Saturday, November 10, 2007
Get Ready for Bali
On Monday, scientists and government officials gather in Valencia, Spain to put together the fourth and last U.N. report on the state of global warming and what it will mean to hundreds of millions of people whose lives are being dramatically altered. The report will distill previous work into a compact guide of roughly 30 pages that summarizes complex science into language politicians and bureaucrats can understand.
Though the U.N.'s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) was created in 1988 to assess the science of global warming, its work gathered a momentum this year that has helped reshape opinion in the public and governments. In the ultimate validation, the IPCC's warnings of man-induced climate change shared the Nobel Peace Prize with former Vice President Al Gore, the world's best-known global warming campaigner.
"The reactions that I heard from politicians around the world is that they were shocked by the reports and that they should be acted on," said Yvo de Boer, the U.N.'s top climate official.
Increasing Car Efficiency
Use recommended grade motor oil. You can improve your gas mileage by 1-2 percent by using
the manufacturer's recommended grade of motor oil. Look for motor oil that says "Energy
Conserving" on the American Petroleum Institute performance symbol to be sure it contains
friction-reducing additives. The costs below are based on gasoline costing $2.20 per gallon.
Fuel economy benefit: 1-2 percent
Equivalent gasoline savings: $0.01-$0.03/gallon
Friday, November 9, 2007
Top Three Environmental Concerns
The big three for me are healthy landscapes, healthy oceans, and reducing the use of toxic products. I believe that most problems will be addressed if these three major goals are kept in mind.
The easiest goal for most people to address is to reduce the use of toxic products. That is, Go Green. A little forethought about each item we purchase: Where and how it was produced. How far it was transported to get to us. Whether we are wasteful or frugal when we use it. How do we dispose of whats left after we use it.
One way to keep these things in mind is to be deliberate about how you spend your money. Are you getting good value? Lasting value? Is it healthy for you and the earth? Just take a moment to think and be proud of your decision. Think like a Super Hero -- is it good? Is it right?
Increasing Car Efficiency
Check and replace air filters. Replacing
a clogged air filter can improve your car's gas mileage
by as much as 10 percent. Your car's air filter keeps impurities from damaging the inside of your
engine. Not only will replacing a dirty air filter save gas, it will protect your engine.
The costs below are based on gasoline costing $2.20 per gallon.
Fuel economy benefit: up to 10 percent
Equivalent gasoline savings: up to $0.22/gallon
Thursday, November 8, 2007
Sergei Golubchikov, a top environmental expert in Moscow offers an interesting view about global warming and it's potential effects on the huge frozen areas of his country. Read this opinion from Russia. He believes that world efforts should be directed against the declining percentage of oxygen in our atmosphere and against the emissions of toxic substances. A main concern is the health of the world's oceans.
Oil slicks cover 13% of the world's sea surface. This and other maritime pollution, plus the melting of permafrost and the polar ice caps have far worse implications for the global climate than industry. The Arctic is known as the "Weather Kitchen." Its cyclones make the cold season in the northern hemisphere. I think northern Europe owes its warming of the last 20 years to a weakening of these arctic cyclones, which is the result of a permanent thaw in the Arctic Ocean.
According to experts at the Fridtjof Nansen Institute, the arctic ice is shrinking by 5% every ten years. At this rate the North Pole will be completely ice-free by the middle of the century.
The melting of the ice cap is not only a result of fluctuations in temperature. The flow of the Gulf Stream, the ocean current that warms the coasts of western Europe, is shifting due to a preponderance of warm sewage and waste. The levels of pollution are disastrous. I saw with my own eyes garbage from the entire North Atlantic floating along the west coast of Novaya Zemlya, an Arctic archipelago washed by the Stream.
The picture above is not the North Atlantic, but Manilla Bay.
More on Increasing Car Efficiency
The costs below are based on gasoline costing $2.20 per gallon. Keep engine properly tuned. Fixing a car that is noticeably out of tune or has failed an
emissions test can improve its gas mileage by an average of 4.1 percent, though results vary
based on the kind of repair and how well it is done. If your car has a faulty oxygen sensor, your
gas mileage may improve as much as 40 percent.
Fuel economy benefit: 4-40 percent
Equivalent gasoline savings: $0.09 to $0.88/gallon
Wednesday, November 7, 2007
More on Increasing Car Efficiency
Minimize Drag. Drag reduces fuel efficiency. Driving with the windows open, using roof- or rear-mounted racks and carrying heavy loads increase vehicle drag. A roof rack or carrier provides additional cargo space and may allow you to meet your needs with a smaller, more fuel efficient car. However, a loaded roof rack can decrease your fuel economy by 5 percent. Reduce aerodynamic drag and improve your fuel economy by using a removable rack and placing items inside the trunk whenever possible. Avoid carrying unneeded items, especially heavy ones. An extra 100 pounds in the trunk reduces a typical car's fuel economy by 1-2 percent.
The Difference Between Styrofoam and polystyrene foam
Styrofoam is a trademark name for extruded polystyrene thermal insulation material, manufactured by Dow Chemical Company. The word styrofoam is also used by the general public in the United States as a generic term to indicate polystyrene foam, such as coffee cups, cooler or packaging material are typically white in color and are made of expanded polystyrene beads.
Polystyrene is made from styrene, a liquid hydrocarbon that is commercially manufactured from petroleum by the chemical industry.
Expanded polystyrene is produced from a mixture of about 90-95% polystyrene and 5-10% gaseous blowing agent, most commonly pentane or carbon dioxide. The solid plastic is expanded into a foam through the use of heat, usually steam.
Styrofoam is used as a construction material, such as insulation in building structures, as molded packing material for cushioning fragile equipment inside boxes, as packing "peanuts", and also in crafts and model building. Foamed between two sheets of paper, it is a substitute for corrugated cardboard, tradenamed Fome-Cor.
Expanded polystyrene foam takes a very long time to decompose in the environment and has been documented to cause starvation in birds and other marine wildlife. According to the California Coastal Commission, it is a principal component of marine debris.
Restricting the use of foamed polystyrene takeout food packaging is a priority of many environmentalist organizations. Berkeley, California was one of the first cities in the world to ban polystyrene food packaging (called Styrofoam in the media announcements). It was also banned in Portland, OR, Suffolk County, NY, and over 20 US cities. Both the California and New York legislatures are currently considering bills which would effectively ban expanded polystyrene in all takeout food packaging state-wide.
Tuesday, November 6, 2007
More on Increasing Car Efficiency
Consolidate Trips. Combining errands into one trip saves you time and money. Several short trips taken from a cold start can use twice as much fuel as a longer multi-purpose trip covering the same distance when the engine is warm. With a little planning, you can avoid retracing your route and reduce the distance you travel as well. You'll not only save fuel, but also reduce wear and tear on your car.
Tortino's Pizza
Here on the Lost Coast, we sometimes feel smugly remote from some of the nation's problems. But the recent E. coli contamination of pepperoni used on Tortino's and Jeno's Pizza reached right into my household. My younger son frequently picks up the cheap cardboard pizzas as a quick snack. So, here's a Mighty Mouse cheer to our local Murrish Market, where Mike and Steve were quick to pull the possibly lethal frozen frizbees off the shelf. Thanks, guys!
Monday, November 5, 2007
Increasing Car Efficiency
The costs below are based on gasoline costing $2.20 per gallon. Observe the speed limit. Gas mileage decreases rapidly at speeds above 60 mph. Each 5 mph
you drive over 60 mph is like paying an additional $0.15 per gallon of gas. Using cruise control
on the highway helps you maintain a constant speed and, in most cases, will save gas.
Fuel economy benefit: 7-23 percent
Equivalent gasoline savings: $0.15 to $0.51/gallon
Fun with Rising Sea Levels
Last year a group in San Francisco placed tape on buildings, stairs, and across open spaces at Pier 39 to illustrate estimated future water levels. Click here to see some photos and their web site.
On a more practical note, San Francisco has a really nice site showing how residents and the city/county work together on many plans and programs to promote a healthy planet.
San Francisco is a mad city - inhabited for the most part by perfectly insane people whose women are of a remarkable beauty.
~ Rudyard Kipling
Sunday, November 4, 2007
Increasing Car Efficiency
The costs below are based on gasoline costing $2.20 per gallon. Drive Sensibly. Aggressive driving
(speeding, rapid acceleration and braking) wastes gas. You
can lower your gas mileage by 33 percent at highway speeds and by 5 percent around town.
Fuel economy benefit: 5-33 percent
Equivalent gasoline savings: $0.07 to $0.49/gallon
Sharing the World with Polar Bears
I'm not quite sure what the point is of Debra Saunder's article, Polar Bear Pandering, in the San Francisco Chronicle. She seems to be irritated that politicians are using global warming to justify all environmental protections. Well, as far as I know, she is correct in the facts that she states in her piece, and preciseness is good, but does that change anything? She gives a partial history of Barbara Boxer's senate voting history. Here's part of what she says,
"Ten years ago, Boxer was one of 95 senators who voted in favor of a resolution that directed the Clinton administration not to sign onto any global warming treaty that exempted developing nations, or "would result in serious harm to the economy of the United States." Yet that is what Kyoto did.Looking back, Kyoto was not signed nor ratified by the U.S., no commitment was made, greenhouse gases were not curbed. They act like treaties can
Boxer was right, then. Kyoto would have damaged the U.S. economy without curbing greenhouse gases to the extent activists say is needed."
never be reviewed, modified, or improved over time. They act like developing nations cannot
be helped, pressured, or motivated by any other means than a treaty. Like a smart kid who excuses mediocre
grades because most kids get C's, we didn't agree to curb our greenhouse gases, because
developing nations wouldn't have to.Well guess what, it's going to cost. Gluttony today, calls for dieting tomorrow. Spewing greenhouse gases into the atmosphere for decades calls for costly clean-up measures now. Quit quibbling that 'global warming' is being used as a shorthand term for the fact that we've trashed our world.