Every once in awhile it is an encouraging thought to know that things can get even worse than they already are. That was the case tonight as I sat back down after the Christmas break (a good two days worth) to look at what stories had appeared in my feeds. It appears that some 55
As I sit at my desk in my small office here at home, Christmas is quickly coming to a close. In fact, by the time this article is written, I have no doubt Boxing Day will already be well in to effect. 2007 will close soon after, and with it a year that has made
Antarctica has always been the last frontier for scientists on Earth. It even parallels to space exploration, considering just how inhospitable its lands are. Windy, cold, and for half the year a perpetual night time are not conditions that make for a comfy science exploration.But nevertheless, scientists are hell-bent on getting to know the southernmost
The hurricane seasons of 2005 and 2006 have posed a bit of a mystery to climatologists recently. After a whopping 15 hurricanes were forged out of the North Atlantic in 2005, including the devastating Katrina, only 5 hurricanes appeared a year later. Most scientists will lay the blame for 2005’s record amount of hurricanes at
You know, I really thought I was done with the ‘Arctic Ice’ stories. One would have thought that the entire world by now knew that it had not been a good year for the sea-ice up north. Record losses, the disappearance of the Northwest Passage for the first time in millennia; really not a good
Many of us have those geographical features that are, for all intents and purposes, our definition of home. For me personally, my ‘home’ is at the beach, and if I had the chance I’d be working down there in an instant. But it varies from person to person. My brother is more at home amongst
Every once in awhile you are presented with an opportunity, nay the right, to get really angry. They don’t come along often, let’s be honest. Our lives should not be a daily jump between anger filled moments. Looking for the silver lining amongst all our clouds may be hard but it ultimately worth it. So
There is no doubt in many of your minds that I am a bit of a wind-power nut. I love to focus on it at any chance I get, but I’m sometimes held in check by a modicum of editorial power. Thankfully, when there is news like this, editorial power goes out the window in
Just as to ‘Save the Cheerleader’ was to ‘Save the World’, so we too must save the Amazon Rainforest, or risk letting our planet slide further in to a global warming epidemic. And I say ‘risk’ because the Amazon is simply too large and complex to rely fully on what research we have. But the
The award winning UN Climate Panel that took home this year’s Nobel Peace Prize (along with Al Gore) hopes to look towards the mysteries of Greenland. After three successive overall reports, released in 1995, 2001 and 2007, the panel may look towards more specific research targets. One of these is the effect a thaw of
The continuing quest for cleaner power has finally brought humanity to kneel before Mother Nature, pleading for some help. We have damaged her planet so effectively, and now we are asking for her good favor in return. We’ve turned to the sun, the waves and also the wind. And it is winds that many believe
Climate science is really one of those things that I’ve developed quite an attachment to. If I ever manage to get back in to university, it will definitely be high on my priority list. But for the moment, I have the enviable joy of reporting about it. And this one really sprung to mind as
Much of the environmental news at the moment is focusing on the Bali summit. Well, I’ve reported on that summit for much of the lead up, and I’m altogether sick of it. So I shall be leaving that to other hands. In the meantime, I shall endeavor to raise those stories that would otherwise be
Over the past two years in my role as an editorial and journalistic reporter, I’ve become more and more interested in earth’s millennia long history. The theories of evolution, ice-ages, periods of warming and continental shift have all opened up to me as they never did in high school (probably because I went to a
In the wake of the Australian government shift, I’ve been able to focus a little bit on home, when writing here at PS. It has been nice, to be able to shift the attention away from America, in a world where America seems to be the only thing worth thinking about. And with bush-fires on
Sometimes, there is news that leaves you confused as to whether you should be happy or sad. This is one of those times, when we’ve been informed that 2007 will be the joint sixth warmest year on record. Now at first glance, this isn’t necessarily a good thing. So you’re wondering why I could be
While our year is drawing to a close, the Antarctic research period is only just beginning. A ten-week expedition to the Lazarev Sea and the eastern part of the Weddel Sea has just left Cape Town on its 24th scientific voyage. A total of 53 scientists from eight nations are travelling aboard the Polarstem, a
The world of environmental advocacy is polarizing at best. You either agree with them, or you label them a bunch of green pansies. I am of the first, and if I had the cash, would be a part of them. I hope one day to be able to get out there on to the ocean,
We’ve seen a lot lately of people and companies trying to find ways to sequester carbon dioxide. Many more have attempted to find a way to revitalize the natural storage of CO2 in to the lower sea levels. Some have been nothing more than egomaniacal and greedy attempts at success, others, more environmentally friendly. But
Being an Australian citizen has been a tough time recently. I mentioned last week that my great country was only a few days away from a general election. I mentioned the embarrassment that friends had felt upon hearing that only we and the United States were Kyoto Protocol holdouts. Well, a glimmer of hope has
Many of you may be unaware of of the fact that Australia is currently only a few days away from heading to the polls. Our fearless leader, John Howard – also known to some as George Bush’s whipping boy (and that’s the cleanest of the analogies) – has served for eleven years as head of
For the past month I’ve brought to your attention here at Planetsave and Green Options the issues surrounding Japan reinstating the whale hunt. They claim they are doing it for scientific research, but thanks to Greenpeace, it’s indisputable that such “evidence gathering” is unnecessary. From the top: It is simply not necessary to kill whales
When you consider the evolutionary timeline of human history, it is surprising to find that our birthplace is now little more than a passing thought in our minds. Africa is the country that receives the least attention from the world. We know only countries like Somalia, South Africa and Sudan because of their strife and
We hear a lot about the crises’ facing the world as a result of global warming and climate change. Often, it seems far off, and unreal; as if it isn’t really happening to us. Sometimes it’s hard to imagine that we’ve screwed up our planet so badly that – whether it is manmade or not
The threat of global warming would have been bad enough had it occurred on a planet of logic-filled Vulcans. That it happened on a planet full of irrational, illogical, self-aggrandizing egotistical humans is just proof of further bad luck. And according to a new report, that human penchant for selfishness may begin to exert itself
In a year where much of the political focus has centered on environmental issues, nothing will be bigger than 2007’s last two months. Already meeting in Valencia, Spain, are the Nobel winning Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) members. Speaking to the IPCC members was Yvo de Boer, head of the U.N. Framework Convention on
“How can we stop this,” asked German visitor Herman Kirst, aged 70, as he watched the Chilean San Rafael glacier recently. He was watching it deposit chunks of glacial ice in to the water around it. Already the glacier has shrunk 100 meters this year. In reality, San Rafael has shrunk a total of 12
There is something within many environmentalists that gets them irked off very easily. I know for a fact that I wouldn’t be able to get away with telling you that I’m not easily angered. Most of those who know me would be up in arms, consternation and hysterics. All of that being said, when we
It sounds a little like the title of a book you might find in the thriller section of your local bookstore, but I assure you that I’m not in a literary mood. In fact, my title describes two phenomenons that are currently dangerously affecting the Gulf of Mexico, among other oceanic locations across the planet.
It was only the other day where I commented on some of the plans involving dumping various chemicals into the waters. The plans, to increase the ability to combat algae blooms and eat carbon were risky, untested and highly controversial. Today, however, much to my relief and surprise, I found a story that may
Daylight savings is one of the bane’s of my existence. Granted, I’m not the sunniest person around to begin with, so my ability to acquire further “banes” is possibly a negating factor in describing my dislike of DST. But I want to stress this; daylight savings is simply not worth it. Luckily for me, I’m
Over my tenure as part of the Green Options network, I’ve brought you – more often than not – the gloomy side of global warming. Of course, I would say that there is no good side, but I’m trying to be a bit lenient here. As Green Options undergoes some changes, I’ll be writing primarily
Renewable energies are up against the wall right now, with skeptics and financial binds restricting what many believe to be humanities only hope for continuing clean and friendly power generation. “It’s too expensive” is often the cry of the politician, who seems to think that just because he’ll be dead, he doesn’t really mind if
