Science & Technology

The Arctic Ocean one year ago to this date. Photo: US Geological Survey via flickr

Perhaps you don't need more convincing that whether a given year sets a new record or not Arctic sea ice is on the decline, but maybe you do: Climate Progress highlights a study in Quaternary Science Review which confirms that human activity is driving changes in ice cover, and furthermore that there's now less ice in the Arctic that at any point in recent geologic history.

Travel & Nature

Photo via wikipedia

The Gulf oil disaster has done still unknowable damage to marine wildlife, with everything from fish to seabirds under threat. But at least one species is threatened with extinction -- the dwarf seahorse, a tiny animal less than two inches long which is unique to the Gulf Coast. It lives among the seagrass beds in shallow water most of the year, but huge chunks of these beds have been killed by the toxins from the spill. Project Seahorse warns of the danger for this creature as well as several other species of seahorse.

Design & Architecture

The poor Koch family just can't get a break these days. First Brian wrote Billlionaire David Koch: 25 Years of Disinformation Campaigns and Polluter Front Groups?, then Matt followed with 'Financial Kingpin' of Climate Change Denial Exposed: Koch Industries Outspends Exxon 3-to-1. The New Yorker piled on with Jane Meyer's article about the Billionaire brothers who are waging a war against Obama and now we learn from Kevin Grandia of DeSmogBlog that they are behind the "Industry-led effort to downplay the links between formaldehyde and cancer."

Cars & Transportation

Image credit: Sean O'Dell

From bike races in business attire at the Brompton World Championships to a DIY electric assist kit for the classic folding bike, the Brompton seems to be a magnet for the unusual. But I'm really not sure what to make of this pimped-out 24-carat-gold-plated Brompton that's just gone on sale on eBay. I do know it will take a brave soul to ride that thing in public.

Business & Politics

Telegraph

Angelo Vassallo was Mayor of the pretty little Italian town of Pollica, which Eric Reguly of the Globe and Mail calls "a cultural and environmental treasure." He said no to illegal construction that Reguly says " spreads like a cancer over so many seaside Italian towns". He said no to smokers who littered. He made the town part of the Slow City Movement.

On Monday, he was killed in a Mafia-style execution.

Business & Politics

Image credit:Brendtwood

For many the idea of Retirement Planning has been derailed by a global economic slump and increasing health care expenses. Those who take seriously the December 21, 2012, Maya Prophecy about astronomical alignment obviously won't bother at all. (This latter force is hooey though: thrown in get your attention to the risk posed by weather extremes that prospective retirees must now consider.) Meanwhile, most of The English feel it will "not be feasible for people to stop work then live on a pension for up to 30 years." (According to this BBC story.)

What then is doable for the elderly person hoping to switch to a green lifestyle that may include some work for pay? How will climate change shape a thoughtful person's retirement choices?

Food & Health

Image credit: GenBug (Creative Commons)

With all the evidence of human-induced global warming, you'd think it would be good news that some of our activities, like releasing aerosols for example, are also helping to cool the atmosphere. Unfortunately, often the opposite is true. This is starkly illustrated by a new study showing the regional cooling effects of mass irrigation. So why is this a bad thing?

Culture & Celebrity

Photo credit topgold via flickr.

Last year at around the start of school, I just said no to new school supplies. We went through our house and found 90% of the supplies we needed (the pencils we gathered were a combination of unused and stubs we resharpened) and went out for a treat on the money we "saved."

This year, living back in the U.S. the list of "required" supplies was longer and more specific ("2 granola bars, no nuts???"), leading me to ask myself: "Is my kid really going to use these 50 pencils I'm providing?" and more importantly, "Why are schools' approach to supplies so seemingly ungreen?"