Treasure Nature

5 facts on why people are against global warming.

Global warming is a very complex phenomenon. Confounding all the confusion are the vested interests pushing their own agenda, using and twisting science to get votes or funding. To top it all, big business is taking a hitch on the bandwagon for a piece (a large one) of the profits.

What Global Warming? Photo borrowed from here.

It’s no wonders folks are feeling that they are being taken for a ride and think that global warming is fake. Here are some arguments of those who believed that Global Warming is not real:

Read about animals affected by Global Warming here.

1. Global Warming is part of a natural cycle (not caused by human activities).

There were mass extinctions in the history of our planet, at least 5 times. Scientists say that the biggest of the mass extension that happened 251 million years ago (erasing 90 percent of ocean and 70 percent of land life) was caused by Global Warming. Uh, not exactly good news but, at least, there were no people back then so there’s no reason that what we do now is going to have negative effects on a global scale.

2. Sun spots and global cooling.

Sun spots are somehow related to temperature on Earth. Well, the past years, spots were not exact frolicking on the surface of the sun. So even scientist who have previously backed anthropogenic (caused by man) Global Warming are having second thoughts. We might instead be hurtling towards another Ice Age.

3. It’s getting colder in the winter months (in the Western hemisphere, at least).

We see it in the news every day: winter storms, plunging temperature. There are even some quips from those unfortunate souls that they’d welcome Global Warming at this point.

global warming blizzard. First kid, “Buddy, what do you think about Global Warming?”
Second kid, “Sure could use some right now.”
Photo attribution: http://www.flickr.com/photos/mhartford/ / CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

4. Antarctic ice is growing, not shrinking.

If there is Global Warming, ice is supposed to melt, not grow. Right? Antarctica is bucking the melting trend.

5. Humans are too insignificant to alter global climate.

Umn, I’d rather not think of myself as TOO INSIGNIFICANT. On the other hand, I do wish that everything I do and the corresponding results of those activities won’t have any impact on the planet.

Check out the true facts about Global Warming in videos.

global warming desert Timeless beauty. Global Warming can’t be bad. Photo borrowed from here.

Global warming and polar bears.

Photo of cute polar bear cub borrowed from this site.

Before delving further into the subject, let’s have some reality check first. Polar bears, especially the cubs, are cute but they are the largest land carnivore and are extremely dangerous. I mean, we look at them and see cute, cuddly, stuffed toys but they look at us and see lunch.

See? Yes, that’s a cub he’s just had for lunch. Photo from here.

Now, with the cutesy issue out of the way, let’s get down to brass tacks. How are global warming and polar bears related? The premise goes like this: polar bears and their main food (ringed and bearded seals) live in the arctic circle, arctic circle is full of ice, global warming melts ice, polar bears starves or find new hunting grounds, which may bring them closer to human settlements (and get turned to coats).

No, global warming does not kill the bears directly, fact it was hunting that nearly wiped them out 50 or so years ago and there has been a rebound in their population after the activity was restricted. However the body conditions of the the Western Hudsonian polar bears had been declining the past 30 years. In short, they were not eating like they used to.

The rise in global temperature has affected their traditional hunting grounds (sea?), the sea ice. Snow and ice are melting sooner, which shorten the period for hunting ringed seals. The seals are also affected by the early melt, making them more vulnerable to predators and decreasing the chance of their pups to survive.

Cute Polar Bear food. Photo from here.

So, why not hunt the polar bears to near extinction again to give both the ringed seals and global warming a breather? If it’s that simple, everything will be okay. Polar bears are Apex Predators, they are the top bad-asses of their food chain and are indicators of the environmental conditions of their ecological niche. If they get toppled from their throne, we can presume that something is terribly amiss.

Global warming is affecting polar bears indirectly. Everything may look alright at the moment but with the rate arctic ice is melting, things may look a bit different in the near future.

We hope we’ll have more of these cute photos in that future. Original photo here.

Eco-friendly gift tags for handmade gifts.

Photo from: http://www.flickr.com/photos/craftapalooza/ / CC BY-NC 2.0

The right tag can jazz-up any plain ol’ gift but do we really have to add more to environmental clutter by purchasing those tiny paper rectangles from the store? As the photo above illustrates, any colorful piece of paper of cardboard can be made into festive gift tags.

We can glue that heart-filled wrapping paper from last year’s Valentines unto the cardboard from a cereal box to get it more substance, cut it into rectangular shapes, punch a hole through a corner, and thread a ribbon that once adorned a gift.

We could use plain shears or those little scissors with patterns cut into the blade that our kids use in craft class. The possibilities are endless, limited only by our imagination.

The extra bonus? Nothing says we care about that person like a a hand-made gift tag we created ourselves.

Here are some more home-made tags repurposed from paper, cloth scraps, and other bits and pieces of materials found in most homes, all from the generosity of Flickr users…

http://www.flickr.com/photos/thevintagesailor/ / CC BY-NC 2.0

http://www.flickr.com/photos/amyandthomas/ / CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

http://www.flickr.com/photos/drakelelane/ / CC BY-NC 2.0

http://www.flickr.com/photos/cauzinha/ / CC BY 2.0

Finally, click here if you need more inspiration.

Miss Earth Beauty Pageant 2009.

Karla Paula Ginteroy Henry, Miss Earth 2008

It’s that time of the year again. We’re not referring to jingle bells and the ca-ching of cash machines due to Christmas shopping but that once a year parade of beauties for mother earth, the Miss Earth beauty and brains pageant.

The final judging and crowning of Miss Earth 2009 is scheduled on November 22, 2009 at Boracay, Philippines. The island is a mecca for sun worshippers and night revellers from all over the world.

Miss Earth 2008.

Miss Earth 2007.

There are 80 candidates for this year, up from 61 last year.

Things to do with a old computer.

Photo borrowed from here.

Have an old PC that’s occupying precious space in your closet or gathering cobwebs? Instructable.com shows a dozen way we can re-purpose that computer. Check them out here.

Four-day work week saves energy and reduces carbon emission.

Photo borrowed here.

GOOD.is covered Utah’s move a year ago to a 3-day weekend for government employees and the results are in. The 4-day, 10 hour per day, work week has resulted in the following:

1. Energy saving and reduction in carbon emissions.

2. Traffic reduction and commuter health.

3. Budget boost.

4. Happier, healthier work force.

5. Economic stimulus trough savings.

No. 1 sounds promising for the environment. We’d love to be in the condition described in No. 4. We hope our congressmen are reading blogs.

Read the the details here.

Making art from trash the Yuken Teruya way!

Yuke Teruya converts trash to art with amazing results! It’s show, not tell, time.

Tree dioramas using paper bags…

art from trash

Forests from toilet paper rolls…

Pristine African rainforest found in Mozambique!

Photo borrowed from Telegraph.co.uk

What wonderful news! Scientists have found an eden, an untouched oasis of life, in unassuming Mt. Mabu of once strife-torn Mozambique. This African rain forest was found through Google Earth around 5 years ago but it was not until late last year that intrepid scientists set foot on the mountain, which was previosuly “known” only to local villagers.

Inside, the scientist found a treasure trove of tropical rainforest animals. Some endangered species and a handful of new ones. Now, the “secret” home of one of the Earth’s richcly diverse flora and fauna has to deal with development, enroachment, and poachers.

The past 2 years has been good for conservation. Last year it was a lost population of Western lowland gorillas and now this new Eden.

Photo borrowed from WildLifeExtra.com.

Note: Wanna see how Mt. Mabu looked from up high? View this Mt. Mabu photo from NASA.