Climate Debt

Since the dawn of the industrial revolution, the richest countries on Earth together with the biggest corporations have build their wealth by consuming the natural resources and by emitting enough green house gases to trigger a climate change. During this process they took advantage of the poor countries by exploiting their cheap workforce and by depleting their resources.

Now that we are at the brink of planetary chaos and climate change is almost imminent, the first people who are going to suffer are still the poorest ones. The native, the small farmers and poor people all over the world will be the first affected ones by depleting water sources, increased number of violent weather phenomena or by rising water levels. Although these changes were brought on by the rich, the consequences will be paid by the poor. This is climate debt that the western world has to pay to developing countries.

What will the first world governments do? Will they welcome the tens of millions of refugees which will be displaced by climate change? Will they give out money to poor countries in order to defend themselves against natural disasters? Most likely not. They would rather give money to support inefficient corporations just to keep them on the floating line. This is why the people have to take action and to determine governments to pay their climate debts.

Google Leads the Way in Wireless Charging for Electric Cars

Known to be at the fore front of the latest technology developments, Google rises up to its fame and installs the first wireless charging station for electric cars in its Mountain View, Calif center. So far, it’s used only by one electric car which has been retrofitted with a system that allows is to recharge without being directly connected to the grid.

The technology is actually not new at all, as it’s been used for years in various electric products such as rechargeable toothbrushes. However it has never before been used to charge the batteries of electric cars. This move by Google Inc offers hope that in a not so distant future wireless charging docks will be as common as gas stations are today.

Maybe the technology will get further developed in the future and in a such a way that recharging will be possible at any point on the nations roads. In this way you’ll never have to dock your car in order to recharge the battery and after a while people will completely forget that they needed to recharge in the first place. In a slightly utopic future, energy will be available just as phone signal is today.

On Saturday the 26th of March 2011 Turn Off your Lights and Fight Climate Change With Earth Hour

The already highly popular movement ‘Earth Hour’ which first started in 2007 in Australia, will once again take place in order to bring awareness to the dangers of climate change. So on Saturday the 26th of March 2011 everybody is encouraged to shut their lights for at least one hour starting with 8:30 PM and to spare a thought to Mother Earth.

Earth Hour is one of the biggest global environmental movements with hundreds of millions of people taking part in it. In 2010 a record of 168 of countries and other territories have officially joined the event and with them a great number of local landmarks such as The Eiffel Tower, The Golden Gate Bridge and The Colosseum.

This year’s message of the Earth Hour event is to go beyond the hour and to contemplate on what other actions can we as individuals do in order to stop the rapid degeneration of the environment. We need to understand that our individual actions add up and translate themselves into big results on a planetary scale.

So on the 26th of March 2011 let’s all unite our powers at 8:30 PM and become one Captain Planet!

‘Stress Test’ on EU Nuclear Power Plants Approved

In the aftermath of the Fukushima nuclear power plant disaster, the EU has decided that all the nuclear plants within member states should undergo rigorous safety testing in order to prevent similar events from happening in the future. As a result, a ‘stress test’ has received the ‘go ahead’ and it’s hoped that it will be implemented on all EU nuclear plants until the end of the year.

The test will take into consideration the most probable natural disasters such as large magnitude earthquakes, fires, floods and tsunamis but they’ll also look into human activities such as terrorism or errors. In spite of the official declarations, NGOs such as Greenpeace have expressed concerns that the tests will not be thorough enough and that many things are overlooks like the overlapping of multiple events for example.

Right now, there are 14 countries in the EU which rely on nuclear power and 13 which currently have no such power plants. The official politics towards nuclear energy is different throughout the EU, with countries such as Germany looking to reduce their dependence on this energy source and with other countries such as Poland which are just planing to build new reactors in order to fulfill their energy needs.

Food Exported by Japan May be Contaminated with Nuclear Radiation

Due to the nuclear crisis at the Fukushima nuclear power plant, Japan’s food exports might suffer a sharp decrease. Already countries such as China, Thailand and South Korea have imposed stricter rules regarding food imports from the Nippon land for fears of nuclear contamination.

The World Health Organization also stated that there is a greater than anticipated risk of contaminated food to be shipped from Japan, but until now it has no evidence to prove that any such dangerous shipments have been made. However, countries which are regular importers of Japanese food might reduce their demand for the near future.

Within Japan people are also fearful at the thought of radioactive food but they have little choice. So far, the Japanese government has halted the commercialization of milk and spinach coming form areas close to the affected nuclear plant of Fukushima. Yet this measure has done little for the nearby residents who fear that radiation might have already sipped in their tap water.

EDF to Continue Work on UK Nuclear Plants

The French energy giant, EDF have stated in the aftermath of the Japanese nuclear disaster that they “have to go ahead” with completing the UK nuclear reactors.

The CEO of EDF, Vincent de Rivaz, has declared that the Fukushima events were an alarm signal which must be taken into consideration, however they have no choice but to continue work on the UK nuclear reactors which they have governmental authorization for.

In response to the global nuclear crisis, the British government has requested a safety report on all active nuclear plants within the UK. The report is due to be finished in May, but in the mean time the construction of new nuclear facilities has not been halted, in spite of the Greenpeace and other NGO’s pleads.

Due to the recent nuclear crisis at the Fukushima nuclear plant, several countries among which China and Germany, have halted new nuclear developments and stopped old plants until they’re proven to be safe.

Geothermal Energy Pros and Cons

Geothermal energy is a renewable energy source which is produced by the Earth itself. In layman terms, geothermal energy is heat produced at different depths under the surface by various factors such as volcanic activity, solar energy previously absorbed by the Planet, the radioactive decay process of minerals etc.

As a source of heat, geothermal energy has been used for thousands of years since the Romans discovered the big potential of natural hot springs and transformed them in public baths and also used them for heating various spaces. Nowadays geothermal energy is also used to produce electricity at low costs and without harming the environment in the process. Iceland is one of the leading geothermal energy producers since it lies on one of the worlds best locations for exploiting heat produced by the Earth.

Geothermal energy pros and cons

Now that you know what geothermal energy is, lets analyze the pros and cons of this renewable resource and see if we should rely on it for fulfilling our energy needs. So let’s first talk about the cons because they’re the most obvious.

Pros:

- Geothermal energy does no release harmful gases into the atmosphere

- It is practically inexhaustible since it’s continuously produced by the Earths core and will continue to be so for billions of years to come

- Can be used for both heating and producing electricity

- Geothermal plants are small in size compared to atomic or fossil fuel plants, thus they have a smaller impact on the envrionment

- It has the potential of solely replacing the fossil fuel energy producing sector

- It can be a sustainable sector because it does not use any kind of finite resources for producing heat or electricity

- Electricity produced by geothermal resources can be cheaper than any other type of electricity if the exploitation is optimal

Cons:

- If the geothermal source is not close to the surface it can be very difficult to reach

- Right now, geothermal energy for individual homes is rather expensive compared to other renewable energy solutions such as solar power

- Sometimes, the process of digging for geothermal energy can release hazardous gases which are trapped underground

- The technology level we have right now does not allow of the best exploitation of this renewable energy resource, thus it can be economically harvested on a large scale only in certain parts of the the world.

3 Alternative Energy Videos for Kids

Here are some nice alternative energy videos for kids. It’s a good idea to educate kids early on about climate change and how they can contribute to saving the environment.

Global warming effects on the polar bear population

Global warming is affecting our planet as we speak although many people are still ignorant about this climate crisis and try to deny its effects. Throughout the world there are many signs that the planet is heating up: glaciers are melting in Asia and South America, severe droughts are affecting large regions, the desertification process has gained speed, etc. But most of all, the arctic ice is depleting year by year and together with it so is the polar bear population which depends on ice shelves in order to survive.

The most obvious effects of global warming on polar bear population are in the south part of the animal’s habitat. That’s where the permanent ice has decreased the most and together with it the numbers of polar bears. The melted ice shelves were prime territory for seals to rest and give birth during arctic spring. Seals are the main part of a polar bears diet and due to the fact that the seals don’t find any ice to lie on, they move further north for more suitable conditions. As a result the local polar bear population decreases in size due to insufficient food resources.

The average bodyweight of polar bears has declined in the most affected areas form 290 kg in 1980 to 230 kg in 2004 and the drop in the general population numbers amounted to 22%. It is expected that the polar bear to go extinct in the wild in the next 50 to 100 year if the situation does not improve. Due to the global warming effects, the polar bear has been recently listed as a threatened species.

5 tips for buying eco friendly products

Every time you purchase something new, try to go only for eco friendly products if you can. This way you will cause less damage to the environment and you’ll be a step closer to living a more sustainable lifestyle. However, sometimes it’s not easy to determine which products are more eco-friendly than others so here are a few tips:

1. Look on the information provided on the product label. Does it say anything about it being produced in an environmentally friendly fashion? If you’re buying food take a look and see if there are any chemicals among the ingredients. Try to choose products which are made only from natural elements.

2. Is the product you’re about to buy produced locally? If something is made half way across the globe and shipped to your door step then you should avoid buying it. Eco friendly products are always produced locally.

3. If you’re getting an electronic product choose the one which consumes the least amount of power even if it costs more. In time, you’ll pay less on your electric bill and the Earth will tank you for not releasing so much CO2 generated by electricity production.

4. Buy the products which will last the longest and never go for the ones which have the least life expectancy. The worst case scenario is to buy single-use products. They are one of the worst choices you can make as they define the unsustainable way of life the modern society.

5. The best way to be eco-friendly is not to buy anything at all. Try to avoid purchasing new products unless absolutely necessary. Reuse or repair old products if you have the chance, ask your friends to borrow the things you need for a while and then give them back or buy second-had stuff. There are always solutions to be considered before going out in a store and hading in your money.

Focus on these tips the next time you want to purchase eco friendly products!

Our unsustainable ways

Right now we find ourselves at the brink of change in in World. It’s up to us if this change will be a beneficial one or weather it will be a catastrophic change which will bring down the human civilization as we know it.

It should be clear by now that our ways are totally unsustainable and that we have to do something in order not to derail into chaos. Many people have already awaken to this reality but there are countless others who still live surrounded by ignorance and driven by the greed of making money. Therefore it is our duty to convince the careless among us that we need to do something now in order for our children to lead a normal life tomorrow.

The time of oil based products, mindless consumption and debt-based economies are coming to an end whether we like it or not. However we can be prepared for these changes if we work together and find solutions which we can use to replace these faulty systems. The first steps which we can take involve things like buying only really necessary stuff, not owning a car (use public transport or share a car with your friends), not taking bank loans, recycling, eating only local foods which are in season, live in smaller homes etc. Remember that first you need to be change you want to see in the world, then others will follow you.

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