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
The building sector 2007-04-03 22:29:00 One of the biggest problems is the ever increasing world population. People need houses and buildings to harbour them. More people means a need for more houses and thus more energy. Most of the energy produced is used for operating buildings. Houses will have to be designed to spend and leak as little energy as possible and we will have to learn to live in smaller spaces.Me and my family, we live in a 2-room apartment, 67 square meters. My wife and I have a loft bed in the living room closed off by bookshelves. Our to boys share the bedroom. So far it has worked out pretty fine. I have my desk and computer in the hall and my wife has her space in the store room. We have had dreams of buying a house but climate change is now an excuse for us not moving to something bigger.Here is a fact sheet about buildings and climate change. And here is a report about passive houses. If passive houses became the model standard a lot energy would be saved. Below is a thermogram comparing a passive ho Read more:sector
Pedestrian crossing 2007-04-03 20:48:00 When will we see this kind of courage in the streets. In Sweden we have a zebra crossing law. It obliges car drivers to give way for pedestrians who intend to cross the street at zebra crossings. I have noticed that if a pedestrian shows low intent to cross and just stands and waits, the car drivers will usually ignore him/her. The more I read about climate change, the more resoluteness I show at the zebra crossings. My Swedish low key mentallity disappears when I encounter cars, especially SUVs. I take the initiative and don't let a single car pass me. It may seem a bit dangerous but I clearly signal that I am intending to cross and I wear bright reflex bands. Some drivers look annoyed but then I give them a severe cat eye stare. Read more:Pedestrian
The most important tipping point: nr 13 2007-04-05 21:09:00 Read, listen or watch what Julia Whitty has to say about tippingpoint
s. If you do one, you will probably do all three, because Julia is good.In nature there are 12 known tipping points that will be triggered when the heat comes on and cause a catastrophic domino brick effect. When the last brick has fallen, well I really don't know, but I imagine that our world will be a very hellish place indeed. To stop this from happening we need to trigger the thirteenth tipping point: the shift from collective passiveness to collective responsiveness.READLISTENWATCHIf you find this important use the send button below.
Uppsala health care reduces emissions 2007-04-05 16:43:00 UNT reports that the county council of Uppsala has reduced its emissions
by 15% during the period 2003-2006. In Sweden the county councils are providers of public health care. The university hospital Akademiska sjukhuset, is EMAS (Eco-Management and Audit Scheme) registered. The county council has done reductions by managing transport, heating, cooling and by shifting to more eco friendly products. Seventy ethanol powered cars have been leased and 350 of the staff bicycle to work. The hospital has a goal to reduce the use of laughing gas which is a 300 times more potent green house gas than CO2.
Step it up! 2007-04-04 23:12:00 On April 14th multiple rallies in the US will shout:"Step it up, Congress! Cut Carbon 80% by 2050."The grass roots are spreading and getting stronger. Soon there will be a tipping point in this matter.
Overruled! 2007-04-04 21:01:00 I am pleased to read that the US supreme court has overruled Bush's refusal to curb CO2 emissions. The court ruled that EPA (the Environmental Protection Agency) can regulate greenhouse gas emissions from new cars (see video). This ruling will hopefully pop Bush's head out of the sand and make him see day light again. The United States is the leading country overall and per capita in emitting green house gases. It's time for Bush to get his act together and take the initiative in saving the planet. But when I see him do poor stand-up comedy to make himself look like a good ol' fella I don't know. He looks so misplaced in his position as the leader of the most powerful country on this planet. A planet in desperate need of a strong and wise leader.
Road cameras 2007-04-04 18:39:00 This blue hatted fellow looks like a robot taken from Star Wars but it is actually a road camera designed to catch speedy drivers. Today 700 of these road cameras are posted along the Swedish roads. According to newspaper SvD 169 more will shortly be installed at strategic places. This means that 540 km will be monitored. Last year the cameras indirectly caused a reduction of CO2 by 11000 tons! I really welcome these cameras and I hope a lot of speedy suckers will be recorded. Their faces should be published on the Internet.
Grim but watered down predictions 2007-04-06 22:31:00 Today the second part of the IPCC-report was published. Measurable impacts already taking place and foreseeable impacts were presented to the world. I just can't understand why the scientists can't be left alone in how they present the facts. Why do government representatives have to be involved? It has been revealed that representatives of some of the bigger polluters wanted to water down some of the conclusions of the report. This kind of interference with the work of the scientists can't be good for the credibility of IPCC. A shame as the report has such a crucial importance for the future of our planet.
Cartoon 2007-04-06 21:57:00 I just love this eco-cartoon by Chris Madden. His latest cartoon book deals with the environment and is called The Beast That Ate the Earth.I recently got a pen tablet for my pc and I thought I would try doing som cartoons but so far I haven't been that productive. Read more:Cartoon
Clarifying information 2007-04-06 20:31:00 On cigarette packages scary pictures have been added to warn people of the consequences of smoking. "Fumer peut entraîner une mort lente et douloureuse." Why not transfer this method to climate change?The method could be used at gas pumps. "Driving on fossil fuels causes fatal climate change." A picture of methane clathrate and some clarifying information
about the tipping points should make some people think twice before they fill their tanks.
Energy rehabilitation 2007-04-07 22:30:00 So this morning, or it was actually after lunch, I started off with a cold shower. Having survived the cold shower I was encouraged to keep on going with cold water for the rest of the day. Before the turning point of the shower I automatically used hot water when I rinsed or washed things. Now I keep the the water lever handle to the blue side for almost all purposes and I try to use the water more sensibly.If we are to ride through this climate change mess we need to rehabilitate ourselves to restore our ability to manage living with less dependency on energy and comfort. The modern man is like a patient that has been staying too long at an institution and can't take care of himself when he is sent home. The oil age lifestyle has made us spoiled, the toughness and resilience of the old days has vanished. We now have to rebuild our mental and physical framework step by step. Setting up small goals and challenges like I did today is a way. Another challenge could be to spend a day ful Read more:Energy
Ice shower 2007-04-07 13:58:00 I am trying to cut down on bad energy wasting habits. Taking long hot showers is one of them. Today I decided to try to shower without hot water. Because the water was so freezing cold I finished my shower in a minute or so. I more than gladly turned off the water while applying the shampoo in to my hair, which I normally don't do, and for obvious reasons I rinsed out the shampoo as quickly as possible. Before entering the tub I thought I could use mindfulness technique to withstand the cold in a controlled manner. "I feel the coldness and I observe the sensation in an objective way. I observe the sensation of pain building up in my skull. Oh, oh, the panic is overwhelming me, my muscles are contracting and I do everything to fast." The mindfulness meditation thing proved to be more difficult than I first thought. The mindfulness strategy immediately disappeared from my mind when the ice cold water hit my head. I probably need to practice more at this. Maybe I can reduce the heat gra
The OEA 2007-04-09 08:58:00 Here is a great clip from a group called the OEA, the Oil Enforcement Agency. They are hilarious!Download their training manual here.
Oil Fires of the Gulf War 2007-04-09 00:15:00 Back in 1991, when senior George Bush was fighting Saddam Hussein, I wrote a school essay about the environmental impacts of the Gulf War. I wrote about local disasters that were inflicted, like black acid rain and respiratory problems among the locals, but I can't recall that I wrote anything about carbon being released into the atmosphere that would cause global warming.
Mr Global Warming 2007-04-08 22:15:00 Looking back at what I have posted so far in this blog, I see that, somehow, I have failed to mention anything about Mr Global
Warming himself: Mr James Hansen. I think it would be safe to say that he is the Einstein of climate science. Luckily he hasn't been afraid to speak out about the dangers of climate change. He thinks that speaking out politically when needed is a moral duty for a scientist.Being an employee of the government his outspokenness and his disturbing message hasn't always been tolerated. He has been subjected to attempts of censorship and restriction but because of his outstanding credentials the government hasn't dared getting rid of him.Mr Hansen has a plain and mild appearance. When he conveys his important message to the public he does it in a clear and graspable way. He would be the perfect science teacher.Hear James Hansen give a great speech in New York.Read a fine essay by James Hansen in The New York Review of Books. Among others he reviews Al Gore's fi Read more:Global Warming
AAAS Climate Change 2007-04-08 21:25:00 A video produced by the The American Association for the Advancement of Science covering the topic of climate change. Read more:Climate
, Change
Patio heaters 2007-04-11 09:42:00 In Sweden restaurants with outdoor serving areas are becoming more frequent, maybe because of the warmer climate and maybe because we travel more and want to create the same ambiance at home as we have experienced abroad in the warmer countries. But Swedish weather is quite chilly at times and when the costumers are cold the restaurants turn on the patio heaters. These patio heaters, apart from heating gardens, also heat the planet. One heater produces about 35 kg of CO2 with one load of gas which lasts about 13 hours. Because of this Wyevale, Britain's largest garden chain, has decided to stop selling patio heaters. A responsible and sensible decision. When it is cold outside people should learn to dress warmer or eat indoors instead of heating themselves and the rest of the planet with idiotic patio heaters. Read more:Patio
Hardcore 2007-04-10 22:38:00 Today I have behaved as a hardcore environmentalist. First off I loaded my bicycle wagon full of trash to deliver to the red cross charity store. After my fairly long ride to the red cross they would only accept half of the load. They wouldn't take the heaviest item, the computer monitor and it's accompanying speaker, so I had to continue my ride to the recycle station.The ride made me rather sweaty so I had to take a shower. Somehow I convinced myself to make it a cold one this time too. By now I have learnt that by sitting down in seiza and bending the upper body forward I can shower the head without wetting the rest of the body. After my hair is wet I can turn off the shower and apply the shampoo. The real cold part comes when I have to rinse everything off, brrrr.In the evening me and my family were invited to dinner at my father's place. My wife naturally wanted to go by car as my father lives at the other side of town. Going by bus would require that we change buses downtown.
Mega shopping 2007-04-10 15:20:00 Getting food on the table costs a lot of carbon. According to Swedish researcher Ulf Sonesson, the last part of the food chain, transporting the food from the store to the refrigerator, causes the most emissions per kilo, as many people shop by car. He estimates that up to 1/3 of the overall emissions comes from the food sector. Shopping malls located in the outskirts of cities and communities cause an increase in car traffic. In a town in southern Sweden it was shown that car traffic increased by 10% after the opening of a new mall. These ugly mega size super stores cause smaller neighborhood stores down the block to close down, forcing even more costumers to go by car. Going to the mega store in a mega SUV buying stuff in a mega big shopping cart and getting mega fat is the way many people go about today. Sick!
Puttin on the Ritz 2007-04-10 13:35:00 This was one of the first songs I digged as a kid back in the early eighties. I played it on my flat rectangular mono tape recorder. Read more:Puttin
Jeffrey Sachs - Bursting at the seams 2007-04-12 23:59:00 I just listened to a great lecture of a warm and inspiring man, economy professor JeffreySachs
. It was the first part of his Reith lecture series to the royal society broadcasted by BBC radio 4.In his opening lecture, "Bursting at the seams", he talks about the problems of our new unsafe time that are slowly engulfing the planet. We are facing man made global challenges that require global and joint measures. Before we had cold wars and it was us against them, now it is us against us. Governments and individuals have to change. Sachs has an optimistic belief that we can change and that if the right choices are made there might be a solution to the mess we have created. In his later talks he will present concrete plans for solutions.Listen to his first Reith lecture here.
Bad news 2007-04-12 21:36:00 svd: The low fares airline Ryanair is planning to launch cheap transatlantic flights from 2010. The prices could be as low as 12 euro.With these kind of prices air travel will definitely increase and so will the thickness or denseness of the carbon blanket. We will fly ourselves to hell.
Facing the truth 2007-04-12 08:58:00 This guy, Boris Benulic, claims in his Metro column that Al Gore doesn't care about the environment, that he is a hypocrite that only cares about his own career. He enforces his claim by listing things Gore did in his political career that were not so green. He also brings up Gore's electricity use as many right wing skeptics has done before. Boris fails to mention that Gore uses green powered electricity and that he calculates his carbon footprint and neutralizes it with carbon offsets. Even if Gore may have some environmental flaws in his previous career, the fact still remains that he has done an outstanding job to inform the world about the inconvenient and imminent threat we are facing. There will always be people who can't face this truth. I don't know if Boris has a problem with Gore getting popular in the name of climate change or if he is one of them who can't handle the truth Gore is preaching. Read more:Facing
Why don't you have any lights on?! 2007-04-14 21:24:00 Yesterday a friend of my two sons was at our place to play. Our little guest discovered that we didn't have any lights on and he found this very odd. I told him, as patiently as I could, that there was plenty of daylight so there was no need for having any lights on. I was quite surprised that he even noticed that the lights were off because the daylight lit up the rooms very well.I guess the schools need to educate the kids in climate consciousness and proper energy use. I believe that kids have a strong influence on their parents. If the kids learn proper conduct the parents will hopefully also follow eventually. If my children tell me that they are worried about the state of the planet and demand of me that I do something about it, I will surely commit myself to do my part.The meaning of my life as a parent is to secure that my children can grow up safely and happily. I can ensure some safety by having a super safe SUV equipped with safe and comfortable child seats. This could be a
Collaboration 2007-04-14 09:50:00 GP: In Sweden two major interest organizations, Swedish red cross and Svenska naturskyddsföreningen (Sweden's largest environment group) have started a collaboration to jointly fight climate change. I think it is great that influential organizations come together to become even stronger. I hope influential nations will do the same. Just imagine what momentum a collaboration between USA and China would produce. Read more:Collaboration
Climate safety 2007-04-13 21:45:00 svd: The institute for Public Policy Research, IPPR, argues that warning texts in air travel ads would make people more aware of how their travelling affects the climate.If I was the managing director of an airline, I would have the flight attendants go through a climate safety briefing before departure (or why not before boarding) instead of the usual safety procedures. Read more:Climate
Heat 2007-04-16 06:53:00 Yesterday we had 24 degrees celcius. Nice but a bit early. Normally our cherry tree blooms in May but now the buds have started to come out already. I wonder what kind of heat we will get in July.
Uncensored version of IPCC report 2007-04-15 22:40:00 Here is what is said to be an uncensored version
of the IPCC WG2 report
and here is the final version. Could be interesting to compare them.
Sunday moments 2007-04-15 20:44:00 Today I took our older son Leo to swim school. I do modest shuttling too, but by bus. I actually chose a swim school located within walking distance from our bus line. On the way we pass Jambo tours. After his class which ends at 12.30 we were hungry so we decided to have some burgers. I tried a vegetarian McBean for the first time and I was happily surprised. It was in fact quite tasty. It was hot and punchy compared to the neutral mainstream garbage they usually sell at fast food chains.When we came back my wife and little Simon had done the grocery shopping for the upcoming week. I was happily chocked to see that at least 70% of the vegetables and fruits was organic. Expensive, yes, but we can afford it now that we drive much less.In the morning before swim school I removed the winter tires from the car and put on the summer set. As I have no skills with cars, I have always felt a tingle of satisfaction when returning from the garage after having completed the tire shift. Today I di Read more:Sunday
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