Welcome ! As a young French Marketing professional with a Master's in International Management I have been selecting since January 2007 the latest headlines and best researches on sustainable development, climate change, cleantech and the world energy sector. Sounds great ? Don't hesitate to subscribe now !
With current outdoors temperatures below the freezing point in large parts of Europe, it is easy to think that climate change is either a hoax or that it will be most welcome as it would get us rid of those patches of ice on the roads.
This won’t be the case as the Independent reports : “The bitterly cold weather sweeping Britain and (…) Europe has been linked by scientists with the ice-free seas of the Arctic, where global warming is exerting its greatest influence.”
This is another example of climate change’s influence on weather extremes, and thus another reason to tackle the problem before it really gets out of our control. Continue »
Here is something we never heard about before. To the Associated Press : ” Environmentalists estimate at least 1 percent of Russia’s annual oil production, or 5 million tons, is spilled every year.
That is equivalent to one Deepwater Horizon-scale leak about every two months. Crumbling infrastructure and a harsh climate combine to spell disaster in the world’s largest oil producer, responsible for 13 percent of global output.
(…) Half a million tons every year get into rivers that flow into the Arctic Ocean, the government says, upsetting the delicate environmental balance in those waters.
I don’t talk about food often here. However, with so many starving people around the world, I should talk more about agricultural advances as feeding nine billion people by 2050 will be the biggest challenge ever faced.
To Ecogeek : ” A new type of rice (from) the University of Agricultural Sciences in Bangalore, India has many advantages over typical rice varieties. It requires less water to grow, it’s higher in protein and it emits less methane over its life cycle. ”
” This rice, which is not genetically modified but a hybrid crop, uses 60 percent less water than conventional rice crops. It only needs to be watered once a week even in arid climates.”
To Echo Sierra : ” According to the UN Population Fund, the global population will reach 7 billion souls on the 31st of October 2011, giving concerns about the natural resources scarcity and inequalities a renewed and actual acuity.”
” According to UN estimates, world population could grow to 15 billion by the end of the century, while global economy is based on limited – and thus craved – resources. Conditions are met for an escalation of tensions and conflictuality.”
I personally believe that it will prove difficult to reach even nine billion people as climate gets warmer and weirder. Olivier is absolutely right in saying that we will face an escalation of tensions… Continue »
To the Guardian : ” Nationwide, cancer rates have surged since the 1990s to become the nation’s biggest killer. In 2007, the disease was responsible for one in five deaths, up 80% since the start of economic reforms 30 years earlier.
” While the government insists it is cleaning up pollution far faster than other nations at a similar dirty stage of development, many toxic industries have simply been relocated to impoverished, poorly regulated rural areas. “
” Chinese farmers are almost four times more likely to die of liver cancer and twice as likely to die of stomach cancer than the global average, according to study commissioned by the World Bank. “ Continue »
A post from TreeHugger got me thinking : why wouldn’t I give some of my computer time to help advancing research ? I had written about this almost three years ago, and being looking for a job, I often have a computer running.
So, a month ago, on August 2nd, I started gathering information on The World Community Grid, how it works and how I can help. One of the thing that got me considered this was that IBM is sponsoring the project.
My two-year old computer (based on an Intel Core 2 Duo E8400) is now running calculations that will help finding better solar panels, better water filtration systems and fight cancers and AIDS. Continue »
To ABC News : ” It’s time to clean up Irene. The hurricane’s destructive path through 10 East Coast states left an estimated $7 billion to $13 billion of damage in its wake — without even accounting for economic losses.”
Estimates could climb to $20 billion (14 billion euros) if economic lost were taken into account… And this was by all standards a small hurricane. It wasn’t even one, but just a tropical storm when it reached most of the United States.
Climate change is making these phenomena worse. (cf. below) What are we waiting for slashing our emissions and thus, the risk of increased hurricanes and floods ? Continue »
The idea might seem a bit far-fetched but recovering the heat produced by data centers could heat buildings. However we have seen similar ideas are extremely cost efficient and environmentally friendly.
To ExtremeTech : ” With a temperature of around 40-50°C, the exhaust from a rack of cloud servers could be a very cost-effective way of heating your house, according to researchers from Microsoft and the University of Virginia.”
” Dubbed the “Data Furnace,” these racks would be hot enough to completely replace the heating and hot water system in a house or office. “ Continue »
To Climate Progress : “ Wednesday, Shell claimed responsibility for two oil spills dating to 2008 (which) are estimated to exceed the 11 million gallons spilled in the Exxon Valdez disaster. “ (over 40 million liters)
” As a 2010 article by the Guardian’s environment editor explained: With 606 oilfields, the Niger delta supplies 40% of all the crude the United States imports and is the world capital of oil pollution. “
” Life expectancy in its rural communities, half of which have no access to clean water, has fallen to little more than 40 years over the past two generations… ” Continue »
To TreeHugger : ” Electronics giant Sony announced today that since 2000, it has achieved a 31 percent reduction in global CO2 emissions. The company boasts that means it surpassed its 2006 “Green Management” goal by 24 percent ”
” It did also achieve, though, a 54 percent reduction in waste generation (the goal was 40 percent) and a 41 percent reduction in water use at business sites (the goal was 20 percent).”
” The announcement comes after a third-party analysis of data from Sony’s facilities worldwide confirmed that the company met or exceeded several of the targets laid out in 2006 in its Green Management 2010 plan.”
