My journey to reach all seven continents and all 50 states prior to age 25.
Thursday, December 31, 2009
2009
Monday, December 21, 2009
Last full day at home
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Sweet Home, Chicago
Sunday, December 13, 2009
Herd Immunity and Your Carbon Footprint
It is interesting... anybody who is reading this knows my obsession and complete addiction to travel. I've covered far more ground in my 22 years than a majority of people see in their lifetime. Indeed, I cover more ground in any single year than a majority of people see in their lifetime. However, between all of my travels to far-off places, and my years in Madison, and months of camp and so on, I have never actually been away from home for as long as I have right now. I'm definitely not homesick, but I am certainly excited and happy to see everyone and go to sleep in my own bed tonight. Oh, and Lou Malnatis sounds pretty great right now too!
For your reading pleasure, here is today's selection featured on G-1 Billion:
"Herd immunity and your carbon footprint"
http://g-1billion.org/?p=2907〈=en
Next post, from Chicago!
Saturday, December 12, 2009
The Chanukah Song!
Published in the Daily Herald, COP 15 Updates
I don't know how much scientific evidence you need to believe or disbelieve the fact of climate change.
Since the early 1800s mankind has been aggressively digging up and burning off carbon deposits (coal, then oil and gas) which have been in planetary storage for millions of years, and out of the way as far as influencing the atmosphere goes. It ruins the planetary ecological balance.
It's a bit like a sustainable population living in one of those SF domes on the Moon for 100s of years, everything balanced in oxygen in, CO2 out - then they decide to start burning the furniture for extra warmth. Extra CO2, CO, etc - where did all the oxygen go?
I read that the world's human population has doubled since 1965 and, without looking it up, it may have trebled since 1940. Every one of these extra humans would like water, food, sewerage, and comforts above the minima - in the West they mainly get it.
So, using fossil energy (effectively burning your ancestors to make you more comfortable), an unsustainable rise in human population, "possible" evidence that this is changing the environment in which we live for the worst - what to do?
Shall we move to another Earth-like planet which has untapped resources which we can exploit? No one has found one yet. Or should we perhaps believe the "scientists" who have, in balance, not always been right down the centuries?
If we believe them, and they're wrong, we can maintain the only place on which - as far as we know - life exists.
If we disbelieve them, and they're right, Earth's ecosystem will recover when we're gone and maybe microbes or insects will evolve into a more sentient life form in a few 10s of millions of years.
Friday, December 11, 2009
Happy Hanukkah!
Tuvalu shuts it down
Tuvalu shuts it down
Brandon Perlow
COPENHAGEN, DENMARK – Wednesday morning during the second official Plenary of the COP 15, a serious rift emerged within the developing bloc.
Tuvalu, a small island state in the South Pacific, ultimately asked for a halt to negotiations and COP 15 President Connie Hedegaard granted it. Tuvalu, the third-smallest country by population and fourth-smallest by land area, has a maximum elevation of only 15 feet above sea level. As a result, any sea level rise of more than 4-5 feet would be catastrophic for the country, covering parts of every atoll and island in Tuvalu.
Six months ago Tuvalu submitted a proposed “Copenhagen Protocol,” representing the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS). AOSIS consists of 37 United Nations member states stretching across all populated Oceans – the Atlantic, Indian, and Pacific – and represents 20% of the UN’s total membership. Individually they may not have much power, but on Wednesday they spoke with a collective voice. Furthermore, they received support from many states in Africa who are also most vulnerable to climate change; Sierra Leone, Senegal, Rwanda, Togo, Kenya, Gambia, Niger, and Mali all spoke in support of the Tuvalu proposal. The proposal is the strongest on the table for those in favor of “going far, fast.” It sets a legal maximum of 350 parts per million of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, the highest sustainable total according to the IPCC. It drastically enhances the Clean Development Mechanism and REDD and includes articles protecting indigenous people, financing for adaptation to climate change, regional technology centers for technology transfer, and a global mitigation insurance fund.
By contrast, China, India, and a small number of Middle East states proposed only amending the Kyoto Protocol, and opposed the idea of creating a new Copenhagen Protocol. They want Kyoto to be made significantly stronger, with large commitments from Annex I countries and the United States, but appear to not want any actual targets for themselves.
Tuvalu and AOSIS requested a working group be established to consider the Tuvalu proposal. However, a consensus is required to establish a working group, and because of the China-India protests, President Hedegaard denied it.
In response, Tuvalu demanded a halt to negotiations, and they received it. “We are here to seal the deal,” the Tuvalu diplomat said. “The time for procrastination is over… Now is the time to deliver!”
Negotiations re-open on Saturday morning.
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
COP15 Day 3
Just got out of a press conference with the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, Lisa Jackson, who just two days ago issued the landmark Endangerment finding that Greenhouse Gas Emissions pose a threat to human health, giving Obama the legal ability (under the Clean Air Act and the 2007 Supreme Court Ruling) to impose legal emissions targets without Congressional approval.
In other news, the Daily Herald published a feature story about me in today's paper, check it out online here or pick up a copy!
http://www.dailyherald.com/story/?id=342734
More to come later!
http://www.cop15.state.gov/
New G-1 Billion Article:
http://g-1billion.org/?p=2003&lang=en
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
COP15 Day Two
COP15: Time is up - the deadline is Copenhagen:
http://en.cop15.dk/blogs/view+blog?blogid=2854
BBC: This decade 'warmest on record':
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8400905.stm
BBC: Copenhagen summit welcomes US emissions curbs:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8400792.stm
BBC: Global warming maps: A glimpse into the future:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8394886.stm
Monday, December 7, 2009
COP15 is officially open!
The Guardian: Copenhagen: The African dilemma
BBC: Copenhagen summit urged to take climate change action
BBC: Copenhagen in graphics
BBC: Copenhagen in pictures
CNN: Key global climate talks begin in Copenhagen
More to come!
UPDATE: My article is featured on G-1 Billion has just posted for today... check it out!
G-1 Billion: COP15 is open for business!
ALSO, I have now had over 1,000 blog views - thank you all very much for your support!
Sunday, December 6, 2009
Copenhagen - Day Two
In any case we also got our travel cards, and are off to Malmo, Sweden this afternoon!
More to come...
BBC: UN hits back at climate sceptics amid email row:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/8397265.stm
Saturday, December 5, 2009
Copenhagen!
Friday, December 4, 2009
1 Day to CPH!
For some good reading about Copenhagen:
Thursday, December 3, 2009
2 Days to CPH!
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
3 Days to CPH!
BBC: Australian Senate rejects Kevin Rudd's climate plan:
The Guardian: Spain's windfarms set new national record for electricity generation:
The Economist: No misbehavin' in Copenhagen:
The Economist: Fuel-efficient tyres: Rolling out the changes:
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
4 Days to CPH! G-1 Billion launch!
Monday, November 30, 2009
5 Days to CPH! 2 Weeks to Home!
BBC: Save 'special' carnivores plea:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/earth/hi/earth_news/newsid_8383000/8383070.stm
CNN: New technology cleans up coal with CO2:
http://edition.cnn.com/2009/TECH/science/11/29/clean.coal.technology/index.html
The Economist: Why political orthodoxy must not silence scientific argument:
http://www.economist.com/displayStory.cfm?story_id=14966227&source=most_commented
The Economist: Fuelling fears: (on nuclear energy to emitt less CO2)
http://www.economist.com/world/international/displayStory.cfm?story_id=15004034
Sunday, November 29, 2009
6 Days to CPH!
Saturday, November 28, 2009
1 Week to CPH!
Friday, November 27, 2009
8 Days to CPH!
Thursday, November 26, 2009
Happy Thanksgiving! 9 Days to CPH!
In the countdown to Copenhagen news, there was a major development today (much as there has been a major development everyday this week, really). China actually published emissions targets (a shock to most skeptics who figured they would never agree to any targets), and furthermore, Wen Jiabao, the Chinese premier, will be attending the negotiations. Most observers noted in the past two months that there were two major obstacles standing between the EU and a deal in Copenhagen: lack of targets and presence by the US and China. Well, in the last two days all of those concerns have disappeared, as both Obama and Jiabao have announced targets and that they will be attending. Today's articles:
BBC: China unveils emissions targets ahead of Copenhagen:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/8380106.stm
BBC: Amazon summit in Brazil aims to tackle deforestation:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/8380915.stm
BBC: China completes the climate cycle:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/thereporters/richardblack/
CNN: China's premier to join Obama at climate-change summit:
http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/asiapcf/11/26/china.climate.emissions/index.html
CNN: UN official issues climate rallying cry:
http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/europe/11/25/climate.change.cop15.agreement/index.html
New York Times: China Joins U.S. in Pledge of Hard Targets on Emissions:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/27/science/earth/27climate.html?_r=1&hp
New York Times: Corporate America Prepares, and Braces, for Emissions Rules:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/26/business/energy-environment/26emissions.html?hp
The Guardian: What do the US and China's emissions targets actually mean?:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/cif-green/2009/nov/26/us-china-targets-mean
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
10 Days to CPH!
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
11 Days to CPH
BBC: Climate Change, Copenhagen in Graphics: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/8359629.stm
BBC: Climate results in 50% higher chance of human conflict in Africa: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/8375949.stm
Monday, November 23, 2009
12 Days to CPH!
Saturday, November 21, 2009
Two weeks to Copenhagen!
Well, almost immediately after posting my blog entry last week, one of my good friends here at LSE, who also happens to live at Bankside, came down with swine flu. I wasn't doing anything and happily got her medicine, but then the next day I found out that another friend of mine at LSE, who is also in the same program/class/study group as us, also caught swine flu. So yes for awhile there I was quite worried and obsessively washing my hands and face and staying super clean. Apparently it worked! Both of them are better and made it to class on Thursday, and I'm feeling 100% as always, so that is the "cautiously optimistic" bit.
Pictures of Heads of State: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2629213&id=8623973&l=be1918923e
Saturday, November 14, 2009
One month till home; Hurricanes in London
Sunday, November 8, 2009
Halfway through the term
London/UK pictures September 23-November:http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2643261&id=8623973&l=8f881bd62d
This week should be rather busy from an LSE perspective... my class that was supposed to be this past Friday was rescheduled for tomorrow night (my prof was in Indonesia as the keynote speaker at a major conference on deforestation), and there is a public lecture tomorrow in between my two normal classes, so I'll be on campus and super-busy all day tomorrow. Wednesday a friend of mine from the States arrives in London for the year, which is awesome! Thursday and Friday tickets are released for two LSE lectures next week... the Prime Minister of Norway and Queen Noor of Jordan, hopefully I am able to go to both!
Sports update: Chelsea has a HUGE match later today against Manchester United, and they are on fire right now... they're something like 6-0-1 in their last 7 games. A win today would give them a lot of room on top of the table. The Blackhawks need to get healthy. UW football has won two in a row, and find themselves BCS-ranked at 4-2 Big Ten, 7-2 overall (and bowl-eligible). UW mens hockey destroyed Minnesota Friday night, but then failed miserably last night going for the sweep, so they split on the weekend. They are currently 18 in the nation. Also, I got tickets to the ATP World Tour Finals at the O2 Arena for the November 25 afternoon session... more on that as we get closer. Looking for New England to win today and as always, DA BEARS!
Have a great week!