Owner: Revolving Doors URL:http://joneri.blogspot.com/ Join Date: Tue, 13 Feb 2007 15:13:14 -0600 Rating:0 Site Description: A blog mainly dedicated to the concern of our madly accelerating world, destined to crumble if we don't slow down. Site statistics:Click here
Confronting a skeptic 2007-03-17 00:04:00 I confronted a skeptic on a climate blog today.The skeptic: "As long as nobody explains why climate change has occurred before without human interference I will continue driving my SUV. By the way check the Channel 4 film."I countered with this:"By my understanding previous occurrences of climate change has been in repeated cycles and the causes has been due to variations of earth's orbit. The rapid climate change currently happening is not caused by natural variations. Today's changes are occurring 10 times faster than previous changes found in the ice cores. This dramatic and rapid kind of climate change is unusual in a geological context. When they have happened they have been combined with catastrophic events. The Permian extinction was one of them. Human activities correlated to climate change is visualized here.About the C4 film: http://coinet.org.uk/information/swindleresponseDriving a SUV is stupid. Buy a Honda Civic Hybrid instead."
Sanitary napkin 2007-03-16 22:07:00 Today I saw a great sight, a lady sanitary napkin posted on the window of a huge SUV. If I had brought my camera I would have taken a picture of it, it was so nice. I wish more SUVs were exposed to this kind of treatment.When I cycle to work I have started looking at people driving cars-in particular people driving SUVs. From the outside they look incredibly dumb and blunt. Their empty gazes make them look like living dead. It looks like if they are sleeping with their eye lids open.Everyday, sometimes twice a day, I see a lady sitting high in her ugly SUV, looking very pleased with herself. I wonder if she gives a damn about global warming.Today I found out that a colleague of mine is moving with her family from their apartment down town to a house in the suburbs. This move will probably turn her into a typical carbon emitting suburban car commuter.Suburban commuters should check the car buyer's guide recently published by the Environmental Transport Association. They list the top
The elderly 2007-03-17 23:05:00 I work as a physical therapist in the community an do house calls to old people. In Sweden most homes are not equipped with air conditioning. A lot of the patients I meet are isolated in their apartments not able to go outside by themselves. During hot summers I have seen many elderly
get weak and dehydrated. Last week some of the apartments I visited had already become warmer from the early spring sun. The spring has been awaited by many after the long dark winter period. Now the temperature is nice and comfortable and the flowers are starting to pop up in the flower beds. This year is expected to become record hot though. I wonder how the elderly will cope with the approaching summer.
2007-03-17 22:49:00
Mona Sahlin 2007-03-18 10:42:00 Mona Sahlin, the newly installed chairman of the social democrats of Sweden, said in her installment speech that "we shall love the car but hate gasoline". I would rather say that we need to learn to not love the car as much as we do today. We should learn to love bicycles and public transportation. The car addiction of today needs to be treated.
The young 2007-03-18 09:29:00 This picture is a screenshot from the film Grave of the Fireflies directed by Isao Takahata. The film is based on a partially autobiographical novel by Akiyuki Nosaka. The story is about a boy who takes care of his little sister during World War II. The struggle they go through, the sorrow of their dead mother, the constant fear of falling bombs and death, the longing for food, the hopelessness, the confusion, it is all so sad that it makes a grown man weep. It is a beautifully animated film that displays why war is so horrible. The innocent and helpless children are the ones who suffer the most from the consequences of the adults' actions. My wife doesn't want to see this film because she knows it would be too painful.The original animated version can be seen here. There is also a live action version that can be seen here. The original work is available in a french translation: La tombe de luciolesWhat kind of future will our children have? I have two boys, 3 and 7 years old. Somet Read more:young
Coal 2007-03-19 21:18:00 In one year a 500 megawatt coal-fired power plant produces roughly the same amount of global warming emissions as that of 600 000 cars!That is about 3,7 million tons of CO2!In America half of the electricity production is generated by coal.In America coal stands for 80% of all carbon dioxide emissions produced by the electricity sector.What the figures are in China I don't want to know.Interview with Jeff Goodell author of "Big Coal: The Dirty Secret Behind America's Energy Future".Story about how citizen groups fought to prevent Texas Governor Rick Perry from fast-tracking the approval of the construction of 19 new coal-fired power plants in Texas.
Why people are not in panic 2007-03-21 23:09:00 Here is another article about why people
are not freaking out about global warming:If only gay sex caused global warming by psychology professor Daniel Gilbert.Global warming is a stealth bomber flying in over our territory undetected by the radar and killing us all.
Global warming psychology 2007-03-20 23:03:00 People at my work don't talk much about global warming. Very few show outwardly that they are worried. Instead they go to Thailand, Gambia and all over the world without any remorse or hesitation. Why is this paralyzing denial reigning in our society? If somebody brings up the subject people laugh and wave away the problem. This very interesting article illuminates the psychological barriers that stops us from acting as one strong force to cap climate change. Read more:Global
Punch in the guts 2007-03-20 21:54:00 The term "global warming" has a quite vague and distant feel to it; there is a process going on that is heating our planet and we can barely recognize that it is happening. The term itself doesn't imply that the individual human being is a part of the process. When we read "global warming" we don't feel an immediate and direct connection to it. I'm not responsible for this, USA and China are.Would a more concrete or explicit term change the way we recognize and sense the process? Could a different label make us feel more involved and responsible in the bigger picture? Could there be a term that punches you in the guts real hard and makes you understand that You, yes YOU, are causing this. Could we find a term that drags You out of the grey anonymous crowd and points out that You are the one that has to commit yourself to fix this?If You come up with a good alternative term for global warming or climate change please leave a comment. Read more:Punch
George Bush and Climate change 2007-03-22 21:48:00 Budget ManagementDefenseEconomyEducationEnergyGulf CoastHealth CareHomeland SecurityImmigrationIraqMedicareNational SecurityPandemic FluPatriot ActVeteransThese are the issues that are focus issues on the White House website. Climate
change doesn't seem to gain much attention here. Quickly browsing through the site I couldn't find much on climate change. War on terror is the big thing. Why is climate change not an issue of importance here? Is it because of Al Gore? New energy is presented as an important issue, but not in a climate context. Rather, focus is put on the national security issues associated with being dependent on oil from Arab countries. President Bush wants Americans to start driving ethanol and hybrid cars to make the Homeland more independent from foreign oil. The climate issue is omitted, left out. Why is climate change hushed in the White House?Bush discussing energy initiatives Read more:George
, George Bush
Giving and receiving 2007-03-24 23:04:00 I am starting to feel a bit overfull of global warming by now. When I need an outlet for stress and frustration I turn to aikido. I have been doing it for several years, but recently I can only do it occasionally, once a week or less. Doing aikido is to interrelate with a partner. Your partner gives you an attack, an incoming unit of motion and energy that you have to deal with. You could choose to confront and resist the force, but that wouldn't align with the framework of aikido. To do it in an aikido kind of way you would rather embrace and welcome the force and do something creative with it. You want to keep the momentum of the attack in motion and thereby bring the attacker out of balance and control.With aikido you work your body as well as your mind. Being the receiver of the techniques, the uke, can be physically challenging. As uke you attack with a sincere and clean attack. At the instance you enter the sphere of nage, the one performing the technique, your are brought out Read more:Giving
A Hard Rain´s A-gonna Fall 2007-03-26 20:58:00 Here is a nice song by Bob Dylan called "A Hard Rain´s A-gonna
Fall". And what did you hear, my blue-eyed son?And what did you hear, my darling young one? I heard the sound of a thunder, it roared out a warnin', Heard the roar of a wave that could drown the whole world,Heard one hundred drummers whose hands were a-blazin',Heard ten thousand whisperin' and nobody listenin',Heard one person starve, I heard many people laughin',Heard the song of a poet who died in the gutter,Heard the sound of a clown who cried in the alley,And it's a hard, and it's a hard, it's a hard, it's a hard,And it's a hard rain's a-gonna fall.Bob Dylan wrote this song during the Cuban crisis. More than fifty years later the lyrics astonishingly well describe the crisis of today, climate change, which is getting worse day by day. His characteristic moaning voice and his acoustic guitar gives a dark and sorrowful touch to the song.Here is a nice booklet by Mark Edwards and Lloyd Timberlake who has portra
Intelligence square 2007-03-25 22:52:00 A debate about if global warming is a crisis or not was broadcasted from New York on March 14th. The program is called intelligence square. Three experts argue in favor of a motion and three others argue against. The motion of the debate was: global warming is not a crisis. The experts for the motion were Michael Crichton, Richard S. Lindzen and Philip Stott. The three opposing experts were Brenda Ekwurzel, Gavin Schmidt and Richard C.J. Somerville. A considerable number of people in the audience changed their view on the subject after having heard the debate. 30% agreed with the motion before the debate. After the debate the number had increased to 46%. 12-13% couldn't decide which side to vote for. Are scientists not so good at debating? Why were so many fooled by the deniers?Read the transcript here.Listen to the show here.
Dazzling sun and hot rays. 2007-03-27 22:58:00 Yesterday and today we have had record hot spring days in Sweden. Spring just burst upon us as an explosion of light, warmth and colorful blossoms. Yesterday we had 17,6 degrees Centigrade in Uppsala. Normally we have these kind of temperatures in May or June. These days remind me of some warm and sunny days we had in the end of October. The sun is lower and blinds the eyes and the rays feel unnaturally hot for the season. I don't enjoy the niceness of this kind of weather anymore because it scares me of what we will face later on. Read more:Dazzling
Apollo-Gaia Project 2007-03-29 21:45:00 Political Corruption of the IPCC Report? Changes in the Final Text of the "Summary for Policy Makers". Talk by David Wasdell.Very intriguing message which arouses solemn feelings due to its decisive importance. Read more:Apollo
, Project
Fika 2007-03-28 21:24:00 At my workplace we have two sacred times that we never miss: 9:15 AM and 2:30 PM;. These times are earmarked for "fika" (pronounced feekha). At fika we sit down together and satisfy our craving for coffee. No matter what you're up to you don't miss out on fika. We plan our days according to fika. Fika is the core of our schedules, the backbone. We have our personal coffee cups. They are filthy and infected with our personal germs, months passes without any rinsing. Day by day we put these cups in the coffee machine. I would say that two to four cups a day is the average daily intake. Sometimes I take tea for a change. You just press the hot water button and soak a teabag in the cup. There is constantly boiling water accessible. Today it struck my mind that these kind of machines must consume a lot of energy. We just take it for granted that we can instantly attain a cup of coffee at the press of a button.In Japan there are vending machines scattered all over the place. You can buy s
Traffic barriers 2007-03-28 20:41:00 This evening when I picked up my son at school I discovered that traffic barriers had been set up at the entrances of the school yard. On Tuesday evenings there would normally be a bunch of cars parked on the schoolyard, but this evening the yard was clean and empty. I felt very pleased that the immoral parents had to walk all the way from the parking lot.
Green approaches 2007-03-30 23:53:00 Yesterday when I looked up at the sky I saw three airplanes. Two of them had the typical contrails tailing behind them. The third one didn't have one. We live about 30 km from Arlanda airport so maybe it had temporarily turned off the engines, gliding down for landing. I asked myself if it was a conscious maneuver to reduce emissions?This evening I got my questioned answered in Swedish newspaper SVD. During the past year approximately 1000 green approaches/landings have taken place in Sweden jointly by SAS and the air traffic control. Each green approach saves 100-200 kg of fuel. It is done by better planing of the schedules, by lowering the speed if there are many planes ahead in order to reduce cues, and by turning off the engines as early as possible during landing. Read more:Green
Rail travel for our derailed planet 2007-03-30 22:21:00 Swedish Fritidsresor, a Swedish travel agent, recently introduced a climate friendly train charter package to Lake Garda in Italy. This new concept proved to be very successful and all tickets were sold out in one day!I think flying will become less of an option quite soon. Flying is, if you think of it, a very uncomfortable, boring and scary way of travelling. By train you can move around freely and you can enjoy the panorama of the land passing by. You can get fresh air. You don't have to watch out for the steward's food and drink wagon in the aisle when you have to go to the lavatory. You can dine at a real table and you can sleep in a bed. The many benefits with rail travel should make it easy to shift from air travel. The shift will either way become necessary.A great and sensible initiative! I hope more travel agents will get on track. Read more:planet
Is the ICPP too cautious in its predictions? 2007-03-29 23:12:00 What is a balanced view of climate change? David Wasdell, an independent climate change analyst, claims that the 4th ICPP is watered out and that there had been political interference in the process. He says that things are much worse than what the ICPP reports. Here is an article by him on this subject. You can also see him give a short talk on youtube.His claims are countered by the co-ordinating lead authors of Working Group 1 of the IPCC in a letter in the New scientist.
Happy Birthday Al Gore! 2007-03-31 23:05:00 Al Gore appeared on Swedish television this evening and he seemed to have a great time with talk show host Stina Dabrowski. View the show here. He is the first guest in the show and he appears when 3,50 minutes of the stream has played. He was almost caught off guard when Stina congratulated him on his 59th birthday. Read more:Happy
, Birthday
, Happy Birthday
Cutting Edge 2007-03-31 22:09:00 If only world leaders were this decisive in their actions to stop global warming. Read more:Cutting
Corporate leaders 2007-03-31 18:22:00 There is a trend now that international companies are becoming more engaged in climate change. Corporate leaders are coming to realizing that there are business opportunities in reducing climate impact. BLICC (Business Leaders Initiative on Climate Change) is a Swedish network of companies aiming at minimizing their emissions. One of the member companies has even gone carbon neutral: The Swedish aviation agency, Luftfartsverket. Today Respect Europe which runs BLICC arranged a meeting on climate change for company leaders. The house was packed! The executives invited were urged to sign a climate pact in which they would promise to work actively for a 30% reduction of emissions.USCAP, United states climate action partnership, is an American network of businesses and enviroment organizations that is calling on the federal government to quickly enact strong national legislation to require significant reductions of greenhouse gas emissions. They have published a blueprint for how to take
New York Night Lights 2007-04-02 20:51:00 I found this at Flickr, a magnificent photo by Arnold Pouteau. Just look at all the glowing lights and the dense stormy weather above. In one way the picture is beautiful, but viewing it with climate goggles on it suddenly becomes a horrific picture. A symbol for our collective suicide. How many of the lights here are left on for no reason? Dysfunctional lighting. What would the picture look like if only the necessary lights were left on?When searching "night skyline" I found similar pictures from all over the world. The Manhattan skyline is not so unique anymore. Our urbanized world is glowing.The other night the lights of Sidney were turned off for one hour to focus attention on climate change. I would like to see a dimmed Manhattan as well.This kind of over consumption of energy in our modern world is making poor little baby seals drown in Saint Lawrence Bay in Canada because of early ice melting. A lot of species are becoming critically affected by the consequences of rising temper Read more:Night
, Lights
, New York
Spring clean up 2007-04-01 22:40:00 Yesterday we had spring clean up in my neighborhood. The tenants gather up to freshen up the outdoor grounds raking leaves and gathering thrown away paper or plastic wrappings. A lot of stuff come out after the snow has melted away. We used manual rakes. Raking is an activity that I really enjoy. If you do it with an integrated feel, with the proper body alignment, the experience gets pretty rewarding. It almost feels like doing some martial art.I hate leaf blowing, very noisy and irritating for passer-byes. Just look at the man in the picture. He looks like a mad man opening up fire with Rambo's M-60.The other day I was almost blown off my bicycle when I encountered a leaf blower on a bicycle path. Normally the men are equipped with ear protectors so they don't hear when people are approaching. I wish more people would use manual rakes and lawn mowers. Just think of the benefiting exercise they would get. Read more:Spring
Air travel 2007-04-01 22:17:00 Travelling by plane isn't all that pleasant: In one flight you fart out about the amount of CO2 that an average person would do driving his car for one year.You first have to get to the airport that in most cases is located far off from where you live.You have to spend a lot of time at the airport.You have to go through extensive security routines.While stepping on board you might think: "OK, here's the point of no return. Will this be the last one? Oh no, I don't wanna dye." You buckle up in a seat with hardly no room for your feet.You have to climb over your fellow passengers every time you have to go to the lavatory. You might get run over by the food cart if you dare ambulate in the aisle.You have to eat crappy food that might end up in your lap.You will probably experience agonizing squeeze-the arm rests-crampingly-turbulence.You have to respond to stewardesses with pasted on smiles.You have to recollect your luggage at the seemingly never ending conveyor belt.You could get a
Driving 2007-04-01 22:00:00 Owning and driving a car is really not that cool:Your hands are busy.You have to stay awake.You can't drink and drive.You have to find parking space.You could get fined or sent to jail. You might get stuck in agonizing traffic jams.You contribute to making our world a hotter place. You will attract angry looks from people who are trying not to do so.You could smash into something or somebody and cause major or fatal damage.You have to pay for the car itself plus tax, insurance, gas, maintenance and repairs.The order above is not graded, I just liked the shape. Read more:Driving
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