WE’RE OFF!
The entire Weekly Green production team is taking a couple of weeks off for some exhalation and new inspiration. To fill the gap, we are rerunning some old episodes which are still of current interest.
(AND SO IS LARSEN-C, BY THE WAY)
Following up on the June 7 episode, “Cracking Up“, we can report that the crack in the antarctic Larsen-C shelf no longer exists. 12% of the shelf has broken off and is floating about in the South Atlantic as one of the biggest icebergs ever recorded. It is feared that this event will destabilize the entire shelf and that it will disintegrate as Larsen-A and -B did before.
The warming of the atmosphere and the oceans causing these cataclysmic events is widely attributed to the emission of CO2 from fossil fuels, namely oil and coal. The scientific evidence supporting this perception is overwhelming. But not decisive, as evidenced by the inability of the G20 at this month’s summit to come to a consensus on the subject. There was only one dissenter, however: the US of A. The other nations agreed to continue to abide by the Paris Climate Agreement, aimed at keeping the global rise in temperature below 2ºC.
While holding their breath, however, the combined governments of the industrialized nations are still investing four times more in energy from fossil fuels than from alternative sources.
Perhaps it is time do do some genetic engineering to provide us with gills.
FORTY THOUSAND BOTTLES IN THE WALLS OF CASTLE INSPIRATION
This week’s installment is a rerun of the ‘9999 Bottles In The Wall” episode about a method to use discarded PET plastic bottles as a building material with surprising insulation capacity.
In 2015, the inventor, Robert Bezeu, started construction of an entire village with it on the Panamanian island of Colón, where he lives. Two residences have been completed, one containing 10,000 bottles and the other 22,000.
Newly finished is the pièce de résistance of the project, a 4-story castle named “Castle Inspiration”. The purpose of the castle is to inspire people to protect the oceans from plastic waste.
Take a look at 40,000 bottles that will not end up in the ocean:
Plans are ready for the next construction project, a training center with lodging capacity and a cafeteria, where people from all over the world can come to learn Robert’s technique.
OH-OH-O3
The word ‘inspiration’ comes from a Latin root meaning ‘to breathe’. It is important to breathe at regular intervals, as everybody knows. But under certain circumstances, that can be hazardous to your health.
The Pima County Department of Environmental Quality has issued a record number of ozone advisories this year, corresponding to the record heat. Ozone is an aggressive form of oxygen, produced by the combination of heat and combustion fumes. See last year’s Weekly Green episode about ozone for more about O3. To reduce the formation of ground-level ozone, PCDEQ urges drivers to minimize emissions by combining trips and carpooling and avoid idling for extended periods.
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The Weekly Green is a KXCI mini-program on environmental topics from Southern Arizona and the rest of the universe.
The program airs on Monday 5:55 PM, Tuesday 4:55 AM, Wednesday 9:55 AM & 5:55 PM, Thursday 7:55 PM and Saturday 9:55 AM. First airing is usually at 10 am on Wednesday.
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