A round-up of this week’s environmental, green and ecofriendly news and updates.
Wow, this new plan is amazing! It’s going to be really interesting to see how it’s accepted (or not) around the world.
You see, most governments agree that we can’t continue with fossil fuels because the climate change danger is just too great. And although the Paris Climate Agreement will help, the changes aren’t fast enough to stop the problem. Many countries talk about plans for 2035 – but that’s just too late!
So this new plan, released just last week, aims for 2020. And (in case you hadn’t guessed) that just THREE years away! (And yes, Trump will still be President).
The urgency is there because new science results show that we’ll have big problems by 2019 (just two years away) if we don’t take drastic action.
The plan is described as “completely crazy” but “achievable” because of the rapid decreases in the price of renewable energy.
There’s an abundance of delicious fresh fruit at the moment. Which are the best fruits to eat – for your health?
(Of course, all fruit is good for you, but some fruits are more useful than others).
There’s a new type of “renewable energy” on the horizon – and it’s from an unlikely source.
Us.
Scientists can now turn human sweat into power. So for example, if you went for a run, you could power your cell phone. Place a special patch on your skin, get sweaty, and keep your mobile phone charged!
In the future it’s thought that this technology could be used to keep track of vitals for people with certain medical conditions – diabetics could use it to monitor their blood sugar, for example. Wow!
It’s “back to basics” with this article. If you’re ever asked “why should we be green and ecofriendly, anyway?” then here are your answers.
(Sometimes it’s good to go back to the “why”).
Global Green News:
If you’re looking for a job looking after children, and you’d love to work in Scotland, this might be the ideal position for you.
You’d live in the family’s “lovely, spacious, historic property with spectacular views,” get paid $64K (plus 28 days vacation), and look after 2 friendly children, ages 5 and 7.
Sounds good? 5 nannies have left the job in the past year. Why? They say the house is haunted. Hmmm, could be a bit of a problem.
Staying in Scotland – Scotland just switched on three new wind turbines – but what’s even better is that the profit from the turbines (£20m over 25 years) will be used to build 500 new homes.
China now has the largest floating solar farm on Earth. lt will produce enough electricity to power 15,000 homes. And China have already got some bigger ones in the pipeline!
US Green News:
When streetlight owners dug up the lamp-posts in Detroit’s poorer communities, citizens got together to crowdfund solar powered street lights. So far they’ve installed over 50!
More Americans now work in solar than coal, oil and gas combined. Solar installers put up a set of solar panels in the US every 2.5 minutes. Solar employs 43% of the people who work in energy jobs, compared to just 22% who work in fossil fuels.
The fossil fuel industry is spending a vast amount of money on spreading mis-information in the education system.
- K-2 Schools have received books telling them that the world will be terrible without petroleum – no school bus for example, and no toothbrush. (Of course, no mention is made of cleaner, better alternatives that don’t pollute).
- Thousands of teachers received the book Why Scientists Disagree About Global Warming in their mailboxes this year from the climate-denying Heartland Institute.
Are their lies working? Oh yes. Students are arguing with teachers on climate change. In many schools, the science simply isn’t taught. According to this New York Times article, an online course in environmental science did not mention climate change.
That’s terrifying. The greatest threat we’ve ever faced, and many kids don’t know about it.
What do you think? Let me know in the comments below.
Please spread the Green word and share this info.
And if you’re on Twitter, get a daily green tip by following me – @EcoExpert1 . See you there!
Lots of good news and not so good news. Trump will still be president. 🙁 He alone is doing more damage to the planet.I love all kinds of fruit. Watermelon is a favorite. Haunted house in Scotland? Hmmm. The kids don’t seem to have a problem with it. I’d love to read more about that one. 🙂 Charging my phone while I sweat could be hard. I don’t run. That’s ok. There are plenty of runners who will save the electricity for me. Good to see so many coming up with great new ideas. Have a wonderfilled week, Clare.
Yes, I have to agree Marlene, Trump and his cronies are rapidly doing a great deal of harm. And we the public are getting nicely side-tracked by other issues so we don’t notice all the other harm that he’s doing. It’s scary.
You’re right about the haunted house, none of the family have an issue with it, and the parents bought it in full knowledge. You can read more at https://www.aol.com/article/finance/2017/06/15/nanny-listing-haunted-house/22312412/ and also via the BBC at http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-south-scotland-40272554. LOL Marlene I don’t run either, and it’s such a lovely thought that other runners can provide the electricity! 🙂 I hope your week was better than mine – I had a nasty dose of food poisoning, but I’m fully recovered now and all is sunny again. Look after yourself and thanks for stopping by to chat!