global warming

Inspiration in Ixchel

Christiana Figueres, executive secretary of the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change, invoked the ancient jaguar goddess Ixchel in her opening statement to delegates gathered in Cancun, Mexico, noting that Ixchel was not only goddess of the moon, but also “the goddess of reason, creativity and weaving. May she inspire you — because today, you are gathered in Cancun to weave together the elements of a solid response to climate change, using both reason and creativity as your tools.”

[…]

“Excellencies, the goddess Ixchel would probably tell you that a tapestry is the result of the skilful interlacing of many threads,” said Figueres, who hails from Costa Rica and started her greetings in Spanish before switching to English. “I am convinced that 20 years from now, we will admire the policy tapestry that you have woven together and think back fondly to Cancun and the inspiration of Ixchel.”

Source: Cancun talks start with a call to the gods

Maybe you should bone up a little more on Ixchel as well as Hero for the Planet, Christiana Figueres.

Beyond that, I have no comment, so don’t ask. 🙄

Hear Them Bells?

Is that chiming you hear a call to worship?

Or is it all in your head?

Like this, for instance: Bells toll to halt climate change.

Toll the bells; halt climate change.

Great. 🙄

Wow, who would have thought it could be so simple. And think of all the carbon and footprints expended getting to, around, and from Copenhagen for that CCC (climate change conference).

…a worldwide bell-ringing event initiated by the World Council of Churches for Sunday, Dec. 13. Churches have been asked to sound their bells or other instruments 350 times to symbolize the 350 parts per million considered the safe upper limit for carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.

Churches without bells are invited to use handbells or other noisemakers instead. Some congregations are choosing to toll their bells 35 times instead of 350.

Our church has no bells. But if anyone shows up with handbells or cow bells or dumb bells, I’ll try to remember to let you know via Twitter.

And about those congregations opting to tithe the bell ringing, what’s with that? Maybe they’re slackers. Maybe they don’t want to be fanatical. Maybe they think some anti-climate-change conspiracy has infiltrated the movement and succeeded in setting “the safe upper limit for carbon dioxide” 1000% too high.

Mark’s Special Request to the Bell Ringers: Please consider the consequences of halting climate change! Are you sure that’s really what you want?

Anyway, I thought you should know what all the bell ringing is about. (But won’t all that excessive ringing drive the bats out of the bellfry?)

Oh, and sorry this is so late. I meant to post it yesterday.

Got Salicornia?

Mother Jones tells us about The Saline Solution:

In the mid-’80s, an atmospheric physicist named Carl N. Hodges predicted that the key to saving the planet was to make the desert bloom—with a spindly saltwater plant known as salicornia, a.k.a. sea asparagus. The idea languished for years, but now scientists, investors, and even celebrities are lining up behind the 71-year-old’s vision for feeding the planet, fueling our cars, and reversing rising sea levels.

Salicornia, eh?

Well, I’m not an asparagus aficionado, although my wife makes a good asparagus and boiled egg concoction.

But sea asparagus cookies? No, I don’t think so.

Read it all

Warning: Google Warming

Disclaimer: Despite the title above, I don’t know of any relationship between these two stories.

California farms, vineyards in peril from warming, US energy secretary warns

California’s farms and vineyards could vanish by the end of the century, and its major cities could be in jeopardy, if Americans do not act to slow the advance of global warming, Secretary of Energy Steven Chu said Tuesday.

In his first interview since taking office last month, the Nobel-prize-winning physicist offered some of the starkest comments yet on how seriously President Obama’s cabinet views the threat of climate change, along with a detailed assessment of the administration’s plans to combat it.

Whoa! And woe! This is coming from a physicist. And one that won a Nobel Prize at that. Pretty impressive.

Five paragraphs later, though, this: “Chu is not a climate scientist. He won his Nobel for work trapping atoms with laser light.”

Oh.

So what about Google? Well, this:

Google Offers “Latitude” to Track People

Google is releasing free software Wednesday that enables people to keep track of each other using their cell phones.

CNET got a sneak peek at it, and CNET-TV Senior Editor and The Early ShowNatali Del Conte explained how it works on the show Tuesday.

She says “Latitude” uses GPS systems and what’s called cell tower triangulation to do the job. The software seeks the closest three cell towers and, with GPS, combines the data to show where someone is.

It is designed to work on any phone with Internet capabilities, except the iPhone.

“Latitude” is being marketed as a tool that could help parents keep tabs on their children’s locations, but it can be used for anyone to find anyone else, assuming permission is given.

What’s the history and rationale behind their name choice for this new “tool”?

Unread News Stories

Snow cover over North America greatest since 1966

Materialistic society is ‘damaging’ children

Noah’s ark for crop seeds opens in Arctic Norway

Depression drugs ‘little better than placebos’

Obama raised funds for Islamic causes

US religious landscape survey

Well, I read the third one.

But that’s all, even though they all look like something I could blog about here.

However, I have something else I need to write about: The Husbands I Want for My Daughters — no, I don’t mean a blog post.

Shouldn’t every dad have a checklist like that?

And maybe even every daughter?

Most? Seriously!

What percentage of global population lives in indigence and poverty?

So what’s with this BBC headline and story?

Most ready for ‘green sacrifices’

Most people are ready to make personal sacrifices to address climate change, according to a BBC poll of 22,000 people in 21 countries.

I dare say most people on the planet have greater matters of more pressing concern regarding daily survival. I suspect they don’t know about or even care about global warming. They have nothing to sacrifice.

Where Little Ones CryBut to those who have money to spend and fall in BBC’s “most people” category, an extremely practical and helpful suggestion for a green sacrifice:

You’re welcome.

Disclaimer: I didn’t interview and/or poll anyone in any country. I have been wrong before.

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Above all, love God!