Earth 2100

Sandy Was Global Warming

Wild fires in Greece a few years ago was global warming acting out. Sandy hitting NYC last year was global warming making itself felt. Global warming is a costly proposition. It is cheaper to keep the earth in a good shape.

Dear Mr. President: Time to Deal with Climate Change

Whether you can develop a practical and sustainable strategy to address climate change—specifically, to begin lowering carbon dioxide emissions—will define the success of your new term as president. ..... the potential for global warming over the next decades threatens consequences so dire that they could overwhelm any progress you make toward other long-term economic, social, and political goals. .... will require innovative new technologies and overhauls of the world’s energy, agricultural, and transportation infrastructure. .... The $90 billion in your 2009 stimulus bill for energy projects and research breathed new life into the search for cleaner sources of energy ... transforming our energy infrastructure would take decades .... much of the energy spending in the stimulus bill, suggested one, resembled “pork-barrel politics” to satisfy the immediate need for jobs ..... reduce carbon dioxide emissions and begin stabilizing our climate. ..... the real reason to transform our energy system is to avoid the most catastrophic effects of global warming. ...... we can no longer wait without risking dramatic upheavals in global security and the health and welfare of hundreds of millions of the world’s inhabitants. ..... global emissions of carbon dioxide from fossil-fuel combustion reached a record 31.6 metric gigatons in 2011. .... It is quite possible that if this is not done over the next four years, it will be too late.

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Geoengineering

Dramatic changes in weather - like the impending Frankenstorm - is there for all to see. Climate change is real, people. I am in the school of all of the above. Let's do many things to combat climate change.

This can't be the only way, but it can be one of many ways.

Geoengineering Could Be Essential to Reducing the Risk of Climate Change

Geoengineering—using technology to purposefully change the climate—is the only option for reducing the risk of climate change from greenhouse-gas emissions in the next few decades .... effective methods of geoengineering are so cheap and easy that just about any country could do it .... it is already too late to avoid climate changes by reducing carbon emissions alone .... “If you want to, say, really stop the loss of Arctic sea ice or stop heat-stress crop losses over the next few decades, geoengineering is pretty much the only thing you can do” ..... shade the earth by injecting sulfate particles into the upper atmosphere ..... Though some critics have worried that geoengineering would alter monsoon patterns that are key to agriculture in India, Keith says moderate geoengineering could actually boost crop productivity there by 20 percent, in part by reducing temperatures. ..... would cost about a billion dollars a year and require about 100 aircraft. That’s cheap enough for most countries to pull off on their own. ..... He would introduce small clouds of sulfate and water vapor into the stratosphere using balloons ..... Even if geoengineering is employed, reducing emissions will still be important. Sulfate injection does nothing to address the ocean acidification associated with increased levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. And if emissions continue to grow, ever-increasing amounts of sulfate will be needed.

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Blueprint For The 21st Century

Image via Wikipedia(1) Wireless, Gigabit Broadband For Seven Billion People

This needed to be the primary focus of the stimulus bill in 2009. Instead a bunch of money got poured into 20th century artifacts like roads and bridges. I don't think this will take more than 100 billion. At most. That is a small price tag if you ask me. Considering how central it is to everything else that needs to get done.

You do this and far fewer people are trying to come into America, into Europe. Educational and economic opportunities would go everywhere.

And it will pay for itself. First you build it, then you operate it, then you go ad supported, and then you sell it off, and end up making money on the whole thing. I am talking satellites, I am talking dark fiber. Do whatever it takes. The goal should be that no matter where you are on the planet, on land or water, we got you covered.

This infrastructure is key to every big problem we face today, starting with global finance. People who are trying to "fix" things are literally flying blind. They don't have the data with which to build a new global financial architecture, the only way out of the current mess.

This infrastructure is needed to fight climate change. You build this infrastructure and nothing can stop the total spread of democracy. All demon regimes wither away.

(2) Seven Billion People Checking In

All airports, all bus terminals, all train stations should have this. All public places. You announce your presence to a mega database. It could be retina stuff. Alongside build a huge database for fingerprints as well. And you do these two things to get rid of the sick immigration laws that exist in every country.

If you live in a city, you should be able to vote in that city. That should be the global law.

(3) Erosion Of The Nation State

This is inevitable.

Why I Liked The Charity Water Party

I think last night I went to the best party ever, like ever ever. They should do this every month. (Be There, Or Be Square: The FourSquare Day Party At Sidebar) Why did I like the party so?

Charity Water Dress Code
Charity: Water
Happy World Water Day
Image via Wikipedia
(1) Great Cause

If you had to describe me in three words, you would call me a Third World Guy. Charity: Water to me feels like a pilot project to something grand, something that needs to be 1,000 times bigger and goes beyond charity, impacts large scale global policy. But what a pilot!

"Do You Have An Email Address?"
"Can You Understand This?"
"Bring Home An African Next Time"
Padgurum
Hawai Chappal

(2) Amazing People

With or without the cause it was just a great assembly of people. It was a large, crowded space, and you already knew you had something in common when you approached a stranger to say hello. I wish the party had started three hours earlier and lasted an hour longer. There were more people to meet.

A Mind Blowing Party

(3) Amazing Space

The space was big, huge. I have a thing for big, empty spaces. You start empty and fill it up with people. There were huge indoor plants. Parts of the roof were leaking, so it is not like they made you miss the rain outside. Curiously the place is not listed on FourSquare.

I had pineapple juice. Drinks were free the first hour. (No More Beer, No More Soda)

The New York Times Agrees

Image via CrunchBaseMy blog post on August 26: Barackface: This Is About Global Warming

Global warming is a recent phenomenon. New weather patterns are emerging. More frequent severe weather conditions are being experienced.

The New York Times on August 27: Seeing Irene as Harbinger of a Change in Climate

The scale of Hurricane Irene, which could cause more extensive damage along the Eastern Seaboard than any storm in decades, is reviving an old question: are hurricanes getting worse because of human-induced climate change?

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Physically Aware Internet

Pete Hartwell: Mashable: How a Physically Aware Internet Will Change the World: the first “Internet” looked nothing like it does today. .... we still haven’t even scratched the surface. .... connecting computers to sensors so that valuable new information can be created automatically without human data entry ..... sensors tackling our world’s largest issues: safety, security and sustainability. ..... A network of biochemical sensors can understand where and how food is being produced and stored by “smelling” it. ...... our computers are blind, deaf and numb to the world around us. We need to give them senses. ..... With billions, perhaps even trillions of sensors, we can begin to understand not just how the world is behaving, but how we are affecting it..... sensor networks are one of the principal ways we can use technology to address some of our most pressing global challenges like disease, pollution and climate change. ...... CeNSE, which stands for “Central Nervous System of the Earth” .... this is all coming sooner than you may think

To Natural User Interface

This is about moving from the internet of computers and the internet of human beings to the internet of things. This includes capturing real time data from not only objects but plants and other animals as well.

This is the tool that the climate change challenge has been waiting for. We need to know what's going on. And that we is not a royal we, it is a collective we. Anybody with internet access should be able to get a detailed view of the harm being done to the earth's ecosystem. That will elevate the consciousness level of humanity, and multitudes of people will demand the right things be done, and the democratic system will deliver.

The idea of having to sit in front of a computer to access the internet has been given a slap by the smartphone, but even the smartphone makes for a weird Homo Sapien, the one that is ogling at the small screen at all uncomfortable hours.

The internet is going to liberate itself from the screen and go everywhere.

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Clean Water, Obesity

Technology Review: Clean Water For The Developing World: Cotton fabric treated with nano inks produces a water filter that's efficient and needs little power to work...... kills bacteria with electrical fields but uses just 20 percent of the power required by pressure-driven filters ..... At least a billion people have access only to water contaminated by pathogens or pollution. ..... There are two major chemical methods: adding chlorine to the water to kill the bacteria, or adding iron, which causes the bacteria to clump so it's easily removed. ..... Filtration, in contrast, is attractive because it's simple. .... other low-power solutions take too long or are too complex.

Obesity is to America what water is to the Global South. So much of health care costs would evaporate if most Americans lost weight. So many of the diseases in the Global South would go away if everyone had access to clean drinking water.

Some say we already have the knowledge for both and I am not so sure. One of my insights from volunteering for Obama 08 was that Americans don't socialize enough. They don't meet each other in person enough. Their overeating has a direct relationship to their emotional malnutrition.

It is not true we know all we need to know about clean water. Obviously the water cleaning technologies we have are not cheap enough, not simple enough. Obviously. There has to be relentless innovation to reach the masses.

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Blog Carnival: Global Poverty

Image via Wikipedia

July: Netizen Blog Carnival Month

1. Blog Carnival: Internet For The Billions
2. Blog Carnival: Wimax
3. Blog Carnival: Cheap Laptops
4. Blog Carnival: Microfinance
5. Blog Carnival: Venture Capital
6. Blog Carnival: Google
7. Blog Carnival: Google (2)
8. Blog Carnival: Bill Gates, Chrome OS
9. Blog Carnival: Google Wave
   
10. Blog Carnival: Android
11. Blog Carnival: Entrepreneurship
    

Global Poverty

The Brooks Blog: Thom Brooks on "Punishing States That Cause ...
Carbonfund.org Blog » Fighting Global Warming and Poverty
Only local business can end global poverty
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Carbon Offsetting May Fight Global Poverty

Image via Wikipedia

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Ending Global Poverty
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What If The Plateau Lasts Nine Months?

.

Image via Wikipedia

That Plateau Feeling
Job Hunting And 2.0
New York City: Transformed Forever?
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That Plateau Feeling?

I blogged about it: That Plateau Feeling. But have we really hit the plateau phase? Or are we still in the bungee jump phase? It is possible for the financial markets to hit the plateau phase, and for the job markets to still be in the bungee jump phase. Usually the financial sector recovers first.

Budget

Cut expenses mercilessly. This is for personal and family budgets.

Work

Even if it is a much lower paying job. Can't eat into savings too much, and not forever.

Reinvent

We live in a day and age when people will have several careers, not jobs but careers, over a lifetime. Reinvent yourself.

Focus On Personal Growth: Prepare For Takeoff

There is the bungee jump phase. That, by definition, can not last forever even if it lasts longer than anticipated. Then there in the plateau phase. Then there is the takeoff phase. The plateau phase is the time to prepare for the takeoff phase.

The Best Things In Life Are Free



Really. Life slowing down is not all bad news. In many ways it is good news. A slower life is time to discover people, relationships, hobbies. It is time to catch up on books you always wanted to read. It is time to hone on skills that you think you will need once it is time to takeoff.

This perhaps is good time to smell the roses.

That 90-10 Rule

If 10% of the people are unemployed, 90% are still working. But then there are pockets of 22% unemployment rates. And that is not even taking into account the chronic unemployment in the inner cities, and other underserved areas. That is not taking into account the permanent poverty in much of the world.

That Plateau Feeling?

What if America and the world hit a new plateau of lower paying jobs across the board? That would not be a happy plateau. Personally I don't think that is where we are headed. But then I am counting on the political leadership to deliver. (30 Points Down In The Polls) The financial markets will be regulated, and made sane. This economy will be restructured.

Time To Make Big Fortunes

The most trailblazing of companies have been founded in the most depressing of times. This time that is going to be extra true.

Globoeconomics: Name Of The Game
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Global Finance, Global Terrorism, Global Warming

'Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?'
'That depends a good deal on where you want to get to,' said the Cat.
'I don't much care where --' said Alice.
'Then it doesn't matter which way you go,' said the Cat.
'--so long as I get somewhere,' Alice added as an explanation.

Lewis Carroll, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland

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That Plateau Feeling

(Krugman, December 2007)

Image via Wikipedia

There was the original bailout before America even had elections. Then there was the jumbo stimulus package. And then the G20 summit where the world leaders took substantive action. Next thing you know good news started trickling out of Wall Street. It is not exactly time to throw a party yet. There is no boom feeling. But I have a feeling the big crisis that has been blowing hot and cold for the past eight months might have plateaued.

The good news is the steep fall part of the bungee jump might be over. The bad news is there is no telling how long the plateau might last. The worse news is we are not in the upswing phase yet. And you still hear the sound of glass being broken.

The US economy, and the global economy are such big monsters, it is hard for any government to steer them in any direction at any speed. It is kind of like trying to give a 180 degree turn to the Titanic.



For the past decade we have talked of global warming, and we have talked of global terror. But we were not exactly talking global finance. Imagine twice as many hurricanes any given year. Imagine 10 dirty bombs in the 10 big cities of the world on the same day. Those would be the climate and terror versions of what we have been going through in finance.

The pain has been very real, and ultimately it is for the political leadership to steer a course. We have to have a healthy, robust debate all along. We have to be creative, inventive. We have to do the sane thing, the right thing. We have to think long term. We are in this together. This is one world, one planet, one globe.

Onto A Nuclear Weapons Free Planet
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Needed: A New Global Financial Architecture
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