This was a good video…I’m not sure how to change the course this society is on but we must try.
Using graphene to filter and desalinate saltwater
As the global population increases and water supplies become less predictable due to global warming, finding sources of clean drinking water becomes even more critical. Just ask residents of Cape Town, which expects to run out of water around April 12nd! The obvious solution is to desalinate ocean water, but that’s a very energy-intensive process. Well, researchers in Australia found a way to use a graphene film to act as a filter; its structure allows water molecules to pass through but blocks larger contaminant particles. Most membrane filters get clogged up quickly, but this one keeps working even as it gets coated in contaminants. It’s nowhere near a commercial product yet, but is a promising solution to a growing global concern.
(more at FastCompany)
Kids fighting to protect the climate for their future
Climate change is not something that will impact the old farts in Congress, which perhaps explain their inaction on the issue. It will, however, greatly affect today’s children. I’ve been watching an effort to use the American judicial system to force change on this issue, and while its original trial date of February 5th was delayed due to Trump tactics, that case is proceeding. It’s worth reading more about at ourchildrenstrust.org. From the website:
Their complaint asserts that, through the government’s affirmative actions that cause climate change, it has violated the youngest generation’s constitutional rights to life, liberty, and property, as well as failed to protect essential public trust resources.
The reason for this blog post though, is to raise awareness of a new initiative, this one targeting the government of Washington state. Their approach is similar, arguing that the state’s actions,
…severely endangers plaintiffs and their ability to grow to adulthood safely and enjoy the rights, benefits, and privileges of past generations of Washingtonians due to the resulting climate change.
It’s hard to argue with this line of reason. Well unless you’re a climate change denier of course! Read more here.
Trump pulls US out of Paris agreement
Sadly, but not surprisingly, President Trump has announced his decision to pull the US out of the Paris Climate Accord. It’s not clear exactly when this can happen…if it’ll actually take the years that some people say (he said he’ll stick to the withdrawal process laid out in the agreement, which could take up to four years, but do you really believe what he says?). He says he wants to ‘renegotiate’ the agreement, something that the leaders of France, Germany, and Italy said was not possible (in a joint statement today). It doesn’t matter though…it sends a message to the world that the US will no longer be a global leader. Other countries will rise up to take that place and will prosper from that.
The NYTimes article linked to above is a good source for more information, as is this article at Wired.
2016 was the warmest year on record
2016 officially came in as the hottest year in recorded history for this planet (as previously reported here, it was the second warmest if looking only at the US). Both NASA and NOAA independently came to this same
conclusion, using data from over six thousand weather stations around the world.
Care to guess what year is #2 in the list? Yep, 2015. And you guessed it, #3 is 2014. Even a Republican can’t deny this trend. Ok, well that’s not true, they’re expert climate change deniers, they’ll deny anything for personal gain. And we *can* expect 2017 to be cooler than 2016 due to the waning El Nino. So it’s up to the rest of us to call them out on their bullshit and not let them fuck up this planet any more.
Here are some external links if you’d like to read more about this: