State of the Planet

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FRIDAY, 13 JUNE

It’s a unicorn! Pix! Well, sorta. It's actually a baby deer that was born—with a genetic flaw of only having one horn in the center of his head—in captivity in a research habitat in the Italian town of Prato. Gilberto Tozzi, director of the Center of Natural Sciences in Prato said that this is the first time he's ever seen anything like this. We say, awww. -- Jezebel
Yank tanks stagger under petrol prices. The American consumer is adapting to petrol prices much faster than expected. Car makers are phasing out gas guzzlers like SUVs in response. Even the future of the Hummer is in doubt. – NYT
2,000 year old tree. Israeli researchers who grew a sapling from a date seed found at the ancient fortress Masada say the seed was about 2,000 years old and may help restore a species of biblical trees. It’s been dubbed the “Methuselah” tree. -- Reuters
Rudd’s nuclear plan. Same dump, different minister. The Rudd Government needs to take a careful look at Martin Ferguson’s handling of the latest tragic chapter of Australia’s 50-year nuclear waste story. A cursory review of the history of Government attempts to force nuclear waste dumps on unwilling communities shows an unbroken record of Government failure. – Greens blog

Have you spotted a thought provoking news article or blog post on the state of the planet? Share it with other Crikey readers by sending the link to boss@crikey.com.au with the subject heading "State of the Planet".

THURSDAY, 12 JUNE

Nutty Solution. The Japanese may have come up with a nutty solution to the methane from cows which is contributing to global warming. Tests have shown oil from cashew shells could slash methane emissions from cattle by up to 90%. Livestock and gases from fertiliser play a major part in global warming, making up nearly half of New Zealand’s total emissions. -- Reuters
Kiwi Power Crisis. New Zealand is also facing an electricity crisis caused by continuing drought. Two years of dry weather mean the lakes that drive the country’s hydroelectric plants are running dry. The government is calling on people to cut their energy use by 15% to avoid rolling power cuts. – Guardian
Tasty tiger. Chinese animal parks are selling ‘tiger bone wine’ according to environmental groups. The illegal concoction, which is made from carcasses soaked in rice wine, purportedly has medical benefits. -- BBC
The big Arctic thaw. Arctic warming could triple if the rapid sea ice loss in the region continues according to a new study. This would lead to dramatic rising sea levels in Canada, Russia and Alaska as well as the release of potent greenhouse gases trapped under the ice. -- MSNBC

WEDNESDAY, 11 JUNE

Flying the flag. Soccer nuts who attach flags to their cars during Euro 2008 are harming the environment according to scientists. The Guardian has quoted them saying that the flags make cars less aerodynamic and therefore burn more fuel. Surely this is taking science too far. -- Treehugger
Creating a safe zone for Right whales. It’s called the “area to be avoided,”— 1,000 square nautical miles located in the Roseway Basin region of the Scotian Shelf, just south of Barrington, N.S. And since June 1, ships have been asked to make a detour around the area, a crucial habitat for the endangered North Atlantic right whale. -- Science Daily
Hypermilers. Even with gas at four bucks a gallon, Yahya Fahimuddin enjoys filling his car. It's a contest, a chance to see how many miles he can squeeze from every tank. He's getting about 45 mpg these days and says you can, too. -- Wired
Indy saves the tiger. Harrison Ford has joined a World Bank campaign to begin a global effort to save tigers. Ford, along with fellow celebrities Bo Derek and Robert Duvall, will help the campaign show how deforestation, development and poaching are threatening tigers. -- Ecorazzi

TUESDAY, 10 JUNE

Hybrid Camry Built in Oz. Toyota has announced it will begin production of a petrol/electric Camry from its Altona plant in 2010. The hybrid will cost more than the standard Camry, but will use nearly half the fuel. -- The Age
Air power. Students from a Canadian university have developed a go kart that is powered solely by air. The zero emission kart uses compressed air tanks and continues the development of sustainable energy vehicles. – The Times of India
Costly cause. The International Energy Agency says that it will cost $45 trillion for the world to go green. This is more than the GDP of most industrialised countries - ouch. – IHT
Saving the planet one beer at a time. A British brewer will sell the first carbon-neutral beer. Called East Green, the beer will be made with higher energy efficiency and ecological friendliness. Finally you can do your bit for the environment without leaving the pub. – Cleantech

Have you spotted a thought provoking news article or blog post on the state of the planet? Share it with other Crikey readers by sending the link to boss@crikey.com.au with the subject heading "State of the Planet".

FRIDAY, 6 JUNE

Cask wine - for the planet. Wine is in the green news this week with Almaden and Inglenook wines announcing it will be switching from 3-4 litre jugs to bag-in-box (BIB). The long-scorned “wine in a box” could even work its way up to the more expensive wines in time, no doubt testing the patients of entrepreneurs. -- Ecopreneurist
The French spiderman. An avid building scaler has used his spidey sense to draw more attention to the issue of global warming with a breathtaking (and illegal) act of daredevil. Known as “the French spiderman”, the 46-year-old climbed 52 stories of the New York Times building to unfurl a banner which said "Global warming kills more people than 9/11 every week". -- Treehugger
Hybrid LPG Hyundai for Oz? Korean car maker Hyundai is "seriously considering" selling a hybrid LPG vehicle in Australia. The car will be available mid-2009 in Korea. It would cost around $10 a week to run. Bring it on. -- The Age
A space-based earthquake warning system. NASA scientists are working on a satellite-bases system for predicting earthquakes. NPR says a study of large earthquakes found that the disturbance was observed prior to nearly all of them. -- NPR

Have you spotted a thought provoking news article or blog post on the state of the planet? Share it with other Crikey readers by sending the link to boss@crikey.com.au with the subject heading "State of the Planet".

THURSDAY, 5 JUNE

Earth moves for Antarctica. Seismologists have found seismic signals from a giant river of ice in Antarctica that makes California’s earthquake problem seem trivial. Data shows that the giant river of ice moves about 18 inches in 10 minutes every 12 hours, giving off seismic waves equivalent to a magnitude 7 earthquake and can be recorded as far away as Australia. -- Science Daily
Google Apocalypse: This Google Earth file shows us exactly what climate scientists are seeing in the next hundred years of climate change. If this is anything to go by, the temperature in some areas of the Arctic will increase by as much as 18 degrees C. -- Ecogeek
The green movement in China. Quietly and somewhat surprisingly, green groups are cropping up throughout China and are starting to have an impact. In the first in a series on Chinese environmentalists, journalist Christina Larson visits with Zhao Zhong, who is leading the fight to save the Yellow River. -- Yale Environment 360
Junk journey. Two environmental activists have built a motor-less craft from 15,000 recycled beverage bottles, fishing nets, and the cockpit of a Cessna, and are sailing it more than 2,000 miles from southern California to Hawaii to highlight the amount of plastic garbage floating in the Pacific Ocean. -- CNET

Have you spotted a thought provoking news article or blog post on the state of the planet? Share it with other Crikey readers by sending the link to boss@crikey.com.au with the subject heading "State of the Planet".

WEDNESDAY, 4 JUNE

Nuclear bomb. Nuclear energy, the sequel, is opening to raves by everybody from John McCain to a Greenpeace co-founder. Don't be fooled. It's the "Ishtar" of power generation. -- Salon
Housing against global warming. Via Grist - "If you're the wonky type, don't miss this report from Smart Growth America: "Growing Cooler: The Evidence on Urban Development and Climate Change." Turns out dense, walkable communities with public transit can help abate climate change. Who knew? -- Smart Growth America
A survivor in Greenland. A team of Penn State scientists has discovered a new ultra-small species of bacteria that has survived for more than 120,000 years within the ice of a Greenland glacier at a depth of nearly two miles. -- Science Daily
Al Gore keynotes on innovation. “Watching this incredibly powerful man, who has become larger than life, stride the stage not more than 20 feet in front of me was something that aroused mixed feelings, to say the least.” -- Ecoworld

TUESDAY, 3 JUNE

Been there, done khat. Tales from a trek to Ethiopia with a Seattle coffee roaster. Many Grist readers know that coffee is the second most heavily traded commodity on the planet, but unlike the elephant in the pole position (oil), we hear very little about the realities of the cherry-red fruit on which we are also dependent. -- Grist
Solar rebate farce not going away. We’ve seen three significant steps in the last 24 hours in the campaign to save Australia’s solar industry… Last night in Senate Estimates hearings, Christine plugged away at Penny Wong over the ludicrous decision to means test the rooftop solar rebate at a family income of $100,000. -- Greens Blog
Why higher petrol prices are good for us. Consider the world of good that would come of pricing crude oil and gasoline at levels that would strain our finances as much as they're straining international relations and the planet's long-term health. First up - RIP for the internal-combustion engine. -- Market Watch
What I'd say if I was wrong about climate change. First off, almost no one serious, except for oil industry spin doctors discounts climate change anymore. Even the current Administration accepts that it exists. Indeed, most political observers agree that the real attacks on science pointing to climate change come from people and organizations who don't like the regulatory implications. -- No Impact Man

MONDAY, 2 JUNE

China joins plastic bag war: In an effort to help the environment and cut back on waste and pollution, the Chinese Government will enforce a nationwide ban on free plastic bags. According to the China Plastics Processing Industry Association, the Chinese currently use a whopping three billion bags a day, and the initiative aims to reduce this by one third. -- MSNBC
Plastic trees will save us. Wallace Broecker, the man behind the phrase “global warming”, has called for the construction of 60 million artificial trees made out of a special type of plastic to fight climate change. Broecker declares we are “crawling” in this “race against time” proposes the giant “carbon scrubbers” would absorb CO2 from the atmosphere, after which it would be either pumped underground or turned into a mineral. -- BBC
Carbon Belch Day. In a mass effort of utter stupidity, conservative group Grassfire.org is planning “Carbon Belch Day” to “help Americans break free from the ‘carbon footprint guilt’ being imposed by Climate Alarmists”. June 12 will be dedicated to wasting as much energy as possible, and encourages people to do such things as host a barbecue, leave a few lights on, or even smoke a few cigars. -- Information Week
South Korea ups nuclear.

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State of the Planet