Vietnam. Who would have thought? Well, it makes sense, really... when you think about it. Monsoons, typhoons etc. has raged for centuries. Why shouldn't the land be affected? But now, the climate change is threatening the Vietnamese people and of course government. It is their responsibility to find a solution. The climate change is not a reality tomorrow, but maybe in a hundred years. Are we obligated to take care of what's coming in stead of taking care of all the awful issues we have to take care of in the world right now? It really doesn't hurt to do both.
--------------
CAI RANG, Vietnam — For centuries, as monsoon rains, typhoons and wars have swept over them and disappeared into the sunshine, the farmers and fishermen of the Mekong Delta have drawn life from the water and fertile fields where the great river ends its 2,700-mile journey to the sea.
The rhythms of life continue from season to season though, like much of the country, the delta is moving quickly into the future, and industry has begun to pollute the air and water.
But everything here, both the timeless and the new, is at risk now from a threat that could bring deeper and longer-lasting disruptions than the generations of warfare that ended more than 30 years ago.
In a worse-case projection, a Vietnamese government report released last month says that more than one-third of the delta, where 17 million people live and nearly half the country’s rice is grown, could be submerged if sea levels rise by three feet in the decades to come.
In a more modest projection, it calculates that one-fifth of the delta would be flooded, said Tran Thuc, who leads Vietnam’s National Institute for Hydrometeorology and Environmental Sciences and is the chief author of the report.
Storm surges could periodically raise that level, he said, and experts say an intrusion of salt water and industrial pollution could contaminate much of the remaining delta area.
The risks of climate change for Vietnam go far beyond the Mekong Delta, up into the Central Highlands, where rising temperatures could put the coffee crop at risk, and to the Red River Delta in the north, where large areas could be inundated near the capital, Hanoi.
Climate experts consider this nation of an estimated 87 million people to be among the half-dozen most threatened by the weather disruptions and rising sea levels linked to climate change that are predicted in the course of this century.
If the sea level rises by three feet, 11 percent of Vietnam’s population could be displaced, according to a 2007 World Bank working paper.
As I’m studying „design and productmanagement“ this article grabbed my attention. It’s an interview with Michael Braungart, who’s the founder of EPEA International Umweltforschung GmbH in Hamburg, Germany. Together with Bill McDonough he wrote de book “Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things. The purpose of the Cradle to Cradle Design is to restore continuous cycles of biological as well as technical nutrients with long terms positive effects on profitability, the environment and human health.
---------------------------------
Many young designers feel that they lack knowledge to work with C2C. You often hear questions, such as “I know that the right materials are there, but where can I find them? How should I work with biologically degradable ‘plastic’?”, etc. What do you recommend to them? “When people ask these kinds of questions, express the desire to holistically make good design, they already have 50% of what they need. I can’t emphasise often enough that they don’t have to do everything themselves. History shows that real innovation always came from teams, not from individuals. You sometimes saw an individual in the foreground, but there always was a team standing behind them. This mechanism also holds true now: on your own at a certain point you’re only working on changing existing things. For designers already more into the design stage, much more C2C material knowledge can be found in the database at Material Connexion (www.materialconnexion.com) in i.e. Milan. But again, don’t take types of materials as a starting point in your concept phase, as it hinders our thinking. What is not available now will be there in a few years, especially if you ask as a designer.”
Is that the top tip for designers who want to design in a more C2C way? “Yes. Start by being more arrogant and ask questions about the stuff you’re working with. Just say, “I don’t want to use that material” and get a movement going. For example, if you look at brands such as Louis Vuitton, Dolce & Gabbana and Armani, what comes out of the plant and goes into the shops is just hazardous waste. Almost every famous design brand is due for some serious innovation. Designers have influence there. Ask for materials that you can wear on your body that are suitable for people. Design products for a house or workplace where the indoor air is actually healthy. As a designer, you are a user of materials developed by others. Put them to work.”
“As a designer you don’t just shape things, you can also influence the material flow. That doesn’t mean that everything has to go back into the biosphere per se. You can also use materials that aren’t degradable as long as they can go back into the technosphere. This means making your design so that it can be taken apart. For example, building a television set without copper is impossible nowadays, but building a television set that’s easy to get the copper out of can be done. Copper is rarer than oil, which you really don’t want to lose in a garbage dump.
As already mentioned in some blogs before, we have to take care of our surrounding and act regardful. I, as a Design student, see my responsibility in creating sustainable everyday goods. This topic is fortunately wide spread in designer’s field meanwhile. The following article/webside shows some good examples, which were presented at the “Copenhagen Design Week” this year. Just to name one in short: John Arndt and Wonhee Jeong designed a so called “flow kitchen” which incorporates all the functions of a typical kitchen so that processes flow into one another in a natural cycle. I think that the market for such products will increase in the next years and that interesting and useful things will be seen.
--------------------------------------
“Oregon-based Studio Gorm has created a complete kitchen in which energy is conserved and cooking waste is recycled and used to grow plants. Dubbed the flow kitchen, the design successfully integrates nature and technology into a system where drying dishes helps water plants and composting food waste helps to fertilize them. Drying dishes hanging from a vertical storage rack drip onto herbs and edible plants, which are grown in carefully positioned containers below. A double-walled terracotta container acts as a refrigerator, keeping the inside cool as water evaporates through the outer wall, while food scraps are broken down by worms in a composter and the resulting fertilizer is used in the herb boxes to grow more food. The kitchen also features storage jars made from unglazed earthenware with beech wood lids, a dish and utensil drawer to store plates, bowls, cups, and cutlery, a bag rack to hold produce, and a gas stovetop. The living kitchen is currently on view as part of an exhibition titled Call + Response at the Museum of Contemporary Craft in Oregon through October 31.”
The city of Toronto enacted a 'controversial' bylaw that forces businesses to charge customers 5 Canadian cents (roughly 500 won) per plastic bag, earlier this summer, to the applause of environmentalists and complaints of business owners. But after all the brouhaha dissipated and people studied the bylaw in more detail- a 'minor' detail was discovered- the money that businesses receive from plastic bag sales just ends up in their pockets- whereas the city is strongly "encouraging" merchants to donate the money they collect to charity, most stores just pocket it. I'm very glad that a step in the right direction was taken, but the fact that they missed out on this crucial point- where this money goes- is inexcusable!! This money should be going to charities and NGOs that are cleaning up the environmental messes that we've already made- for instance, the organization behind this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-wIbNEqmCUo
--------
"Toronto retailers are free to pocket the change they collect under a new bylaw that came into effect yesterday requiring them to charge a nickel for each plastic bag customers take.
The city is strongly "encouraging" merchants --from mom-and-pop shops to big grocery chains -- to donate the money they collect to charity or reinvest it in green initiatives. They are not legally bound to do so.
Critics argue there's no value to either consumers or the environment in such a no-strings-attached approach.
"There isn't any accountability for that money," complained councillor Doug Holyday . "If the merchants who were collecting it were wise, they'd put it in a fund and buy themselves a bicycle, because that's the only way they're going to be able to get around town pretty soon."
The 5¢-per-bag fee is part of a broader strategy to divert more waste from landfills, in this case to compel shoppers to bring their own reusable bags or bins."
There has been a debate in the states, especially on national politics level, what it means to be environmental-friendly to current job market or to some states that are heavily dependent on coal. Obama administration says that being more environmental-friendly would create jobs whereas Republicans argue that it wouldn't only send current domestic jobs to overseas, it would cost each household a couple thousand dollars to support the bill. Despite the loss of support from moderate Democrats, it is clear that they all agree on "inaction isn't an option" plan.
---------------------------------------------
Last Wednesday, Jackson cited new EPA models showing that a cap-and-trade program will most likely have only a modest impact on American families—increasing annual spending by less than $150. Officials arrived at this estimate, she said, by assuming that 40 percent of the money raised by selling emissions credits would be passed back to Americans. Congress, however, has yet to decide what it will do with that money. On the jobs front, Republicans cite estimates from the National Association of Manufacturers, an influential trade association, of between 3 million and 4 million lost jobs. Jackson dismisses the "large doomsday scenarios," saying the White House expects cap-and-trade legislation to create "millions" of jobs, in part by stimulating clean energy manufacturing.
"‘Green' Roofs Could Help Put Lid On Global Warming"
Recently, scientists have reported that "green" roofs can help fight global warming because they are incredible in absorbing carbon dioxide, one of the major contributors of global warming. "Green" roofs are urban rooftops that are covered with plants (vegetation), instead of traditional roofing materials. The study has also pointed out that these green roofs are multi-functional, reducing heating and air conditioning cost, improving storm water management, reducing noise and air pollution, and also improving bio-diversity. These green roofs are gaining popularity especially in North America where the number of green roofs increased 30% from 2006 to 2007.
----------------------------------
The scientists measured carbon levels in plant and soil samples collected from 13 green roofs in Michigan and Maryland over a two-year period. They found that green roofing an urban area of about one million people would capture more than 55,000 tons of carbon, the scientists say. That's an amount "similar to removing more than 10,000 mid-sized SUV or trucks off the road a year," the article notes.
in this article, scientist said the fact that rising speed of CO2 is getting over natural rate of global-warming in interglacial epoch is a fabrication and the strength of cyclone and tornado is actually down. Of coures, there can be many different views about one issue but is it also able to exist different facts around one issue?
----------------------------------- More CO2 means better crops and forests, Steward says, but not necessarily a warmer planet since other factors play a bigger role in heating the planet.
“This relates directly to the food supply,” he said. “Green is good, and CO2 is very green.”
CO2 boosts plant growth, making them larger, faster-growing and more drought tolerant with better roots. Steward calls that good news in a world with a growing population.
Former vice president Al Gore got facts wrong in his documentary, “An Inconvenient Truth,” Steward said.
“Clearly things were absolutely false in some cases and misleading in other cases,” he said. For example, Gore said the earth was warming at an unprecedented rate. However, in the 1920s and ’30s, the temperature increase was more dramatic, Steward said.
Contrary to Gore’s findings, cyclone and tornado strength is actually down now, says Steward, a geologist and retired energy industry executive. He is a trustee at the Buffalo Bill Historical Center and lives on the North Fork and in Texas.
On the first of September, a controversial law has been approved that restricts the sale of incandescent bulbs. The ban is one of a series of measures to support the E.U. goal of cutting greenhouse gas emissions by 20 percent by 2020. Everything from televisions to washing machines to tiny motors are being made more energy-efficient. At first view, the measure seems normal and not causing too many problems, but consumers feel attacked in their privat atmosphere and therefor cause of a stirred fierce debate. The ubiquity of lighting and the way it can alter the aesthetics of an interior, even the experience of reading a book, makes it somehow more personal. How far can a government intervene in the lifes of individuals in view of environment? Maybe some people don’t like the sound of the motor of their new CO2 friendly car.
Restrictions on the sale of incandescent bulbs begin going into effect across most of Europe on Tuesday in the continent’s latest effort to get people to save energy and combat global warming. But even advocates concede the change is proving problematic. Under the European Union rules, shops will no longer be allowed to buy or import most incandescent frosted glass bulbs starting Tuesday. Retailers can continue selling off their stock until they run out. While some Europeans are eagerly jumping on the bandwagon, others are panicking and have been stockpiling the old-style bulbs for aesthetic or practical reasons. Others are resigned to the switch, if grudgingly. (31 August)
How Global Population Growth is Creating Serious Environmental Problems
More people, Less Resources. This is one of the biggest issues environmentalists discuss about. Population growth is becoming a serious problem in so many countries especially in developing ones. People can be labor force, but it also means they have to feed themselves, use resources, and make waste. This article says that developed countries especially America can affect on people in the less countries with the Media and the Internet, so they will want to emulate the comsumption0heavy lifestyle. I think with the same Media and the Internet, it is also possible to let them know about the importance of population and birth control and the way of controlling it..
============================
The global rate of human population growth peaked around 1963, but the number of people living on Earth—and sharing finite resources like water and food—has grown by more than two-thirds since then, topping out at over 6.6 billion today. Human population is expected to exceed nine billion by 2050. Environmentalists don’t dispute that many if not all of the environmental problems—from climate change to species loss to overzealous resource extraction—are either caused or exacerbated by population growth.
“Trends such as the loss of half of the planet’s forests, the depletion of most of its major fisheries, and the alteration of its atmosphere and climate are closely related to the fact that human population expanded from mere millions in prehistoric times to over six billion today,” says Robert Engelman of Population Action International.
A very down to earth* kind of guy. I'm an environmental sociologist interested in establishing material and organizational sustainability worldwide. I'm always looking for interesting materials/technologies, inspiring ideas, or institutional examples of sustainability to inspire others to recognize their choices now. To be fatalistic about an unsustainable world is a sign of a captive mind, given all our options.
*(If "earth" is defined in a planetary sense, concerning comparative historical knowledge and interest in the past 10,000 years or so anywhere...) See both blogs.
Christoffer Grønlund
ReplyDeleteVietnam Finds Itself Vulnerable if Sea Rises
--------------
Vietnam. Who would have thought? Well, it makes sense, really... when you think about it. Monsoons, typhoons etc. has raged for centuries. Why shouldn't the land be affected? But now, the climate change is threatening the Vietnamese people and of course government. It is their responsibility to find a solution.
The climate change is not a reality tomorrow, but maybe in a hundred years. Are we obligated to take care of what's coming in stead of taking care of all the awful issues we have to take care of in the world right now? It really doesn't hurt to do both.
--------------
CAI RANG, Vietnam — For centuries, as monsoon rains, typhoons and wars have swept over them and disappeared into the sunshine, the farmers and fishermen of the Mekong Delta have drawn life from the water and fertile fields where the great river ends its 2,700-mile journey to the sea.
The rhythms of life continue from season to season though, like much of the country, the delta is moving quickly into the future, and industry has begun to pollute the air and water.
But everything here, both the timeless and the new, is at risk now from a threat that could bring deeper and longer-lasting disruptions than the generations of warfare that ended more than 30 years ago.
In a worse-case projection, a Vietnamese government report released last month says that more than one-third of the delta, where 17 million people live and nearly half the country’s rice is grown, could be submerged if sea levels rise by three feet in the decades to come.
In a more modest projection, it calculates that one-fifth of the delta would be flooded, said Tran Thuc, who leads Vietnam’s National Institute for Hydrometeorology and Environmental Sciences and is the chief author of the report.
Storm surges could periodically raise that level, he said, and experts say an intrusion of salt water and industrial pollution could contaminate much of the remaining delta area.
The risks of climate change for Vietnam go far beyond the Mekong Delta, up into the Central Highlands, where rising temperatures could put the coffee crop at risk, and to the Red River Delta in the north, where large areas could be inundated near the capital, Hanoi.
Climate experts consider this nation of an estimated 87 million people to be among the half-dozen most threatened by the weather disruptions and rising sea levels linked to climate change that are predicted in the course of this century.
If the sea level rises by three feet, 11 percent of Vietnam’s population could be displaced, according to a 2007 World Bank working paper.
-----
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/24/world/asia/24delta.html?hpw
Anna Maislinger
ReplyDeleteDesigners don't be shy...
As I’m studying „design and productmanagement“ this article grabbed my attention. It’s an interview with Michael Braungart, who’s the founder of EPEA International Umweltforschung GmbH in Hamburg, Germany. Together with Bill McDonough he wrote de book “Cradle to Cradle: Remaking
the Way We Make Things. The purpose of the Cradle to Cradle Design is to restore continuous cycles of biological as well as technical nutrients with long terms positive effects on profitability, the environment and human health.
---------------------------------
Many young designers feel that they lack knowledge to work with C2C. You often hear questions, such as “I know that the right materials are there, but where can I find them? How should I work with biologically degradable ‘plastic’?”, etc. What do you recommend to them?
“When people ask these kinds of questions, express the desire to holistically make good design, they already have 50% of what they need. I can’t emphasise often enough that they don’t have to do everything themselves. History shows that real innovation always came from teams, not from individuals. You sometimes saw an individual in the foreground, but there always was a team standing behind them. This mechanism also holds true now: on your own at a certain point you’re only working on changing existing things. For designers already more
into the design stage, much more C2C material knowledge can be found in the database at Material Connexion (www.materialconnexion.com) in i.e. Milan. But again, don’t take types of materials as a starting point in your concept phase, as it hinders our thinking. What is not available now will be there in a few years, especially if you ask as a designer.”
Is that the top tip for designers who want to design in a more C2C way?
“Yes. Start by being more arrogant and ask questions about the stuff you’re working with. Just say, “I don’t want to use that material” and get a movement going. For example, if you look at brands such as Louis Vuitton, Dolce & Gabbana and Armani, what comes out of the plant and goes into the shops is just hazardous waste. Almost every famous design brand is due for some serious innovation. Designers have influence there. Ask for materials that you can wear on your body that are suitable for people. Design products for a house or workplace where the indoor air is actually healthy. As a designer, you are a user of materials developed by others. Put them to work.”
“As a designer you don’t just shape things, you can also influence the material flow. That doesn’t mean that everything has to go back into the biosphere per se. You can also use materials that aren’t degradable as long as they can go back into the technosphere. This means making your design so that it can be taken apart.
For example, building a television set without copper is impossible nowadays, but building a television set that’s easy to get the copper out of can be done. Copper is rarer than oil, which you really don’t want to lose in a garbage dump.
---------
http://gevleugeldewoorden.nl/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/diana_den_held_tbm091.pdf
Nicole Niedermeier
ReplyDelete„Flow Kitchen Minimizes Waste, Maximizes Sustainability“
As already mentioned in some blogs before, we have to take care of our surrounding and act regardful. I, as a Design student, see my responsibility in creating sustainable everyday goods. This topic is fortunately wide spread in designer’s field meanwhile. The following article/webside shows some good examples, which were presented at the “Copenhagen Design Week” this year. Just to name one in short: John Arndt and Wonhee Jeong designed a so called “flow kitchen” which incorporates all the functions of a typical kitchen so that processes flow into one another in a natural cycle. I think that the market for such products will increase in the next years and that interesting and useful things will be seen.
--------------------------------------
“Oregon-based Studio Gorm has created a complete kitchen in which energy is conserved and cooking waste is recycled and used to grow plants. Dubbed the flow kitchen, the design successfully integrates nature and technology into a system where drying dishes helps water plants and composting food waste helps to fertilize them. Drying dishes hanging from a vertical storage rack drip onto herbs and edible plants, which are grown in carefully positioned containers below. A double-walled terracotta container acts as a refrigerator, keeping the inside cool as water evaporates through the outer wall, while food scraps are broken down by worms in a composter and the resulting fertilizer is used in the herb boxes to grow more food. The kitchen also features storage jars made from unglazed earthenware with beech wood lids, a dish and utensil drawer to store plates, bowls, cups, and cutlery, a bag rack to hold produce, and a gas stovetop. The living kitchen is currently on view as part of an exhibition titled Call + Response at the Museum of Contemporary Craft in Oregon through October 31.”
-----------------------------
http://www.inhabitat.com/products-2/
http://www.inhabitat.com/2009/08/18/flow-kitchen-minimizes-waste-maximizes-sustainability/
Alexandra Vorobyova
ReplyDelete"Retailers can keep fees for plastic bags"
The city of Toronto enacted a 'controversial' bylaw that forces businesses to charge customers 5 Canadian cents (roughly 500 won) per plastic bag, earlier this summer, to the applause of environmentalists and complaints of business owners. But after all the brouhaha dissipated and people studied the bylaw in more detail- a 'minor' detail was discovered- the money that businesses receive from plastic bag sales just ends up in their pockets- whereas the city is strongly "encouraging" merchants to donate the money they collect to charity, most stores just pocket it. I'm very glad that a step in the right direction was taken, but the fact that they missed out on this crucial point- where this money goes- is inexcusable!! This money should be going to charities and NGOs that are cleaning up the environmental messes that we've already made- for instance, the organization behind this video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-wIbNEqmCUo
--------
"Toronto retailers are free to pocket the change they collect under a new bylaw that came into effect yesterday requiring them to charge a nickel for each plastic bag customers take.
The city is strongly "encouraging" merchants --from mom-and-pop shops to big grocery chains -- to donate the money they collect to charity or reinvest it in green initiatives. They are not legally bound to do so.
Critics argue there's no value to either consumers or the environment in such a no-strings-attached approach.
"There isn't any accountability for that money," complained councillor Doug Holyday . "If the merchants who were collecting it were wise, they'd put it in a fund and buy themselves a bicycle, because that's the only way they're going to be able to get around town pretty soon."
The 5¢-per-bag fee is part of a broader strategy to divert more waste from landfills, in this case to compel shoppers to bring their own reusable bags or bins."
-------------------------------------
http://www.nationalpost.com/news/story.html?id=1652847&p=1
"Environmental issues impacting on job issues"
ReplyDeleteThere has been a debate in the states, especially on national politics level, what it means to be environmental-friendly to current job market or to some states that are heavily dependent on coal. Obama administration says that being more environmental-friendly would create jobs whereas Republicans argue that it wouldn't only send current domestic jobs to overseas, it would cost each household a couple thousand dollars to support the bill. Despite the loss of support from moderate Democrats, it is clear that they all agree on "inaction isn't an option" plan.
---------------------------------------------
Last Wednesday, Jackson cited new EPA models showing that a cap-and-trade program will most likely have only a modest impact on American families—increasing annual spending by less than $150. Officials arrived at this estimate, she said, by assuming that 40 percent of the money raised by selling emissions credits would be passed back to Americans. Congress, however, has yet to decide what it will do with that money.
On the jobs front, Republicans cite estimates from the National Association of Manufacturers, an influential trade association, of between 3 million and 4 million lost jobs. Jackson dismisses the "large doomsday scenarios," saying the White House expects cap-and-trade legislation to create "millions" of jobs, in part by stimulating clean energy manufacturing.
http://www.usnews.com/articles/news/politics/2009/04/28/in-climate-change-debate-its-all-about-jobs.html
Hyun A Kim
ReplyDelete"‘Green' Roofs Could Help Put Lid On Global Warming"
Recently, scientists have reported that "green" roofs can help fight global warming because they are incredible in absorbing carbon dioxide, one of the major contributors of global warming. "Green" roofs are urban rooftops that are covered with plants (vegetation), instead of traditional roofing materials. The study has also pointed out that these green roofs are multi-functional, reducing heating and air conditioning cost, improving storm water management, reducing noise and air pollution, and also improving bio-diversity. These green roofs are gaining popularity especially in North America where the number of green roofs increased 30% from 2006 to 2007.
----------------------------------
The scientists measured carbon levels in plant and soil samples collected from 13 green roofs in Michigan and Maryland over a two-year period. They found that green roofing an urban area of about one million people would capture more than 55,000 tons of carbon, the scientists say. That's an amount "similar to removing more than 10,000 mid-sized SUV or trucks off the road a year," the article notes.
-------
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090923133000.htm
Scientist says 'CO2 is good for planet'
ReplyDeletein this article, scientist said the fact that rising speed of CO2 is getting over natural rate of global-warming in interglacial epoch is a fabrication and the strength of cyclone and tornado is actually down.
Of coures, there can be many different views about one issue but is it also able to exist different facts around one issue?
-----------------------------------
More CO2 means better crops and forests, Steward says, but not necessarily a warmer planet since other factors play a bigger role in heating the planet.
“This relates directly to the food supply,” he said. “Green is good, and CO2 is very green.”
CO2 boosts plant growth, making them larger, faster-growing and more drought tolerant with better roots. Steward calls that good news in a world with a growing population.
Former vice president Al Gore got facts wrong in his documentary, “An Inconvenient Truth,” Steward said.
“Clearly things were absolutely false in some cases and misleading in other cases,” he said.
For example, Gore said the earth was warming at an unprecedented rate. However, in the 1920s and ’30s, the temperature increase was more dramatic, Steward said.
Contrary to Gore’s findings, cyclone and tornado strength is actually down now, says Steward, a geologist and retired energy industry executive. He is a trustee at the Buffalo Bill Historical Center and lives on the North Fork and in Texas.
-------
http://www.codyenterprise.com/articles/2009/09/21/news/doc4ab7e45f8b6ec127872708.txt
Sam Wijnants
ReplyDelete“Europe’s Ban on Old-Style Bulbs Begins”
On the first of September, a controversial law has been approved that restricts the sale of incandescent bulbs. The ban is one of a series of measures to support the E.U. goal of cutting greenhouse gas emissions by 20 percent by 2020. Everything from televisions to washing machines to tiny motors are being made more energy-efficient. At first view, the measure seems normal and not causing too many problems, but consumers feel attacked in their privat atmosphere and therefor cause of a stirred fierce debate. The ubiquity of lighting and the way it can alter the aesthetics of an interior, even the experience of reading a book, makes it somehow more personal.
How far can a government intervene in the lifes of individuals in view of environment? Maybe some people don’t like the sound of the motor of their new CO2 friendly car.
Restrictions on the sale of incandescent bulbs begin going into effect across most of Europe on Tuesday in the continent’s latest effort to get people to save energy and combat global warming. But even advocates concede the change is proving problematic.
Under the European Union rules, shops will no longer be allowed to buy or import most incandescent frosted glass bulbs starting Tuesday. Retailers can continue selling off their stock until they run out.
While some Europeans are eagerly jumping on the bandwagon, others are panicking and have been stockpiling the old-style bulbs for aesthetic or practical reasons. Others are resigned to the switch, if grudgingly.
(31 August)
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/01/business/energy-environment/01iht-bulb.html
Sujin Kwon
ReplyDeleteHow Global Population Growth is Creating Serious Environmental Problems
More people, Less Resources. This is one of the biggest issues environmentalists discuss about. Population growth is becoming a serious problem in so many countries especially in developing ones. People can be labor force, but it also means they have to feed themselves, use resources, and make waste. This article says that developed countries especially America can affect on people in the less countries with the Media and the Internet, so they will want to emulate the comsumption0heavy lifestyle. I think with the same Media and the Internet, it is also possible to let them know about the importance of population and birth control and the way of controlling it..
============================
The global rate of human population growth peaked around 1963, but the number of people living on Earth—and sharing finite resources like water and food—has grown by more than two-thirds since then, topping out at over 6.6 billion today. Human population is expected to exceed nine billion by 2050. Environmentalists don’t dispute that many if not all of the environmental problems—from climate change to species loss to overzealous resource extraction—are either caused or exacerbated by population growth.
“Trends such as the loss of half of the planet’s forests, the depletion of most of its major fisheries, and the alteration of its atmosphere and climate are closely related to the fact that human population expanded from mere millions in prehistoric times to over six billion today,” says Robert Engelman of Population Action International.
http://environment.about.com/od/biodiversityconservation/a/population_grow.htm