The Last Frost

The Last Frost is looking for one or a couple aspiring bloggers to help write articles for the site. The requirements are simple:

– Must know how to write, duh.
– Must have an interest in Environmental Sciences ideally those that directly relate to climate change.

We're not looking for the next Hemmingway here, just someone who can spell and has an interest in writing about environmental issues. It's a volunteer gig, because this site doesn't turn a profit, and if it did, we would use the money to save the world. Other than that there's not much to it. You can write articles whenever and as often as you like, 1 a day, 1 a week, whatever. Young or old, it doesn't matter. If you're interested send an email with your info to damnHippy@lastfrost.com.

This is one of the best articles I've seen on the science behind global warming. It's easy to understand, easy to read, and it's rich with info. It goes into what global warming is, what may cause it, and why it's so difficult to model. 

Check it out, pass it around to your sceptic friends; climate change is getting harder and harder to argue against.

Global Warming: PROOF » [The Pacifican]

The costs of curbing greenhouse gas emissions today are relatively small when compared with the consequences of doing nothing. The costs of inaction will far outweigh the cost of going green now. It's a choice that we will have to make and the sooner the better.

Climate change inaction will cost trillions » [ABC News]

The documentary, Who Killed The Electric Car is available in it's entirety on Google Video. You might want to check it out while you can.

Who Killed The Electric Car? » [Google Video]

This blog is just so dang serious all the time, that I'm going to try to find at least silly article a week just to shake it up a bit. Here's the first installment courtesy of the good folks at the Onion. You just gotta love 'em over there, well you don't have to, but is there a reason not to? 

Bush Urges Expanded Drilling Of Alaskan Wildlife » [The Onion]

We've got another blame-it-all-on-the-planet type of guy and he's just begging to be argued with. He says, "There is no such thing as human-caused global warming". Alright, I'm listening, now let's hear why.

He argues that since the Earth was once hotter that it is today, before we had this little thing called the Industrial Revolution, the current warming trend must be a natural cycle. How does he figure that just because the Earth was warmer in the past, our actions today can have no effect? It sounds like he's leaving out some of the alternative theories here, namely the realistic ones. If I may use his own logical reasoning against him, the Earth used to be a lifeless volcanic rock; does that mean that if we nuke it back to that state it's not our fault? No Mr. Eickstadt it doesn't.

To his credit he at least acknowledges that global warming is a grave issue. Yet not grave enough to avoid pointing a few fingers before we all get toasted. At one point he says, "all fingers point to a natural global warming cycle – one we cannot escape from or do anything to stop." Bullshit, take some responsibility even if it's only partial responsibility. There are things we can do, we have the ability to be quite resourceful as a species when we want to be.

Probably the most disturbing sentence in the article, at least to me, is this one, "This year’s hurricane season – or lack of one – is another testament to debunking the theory of human-caused global warming." Keep telling yourself that pal, this hurricane season was a bit milder than some but there were reasons for that. According to this Wikipedia article, the atmospheric pressure over the Atlantic was higher than normal this year, trade winds were blowing stronger than normal, and ocean surface temperature anomalies were less common. All of these things and more could have led to a mild hurricane season. The jury may be out on whether the 2005 season was fueled by global warming or not, but let's not jump the gun and say global warming has no effect whatsoever, that's just reckless.

This guy's entitled to his opinion afterall, but he should seriously consider getting an opinion that's based in reality, backed with fact, or at the very least, based on logic. 

Human made global warming not real » [The Daily Evergreen Online]

A study was recently released that makes predictions about what the Northeastern U.S. will be like in 100 years due to climate change. They make two predictions; one if we curb emissions now, the other if we don't. Here's a taste, 

"Currently, Northeastern cities experience one or two days per summer over 100 degrees. This number could increase by late century to between three and nine days under lower emissions and between 14 and 28 days under higher emissions." [www.theithacajournal.com]

Northeast may be hurt hard by greenhouse gases, scientists warn » [The Ithaca Journal]

A government appointed commission in Norway has found that they can reduce their greenhouse gas emissions by up to 80% by the year 2050, and cheaply. The leader of the conference who is also a professor in economics at the Norwegian School of Management put it like this, "Cutting emissions … is important, it's feasible and it's dead cheap". Sounds good to me.

Norway CO2 cuts of up to 80 pct "dead cheap" » [ABC News]

New York University has purchased 118 million kilowatt hours of wind generated power which is equivalent to about a year of power usage by the university.  

NYU agrees to buy record level of wind power » [New York Business]

YouTube.com has a neat little clip via the Discovery Channel on a new solar lighting technology being developed for release in early 2007. The installation consists of a mirrored-dish solar collector connected to fiber optic cables which distribute the light to the interiors of the buildings. The resulting light is then paired with fluorescent lights for when the sun isn't shining.

Although the system is going to cost around $10,000 when it's first released, the cost should drop shortly thereafter as demand increases and production is stepped up. The potential energy savings are huge and the quality of light is great as well. I can't wait for the uber-cheap Ikea version to come out.

Hybrid Solar Lighting » [YouTube.com]