Oct 17th, 2009 at 2:30PM: The president of the Maldives and his cabinet met underwater today to urge global cuts in carbon emissions. The Maldives are a beautiful archipelago of more than 1,000 islands in the Indian Ocean, famous for their clear waters, clean beaches, and coral reefs. But with the majority of the islands standing less than five feet (1.5 meters) above the water line, the whole country could disappear if ...Click on a label to read posts from that part of the world.
Climatechange posts
Underwater cabinet meeting highlights need to save Maldives
Oct 17th, 2009 at 2:30PM: The president of the Maldives and his cabinet met underwater today to urge global cuts in carbon emissions. The Maldives are a beautiful archipelago of more than 1,000 islands in the Indian Ocean, famous for their clear waters, clean beaches, and coral reefs. But with the majority of the islands standing less than five feet (1.5 meters) above the water line, the whole country could disappear if ...Responsible Travel changes their mind
Oct 16th, 2009 at 4:30PM: ResponsibleTravel.com, a website known for providing eco-friendly vacation options, has changed their mind about something important. Especially after all our climate change talk yesterday (Blog Action Day), with the topic fresh in our minds, let's talk about carbon offsets. A recent report by Friends of the Earth states: "Carbon offsets distract tourists from the need to reduce their emissions. ...Choosing the right company for your carbon offsets
Oct 15th, 2009 at 3:30PM:
According to Carbonfund, with the amount of flying I do annually, I "produce" about 21,000 pounds of CO2 per year. If I want to make up for the environmental damage I've done, I can pay $125 to offset my carbon contribution.
But what does that really mean? How can paying $125 make the air cleaner or the ozone layer stronger? Where does that $125 go? Am I just paying to make myself feel ...Maldives President proposes green tax for tourists
Sep 12th, 2009 at 11:00AM: The Maldives, an archipelago of over 1000 islands in the Indian Ocean known for their stunning beauty and expensive, luxurious resorts, aren't exactly cheap to visit. And they aren't about to get any cheaper. The President of the Maldives has proposed a $3 per day "green tax" on tourists.
The tax would help fund the President's plans for fighting climate change and for making the Maldives a ...Global warming has a reverse effect on Alaska's state capital
May 18th, 2009 at 7:30PM: You're likely used to hearing about the possibility of cities flooding as sea levels rise, a result of climate change. But in Alaska, that quirky, individualistic state, the reverse is happening - at least in one area. In an article today from the New York Times, Cornelia Dean reports that Juneau, the only US capital not accessible by road, is actually gaining land as a result of glacial melt. ...Only in Alaska: Welcome to the 49th state
May 15th, 2009 at 7:00PM: Alaska is one of those places where your expectations are met and often exceeded: the mountains are gargantuan and they're everywhere, there are moose wandering the cities, and folks still run trap lines and live in log cabins. Yes, people still mush dogs (an Iditarod champion even lives in my small town), and many Alaska Natives still practice subsistence living. Though the stereotypical Alaska ...Five More Places To See Before They Are Changed Forever
Feb 26th, 2009 at 8:00AM: Last week we posted a story from CNN.com that named five places to see before climate changed altered them forever. The destinations that made their list included the Great Barrier Reef, the city of New Orleans, Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado, the Alpine Glaciers in Switzerland, and the Amazon Rain Forest in Brazil. Here are five more amazing places that you should see before they are ...The State of the Planet? Dismal
Apr 6th, 2008 at 11:00AM: As I mentioned on Thursday, I attended the State of the Planet conference, hosted by The Earth Institute and The Economist magazine at Columbia University in New York.
I will try to give you some tidbits of information from the conference without making you run out and commit suicide immediately, just to save the world from over-population. According to some experts, it is too late for that ...Earth Hour: be part of a global blackout on March 29
Feb 21st, 2008 at 8:40AM: I recently wrote about how we have damaged 96% of our oceans and raised the question of how on an individual level we could make a difference to help save the environment; the same question applies for the global warming: "I'm just one person, what can I do?" The question has obviously been looming across continents, hence the birth of the WWF's Earth Hour movement. Last year in Sydney, 2.2 ...Climate change may alter wine-growing regions
Feb 16th, 2008 at 10:20AM: As the world climate warms up, vineyards are feeling the heat: harvests are earlier, wines are coarser and have a higher alcohol content and lower acidity. Why would that be any big deal, you ask? Well, for one, wine as we know it would change -- especially the finer ones. Former Vice President Al Gore addressed wine experts at the Second International Congress on Wine and Climate Change, arguing ...A Bittersweet Reminder of Global Warming
Nov 25th, 2007 at 8:37PM: Excuse my absence from Gadling for the last couple of months. but I've been discovering what's new and different in the South Island of New Zealand for the next edition of Lonely Planet's guide to my home country. Normally my LP ventures with laptop and notebook take me overseas, but it's been kind of cool to poke around off the beaten track in my own backyard.
Between being surprised by the ...Australia's Biggest Security Risk May Be Climate Change
Sep 25th, 2007 at 11:40AM: Australia may be tightening security at its borders soon, but not because of terrorist threats. While the climate-shift story in the rest of the world reads like the Book of Revelations, Australia has got a problem almost as large as floods and famine: mass immigration caused by floods and famine (and overpopulation). Reuters states that China's population is posed to tip 1.5 billion by 2030, and ...Big in Japan: Making Biofuel Out of Used Chopsticks
Aug 27th, 2007 at 9:00AM: Today's ten-million yen trivia question is this:
How many disposable, wooden chopsticks are used each year in Japan?
Give up?
The answer is approximately 90,000 tons (81,646,000 kilograms) or approximately two-hundred pairs per person per year. Needless to say, the Japanese aren't exactly the world's greatest environmentalists!
Indeed, one of the biggest culture shocks foreigners experience upon ...Dr. Warmlove: Or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Climate Change
Jun 7th, 2007 at 11:38AM: The panic and mayhem that seems to surround global warming sometimes gets so shrill you'd think the world was going to end. And maybe it will. For some people. But for others, global warming could be a boon. Once icy climes could turn positively cozy, and just imagine what that will do for real estate values. So you see, there is a bright side. And perhaps no one sees that bright side more than ...
