Global Warming Wager

Want to bet that global warming's not such a big deal? I'll raise you five degrees Fahrenheit and one melted icecap.

The climatologists at realclimate.org have challenged a team of German scientists to a gentleman's wager on global warming. The terms go like this: if the German scientists are correct in their prediction that there will be a pause in global warming, the Real Climate guys will pay them € 2500. If Real Climate is right, and the 2000-2010 average temperature turns out to be lower than the 1994-2004 average, the Germans pay them € 2500.

Maybe someone should ask W. if he's willing to bet the (Crawford) ranch on his weak new greenhouse gas policy actually making a difference?

--Emily Matchar
 

Major Land Conservation Deal in Southern California

Superlatives abound in the reports on the historic Tejon Ranch land conservation deal that has set aside an L.A.-sized, ecologically-diverse tract of wilderness for conservation. It's "conservation on a staggering scale," says the San Francisco Chronicle. And according to Joel Reynolds, of the National Resources Defense Council, quoted in The New York Times, nothing short of "the Holy Grail of conservation."

Long negotiations between a coalition of major conservation groups and the publicly traded company that for years sought to develop the ranch has now led to the creation of the 240,000 acre preserve, which will be administered by a new nonprofit. Included is a planned rerouting onto Tejon land of 37 miles the Pacific Coast Trail, and protection of ideal habitat for the California condor.

Though conservationists are hailing the agreement as unprecedented and unrepeatable, the plan still allows for the largest development ever proposed in California, to be built on a little more than 10 percent of the land.

-- Matthew Fishbane

Mangrove Destruction Left Myanmar More Vulnerable to Cyclones

The destruction of mangrove forests on Myanmar's coast may have left the country especially open to cyclone damage, reports the BBC. About 5,000 acres of the country's mangroves are cut down each year to make way for coastal development, including shrimp farms and tourist resorts. The trees, which grow where saltwater and freshwater meet, act as a natural defense against storms by dissipating wave energy - mangrove forests may have helped save lives in Sri Lankan coastal villages during the 2004 tsunami that killed 200,000 people. While globally, mangroves forests continue to dwindle, some countries, including Bangladesh, have recognized their life-saving potential and are actively working to protect them.

So far, 22,000 people are reported dead following Saturday's cyclone, which smashed into the Irrawaddy Delta region. International aid organizations are struggling to bring clean food and water to survivors, as the country's military dictatorship continues to block relief efforts.

--Emily Matchar
 

The Catastrophe On Tour: Elizabeth Kolbert in Santa Fe

The usher kept warning ticket-holders to the Lensic Theater in downtown Santa Fe that the event was not likely to be an enjoyable experience. The host introduced the subject as an "obviously very non-comic topic." 

Finally, out marched Elizabeth Kolbert, New Yorker writer, Lannan fellow and author of Field Notes from a Catastrophe: Man, Nature and Climate Change (one of our Top Ten environmental books last year).  She promised not to take the time to convince her audience that global warming is real. Not in the Spring of 2008, she said, to a scattering of applause. Instead, she promised a snapshot of where we stand.  Cue "An Inconvenient Truth Lite," PowerPoint images of melting Arctic ice and graphs of CO2 emissions pushing 385 parts per million.  By most accounts it won't be long before  we're living in a very different world.  "Some people say," Kolbert said, "a different planet."

Kolbert spoke in unnervingly quiet and matter-of-fact tones about the stark realities of global climate change.  For example, that "we have already determined the climate for our children, and we are working on the climate for our grandchildren." That just to stabilize current greenhouse gas levels, we'd need to cut our emissions by 60 to 70 percent. That the Greenland Ice Sheet alone, fully melted, will raise the world's oceans by twenty feet. Nonetheless, global climate change is a problem whose solution can still be viewed as both a "moral obligation" and an "economic opportunity" for America. 

What to do about it? "The honest answer," Kolbert said, "is we need to do everything." Unfortunately, this is not how we like to solve problems. "We like silver bullets." But ecologists like to say that there are no silver bullets, "only silver buckshot."

From our archives, Bill McKibben agrees. He suggests we change in all sorts of ways right now to limit the warming.

Which leads me to the best question Kolbert asked the audience all night, "What exactly are we waiting for?"

--Matthew Fishbane

The Dirtiest City

Congrats, Pittsburgh. Somehow, you beat out LA as the most-polluted city in America. Kudos, it wasn't easy for sure. You beat a city with stagnant air fenced in by mountains and ocean winds - home of the six lane highway, drive through laundromats, and bumper to bumper to bumper traffic at all hours of the day.

You should probably start a public bike program, and pass some more green initiatives. In the meantime, pick up your phone. China's calling. They have some facemasks to sell you.

LA, you can breathe a smog packed sigh of relief if you want to, but you and your laid back Cali sister cities aren't off the hook. According to the  American Lung Association's report, "Top 10 U.S. Cities Most Polluted by Short-Term Particle Pollution," published in this morning's LA Times,  five of the eight most polluted cities on the list were in California.  Nearly, all of SoCo received an 'F' grade for air quality.

Countrywide, 2 out of 5 people live in areas with unhealthy levels of air pollution.

--Emily Matchar

Caught With Home Brew In His Car

Between global warming and gas now moving upwards of $3.50 a gallon, many of us get the cold sweats just from putting our keys in the ignition.

Floyd S. Butterfield has relieved his worry over high fuel prices and the guilt of warming the planet with a new kind of moonshine. He's home brewing ethanol in his backyard. The 52-year-old California inventor has developed the E-Fuel 100 MicroFueler.

The size of stackable washer-dryer, the machine should be available before the end of the year for about $9,995, according to an article in the New York Times. With government alternative fuel tax credits, the actual price could be less than half. The MicroFueler uses sugar along with a special time-release yeast to make ethanol, which the company says could cost as little as $1 a gallon. And a gallon of ethanol will release only about one-eighth the amount of carbon of gasoline.

--Emily Matchar

Brazil to Foreigners: We Own the Amazon

International NGOs and other foreign organizations in Brazil's Amazon rainforest will soon be controlled by the Brazilian military. A new law, currently being drafted, will assert Brazil's sovereignty over the region, which is treated by some as a sort of free zone. Foreign individuals and groups will have to register with regional military command and seek permission for their activities.

The Justice Minister Tarso Genro said the new law would crack down on the large number of Amazon NGOs acting as fronts for illegal activities like bio-piracy,  according to a Reuters story.

As the Amazon Basin is home to one-third of the earth's species and a number of vulnerable native tribes, it certainly needs protection. But it's unclear exactly how this bill will affect the numerous human rights groups working in the region, like Greenpeace.

--Emily Matchar

Happy Earth Day

In case you hadn't noticed the grove of trees growing out of the Google logo this morning, we'll go ahead and wish you happy Earth Day. Here's a few fun Earth Day festivities around the world:

1) In Bangkok, everyone's invited to group meditation at Dhammakaya Temple, where the Assembly of 100,000 Monks aims to create world peace through inner peace. 

2) In Calgary, Alberta, citizens are getting out for a 22-minute trash pickup today (April 22, get it?). That may not sound like a long time, but if each of the city's approximately 100,000 citizens did it, that would be almost 37,000 hours of cleaning time.

3) In LA, the Wilshire Center Business Improvement Corporation is hosting a car-free expo, with a bike raffle, concerts, and a "musical yoga experience." Your guess is as good as mine.

4) Baltimore Green Week kicks off April 26, with an EcoFestival in the park, tours of green homes, and group hikes.

5) Also on April 26 is Salt Lake City's Party for the Planet, with food, music, and animal meet n' greets at the Hogle Zoo.

For the rest of us, Google has an interactive Earth Day map, where readers across the globe are sharing their environmentally-minded plans ("building my own electric car," says Mike in Idaho; "Take short showers!" admonishes Rosalie in Texas). What are your plans?

--Emily Matchar

Kayak Police

For inspector Andrew Willis, the daily beat involves a kayak, surfboard, and a pair of shorts. Willis, a California Coastal Commission official, patrols the 280-mile stretch of California coast from Pacific Palisades to San Clemente, watching out for illegal development and habitat destruction. Willis, 30, uses binoculars to scout for signs of unapproved building and landscaping - backyard decks, docks, and paths which can damage the habitats of native birds and other wildlife. He also makes sure public beach accesses remain open, and watches out for any kind of dumping or industrial pollution. In the line of duty, Willis sometimes has to tangle with moneyed LA and Orange County residents who are less-than-pleased to hear that their new hot tub blocks a public walkway, or follow up on tips phoned in from nosy neighbors eager to foil the Jones's plan for a new cedar deck.

Read today's LA Times story to learn more about Willis, who could have easily made it into Outside's Best Jobs list, out now in our May issue.

--Emily Matchar

Giant Solar Power Array Underway in Colorado

What will be the biggest solar power installation in western Colorado is being built now in Carbondale, on a half acre of ranch land owned by the Colorado Rocky Mountain School. The 150kW system will power the school's science building (a far cry from those buzzing fluorescents of most of our school days!), with excess energy being routed into the town's power grid. A solar energy system of this size should keep about 400,000 pounds of carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere each year.

Funding comes courtesy of the Aspen Skiing Company - that's the kind of pro-environmental corporate-civic cooperation we like to see.

Fighting Big Oil

Two men leading the fight against Big Oil were honored yesterday with the prestigious Goldman Environmental Prize. For over a decade, Pablo Fajardo Mendoza, 35, and Luis Yanza, 46, have struggled against Chevron, which left the equivalent of two Exxon Valdez oil spills in their backyard.

After almost 30 years of dumping toxic waste into the Amazon, Texaco, now owned by Chevron, left Ecuador in 1992, leaving behind nearly 17 million gallons of oil in the soil and water. The people living alongside of these oil dumps suffer from skin diseases, miscarriages, and a seven-times higher rate of cancer than the rest of their country. A sufficient clean-up will cost some $16 billion dollars, but Fajardo and Yanza suggest the cost is much greater.

 

Outside profiled the fight in the March, 2007 feature, Ecuador Slick.

“We’ve always said and still maintain that the most of the damage that was done by Texaco is irreparable,” Fajardo says. “It doesn’t matter how much money in the world there is, we can’t bring back the lives of the indigenous people that have died from cancer. The Ecuadorian Amazon is one of the most beautiful places on the planet. That will never be as it was.”

The Goldman award—designed to honor grassroots leaders going head to head with dirty governments and corporations—was given to Yanza for organizing 30,000 residents in a class action lawsuit and Fajardo for representing them. After 15 years of intimidation, harassment, even death threats forcing them to leave their homes and live as vagabonds, they expect an initial decision sometime this year.

“It doesn’t matter how long it takes us to fight this battle,” Fajardo says. “When one is fighting for justice, when one has made the decision to follow this path. You cannot be afraid.”

A Chafed Odyssey: For a Good Cause

Buddies Scott Paynton and Mike Conway both led pretty environmentally-conscious lives – eating vegetarian, biking all over the place, spending tons of time out in nature.

But sometime last year, it occurred to them that their favorite pastime – surfing – was adding to their carbon footprint in a major way.

"Surfers themselves are harming the waters," said Conway, 27, from Santa Barbara. "The foam that surfboards are made of use some nasty, nasty chemicals, and we're driving around burning up gasoline, wearing petroleum-based neoprene wetsuits."

So they found alternatives. Now the two are about to embark on a 550-mile bike/surf odyssey to raise awareness about lower-impact surfing lifestyles. If you think they're making you look bad, it gets worse: they're raising money for the American Cancer Society while they're at it.

Paynton, a communications professor, and Conway, who works in banking, will depart from Fort Bragg, California in mid-May and make their way down the coast to Santa Barbara, surfing every morning and riding 50-60 miles a day.

They've lined up a slew of environmentally-friendly surf product sponsors, from agricultural product-based Homeblown Biofoam surfboards, Quiver Kaddy board trailers, and Matuse wetsuits made from, get this…limestone.

"The whole gig is eco-friendly," said Paynton, 39, who lives in Humboldt County.

The pair hopes that their unusual convoy will spark curiosity – the giant, dinosaur egg-like Quiver Kaddy trailers should do just that. If the trip works out, they hope to make it into an annual event.

For more on the trip, and to check out the list of sustainable surf products, see the Bike and Surf California website.

--Emily Matchar

Save the environment, win $10,000

Do you ride to work on a tricked-out pedal scooter to save gas? Feed yourself with fruits and veggies grown on your organic rooftop garden? Wear nothing but a toga woven from sustainably-harvested bamboo fibers?

The Sundance Channel wants to know about your inventive eco-solutions, for their second annual "What's The Big Idea?" contest. The contest, presented by Lexus Hybrid Living, kicked of the independent film channel's original series, "Big Ideas for a Small Planet."

Send in a short film or photo essay demonstrating you how work, play, eat, or live green in an interesting new way, to compete for a cash prize of $10,000. The winner will also get a private green audit by “Big Ideas for a Small Planet.” Four runners up will receive a Sundance Channel Green VIP Bag. Best to aim for first place then, I'd say. The contest is open until May 20. 

--Emily Matchar

Global Warming A Killer

Global Warming may kill an estimated 150,000 people annually, according to researchers. The human toll of global warming—often overlooked in favor of environmental concerns—is growing increasingly evident, according to The AFP.

Many of the 39 new or re-emerging deaths in the last several decade are directly attributable to global warming. A warming earth is allowing disease-carrying mosquitoes to breed faster and spread into typically cooler climates, severely increasing the spread of malaria, dengue fever, and diarrhea. The other effects of global warming—deforestation, natural disasters, lacking fresh water, unusual rain patterns—will force many to abandon their homes and migrate, taking their diseases with them.

The World Heath Organization—commemorating its 60th birthday—warned that millions could be threatened with poverty, disease, and hunger as an affect of climate change, adding that poor countries with already weak irrigation systems and medical facilities are likely to be hit the hardest. This is, according to some, the greatest surge of illness since the Industrial Revolution.

Green Cars for Thailand

The world's leading car-makers got the go-ahead to build eco-cars in Thailand, a proposition worth some $688 million for a country worried about losing its footing in the evolving automobile industry, according to the AFP. Last year, Thailand wooed car-makers with serious tax breaks for those willing to produce “green” cars in the country.

Noting the leapfrogging gas prices and rising demand for fuel efficient cars (Toyota Prius sales increased by almost 70 percent in 2007), Thailand’s government grew concerned that its position as the global leader in lightweight truck manufacturing was not enough to secure a place in the future of auto-manufacturing. Under the deal, Toyota, Volkswagen, Tata, and Mitsubishi will set up local production bases, turning out hundreds of thousands of cars that run on 20 percent ethanol fuel and meet the strictest European emissions standards. Although they expect 90 percent of the cars to be exported, Thailand's government slashed sales tax on fuel efficient models by half—significantly raising the little-car demand in a country otherwise obsessed with huge trucks and SUVs.

Global warming brings down a chunk of ice seven times the size of Manhattan

In the latest worrisome climate change-related event, a chunk of glacial ice seven times the size of Manhattan has broken away in western Antarctica, says the Washington Post.

A 160-square-mile piece of ice broke off the Wilkins Ice Shelf, which is about the size of Connecticut. The piece had been dangling precipitously since late February. Scientists worry that the rest of the ice shelf has been destabilized and is headed for collapse as well. Collapses such as this have been increasing in recent decades. In 1993, one prominent scientist predicted that the Wilkins shelf would collapse entirely within 30 years. Guess that gives us 13 years to figure out some solutions. That, or put our houses on stilts.

--Emily Matchar

 

Power Suit

First there was the electricity-producing backpack in 2005. Weighing in at 10 pounds with the capability of carrying up to 80, it created some hope/dread that cell phones could be left on for the entirety of a two-week back-country hike. And while we haven't actually gotten our hands on any such pack yet, the news of new electricity-generating clothing fibers sounds both more practical and easier on the back. As the Environmental News Network has reported, fiber nanogenerators  may soon be able to save that spark in your step. The clothing's fibers, which are being developed by the Georgia Institute of Technology's School of Materials Science and Technology, would be coated with cultured zinc oxide nanowires. The microfiber fabric would then be able to capture the energy produced each time the fibers are rubbed together. The nanowires, which according to a separate ENN report are 1,000 times smaller than the width of a human hair, could therefore also generate electricity whenever exposed to wind - possibly giving renewed importance to the backyard clothesline if it weren't for the fact that the wires, at this point, become ineffective once wet. There goes all the power U.S. Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps was going to generate this year.

--Jason Kerkmans

Put Down the SPF 30

Thanks to waste in our waters and harmful CO2 emissions that cause global warming, coral reefs are dying at alarming rates. Now add another harmful component, a new report from the journal Nature says sunscreen might be to blame too. The report cites an Italian study confirming that, "the chemicals that filter ultraviolet (UV) light can activate latent viral infections in the symbiotic microalgae that the corals rely on for nutrition." Or, in other words, the same chemicals in sunscreen lotion that keep us from burning cause disease and death in the algae that feed the coral. Though the report goes on to claim that only 10 percent of the ocean's reefs are visited by tourists, The World Conservation Union's coral reef analysis included news that in 2005 alone "severe bleaching affected between 50 percent and 95 percent of coral colonies and killed more than half" in parts of the Caribbean. Coincidentally, 2008 is being called the International Year of the Reef. We're not saying don't wear sunscreen, but wear a long sleeve shirt and don't go overboard.
--Jason Kerkmans

Water-Filtering Bicycle

Check out the winning bike from Innovate or Die Pedal-Powered Machine Contest, an event cosponsored by Specialized Bicycles and Google. The contest, which the two San Francisco Bay Area companies announced three months ago, sought “machines that transform pedaling energy into new and useful purposes,” with an eye toward the environment. The winning entry, from a five-person team in Menlo Park, California, is a three-wheeled bike intended for people who lack access to clean drinking water. Built around a large tank, the Aquaduct Mobile Filtration Vehicle uses pedal power to run the water through a series of filters. If a rider reaches home before all of the water has been cleaned, he or she can disengage the wheels and continue pedaling—and, thus, filtering—while stationary.
—John Bradley

Google's Green Making Green

And while Google is fueling the idea of sending yourself to the moon, it isn't exactly ignoring the need to fuel modern life - and Internet search engines - on this planet either. At the end of November the company unveiled it's RE<C program, which is setting out to develop energy from renewable sources at a cheaper rate then energy derived from coal. Bold, sure, but according to an online article by the Nature Publishing Group, which produces the journal Nature, Google's investment is just one of many recent, private investments made in California's newest gold rush, or rather Green Rush. Looking for your own 21st Century Eureka moment? Check out Outside's Green Investment Guide.
--Jason Kerkmans

Photo: Courtesy Google

Stars Salute Greens at NYC Gala

New York City—Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Katie Couric, Kyra Sedgewick, Josh Lucas and other celebs gathered in Manhattan at the Ritz-Carlton, Battery Park to honor the winners of Global Green USA’s Designing a Sustainable and Secure World Awards.

Other speakers at the event, held on Monday night as the first winter winds of the season strafed the city, included Glen Close, Josie Maran, and Brian Cox. Out in the crowd of some 250 or so attendees were Chevy Chase and dozens of shockingly well-dressed environmentalists.

We were there to honor “great innovations leaders working to protect New York and other coastal cities by stemming global warming” (complete list of winners is at the end of this post). But before that came some really awesome appetizers.

Gatherings: Bioneer Spirit

Two weeks after returning from the 18th annual Bioneers conference in San Rafael, California, my backpack still smells a little bit like patchouli. And I'm still craving the smooth Cafe Mam coffee from Oregon's Royal Blue Organics—Fair Trade and organically grown, of course—served each morning. (Maybe if I'd made it to the 7 a.m. yoga sessions, or the 8 a.m. meditation gatherings, I wouldn't have needed caffeine to start my day.) But mostly, I'm still processing the ideas I soaked up at the three-day gathering of environmental and social activists. I'm from the progressive hot spot of Santa Fe, and still I was blown away by the scene: 3,000 people, from as far away as Japan, aiming to work together to change the world.

Over the course of the conference, more than 175 speakers discussed issues from ocean conservation to pesticide pollution to fair-wage farming and using art to promote social change. Attendees met in one huge auditorium each morning; after opening remarks from Bioneers founders Kenny Ausubel and Nina Simons, and an indigenous prayer for the health of the planet, individual speakers took turns telling their personal stories onstage. We split into smaller groups each afternoon, attending panel discussions with titles like "From Ecovillages to Ecocities," "The Ocean Revolution," and "Eco-Art Strageties: Towards a Culture of Sustainability."

And The Nobel Goes To...

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and Al Gore for their contributions to the world's understanding of man-made global warming.

The Former Vice President and the IPCC, a United Nations group of scientists, were presented with the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize Friday. Of Gore, the Nobel committee said, Gore "is probably the single individual who has done most to create greater worldwide understanding measures that need to be adopted." --Alicia Carr

The North American Ecotourism Conference

The North American Ecotourism Conference was held in Madison, Wisconsin, from September 26 to 28.  My first trip to the picturesque town of Madison was enhanced by the talks of pushing the largest industry in the world—travel and tourism—towards eco-friendliness.  The conference was held down the street from the State Capitol, in the Monona Terrace Community and Convention Center, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, overlooking Lake Monona. 

What is ecotourism? 
On Day 1, I attended a pre-conference session led by Costas Christ, contributor to National Geographic Adventure magazine and Chair of Tourism for Tomorrow.  He spoke about tourism’s identity as a powerful engine for growth and development and how that power may be used for bettering the environment instead of damaging it.  A high number of travelers are interested in visiting natural places like parks and there are ways in which to channel tourism to support these natural places that people are visiting. 

Ecotourism bridges the conservation of landscape, species, and resources and the development of communities that are being visited to ensure that the people in these destinations are receiving education, clean drinking water, food, and have proper sanitation and access to medication.  The International Ecotourism Society (TIES) describes ecotourism as “a form of tourism that entails responsible travel to natural areas and which conserves the environment and sustains the well-being of local people.”

Here are some stats on the negative impacts of tourism, as stated by the International Ecotourism Society:
• 109 countries have coral reefs, and in 90 of them reefs are being damaged by cruise ship anchors and sewage, tourists breaking off pieces of coral, and commercial harvesting.
• Cruise ships in the Caribbean are estimated to produce more than 70,000 tons of waste each year.
• The average 18-hole golf course uses at least 525,000 gallons of water a day—enough to supply the irrigation needs of 100 Malaysian farmers.

Green Confusion! 
What is it to be green?  How can we tell if a lodge or resort is as green as they claim to be?  At the session titled “Eco-Labels and Certification” Abigail Rome, John Imes, and J. Michael Robbins approached this issue. 

Eco-travel increased by ten percent over the past year; however, there aren't enough regulations associated with eco-certifications, so it's possible that lodges can call themselves an "eco-lodge" but not necessarily do all that much to help the environment around them.  There’s a lot of green hype, without the guidelines to back up the talk. Travel service providers need to be clear, candid, and sincere with travelers about their goals and their levels of effort with social and environmental issues. If travelers begin standing up for the environment, then tourism providers will be forced to make steps towards being more environmentally sensitive. Consumers have a lot of power over the travel world—they hold the cards with each and every travel decision they make.

There are quite a few properties that are really trying to make a difference environmentally.  Fairmont Hotels and Resorts have the Green Partnership program, and Kimpton has the EarthCare program, both of which keep up on the best sustainable practices in the hotel industry, promoting environmentally-friendly practices throughout their locations.  The challenges hotels face when trying to make these changes include the cost of certification, the difficulty in changing a particular hotel’s corporate image, and the time and money it takes to train staff members for eco-friendly practices. 

Cultural Tourism and Voluntourism
On the third day of the conference, I attended a session on cultural tourism and voluntourism—both becoming extremely popular travel choices.  Cultural tourism, which ensures the protection of the environment, heritage, and culture of a destination, is a huge part of ecotourism.  Voluntourism allows both visitors and locals to share thoughts, resources, and labor, and in return both parties gain an awakening of sorts.

We travel with the intention to visit another community, to see, feel, and experience life in another destination, which in turn allows us to more fully appreciate our own homes.  Cultural tourism preserves and protects the culture of a travel destination while allowing tourists to enter the community and share the lives and traditions of the people living there.  Voluntourism allows travelers to become involved with the issues that affect the place they are visiting, and offers these travelers a way that they can help the community. 

Examples of voluntourism include Turtle Island, a resort in Fiji that invited ophthalmologists to visit and during their visit they would perform cataract surgery on locals, as many of the locals had serious cataracts that impaired their vision.  Intrepid Travel would take visitors to an orphanage in Cambodia where visitors could spend a little time with one or more of the children.  An organization in San Diego takes volunteers to a village in Mexico, where they stay for five days and build beehives for a women’s beekeeping coop.  These experiences not only help the people living in the travel destination, but they open travelers’ eyes and change their lives as well.

Some websites on voluntourism and cultural tourism:

www.travelersphilanthropy.org
www.voluntourism.org
www.responsibletravel.com

-Erika Lloyd

Canadian Ice Island Snaps in Half Before Its Time

The Manhattan-size island of Ayles, off northern Canada, cracked in half far earlier than expected, the BBC reported Monday. A team of scientists from the University of Ottawa serendipitously chose this island to research ice thickness when it broke apart and headed south--even traveling 61 miles in one week.

The scientist attribute the break to record summer melting this season and unlike 50-year-old ice islands in the Arctic Ocean, Dr. Luke Copland doubts the now-halved Ayles Ice Island will last more than a decade. Chart the Ayles Ice Island's travels here. --Alicia Carr

SUVs or Cows? Which are Worse?

Feeling guilty about driving that SUV? First, read our latest Big Idea column on why trucks don't always deserve sneers (see Shut Up About My Truck, September 2007), then take note: Animal rights groups are touting the message that eating meat is worse for the environment than driving, the New York Times reported Wednesday.

Where's the evidence that going vegetarian equate to being an environmental do-gooder? In November, the U.N. Food and Agriculture organization reported that the livestock business contributes more to gas emissions than all transportation combined.

While the PETA manager for vegan campaigns, Matt A. Prescott, told the NY Times that environmentalists are pointing fingers at the wrong things (SUVs, not steaks), could it be that both transportation and livestock farming are major contributers to global warming? Why pinpoint one or the other?

PETA is certainly out to make the public choose; their latest campaign consists of a Hummer with a chicken-suited driver holding a banner that proclaims meat is the top cause of temperature rise, the NY Times said.

For global-warming naysayers, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration released a report that confirms that greenhouse gas emissions are a "likely" cause of high temperatures this summer in the Geophysical Research Letters. Last year ('06) is proving to be the hottest year yet, barely beating out 1998—both of which were El Nino years. It marked the ninth year for temperature increases and was 2.1 degrees Fahrenheit higher than the 20th-century average, according to the study.

How does Al Gore feel about eating fewer cheeseburgers? We may never know. But, according to the NY Times report, Gore's deputy press secretary noted that on page 317 of "An Inconvenient Truth" there is a recommendation to "modify your diet to include less meat."—Alicia Carr

New York Windmill Winds Down

What might have been the nation's first offshore windmill farm is no longer expected to go up. The project to build a cluster of 40 windmills set to generate electricity off the coast of Jones Beach on Long Island has been canceled due to multiplying costs.

Kevin S. Law, chairman of the Long Island Power Authority, proposed that the $811-million project is more than twice as expensive as getting it from conventional sources. Winning accolades from numerous environmental groups and public officials, the project was originally estimated at $200 million. When FPL Energy of Florida won the bid for the project five years ago, the price went up to $356 million. Over the years, rising costs made these estimates sky rocket. —Alicia Carr