Tag: Environment

Carbon Consumpation Labels for Consumer Products

A new labeling campaign is in development that will inform consumers about how much carbon has been used to create the product they are about to buy. This sounds like a great idea! It will let consumers make more informed choices about what to buy. It’s only happening in Britain for now, hopefully we’ll see this in the rest of the world though.

Participating companies also have to agree to cut the product’s carbon footprint over a two-year period or face being thrown out of the scheme.

The first goods bearing the label are expected to appear on shelves in April.

Using Google Earth to Spot Destruction

It’s easy to read about how humans are destroying the planet; it’s hard to visualize this though. Google Earth can be used to help people understand what is happening and see the damage themselves. This is good because it allows for people to better understand that things they do have an impact on the environment.

Environmental advocacy group Appalachian Voices has joined to Google to deliver a special interactive layer for Google Earth that tells the stories of over 470 mountains that have been destroyed from coal mining, and its impact on nearby ecosystems. Separately, the World Wildlife Fund has added the ability to visit its 150 project sites using Google Earth.

Remember you can reduce, reuse, and recycle. The saying is in that order for a reason.

New Leopard Spotted

spottedI find it entertaining when researchers find something “new” that has been in front of them the entire time. It doesn’t mean that the discovery is any less important though. In this case it is a “new” breed of leopard; and the uniqueness of this animal is in it’s genes.

The new cat, now dubbed the Bornean clouded leopard and given the species name Neofelis diardi, is darker than the mainland clouded leopard, Neofelis nebulosa. It also has slightly different markings on its pelt. But the real differences between the two species are in their genes.

Britian Banshes Bad Air

Great news from merry ol’ England. They have introduced legislation that will set legally binding limits on CO2 emissions by 2020 and then lower limits by 2050.

Under the Climate Change Bill, carbon dioxide emissions must be cut by at least 60 percent by 2050. It also sets a legally-binding interim target for carbon cuts of 26 to 32 percent by 2020. Failure to meet targets could land the government in court says environment minister David Milliband who is behind the draft.

Roundabouts Save Fuel

Some research in the USA that examined intersections that switched from stoplights to a roundabout proves that roundabouts are greener.

Intersections with roundabouts generated between 55% and 61% less carbon dioxide, depending on the time of day. Emissions of hydrocarbons, also greenhouse gases, dropped by between 62% and 68%. His paper, which is admittedly a bit of tough read, is here.