� September 2006 | Main | November 2006 �
October 31, 2006
From weapons of war to great coffee
In biblical times they said "turn your swords into ploughshares", now in northern Ethiopia a tradesman is bringing the saying into the 21st Century.
In his workshop in Mekele, just 200km from Ethiopia's border with Eritrea, Azmeraw Zekele is turning burnt-out shells into cylinders used in coffee machines.
Most of the shells are left over from the 1998-2000 war between the two countries.
BBC NEWS | Africa | From weapons of war to great coffee
Posted by thdyck at October 31, 2006 | Comments (0) | TrackBack
October 30, 2006
Crib analogy for global warming
Pressed on the colonization of space, Gore said that in some future century—maybe sooner—that could be a practical possibility. But he questions the ability of the human race to evacuate the planet, even with ample notice.
"We didn't do a really good job of evacuating the city of New Orleans [due to the onslaught of Hurricane Katrina]," he said.
There's only one Earth, Gore said. "We don't have a spare…we don't have an operating manual."
Our planet has a rising fever, Gore said. "If the crib catches fire you don't say: ‘Hmmm, how fast is that crib going to burn? Has it ever burned before? Is my baby flame retardant?'"
SPACE.com -- Al Gore: Earth is in 'Full-Scale Planetary Emergency'
Posted by thdyck at October 30, 2006 | Comments (0) | TrackBack
October 29, 2006
Report: Carbon-Neutral Oil Sands SCO Possible for an Extra $1.76 to $13.65 a Barrel
In a report released by the Pembina Institute, a detailed cost analysis demonstrates that the oil sands industry could achieve carbon-neutral (no net greenhouse gas emissions) production of synthetic crude oil (SCO) for as little as US$1.76 per barrel or as much as US$13.65 per barrel depending upon the operating scenario and the approach taken.
The oil sands are projected to contribute up to 47% of the projected business-as-usual (BAU) growth in Canada’s total greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions between 2003 and 2010, making them the single largest contributor to Canadian GHG emissions growth.
Report: Carbon-Neutral Oil Sands SCO Possible for an Extra $1.76 to $13.65 a Barrel
Posted by thdyck at October 29, 2006 | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Substantive economic analysis of climate change
The Stern Review says that climate change represents the greatest and widest-ranging market failure ever seen. And on the basis of this intellectually rigorous and thorough report, it is hard to disagree.
Sir Nicholas Stern, a distinguished development economist and former chief economist at the World Bank, is not a man given to hyperbole.
Yet he says "our actions over the coming few decades could create risks of major disruption to economic and social activity, later in this century and in the next, on a scale similar to those associated with the great wars and the economic depression of the first half of the 20th century".
His report gives prescriptions for how to minimise this economic and social disruption.
His central argument is that spending large sums of money now on measures to reduce carbon emissions will bring dividends on a colossal scale. It would be wholly irrational, therefore, not to spend this money.
BBC NEWS | Business | Report's stark warning on climate
Posted by thdyck at October 29, 2006 | Comments (0) | TrackBack
October 28, 2006
Climate change 'hitting Africa'"
Climate change is already affecting people across Africa and will wipe out efforts to tackle poverty there unless urgent action is taken, a report says.
Droughts are getting worse and climate uncertainty is growing, the research from a coalition of UK aid agencies and environmental groups says.
Climate change is an "unprecedented" threat to food security, it says.
BBC NEWS | Africa | Climate change 'hitting Africa'
Posted by thdyck at October 28, 2006 | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Canada importing farmers from Punjab
Retired government official JS Ahluwalia explains why there is growing demand for farmers in Canada.
"They need immigrants because by 2016 the rate of growth of their population will be negative," he says.
Many farms in Canada are being abandoned because their owners are too old and the next generation has switched careers or migrated to the cities.
"So they need outsiders to come in and do the job. We are one of the countries providing it," he adds.
So with an investment of 150,000 Canadian dollars ($130,000), a farmer in Punjab can buy a farm in Canada.
The Canadian High Commission in Delhi is one of the country's biggest missions. Only the embassy in China generates more immigrant visas.
BBC NEWS | South Asia | Punjab farmers seek Canada bonanza
Posted by thdyck at October 28, 2006 | Comments (0) | TrackBack
October 24, 2006
Populations of 1313 vertibrate species have declined 30% since 1970
The group's biannual Living Planet Report said the natural world was being degraded "at a rate unprecedented in human history".
Terrestrial species had declined by 31% between 1970-2003, the findings showed.
It warned that if demand continued at the current rate, two planets would be needed to meet global demand by 2050.
BBC NEWS | Science/Nature | Global ecosystems 'face collapse'
Posted by thdyck at October 24, 2006 | Comments (0) | TrackBack
October 20, 2006
Good design and compassion
A lovely account of good design and of compassion by an X-ray technician and a doctor...
Cancer has been on my mind a lot this year. Less than a year ago both myself and my daughter were diagnosed with a form of cancer that had not yet become invasive, but that could have killed both of us had we not been tested.
But worst of all, I have--quite irrationally--not had a mammogram in 10 years. A monumentally stupid choice, given that I'm at very high risk for breast cancer. But... I am more terrified of that test than anything I've ever done, and I've spent the last few years convinced that it was already too late. Thinking about it sends me straight to the childhood moment when I learned the results of my mother's mammogram (and the awful period that followed). It was selfish of me, as a mother myself, to not do everything I can to stay healthy and alive, but fear does bizarre, irrational things to the brain. Finally, though, all the pink-awareness and a visit to this extraordinary hospital convinced me.
Creating Passionate Users: Reducing fear is the killer app
Posted by thdyck at October 20, 2006 | Comments (0) | TrackBack
October 6, 2006
No land bridge needed
Traditionally, the first Americans were thought to be big game hunters, who marched from Siberia across the land bridge to Alaska. Then, they were thought to have travelled south through the Canadian Arctic via an "ice-free corridor" that emerged in the central US.
But the earliest signs of human occupation from the ice-free corridor date to 11,000 years ago, while California's Channel Islands are now known to have been inhabited at least 13,000 years ago.
Professor Erlandson has come up with an alternative theory that maritime peoples from Asia followed forests of kelp to the New World.
BBC NEWS | Science/Nature | Early humans followed the coast
Posted by thdyck at October 6, 2006 | Comments (0) | TrackBack