extreme weather

Shift Happens

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Here in Northern Ontario our lovely boreal summer is in full swing. The blueberries are starting to ripen, the ethereal call of the loons drifts up to our windows at night, and the zucchini are plentiful. This summer in my community we are lucky to be growing some “really cool old squash” that Winona LaDuke gifted to us with during her visit here last September. The squash seeds are descendants of 800 year old seeds found preserved in an earth ball at an archeological dig in Wisconsin several years ago.

Unfortunately, this summer also brings ominous news from the arctic; some maverick climate scientists are even suggesting that one cyclone could break up what remains of the summer ice cover by this September. This means the summer polar ice cap will be G-O-N-E. Right now, for the first time ever, there’s a lake covering the remaining ice, as this photograph by the North Pole Environmental Observatory shows:

The North "Pool". Credit:North Pole Environmental Observatory
The North “Pool”. Credit:North Pole Environmental Observatory

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I’ve just returned from a 5 day canoe trip that gave me the opportunity  to disconnect from the cyberworld, and to refresh my mind and spirit. It was jarring to return and be confronted with even more alarming evidence of the climate precipice upon which we are poised, and yet note that “business as usual” continues.

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After spending an evening logged on to my computer absorbing the latest climate news, and feeling the impact of that on my psyche, I knew that it was time for me to shift gears. The science of climate change is clear to anyone who chooses to examine what the scientists are saying, or even is willing to look at the evening news or out their window.  What is just as clear is that people are choosing, en masse, not look this monster in the eyes. When I started blogging in the fall of 2009, it was because I was becoming aware of how acute the threat of climate change is to my children’s future and as a mother I felt compelled to act on this knowledge. Blogging about it was a way for me to educate myself as well as raise awareness. It also became the way for me to connect with other concerned people inside and outside Canada. While I’ve shed many a tear as I researched my blog posts, I will remember the past four years  on 350orbust as a stimulating ride, full of twists and turns and surprises. In the process, I’ve not only learned a lot about climate science and climate activism, I’ve learned about myself and “life, the universe, and everything”.

In 2013, the pace of climate change is quickening. It is no longer something that is going to happen to my children and grandchildren, it is something that is happening in my own backyard, and across the globe, right here and now.

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Eat, Pray, Garden, Breathe. Repeat.

We are hurtling headlong into a time of great change, and I want to be using my time and energy wisely in the days and months ahead. That is not to say that I think we’re screwed and it’s time to throw our hands up in despair. Absolutely not; exactly the opposite. As France Moore Lappé writes in her most recent book, EcoMind (which I highly recommend):

To those declaring our species’ near-future demise, I find myself wanting to shout, Wait a minute!

Half the world is getting by right now on a daily sum equal to the price of a single American latte – or less. About 1 billion of us lack the food and water we need. In the Global North, millions are struggling and stressed as well. Even before the Great Recession, it was estimated that almost 60 percent of Americans will live in poverty for at least a year during their adult lives. In short catastrophe is already the daily experience of huge numbers.

So here’s my question: Too late for what?

I agree with [Ross] Gelbspan that it is too late to prevent the massive change in the climate we humans have taken for granted for thousands of years. Erratic, extreme, and destructive weather is already with us. It is too late to prevent suffering. Terrible suffering is already with us.

But it is not too late for life.

The cracks in our unsustainable way of life are showing, and getting bigger every day. But as Leonard Cohen has written, There is a crack in everything, That’s how the light gets in. There’s the possibility, the glimmer of hope, that fundamental change will come from the convulsions we will all be experiencing from our collective inability to “connect the dots” between our every day actions and choices and the impacts these have on other, unseen, people as well as the earth that sustains life.

courage vs procrastination quote

Am I fearful when I consider the scope of what is facing us? I am well acquainted with fear, but while it may seem counter-intuitive, I can say honestly that I am less fear-filled now than at any other time of my life. The things that I used to be fearful of , like not “keeping up appearances” (whatever that might mean – being at the “right” weight, wearing the “right” clothes, having children who reflected well on my parenting, etc), don’t seem  important any more. Even the ultimate fear in our society, death, doesn’t hold the same power over me. Our culture teaches us to be obsessed with amassing external wealth and the outward trappings of  “success” in large part because we are also taught to be afraid of dying – and this includes most people who identify themselves as “religious”. The unspoken lesson is that if only we surround ourselves with enough “stuff” we will be immune. Ironically we can forget to enjoy life, so focused are we on accumulating. What is clear now is that we are hastening the death of the ecosystem that sustains us because of this blindness. Immersing myself in the darkness of what we collectively are doing to other people, to our children’s future, to our biosphere and to those beings that share this planet with us has made me realize that there are worse things than dying. Continuing to live according to the shallow and destructive values of our society is one of those.

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The time has come for me to focus my energies away from 350orbust to other things. Canada’s Citizens Climate Lobby is gearing up for our first official conference and lobbying days in Ottawa November 16 – 18th, so that’s one of my top priorities.

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My local transition group is one of the places- next to my family and my garden –  that I draw the most energy from, so I’m going to spend more time on working with this great group of people to  increase our local resilience. I also manage their website (although not very well these days) so you can visit me at TransitionRedLake.wordpress.com. My understanding and supportive family will also be getting a little more of my undivided attention, because I can’t think of a better place to continue building resilience and community than right here under my own roof; and besides, they are a lot of fun to spend time with!

I also feel compelled to stay connected with the people of Fort McKay and Fort McMurray in Northern Alberta after meeting some of them and hearing their stories during the Tar Sands Healing Walk early in July. I’d like to help other Canadians hear their shocking stories of having their land, their traditional food, and their families poisoned because of the unchecked expansion of bitumen extraction in the tar sands. What is happening there is just wrong.

tar sands healing walk. 2013
Veronica and Brenda and me at the Tar Sands Healing Walk 2013

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This is my opportunity to say thank you to my faithful readers – and even the not-so-faithful ones! Knowing that you were out there, checking in when you could, and giving me feedback when you felt moved to, has made this journey such an inspiring one.  Many of you have touched my life, and for that I say “meegwech”, (an Anishinaabe thank you).

I don’t want to leave you without resources. You are welcome to touch base with me on Facebook (Christine Penner Polle) or follow me on Twitter, @350orbust1,  or on Pinterest (350orbust).  I can still be reached by email at 350orbust@gmail.com, although I plan to spend much less time on my computer and much more time in my garden. 350orbust won’t be completely inactive, as my weekend posts are set for the next few months as well as some video links that are set to be shared.

I’d love to meet you in Ottawa during Canada’s Citizens Climate Lobby National Conference. My recent trip to Washington to participate in the 4th annual Citizens Climate Lobby International Conference & Lobbying days had a huge impact on me and my climate activism, and I think Ottawa will be equally inspiring. The conference will include training in lobbying for change, which would be helpful even if you choose not to participate further with Citizens Climate Lobby.

If you want to follow what’s happening with the climate, there are excellent websites out there, which I’ve listed a few of below. I would also recommend that you follow Paul Beckwith, an “unmuzzled” Canadian climate scientist who studies abrupt climate change. You can find him on Facebook or on Twitter (@PaulHBeckwith) or on his blog on the Sierra Club Canada website. If you are on Facebook,  “I Heart Climate Scientists” page is great to follow for regular updates and graphics to share. If you are in need of inspiration or a boost on a bad day, check out Upworthy.com.

For the latest on our changing climate:

The experts of the Arctic Methane Emergency Group post updates on ArcticNews.

For a jam-packed weekly round-up of climate and other environmental news, head over to A Few Things Ill Considered on Monday mornings.

The Climate Change Institute at the University of Maine has developed the Climate Reanalyzer website— to make finding and visualizing climate data easy.

There’s also Climate Central and NOAA’s National Climactic Data Centre.

Climate Nexus is also a great resource. They are “a strategic communications group dedicated to highlighting the wide-ranging impacts of climate change and clean energy solutions in the United States.”

I wish you joy on the journey, and I won’t say goodbye but rather à la prochaine – until next time!

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joy on the journey*

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President Obama Takes First Step On Path To Climate Sanity

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As President Obama unveiled his plan of action to address climate change earlier this week, my husband and I were part of a group of 370 citizen lobbyists from across the U.S. and Canada who fanned out over Capitol Hill to make the case for the market-based approach of a revenue-neutral carbon tax to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. What a whirlwind of a week!  While I can’t say that we solved the climate crisis, I can tell you that our meetings with 435 congressional offices, the World Bank, the IMF, and the Canadian Embassy are shifting the conversation about pricing carbon pollution.

In his speech at Georgetown University to debut his climate plan, Obama announced that he would direct the Environmental Protection Agency to complete carbon pollution standards for both new and existing power plants.

Mark Reynolds, Executive Director of Citizens Climate Lobby responded to President Obama’s speech by emphasizing the conservative nature of a straightforward carbon tax:

“The President is making good on his State-of-the-Union promise to address climate change, when he said, ‘If Congress won’t act soon to protect future generations, I will’. We’re here to tell Congress there’s still time for them to act, particularly if they want to avoid the use of increased regulations to reduce heat-trapping gases.  The clock has started on the process that will eventually result in the use of EPA regulations to reduce carbon pollution in the energy sector. Is this what Republicans want? Or would they prefer using a market-based solution that speeds the transition from fossil fuels to clean energy?”

A number of conservative economists, including Reagan advisor Art Laffer and Romney advisor Greg Mankiw, have backed a revenue-neutral carbon tax as the most efficient and effective means to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. They maintain that carbon-based fuels enjoy an advantage over clean technologies because their costs to society – health, security and environmental – is not reflected in the price that’s paid for them. Correcting this distortion would allow the market to function properly and reduce the demand for fossil fuels.

“We believe this solution – a tax on carbon that gives all the revenue back to the public – could be embraced by conservatives, especially as an alternative to government regulations. That’s the message our volunteers are taking to Republican offices today.”  Mark Reynolds, Executive Director, Citizens Climate Lobby

Citizens Climate Lobby wrapped up a three-day conference today with hundreds of volunteers conducting meetings with 439 House and Senate offices.

“The President’s speech couldn’t be better timed,” said Reynolds. “It gives Republicans a good reason to take a serious look at a revenue-neutral carbon tax. Like objects in a passenger-side mirror, the tipping point for a carbon tax might be closer than it appears.”

In case you missed President Obama’s awesome speech, here it is:

[youtube=http://youtu.be/cMT87OP21mo]

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More links:

DeSmog Blog: President Obama Pegs Fate of Keystone XL to Climate Emissions, Slams Climate Denial Flat Earth Society

Carbon Tax: Republicans Are Starting To Hear The Free-Market Message

The Environmentalist: President Obama’s Speech On Climate

Greedy Lying Bastards: Exposing The Fossil Fools Who Put Profit Before Human Lives

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GreedyLyingBastards.com
GreedyLyingBastards.com

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One of the few-and-far-between perks of being a climate blogger is that occasionally I get access to books and movies before the general public does. This past weekend I got to watch “Greedy Lying Bastards” before it hit movie screens across the U.S. on Monday. Sunday night I, along with some fellow Citizens Climate Lobby volunteers, got together to watch this 90 minute documentary. This movie exposes the American fossil fuel interests that have been blocking action on climate change for decades, taking a page – and some of the same PR firms and lobbyists – right out of the tobacco companies’ playbook.  Like the tobacco lobby, these fossil fools have opposed government action on the science showing their product is harmful and have actively disseminated lies about the science.

After the movie, I surveyed group members for their responses; we all gave it 10 out of 10 for its topic, but for actual delivery the movie was rated between 6 to 8 out of 10.

Some of the comments were:

“I really appreciated the whistle-blowing, the naming of names. I also really appreciated first-hand accounts of people in the U.S. who are already suffering the consequences of climate change.”

“I haven’t watched a documentary about this topic before, and really appreciated the great graphics. They made the connections for me.”

Two viewers had recently watched “The Age of Stupid” and felt that it spelled out the greed and petro-corruption as well as the consequences of inaction on climate change more clearly than did GLB.

I enjoyed the movie. Of course as a climate hawk I’m thrilled that this corruption and interference in democracy is receiving more attention at this critical juncture in the planet’s history, and for that I want to give a big shout-out to writer and director Scott Rosebraugh and producer Darryl Hannah. Compared to “Age of Stupid” which totally overwhelmed and depressed me and my companion, GLB left me riled up and ready to fight back at these soulless corporate monsters. One critique I have is that the movie ended with a whimper. Rosebraugh offers – in 60 seconds – four actions for people to take in response to the information they’ve just heard (possibly for the first time). It’s not that the actions mentioned (boycotting Exxon & Koch products, asking your Congressional representatives to take action to curb greenhouse gases, “joining the campaign” to stop fossil fuel subsidies and campaigning to overturn Citizens United) aren’t important, they are but to spend 89 minutes of the movie focused on the fossil fools who are destroying U.S. democracy as well as our children’s future without giving viewers more information on taking action may well foster more futility and despair. And, frankly, just signing a petition or writing a letter to your congressperson isn’t going to cut it at this point. The movie doesn’t give enough specifics on responses; the shocking amount of fossil fuel subsidies companies are given every year ($4 Billion in the United States, $775 Billion globally) isn’t even mentioned even while people are encouraged to get active on this issue. To move people from outrage to action, more information and empowerment is necessary. For example, viewers should know that there are governments (Australia, and the Canadian province of British Columbia) who have enacted a tax on carbon pollution, one of the first actions that governments can take to counter the fossil fuel stranglehold on our democracies and our economies.There are groups like 350.org and Citizens Climate Lobby (to name the ones I’m most familiar with) who are working to mobilize people at the grassroots; these important resources are not mentioned in the movie or on the movie’s “take action” website. This silo mentality is one of the biggest stumbling blocks to climate action, so I would beg the fine people involved in GLB and its website to expand their resources and “take action” focus. For that reason I would give the movie a ranking of 7.5 out of 10. Having said that, get out and watch the movie if it’s showing in a theatre near you, and take some friends with you.

For my part as a Canadian, I’d like to add a few more GLBs to the rogues’ gallery compiled by Rosebraugh:

Tim Ball worked as a professor of geography at the University of Winnipeg for eight years between 1988 and 1996. I am personally offended by Mr. Ball because not only did he work at my alma mater, and employed a family member for several years as his research assistant, he has been quoted back to me by acquaintances of mine from rural Manitoba where he’s gone on paid lecturing junkets. I hear that he can be very persuasive, and he’s told these good people that climate change is nothing to worry about (“the climate has always changed”), and so they don’t worry, even while this inaction puts their children’s future at risk. He even lies about his credentials – in this 2007 movie that purports to debunk climate science, you can see he’s identified as being from a department that never existed, in the university that he left 11 years earlier. Now that’s what I call a GLB!

SwindleTimBall

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And this Canadian GLB gallery wouldn’t be complete without a portrait of our current prime minister, Stephen Harper, son (spawn? LOL) of an Imperial Oil employee who went on to work for the oil company himself. Harper and his party’s ties to Big Oil are well-documented and are clearly playing themselves out in the current federal government’s policy decisions (see Murray Dobbin’s “Stephen Harper and the Big Oil Party of Canada, or DesmogBlog’s new series, Blame Canada).

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More links:

Dr. Jeff Masters’ WunderBlog: Greedy Lying Bastards: A Movie Review

Washington Post: Greedy Lying Bastards: Movie Review

GreedyLyingBastards.com

ExposeTheBastards.com: Take Action


Getting Serious About Climate Change, Like Our Lives Depended On It

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Happy Friday!  Those of you in eastern and central North America who are getting blasted by a winter storm, stay warm and off the roads!  If you are warm and dry, and find the time to curl up with a good book or good friends, you might even enjoy it. And remember, as one of my Facebook friends posted this morning:

In terms of the strength and frequency of extreme weather events? These are the best times than you will ever know for the rest of your life. Unless of course we get serious about reducing emissions of greenhouse gases. That means each of us getting serious. Really. Like our lives depended on it.

Here’s the just-published official video for the song “Nightlife” from Cityreal & Wes Mackey’s “Good Morning Blues” album. The video was shot in Fort McMurray and the Athabasca Oil Sands region of Alberta, Canada. NASA’s James Hansen has called the tar sands a “climate bomb” that, if released into the atmosphere, would mean “game over” for the climate. Do we really want to gamble that he’s wrong?

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=gIDsorcz0ow]

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If you want to know more about the converting bitumen in sand into useable oil, and what it means in terms of ground, air, and climate pollution, check out this video as well as the links below it on YouTube.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YkwoRivP17A&feature=player_embedded]

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More links:

Biodiversity Safeguards Against Natural Disaster, Study Finds

Are We Heading For A 6 Degree Temperature Rise?

And more coverage of the current deficit of democracy in Canada:

Tories Stick With Misleading Public

Doha Climate Talks: Fiddling While Planet Burns

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It’s a plus 2 Celsius December day in northern Ontario, 11 degrees warmer than the average high for this day. The UN Climate talks in Doha Qatar continue for the rest of this week, not that you would know that they were going on if you read the mainstream Canadian media. They are missing in action on this global event, following the lead of our current federal government. Apparently Canadians aren’t demanding any better, from either our government or our media. I guess we are going to have to go even nearer the climate cliff than we are already, before we change our planet- and future-destroying ways.

But there’s still so much beauty in our world. Right now the chickadees, nuthatches, and pine grosbeaks are gathered around the bird feeder outside my window, having a sunflower seed feeding frenzy. The beautiful red of the male grosbeaks are a perfect match for the Christmas music playing in the background (yes, I DO play Christmas music all of December!).

pine grosbeaks.Dec.2011.edited

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If you want to read how badly things are going in Doha, head over to Joe Romm’s blog on Think Progress. This is today’s headline: As Global CO2 Emissions Rise, Scientists Warn 2-Degree Target Is Nearly Out Of Reach: ‘We Need A Radical Plan’. Meanwhile, the Guardian’s headline reads:  Carbon credits row could derail UN climate talks, says Brazil.  The Star, the only Canadian paper that tries to present a balanced approach to global warming, published “Heat-trapping Pollution On the Rise, Threatens Goal of Limiting Global Warming” . The article quotes Dr. Glen Peters from the Center for International Climate and Environmental Research in Oslo, Norway on the solution to global warming:

“The only way, Peters said, is to start reducing world emissions now and “throw everything we have at the problem.”

…Andrew Weaver, a climate scientist at the University of Victoria who was not part of the study, said: “We are losing control of our ability to get a handle on the global warming problem.”

The world needs radical lovers to address our spiritual and ecological crises, people who will throw everything they have at the problem.If not now, then when? The end of civilization as we know it is within sight; the oceans turn to acid,  the polar ice caps melt, western forests burn dry as kindling from native pests surviving in warmer and warmer winters, First Nations are poisoned by fish turned toxic by tar sands pollution.

I’m in for choosing life over the slow death of muffling my voice that wants to cry out in pain and anguish at what we are doing to our earth and to our children. I’m done with deadening the pain in my heart with distractions that society prefers me to busy myself with – tv, food, shopping, alcohol, sex, and so on. It will be a wild ride, but I’m in. And you?

Graphic: Credo Mobile

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December 1st marked the day 57 years ago that  Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat in the white section of a bus in Montgomery, Alabama, sending out a spark that helped ignite the Civil Rights Movement. Her courage and conviction are an inspiration to us now, as we take on the “Great Work” of our generation.

photo: 350.org from Arab Youth Climate Movement
photo: 350.org from Arab Youth Climate Movement

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And in case you were wondering, yes there are things we can do to make a difference for future generations; it is not too late: Four Reasons To Hope We Can Still Avert The Worst Impacts Of Climate Change.

Climate Crisis: Humanity At Its Finest?

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Humans are such complicated creatures. We are wreaking havoc on a global scale because of a big-is-better, greed-is-good mentality that dominates most nations and corporations (combined with an “it’s too hard to change” attitude on the part of much of the populace). Yet we are also capable of great compassion, and heroic deeds of service to fellow creatures, human and other. At this point in our history, the choice we make between those two will lead us, our children and all future generations down the path either to unimaginable destruction or to equally unimaginable – and unprecedented – abundant life on this planet.

Firefighters are courageously fighting wildfires around the world. This photo is an example of humanity at its finest. This picture, out of Australia, has been making the rounds on Facebook:

source: Facebook

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For those of you interested in science and climate, specifically climate change, mega-fauna, and plants, PhD student and blogger Jacquelyn Gill from the University of Wisconsin-Madison is taking the unusual step of streaming her thesis defence live on the internet. Entitled “The Biogeography of Biotic Upheaval: Novel ecosystems and the end-Pleistocene megafaunal extinctions”. According to the Why Evolution Is True blog:

In other words, what happened as all those giant mammals and birds disappeared at about the time humans popped up in their environments?  This is a big question, with implication not only for our understanding of the past, but also for trying to see into the future, and to understand what will happen in the coming decades through climate change and direct human activity. Jacquelyn’s research looks particularly at the role of plants in disturbed ecosystems, as indicated on this neat poster for her talk, made by Jeremy Parker.

The defense will begin at 1:00 pm CST today (Thursday July 7). Click here to view it. Jacquelyn blogs over at The Contemplative Mammoth.

Just Say No – It’s Time For Canada To Wean Itself Off Its Addiction to Tar Sands Crude

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This hour protestors are gathering on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, to show their opposition to the Alberta tar sands, and specifically the proposed Keystone XL Pipeline that could be built from Alberta across the U.S. to carry tar sands bitumen to Texas refineries.

I would dearly love to be there, but by the time this event was organized I was committed to helping with all-day events for Moving Planet day this past Saturday, and a sustainability workshop on Sunday. As I live a 5 1/2 hour drive from a direct Ottawa flight, and am a 24 hour drive away from Ottawa, I struggled with the decision about giving up my local commitment to building sustainability or traveling (and burning carbon) to make a very important national statement to our government and to other Canadians. In the end, a friend suggesting a low-carbon alternative. She couldn’t attend, either, but recruited a friend in Ottawa to go. As it turns out, a friend and fellow Citizens Climate Lobby member was in Ottawa visiting her daughter this weekend, and so we were able to negotiate extending her ticket so that she could attend today’s event, and represent both of us. It’s a creative and low-carbon solution, so thanks Kaaren for the idea, and thanks, Val for standing up for all of our children’s future on Parliament Hill today!

The event is being livestreamed here.

Meanwhile, here’s Robert Redford “Punching Back at Big Oil”

When you challenge Big Oil in Houston, you can bet the industry is going to punch back. So when I wrote in the Houston Chronicle earlier this month that we should say no to the Keystone XL pipeline, I wasn’t surprised when the project’s chief executive weighed in with a different view.

The corporate rejoinder, written by Alex Pourbaix, president for energy and oil pipelines for the TransCanada Corp., purported to cite “errors” in my oped. Let’s set the record straight, point by point.

First, the Keystone XL, as proposed, would run from Canada across the width of our country to Texas oil refineries and ports. It would carry diluted bitumen, a kind of crude oil, produced from the Alberta tar sands. On those points, we all agree.

I say this is a bad idea. It would put farmers, ranchers and croplands at risk across much of the Great Plains. It would feed our costly addiction to oil. And it would wed our future to the destructive production of tar sands crude. Click here to read the full article on RSN.org

Deadly Tornado In Massachusetts Pulls Water From River, And Other Friday Links

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It’s a rainy Friday in northwestern Ontario as we head into a weekend which will include, for our family, watching the second hockey game of the Stanley Cup finals between the Vancouver Canucks and the Boston Bruins. I know, today is significant because it’s the day that Stephen Harper’s government makes it first Speech from the Throne, but I’m not that interested in following what the feds are doing these days. I expect no innovative or creative ideas to come out of that quarter for the next four years (except for new kinds of divisive politics or fear-mongering).  Under Harper, Canada will be moving backwards. To stop this momentum, it will be up to the majority of Canadians to take a strong stand on what is important to them. Yes, Canadians have a reputation for being “nice”, but if we don’t take a firm, even loud/aggressive stand, we will get the (regressive) government that we deserve.

Whether the Canadian and U.S. federal governments recognize that human-forced climate change is real and is happening right now, the laws of physics and thermodynamics continue to demonstrate the reality of what we have wrought with our fossil-fuel loving ways.  Here’s some Friday links to ponder this weekend, including more extreme weather events, this time two tornadoes in Massachusetts that killed at least 4 people, flipped cars, and collapsed buildings. Dramatic footage of a twister sucking water from the Colorado River hundreds of feet into the air is now posted on YouTube:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=25giqLidqug]

Deadly Massachusetts Tornadoes Flip Homes, Cars

A Potpourri of Other Interesting Links:

Climate Scientists Revealed: Tracking The Warming Planet: The Union of Concerned Scientists is currently leading a campaign to elevate the voices of climate scientists and educate the public about the overwhelming scientific evidence for human-caused global warming.  In this series, UCS partners with Grist magazine to “showcase and celebrate the researchers behind the news, the climatologists who are helping to save the planet—and your ass!”

Long Term Life Tips: Top 5 Regrets People Make on Their Deathbed:   Palliative care nurse Bronnie Ware shares what she has learned from the people she was worked with over many years.  The most surprising regret is that people wish that they had let themselves be happier:

Many did not realise until the end that happiness is a choice. They had stayed stuck in old patterns and habits. The so-called ‘comfort’ of familiarity overflowed into their emotions, as well as their physical lives. Fear of change had them pretending to others, and to their selves, that they were content. When deep within, they longed to laugh properly and have silliness in their life again.

Here’s a cute video of a brand-new cyclist who hasn’t yet forgotten to experience happiness:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eaIvk1cSyG8&feature=player_embedded]

Have a great weekend everyone, and don’t forget to “be happy of yourself”!

The Real Superpower: Nature

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Five days after the devastating earthquake and tsunami off the northeastern coast of Japan, the country and its citizens are still reeling from those natural disasters while alarm continues to rise over a looming man-made nuclear disaster.

Japan is a country lauded for its emergency preparedness, yet although the Japanese government and people are responding as quickly as possible in an extremely difficult situation (compare the U.S. response to the comparatively smaller disaster of Hurricane Katrina), there are still countless people without access to food, clean water, and shelter. The death toll continues to rise, with more than 15,000 people unaccounted for.

All of us in the industrialized world should sit up and take note of the Japanese crisis. One lesson we should take to heart is that there’s no avoiding nature. People who live in the developing world, who are generally less cushioned from the day-to-day impacts of nature than those of us with air-conditioned houses and cars and well-stocked refrigerators, already know that. Those of us in the industrialized part of the world, who burn a disproportionate amount of the world’s fossil fuels, need to absorb this lesson before we have pulled the rest of the world with us into climate chaos.

Once we hit the climate tipping point, the cumulative effects of global climate instability will be unstoppable, like Friday’s tsunami wave that took out everything in its path. Scientists have been warning us for decades about the effects of our continued warming of the earth’s atmosphere by unrestrained burning of fossil fuels. Why wouldn’t we all be working together now, while we still have time, to stop the climate change “earthquake” from happening?

From Al Jazeera, a summary of how a nuclear meltdown could happen at the Fukushima power plant:

More links:

For comprehensive information on how to reach out to the Japanese people, to go CBC’s Japan Relief page.

Peter Sinclair over at Climate Crock of the Week has been providing excellent and frequent updates on the Japanese nuclear situation: ClimateCrocks.com

Special Rep0rt: Disaster In Japan

Lesson From Japan: There’s No Avoiding Nature

Compilation: Japan Earthquake, Tsunami, Nuclear Emergency 2011