Land Losses from Global Warming Threaten Countries

Remember the forced human relocation in the “BnL” satellite in the movie “WALL-E”? Considering climate change indications like rises in sea levels, maybe we will be saying hello to that kind of existence sooner. Global warming had been challenged and perceived as a latent disease. One of the loudest wake-up calls is the Maldives’ announcement that it is setting aside funds to buy land in other countries as a measure to tackle loss of land to the rising sea levels. Maldives is an island country whose highest point is only 7.8 feet (2.4 meters) above sea level.

From the Nile to the Indus Valley, water has been an important factor in the foundation of most human civilizations. Fertile delta lands and cool coastal zones support one of the densest populations in the world. However, these areas are also most susceptible to floods, hurricanes, and now global warming has added drowning to this list of potential threats. Increased temperatures cause the glaciers to melt and the ocean water to expand, pushing up the sea level. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change estimates a rise of 0.6 to 2 feet of the global average sea level in the next century. Loss of land or source of income due to climate change can displace 630 million people living in coastal areas worldwide.

Unlike tourism oriented Maldives, densely populated agrarian countries near the sea like Egypt, Vietnam and Bangladesh depend on fishing and farming for their livelihood. Moreover, they currently have less influence over the international negotiations on climate change. With rising sea levels, global warming has become an urgent threat for these nation-states.

(Photo Courtesy of ABC News)

U.S. Closer to a Carbon Cap

The country is nearer to putting a cap on global warming emissions through a cap-and-trade system. In the Obama administration's proposed budget, it accounts for revenue generated under a cap-and-trade system.

The budget will show the government beginning by 2012 to collect billions of dollars in revenues from selling permits to businesses that emit greenhouse gases, assuming the President’s energy initiative becomes law as soon as this year, officials said.

This is one small step for man, one giant leap in the fight to stop global warming. By supporting a cap-and-trade, President Obama's confidently reaffirming our national priorities -- job creation, clean energy, and reinvigoration of our economy. If passed, a cap-and-trade system could do just that by providing the incentives and the revenue needed to create clean energy jobs.

To help offset potentially higher energy costs, the budget includes provisions for tax credits for lower income individuals and couples who may have trouble paying for slightly higher energy costs. Also, according to the New York Times, a portion of "the projected revenues from the permits will finance Mr. Obama’s campaign promise for $15 billion a year over 10 years to subsidize research and development of alternative energy sources."

Now there is still no guarantee that President Obama's budget will pass through Congress (or considering the wide-ranging scope of these domestic policies, at any time for that matter). But there is no time like the present to think big on global warming. The problems that our nation faces economically and the crisis that our world faces from global warming will not solve themselves without action now.

(Photo courtesy of the New York Times)

Ice Caps Melting Faster

Whereas many of us have been experiencing cold and snowy winters, apparently that trend has not extended to the poles. In a recently released report, it has been noted that the icecaps in the North and South Poles are melting faster and more widespread than previously predicted. This is bad news for all of us that were hoping for a one year reprieve from global warming from colder regional temperatures. The study, as reported by the AP, doesn't paint a pretty picture:

By the end of the century, the accelerated melting could cause sea levels to climb by 3 to 5 feet — levels substantially higher than predicted by a major scientific group just two years ago.

Making matters worse, scientists said, the ice shelves that hold the glaciers back from the sea are also weakening.

The biggest of the western glaciers, the Pine Island Glacier, is moving 40 percent faster than it was in the 1970s... The Smith Glacier, also in west Antarctica, is moving 83 percent faster than in 1992... Together, all the glaciers in west Antarctica are losing a total of around 114 billion tons per year because the melting is much greater than the new snowfall.

This report is simply the most recent in an increasingly dire line of studies that confirm that humans are causing global warming and it is impacting our world. We cannot wait for others to act or wait for the next update on the rapidly crumbling glaciers. Now is the time to contact your represenatives to demand action on global warming. And now is the time to offset your carbon footprint.

(Image Courtesy of the AP)

A New Greener America

President Obama took to the airwaves last night to deliver the toughest speech yet of his presidency. The President took care to outline a vision for our nation's future that accepted the dire straits that we are facing now and embraced the path of progress and recovery. A large portion of the President's speech focused on energy reform and modernization, touting the need for more renewable energy, efficient vehicles, and a cap-and-trade system to reduce carbon emissions.

The New York Times Greenwire states that the Obama administrations has "plans to implement a cap-and-trade plan that curbs emissions of heat-trapping gases... pledge[d] that the United States would invest $15 billion annually to develop technologies such as wind and solar, next-wave biofuels, 'clean coal' and efficient cars... vowed to double renewable energy supply over three years... Obama also called for the United States to claim a larger share of the renewable and efficiency technology markets."

These are ambitious plans to say the least. President Obama sees a window of opportunity like America has never seen before; his plan to lead us out of a recession is an investment to make the energy sources of tomorrow available today.

America is in crisis mode, but the position that we are in now is a direct result of failing to evolve on a national level over the past two decades. As energy policies stalled, the country started having a competitive disadvantage -- failing to utilize renewable resources and energy efficiently have cost all Americans money and a better environment. Granted, upfront capital investments are required to build an efficient and clean infrastructure, but the payoff is real and sustained.

Carbonfund.org applauds the Obama administration's vision for a clean and green future. We are looking forward to continuing to be part of the global warming solution and welcome a cap-and-trade system for reducing carbon emissions.

News on Global Warming: Worse than Thought

An article by Randolph Schmid, writing for the AP, sheds disturbing new light on the dangers of global warming. New research indicates that the climate crisis is even worse than thought. Researchers from Stanford, Princeton and around the world have concluded that the drastic consequences of climate change scientists previously reserved for a 1.8 to 3.6 degree Fahrenheit rise will be felt much sooner. These consequences include more extreme weather patterns and heat waves.

Worse still, the report, published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, determined that humanity is not as able to adapt to these changes as well as previously imagined. Vulnerable populations, including the poor and elderly in developed as well as developing countries, are at particular risk.

All this means that we have to be even more vigilant in our efforts to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases. Each of us has a responsibility to reduce our carbon footprint, and to be carbon neutral, offset the remainder. Carbonfund.org recently launched new carbon calculators to help everyone determine their carbon footprint and offset. The calculators can be accessed here.

Read more about the AP story here.

Photo courtesy of Environment News Service/ENS.

Cleaner Cars for All

The Obama Administration is about to weigh in on national standards for the greenhouse gases that your personal vehicle emits. According to a report in the Washington Post, the "administration is considering establishing national rules for regulating greenhouse gas emissions for automobiles." A move to regulate the greenhouse gas emissions from a vehicle would likely mean improving fuel efficiency or miles-per-gallon (MPG).

This move would be a welcome ones by consumers, who would appreciate cars that could go further on a tank of gas. Moreover additional innovation from struggling Detroit automakers would be a welcome sign, even if this innovation were required by law.

A push for stronger emissions standards for cars has been in the works for years, starting in California in 2002 with the passage of the California Clean Cars Law. This law would have required autos sold in the state to have improved their fleet-wide fuel efficiency to 42 MPG by 2020. This standard was subsequently adopted by 13 other states, including Maryland. But attempts to implement this law in California and other states were blocked by the EPA in the Bush Administration.

An official of the Obama Administration, speaking on anonymity as the Post reports, also commented on the prospect for cap-and-trade legislation dealing with global warming.

The administration is engaged with Congress to pass cap-and-trade legislation, which the president believes is far superior to a regulatory approach using the existing Clean Air Act. If [the Environmental Protection Agency] finds that greenhouse gases endanger health or welfare, the next steps would be taken thoughtfully and with input from all stakeholders.

NIKA Becomes First CarbonFree® Certified Water on the Market

NIKA today officially launched its bottled water, NIKA Water, the first brand of water to donate all profits from sales to charity and the first CarbonFree® Certified water on the market.

Initially, NIKA’s charitable giving is focused on water projects of Free the Children, Millennium Promise and Project Concern International. Each of these organizations has substantial on-the-ground efforts throughout the world to help combat poverty by reducing the prevalence of contaminated water and unsafe sanitation.

NIKA Water earned Carbonfund.org’s CarbonFree® Product Certification after going through a rigorous life-cycle assessment (LCA). The CarbonFree® Certified water is carbon neutral as NIKA is offsetting carbon emissions associated with NIKA Water’s manufacturing, distribution and consumption, including disposal. NIKA is supporting Carbonfund.org's Return to Forest reforestation project in Nicaragua.

Currently, NIKA is sold in case quantities for home and business delivery at nikawater.org but is also planning to partner with core retailers who believe and support its mission to provide clean drinking water and safe sanitation.

“If we can shift just 1 percent of the annual consumption of bottled water to NIKA we would be able to donate more than $2 million per year to the impoverished world,” said Jeff Church, co-founder of NIKA. “Thus, even a small shift of bottled water consumers to NIKA will help make significant inroads around the world toward cleaner water and sanitation.”

NIKA has also pledged that for every bottle of NIKA Water sold, the company will ensure that another plastic bottle is taken out of the environment and recycled. To do this, NIKA is working with schools and universities around the U.S. to create plastic bottle buy‐back programs where NIKA pays the sponsoring school a small fee for every plastic bottle they collect and recycle.

Making Carbon Neutral Part of the Wedding Ritual

Considering the tight state of our wallets and a growing concern for climate change, Carbonfund.org’s motto, “Reduce what you can, offset what you can’t” seems quite relevant when it comes to the wedding scene. Events like weddings, typically, can be extravagant. The estimated market value of the U.S. wedding industry for 2009 according to The Wedding Report is over $56 billion, with an average American wedding costing around $20,000.

Some progressive couples we know and wedding planners have begun greening their weddings. Green practices, such as purchasing from local vendors, including seasonal food and flowers, reusing wedding dresses made from renewable or organic fabrics, reducing the venues to just one location, and organizing carpools, should be considered. These sustainable practices not only reduce CO2 emissions and resource use, but can also lighten the burden in your pocket.

Once you have reduced what you can, Carbonfund.org and WeddingWire have collaborated to help engaged couples and wedding planners take the next step to be carbon neutral. Offsetting supports Carbonfund.org's verified carbon offset projects that help fight global warming. Carbon neutral weddings should be a “must-have” on one's wedding wish list.

Wedding Planning Tools Made Official

Today we announced our new ZeroCarbon^TM Weddings page in partnership with WeddingWire, the leading wedding technology company. WeddingWire has also integrated our ZeroCarbon^TM Wedding Calculator with their personalized wedding websites for couples who are planning weddings. Their websites provide a central place for guests and couples to handle RSVPs online, access event details, obtain gift registry information and find local area info.

Visit www.carbonfund.org/weddings to learn more and try out our wedding calculator.

If you're planning a different kind of event, check out our event calculator, one of our many individual carbon offsetting options in support of Carbonfund.org's high quality, verified carbon offset projects. Making offsetting more accessible to individuals, as well as businesses and organizations, is helping to create awareness on global warming and action on fighting global warming through offsets and reductions of individuals' carbon footprints.

Only the Green Survive

Going green will position your business for success.

A new study by A.T. Kearney demonstrates that companies with a true commitment to environmental sustainability are more likely to weather the current financial meltdown better than others. That is because these companies have a long history of reducing their environmental impact, which generally means doing more with less and saving money.

So the companies that have made the investments that help them minimize packaging, water and energy use, and developed new and innovative ways to work more efficiently are perfectly positioned to handle a recession here and there.

These businesses also fared better in the stock market as well. A GreenBiz summary of the paper stated: "businesses deemed 'sustainability focused' outperformed industry peers over three- and six-month periods and were 'well protected from value erosion.'" Investors notice and reward steps that companies take towards their sustainability goals.

Is it time for your business to get started? Carbonfund.org is the leading nonprofit global warming solutions provider in the US and we have worked with over 1,000 businesses of all sizes to help them reduce and offset their carbon footprint. To learn how to save money, work more efficiently, and make commitments to the environment that your customers notice click here or call us at 240-247-0630.

Carbonfund.org's New Event/Wedding Calculators Go Live

Our new carbon calculators for events and weddings enable offsetting of events, large and small, and weddings. We developed our new ZeroCarbon^TM Weddings page in partnership with WeddingWire, the leading wedding technology company. WeddingWire is also launching our ZeroCarbon^TM Wedding Calculator integrated with their personalized wedding websites for couples who are planning weddings. Their websites provide a central place for guests and couples to handle RSVPs online, access event details, obtain gift registry information and find local area info.

Find out more about Carbonfund.org's carbon calculator for weddings and its integration in WeddingWire's wedding websites at www.carbonfund.org/weddings.

Also, try out the new Carbonfund.org event calculator here.

Our partner WeddingWire also helps couples who are planning their wedding to reduce their carbon footprint by providing referrals on its site to local vendors. Using local vendors for goods and services helps minimize CO2 emissions from transportation. Over 100,000 vendors nationally are part of WeddingWire's network, providing everything from wedding venues to wedding cakes.

Another Twist in the Wildfires

Australian authorities arrested a man on account of arson associated with the wildfires that have killed over 180 people, destroyed 1,800 homes, blackened 1,500 square miles of forests and farmland, and caused serious damage to native species in the area. As the investigation to confirm the immediate and implicit source of the fires continues, the outcry for paying closer attention to addressing climate change is getting louder.

The intensity of the wildfires has been linked to an alarming rise in temperatures, heat waves and prolonged spells of drought. Time Magazine's Bryan Walsh, for example, writes about the topic in "Why Global Warming May Be Fueling Australia's Fires."

For a long time, reducing greenhouse gas emissions and using cleaner energy sources have been, as they should, part of tackling global warming. While reductions are part of a coherent strategy, reforestation and other restoration measures are also needed.

Offsetting initiatives done by Carbonfund.org in reforestation, for example, play an important part in complementing efforts by our organization and others in reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

Another important lesson to learn from this event is to prioritize the environment as an integral factor of land-use planning. Walsh writes that the rise of residential occupancy in fire-danger zones in southern Australia increases the likelihood of fire and the intensity of damage caused by it. Read more about the wildfires in the Time article.

Climate Change to Have Greater Role in Int'l Loans

Not many know that U.S financing institutions like Export-Import Bank (Ex-Im) and the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) went out of their way from 1995 to 2006 to lend more than $21 billion to support fossil fuel plants and refineries around the world.

LA Times reporter Margot Roosevelt cites an investigative report that found a cumulative CO2 emission of 12 billion metric tons from 48 U.S financed projects in advanced developing countries. There was blatant leniency in the past to accept the notion that "impacts of global climate change are too remote and speculative."

The rise of advanced developing countries like India, Brazil, Mexico, and others is directly correlated to an increase in export-led economic growth to the developed world. Most of these nations are heavily dependent on aid and funding from developed nations and international development organizations like the World Bank and IMF. Therefore, despite the larger opportunity cost of environmental degradation, their perceived best option is to dance to the tunes of financing giants like Ex-Im and OPIC.

The lawsuit filed against Ex-Im and OPIC by environment groups like Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth, along with the cities of Santa Monica, Oakland, Arcata and Boulder, has provided a break from this vicious cycle. The settlement reached requires Ex-Im and OPIC to take responsibility for their impact on the climate by considering climate impacts and to make an investment of $250 million in renewable energy projects abroad.

Making Progress on Global Warming

The greenhouse gas effect due to the buildup of CO2 was first discovered in the 1800's by a scientist named Joseph Fourier. This discovery has been built upon over the years and its implications have become clearer and clearer as we have learned more about our planet. Studies on climate change date back decades, with the National Academy of Sciences rigorously studying the issue thirty years ago. They determined if CO2 levels were to continue to increase that the impacts would be severe. I am sure that there are other studies that predate this one, but I bring this up simply to highlight a point: the science is in, global warming is real, and we should have taken serious action decades ago.

But we are where we are, and after years of the same energy policies, President Obama and Congress are working towards modernizing our energy sources and fighting global warming. This is good because fighting global warming creates jobs, cleans our air, and frees us of our dependence on foreign energy sources.

So who could be against that? Why would anyone be against that? Don't we want jobs? And don't we want the government to be infusing money into the energy sources of the future?

According to "Americans For Prosperity," global warming is a "highly speculative problem in the future." This and other groups have started campaigns against policies that would help fight global warming.

The leaders of tomorrow are those who position themselves for success today. By investing in clean energy now we are building the infrastructure that will allow our country to continue to excel and lead. Much as the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956 facilitated American growth by creating the transportation structure needed to move goods and people across our vast nation - a new energy plan must be forward thinking, comprehensive and strategic. Clean energy is coming, and those that drag their feet are bound to get left behind.

U.S. and the “Green New Deal”

The seed for "a green new deal" to succeed the Kyoto Protocol in 2013 was sown in the recent United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) meeting in Poznan, Poland in December 2008. The Fourteenth Conference of Parties (COP) aimed for all participating nations to enter into full negotiating mode to prepare for their next meeting in Copenhagen. Meanwhile, the United States resumed its leadership in the global climate change front, when President Obama highlighted the environment and sustainable energy among his top priorities.

Although Obama links U.S. dependence on foreign non-renewable energy to the economy and international security issues, climate change’s international nature requires collective planning and development. There is a strong push for emission reduction in developing nations like China and India, yet no financial support has been offered to these nation-states with limited funding for reducing their carbon footprints. The EU has already drafted a post-Kyoto proposal that endorses increasing global investment in reducing global emissions to 175 billion euro by 2020, including in the forestry sector. More than half of this amount will be invested in developing countries to help them address climate change, and establish emission reduction strategies.

In an article, Special Envoy for Climate Change Todd Stern and Brookings Institution Managing Director William Antholis urge the U.S. President to pursue layered diplomacy: forming a global coalition of eight core countries that includes advanced developing countries, developing bilateral engagement with China in environmental technology, and encouraging greater participation at the global level.

The progressive changes being enforced by the new administration in the domestic front is commendable, with a goal to reduce emissions to at least 80% by 2050, through cap-and-trade programs. In making a “Green New Deal,” the role of the U.S. should expand to encourage participation of all nations in fighting global warming.

This Valentine's Day, Love Clean Energy

From the Heart, for the planet
Love means a lot of different things to a lot of different people. Some of us can love a bowl of well made lentil soup. Others reserve the word for only the most important things in our lives -- our family, our friends and our planet.

This Valentine's day, we here at Carbonfund.org is providing a gift that will help to show your loved ones that you care not only about them, but about the planet. Gift offsets make a thoughtful gift and perfectly complement the flowers you get her, the tickets to the Nationals game you get him, or the trip that you give each other. Celebrate love this Valentine's day with gifts from the heart and for the planet. Click here to visit our Valentine's Day offset page.

I Heart Clean Energy

Why do you support and fight for clean energy?

A recently launched campaign by the Chesapeake Climate Action Network, 1Sky, and the US Climate Emergency Council is attempting to inform Congress the real reasons why people support clean energy -- love. The "I heart Clean Energy" Campaign is asking people to upload pictures of the loved ones or favorite places that people want to protect from the threat of global warming. A day after the website launched, over 100 people have uploaded photos of the people and places they love.

Read more about the campaign and upload your pictures at www.iheartcleanenergy.org.

Water, Water Everywhere...

In a chilling report (fitting for a chilly day in Silver Spring, Md.) to be published in the journal Science, global warming induced sea level rise could be about 30% worse than predicted less than two years ago -- up to 21 feet 6 inches. If sea levels were to actually rise by that much, a global disaster would ensue. Much of the world's population and agriculturally productive land is located near coastlines at low elevations. As the sea rises, people will be displaced and food will likely become scarcer.

The reason for the updated projection of sea level rise is because scientists are gaining a better understanding of the true implications of the collapse of the massive West Antarctic glacier. According to the LA Times (citing the study):

the variability of the sea level rise from Antarctic ice melt would result from the gravitational force of the ice sheet, which pulls water toward it; changes in the Earth's rotation if the ice were removed; and a rebound of the ocean bottom, on which the massive glacier now rests.

So it is not just that the warming planet will melt the ice, it is also that the ocean floor will 'rebound' or rise after having the massive weight of a glacier removed from it and we are affecting the rotation of the earth!

What is truly alarming about this study is that it comes less than two years after the IPCC report, one of the most comprehensive and rigorous scientific studies ever. As each year passes and as we gather more information on the impacts of our carbon emissions, the implications of global warming grow worse. In short, the more we know about global warming, the more the magnitude of its impacts grows.

We cannot wait to fight global warming-- we need real solutions and we need them now. For I am not looking forward to the day when my home in the Columbia Heights neighborhood of Washington, DC is beachfront property.

Photo courtesy of the LA Times

Send More Ice!

Bears in bikinis, arctic sea lions lounging in the tropical sun, penguins taking off their tuxes? When the glaciers have melted the Arctic is going to turn into a strange place. What should we do? Send more ice! OR, we can do our best to leave the ice that still remains where it belongs by fighting global warming now. Save the ice by reducing your carbon footprint as much as possible and offsetting the rest.



Credits for this video go to Andrew Lasken, a big supporter of Carbonfund.org and Beth Bastian of GoGreenTube.

Spare Some Change For Clean Energy?

Right now, the economy stinks. Companies big and small are shedding jobs as consumer confidence and spending falls. Stock prices are tumbling. And many of us are having to make tough decisions on what cut-backs we should make in our lives. In spite of all this bleak economic news, many of us thought a new, progressive, administration with lofty climate change goals would help the clean energy sector emerge from the recession relatively unscathed. But new reports are suggesting that clean energy is just as vulnerable to the credit crunch and reduced demand as anyone else.

In a piece that was featured in the New York Times entitled Dark Days For Green Energy the author made note of a few less than promising realities that now face wind and solar companies.

• Waves of layoffs are expected
• Trade groups are projecting 30 to 50% declines this year in installation of new equipment
• The number of banks financing large scale projects has dropped by nearly 80%, leaving developers "starved for capital"
  
• Prices are falling dramatically for solar panels

The end result is an industry that is looking and feeling a lot like all the other ones out there right now -- weakened.

Part of the reason why many felt so optimistic about clean energy's resilience during a recession was because of the amazing growth of clean tech over the last couple years. Due to great investment from all levels of government, private investors and the voluntary carbon market, clean energy was riding a wave of confidence. But when credit dries up and there is no access to fresh capital, even the mighty can feel the effects.

The role of groups like Carbonfund.org moving forward will be to do our best to continue to support high quality, third party validated clean energy projects. We cannot wait for the government to act. By purchasing carbon offsets through Carbonfund.org, you are providing much needed incentives for the continued production of clean energy projects -- a much needed boon for the industry.

Create your own stimulus package for wind and solar projects today. Calculate and offset your carbon footprint!

CarbonFree Certified Continues to Make the Headlines

Our own Emily Pugliese has an article out in Greener World Media, publishers of GreenBiz. CarbonFree Certified is the first label in the U.S. for products that are carbon-neutral. As illustrated by the launch of the Motorola Renew cell phone, there's great interest in carbon-neutral products and companies that are taking action on global warming.

Read the article here, and be sure to Digg/share it if you like it. Thanks!

Ten New Species Found

The biodiversity found on Earth is unbelievable and in many respect unfathomable. There are well over 1.2 million animals that we know of that inhabit our earth and seas. What is so astounding about this figure is that we are in fact discovering more animals, more plants, more algaes and lichens regularly. Even today, Conservation International is stating that 10 new species of amphibians have been discovered in an area of Colombia that has been coined Noah's Arc due to its fantastic biodiversity.

What Conservation International found includes salamanders, rain frogs, and glass frogs (frogs with skin so thin and translucent that you can actually see the animals’ organs functioning underneath it).

Now whether you are an amphibian fan or not, it is pretty amazing that even with our modern technology and long record books, we haven't been able to identify everything on our planet. It makes you wonder what else may be out there, waiting to be discovered.

Carbonfund.org has worked with groups like Conservation International for years on reforestation and avoided deforestation projects that enhance and protect wildlife habitat. Our Tensas River Valley project in Louisiana is reconnecting fragmented habitats, historically utilized by the Louisiana Black Bear, the Florida Panther, song birds and many others. Our Return to Forest project in Nicaragua is helping to form critical habitat corridors for many rainforest animals. And the Genesis Forest Project in Brazil is reforesting and conserving over 3,000 acres in what is considered to be one of the world's biodiversity hotspots.

Many amphibians are threatened not only by habitat loss, but also by global warming and air pollution. Worldwide a third of amphibian species, which include frogs, toads, newts and salamanders, are threatened with extinction as a result of disease, habitat destruction and climate change. The forestry projects that Carbonfund.org supports can serve as a model for addressing many of the problems that face some of the world's slimiest creatures. By putting a price on carbon, we are helping to provide incentives to preserve forests and the animals that call them home. The offsets that accrue will fight global warming now, and keep on protecting animals, known and unknown.

(Photo Courtesy of the Telegraph)

Six More Weeks of Winter

The legendary groundhog from Punxsutawney, Phil, saw his shadow today marking a tradition that (un)scientifically proves that winter will last another six weeks. Though a groundhog may not be the best meteorologist, you can't say that the iconic rodent doesn't at least have a consistent system...

But, for all of his adorable and fuzzy positives, Phil has yet to comment on the record about the rising threat of global warming. What is Punxsautawney Phil's prediction on when spring will arrive in 2050? How does he feel about polar ice caps melting and sea levels rising? Where does he stand on wind mills and reforestation? And what will a heavily coated rodent like him do during the suddenly hotter summers?

Global warming is real, with serious effects on everything from our sea levels to Groundhog's Day (seriously). A warmer world may put an untimely end to the age-old question, "is spring coming early?" for the answer is likely always going to be yes.

Let's do our best to keep Phil relevant and keep winters cold by stepping up to fight global warming today. Take responsibility for your carbon footprint now with Carbonfund.org and tell a friend today that fighting global warming is what Phil, the groundhog, would want you to do.

(Image courtesy of the AP)

Time to Act on Global Warming

The Detroit Free Press ran an editorial on the opportunity we all have now to address global warming in a constructive, systematic way. It's not only necessary, it's urgent. "Time's short for planet; we need the right national response, and quickly," says the editorial.

Moreover, the editorial addresses an urgent new report on global warming from the Commerce Department's NOAA Earth System Research Lab in Boulder:

Skeptics converge on global warming data like ants at a picnic, but their reasoning often skips from one random sound bite to the next in their attempt to discount the experts. Meanwhile, serious studies point increasingly to human-caused warming, more potential damage, and faster change -- at a pace that plants and animals, if not all people, will have trouble adapting to. Increased levels of carbon dioxide in the air will cause droughts and rising sea levels for the next millennium, according to climate researcher Susan Solomon of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Earth System Research Laboratory in Boulder, Colo., in a report issued last week.

This is a time for individuals and organizations to speak up on global warming and tell their representatives in Congress that the country needs to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Read more on fighting global warming at Carbonfund.org's site. Find out about what scientists and activists say we need for a target on emissions reductions in resources such as Union of Concerned Scientists' (UCS) fact sheet.