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Climate, Overshoot & Exploring Alternatives to the Mall

As an alternative to being part of the herd at the mall this Black Friday, some celebrated Buy Nothing Day. As I explored in my previous post, our insatiable demand for natural resources now exceeds our planet's ability to meet it. September 25th symbolically marked Earth Overshoot Day, the day humanity began living beyond its ecological budget for the year. A simple economics lesson would show us that when a natural limit is overshot, there is an eventual collapse. How long a throw-away cult...

Living Beyond Earth’s Budget & Happiness

Thanksgiving is a recognizable holiday to most Americans but can anyone remember the event that fell on September 25th of this year? September 25th was Earth Overshoot Day and marked the day when humanity begins living beyond its ecological means. According to the Global Footprint Network, collectively at the present time, humanity is using 1.4 planets worth of resources. Many people in western countries like the US  are using four to five planets worth of resources. Since we only have one...

Dry Season Returns & Broward Commission Considers 2-day-a-Week Watering Restrictions

Update: January 12, 2010 Broward Commission Unanimously Pass 2-Day Week Water Restrictions with an Eye Toward Enforcement http://bit.ly/7PA6iB Most residents in South Florida realize we have two seasons; rainy and dry. Yet, how many realize what a precarious water dance we do? According to the South Florida Water Management District, Florida receives an average annual rainfall of 53 inches, making it one of the wettest states in the US. Except, in the central and southern part of the state, ...

Al Gore and Political Will in the Concrete Forest

As I descended off I-95 into the concrete forest that now covers the city of Miami, I pondered the artificial shade. Darkness permeated while the sun rested high in the sky. Construction raged on even in the early morning hours of Saturday. As the construction workers labored, the homeless slept. The forest was still, despite the jack hammer vibration penetrating the silence. I looked upward at the pervasive high-rises that the city touts have surpassed 60% occupancy, although that is not...

350: The Most Important Number on the Planet

Data collected from ice cores, shows us that CO2 levels have been below 300 parts per million (ppm) for over 800,000 years. We are currently at almost 390ppm. Dr. James Hansen of NASA stated “If humanity wishes to preserve a planet similar to that on which civilization developed and to which life on Earth is adapted, paleoclimate evidence and ongoing climate change suggest that CO2 will need to be reduced from its current 385 ppm to at most 350ppm.” Above 350ppm of CO2 in the atmosphere w...