What's that, up in the air?

This video, 24 hours of global air traffic, made me Google.

An 'old' (2005) article in Energy Bulletin reads: 'Air travel produces 19 times the greenhouse gas emissions of trains; and 190 times that of a ship'. Clear. I suppose it won't be much different since the 2005 data. Perhaps the trains became cleaner. In that case it could be that it is now 25 times the emission of  trains. Nonetheless...

I googled a bit more, but couldn't find so quick the current exact amount of emission of 24 hours of global air traffic. Nor have I found the right numbers per year. I can't exactly tell you what the percentage is of pollution by airplanes. It's a bit the same story as this thing with the emails of scientists that leaked before the Kopenhagen summit: they supposevly overreacted on the actual state of the world. But even so, it is a fact that we have global warming, that our world is sick. It's in the same way that I might not know the exact numbers, but I know that airplanes contribute in a great way to the sickness of the world. I participate equally in this polluting, or maybe even more as I travel quite a bit for work.

Branson

Sir Richard Branson (Virgin) acknowledges it too and started to undertake action. He says he's putting GBP 1.6 billion to the table to invest into new green technologies. He hopes to create a biofuel for flying planes. See Friends Of The Earth for the interview. “Because I’m in one of the dirty businesses, I have all the more responsibility to do something,” he said in Times Online.

So, without the exact numbers at hand, having the assurance of Branson it is 'one of the dirty businesses', the YouTube video 24 hours Air Traffic around the globe almost gives me a soar throat, just by looking at it.

In case you’re interested: Here's a European one. And here a video for the USA. This too is: an interesting picture.

The Christmas tree of Athens

Look at that. It's kind of nice this year. The Christmas tree on Syntagma Square in Athens has a feelgood touch. It is a tree created from 250 fir trees that will be planted after Christmas in the area's that have suffered most from the summer fires.

Perhaps that this tree prevents the idiots who felt like burning the city and its tree last year from doing it again.

It's a damn mess!

I can't resist. Need to share something about it with the world (which - in my blog case - has a population of 42). But it's a damn big mess in Greece!

It has to be said: it’s not the easiest of times for the Greeks. The whole world is looking at the country wondering what exactly the financial mess is they’re in. “We’re not the next Iceland". Or Dubai, assured the Greek Minister of Finance.

Rubbish!
But the Greeks are actually in a real mess! The trash is literally piling up in the streets. And why? The garbage men are on strike. “Because they strike every year”, is the best answer you will get on the question ‘why?’.

The media hardly pays attention to it and if they do, it is a rather dry summary of events. The people don’t mention it. But it starts to smell. It starts to create a threat to the health of children who pass the piles when they go to school.

Tired
It’s difficult to solve a problem if nobody makes it his problem. The country is tired. Tired of everything that’s going on, everything that could be coming (riots to celebrate last years riots, tax problems, more corruption, whatever).

So it is a mess in Greece. And it keeps piling up.

The Story Of Cap & Trade

Watch and learn!

"This is a story about a world obsessed with stuff. It's a story about a system in crisis. We're trashing the planet, we're trashing each other and we're not even having fun". With those words Annie Leonard introduces her film 'The Story of Cap & Trade'.

Annie's film is one of the clearest and gripping explanations I have seen until now on environmental threats, poking through the realities of the big boys, explaining it in such a way that the average news consumer can also follow it: with drawings and great narrative. Like this our news media could actually be able to present it. In understandable wording. But, there's probably no journalist left with the professional quality to do so. At least they understand the newsworthiness of Janet Jackson's nipple or Tom Cruise jumping around on Oprah's couch.  

There seems little 'green' left in the Copenhagen results, if we watch and listen to Annie Leonard (and I hope you will!). Annie started the highly approachable Story Of Stuff Project. On her website Annie is described as follows: "Annie Leonard, an activist who has spent the past 10 years traveling the globe fighting environmental threats, narrates the Story of Stuff, delivering a rapid-fire, often humorous and always engaging story about “all our stuff—where it comes from and where it goes when we throw it away.”

Annie Leonard says she researches her Stuff, that she is not just saying something. And she's doing a great job, as you can see in the film. She's like the perfect person to read a book to an adult. It's very pleasant listening to her. She keeps your attention. I became an instant fan of her style and what she points out.

The Past Decade (by Newsweek)

Looking back

Nice going of Newsweek. They came with a special decade dedicate. Some 'Oh yeah, that's right, that happened too' top tens. The video covers the first decade of the millennium in seven minutes. Kind of USA oriented, but then again. Whatever they do there impacts the world. At least it helps the media grow in other countries, as they publish as much of the USA's irrelevant news on their sites. I mean, how can a nipple become world news?