Link herd

This seems grossly unfair, but I'm sick again. I don't usually get sick often, but the last month has been dreadful. I think I've caught everything coming down the pike -- and living with a little blonde petri dish, that's a lot. But enough of that. Here we go on our first new and improved, now-with-more-optimism-and-less-death-and-destruction link herd.

First up, don't miss Mothers for Alaska, whose author left a comment here the other day. Just last night Mr. T observed that perhaps nothing will be done about the climate crisis until people start feeling the effects of it close to home. If you think about it, it makes sense that the effects of global climate change should be felt more immediately closer to the earth's poles. Reading this blog, I was struck by the fact that it's happening now. Fortunately, Mothers for Alaska is chock full of information and activism.

Lookee! A car that runs on compressed air!

For those of us with cars that don't run on air, here's a neat article on "hypermilers." These folks are obsessed with squeezing out as many miles per gallon as possible, and its really cool to see how they do it. They even have competitions. Turns out that backing out of parking spaces is a big gas-sink. There are lots of other interesting tips for making the most of your petroleum use. Just, ahem, use the safe ones.

From Grist, how to talk to a climate skeptic. Also just a good source for the science.

Manual lawnmowers are making a comeback. Guess what? I have one. I love it. My Portland yard isn't very big, and it gives me a quick little upper-body workout. Plus, it's fun and there are no smelly gas fumes.

The link herd stampedes over the plains and back to the mountains

My mother is still on a dial-up internet connection, for crying out loud. This is mostly because she's the kind of person who cannot be told anything by anyone else, and so the many voices singing in praise of high speed internet are enough, all by themselves, to cause her to cling to her dial-up like the stench of corruption to the Bush administration.

Because this sorry state of affairs is coupled with an aging computer, it seems to take whole days for pages to load on her machine. (Mom actually plays computer euchre while she waits.) The upshot of this is that when I go back to Indy, I drop out of the online world almost entirely for the duration. I have wireless internet at my office, but I'm usually working when I'm there, or pretending to.

So it feels odd to be back, but here I am. Linkies:

I absolutely love this. Artists have crocheted a woolen reef. It's riveting.

Just what my household needs: carbon offsets for dog farts. Silly me - and here I just bought one for my air travel. Knowing my hound, I should probably buy two.

Two words I bet you've never seen together: feral camels.

Let me know if I've missed anything good.

Link Herd

Al Gore announces 24-hour concert series to take place on seven continents to raise awareness of global warming:

With a powerhouse lineup of acts from the Red Hot Chili Peppers to Snoop Dogg to Bon Jovi, what's being called "Live Earth" aims to gather more than 100 of the world's top musicians on July 7 — and attract 2 billion viewers, most of them via television, radio and the Web.

In other Gore news, Fox host Sean Hannity attacks Gore for "global warming hypocrisy." The charge? Flying on private jets. Think Progress has the story, plus the following information from Vice President Gore's office:

-Gore lives a strict carbon-neutral lifestyle both in his work and private life. That means he tries to reduce his emissions as much as possible, and then purchases carbon offsets for the remaining emissions.

– In his private life, Gore tries to reduce his emissions as much as possible. He drives a hybrid, flies commercially whenever he can, and purchases green power. In the few instances where work has demanded that he travel privately, he purchases carbon offsets for the emissions.

Yellowstone air quality continues to improve in the wake of new requirements that snowmobiles meet certain noise and emission standards.

Large new under-ice lakes have been found in Antarctica. "[T]he slippery motion could have serious implications for the way ice sheets respond to global warming. Ice is continually sliding off Antarctica and into the sea. In ice streams, inland ice speeds into the ocean more than ten times faster than the rest of the ice sheet."

Link Herd

Many climate scientists say upcoming global warming report from the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change understates risks and consequences of global warming, in part because it does not account for recent ice breakup in Antarctica and Greenland. (Yikes.)


This news came out last week and instantly captured my attention. Tesco, the largest supermarket chain in Britain, will begin to label its products with each item's carbon footprint, or the "energy required for its manufacture, packaging and transport to the supermarket shelves." How will they gather and determine this information? How will this spur competition among their suppliers? Geek that I am, I sit riveted, popcorn in hand, watching the show. Via The Green Filter.


Hair of the dog that bit ya: Think Progress reports, via Greenwire, another consequence of that newly melted Arctic ice:

For energy companies, this catastrophe means a “new era of oil and natural gas exploration in the region.

As soon as I recover from utter speechlessness, perhaps I'll have more to say on this topic.


For the "Ewww, nature" photo files: Python eats pregnant sheep.


Anyone have anything interesting I've missed?

Link Herd

Ursine trouble: An orphaned Alaskan bear cub isn't hibernating, but instead is running amok trying to scrounge food. Good folks are working on catching him and introducing him to food and a nice comfy den. Click over for a picture. The little guy is adorable, but his situation isn't.

Christmas tree recycling, elephant style: "Elephant calf Thabo-Umasai at Germany's Zoo Dresden joined camels, deer, and sheep in a traditional new-year feast of Christmas trees yesterday." Another great photograph.

A fascinating article on the brisk growth of solar power in California, fueled by the new California Solar Initiative:

If [the initiative] works as planned, said J. P. Ross, the policy director for Vote Solar, an organization that advocates for large state-level solar projects, the initiative will stimulate the installation of 3,000 megawatts of solar electrical generating capacity in the state over the next decade. That would be an increase by a factor of more than 20, Mr. Ross said, equivalent to 30 small natural-gas-fired power plants.

Given the enthusiasm homeowners have shown for the initiative, filing nearly twice as many plans for solar systems with the California State Energy Commission in 2006 than in previous years, this goal may not be far-fetched.

(Note: Vote Solar's website may be accessed through the sidebar to the right.)

I came across this story earlier in the week. I can't put it any better than Laura Erickson at BirderBlog did:

Oh, dear--yet another assault on the natural world to fuel people's insatiable appetite for automobiles.

Yep. Pretty much.

Link herding

The Moon of Popping Trees: If you aren't deeply moved by this post by Tim Giago at Huffpo, then I'm afraid nothing can be done for you.

Damn, cephalopods are cool.

This sounds like something Dick Cheney would come up with to mitigate global warming. Wait -- that was gratuitous and it minimizes the grave subject of that article. But seriously, doesn't it?

"If the animal is reacting, you're too close." Good rule. But still, I envy this experience.

Montana wilderness bill likely still a long shot, even with Jon Tester's election. Tester's position right now appears to be to sit back and listen to the local conversations. This seems like a sound approach, at least for now. My house is on the edge of the Cabinet Mountain Wilderness Area. Even given the many competing interests, it's hard to disagree with this statement from the director of the Northern Rockies office of the Wilderness Society:

"As our valleys in Montana fill up, this wild country we have will become even more valuable to people," Ekey said. "I just want my kids and grandkids to be able to have the same experiences that we've been able to enjoy.

"If we do nothing, it's not going to stay the same — it's going to change."

Link Herd

Senators Olympia Snowe (R-ME) and Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) write a letter to Exxon Mobil blasting its financing of pseudo-scientific global warming skeptics. This confirms Olympia Snowe as my favorite Republican. That, and she has a picture of a moose on her website.

Brazil creates the largest tropical rainforest reserve in the world on 58,000 acres in the Amazon. The preserve encompasses seven parks and is larger than England.

Billionaire Richard Branson has a nifty idea to reduce jet fuel emissions in Chicago.

The city of Portland, Oregon today unveiled the first stage of a free wireless network aiming to make web access available citywide in the next 18 months.

Aircraft makes emergency landing after woman lights match to cover up the smell of her farts. Seriously.