Archive for the ‘Disasters’ Category

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Clean Air, Inside and Out: Innovative Labs

Tuesday, May 8th, 2012


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As spring turns to summer in North America, many of us are putting on our “taxi driver” caps and ferrying our kids between lacrosse, soccer, playgrounds and parks and other outdoor events and activities. Some of us however, have kids like my son Elliot who seems to be “allergic” to spring, a time of year when his seasonal allergies kick in big time, and every day becomes a battle between letting him spend time outdoors with his friends and playing sports versus suffering the consequences of bad allergies triggered by pollen and spring time allergens.

Indoor air quality becomes a top priority as we try to find a reprieve from the hostile environment outside. The following post was sent to us by Aneliese Ramsay, Client  Marketing Specialist, with Ino-Labs.com whose company has developed a new technology to create cleaner indoor air and to remove “volatile organic compounds” or VOCs such as bacteria and viruses from the air. Join us as Analeise explains how this new technology works.

Improving Indoor Air Quality: Guest Post, Aneliese Ramsay

According to a recent report by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Individuals spend 90% of their time indoors where the levels of pollutants may be 2 to 5 times, and occasionally 100 times higher than outdoor air. Harsh chemicals such as formaldehyde, acetone, ethanol and aldehydes can produce symptoms such as burning eyes, sore throats, skin irritation and long term exposure can also lead to cancer. In addition, according to the Center for Disease Control, as climate scientists show us the increasing linkages between climate change and extreme weather events, mold and bacteria become a more common concern in homes and buildings that are inundated with floods and storm weather events. Realizing the need for cleaner indoor air, Innovative Labs developed a new technology to remove VOCs such as bacteria and viruses from indoor air.

Aneliese tells us that, Innovative Labs was started for the express purpose of solving environmental challenges that affect global well-being; focusing on a problem and then engineering a solution. Innovative Labs team of engineers and scientists developed a unique photo catalytic oxidation (PCO) air purification system that has been designed to address the concerns of formaldehyde, ozone and VOC pollution. Innovative Labs took on a Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) challenge to scientists, to develop air purification technology for trailers supplied by FEMA which were housing many of the displaced citizens of the 2005 New Orleans hurricane disaster. It turned out that these trailers were exposing occupants to high levels of formaldehyde and other VOCs’ off-gassing from the composite wood and other materials used in trailer construction. With the linkages between climate change and extreme weather becoming more evident and playing out more often, there could be an increase in trailer use in communities impacted by severe weather events so solving these indoor air quality problems are of increasing importance.

According to Innovative Labs, the technology behind their air purification system, the Sonoma Breeze, is unique in the industry. Air is continuously drawn into the air purifier, where a strong UV light activates a long-lasting titanium dioxide photo catalytic reactor core, breaking down and destroying airborne biological contaminants, odors, pollutants and dangerous volatile organic compounds (VOCs). The result is pure air free from formaldehyde, bacteria and viruses. The benefit of Innovative Labs technology is that does not emit ozone, and can remove 90% formaldehyde on a single pass, giving consumers a way to mitigate exposure and promote a healthy lifestyle.

For more information on innovative labs visit ino-labs.com. While ClimateMama hasn’t tried out this new technology yet, we are interested in finding out if you have and what you think. Also, do let us know if you have any other tips you want to share for keeping the indoor air your children breath clean and clear!

On our quest to keeping our outside air clean if you haven’t done so already, consider signing on to the Moms Clean Air Force petition to defend clean air and fight mercury emissions and other toxins emitted by power plants!

Yours,

Climate Mama

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Posted in Construction, Disasters, Health & Fitness, In The News, Product Reviews | No Comments »

Earth Day Musings: In the Year 2062

Saturday, April 21st, 2012


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Where will we be 50 years from today, what will we be doing? Will we be celebrating and savoring the brave souls of our immediate ancestors – and those still among us – the “Paul Reveres” who rang the alarm bells in 2012 when our Planet began showing us in clear and painful ways the destructive and deadly precipice we had set her careening towards. Will we have taken the necessary yet challenging steps to drastically reduce our greenhouse gas emissions? Will we have adopted an international climate accord, where ALL countries agreed to do “whatever it takes” to put our planet back in a balanced state, where carbon dioxide will be reset to the magic number of 350 parts per million and a healing path is the road now traveled.

Will we be living in cities that thrive and grow through the use of “renewable energy” – including the sun, wind and waves? Will we have all figured out how to consume sustainably using only what we need, replacing and renewing all our resources, and ensuring that amble natural resources like water and clean air will remain abundant and pure for future generations and all creatures who inhabit the earth….

Will we have internalized and codified the challenge posed to us by Jean Rostand, the French writer and biologist, and Rachel Carson when they told us: “The obligation to endure gives us the right to know.” Will we have taken the “blinders” off, demanded the truth, and faced full on the lethal dangers we had created for the human species, accepting and recognizing our moral and ethical responsibilities to ensure the endurance of our species. Will we have stood up to those who told us we needed to “back down” on environmental regulations for the sake of the economy…when in fact the economy and the environment are inseparably linked?

In 2062 will we be living in homes that generate their own energy, feeding back any unused energy into the grid? Will we be commuting on high speed rails and using public transportation that reach all “outlying communities” allowing us to reduce our dependence and need for individuals cars. And as for automobiles, will they all be “electric” vehicles that we can charge everywhere, which get their energy from power stations and power plants that harness renewable energy, in a sustainable way…

Or, will we NOT have headed the warnings and harbingers of impending doom? In 2052 will we be living in a land of extreme weather events, with walls that “protect us” from climate refugees who clamor to get in and partake of their “fair share” of our scarce resources. Will the “Hunger Games” scenario, come true?

Will we have sucked our planet dry of all fossil fuels, as the unconventional energy extraction methods of fracking, tar sands mining and deep sea drilling will have left our earth ‘empty.” Will our oceans, already showing stress in 2012, have become so alkaline that all coral has died, and algae and jellyfish have become the dominate “living” organisms roaming our seas? Will sea level rise has invaded our coasts, rolling over Florida, burying the Jersey Shore, and wiping out the rolling dunes of Long Island, the mansions that dotted Amagansett and South Hampton, the outer banks of the Caroline coast, and the white sands of Oregon, Washington State and California? Will we have ignored the warning signs our planet was giving us way back on Earth Day 2012? In April of that year, North America was just beginning to deal with the water shortages caused by the “winter that never came” and the brush fires that were creeping and spreading up and down the east coast, touching every state from Florida to the Canadian border.

What future scenario do you want for you children? Join us as we contemplate this question and the beauty of our planet earth this Earth Day. Participate in a public demonstration, fair or event. Come together with thousands in Washington DC at the iMatter March on April 22nd, or the Interfaith Moral Action on Climate on April 24th. Make a family Earth Day resolution..and help us figure out how we will get to the positive Earth Day celebrations, 50 years from now in 2062.

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Posted in Climate Mama News, Disasters, Earth Day is Every Day, Holidays | 1 Comment »

Dr. Suess Birthday: The Lorax, Climate Change and Speaking For the Trees

Friday, March 2nd, 2012


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March 2nd, HAPPY BIRTHDAY Dr. Suess! March 2nd is also the launch of the new Universal Pictures film The Lorax (Great timing – curious though, as it does seem that the creators of this movie, “care a whole lot” but that according to some reviewers, the marketing team either didn’t watch the movie, or didn’t get the message!”)

This special day and “anniversary” is a great opportunity to remind all the kids in your life that they, like the Lorax, need to continue to stand up to all the Onc-lers amongst us; as the Lorax tells us: “Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It’s not.”

The story of the Lorax revolves around humankind’s thoughtless destruction of our trees and is particularly poignant, as human caused climate change is ravaging our forests and causing the destruction of hundreds of millions of acres of our trees across the western US and Canada.

To our Climate Mamas and Papas, thank you for “taking a stand” and for caring “a whole lot!”

Photo Credit: Universal Pictures

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Posted in Disasters, In The News, Lifestyle & Fun, Nature | No Comments »

Connecting the dots: Climate Change, Drought, War, Famine and Macs?

Tuesday, December 6th, 2011


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Vote for ClimateMama TODAY, and lets help our kids (and us) connect the dots between our actions in North America, Europe and the rest of the developed world, and the terrible human crisis now unfolding in the Horn of Africa. More than 13 million people have already been displaced by Famine, War and Drought (FWD). Children are dying every day. We have played a role in creating this disaster and we now need to play a role in helping solve it. Climate Mama is a finalist in the USAID GOOD competition on the FWD Crisis in Africa. We need your help to forward the facts. Vote for ClimateMama today and help make the connections between climate change and the FWD crisis in Africa!

The Facts: Low rainfall amounts beginning in the fall of 2010 have resulted in millions of people in the countries of the Horn of Africa (Somalia, Ethiopia, Eritrea Djibouti, Kenya and Uganda) being unable to water their crops, feed their livestock or provide food for their families. This crisis has been growing over the past year, and has also resulted in rocketing “sky high” food prices. Particularly hard hit is the country of Somalia, where humanitarian assistance “continues to be limited or denied.” Refugees from the entire area are walking hundreds of miles in search of relief…families, with no where to go, are loosing the battle against FWD and are loosing their lives.

Our Role: As devastating as the news and pictures are of what is happening in Africa, most of us are unaware of our role in creating this continuing crisis. Until we start taking ownership of what is happening around the world and in our own country, BECAUSE of our everyday actions, we won’t be able to arrive at solutions.

Climate Change Impacts USA: In the past year 47 out of 50 states in the US have declared climate related disasters, 13 of which have resulted in damages of over $1 BILLION dollars.

And if that doesn’t grab the attention of the kids in your life, share this fact with them: Over half the hard drives made in the world come from Thailand, a country “knocked flat” by devastating floods. Factories critical to Apple (and other computer companies) have been devastated. “…..it means [in early 2012] you either won’t be able to get an iMac with a 2TB drive, or will have an extremely hard time sourcing one, because Apple sources many components from Thailand,” says Apple CEO Tim Cook.

Vote Today: ClimateMama is a finalist in the GOOD USAID competition to raise awareness about crisis in Africa. Voting is open now! There are many great ideas. Please vote for Climate Mama and help our kids (and ourselves) connect the DOTS between our use of fossil fuels, lifestyle and consumption patterns and the human crisis that has taken hold in Africa, and in fact in our own country.
Thank you,

Climate Mama

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Posted in Climate Mama News, Disasters, Food, In The News, Take a Stand: Action & Advocacy | No Comments »

Mother Nature turns into Medusa, Slams East Coast: Happy Halloween – Yes We Are SCARED Now!

Sunday, October 30th, 2011


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“Whatever we did to upset Mother Nature, tell her I’m sorry,” said the Mayor of a North Jersey town, as he surveyed the damage before him. Waking up on October 30th, up and down the Northeastern US, residents felt like they just received the “knock out punch” from a string of natural disasters that started with Hurricane Irene at the end of August, and has now culminated in the worst early snow storm in recorded history. In fact, in my own corner of New Jersey, there were more people affected by power outages and more downed trees than anyone can ever remember, from any disaster – natural or man made.

My neighborhood resembles a war zone. It is as if a series of cluster bombs have gone off, flattening trees and pulling down power lines. What only one day before were beautiful maples, oaks, and birches, bursting with fall colors – painted by nature using a spectacular fall color palette, seemingly a special autumn gift – now resembled a war zone, or the destructive path of a tornado.

Schools across the region have already been cancelled, in some cases, it seems for days to come. Driving and even walking the streets in many neighborhoods is incredibly treacherous due to hanging tree limbs, blocked roads from fallen trees and downed power lines. My children want to know, “will Halloween be cancelled?”

So Mr. Mayor, are you really sorry, and more importantly, are you willing to do something about it. When are we going to “connect the dots” and make the connections between our warming planet, air that now holds more moisture than just a few years ago, powerful storms and more extreme precipitation events, and anthropogenic climate change. How many more severe storms, power outages and warnings from mother nature need we endure, before we take action and stop our addiction to fossil fuels, stop treating our atmosphere like an open sewer and start putting people to work building and growing renewable energy and green power generation. We need policy changes that will encourage renewable energy, energy efficiency, move us away from factory farming, thoughtless consumerism and towards sustainable forestry and the promotion of thoughtful treatment and kindness to our planet earth, and to ourselves. Grab the kids in your life and talk about what is happening around us, and more importantly why!

I am sorry Mother Nature. I hear you and I am trying to help.

Yours,

Climate Mama

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Welcome to Climate Mama

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You are a mother, a father, a grandparent, an uncle, an aunt, a teacher or a child at heart. When you hear the Native American saying, “We don’t inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children”, it makes you stop for a moment and think. You love nature, travel, adventure and believing in a world that is special and unique. Climate change and global warming are words that alarm you, that often seem too big to get your arms around. You care about what’s happening to the world and notice small changes in your own life that seem to point in the direction of a threatened environment. But you wonder if these changes are real, and if they are you can’t imagine what you can do to help change what is happening.

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Climate Mamas and Papas

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Climate Change so often seems too big to get our hands around. We wonder where we can start and how we can actually make a difference. Each one of us has a different path that we will follow. Some of us cut a wider swath than others, but each of us has a role to play. We would like to introduce you to some amazing individuals, Climate Mamas and Papas who are making a difference, who are, through their daily lives, affecting the lives of all of us. They inspire us, empower us, and challenge us to reach for the stars, to strive to do the best we can to help change the crash course we are currently on with our environment. Lets meet some of these amazing people and find out what inspires them. Meet our featured Climate Mama, Janae Shields, today!

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Featured Partner & Campaigns

Earth Day New York promotes environmental awareness and solutions, all year long, through partnerships with schools, community organizations, businesses, and government entities; educating public and private policymakers through conferences and publications; and involving the general public in annual Earth Day events.

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