect it will be epic fail all around – especially after 2025. This is because by then much more powerful trends in resource depletion, climate change and technological growth will be coming into play. The end of cheap hydrocarbon based energy threatens an end to global economic growth and collapse into the Olduvai Gorge. Numerous positive feedback mechanisms such as methane clathrate releases and saturation of traditional carbon sinks will intensify global warming. We will be reaching limits to growth on multiple fronts and industrial civilization will be in peril. As one of the few countries to benefit from global warming, Russia may become host to hundreds of millions of climate refugees.
via Russia Blog: Rite of Spring: Russia’s Fertility Trends. (more…)
“The Great Disruption” March 8, 2009
Posted by tkcollier in Economy & Business, Enviroment.Tags: Economy & Business, Environment, Financial Crisis
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— when both Mother Nature and Father Greed have hit the wall at once — “The Great Disruption.”
“We created a way of raising standards of living that we can’t possibly pass on to our children,” said Joe Romm, a physicist and climate expert who writes the indispensable blog climateprogress.org. We have been getting rich by depleting all our natural stocks — water, hydrocarbons, forests, rivers, fish and arable land — and not by generating renewable flows.
“We are taking a system operating past its capacity and driving it faster and harder,” he wrote me. “No matter how wonderful the system is, the laws of physics and biology still apply.” We must have growth, but we must grow in a different way. For starters, economies need to transition to the concept of net-zero, whereby buildings, cars, factories and homes are designed not only to generate as much energy as they use but to be infinitely recyclable in as many parts as possible. Let’s grow by creating flows rather than plundering more stocks.
via Op-Ed Columnist – The Inflection Is Near? – NYTimes.com.
Hundreds Protest Global Warming February 8, 2009
Posted by tkcollier in Enviroment, Humor.Tags: Environment, Global Warming, Humor
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Seal finds trout buffet at hatchery January 7, 2009
Posted by tkcollier in Enviroment, Humor.Tags: Environment, Humor
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Like a chocoholic with keys to a Godiva shop, a young harbor seal found herself in sea mammal heaven yesterday — the Sandwich Hatchery.(Ironic name)
And before she was captured and released on a salt water beach, the little seal managed to munch on untold numbers of four-pound trout.No one is quite sure exactly how the seal ended up at the state fish hatchery.
She had to travel about two miles from the area of the Sandwich Boardwalk on Cape Cod Bay, follow a creek that passes under a mini-golf course and Route 6A and runs through a wooded area skirting the fish hatchery, before somehow making her way to the hatchery lagoons. With several fish-filled lagoons to choose from, the little seal ended up in the one with the largest trout, most weighing four pounds or so. Click link for video
via CapeCodTimes.com – Seal finds trout buffet at Sandwich hatchery.
A Year Of Seasons In 40 seconds January 1, 2009
Posted by tkcollier in Cool photos, Enviroment, Video.Tags: Cool photos, Environment, Nature, Video
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Norwegian photographer Erik Solheim aimed his camera at the same spot in his backyard and took a picture every day for a year. This is the video of them all stiched together. How he did it and a link to an High Definition version at this link below to his web-site. eirikso.com.
Dolphin Rave December 18, 2008
Posted by tkcollier in Enviroment.Tags: Environment
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This video was shot in the Sea of Cortez between Isla la Guardia and Bajia de los Angeles. While fishing we ran through a pod of several hundred dolphins.
