I don’t think so. But this blogger does:
Do something about the weather. Originally called geoengineering, this approach used to be dismissed as science fiction fantasies: cooling the planet with sun-blocking particles or shades; tinkering with clouds to make them more reflective; removing vast quantities of carbon from the atmosphere.
via Uncensored Magazine | NY TIMES PROPAGANDISES CHEMTRAILS AS ‘CLIMATE ENGINEERING’.
Traditional approaches to stemming outbreaks–isolate pathogen, craft a cure, distribute the cure–can take too long.
So DOD wants something that can handle anything, as it happens.
Photo: Brittany E. Flickr/CC
DARPA/DSO is soliciting research proposals that seek to develop highly innovative approaches to counter any known, unknown, naturally occurring or engineered pathogen. Proposed research will investigate novel technologies to prevent infection, extend survival until a curative response is available, provide transient immunity, or speed the onset of adaptive immunity. Methods proposed should not require prior knowledge of the pathogen and should be broadly applicable to multiple unrelated infectious agents.
Photo: Emiliano. Flickr/CC
They’re at it again: Scientists, mad and otherwise, are discussing aerial spraying this afternoon:
Will such approaches actually work? Who will control the thermostat for the Earth? What other environmental consequences might arise and where would the effects be the greatest? We propose to hold a symposium that examines these and other issues, linking closely to the overall theme of the 2009 Annual Meeting: Ecological Knowledge and a Global Sustainable Society.
via Session: SYMP 21 – The Environmental Effects of Geoengineering.
Algae will be a feedstock for humans in the 21st Century–not only for our food, but for gasoline, too. Here’s how one company, OriginOil, plans to do it:
Much of the world’s oil and gas is made up of ancient algae deposits. Today, our technology will produce “new oil” from algae, through a cost-effective, high-speed manufacturing process. This endless supply of new oil can be used for many products such as diesel, gasoline, jet fuel, plastics and solvents without the global warming effects of petroleum. More…
via OriginOil.
Battlestar Galactica fans will recall the use the fleet made of the goop harvested from the algae planet (picture here), particularly for food and “coffee.”
Hope it's OK. Photo: CC/Daniel Beaman
It’s hard to say exactly which foods we will be forced to eat, in Earth’s CO2- and O3-stuffed atmosphere.
But it is likely those foods will be genetically modified to counter the toxic effects of these atmospheric gases, and to maintain their nutritional value.
Global food security in a changing climate depends on the nutritional value and yield of staple food crops. Researchers at Monash University in Victoria, Australia have found an increase in toxic compounds, a decrease in protein content and a decreased yield in plants grown under high CO2 and drought conditions.
Photo: CC/Ryan Jesena
The UN is looking for a few good photos, showing people toughing it out in desert conditions:
As part of an ongoing effort to raise awareness about the urgent need for action against desertification and land degradation, the UN is calling on all aspiring photographers to participate in its second international photo contest.
The UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) is looking for images that artistically highlight either the efforts of people trying to conserve soil, land or water in drylands or the relationship between people and dryland ecosystems.
Not sure if I trust them. Photo: CC/The Green Part of Ireland
A recently proposed Dutch law would make it an “economic crime” to refuse a smart meter.
The Irish Greens are also high on the wireless technology, which allows utilities to peer into your home, and determine how much electricity you are using to power individual items.
And now, in the United States, T-Mobile will soon be baking its SIM cards into smart meters from the spooky-sounding company, Echelon.
Echelon’s Networked Energy Services System (Ness) includes meters that can read your water and gas consumption, too. And some Echelon meters emit alarms when your credit with your utility, or state, runs short.
More about Echelon (the corporation), and the elite pedigree of its investors, in my next post.
Here’s a bit of that Dutch story:
I hope the debate on smart metering will not grow silent because of a small and unclear victory in our First Chamber. We need to critically watch the developments in respect of smart metering and urge research into less intrusive alternatives such as in-home displays, specified energy bills, and the use of statistical and anonymised data.
via No to mandatory smart metering does not equal privacy! « Weblog Law & Technology.
One of you guys wrote in recently to ask about the whole “smart grid” thing, asking me to investigate just what state-licensed utilities will demand to know about what we’re doing on our property with their juice. (Opening the question, too, whether the state at any point considers our electricity to be our own.) I’m working on that one… stand by for an update within the next 24 hours.
Meanwhile, some of my grandfather’s countrymen are conducting a large scale experiment in self-reliance, at the community level, that is.
The boys who founded Google are forever bullshitting the credulous mainstream media with tales of their “down-to-earth” lifestyle. Of course, their squabbling over an extravagant party jetliner, and acquisition of dirty-filthy-wasteful toys, such as this fighter plane (left), haven’t helped that image.
Still, Google co-founder Larry Page hopes we’ll eat-up this greenwashing story, about his $7+ million California home (excerpt and link, below).
Page lives in a historic home, with an assessed value of $7.2 million as of July 2008, on a cul-de-sac in one of the city’s nicest areas, just a block from fellow billionaire and Apple CEO Steve Jobs. It’s an old Palo Alto neighborhood that appreciates its privacy, but Page’s plans for an eco-friendly property have shone a spotlight on it.
via Google’s Larry Page building eco-friendly compound in Palo Alto – San Jose Mercury News.
Photo: CC/James Jordan
Dublin scientists say adding fish oil to cattle feed will make them fart less, thus reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
Of course, farmers could also feed their cows grass, instead of corn, which is what they get on those godforsaken feedlots.
In fact, the way it works now, Smithfield and others stuff their feedlot cows with antacids, because the corn feed makes them so sick.
April 6, 2009 Omega 3 fatty acids in fish oils have many documented benefits to humans including the reduction of cholesterol, but what of the benefits to animals and the environment in general? While assisting the heart and circulatory system in animals and improving the meat quality in cattle, it is also, according to researchers at the University College in Dublin, beneficial in reducing methane levels from flatulence when added to the diet of cattle.
via Fish oils fed to flatulent cows could reduce greenhouse gas emissions.