Toilet Paper? So Twentieth Century.

by Iva Skoch on

Paging through the September issue of Backpacker Magazine, “The Global Warming Issue”, I came across all kinds of advertisements catering to the global warming hype. Gotta love capitalism at work!

One of them especially caught my eye (so much for not being affected by ads): an invention which helps “washowipe” your way to a greener planet. Kind of like a toilet bowl and a bidet in one. Yes, this toilet bowl “stream of water” allegedly helps reduce the toilet paper usage by 50%, saving 27 million trees, 1.5 billion gallons of oil and 15 trillion watts hr of energy.

What about saving water? They don’t say.

However, a website testimonial says: “My wife and I use it daily. I frequently make out of town business trips. It is very difficult for me to use toilet paper during these trips.” A.D. Palo Alto, California.

I saw something similar in China, I think. There was no toilet paper, just a stream of. water. Oh wait, that was actually urine. Now that I think about it, that was totally eco-friendly!

Kilimanjaro’s Glaciers May Last Longer Than Predicted

by Willy Volk on

Weirdness.

In contrast to reports of global wreaking havoc worldwide — from Kiribati, to Greenland; from Costa Rica, to Siberia; from the US, to numerous other destinations — a joint Austrian-U.S. research team is reporting that there’s one place that isn’t succumbing to global warming quite as fast as expected: Kilimanjaro.

After reviewing 7 years of measurements taken from weather stations atop Africa’s tallest mountain, the researchers have concluded that Kili’s ice fields will be around for another 30 to 40 years, at least — and the glaciers on its slopes could last even longer. That’s pretty sweet news, especially considering Kili’s icepacks have been retreating since the 1800s, and scientists had thought they could disappear altogether as early as 2020.

Before you get all giddy about the prospect of the ice pack being around forever, it’s important to bear in mind that the glaciers now measure about 0.8 square miles, down from 4.6 square miles in 1912. However, it appears that the 2006 El Niño brought heavy snowfall to the mountain that fattened the peak’s glaciers, increasing their thickness even though their surface area stayed the same. Of course, 0.8 square miles is still pretty tiny, but not too tiny to plan that once-in-a-lifetime trip to tackle Kili.

[Thanks, Marilyn!]

Kiribati: A Disappearing Nation?

by Willy Volk on

Ever since I read J. Maarten Troost’s hilarious book, The Sex Lives of Cannibals, I’ve wanted to visit the island nation in which the story takes place: Kiribati. It appears that there’s not a whole lot to do there — except go diving and savor a culture fairly different from my own — but that’s sort of the point.

Kiribati — a remote nation of 33 islands, 14 hours by plane from the nearest land mass — occupies roughly 2 million square miles. Most of that, of course, is Pacific Ocean. Recently, the government shocked the world when it created the world’s third largest marine park in the area. In some ways, setting aside so much area to a marine park may have been proactive. After all, it appears Kiribati is disappearing one inch at a time.

Thanks to global warming, sea levels are rising, slowly claiming the land that hundreds of thousands of people currently occupy. Anote Tong, the region’s president, expects Kiribati to be unlivable soon; unless something is done soon, he fears the entire nation will be gone — its people, its language, its culture — within 50 years. If you’re interested in learning more about Kiribati’s disappearing act, check out Bill Weir’s excellent video report of the island that’s slowly sinking. Pay no attention to the ironic commercial that precedes the video.

Guess I need to make my travel plans soon.

Where on Earth? (Week 6): Zurich, Switzerland

by Justin Glow on

Two of our readers got it right this week, but there can only be one winner. Congratulations go out to David Troyer for being the first to know the location of the photo above as Zurich, Switzerland. A warm thanks to Flickr user, ubiquity_zh, for capturing this stunning image of Switzerland’s largest city.

And no, it’s not a photograph of the first tornado to ever hit Zurich (actually, Switzerland does get the occasional twister). It’s smoke rising from a factory near the shores of Lake Zurich. The photo is titled “Feinstaub III,” which literally translates to “fine dust.” It’s a term that’s concerned with the quality of the air, and seeing the plume of smoke rise over the beautiful lake with the Swiss Alps standing silently in the background, you gain a better understanding of why the photographer chose such a title.

See you next week for another edition of Where on Earth.

Let There Be Darkness

by Iva Skoch on

This evening between 7:55-8pm CET in Europe, some European cities–Paris and Athens among them–went dark for five minutes. Not by accident, either.

Tomorrow, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change will unveil a long-awaited report on global warming. And, apparently, nobody (aside from global warming deniers and skeptical environmentalists) expects it to be pretty.

Pressure is building on U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to call an emergency summit of world leaders to break the deadlock over cutting greenhouse gases.

I wonder how much money would be saved by keeping the Eiffel Tower dark indefinitely. The 20,000 flashing lights sure make it look more visible to air traffic though. Oh, but wait, air travel is bad for the environment, too. This is where I might stop being an environmentalist. I guess you have to pick your battles.