Latest comments

Latest From Climate Crunch | Whats popular

China Planning Massive Asia-Europe Rail System

[Technology] China's high-speed rail plans get more ambitious by the day.  Not satisfied with having the world's most advanced and extensive rail line in the world, China is now planning to connect its rail system to 17 other countries in Asia and Eastern Europe where it will join the European rail network. China plans to have this massive project completed in 10 years.   The rail system will include three major continent-crossing lines running at 200 mph.  One line will connect London to Beijing in a two-day trip and continue on to Singapore.  Another will link Vietnam, Thailand, Burma and Malaysia.  The third will connect Germany to Russia, go across Siberia and back into China. With travelers able to take major routes like these at high speeds, air travel may become a lot less necessary across Europe and Asia. China will be financing the project in exchange for access to natural resources from the 17 countries the rail lines will run through.  As an example, Burma will provide China with lithium for its rail connection. via Daily Telegraph [EcoGeek]

It Takes More than Dead Trees to Make a Credible Newspaper

[News] An article in last week’s British paper, The Telegraph, claimed that the IPCC had made yet another significant mistake – this time overstating the sensitivity of the Amazon rainforest to drought.  It turns out that the article severely misrepresented the state of the science. While that one very dry year did not produce the kind of vegetation changes detectible by satellite imagery, it did, in fact, kill a number of trees, turning the rainforest from a “sink” that absorbed 2 billion tons of CO2, to a “source” of even more CO2 from the resulting number of dead trees. The culpa for an initial post to Desmogblog, taking the IPCC to task, is exclusively mea.  The correct narrative of the rainforest’s vulnerability to severe drought comes courtesy of the scientists at Realclimate. <!--break--> [DeSmogBlog]

Why we bother

[Science] A letter from a reader (reproduced with permission): Dear RealClimate team: I have a background in biology and studied at post-grad level in the area of philosophy of science. For the last few years, I have been working on a book about the logic of argument used in debates between creationists and evolutionists. About a year ago [...] [Real Climate]

How Do You Measure Energy Savings? The Rosenfeld Unit

[Technology] How do you capture the significance of a life's work? Writers deliver stories, teachers prep students for the world, scientists – if their work is truly path-breaking – might have their seminal discovery enshrined in a term that bears their name. Last week, some 400 academics, business leaders, and government officials, including California Public Utilities Commission [...] [Earth2Tech]

A Solar Solution for the iPhone and iPod Touch

[Technology] Every little bit makes a difference, right? Maybe you don't want to put solar panels on your house just yet, but you can put one on your iPhone or iPod Touch. Novothink has just released the Solar Surge charging case, which combines a solar panel and a lithium ion battery, bundling them both into a soft touch, non-slip case. Two hours of solar charging will give you 30 minutes of 3G talk time or 60 minutes of 2G talk time, the company says. Okay, so you'll still need to use an AC outlet everyday. Baby steps, people. You can also charge the case's battery through a USB connection, to extend the time you can use your iPhone or iPod Touch between chargings. When the battery is topped off, it gives an extra 4 hours of talk time or 20 hours of audio. To help you calculate how much solar charging you'll need to get the usage you want, Novothink has created a free app. The iPhone 3G/3GS case sells for $79.95, and the iPod Touch case goes for $69.95. [GoodCleanTech]

Inflatable Bike Case Makes Taking Your Bike Easier

[Transport] Image: biknd For all those times you wish you could have brought your bike with you on the train, bus or plane, now there is Biknd Helium. The Helium bike case is not quite lighter than air, but definitely lighter than a standard hard case, weighing in at a mere than 9.5 kg (20.9 lbs). The trick: it's inflatable. Canadian start-up company Biknd has a patent pending for their ingenious invention. The features in Biknd's design will make your fingers twitch to get packin'. ... Read the full story on TreeHugger [TreeHugger Transport]

Views split on Calif runaway Prius driver's story

[News] AP - This much is not in dispute: Inspectors could not duplicate the sudden, unintended acceleration that a motorist reported last week when his Toyota Prius reached 94 mph on a California freeway. They tried during a two-hour test drive. [Yahoo! Green News]

Get the latest buzz from Climate Crunch