An Eco-System of One’s Own: Brushing your teeth, checking your e-mail, ordering lunch, hitting the gym—almost every move you make affects the health of the planet. From the cell-phone/gorilla connection to the growing e-waste factor, Alex Shoumatoff explores the global impact of the average American routine. [Vanity Fair]
The Great Forgotten Clean-Energy Source: Geothermal: If we could extract all the geothermal energy that exists underneath the United States to a depth of two miles, it would supply America’s power demands (at the current rate of usage) for the next 30,000 years. Getting at all that energy is not feasible—there are technological and economic impediments—but drawing on just 5 percent of the geothermal wealth would generate enough electricity to meet the needs of 260 million Americans. [Discover]
The Gasping Forest: Crucible of Earth’s ecological future, the Amazon generates 20 percent of the planet’s oxygen, contains 15 to 20 percent of its life-forms, and covers 2,722,000 square miles in nine countries. But global warming and deforestation, which clears 7,500 square miles of rain forest a year, are dehydrating the basin and threatening all the life within it. Amid a vast, stunningly diverse menagerie—glowing blue fungi, rapacious pink dolphins, a rare harpy eagle—Alex Shoumatoff encounters brutal warnings that Amazonia is in meltdown. [Vanity Fair]
Dust plays huge role in climate change: Tiny particles heat up the atmosphere faster than scientist once believed. The good news is this dust can be cleaned up fairly quickly. [CSM]
The World Bank’s Climate Profiteering: The bank is turning dirty carbon credits into gold — bad news for those seeking a real solution to the climate crisis. [AlterNet]
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