On a warming Earth, seas inevitably rise, as ice on land melts and makes its way to the ocean. And not only that — the ocean itself swells, because warm water expands. We already know this is happening — according to NASA, seas are currently rising at a rate of 3.5 millimeters per year, which converts to about 1.4 inches per decade.

However, scientists have long expected that the story should be even worse than this. Predictions suggest that seas should not only rise, but that the rise should accelerate, meaning that the annual rate of rise should itself increase over time. That’s because the great ice sheets, Greenland and Antarctica, should lose more and more mass, and the heat in the ocean should also increase.

The problem, or even mystery, is that scientists haven’t seen…

Worthy of being cherished?

W.J. Astore

The U.S. Constitution and especially the Bill of Rights is the foundation of our democracy.  If you had to pick a right to celebrate, perhaps even to cherish, which would it be?  There are so many important ones, such as freedom of speech, freedom of the press, freedom of assembly, freedom of religion, our right to privacy (the fourth amendment), and so on. There are other amendments that righted old wrongs, including prohibitions against slavery and the granting of the vote to Blacks and women.

Yet which right/amendment is the best known in U.S. politics today?  The second amendment, or the right to bear arms, which Mike Pence referred to yesterday when he noted, “people who cherish the Second Amendment have a very clear choice in this election.”

OK, I’ve owned guns and enjoy shooting, but I hardly “cherish” my right to spend thousands…

UNOPS is seeking to recruit a Legal Water Expert to develop a national Water Legislation/Act for the government of Mauritius.

Vacancy code: VA/2016/B5303/10626

Position title: Legal Water Expert

Level: ICS-11

Department/office: AFR, KEOH, Kenya

Duty station: Home based

Contract type: International ICA

Contract level: IICA-3

Duration: 4 months

Application period: 10-Aug-2016 to 18-Aug-2016

For more information on the complete Terms of reference and how to apply, kindly visit the UNOPS Global Personnel Recruitment System website.

20 years ago I dived the Great barrier Reef for the first of dozens of times. Whilst in Cairns I attended a diving seminar focused on the GBR. The fantastic Irish marine biologist conducting the seminar suggested we all congratulate each other for being the last generation to dive the GBR before it died.

What he didn’t explain thoroughly, is that the reef systems are the incubator of the oceans and represent beginning of the marine food web. That web is unraveling rapidly in a nonlinear, exponential manner.  A full 90% of the planets oxygen is produced by the flora and fauna in the oceans and the bulk of the planets protein emanates from them. This will soon collapse and there will be no more food nor oxygen coming from those oceans, chaos, death and suffering will prevail on a planetary level.

Runaway abrupt climate change will extinguish most, if…

Minister without Portfolio in the Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation, Hon. Daryl Vaz (standing, left) and General Manager, Country Department, Caribbean Group, Inter-American Development Bank, Therese Turner Jones (standing, right), observe as (from left) Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation, Audrey Sewell; Managing Director, Development Bank of Jamaica, Milverton Reynolds; General Manager, JN Small Business Loans, Gillian Hyde; and Programme Manager, Environmental Foundation of Jamaica (EFJ), Allison Rangolan McFarlane sign the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for the Adaptation Programme and Financing Mechanism Project at Jamaica House, in St. Andrew, on July 28. Under the initiative, US$7.2 million will be made available to micro, small and medium-size enterprises (MSMEs) in the tourism and agricultural sectors to finance climate-change adaptation initiatives islandwide.

A total of US$7.2 million will be made available to micro, small and medium-size enterprises (MSMEs) in the tourism and agricultural sectors, to…

(Last week’s Calbuco eruption in Chile spews massive cloud of ash and sets off a fireworks display of volcanic lightning. Image source: IFLScience.)

If you look at the geological record of the end of the last ice age, there’s something that crops up that’s more than a little bit disturbing. The approximate 10,000 year period in which 4 degrees Celsius of warming took place was also punctuated by a rash of intense volcanic activity, earthquakes and tsunamis.

It was a time of extraordinary geophysical changes that not only saw the, sometimes catastrophic, melting of massive ice sheets and extreme rises in sea level — it also saw severe geological upheaval. In one region alone — Iceland — instances of volcanic eruption increased 30-50 fold during a period starting about 12,000 years ago. Overall, global spikes in volcanism began near the start of major melt events at around 18,000…

#5CsDailyTips

The terms “green” or “sustainable” often refer to products, services or practices that allow for economic development while conserving for future generations. A green product is one that has less of an environmental impact or is less detrimental to human health than the traditional product equivalent. While on the topic of defining a green product, you must realize that almost no product will ever be 100% “green,” since all product development will have some impact on the surrounding environment.

When looking for green products, look for the certification labeling, if that is not on the product then keep on walking. Over the next few days, we will feature the most common certification labels and their meaning.

Green Seal

Green Seal Certification ensures that a product meets rigorous, science-based leadership standards.  It is a lifecycle assessment based labeling program for building products, green operations and maintenance procedures.  A green seal…

Today’s satellite pass by NASA’s LANCE MODIS array tells a dire story that practically no one in the global mainstream media is talking about. Northern and Central Siberia is burning. Scores of massive fires, some the size of cities and small states, are throwing off a great pall of smoke 2,500 miles long.

The vast boreal forests are lighting off like climate-change-enhanced natural fireworks. The tundra and permafrost lands — some of them frozen for hundreds of thousands to millions of years — are thawing and igniting. But for all of the loudly roaring fires, most of the major media reporting agencies have thus far produced only deafening silence.

Country-Sized Swath of Siberia is Covered With Wildfires

(Large sections of Russia and Eastern Europe are blanketed by smoke from massive Siberian wildfires in today’s LANCE MODIS satellite shot.)

Imagine an enormous rectangle. At its northwestern end is the Yamal Peninsula…