World Watch articles from March 2009

World Watch archives from March 2009

Overview.(concrete's effect to climate change)(Brief article)
March 1, 2009... Stepped on for more than 2,300 years, concrete rarely gets the respect it deserves. Perhaps the most ubiquitous building material, concrete strengthens our homes, schools, office buildings, and hospitals. Its manufacture is also among the most...

Doing it better.(LIFE - CYCLE STUDIES)(Brief article)
March 1, 2009... The cement industry's interest in reducing energy costs has led many countries to replace small-scale cement plants with larger, more efficient models. The most efficient kiln models accounted for about 6 percent of China's cement output in...

Production.(LIFE - CYCLE STUDIES)(Brief article)
March 1, 2009... Modern concrete's main ingredient, cement, is most commonly produced using a method invented by Englishman Joseph Aspdin in 1824. His Portland cement (named after the limestone used in St. Paul's Cathedral and Buckingham Palace) mixes a powder...

On "ethics".(FROM READERS)(Letter to the editor)
March 1, 2009... I am writing to object to a strategy recommended by Erik Assadourian under the banner "The Living Earth Ethical Principles" [January/February World Watch]. Where is the ethics in Mr. Assadourian's recommendation to employees of "foot...

The world's in a big mess.(Cartoon)
March 1, 2009... The world's in a big mess because of the things that people do to it. I'll do my bit to help it out by sitting here and doing nothing. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

California: efficient, but ...(FROM READERS)(Letter to the editor)
March 1, 2009... Energy efficiency is indeed the fastest, most cost-effective way to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and combat global climate change. Your article ["Energy Efficiency, Rediscovered," January/February] points to California as "probably...

Office-related carbon emissions surge.(EYE ON EARTH)(Brief article)
March 1, 2009... Growing reliance on the Internet is leading to a rapid increase in greenhouse gas emissions. In 2007, emissions from the world's estimated 30 million computer servers and other information technology (IT) systems accounted for some 2 percent of...

Local currencies grow during economic recession.(EYE ON EARTH)(Brief article)
March 1, 2009... More communities are creating their own "complementary" currencies in an effort to keep wealth in their region. The Berkshare, available in the Berkshires region of the U.S. Northeast, is among the most successful alternatives to the...

Climate protests escalate worldwide.(EYE ON EARTH)(Brief article)
March 1, 2009... Climate activists worldwide are raising the stakes, with many turning to civil disobedience. In recent months activists have chained themselves to coal conveyor belts in Australia, formed port blockades in the Netherlands, and scaled...

Clean coal: wave of the future or empty rhetoric?(EYE ON EARTH)(Brief article)
March 1, 2009... "Clean coal" advertisements became pervasive across the United States in 2008, promising an abundant, cheap, and environmentally sound solution to climate change. Yet clean coal is not currently economical, leading many environmentalists to...

Energy Agency predicts high prices in future.(EYE ON EARTH)(Brief article)
March 1, 2009... The world can expect energy prices to continue their generally upward spiral in the years ahead if global energy policies remain the same, the International Energy Agency (IEA) reported in November. Rapid economic development in China and...

Ecosystem failures suggest global extinction event.(EYE ON EARTH)(Brief article)
March 1, 2009... Rapid releases of greenhouse gas emissions are changing habitats at a rate faster than many of the world's species can tolerate, putting the world at the brink of a mass extinction event, according to the United Nations. "[T]he world is...

Updates.(Calendar)
March 1, 2009... See "Living with Climate Change in the Arctic," September/October 2005, p. 18 Water World Satellite data indicate that more than 2 trillion tons of land ice in Greenland, Alaska, and Antarctica have melted since 2003, in what scientists...

Our panarchic future: a theory that explains the evolution of ecosystems may apply to civilizations as well--and it says we're approaching a critical phase.
March 1, 2009... Buzz Holling, one of the world's great ecologists, is a kind and gracious man, with a shock of white hair and a warm smile. Born in Toronto and educated at the University of Toronto and the University of British Columbia, he worked for many...

Planes, trains, and automobiles: comparing the [CO.sub.2] impacts.
March 1, 2009... More and more people are asking what they can do to reduce their personal impacts on climate change. These include greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions (mainly carbon dioxide, or [CO.sub.2]) from our household fuel and electricity consumption and...

Water wars: is water a human right or a commodity?(WAVE POWER)
March 1, 2009... It is a marker of developed countries that nearly everyone has access to clean water. But roughly 1.1 billion people around the world have no such reliable access, according to the United Nations. The result is both grim and predictable: the...

The Living Earth Ethical Principles: A Family For All Families.(ESSAY)(Essay)
March 1, 2009... The fifth in a series of essays on a system of ecological ethics for living sustainably. This and the remaining essays describe the 10 Living Earth Ethical Principles in detail. For references and additional discussion, visit...

Out of sight, out of mine: ocean dumping of mine wastes; The world's oceans, already imperiled, face a new threat.
March 1, 2009... Beginning in 1996 and continuing through at least mid-2004, the Newmont Minahasa Raya gold mine dumped 2,000 tons per day of wastes into the tropical, coral-rich waters of Buyat Bay, off the island of Sulawesi, Indonesia--waters that previously...

Counting upon happiness.(MATTERS OF SCALE)(Table)
March 1, 2009... Per-capita GDP in Qatar (ranked 1st among 229 countries), $87,600 purchasing power parity basis in Luxembourg (2nd) $79,400 in Bermuda (3rd) $69,900 ...

"Entanglement on the verge of extinction".(Raul Casillas Romo's painting)
March 1, 2009... Raul Casillas Romo is a self-taught artist, born in Los Angeles, California, raised in Guadalajara, Mexico, and currently living in Vancouver, British Colombia. He works for the film industry as a lead set dresser, and on his own paintings and...