(BREAKING–Reposted from our sister site, CleanTechnica) We’ve thought for a while that the US had more leadership to contribute to the world climate process, so today’s news (still on the gossip vine at present) that President Obama has a $3 billion pledge in his pocket for the Global Climate Fund is not a total surprise.
Or do you? It’s time to pay attention to climate change now—as if it wasn’t back in 1800, when our current problems started. We all need to acknowledge that stunning industrial achievements can carry with them enormous unforeseen risks and challenges. Americans should take particular note, because on the whole we are wa-a-a-y behind on this.
As the cost of production of LED lights continue to decrease, so does the sale price and the reasons for individuals and companies to avoid using them. It is becoming more and more financially viable to invest in LED technology both in the short term and in the long term. Ergo, increasing numbers are enjoying the environmental benefits
Cargo bikes and trikes are just starting to catch on in North America, after a long history in Denmark, the Netherlands, and Germany. And now might be a great time to jump in and get one. Copenhagen-based Butchers and Bicycles has created a pretty freakin’ awesome tilt-action cargo trike that looks like it could blow the competition
Officials open the 2013 UNFCCC meetings with determination and louder warnings…. (Photo source: http://ow.ly/qL43P) It’s time for the governments of the world to struggle with climate change policy again. Every year, late in November and early in December, representatives of 195 nations gather for two weeks to try to negotiate global responses to the increasingly
Originally published on Bikocity. For the next generation of bike-sharing innovations, take a look at Copenhagen and smile. Trains and a bike-sharing program working as one travel option now offer a GPS built into the bike. Not only do you know where to pick up your next connection – you have a schedule of all
The folks over at HouseTrip, which is a holiday rental site, have taken their expertise and created an infographic showing the top greenest cities in the world. These eco-friendly cites were judged on everything from tree planting to water usage. Six cities where selected, including; London, New York, Vancouver, Copenhagen, Amsterdam, and Stockholm. Among the
Bikes and Northern Europeans — They Really Have It Going On April 14, 2012 — the first part of a Bicycle Superhighway network opened. Copenhagenize brought us the story of new bike routes that will help Copenhagen to continue leading the way in this arena. Dreams are coming true. (Cyclist’s long-distance bike-riding dreams.) The infrastructure
How’s them apples? Seriously, though, it’s been known for a long time that biking benefits society in many ways, including economically, and that driving has the opposite effect. Nonetheless, some stats like this go a long way in getting the message across. From League of American Bicyclists President Andy Clarke, who recently took a
Copenhagenize, a tremendous bicycling blog based in… Copenhagen, recently posted four awesome bicycling videos (ads/commercials, basically). None of the videos are in English, but Copenhagenize’s Mikael Colville-Andersen took the time out of his day to translate them. They’re great advertisements for bicycling, I think, and most of them are just plain funny, too. So, here they
A new report from the National Institute for Space Research (INPE) in Brazil has announced a total of 225 kilometres squared were destroyed during the month of July. The measurements were taken by DETER, the Alert System for Support and Control Deforestation which is able to analyse a region from space to determine whether any
Check out this fun Dutch bicycling federation video I just ran across on Copenhagenize. Nice.
• The last five years have been the warmest since 1880 when monitoring began
• Tree ring data suggest that the summer temperatures over the past few decades have been the highest in 2000 years
• Snow cover in May and June has decrease by close to 20%
• The winter season in the Arctic has been shortened by almost two weeks
• There is worry about the decrease in snow and ice cover in the Arctic that will decrease the amount of solar radiation reflected back out into the atmosphere
• Warming is only expected to continue
• Sea level rise by 2100 is expected to be between 0.9 and 1.6 metres, approximately twice what was predicted by the UN panel on climate change
A report by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) has outlined the “emissions gap” between where nations are currently heading, in terms of their emissions mitigation, and where science says we need to be, by the time we hit 2020. According to the report, nations are capable of delivering almost 60% of the emissions reductions
Here are some great summaries and a video of the recent Velo-city Global conference in Copenhagen. There was an international bike conference in Copenhagen recently. It was the place to be for bicycle professionals and enthusiasts around the world (I am so disappointed I couldn’t go). For all of us who couldn’t make it (or
The pledges to curb carbon emissions made during 2009’s Copenhagen Accord are more likely to see Earth suffer a three degree warming rather than the deal’s target of two degrees. [social_buttons]Such a warming could have dire affects for Earth’s climate system, possibly increasing the frequency of droughts, floods, storms and rising seas, all of which
[social_buttons] New research out of the UK shows definitively that reducing greenhouse gases can save millions of lives around the world. The research makes use of case studies to demonstrate the co-benefits of tackling climate change in four sectors: electricity generation, household energy use, transportation, and food and agriculture. The studies were commissioned by the
[social_buttons] Brazil soya traders agreed to extend a moratorium on buying soya linked to Amazon destruction this week and Greenpeace was quick to give them a big thank you from the world. International companies such as McDonald’s are happy, and companies like Nike, Wal-Mart and Carrefour are asking for more.
The European Union (EU) and MTV are working together to get young people involved in the climate debate. The major entities started their “Play to Stop – Europe for Climate” campaign this month. Working with international music artists and other international celebrities, this is a major campaign to mobilize the youth around the topic of
As I mentioned earlier this week, Greenpeace will be holding rallies in 30 cities across America. Here in San Francisco, they will be showing off a 30 x 50 ft. banner (pictured here) in front the Golden Gate Bridge. Check back here at 1pm PST to see photos from the event.
[social_buttons]The UN Climate Change Conference in Poznan, Poland is ground zero for world leaders looking to take the next steps in tackling global warming. The international conference is aimed at negotiating a new agreement to succeed the Kyoto Protocol, and to be finalized in Copenhagen in December of 2009.
