you don't have to sure about climate change to be part of the solution?

"A climate change solutions movie that doesn't even care if you believe in climate change."

This documentary prompts me to mention an as yet undigested thought - that a key to reversing climate change lies, not just within the realm of technology or experts, but, for example, in the outsourcing of tasks to a large group of people instead of to contracted specialists. (crowdsourcing) This seems more possible of accomplishment with a paradigm shift. We must not regard the world as a thing to be conquered, but rather we might do well to view it as an integrated system, like a human body.

green consumption calculators: what's your water use?

This week's tips point you to the best online resources to calculate various aspects of your environmental footprint.

Tip #4: Calculate your annual water usage

The average American uses roughly 80 to 100 gallons of water per day, with toilets, showers, and baths ranking as the biggest sources of use. Today's calculator calculates your water footprint for the entire year, accounting for things such as food consumption, bathing, cleaning, outdoor use, and industrial goods.

Tell us: What's your favorite online eco-calculator?

Click on post title to redirect to the source file.

what is the effect of climate change on arctic plant species?

Want access to research about the effects of climate change on plant life in the North American western arctic?  To check out a bunch of botanical bibliographies click this posting title. You will be redirected to E-Flora BC.  All you do next is type 'climate change' in the search bar.

Also check out some of the 17,000 photos on their  'Photography Page'.  Beautiful.

The entire website is a dynamic and easy to navigate electronic atlas of the plants of British Columbia.

My opinion? This concept could be extended to serve and benefit the First Peoples in those communities who wish to keep a written and visual account of plant life as well as stories related to those plants (including customs, traditions and teachings intimately related to the land in which the plants are found)!

where are seven of the world's bionetworks?

Lucky for us there are a large number of rain forests worldwide; they help our global climate tremendously because they absorb a vast quantity of carbon dioxide.

View where are 7 of the world's bionetworks? in a larger map

Click on the link above to view all seven!

will natural disasters increase?

"Major disasters like the Japanese earthquake and tsunami or Pakistan's floods are likely to become more frequent, and global governments must prepare for an uncertain future, according to a British report.

Paddy Ashdown, a member of the British House of Lords and ex-United Nations high representative to Bosnia and Herzegovina, said rich nations must help poorer countries to build up their defences against disasters.

Climate change is also expected to reduce crop yields, "sometimes catastrophically," which will also require a change in the way agencies plan to feed those affected."

British Report via CBC News Online. Click on the post title, 'will natural disasters increase?" to link to the source file 

This report seems only to confirm our opinion that we must both love the earth and regard the world as a human body. What happens to one part of the body, necessarily affects the greater whole.

what's an artificial leaf got to do with it?

"Scientists claim to have found the 'Holy Grail' of science in an artificial leaf that could turn ever British home into its own power station.

The leaf, which is the same size as a playing card, mimics the process of photosynthesis that plants use to convert sunlight and water into energy.

Scientists behind the invention say it could provide an affordable solution to the third world's growing energy crisis."

Click the title 'what, an artificial leaf?' to access the source file

what is the nature of the problem?

We enjoy a stable climate not because the climate is stagnant, but because there are a variety of different forces that shape the climate existing in a dynamic equilibrium.

Let's consider three kinds of problems (systems): Simple; Complicated and Complex

Simple 

There are a couple of linear variables; x + y = z; we know x and y and we just need to figure out what z is.

Example of a Simple problem baking a muffin: if we have the same recipe we can bake the muffin basically every time. There are a couple of linear variable relationships involved. It's simple.

Complicated

A bunch of simple problems put together; the nature of the problem doesn’t change, it just gets bigger.

Example of a Complicated problem building a rocket ship It is basically a whole bunch of muffin recipes put together. If we figure out the inputs and how to put all the elements together we’ll get the same rocket every single time.

Complex 
It's not different from simple or complicated problems due to scale; it’s not EVEN BIGGER than building a rocket ship (it can be small problem or issue).  Complex problems are ones in which variables have multiple/different kinds of relationships with one another. And changing one variable changes other variables, which changes other variables. So you get what are called feedback loops between the different variables.

Something happens to x which influences y which influences z which influences y again which influences x again. All these things are going on and it becomes harder to predict what is going to happen.

Examples of a Complex problem the human body or raising a child there are a vast number of variables that influence one another in all sorts of different ways. There is no recipe for raising a kid, because he/she will always going to turn out differently and you can’t predict what is going to happen.

our climate: Our climate is neither simple nor complicated; it is deeply complex because there are all sorts of different forces that shape each

other and co-evolve together that maintain a dynamic equilibrium. Why is it important to recognize that the climate complex system? Because of tipping points.

Over time, a complex system like the climate will tend to develop into a stable state where the different forces are balancing each other. In that context the particular balanced forces are able to maintain the stability of the system so that if one variable starts changing, it will cause feedback loops that actually reduce the impact of that change on the rest of the system.

For Instance If

On a planet wide scale we get more & more animals exhaling carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. That CO2 is food for plants so you would get more and more plant growth to absorb the C02. One variable changes – the amount of C02 released by animals - and another variable - the amount of plant life that is reabsorbing that CO2 - would change to balance out the overall change to the system. Long term, stable systems are filled with those kinds of self maintaining feedback loops.

What happens in a complex system when one variable changes so much or so rapidly that the existing self-maintaining feedback loops aren’t able to balance it out anymore?

Eventually they reach a tipping point. Past that tipping point that neat balancing of forces no longer functions and the whole system changes in ways that are very difficult to predict while the system tries to reorganize itself to find a new balance.  

(BIG shout out to Jamie Biggar for delineating & defining the types of problems & for explaining why climate is complex. He was one of the Canadian Youth Delegates to the Copenhagen Climate Summit. He focused on domestic citizen engagement & new media.