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For example, rising sea levels in the Northeast, which are increasing three to four times faster than global rates, according to federal statistics, will bring more flooding and damaging storm surges that ride atop high seas. Warmer air can hold more water vapor, meaning storms could drop more precipitation. New England has seen more erratic precipitation in recent years with extreme rain and snowfall events increasing by 85 percent since 1948, according to a climate report issued last week by US Representative Ed Markey, called “The New New England.”

The coolest green infrastructure you are likely to see Print this page Posted November 27, 2012 in Green Enterprise, Living Sustainably Tags: greenfutureslab, greeninfrastructure, landscapearchitecture, seattle, smartercities, smartgrowth, sustainablecommunities, universityofwashington Share | | |   Just yesterday, I was making the case for bringing more nature into urban environments, to soften the perceived and real effects of density and thus make density more appealing.  Today, I came across maybe the best example I have seen.  It is certainly the best I have seen integrated into a vertical wall; this is key in downtown districts, where green space on the ground can be hard to come by.

Now the Work of Movements Begins Email    Print    Share x RSS Feed Digg Facebook TwitThis StumbleUpon Reddit YahooBuzz Email BlinkList del.icio.us Fark Furl Google LinkedIn Mixx MyShare NewsVine Propeller SphereIt Technorati http://myweb2.search.yahoo.com/myre

Climate and Security 101: Why the U.S. National Security Establishment Takes Climate Change Seriously April 25, 2012 by Francesco Femia & Caitlin Werrell In a 2007 report by the CNA Military Advisory Board, General Gordon R. Sullivan stated: “People are saying they want to be perfectly convinced about climate science projections…But speaking as a soldier, we never have 100 percent certainty. If you wait until you have 100 percent certainty, something bad is going to happen on the battlefield.” The national security establishment in the United States, including the U.S. military and the U.S. intelligence community, understand that climate change is a national security threat, and that we cannot wait for 100% certainty before acting to mitigate and adapt to its effects. But not only do they understand it, they plan for it – considering it’s implications in strategic documents like the Quadrennial Defense Review, and setting up an office within the CIA called the Center for Climate Change and National Security. But why? Why do those organs of government that the public normally associates with fighting wars, devote time and effort to an issue that is branded as hogwash by many on the right of the political spectrum, and the exclusive domain of environmental activists on the left? The simple answer: climate change is, actually, a national security threat.

Crisis And Opportunity In The Environmental Century: Inspiring A Generation To Greatness In The Classroom By Climate Guest Blogger on Aug 30, 2012 at 9:11 am by Stephen Mulkey, via Climate Access As an ecologist, I know that we have precious little time to prepare a generation to respond to the ecological crisis of our planet in peril. As the president of Unity College, I am alarmed by how little progress has been made in focusing higher learning on what is undoubtedly the most important challenge facing humankind. Given the overwhelming scientific evidence of imminent climate disruption, failure to make climate literacy a requisite part of any undergraduate curriculum is inexcusable. Recent papers in the journal Nature show that we have transgressed the boundaries of a safe operating space for humanity with respect to several key environmental factors. Chief among these is climate change, which amplifies the effects of all other critical factors such as freshwater depletion, nitrogen pollution, biodiversity loss, ozone depletion, and changes in land use. There is now mounting evidence that sometime during this century we will reach a state shift in the planet’s ability to support us. Climate change will affect every facet of the academy and change the practice of essentially all fields of study.