cascadian telegrams

visualizing the crisis in the gulf

likely this will be the third worst oil spill in history.  The worst was the Arabian Gulf/Kuwait in 1991 – Saddam’s forces deliberately dumping oil into the gulf to thwart landing by American troops, and the second was an offshore well off of Mexico in 1980.

Here is a google spreadsheet with data breakout.  The NYT has a useful interactive graphic.

 

The long-term environmental effect could be catastrophic:

According to NOAA researcher Samantha Joye, the undersea oil poses a direct threat to large marine wildlife, such as fish, sharks and cetaceans, and also to the tiny stuff, including zooplankton, shrimp, corals, crabs and worms. By endangering these latter populations, the foundation of the marine food chain, the oil could have chronic long-term effects on the wider Gulf ecosystem, including the industries -- more shrimp and oysters come from the Gulf than anywhere else in the world -- that rely on them.
Read more: http://www.thedailygreen.com/environmental-news/latest/gulf-oil-spill-impacts-460610#ixzz0q71CHu5U

Sam Harris: Science can answer moral questions (TED)

Sam Harris is one of my favorite guys, and he gives a great talk here…

 

“… what the world needs now. It needs people like ourselves to admit that there are right and wrong answers to questions of human flourishing, and morality relates to that domain of facts. It is possible for individuals, and even for whole cultures to care about the wrong things. Which is to say that it's possible for them to have beliefs and desires that reliably lead to needless human suffering. Just admitting this will transform our discourse about morality. We live in a world in which the boundaries between nations mean less and less, and they will one day mean nothing.”

I expect that worldwide universal standards for morality -- and world government -- are inevitable, but not in my lifetime.

the symphony of science

brilliant:

sourcemap

(hat tip to my friend Richard for this one)

I’ve thought about this idea for ages, and someone is finally implementing it:  Show me precisely the source (and by extension, a way to gauge environmental impact) for all the materials in things I purchase so that I can make good decisions.

sourcemap is brilliant.  From the site:

SourceMap is an open source project about where things come from.

Simply put: We believe that people have the right to know where things come from and what they are made of.
Sourcemap is a platform for researching, optimizing and sharing the supply chains behind a number of everyday products (more info).

Here’s a snippet from their site of what’s behind a “typical laptop computer”

very short history of planet earth

Kevin Kelly’s always-interesting current trends blog points to a very short history of planet earth… worth a read:

"The Earth has survived some remarkable disasters. To keep our tale brief, let us focus on four: the Big Splat about 4.55 billion years ago, the Late Heavy Bombardment about 4 billion years ago, the Oxygen Catastrophe roughly 2.5 billion years ago, and the Snowball Earth events about 850 million years ago. The details of these events --- and indeed, whether they even happened at all --- remain controversial. We shall present some widely accepted theories without dwelling on caveats or alternative scenarios. In every case, there is interesting physics involved in testing these theories."

amory lovins for energy secretary

(I just posted this over at daily kos, x-posting here for posterity…)

The web is now chockablock with "Open Letters to President-Elect Obama" where the world feels compelled to climb on our collective soapbox in the hope that he, like Santa, will read each letter and put something nice in the Christmas sack.

But this post isn't addressed directly to Obama... it is for you, netizens.  It is a plea to help push the idea of Amory Lovins for Energy Czar in an Obama administration (an idea that has been pushed by Chris McGowan and others).

In our current situation -- a listing auto industry, tanking economy and soaring energy prices -- I can think of no more important position than Energy Secretary, and no better place to affect change. 

The auto industry is asking for a huge bailout.  Many jobs will likely depend on the outcome.  But the big three automakers have dug their own, deep hole by building vehicles that are inefficient and that fewer and fewer people are willing to buy.  They have also resisted attempts to increase fuel efficiency standards and they haven't seriously invested in LEV/ZEV research such as Toyota or Honda have. 

So clearly, we are at an inflection point.  A targeted bailout with requirements to invest in building LEV/ZEVs is an opportunity to affect our auto industry, our energy future, our economy and the environment with a single stroke.  It is also an opportunity for an Obama administration to demonstrate leadership and boldness. 

But who to lead such an effort?  The names that have been floated around the 'net thus far -- Schwarzenegger, Sibelius etc. -- are not the names of people with the vision or background to enact such a game-changing gesture.

But Amory Lovins is such a peson.   He's a scientist, entrepeneur,  environmentalist, MacArthur Fellowship recipient and inventor of the hypercar, a 100 mpg design prototype.  He's an expert in energy efficiency and author of 29 books including "Winning the Energy Endgame".  He received a Time Magazine "Hero of the Planet" award in 2007 and has advised the pentagon and over a dozen countries on energy and security issues.

Drafting Lovins for Energy Czar and striking a forward-looking bailout deal with the big three would be game-changing moves by the Obama adminstration.  It would signal to Detroit and the world that we in the United States are serious about energy efficiency and transportation, and that we're willing to compete to build the cars and infrastructure for the future.  Cars that US workers would build.  Cars that we could once again export to the world.

[Update:  Well that went over like a lead balloon… but I feel better for trying!]

the lucy show

We went with John and Jacki to see 'Lucy's Lgacy' at the Pacific Science Center on Sunday... it was great.

Some great fossil replicas there and demonstrations of differences between us and our ancestors by comparing attributes such as our walking gait (as anatomically-modern humans) versus apes and our ancestors, relative brain volume etc.  Also some terrific dioramas showing humanoid evolution.  Recommended, especially for budding young paleontologists.

It's worth it just for the trip down to Seattle Center.  The Marion Oliver McCaw Hall has a great mobile-style sculpture hanging in the lobby, made from construction debris and equipment such as contorted painting ladders... marvellous.

The Big Here (Kevin Kelly)

Kevin Kelly has a great post entitled The Big Here which asks "30 questions to elevate your awareness (and literacy) of the greater place in which you live".  Many of these are questions that I've often wondered about but don't know for my city, Seattle:

30 questions to elevate your awareness (and literacy) of the greater place in which you live:

1) Point north. [Recommendations for answer methods]

2) What time is sunset today? [Recommendations]

3) Trace the water you drink from rainfall to your tap. [Recommendations]

4) When you flush, where do the solids go? What happens to the waste water? [Recommendations]

5) How many feet above sea level are you? [Recommendations]

6) What spring wildflower is consistently among the first to bloom here? [Recommendations]

7) How far do you have to travel before you reach a different watershed? Can you draw the boundaries of yours? [Recommendations]

8) Is the soil under your feet, more clay, sand, rock or silt? [Recommendations]

9) Before your tribe lived here, what did the previous inhabitants eat and how did they sustain themselves? [Recommendations]

10) Name five native edible plants in your neighborhood and the season(s) they are available. [Recommendations]

11) From what direction do storms generally come? [Recommendations]

12) Where does your garbage go? [Recommendations]

13) How many people live in your watershed? [Recommendations]

14) Who uses the paper/plastic you recycle from your neighborhood? [Recommendations]

15) Point to where the sun sets on the equinox. How about sunrise on the summer solstice? [Recommendations]

16) Where is the nearest earthquake fault? When did it last move? [Recommendations]

17) Right here, how deep do you have to drill before you reach water? [Recommendations]

18) Which (if any) geological features in your watershed are, or were, especially respected by your community, or considered sacred, now or in the past? [Recommendations]

19) How many days is the growing season here (from frost to frost)? [Recommendations]

20) Name five birds that live here. Which are migratory and which stay put? [Recommendations]
21) What was the total rainfall here last year? [Recommendations]

22) Where does the pollution in your air come from? [Recommendations]

23) If you live near the ocean, when is high tide today? [Recommendations]

24) What primary geological processes or events shaped the land here? [Recommendations]

25) Name three wild species that were not found here 500 years ago. Name one exotic species that has appeared in the last 5 years. [Recommendations]

26) What minerals are found in the ground here that are (or were) economically valuable? [Recommendations]

27) Where does your electric power come from and how is it generated? [Recommendations]

28) After the rain runs off your roof, where does it go? [Recommendations]

29) Where is the nearest wilderness? When was the last time a fire burned through it? [Recommendations]

30) How many days till the moon is full? [Recommendations]

The Bigger Here Bonus Questions:

31) What species once found here are known to have gone extinct? [Recommendations]

32) What other cities or landscape features on the planet share your latitude? [Recommendations]

33) What was the dominant land cover plant here 10,000 years ago? [Recommendations]
34) Name two places on different continents that have similar sunshine/rainfall/wind and temperature patterns to here. [Recommendations]