gigatons of melting ice and vanishing coral

its been a little while since my last posting here... here are a couple articles that stuck in my brain.

Ice melting across globe at accelerating rate, NASA says

In the past five years, Greenland has lost between 150 gigatons and 160 gigatons each year, (one gigaton equals one billion tons) or enough to raise global sea levels about .5 mm per year

measured that mountain glaciers in the Gulf of Alaska lost about 84 gigatons each year, about five times the average annual flow of the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon, according to NASA.

World's corals reefs are vanishing, report says

The world has lost almost one-fifth of its coral reefs according a new report released by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

It's not just climate change -- which raises ocean temperatures and increases seawater acidification -- which is damaging reefs. In some parts of the world overfishing, pollution and invasive species are proving equally harmful.

Scientists are warning that reef destruction will have alarming consequences for around 500 million people who rely on coral reefs for their livelihood.

Left unchecked, remaining reefs could be completely wiped out by 2050, the report says.

all i can say about these to articles is "this sakus".

Umbrella stand will water your plants

from Make: technology on your time

This umbrella stand by Beligan designer Vandenhecke Mélanie would be a pretty easy weekend project. Simply attach half of a metal frame to the bottom of a planter. When you come in from the rain, deposit your umbrella on the stand and its drips will water your plants.

via Design Spotter

0.04 percent of the water on Earth to cradle civilizations

"Even though I learned how little fresh water there is on Earth sometime in elementary school, graphics like the one on the right still amaze me. It shows the distribution of water from all sources on Earth. All those mighty rivers? They needed a mere 0.04 percent of the water on Earth to cradle civilizations.

The realization that fresh water is a finite resource has led some people to call it the "new oil". A few months ago, the New York Times Magazine ran an influential article about climate change's impact on the current water regime entitled, "The Future is Drying Up." In it, he argued that the West would basically have to decide between farms, cities, or drastic water usage changes."

from http://blog.wired.com/wiredscience/2008/06/awesome-infogra.html

from Power To The Pedal

The Bloom device is meant to be a subversive and inspirational tool for our concrete jungles. Similar to the tuft of a dandelion as the wind carries the seedling, we propose a way of dispersing seedlings with bubbles and bicycling. Seeds are co-mingled with a bubble mixture and upon pedaling to your destination , you release the floating seeds which land in cracks and crevices throughout the city streets. Over time, the seeds grow into flowers and plants to create a green "fringe" to our sidewalks and streets.

Using natural ingredients; vegetable based soap and seeds, combine together to make a dissolving "nugget". The resulting mixture resides in a reservoir inside Blooms aluminum housing. The housing is attached to the lower frame near the rear tire, similar to a exhaust pipe. Upon pedalling, air enters the front of Bloom and spins a pinwheel inside which picks up a small drop of the seed/bubble mixture and blows a bubble carrying a seed out the back as "exhaust".

Our inspiration comes from the tale of Johnny Appleseed, where he would spread seeds everywhere he went planting apple trees for future generations.

even the oceans might die

I just read this interesting article, Climate Change Chokes Oceans. here are some excerpts:

Rising temperatures have caused oxygen-starved swaths of ocean to expand over the last half-century -- a disturbing trend that, if it continues, could wreak havoc on global fisheries.

As water warms, it holds less oxygen.

"The surface warmer getting warmer means it's harder for oxygen to mix down, to the deeper parts, and that's the dominant effect," said study co-author and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration researcher Greg Johnson.

"Well, there won't be an eruption in the ocean that's going to kill everyone," he said. "But if this phenomenon would spread everywhere, then the whole ocean would die. At the current rate of expansion, that's not something that would happen in 100 or 200 years -- it would be a long process."

umm.. that sounds pretty junk.