Month: February 2009

New data about the state of the world are making the conclusions of the 2007 IPCC report look conservative. Michael D. Lemonick, writing in Environment 360, the Yale Online Magazine, describes new data that indicates that the effects of warming are coming faster than the IPCC consensus predicted. Unexpectedly rapid melting of the vast ice sheet in Greenland, for example, suggests that sea level could rise between 1 and 2 meters (roughly 3 to 6 ½ feet) by the end of the century — nearly triple what scientists projected just two years ago. A surprisingly rapid round of melting around… Read More

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It has taken me a few weeks to catch up with this blockbuster report. Researchers at the University of East Anglia in the UK have published a report analyzing the potential of several geoengineering schemes to reverse the projected increase in global temperature due to the greenhouse effect. I have not been able to obtain the whole report. This summary comes from ScienceDaily. Geoengineering refers to massive applications of technology to change properties of the earth on a large-scale and produce counter-effects to those of continuing emissions of greenhouse gases from economic activities. The key findings include: Enhancing carbon sinks… Read More

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Here’s some evidence that sustainability needs more than environmental remedies. I have written in my book that the first line of attack on unsustainability should be to restore our sense or consciousness of self or being. Only then will be able to muster the caring for our fellow human beings, other species, and all the inanimate, but critically important, parts of the world we inhabit that sustainability demands. In a polemic, but attention-getting [article](http://www.alternet.org/healthwellness/126345/only_in_america_could_misery_be_turned_into_a_commodity/?page=entire), J[oe Bageant](http://www.joebageant.com/), writing for [Alternet](http://www.alternet.org/), argues that our American way has spawned a culture of alienation and loss of being. And further, that misery has become… Read More

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One of the most basic themes of my book is that the use of [modern] technology always distorts reality. Humans first confronted reality with only the most basic of tools available to them. Today technology not only does much more in getting in our way, but can even create virtual realities. Nick Carr had a recent piece about avatar anxiety. An earlier post introduced the subject. Here’s the money quote from Carr’s earlier piece. > Your online self … is entirely self-created, and because it determines your identity and social standing in an internet community, each decision you make about… Read More

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Ecoworldly [reports](http://ecoworldly.com/2009/02/08/635-million-year-old-animal-traces-discovered/) that life on the Planet has been here for a very long time, some 650 million years, although in forms unlike those existing today. Life on Earth may and probably will continue for just as long, but probably not dominated by our species as it is today. It seems we may be hurrying the process these days. > New research in the South Oman Salt Basin shows evidence of animal life dating back much further than the first appearance of other significant life forms. > > Chemical traces of the minute marine sponges, called demosponges were observed by… Read More

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A friend sent me this tale. A boat docked in a tiny Mexican village. An American tourist complimented the Mexican fisherman on the quality of his fish and asked how long it took him to catch them. “Not very long,” answered the Mexican. “But then, why didn’t you stay out longer and catch more?” asked the American. The Mexican explained that his small catch was sufficient to meet his needs and those of his family. The American asked, “But what do you do with the rest of your time?” “I sleep late, fish a little, play with my children, and… Read More

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This is the title of a [report](http://www.hartman-group.com/downloads/Sustainability2009-ExecSummary.pdf) just issued by the [Hartman Group](http://www.hartman-group.com/home). Here is how they describe themselves. > Consumer Insights. The Hartman Group specializes in the analysis and interpretation of consumer lifestyles and how these lifestyles influence the purchase and use of today’s products and services in tomorrow’s marketplace. > > Market Research. The Hartman Group holds to an unwavering belief in the power of the consumer to drive the marketplace. We study consumers in their natural environments – their homes, their stores, their lives. A short summary of the report can be downloaded. The report itself costs… Read More

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[Orion Magazine](http://www.orionmagazine.org/) always comes out with classy articles. [This one](http://www.orionmagazine.org/index.php/articles/article/4253/), by Randy Olson, about communicating environmental messages struck a chord. I struggle with finding words to capture the attention of general readers and then to get them to accept the seriousness of threats to present state of the world. I don’t feel so bad when real professional communicators complain about the same thing. > “HOW ARE YOU GOING to cut through the green fog?” The radio interviewer was referring to the glut of environmental media these days. And as a filmmaker, I knew what he was getting at; last year,… Read More

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I am off at a workshop on Leading and Learning for Sustainability. I’ll be back in a couple of days.

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This year’s Japan Prize was awarded to Dennis Meadows for his contributions to the 1972 shocker, The Limits to Growth. Shocker, that is, only to those who saw the world through a soda straw. After pointing to other accomplishments, the award statement adds: > Based on the foundations established in “The Limits to Growth” over the past 30 years Dr. Meadows has consistently proposed, through model analyses, efforts aimed at forming a sustainable society. He has continued to exert a large influence on the entire world. This, it is believed, is highly praiseworthy and deserving of the 2009 Japan Prize,… Read More

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