Filed under: greenporpoise
“Our oceans have been the victims of a giant Ponzi scheme, waged with Bernie Madoff–like callousness by the world’s fisheries. Beginning in the 1950s, as their operations became increasingly industrialized–with onboard refrigeration, acoustic fish-finders, and, later, GPS–they first depleted stocks of cod, hake, flounder, sole, and halibut in the Northern Hemisphere. As those stocks disappeared, the fleets moved southward, to the coasts of developing nations and, ultimately, all the way to the shores of Antarctica, searching for icefishes and rockcods, and, more recently, for small, shrimplike krill. As the bounty of coastal waters dropped, fisheries moved further offshore, to deeper waters. And, finally, as the larger fish began to disappear, boats began to catch fish that were smaller and uglier–fish never before considered fit for human consumption.” Link@tnr.com
“Bialowieza 
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“As a young child (or perhaps even an adult) who hasn’t dreamed of living in a tree house? Some structures are built on trees or hung from trees, but some unusual tree houses are even grown from trees or built right into a tree. Some people live in trees as a luxury, some to help save the environment and others out of tradition or necessity. Here are ten incredible tree house designs that range from functional to fanciful, sustainable to strange and affordable to incredibly expensive.”
“The vast majority of food lovers will, of course, find the idea of going completely veggie, whatever the motive, untenable, if not downright hilarious. 
“When you think of growing your own food, you probably think of endless rows of corn, the middle of nowhere, people in overalls and dial-up internet. You’re also probably thinking about hours spent planting seeds, mulching leaves and plowing soil. But there’s a better way to harvest your own crops that works especially well for those of use living in urban areas (with high-speed internet and no room to drive a tractor). It’s known as square foot gardening.” 
“Naturism began as a self-help reform movement in reaction to the debilitating aspects of 
“Craig Venter, the controversial DNA researcher involved in the race to decipher the human genetic code, has built a synthetic chromosome out of laboratory chemicals and is poised to announce the creation of the first new artificial life form on Earth. The announcement will herald a giant leap forward in the development of designer genomes. It is certain to provoke heated debate about the ethics of creating new species and could unlock the door to new energy sources and techniques to combat global warming.” 
“Welcome to Consumer Consequences, our interactive game designed to illustrate the impact of our lifestyles on the Earth. It’s part of American Public Media’s special series, “Consumed,” which explores whether the modern American lifestyle is sustainable in the long run. Consumer Consequences will ask you a series of questions about your lifestyle, and as you play, it will show you how many “Earths” of natural resources it would take to sustain all 6.6 billion humans… if everyone lived like you.”
“Today, there seems to be a solid resistance to acknowledging animal power as a serious topic even for light conversation. It goes like this. You’re enjoying drinks among friends of like political persuasion who share your dismay at how consumerism, corporate greed, runaway technology—all that stuff—are ravaging the environment and heating up the planet. All agree that oil and the internal combustion engine are principal agents in this catastrophe, so you suggest that a partial return to animal power, in agriculture at least, might—just possibly—take some of the pressure off. Your friends fidget and avert their eyes, then change the subject.” 
“Depending on the crops being grown, a single vertical farm could allow thousands of farmland acres to be permanently reforested. For the moment, these calculations remain highly speculative, but a real-life example offers a clue: After a strawberry farm in Florida was wiped out by Hurricane Andrew, the owners built a hydroponic farm. By growing strawberries indoors and stacking layers on top of each other, they now produce on one acre of land what used to require 30 acres.” 
“The last time I drew attention to the hazards of making diesel fuel from vegetable oils, I received as much abuse as I have ever been sent for my stance on the Iraq war. The biodiesel missionaries, I discovered, are as vociferous in their denial as the executives of Exxon. I am now prepared to admit that my previous column was wrong. But they’re not going to like it. I was wrong because I underestimated the fuel’s destructive impact.”