"

That might work in a small greenhouse or in a lab, but on a whole planet you’ll run into the fact that the ecosphere is incredibly complex. That extra CO2 means a lot of extra heat, and that will have all sorts of ramifications.

Sure, growing pineapples in Toronto might be fun, but what do you think will happen in Kansas when the summer heat gets cranked up to broil, and changing weather patterns dry up all the rain for a few months at a time?

"

Phil Plait at Slate calls The Wall Street Journal’s defense of CO2 is ‘monumentally naive’

“This building puts 4,450 households on two acres and it is actually designed with energy conservation in mind. By going huge they are getting tremendous manufacturing efficiencies; by going vertical they get the kind of repetition that makes it affordable. By going half a mile high and 220 stories they are going to get noticed.”
That is Lloyd Alter describing the sustainable case for what will be the world’s tallest building. See more pictures and a video here: One Building, One City: World’s tallest prefab, Sky City, is breaking ground in June

“This building puts 4,450 households on two acres and it is actually designed with energy conservation in mind. By going huge they are getting tremendous manufacturing efficiencies; by going vertical they get the kind of repetition that makes it affordable. By going half a mile high and 220 stories they are going to get noticed.”

That is Lloyd Alter describing the sustainable case for what will be the world’s tallest building. See more pictures and a video here: One Building, One City: World’s tallest prefab, Sky City, is breaking ground in June

This performance of David Bowie’s “Space Oddity” by International Space Station Commander Chris Hadfield has been seen and shared by everyone and their mother — seriously, your mom has probably already written about this on Facebook — but it is too wonderful to not share again.
via Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield’s David Bowie cover is an important moment for science

This performance of David Bowie’s “Space Oddity” by International Space Station Commander Chris Hadfield has been seen and shared by everyone and their mother — seriously, your mom has probably already written about this on Facebook — but it is too wonderful to not share again.

via Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield’s David Bowie cover is an important moment for science

That the viral response to the music video has created a moment where it is seen as advantageous for editors to program more space-related content (including a post like this, I know) is precisely the goal of using media in the ways Hadfield has. He and his team have brought the world a view of space we have never seen in a way we have never seen. With the myriad issues we face in which science plays a role in solving, we need more people to appreciate and admire science and scientists of all types, so making the subject fun and accessible in space is a great way to do it.

Lastly, as Bonnie Malkin at The Telegraph notes “Hadfield will never need to buy a drink on Earth again,” so he’s also got that going for him, which is nice.

Artist Sonia Rentsch created this striking series of sculptures for January Biannual (photographed by Albert Comper and art direction by Olivia Nichols), using natural materials like leaves, sticks and seed pods to mimic the form of guns and other weapons. Entitled “Harm Less,” the images stir thoughts of beauty and violence within man and nature.
See the rest: Artist Sonia Rentsch creates guns made from nature

Artist Sonia Rentsch created this striking series of sculptures for January Biannual (photographed by Albert Comper and art direction by Olivia Nichols), using natural materials like leaves, sticks and seed pods to mimic the form of guns and other weapons. Entitled “Harm Less,” the images stir thoughts of beauty and violence within man and nature.

See the rest: Artist Sonia Rentsch creates guns made from nature

tackett:

“As a medium for social change, posters record our struggles for peace, social justice, environmental defense, and liberation from oppression.”
via Art for Advocacy: 13 Posters for Sustainable Social Change

tackett:

“As a medium for social change, posters record our struggles for peace, social justice, environmental defense, and liberation from oppression.”

via Art for Advocacy: 13 Posters for Sustainable Social Change

Josh Fox, the filmmaker behind Gasland and Gasland II is the guest on Andrew Sullivan’s Ask Me Anything series this week. Yesterday, he discussedhow he got involved in this fight. Today, he has a great answer to the question of whether natural gas is a necessary evil.

Watch this. Important summary of how workers and residents became sick from BP’s use of toxic dispersant. via Crude oil is made 52x more toxic when combined with dispersant (VIDEO)

Watch this. Important summary of how workers and residents became sick from BP’s use of toxic dispersant.

via Crude oil is made 52x more toxic when combined with dispersant (VIDEO)

Solar-powered seed sowing machines spread flowers when air pollution rises: “The solar-powered machines would be filled with flower seeds and when on-board sensors detect high pollution levels, the machine would release small quantities of those seeds. As elevated pollution continues, the machine would keep releasing seeds. The effect would be that the more polluted an area becomes, the more flowers grow in the area around the device, which would signal the need for better quality in a beautiful and artistic way.”

Solar-powered seed sowing machines spread flowers when air pollution rises: “The solar-powered machines would be filled with flower seeds and when on-board sensors detect high pollution levels, the machine would release small quantities of those seeds. As elevated pollution continues, the machine would keep releasing seeds. The effect would be that the more polluted an area becomes, the more flowers grow in the area around the device, which would signal the need for better quality in a beautiful and artistic way.”

"Cynthia Giles, the E.P.A. assistant administrator for enforcement and compliance, said that the State Department had failed to adequately support its two fundamental conclusions supporting the project — that the climate change effects of building the pipeline would be negligible, and that Canada would develop the oil sands regardless of whether the $7 billion pipeline is built."

The latest on Keystone XL: EPA criticizes State, while activists rally opposition 

This concentrates thousands of suns into tiny super-high-efficiency solar cells, while costing 3x less than comparable systems. Very cool.
http://www.treehugger.com/renewable-energy/ibm-solar-collector-magnifies-sun-2000x-without-cooking-itself.html

This concentrates thousands of suns into tiny super-high-efficiency solar cells, while costing 3x less than comparable systems. Very cool.

http://www.treehugger.com/renewable-energy/ibm-solar-collector-magnifies-sun-2000x-without-cooking-itself.html

New York City is getting electric taxis. Only a handful, but you have to start somewhere.
http://www.treehugger.com/slideshows/cars/new-york-city-launch-electric-leaf-taxis-pilot-program/

New York City is getting electric taxis. Only a handful, but you have to start somewhere.

http://www.treehugger.com/slideshows/cars/new-york-city-launch-electric-leaf-taxis-pilot-program/

A non-profit has created a genetic bank of the biggest trees in the world and wants to clone them and reforest the world with them!

http://www.treehugger.com/natural-sciences/non-profit-wants-clone-worlds-oldest-trees-reforest-planet.html

A non-profit has created a genetic bank of the biggest trees in the world and wants to clone them and reforest the world with them!

http://www.treehugger.com/natural-sciences/non-profit-wants-clone-worlds-oldest-trees-reforest-planet.html

:(
via Confused koala discovers his home has been cut down