The World Comes Together To Save The Planet

Not quite a fortnight ago, November 23 to be exact, officials were prompted to issue a shipping warning because of more than 100, and possibly hundreds, of Antarctic icebergs floating towards New Zealand. Some measuring more than 650 feet (200 meters) across were seen in just one cluster, indicating there could be hundreds more. An Australian Antarctic Division glaciologist said the ice chunks, spotted by satellite photography, had passed the Auckland Islands and were heading towards the main South Island, about 280 miles (450 kilometers) northeast. Scientist Neal Young said they were the remains of a massive ice floe which split from the Antarctic as sea and air temperatures rise due to global warming. “If the current trends in global warming were to continue I would anticipate seeing more icebergs and the large ice shelves breaking up,” he said. (more…)

Color Changing Roof Tiles Absorb Heat In Winter, Reflects In Summer

What colors? Well, your basic power colors of course, black and white. Or to make your art teacher cringe – black and white makes green.

Black surfaces absorb the sun’s heat very efficiently, producing hot surfaces. In the wintertime, that can be a good thing: A dark roof heats up in the sun and helps reduce your heating bill. But in summertime, it’s definitely a bad thing: Your house gets even hotter, and your air conditioning has to work harder. In most places, the summertime penalty is greater than the wintertime gain, it turns out, so that’s why many people, including U.S. Secretary of Energy Steven Chu, strongly advocate switching to white roofs. (more…)

Rapidly accelerating climate change (global warming), which is caused by greenhouse
gas (GHG) emissions, is now fueling dangerous regional and global environmental events.

Data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration illustrates that buildings are
responsible for almost half (48%) of all GHG emissions annually. Seventy-six percent
(76%) of all electricity generated by US power plants goes to supply the Building
Sector. Therefore, immediate action in the Building Sector is essential if we are to
avoid hazardous climate change. Credible scientists give us 10 years to be well on our
way toward global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reductions in order to avoid (more…)