Raining today? Bring an umbrella. Smoggy again? Put on a face mask. Since checking both the weather and the current level of air pollution before going out is the new normal in China, the Shanghai Environmental Protection Bureau is making the latter a lot easier by featuring a new air quality mascot at their website.
Real talk: Between diminishing stores and oil wars, fossil fuel-dependance is officially a bad deal. In the future, as these resources get scarcer, we’re going to have to figure out how to live in a little more harmony with Mother Earth. Here are 21 houses that are already doing it right: eschewing the power grid for solar, wind, and geothermal energy sources. More »
Be afraid, Ralph Kramdens of the world, be VERY afraid: Shanghai’s imminent experiment with driverless, magnetically-guided, electric-powered buses could be the start of a new urban transportation revolution.
Japanese manufacturers, including electronics manufacturers are world leaders in the push for more eco-friendly products. We have been impressed with the various products being released in the Japanese market that use less electricity, have less emissions, etc.
Now, Pioneer has announced that its popular SC-LX85 amplifier/receiver is certified as low-carbon, low-emissions. They are branding it as the “Low CO2 Kawasaki Brand”.
This will continue to be a trend in the development of …
Still don’t believe in global warming? It’s certainly a debatable topic that can lead to some heated discussions, as proven yesterday. However, climate scientists at NASA have discovered that 2012 was the 9th-warmest year on record since the 1880s. They also note that the last year the Earth showed cooler-than-normal temperatures was 1976.
What’s more shocking is that NASA’s findings show that the ten hottest years ever recorded since the 1880s have all occurred after 1998. The report was published by the Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS), and it notes that the average temperature has risen by 1.4 degrees Fahrenheit, with most of the increase happening within the last four decades.
This may not seem like a huge increase at all, but NASA scientists warn that seasons, like the summer of 2012, which was hotter-than-average, should serve as a wake-up call for citizens. NASA GISS director James E. Hansen says that some seasons will obviously still “be cooler than the long-term average, but the perceptive person should notice that the frequency of unusually warm extremes is increasing.”
Data from various satellites, spacecrafts, and multiple scientific experiments all point to climate changes, according to NASA, and although the topic of global warming and climate change is still controversial, a good number of Americans believe global warming, odd weather changes, and climate shifting are a reality.
NASA says 2012 was 9th-warmest year on record is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
Black carbon, or more colloquially known as soot, is getting a second look from environmental researchers and scientists about its contribution to global warming. Experts are now saying that soot is more of a danger than previously thought, and has approximately two-thirds of the warming effect of carbon dioxide, which is the largest synthetic contributor to global warming currently.
The observation comes from a study published in the Journal of Geophysical Research Atmospheres, and notes that black carbon is said to have a warming effect of around 1.1 watts per square meter, and has a greater impact on global warming than methane. While this may seem like alarming news, not all hope is lost.
Professor Piers Forster from the School of Earth and Environment at the University of Leeds, and one of the authors of the study, says that there are steps that we can take to reduce the output of soot, “reducing emissions from diesel engines and domestic wood and coal fires” is probably the most popular way of going about it.
Forster notes that “if we did everything we could to reduce these emissions, we could buy ourselves up to half a degree less warming — or a couple of decades of respite.” Large amounts of soot seep into the atmosphere every year, with about 7.5 million tons just in 2000 alone. Diesel engines account for around 70% of emissions in North America, Europe, and Latin America, while residential fires account for 60% to 80% of emissions in Asia and Africa.
[via Futurity]
Image via Flickr
Experts say soot is greatly contributing to global warming, more so than originally expected is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
Nearly 800 snake hunters are signed up for the 2013 Python Challenge in Florida. For the next month, the hunters will be scouring the Everglades for the invasive Burmese pythons that are destroying the fragile ecosystem. This is a real thing. More »
The concept of the smokeless ashtray has been around for at least 30 years. Have the past three decades shown any design improvements? And more importantly–do they work?
Scientists are trying to prove that the recent rise in earthquakes are linked to wastewater disposal from shale gas hydrofracking. Evidence shows that the significant rise in seismic activity over the last few years in the U.S. coincide with the rise of hydraulic fracturing, a method for extracting oil and natural gas which usually involves injecting water and chemicals into shale rock. (more…)
By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Solar Power Plants Are Fast Replacing Peaker Plants In Australia, Philips blazes Nairobi streets with solar LED lights,
In 2010, New York City pumped out 54 million metric tons of carbon dioxide into our atmosphere. That figure’s close to meaningless for most of us, though—so here’s what it would look like if you could actually see it. More »
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