Climate Change is Not a Spectator Sport.
Ten years ago, it was unthinkable. Nowadays,environmental writers feel compelled to point out the necessity of visiting some of the most beautiful and unique places on earth before they are gone (or not visiting them in the hope that they remain pristine). These places, from Alaska to Tanzania, are ... keep reading
Written by Jeanne Roberts in May 2011, about Action, Protest, & Activism, Agriculture & Food, Air Quality, Alternative, Cohousing, & Off-Grid Living, Architecture, Art & Culture (2 comments)
Easy enough to read about pollution like the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, spend a moment bewailing the foul state of our planet as a result of human carelessness, and then throw away that plastic grocery bag without even thinking that it, too, might end up in the ocean. The truth ... keep reading
Written by Jeanne Roberts in May 2011, about Action, Protest, & Activism, Consumerism, Environment & Wildlife, Environmental Disasters, Health, Industry & Business, Lifestyle & Behavior, Water
On May 14, the UK Guardian newspaper reported on a sweeping new carbon emissions deal crafted by the Committee on Climate Change, or CCC. The deal is being put forth by UK Energy Secretary Chris Huhne, a Liberal Democrat and the CCC’s strongest backer, and opposed by none other ... keep reading
Written by Jeanne Roberts in May 2011, about Action, Protest, & Activism, Agriculture & Food, Air Quality, Alternative, Cohousing, & Off-Grid Living, Architecture, Art & Culture, Biofuels & Alternative Energy, Carbon Sequestration, Carbon Trading
Many things came out of the recent UN Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants, or POPs Convention (April 25-29, 2011), but the most valuable in many people’s opinion is the addition of Endosulfan to a growing list of highly dangerous chemicals, called by one pundit, “The worst of the ... keep reading
Written by Jeanne Roberts in May 2011, about Children and Families, Earth, Soil, & Landscape, Economics, Education, Environmental Disasters, Health, Lifestyle & Behavior, Pollution, Population
Several years ago, if you had included earthquakes in the litany of disasters caused by anthropogenic (human-induced) climate change – events like drought, flood, heat waves and the freezing cold that has settled over Britain several winters in a row – most scientists would have called you a “climate change scaremonger.” But ... keep reading
Written by Jeanne Roberts in May 2011, about Climate Change, Environmental Disasters
A new study from a consortium of scientific climate and weather-related organizations indicates that, even if the Gulf Stream should fail, “leakage” from a little-known current called the Agulhas could come to the rescue to keep the western side of the UK warm. Published in the April 28 issue of ... keep reading
Written by Jeanne Roberts in May 2011, about Climate Change, Rivers, Lakes, and Oceans
Before I get too carried away, I’d like to define the principle of fair trade products, whether retail goods, produce, coffee, or even chocolate, by using the Fairtrade Foundation definition. The Fairtrade Foundation is a UK organization which points out that fair trade is simply about insuring that local ... keep reading
Written by Jeanne Roberts in May 2011, about Action, Protest, & Activism, Agriculture & Food, Children and Families, Consumerism, Industry & Business, Poverty & Development
I and other environmental journalists have been denouncing tar sands for almost a decade, or ever since the Alberta Tar Sands Shell Canada mine began operating, in 2003, after more than two decades of low oil prices. Tar sand deposits (also called oil sands) are unconventional sources of oil; that ... keep reading
Written by Jeanne Roberts in April 2011, about Action, Protest, & Activism, Agriculture & Food, Air Quality, Alternative, Cohousing, & Off-Grid Living (4 comments)
When I was 16, back in the sixties, I never dreamed that an inexpensive can of tuna would become not only unbelievably pricey, but almost unobtainable. Yet that scenario now looks to be right around the corner, as the earth goes through changes inevitably associated with climate change, overpopulation, generally ... keep reading
Written by Jeanne Roberts in March 2011, about Environment & Wildlife, Food, Politics & Government
In 1992, a shipping container carrying 28,000 rubber-duck-type bathtub toys was lost at sea. Children wept. Mothers reassured, saying China would make more. And it did, but that original loss has gone on to point the way for the world’s oceanographers to discover the nature of ocean currents ... keep reading
Written by Jeanne Roberts in March 2011, about Children and Families, Consumerism, Industry & Business, Lifestyle & Behavior, Pollution, Rivers, Lakes, and Oceans
