As the Economy Tanks, Don't Forget the Environment

Much clearer today, a nice November day, as it should be.


With my eye on the environment and the economy, it is obvious national attention is centered on the economy. As it should be really since this is the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression, affecting millions of folks, even world wide. But this new focus should not lessen the severity of what is happening to the our environment. What was a nice, increasing green movement has seemingly been put on the back burner - a very dangerous place.

Two new articles point to the increasing, disturbing evidence that the not so good global warming predictions are turning out to be more severe. For instance, the logical thinking that reducing CO2 emissions would eventually (like soon, a few years or so) result in a lowing of atmospheric CO2 has just been thrown out the window. In fact, scientists are reporting that it could take thousands of years to reduce the level and that the problem is once CO2 is produced, it's here to stay, maybe forever. Say what? Now that demands a holy @$*%! response.

Another report on the continuing rise in temperature, summarizes the effects as evidence supported by well known scientific studies and publications with excellent links for further details. This is a really hit home article for anyone who still needs a shot of reality. Pretty hard to run away from the real science and facts behind this article. If you need to sink your teeth into a whole book of facts, try the recently released "The Long Thaw: How Humans Are Changing the Next 100,000 Years of Earth's Climate" by David Archer. This should be on everyone's holiday list.

We, as in humans, usually like to tackle things one at a time. But we can not afford to do that right now. There are two catastrophic events going on right now that require equal attention - the economy and the environment. The goods news out of this is both can benefit from each other if the solutions for each include the other. Some call it the new green economy and there certainly is some truth in this idea.

The challenge then is to keep both of these in mind with your daily decision making. Luckily a lot of green behavior (energy efficiency for one) and consideration for the products you buy can save you money - a win win for all.

Good News! Seas Won't Rise Over 6 Feet This Century

Clear, still sunny morning, a few scattered clouds.


That's right, scientists have declared that it is impossible for the waters to rise beyond 6 feet (2 meters) by the year 2100. That's the maximum predicted at least for this century. So there Al Gore, you were wrong. Sea levels are rising about 3 millimeters per year now which is about an inch every 8 years but the rate of sea level rise is predicted to sharply increase as time marches on. Great news, eh?

So a 6 foot rise would be the worst case scenario (whew) if all the right glaciers melted in Greenland and certain parts of the Antarctic have a melt down. If we are lucky, it will be less.

So imagine the ocean rising even half that amount, say only 3 feet, or even less. The sea coast I am familiar with already has problems during storms that hit at high tide. Certain streets flood, and erosion is barely repairable with many properties waiting to be swallowed. It is unimaginable to think what 6 more inches,12 more inches or even 2 more feet would do to the sea coast. A Google map allows you to check out your coast line of interest and see the affect of rising sea levels.

Places like New Orleans (already below sea level), Delaware, Maryland or major cities like New York or Boston which are currently at sea level are going to be devastated by just a few inches, never mind 2 to 3 feet. Maybe people don't have good imaginations. Maybe we need more computer models to really show us what this kind of sea level means and what it will actually look like. Maybe people don't want to know. Maybe people don't care.

I am totally mystified by the lack of interest or alarm of the news of seas rising, fascinated really. What on earth is it going to take to get people's attention to what is predicted for our earth? Are we so unengaged to the point that we think that a sea level rise of only 6 feet is a good thing and because this is way below previous predictions that 6 feet is now no big deal? And this is good news? Not in my book.

New Orleans Gets Ready - Haven't We Learned Anything?

Floating early morning river fog from cool nights, going, going...


Things are not looking good for dear old New Orleans, an American Icon City who has yet to come close to recovering from Katrina's destruction 3 years ago, this week. Although the big indicators like high water surface temperatures are not all there, the input from computer models and experts and still making Gustav big and heading for Louisiana. The price of oil has already risen (duh) as companies prepare for the worst. New Orleans...get ready.

It was three years ago this week that the worst American weather event took place. It also seemed at the time to be a wake up call about global warming and climate change. It seemed like a golden opportunity to take these warning signs to heart and begin to make the changes in our lives necessary to minimize the predictions of climate change. What happened?

Very little. Poor New Orleans was abandoned by the rest of our country and is only house by house recovering. At this rate it will never fully recover because it will keep getting devastated by future storms. What happened to New Orleans is beyond belief and only slightly believable by visiting the city yourself and seeing the destruction, even 3 years later.

The rest of the country has very slowly taken notice to the changes that are needed to fight climate change, but taking notice is very different from changing lifestyle. Despite the media jumping on the green band wagon, we continue to waste energy, drive too fast, don't recycle and... The list is long. Though many have taken great strides and done fantastic things, the total numbers just aren't there yet.

A tornado ripped through, of all places, New Hampshire this summer. Not the usual isolated touch down that only happens maybe every year. No, this was out of the Wizard of Oz. A continuous 50 mile swath, luckily mostly through forest, damaging over 150 homes and killing one person. Yes, in New Hampshire. Some call it a fluke, others call it the dramatic weather predicted as a result of climate change.

Some say Katrina was a fluke. After all, there are lots of flukes in history. But scientists around the world are not calling these weather events flukes. These are well established weather predictions based on science, thousand of scientists, hundreds of computer models.

So how many wake up calls do we need? How many times are we going to press snooze and go back to sleep and carry on our non sustainable lifestyle? Haven't we learned anything yet?

Meanwhile, New Orleans gets ready for Fluke Gustav.

BEST GREEN COLLEGES - Congratulations

An absolutely perfect sunny New England day without even a band of brown on the horizon.


Even the Princeton Review knows there is green to be made in the green world. This year, the fame Princeton Review College Guides ratings introduced the Green Rating Honor Roll. Eleven schools were chosen for their perfect scores - Bravo!

The criteria is pretty good and hats off to the Review for doing this. It is wonderful to see what our academic institutions are doing to help fight climate change. After all, it is here where scientists are molded and much of the evidence for climate change and global warming is gathered. The peak of scientific information begins at colleges and universities only to filter down to the mainstream where skeptics further water down the information. And then we get it. No wonder climate change is not taken seriously by so many.

Five of the 11 schools are in New England. One of the schools that shares the top spot is the University of New Hampshire. Despite the lowest state funding in the U.S., UNH has managed this great honor. (maybe as a desperate way to save money?) UNH has the first Sustainability program in the country.

UNH has always been an oasis and often in stark contrast to the reputation in the rest of the state. The State Legislators often ignore progressive environmental and health bills that pass in the neighboring New England States. Never mind the State motto Live Free or Die, the other mantra is "We'll fix it when it breaks". The problem is, climate change doesn't work that way. UNH has made lemonade out of lemons despite a state in deficit and a Governor who just built an 11,000 square foot house (yes, that's right) with millions of dollars of outdoor landscaping.

Congratulations to the top 11 green schools and all the others in the running. Kudos to all the hard working academic schools that continue to set an example of how we should consider our existence and behavior in the world. What would we do without them?