Cats and dogs are the latest animals to fall under the microscope of green living with a new book called “Time to Eat the Dog: The Real Guide to Sustainable Living.” Written by two New Zealand architects specializing in sustainable living, this provocative book is bound to stir people up.

The authors, Robert and Brenda Vale, claim that these popular house pets use up more energy resources a year than driving a car. According to their calculations, published in New Scientist, …

Tags: carbon emissions , carbon footprint , cats and dogs , eco pawprint , global warming , pets and global warming

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I’m sure you’ve heard of the Heinz food company. It’s been around since 1869, providing generation after generation with ketchup, baked beans and hundreds of other food products.

But have you heard of the annual Heinz Awards?

Set up in 1993 by the Heinz Family Philanthropies to honor the memory of US Senator John Heinz, these awards celebrate and acknowledge the achievements of extraordinary individuals in the five areas: Arts and Humanities,  Economy and Employment, the Human Condition, Public Policy, and Technology, and the Environment.

This year’s Heinz Awards, however, are all about …

Tags: climate change , environmental leaders , global warming , heinz award

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Anyone wanting to know how global warming will affect their community in the future now has a new interactive tool, The Climate Wizard, at her fingertips.

Developed by The Nature Conservancy, the University of Washington and the University of Southern Mississippi, the Climate Wizard provides visitors with quick and easy access to information that usually would take hours if not days for them to research for themselves.

Using the Climate Wizard’s interactive map, visitors can access climate change data from the past and explore future predictions. Zoom …

Tags: climate change , global warming , mapping climate change , the climate wizard , the nature conservancy

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It’s one thing to read about how some of the most amazing natural treasures in the world are endangered due to environmental degradation, or learn specifically about the dangers global warming poses to our national parks. It’s another thing to see it firsthand.

I was hiking in the Rockies earlier this month and saw for myself large swaths of dead, rust-colored Lodgepole pine trees throughout the forest (see gallery below).  Witnessing the actual damage done by human folly is heart wrenching …

Tags: climate change , deforestation , evidence , global warming , global warming effects , hiking , impacts , national parks , solutions

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Australian citizens might not be shrinking but its birds sure are. That’s the word from an Australian National University and CSIRO study which measured eight bird species found in Australia’s southeast and compared them to the size of museum specimens from a century ago. Their findings show that each bird species measured had shrunk between 2 and 4 percent in the last 100 years.

During this time Australia’s daily temperature has risen 1.3 degrees F (0.7 degrees C).

Based on this information, the study concluded that the …

Tags: australia's birds are shrinking , climate change , climate change and shrinking birds , global warming , shrinking birds

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Last year, the Union of Concerned Scientists and Penguin Classics joined together and went looking for interested citizens to participate in a new anthology.

The topic: personal stories about global warming.

The response: overwhelming. There were over 1,000 submissions from established writers and new voices from across the country.

The result,  Thoreau’s Legacy: American Stories About Global Warming, is a collection of 67 essays from scientists, students, activists, parents, journalists, grandparents, artists and business people, all of whom have stories to tell and views to express.

Named after Henry David Thoreau, …

Tags: anthology , conservation , global warming , nature , philosophy , stories , Thoreau , Thoreau's Legacy

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Every 10 years, the United States Global Change Research Program is required to report on how climate change is affecting the United States.

The latest Global Climate Change Impacts in the United States report, released this week, is a comprehensive 188-page document written with the assistance of 13 federal agencies and John Holdren, President Obama’s science advisor.

Dealing only in cold, hard facts, the report outlines the many detrimental effects that global warming is already having on activities, industries, wildlife, the landscape and even health around the country.

This latest …

Tags: climate change , climate change effects on industry , global climate change impacts in the United States , global warming , maple syrup

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Native to Southwest Europe and Northern Africa, the cork oak’s bark is not only harvested for wine stoppers and home flooring, it’s also entered the fashion world thanks to companies like Portuguese fashion label Pelcor.

Recently receiving honors for “Most Innovative” at the Pure International Fashion show in London, owner Sandra Correia, Portugal’s Entrepreneur of the Year, has taken cork to new heights.

Because the material is waterproof, washable, hypoallergenic, un-scratchable and stain-proof, shoes, bags, hats and jewelry can be beautifully made and stylishly detailed. Even Madonna seems to have …

Tags: cork , global warming , Pelcor , Portugal's entrpreneur of the year , Sanda Correia , vegeatable fiber

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This ambitious book sets out to do a lot:

1.    Introduce people who are new to the idea that there is a connection between food and climate change.
2.    Lay out all the science in a very detailed manner.
3.    Tell readers how they can personally lower their impact through diet.
4.    Provide recipes and lifestyle tips telling readers how to do it.

Considering how much the book tries to do, I think Cool Cuisine – Taking a Bite Out of Global Warming by Laura Stec with Eugene Cordero, Ph.D. does a good job. However, I wasn’t sure if …

Tags: books , diet , food system , global warming , lifestyle tips

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