Can Earth Hour Galvanize the global warming fight?

Every successful social movement has its defining images. Think of the civil rights movement, and the photos of protesters being attacked by police dogs and pummeled by high-pressure fire hoses. Or the Vietnam anti-war movement, and the video of body bags being beamed back to America's living rooms. Even environmentalism has its iconic images, like Cleveland's heavily polluted Cuyahoga River catching fire in the 1960s, smog wreathing Los Angeles's skyline during the next decade and even the stark hole in the ozone over Antarctica. To help galvanize public support — especially around a complex issue — the right picture really can be worth a thousand words.

When it comes to climate change, however, that picture hasn't yet been found. Hurricane Katrina's destruction, drowning polar bears, spreading deserts — these images are powerful in their own right, but they're not the sorts of pictures that can drive a movement. Precisely because global warming is so, well, global, potentially touching just about every corner of the world and every aspect of our lives, encapsulating it in a single image has proven elusive. You can't connect climate change to a natural disaster as simply as you can connect a napalm bomb, a running child and the war in Vietnam. That's made building and sustaining a movement against global warming so challenging. We can't see it yet, not quite — and we can't see its victims. But by the time we can, it will be too late.

That hasn't stopped environmental groups from trying, however. On Saturday at 8:30 pm local time — beginning on Chatham Island in New Zealand, one of the first places on Earth that the dawn strikes — towns and cities in over 80 countries across the world will shut off their lights for 60 minutes, to draw attention to climate change. The National Stadium in Beijing, the Great Pyramids in Egypt, the Empire State Building in New York and even the Strip in Las Vegas — all will go dark for an hour to raise awareness of climate change and show that there is a worldwide constituency out there eager for action. "This is the only event regarding climate change that is truly global," says Carter Roberts, the president of the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) in the U.S., which is coordinating the event. "Climate change is the most global of problems, and the global community needs to come together to solve it." (Read "Earth Hour '08: Did It Matter?"

This is the second year in a row that WWF has helped run a worldwide Earth Hour — the event began two years ago just in Australia) -- and participation has grown tremendously, from 400 cities in 2008 to some 4,000 this year. The image, at least, will be spectacular — monuments and skyscrapers switching off, a ring of darkness passing across the face of the planet. Though WWF is loosely overseeing Earth Hour, the protest — for lack of a better term — is a product of the age of social media, organized at the grassroots, with word spreading via Twitter and Facebook. "This is an open source thing," says WWF spokesperson Leslie Aun. "We lit the spark, but everyone is owning this."

Earth Hour itself is easy to make fun of — skeptics will say that turning out the lights won't make but a light ding in our carbon emissions, and critics will claim it proves that environmentalists really do want to send us straight to the dark ages. The Competitive Enterprise Institute, a conservative think tank, is holding a counter-protest during the same time period called Celebrate Human Achievement Hour, which will "salute the people who keep the lights on and produce the energy that helps make human achievement possible." (So if you've ever wanted to throw a party for your local coal plant, this will be your chance.) But Earth Hour is a symbolic act, and as WWF's Roberts points out, "history is littered with symbolic acts that became tipping points."(Read "Solar Power: Eco-Friendly or Environmental Blight?")

Is Earth Hour going to become such a tipping point, or the movement's defining image? It's possible, but as important as pictures are, we'll need more. When President George W. Bush was in charge, knocking away climate change action like an NHL goalie, symbolism mattered because it was all we had. Now there's a new President who has made very green promises, and who needs to be kept to them, even in the teeth of the worst economic crisis most of us have ever known. The new battle will be fought in the nitty gritty of policy, and the protests that matter will be political ones.

Global warming may never get its perfect picture — Earth Hour, a globe gone dark, may be the closest thing we'll have. That's all right — at a time when a recent Gallup poll reports that a record-high 41% of Americans think global warming is exaggerated, green groups need to do everything they can to keep this issue on the front burner, here and in the rest of the world. "The take home message from Earth Hour should be that we are not alone," says Roberts. "I want people to go to the website, but after, I want them to send a letter to their congressman." So think of it this way; turning off your lights Saturday night is all well and good — but remember that the work really starts when you turn them back on.

(Via Time.com)

Saul Griffith on kites as the future of renewable energy

In this brief talk, Saul Griffith unveils the invention his new company Makani Power has been working on: giant kite turbines that create surprising amounts of clean, renewable energy.





TEDTalks is a daily video podcast of the best talks and performances from the TED Conference, where the world's leading thinkers and doers give the talk of their lives in 18 minutes. Featured speakers have included Al Gore on climate change, Philippe Starck on design, Jill Bolte Taylor on observing her own stroke, Nicholas Negroponte on One Laptop per Child, Jane Goodall on chimpanzees, Bill Gates on malaria and mosquitoes and "Lost" producer JJ Abrams on the allure of mystery. TED stands for Technology, Entertainment, Design, and TEDTalks cover these topics as well as science, business, development and the arts. Watch the Top 10 TEDTalks on TED.com, at http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/top10

In world's first global election, vote for Earth

This year, Earth Hour has been transformed into the world’s first global election, between Earth and global warming. For the first time in history, people of all ages, nationalities, race and background have the opportunity to use their light switch as their vote – Switching off your lights is a vote for Earth, or leaving them on is a vote for global warming. WWF are urging the world to VOTE EARTH and reach the target of 1 billion votes, which will be presented to world leaders at the Global Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen 2009. This meeting will determine official government policies to take action against global warming, which will replace the Kyoto Protocol. It is the chance for the people of the world to make their voice heard.

Earth Hour began in Sydney in 2007, when 2.2 million homes and businesses switched off their lights for one hour. In 2008 the message had grown into a global sustainability movement, with 50 million people switching off their lights. Global landmarks such as the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, Rome’s Colosseum, the Sydney Opera House and the Coca Cola billboard in Times Square all stood in darkness.

In 2009, Earth Hour is being taken to the next level, with the goal of 1 billion people switching off their lights as part of a global vote. Unlike any election in history, it is not about what country you’re from, but instead, what planet you’re from. VOTE EARTH is a global call to action for every individual, every business, and every community. A call to stand up and take control over the future of our planet. Over 74 countries and territories have pledged their support to VOTE EARTH during Earth Hour 2009, and this number is growing everyday.

We all have a vote, and every single vote counts. Together we can take control of the future of our planet, for future generations.

On March 28 you can VOTE EARTH by switching off your lights for one hour.
Or you can vote global warming by leaving your lights on.

Benefits of green building

The built environment has a profound impact on our natural environment, economy, health, and productivity.

In the United States alone, buildings account for:
• 72% of electricity consumption,
• 39% of energy use,
• 38% of all carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions,
• 40% of raw materials use,
• 30% of waste output (136 million tons annually), and
• 14% of potable water consumption.

More statistics on the built environment in the U.S. and the growing size of USGBC membership and LEED are available in our Green Building by the Numbers document.

Benefits of Green Building

Environmental benefits:

• Enhance and protect ecosystems and biodiversity
• Improve air and water quality
• Reduce solid waste
• Conserve natural resources

Economic benefits:

• Reduce operating costs
• Enhance asset value and profits
• Improve employee productivity and satisfaction
• Optimize life-cycle economic performance

Health and community benefits:

• Improve air, thermal, and acoustic environments
• Enhance occupant comfort and health
• Minimize strain on local infrastructure
• Contribute to overall quality of life
  

( via US Green Building Council)

India to observe 'Earth Hour' on March 28

India will join rest of the world by observing 'Earth Hour' to save energy as well as environment on March 28.

The people will be observing the Day by switching off all the lights and electrical appliances for an hour from 8.30 pm to 9.30 pm.

Began with one hour switching off lights at Sydney in Australia two years back, the 'Earth Hour' was observed in 35 countries last year in an attempt to reduce the carbon footprint, the World Wide Fund for Nature (India) Education officer Dr Goldin Quadros said.

This year India, especially Delhi and Mumbai will participate, he said adding that WWF was getting support from the government as well as the corporate houses.

Lights would be switched off or dimmed at 11 PVR cinemas in Delhi and Mumbai and corporate offices.

As per WWF this year, 50 lakh citizens of 377 cities from 74 nations are participating in this initiative.

Kick-starting the 'Earth Hour'campaign at the at green technology festival of the Chemical Engineering department at IIT `Azeotropy' , Mumbai Mayor Dr Shubha Raul said it was important to cut down carbon level and the municipality will be keen to help in the endeavour.

She has called for a meeting of all the corporators to brief them about the `Earth hour'on Monday and WWF will have a video show for them.

(via Economic Times)

India's light bulb phase out: setting a smart example

How many light bulbs can 1 billion people change? About 400 million wasteful incandescent bulbs, in India’s case.

Today, India has put in place a market mechanism that will phase out incandescent bulbs, making way for a cleaner energy future. The Bachat Lamp Yojana programme will replace 400 million incandescent bulbs with CFLs by 2012, which would save about 55 million tonnes of CO2 each year.

It's truly amazing how big the savings can be from strong action on energy efficiency. With this decision, India will be cutting the same amount of emissions that would come from four coal-fired power plants. If the whole world followed India's lead, eliminating wasted electricity from lighting, the cumulative effect would be equivalent to shutting down around 220 coal-fired power plants.

In this case, India has used a mechanism set up under the Kyoto protocol to bring down the cost of compact fluorescent bulbs (CFLs) for ordinary people. The more efficient bulbs were previously 80 - 100 rupees and will now be only 15 rupees, the same price as an incandescent bulb.

The funding comes via the cleaner development mechanism (CDM), effectively a way for developed nations to fund emissions reductions in developing nations. This programme sets an example of how nations can work together now to cut emissions, but a much bigger deal is needed urgently to stop runaway climate change.

Industrialised countries must agree to fund around USD 140 billion a year to help economies in the developing world cut emissions, protect tropical forests and adapt to the effects of climate change. Of course, countries too must implement tough domestic targets to ensure that global greenhouse gas emissions reach a peak by 2015, and start declining rapidly thereafter, reaching zero by 2050.

In India, lighting makes up 20 per cent of all residential electricity consumption, so this is a good first step. We at Snowcem Paints congratulate the Indian government, and hope it is going to carry out more actions in its plan, along with targets and timelines.

Energy efficiency is a really smart way to reduce demand and reduce CO2 emissions quickly, but it is only one half of the solution to climate change. The other is to quit coal and to replace it with non-polluting renewable energy sources like wind and solar - a real energy revolution.

India's rapid pace of development means its CO2 emissions are going up. It also faces peak power shortages even now, so a clean energy revolution will deliver big solutions to these big challenges.

(via Greenpeace.)

New wind turbine design good for rural, urban environment

Wind power is one of the fastest growing forms of alternative energy in the world. More and more, wind power mills are seen in the countryside, in large wind farms and for the most part, away from city life. But a new form of wind power is now designed to work in an urban environment. VOA producer Zulima Palacio has the story. Mill Arcega narrates.

Green bathroom makeover

The bathroom is where 60% of the water used indoors gets consumed. That makes it the perfect place to start saving water.

The Queen buys the world's largest wind turbine

The Queen is investing in the world’s largest wind turbine. It’s a prototype of a new line of wind turbines called “The Britannia” which will be produced by Clipper Windpower, based in California. The turbine tower stands about 328 feet, has a diameter of 492 feet, and can generate 7.5 megawatts. Currently, the largest installed wind turbine is the massive Enercon E-126, which is rated at 7 megawatts.

The sale was made to the British Crown Estate, which owns most of the seabed off Britain’s shores, regularly leases out its land to wind farm projects but has never invested in the turbines. The prototype turbine is part of Britain’s ambitious goal of generating 33 gigawatts of offshore wind energy by 2020.

(via Metaefficient)

A recyclable house from Germany

Who would have guessed that an entirely recyclable, zero-emissions, zero-carbon, sustainable house could be such a style icon? House R 128 by the architects at Werner Sobek brings the best of both worlds to the table. Rising four storeys in Stuttgart, Germany, this modern glass edifice has nothing to hide. The see-through house features a facade of triple-glazed windows that allow natural light to filter through and flood every room inside. The home’s front facade features photovoltaic panels that power the house and light it up when the sun goes down. Adding to its amazing sustainable features, the house also boasts geothermal energy and cooling.

The modern modular design – including its wooden floor and facade – is designed for easy assembly and dismantling, so not only is this innovative house off-the-grid, it’s also reusable, and completely recyclable! Accessible by a bridge above the kitchen and dining room, the 2,706-sq.-ft. home offers a warm welcome with a contemporary edge. Minimal style is king at House R 128, which has no interior walls, and a few modern pieces that characterize the home’s open-concept living areas. Werner Sobek
Photo credit: Roland Halbe and Josef Schulz, Stuttgart/Germany.

(trendir.com)

Google is not the enivronment problem

A recent report by a Harvard physicist estimates that a Google search generates about seven grams of carbon dioxide based on the electricity required to keep the company's servers running.

The headlines about the study quickly proliferated around the globe, with Britain's Inquirer chiding, "Googling pollutes the planet." Well, sure, but so does just about every other human activity. And it is in that context that Googling and internet usage must be judged.

In short, Googling is not the issue, dude.

Today, Google said that each of its searches uses 1 kilojoule or 0.24 kilocalories of energy. We can convert that into a unit we're all more familiar with: gas for your car.

A gallon of gas contains about 31,000 kilocalories — about 115 Snickers bars' worth — of energy, so a single gallon of gasoline would power about 130,000 searches. Even if Google handled five billion searches per day, the company's energy consumption for searches would be equivalent to something like the burning of 39,000 gallons of gasoline. The United States alone consumes 390,000,000 gallons every single day!

And even U.S. gas consumption is just a small fraction of the world's total energy usage — something like 1.4 exajoules of power per day. That's 1.4 times 10¹⁵ kilojoules. So, even if Google consumed 5 billion kilojoules for searches every day, that would only require 0.00037 percent of the world's daily energy usage.

As for the carbon footprint, Google says each search is only responsible for 0.2 grams of CO2, not the 7 grams that the Harvard researcher claims, but the dispute misses the larger point. U.S. greenhouse gas emissions are estimated at 16.9 billion kilograms of CO2-equivalent per day. Again assuming 5 billion daily searches, Google would be responsible for either 0.2 or 0.006 percent of the nation's carbon footprint, depending on whose number you choose.

When it comes the world's energy system, Google is not the problem. They are, however, embedded in the energy-intensive infrastructure that we've been building ever since we figured out how to tap the earth's fossil fuel resources.

It is a fine thing if internet companies want to worry about their carbon footprints. It's great, in fact. But chiding Google for making such a relatively tiny contribution to the overall environmental problem in the world is like complaining about a wobbly leg on one of the deck chairs on the Titanic.

(Via Wired)

India climate solutions road tour, on the road to 350

Not so long ago, the Indian Youth Climate Network (IYCN) was formed to give a voice to the next generation of India in the climate dialogue. The Network called for youth to come together in order to ensure a clean, bright future. Several city summits amidst a National Youth Summit on Climate Change, and the first ever Indian youth delegation sent to the COP at Poznan ensured that the Indian youth got its voice heard both nationally and during the international climate negotiations.

Now, members of the Indian Youth Climate Network along with a solar powered band are traveling a distance of more than 3500 kilometers in the country in solar plug-in electric cars and alternative-fueled buses. The focus of this journey is to both raise awareness and convert awareness into tangible actions. Climate solutions would be documented all through the journey and the underlying objective is to communicate the message of working to bring down the Carbon concentration to well below 350 ppm.

Despite realizing the gravity of the situation, the world has not yet mobilized into massive action against climate change. This, even when climate solutions exist and are in practice. One of the major barriers for this is that many people are not aware of what is already happening and need to be mobilized. For example, inspirational climate solutions have already been put into action in pockets across India, with enormous co-benefits. However, these are neither documented, nor have the policy makers shown any interest in replicating these successful models.

Thus, the India Climate Solutions Road Trip not just aims to raise awareness among people, it is also making efforts to document all such solutions, engineered models, community actions as a capacity building measure. The month long trip will visit more than 15 cities and several towns and villages sharing solutions in clean tech showcases, empowering youth in leadership training programs, and using art, dance and music by Solar Punch and other local musicians and artists to communicate the message in as many ways as possible.

The IYCN maintains that it is the present generation’s choice to take action and to create the future we all wish to see. And since that is the case, the greatest climate solution is our human capacity to take action.

India Climate Solutions Project: http://indiaclimatesolutions.com/

(via Ecoworldly)

The cement that eats carbon dioxide

Cement, a vast source of planet-warming carbon dioxide, could be transformed into a means of stripping the greenhouse gas from the atmosphere, thanks to an innovation from British engineers.

The new environmentally friendly formulation means the cement industry could change from being a "significant emitter to a significant absorber of CO2," says Nikolaos Vlasopoulos, chief scientist at London-based Novacem, whose invention has garnered support and funding from industry and environmentalists.

The new cement, which uses a different raw material, certainly has a vast potential market. Making the 2bn tonnes of cement used globally every year pumps out 5% of the world's CO2 emissions - more than the entire aviation industry. And the long-term trends are upwards: a recent report by the French bank Credit Agricole estimated that, by 2020, demand for cement will increase by 50% compared to today.

Making traditional cement results in greenhouse gas emissions from two sources: it requires intense heat, and so a lot of energy to heat up the ovens that cook the raw material, such as limestone. That then releases further CO2 as it burns. But, until now, noone has found a large-scale way to tackle this fundamental problem.

Novacem's cement, based on magnesium silicates, not only requires much less heating, it also absorbs large amounts of CO2 as it hardens, making it carbon negative. Set up by Vlasopoulos and his colleagues at Imperial College London, Novacem has already attracted the attention of major construction companies such as Rio Tinto Minerals, WSP Group and Laing O'Rourke, and investors including the Carbon Trust.

The company has just started a £1.5m project funded by the government-backed Technology Strategy Board to build a pilot plant. If all goes well, Vlasopoulos expects to have Novacem products on the market within five years.

Jonathan Essex, a civil engineer at the building consultancy Bioregional who also sits on the environment and sustainability panel for the Institution of Civil Engineers, welcomed Novacem's ideas to tackle the carbon impact of cement. "In the UK the climate bill commits us to reduce CO2 emissions, and every sector should play its part. The construction industry needs to take greater responsibility for its own environmental impact." Essex said that, if Novacem can make their cement at a competitive price, the next step could be to take even more CO2 emissions out of the process by using renewable energy to fire the furnaces.

According to Novacem, its product can absorb, over its lifecycle, around 0.6 tonnes of CO2 per tonne of cement. This compares to carbon emissions of about 0.4 tonnes per of standard cement. "From that point of view, it's attractive," said Rachael Nutter, head of business incubators at the Carbon Trust. "The real challenge is what is the supply chain, who do you need to partner with to take it to market? The million-dollar question is what are the applications of it? If it ends up as decorative applications such as floor tiles, it's quite interesting but not as much as if you get into load-bearing structural stuff."

Previous attempts to make cement greener have included adding more aggregate to a concrete mixture, thereby using less cement. But this still does not tackle the problem of the carbon emissions from making the cement in the first place. Other systems use polymers in the mix, but none have yet made a significant impact on the market.

A spokesperson for the British Cement Association expressed a sceptical note, saying that though there was much ongoing laboratory work on new types of cement, there were also problems. "The reality is that the geological availability, and global distribution, of suitable natural resources, coupled with the extensive validation needed to confirm fitness-for-purpose, make it highly unlikely that these cements will a be realistic alternative for volume building."

Vlasopoulos responded that magnesium silicates are abundant worldwide, with 10,000 billion tonnes available, according to some estimates. "In addition, the production process of our cement is of a chemical nature, which means it can also utilise various industrial byproducts containing magnesium in its composition." He is confident the material will be strong enough for use in buildings but acknowledged that getting licenses to use it will take several years of testing.

Explainer: Ecofriendly vs traditional cement

Standard cement, also known as Portland cement, is made by heating limestone or clay to around 1,500C. The processing of the ingredients releases 0.8 tonnes of CO2 per tonne of cement. When it is eventually mixed with water for use in a building, each tonne of cement can absorb up to 0.4 tonnes of CO2, but that still leaves an overall carbon footprint per tonne of 0.4 tonnes.

Novacem's cement, which has a patent pending on it, uses magnesium silicates which emit no CO2 when heated. Its production process also runs at much lower temperatures - around 650C. This leads to total CO2 emissions of up to 0.5 tonnes of CO2 per tonne of cement produced. But the Novacem cement formula absorb far more CO2 as it hardens - about 1.1 tonnes. So the overall carbon footprint is negative - ie the cement removes 0.6 tonnes of CO2 per tonne used.

(via The Guardian.)

The world's first energy-generating revolving door

Harvesting the kinetic energy generated by crowds of people is one of our favorite approaches to renewable energy. Recently Netherlands-based Natuurcafé La Port installed an energy generator in a rotating door, so every time someone walks in for a cup of coffee, they give just a little bit of their energy back to the coffee shop. We keep saying that solving the problem of global warming will require that we open up new doors in the field of renewable energy, but we must admit that we never expected to mean it literally.

The door was part of the refurbishment of the Driebergen-Zeist railway station designed out by architecture firm RAU and built by Boon Edam. The door is expected to generate around 4600 kwh of energy each year, which may not sound like much - but every little bit helps. To enhance the design, the team decided to include a transparent ceiling to show how the system works, and LEDs display the amount of energy that it is generated each time someone walks in the door.

(via Inhabitat)

CIOs take lead in building management

Chief Information Officers (CIOs) are beginning to take a more commanding role in the development of “smart” building management systems, reports Network World.

As new buildings are designed to be more energy efficient - and old ones are retrofitted with new, integrated management systems - the IT department is being called in to converge its infrastructure with a building management system (BMS).

BMSs can “hang” off of IP networks, creating huge operating efficiencies. For instance, heating systems can communicate with air-conditioning systems, so windows open and close automatically to adjust to temperature. Failed light bulbs get replaced by a remote system. Vending machines on the IP network can be replenished quickly when low supplies are detected.

Large IT and networking suppliers (e.g., IBM, Cisco) are working with BMS suppliers to provide the technology for the integration. BMS providers have their own protocols that are not always IP-based, and CIOs are encouraging them to convert them, thus setting up a future of integration.

And because IT executives are accustomed to change and a short cycle of innovation, they are perfectly poised to push companies to embrace new ways of operating, said Rajesh Sinha, technical director of building services company NG Bailey Teswaine, the ICT arm of the UK’s NG Bailey.

(via Environmental Leader.)

Can climate chnage makes us sicker?

What do we talk about when we talk about global warming? It'll get hotter, that's a safe bet; polar ice caps will be melting, and wildlife that can't adapt to warmer temperatures could be on the way out. But what does it really mean for the health of us, the human race? It's a question that remains surprisingly difficult to answer — research into climate change's impacts on human health have lagged behind other areas of climate science. But what we do know has scientists and doctors increasingly worried — a rising risk of death from heat waves, the spread of tropical diseases like malaria into previously untouched areas, worsened water-borne diseases. "When we think about climate change, we think about ice caps and biodiversity, but we forget about human health," says Dr. Jonathan Patz, a professor of environmental studies and population health sciences at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. "There are a huge number of health outcomes that are climate sensitive."

The World Health Organization (WHO) and other global health bodies are working to remind us of that fact. On March 31 the American Public Health Association (APHA) launched its first blueprint for combating the health impacts of climate change, and on April 7, WHO will dedicate its annual World Health Day to the intersection between disease and global warming. The message is that severe climate change could fundamentally weaken global public health, that doctors need to be ready to deal with the consequences — and that there is a moral case to be made for reducing carbon emissions to save future lives. "If you look at climate change over the long term, it will profoundly affect the pillars of public health: water, sanitation, air quality and sufficient food," says Dr. David Heymann, Assistant Director-General for Health Security and Environment at WHO. "The fact is that human health should be at the center of the political debate on climate change, but right now that's not the case."

The first step to making that case is understanding exactly what warmer temperatures will do to us and our diseases — and few scientists know more about the topic than Patz, a member of the UN's Nobel Prize–winning Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). (Hear Patz talk about global warming and health on this week's Greencast.) As temperatures increase, and hotter, drier summers become the norm in regions that were once temperate, powerful heat waves — like the one in Europe in 2003, which killed an estimated 35,000 people — will take a toll. At the same time, climate models suggest that rain could become less frequent overall but more intense when it does fall, leading to a double whammy. Longer and fiercer droughts in some areas will worsen hunger, but severe rainstorms carry an increased risk of water-borne diseases like cholera. "It's not just warming, it's climate change," says Patz. "It's changing the air cycle, creating more extreme flooding, more extreme droughts."

For some diseases, climate change will be boon. Take malaria — right now, the insect-borne disease is mostly confined to hot tropical areas, which is why you don't need to take quinine when you're hiking through Central Park. But if temperatures increase, the mosquitoes that carry the malaria parasite will be able to expand their range, while more intense rainstorms will give them more places to breed. A report this year by Australia's Center for Epidemiology and Public Health estimated that between 20 to 80 million more people will be living in malarial regions by 2080, as the parasite expands its range; another study released on April 3 by British doctors raised the possibility that insect-borne diseases — virtually unknown in the cool U.K. — could hit the British isles thanks to climate change. "There's real worry about malaria," says Heymann. "Malaria becomes a more threatening disease as it spreads to new areas where people lack immunity because they haven't had it before."

WHO and other bodies are pushing to strengthen the global public health system in preparation for the changes that global warming might bring. That means readying societies to deal with heat waves — ensuring that the most vulnerable elderly aren't left on their own — and improving defenses against vector-borne diseases, with anti-malaria nets and medicines like artemisinin. Such preparations will be especially needed in those parts of the developing world — sub-Saharan Africa, south Asia — that will bear the brunt of climate change. But Patz would also like to see public health tackle carbon emissions directly, cutting off global warming at the source. For him, carbon dioxide should be treated as a pollutant that damages human health, albeit indirectly, and it's in our medical interests to reduce it. "Energy policy becomes one and the same as public health policy," says Patz.

Policies that cut carbon emissions can have a direct positive impact on human health now as well. Imagine how much better off our environment and our cholesterol levels might be if more of us biked to work rather than drove — or if city planners put greater emphasis on designing more walkable communities and ensuring sustainable public transportation. But the reality is that climate change is happening today, and will be worse tomorrow, even if we manage to pull together a global effort to reduce carbon emissions, which seems less likely and more difficult every day. (A commentary in the April 3 edition of Nature argued that the technological changes needed to decarbonize energy could be much harder than we thought; meanwhile, over in Bangkok, diplomats at the U.N. climate conference last week made little progress on hammering out the successor to Kyoto.) If there is money to be spent on preparing the world for the health impacts of climate change, the priority should be adapting our public health system to a warmer world, versus spending on carbon mitigation. Global warming to some degree will be inevitable — but human suffering needn't be, if we're smart enough to prepare.

(Via Time.com)

New wind turbine good for urban and rural environments

Wind power is one of the fastest growing forms of alternative energy in the world. More and more, wind power mills are seen in the countryside, in large wind farms and for the most part, away from city life. But a new form of wind power is now designed to work in an urban environment.

Tick

Fight global warming. Time is running out.

Australian hot rocks offer 26,000 years of power

Barely one percent of Australia's untapped geothermal energy could produce 26,000 years worth of clean electricity, scientists said, as the government announced a A$50 million (US$43 million) project to help develop the technology.

Australia is the world's biggest coal exporter with coal used to generate about 77 percent of its electricity. Its reliance on coal for generating electricity makes it the world's biggest per-person polluter, with five times more emissions per head than China.

"Geothermal energy which is sometimes known as hot rocks has got a huge potential for Australia, both as a solution to climate change and in terms of national energy security," said Resource Minister Martin Ferguson.

To produce power from geothermal energy, water is pumped below ground where it is heated and the heat energy used to generate power.

Geoscience Australia has mapped the nation's geothermal energy, using temperature recordings from decades of drilling by energy and exploration firms, sometimes to a depth of five kms (three miles).

A total of 5,722 petroleum and mineral boreholes across Australia were used to generate the map.

"One percent of reserves would produce 26,000 years of energy supplies," Geoscience's Anthony Budd told Reuters on Wednesday.

Budd said "hot rocks" needed to be 150 degrees Celsius to produce electricity, which was achievable at a depth of one to five kms, noting temperature rose deeper into the earth's crust.

An Australian Geothermal Energy Association report this week forecast it could potentially produce 2,200 megawatts of baseload power by 2020, adding that represented up to 40 percent of Australia's 2020 renewable energy target.

The association estimated A$12 billion would need to be invested to develop the 2,200 megawatts of power, but added the cost of generating electricity would fall to acceptable levels by the time commercial projects were up and running.

It estimated it would cost A$120 per megawatt hour from a small pilot plant producing 10 to 50 megawatts of power, and A$80 per megawatt hour for a large scale plant of 300 megawatts or greater.

Read more.

Global warming 101

Global warming could do more than just melt polar ice. It could change our maps, and displace people from cities and tropical islands.