Monthly Archives: April 2007

Carbon Calculator – Calculate Your Impact on Climate Change – Carbon Footprint Calculator

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Inevitably, in going about our daily lives — commuting, sheltering our families, eating — each of us contributes to the greenhouse gas emissions that are causing climate change. Yet, there are many things each of us — as individuals — can do to reduce emissions. The choices we make in our homes, our travel, the food we eat, and what we buy and throw away can help ensure a stable climate for future generations.

Use The Nature Conservancy’s carbon calculator to measure your, or your household’s, climate impact. The calculator will estimate how many tons of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases your choices create each year. … Calculate Your Impact on Climate Change – Carbon Footprint Calculator

GORE SLAMS CANADA’S NEW CLIMATE PLAN AS A "FRAUD" — more environmental news

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GORE SLAMS CANADA’S NEW CLIMATE PLAN AS A “FRAUD”

TORONTO, Ontario, Canada, April 29, 2007 – Former U.S. Vice President Al Gore has created a furor in Canada over the Conservative Government’s new plan to impose mandatory greenhouse gas emissions targets on industry. The plan supercedes Canada’s legally binding commitments under the Kyoto Protocol.

http://www.ens-newswire.com

DOUBLE HULLED TANKERS FOR HEAVY OIL NOW LAW IN EUROPE

STRASBOURG, France, April 28, 2007 (ENS) – European officials Wednesday signed into law a requirement that only double hulled tankers carrying heavy oil can enter European ports. The law was enacted in response to disastrous oil spills from single hulled tankers the Erika in 1999 and the Prestige in 2002.

http://www.ens-newswire.com

EUROPEAN FLOODS LEGISLATION ATTEMPTS TO MANAGE RISKSBRUSSELS, Belgium, April 28, 2007 (ENS) – A law to manage flood risks across Europe is one step closer to being passed after an agreement reached this week between the European Parliament and the EU Council of Ministers. Climate change is expected to lead to more intense rainfall and to a rise in sea levels. As a consequence, floods risks are likely to increase across Europe.

http://www.ens-newswire.com

INDONESIAN GOVERNORS CURB LOGGING TO REDUCE CLIMATE CHANGENUSA DUA, Bali, Indonesia, April 27, 2007 (ENS) – The governors of Indonesia’s three most forested provinces have pledged to jointly reduce greenhouse gas emissions from logging and land clearing to reduce the impact of climate change. Tropical rainforests absorb the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide, the main gas responsible for global warming.

http://www.ens-newswire.com

Feds Fund Elephant, Gorilla, Turtle Conservation

Toxic Algae Bloom Kills Southern California Birds, Animals

Appeals Court Upholds Dolphin-Safe Tuna Labeling Standard

EPA Air Rule Defies Unanimous Supreme Court Decision

New Coal Mine Methane Venting Technology Tested

Wal-Mart Penalized for Stormwater Violations in Puerto Rico

Microsoft’s ‘Men in Black’ kill Florida open standards legislation

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It was just a bit of text advocating open data formats that was slipped into a Florida State Senate bill at the last minute with no fanfare, but within 24 hours three Microsoft-paid lobbyists, all wearing black suits, were pressuring members of the Senate Committee on Governmental Operations (COGO) to remove the words they didn’t like from Senate bill 1974.

Link to Linux.com | Microsoft’s ‘Men in Black’ kill Florida open standards legislation

High-level concern

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The Floridan Aquifer has dropped seven feet since October of 2004 in the northern region of the Southwest Florida Water Management District, district records show. Water scientists say the aquifer is directly linked to the lake system through sinkholes in the lake bottom and by natural springs.

As the aquifer falls, lake levels drop. Lack of rainfall is being blamed for the low lake and aquifer levels. Rainfall totals in the northern region are 20 inches below normal over the past 16 months.

Source: Welcome to Chronicle Online.com

Questions and answers about the drought

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Judging by the lush lawns, it may seem hard to believe Miami-Dade and Broward counties need rain. Here are 10 key questions about a drought that has put South Florida under the toughest water restrictions in history. The answers aren’t simple.

Source: Questions and answers about the drought – 04/29/2007 – MiamiHerald.com

Environmentalists say cypress belongs in swamps, not gardens

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Cypress mulch started out as a byproduct, taken from the waste wood of bald cypress trees used for fences, shingles and siding.

But today many cypress trees are being logged solely for mulch — enough that 60 percent of garden mulch sold in Florida comes from cypress. Cypress is desirable because people believe it is resistant to fungus and insects. But the younger trees that are often turned to mulch don’t offer the same resistance as the old- growth trees.

Source: Environmentalists say cypress belongs in swamps, not gardens

I can’t believe it’s still legal to sell it.  There are much better alternatives.

Beamed up: Star Trek star Scotty goes to final frontier

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THE ashes of James Doohan, better known as Scotty in Star Trek, were blasted into space aboard a private rocket yesterday from a launchpad in the New Mexico desert.

Doohan’s widow, Wende, said her husband was eager to reach the final frontier: “He would be ecstatic. He would be the one pressing the button. He totally was so into space.”

Doohan, who died aged 85, played the chief engineer Montgomery Scott on the Starship Enterprise and was gracious to the end to “trekkies” who besieged him for autographs and appearances.

Captain Kirk never quite said, “Beam me up, Scotty” — the closest he came to it was, “Scotty, beam me up” — but it became one of the most famous phrases in television. …… Beamed up

The Other Florida: HIGHLANDS HAMMOCK

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The Central Ridge of Florida ranges from around 350 feet above sea level to (roughly) thirty feet. The highest point is near Lake Wales. Around the area of SR 70, which runs across the state from Ft. Pierce on the east coast to Ft. Myers on the gulf side, it sort of “peters out” into the lowlands. The coastal plain wraps around it northward on both sides, making the Highlands a sort of finger down the middle of the peninsula. The town of Sebring sits on the every western edge of the ridge. Center Street slopes down to Lake Jackson which, in turn, is at the edge of the plain. Immediately west of Lake Jackson and US 27, about 2½ miles down SR 624, lies Highlands Hammock State Park.  More>>>

My brother, the backwoods philosopher and motorcycle photographer, sent me these words to live by:

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  1. Do not walk behind me, for I may not lead. Do not walk ahead Of me, for I may not follow. Do not walk beside me either. Just pretty much leave me the hell alone.
  2. The journey of a thousand miles begins with a broken fan belt and leaky tire.
  3. It’s always darkest before dawn. So if you’re going to steal your neighbor’s newspaper, that’s the time to do it.
  4. Don’t be irreplaceable. If you can’t be replaced, you can’t be promoted.[Image]
  5. Always remember that you’re unique. Just like everyone else.
  6. Never test the depth of the water with both feet.
  7. If you think nobody cares if you’re alive, try missing a couple of car payments.
  8. Before you criticize someone, you should walk a mile in their shoes. That way, when you criticize them, you’re a mile away and you have their shoes.
  9. If at first you don’t succeed, skydiving is not for you.
  10. Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day. Teach him how to fish, and he will sit in a boat and drink beer all day.
  11. If you lend someone $20 and never see that person again, it was probably worth it.
  12. If you tell the truth, you don’t have to remember anything.
  13. Some days you’re the bug; some days you’re the windshield. [And sometimes, on the bike, you just happen to have your mouth open.]
  14. Almost everyone seems normal until you get to know them.
  15. The quickest way to double your money is to fold it in half and put it back in your pocket.
  16. A closed mouth gathers no foot.
  17. Duct tape is like ‘The Force.’ It has a light side and a dark side,and it holds the universe together.
  18. There are two theories to arguing with women. Neither one works.
  19. Generally speaking, you aren’t learning much when your lips are moving.
  20. Experience is something you don’t get until just after you need it.
  21. Never miss a good chance to shut up.
  22. Never, under any circumstances, take a sleeping pill and a laxative on the same night.

HubbleSite- The Carina Nebula: Star Birth in the Extreme

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In celebration of the 17th anniversary of the launch and deployment of NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope, a team of astronomers is releasing one of the largest panoramic images ever taken with Hubble’s cameras.  It is a 50-light-year-wide view of the central region of the Carina Nebula where a maelstrom of star birth — and death — is taking place. This image is a mosaic of the Carina Nebula assembled from 48 frames taken with Hubble’s Advanced Camera for Surveys. The Hubble images were taken in the light of neutral hydrogen during March and July 2005. Color information was added with data taken in December 2001 and March 2003 at the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory in Chile. Red corresponds to sulfur, green to hydrogen, and blue to oxygen emission.

Link to HubbleSite – NewsCenter – The Carina Nebula: Star Birth in the Extreme (04/24/2007) – Introduction