Geelong Sustainability

Chuffed is crowdsourcing for social cause projects. That's it. If you want to crowdfund a refugee project, you're in. If you want to crowdfund your holiday to Paris, you're out.

"Published on 22 Sep 2014 Tomorrow, the UN begins its first Climate Summit, enlisting the world to work together on a problem that's too big for any single country to solve alone. Economist Lord Nicholas Stern helped write a report that outlines where we are now - and what we could do next. It's a big vision for cooperation, with a payoff that goes far beyond averting disaster. He asks: How can we use this crisis to spur better lives for all?"

"The 'Pathways to Deep Decarbonisation in 2050: How Australia can prosper in a low carbon world' report, released 23 September 2014, presents an illustrative deep decarbonisation pathway for Australia - just one of many possible pathways - developed using a combination of well-established modelling tools to identify feasible and least-cost options.  This work finds that Australia can achieve net zero emissions by 2050 and live within its recommended carbon budget, using technologies that exist today, while maintaining economic prosperity. Major technological transitions are needed in some industries and many activities, but no fundamental change to Australia's economy is required. The technologies required for decarbonisation are currently available or under development. The analysis shows that deep decarbonisation requires neither substantial lifestyle changes nor large changes in Australia's economic structure."

"Each of the 125 leaders attending the New York climate summit this week has been given four minutes to speak to the world. They (or their aides) may well have dipped into the climate literature to add scientific ballast to their speeches. But they may not be as familiar with the vast array of academic studies on effective communication about climate change. They should be. If world leaders and climate advocates really want to improve the chances of mobilising political will and citizen action behind a new deal, they will need to think carefully about what sort of key messages actually work. Clearly there is a balance to strike between doom-ridden messages and "bright-side" opportunities, and uncertainties around the science and the expected effects of climate change must be factored in too. Can risk language help?"

"I'm back, with the controversial topic of the so-called 'pause' in global warming. Some parts of the news media incorrectly claim that the climate is no longer warming, but is actually cooling. They get to this conclusion by everything from cherry-picking the data, all the way up to telling big fat fibs."

"A new peak body for the energy storage industry has been launched - with the Australian Energy Storage Council to be resourced by the Australian Solar Council."

"In the latest episode of Veritasium, Derek hits the streets to see if Sydneysiders are as tired of hearing the statistics as he is, and the results were a little surprising. Not only do most of the people he polled not know the facts, many don't actually believe climate change is happening (despite the fact that 97 to 98 percent of the scientific community now agree that it is). "

"With huge tracts of land, sunshine and plentiful water across the northern states and territories, there are high hopes for Australia's post-mining future pinned on its ability to produce enough agricultural product to feed Asia's rapidly growing population. Agriculture Minister Barnaby Joyce wants to temper those expectations."

"German architect André Broessel of Rawlemon currently living in Barcelona is responsible for the creation of this quite frankly ingenious invention, that reinvigorates and enhances the world of solar technology as we know it."

"Commerce knits the modern world together in a way that nothing else quite does. Almost anything you own these days is the result of a complicated web of global interactions. And there's no better way to depict those interactions and the social and political circumstances that give rise to them than with a map or two. Or in our case, 38. These maps are our favorite way to illustrate the major economic themes facing the world today. Some of them focus on the big picture while others illustrate finer details. The overall portrait that emerges is of a world that's more closely linked than ever before, but still riven by enormous geography-driven differences."

"I'm thinking, you know, it was good shit, plastic. It answered a myriad of "how to" questions, and thus occasioned a fabulous efflorescence, an unprecedented burst of wealth. Maybe plastic was Death disguised as Santa Claus-something for everyone from the ever-expanding plastic sack-but certainly this would be a tough planet without the plastic used in our technology. Maybe a good motto for homo sapiens as a species is, Live fast, die young, and leave a pretty archeological record. Our stratum will be a bright, shiny smear of plastic."

"Get out and about in the city to discover some of the best Green Star-rated icons. The Sustainable Melbourne Walking Tour is a self-guided, street-level exploration of some of Melbourne's greenest buildings. Walk the city while learning how green buildings are contributing to the sustainability of the inner-city community and leading by green example in the design and construction of our built environment."

"Published on 17 Jun 2014 The renewable energy target is hard to understand for many consumers, so we made this video to make it easier and explain how it can make a positive impact on your household bills."

Climate Kids is NASA's climate change website for kids. On Climate Kids you will find a nice selection of online games and hands-on activities for students. Some of the topics that the Climate Kids online games address include recycling, renewable energy, and climate history.

Good one - thanks, John! m

"A common refrain by climate sceptics that surface temperatures have not warmed over the past 17 years, implying climate models predicting otherwise are unreliable, has been refuted by new research led by James Risbey, a senior CSIRO researcher. Setting aside the fact the equal hottest years on record - 2005 and 2010 - fall well within the past 17 years, Dr Risbey and fellow researchers examined claims - including by some members of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change - that models overestimated global warming. In a study published in Nature Climate Change on Monday, the team found that models actually generate good estimates of recent and past trends provided they also took into account natural variability, particularly the key El Nino-La Nina phases in the Pacific."

"New data released Monday shows humanity has just unlocked another achievement in the race to cook the planet: The last three months were collectively the warmest ever experienced since record-keeping began in the late 1800s."

Learn about and teach sustainability with short and engaging animation videos. The purpose of this channel is to change the world by giving free access to the best sustainability knowledge and processes out there in a short and illustrated video format. Think it's a good idea?! This channel is yours: Join us, subscribe, become a patron and share with people these videos can help.

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"1 person ~ 1 km ~ 1 Hr! My contribution to a global issue. Collecting rubbish left or washed in & onto the beaches surrounding Torquay, Australia!"

Climate Commons is a map-based interactive platform that contains layers of news and information on climate change in the US. It is designed to provide academics, policymakers, journalists, and the general public with the latest data and stories on the causes and impacts of, and responses to climate change across the country. The map combines the most recently available data on climate change indicators, such as temperature, precipitation, and emissions, with the latest, geo-tagged stories on climate change in the United States. By providing users with the ability to compare recent data and media coverage on a local, regional, and national level, Climate Commons aims to inform Americans about the impacts of and responses to climate change in their own towns, regions and states. It also serves as a tool for better analyzing the perception and realities of climate change across the US.