Earth to America!
Earth to America! Global Warming is No Joke 
Earth to America! is a two-hour comedy special that celebrates life on Earth by taking aim at one of our planet's most serious problems: global warming.
Some of the world's funniest people will come together tonight at the first annual Comedy Festival for an evening of comedy and music designed to raise awareness about global warming.
Earth to America! will feature comedy luminaries such as Steve Martin, Robin Williams, Ray Romano, Martin Short, Ben Stiller and Jack Black, as well as Tom Hanks, Robert Kennedy, Jr., and nearly a dozen others.
The program was created by Laurie David, wife of Larry David, star of Curb Your Enthusiasm and co-creator of Seinfeld. The show is being taped live at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas tonight, November 17, and will be broadcast on TBS on Sunday, November 20 at 8 p.m., 7 p.m. Central. Don't miss it.
Weather Channel Program Focuses on Global Warming
On October 1st, the Weather Channel debut "Climate Code" with Dr. Heidi Cullen.
Dr. Heidi Cullen has joined The Weather Channel as climate expert and will have the key responsibility of adding explanation, depth and perspective to climate stories.
The show airs every Sunday at 5pm. Click the link below to visit the weather channels "One Climate Change" website and check out the trailer for the show.
CLIMATE CODE with Dr. Heidi Cullin
Greenhouse Gases = Antarctic Ice Collapse
A recent article on CNN.com linking the collapse of the Larsen B ice shelf in Antarctica to human activities. The article also looks into a raise in global temperatures in recent years and how it relates to global warming.
Antarctic ice collapse tied to greenhouse gasesPOSTED: 11:24 a.m. EDT, October 17, 2006
OSLO, Norway (Reuters) -- Scientists said Monday that they had found the first direct evidence linking the collapse of an ice shelf in Antarctica to global warming widely blamed on human activities.
Shifts in winds whipping around the southern ocean, tied to human emissions of greenhouse gases, had warmed the Antarctic peninsula jutting up toward South America and contributed to the break-up of the Larsen B ice shelf in 2002, they said.
"This is the first time that anyone has been able to demonstrate a physical process directly linking the break-up of the Larsen Ice Shelf to human activity," said Gareth Marshall, lead author of the study at the British Antarctic Survey.
The chunk that collapsed into the Weddell Sea in 2002 was 3,250 square kilometers (1,255 square miles), bigger than Luxembourg or the U.S. state of Rhode Island.
Most climate experts say greenhouse gases, mainly from fossil fuels burnt in power plants, factories and cars, are warming the globe and could bring more erosion, floods or rising seas. They are wary of linking individual events -- such as a heat wave or a storm -- to warming.
But the British and Belgian scientists, writing in the Journal of Climate, said there was evidence that global warming and a thinning of the ozone layer over Antarctica, caused by human chemicals, had strengthened winds blowing clockwise around Antarctica.
The Antarctic peninsula's chain of mountains, about 2,000 meters (6,500 feet) high, used to shield the Larsen ice shelf on its eastern side from the warmer winds.
"If the westerlies strengthen the number of times that the warm air gets over the mountain barrier increases quite dramatically," John King, a co-author of the study at the British Antarctic Survey, told Reuters.
Warmer summers
The average summer temperatures on the north-east of the Antarctic peninsula had been about 2.2 Celsius (35.96 Fahrenheit) over the past 40 years.
But on summer days when winds swept over the mountains into the area the air could warm by 5.5 Celsius (9.9 Fahrenheit). And on the warmest days, temperatures could reach about 10 Celsius (50.00 Fahrenheit).
King said temperature records in Antarctica went back only about 50 years but that there was evidence from sediments on the seabed -- which differ if covered by ice or open water -- that the Larsen ice shelf had been in place for 5,000 years.
"Further south on the main Antarctic continent temperatures are pretty stable," he said. "There is no clear direct evidence of human activity affecting the main area."
In Ottawa, the director of the British Antarctic Survey said that if the warming trend continued then other ice shelves would one day be at risk.
"Ultimately, yes, I think that's bound to be the case ... We've seen this southward migration as the wave of increased temperatures has penetrated further and further south," Dr Chris Rapley told Reuters in an interview Monday.
The collapse of the Larsen B ice shelf did not raise world sea levels because the ice was floating.
King said the removal of the floating ice barrier could accelerate the flow of land-based glaciers toward the sea, at least in the short term. That ice could raise sea levels.
Rapley said recent data had revealed for the first time that two major glaciers in eastern Antarctica were also starting to discharge ice into the sea.
Copyright 2006 Reuters. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
High on Hydrogen
A recent article put together by Road and Track spotlighting a new Honda Hydrogen concept vehicle that would have zero carbon emissions, check it out.
High on Hydrogen
Behind the wheel of Honda’s latest fuel-cell concept car.
By BARRY WINFIELD
If anyone can get fuel-cell technology developed at an affordable price level, Honda looks to be in the running. The company is on its third version of a fuel-cell powertrain, and each one has bumped the performance and range upward, with decreased size and improved efficiency. In the latest form, Honda’s FCX features a new V Flow fuel-cell stack with a claimed power-to-volume density increase of 50 percent, and a power-to-weight density improvement of 67 percent. The stack is 20-percent smaller and 30-percent lighter than the current version. The total powertrain mass has been reduced by almost 400 pounds, and the output has jumped from 86 to 100 kilowatts.
The system is also now more tidily packaged, with the fuel-cell stack residing neatly in the car’s central tunnel. That packaging improvement is possible because the stack orientation has changed; now the hydrogen and water flow through the system vertically instead of horizontally. That facilitates faster water evacuation, which is a key to efficient stack operation. The system now operates at a much lower temperature, capable of starting up in ambient temperatures as low as minus 20-degrees F. Coupled to a new lithium-ion storage battery and a 127-horsepower AC synchronous motor, the energy source provides a range of up to 350 miles, according to Honda.
At Honda’s Tochigi proving ground, where we drove the new FCX, the only evidence of all this advancement is a futuristic but spacious vehicle that moves off briskly with a whisper of sound, accelerates fairly quickly to highway cruising speeds, and continues on to a top speed of 100 mph. Steering and ride quality seemed to be typical of Honda products, with no sense of large weight or unwieldiness in the admittedly limited confines of a high-speed oval. With all the fuss made about fuel-cell technology, it’s easy to forget that vehicles using this energy source are just electric vehicles at heart, with no exciting exhaust note or interesting transmissions to light the enthusiast’s flame. Still, having 189 pound-feet of torque available from rest isn’t a bad thing, and nor is a quiet powertrain or the all-important zero-emissions operation. Honda is planning to market a vehicle based on this FCX concept in limited numbers in 2008 in Japan and the U.S. Pricing and/or lease arrangements have yet to be decided.
Here's the link to the article:
Have a great week everybody!
Cold Warming Video
Thanks for checkin out my blog. Here's a video I created to start things off. I've been aware of our planets deteriorating condition for a only a short time in my life but I feel as though its a fight worth fighting and a message worth conveying. I'll post as much as I can regarding the forward progress we are making to offset the effects of global warming and hopefully influence those of you who read to make others aware and to take action. Thanks!
Cold Warming
Add to My Profile | More Videos
