Tag: climate

Cadiz sunset at the beach
Climate Change

The Ocean Nation: A Bold Solution for a Brighter Climate Future

In the latest episode of my Climate Confident podcast, I had the pleasure of speaking with Steve Willis about the idea of bestowing nationhood and what steps we can take to make it a reality. As someone who has dedicated their life to tackling the challenges of climate change, Steve’s insights and perspectives on this topic were truly enlightening.

One of the things that stood out to me about our conversation was the emphasis Steve placed on the power of public discussion and imagination in driving change. He believes that by encouraging people to imagine a future where the ocean is treated as a nation, with its own laws and governance, we can start to build momentum towards making that vision a reality.

Steve also talked about the importance of public awareness in driving this change. He was involved in writing and producing positive outcome climate fiction short stories to inspire people to imagine a future where we can solve the climate crisis, and hopes to turn those stories into a Netflix series, or similar to reach a wider audience and help build a narrative around the idea of ocean nationhood.

Another aspect of our conversation that was particularly interesting was Steve’s discussion of TRIZ, a process for inventive problem solving that he and his team use in their work. This process involves imagining the ideal outcome and working backwards to determine the first steps necessary to get there. By using this process, Steve believes that we can overcome the challenges and obstacles that might stand in the way of creating an ocean nation.

While Steve is quick to emphasize that this idea of ocean nationhood is not about declaring independence unilaterally, he does believe that it has the potential to be a powerful solution to the challenges facing our oceans today. He believes that by inviting people to join the conversation and explore the possibilities, we can start to build a groundswell of support and momentum towards making this vision a reality.

If you’re interested in learning more about this exciting and innovative idea, I highly encourage you to listen to the episode and check out the links in the show notes. You can also connect with Steve on LinkedIn and explore the resources available on the green stories link.

At the end of the day, the idea of ocean nationhood is about imagining a better future for our oceans and taking the necessary steps to make that future a reality. By coming together and exploring this idea, I believe that we can make a real difference in the fight against climate change and ensure a healthy and sustainable future for our oceans and our planet.

So, join this exciting journey of exploration and discovery! Listen to the podcast episode, engage with Steve and the community, and let’s see where this idea of ocean nationhood can take us

Finally, don’t forget to follow the Climate Confident podcast for weekly inspiring stories and remember, if you value receiving weekly actionable insights on sustainability and climate, you can always sign up to be a Supporter of the podcast for less than the cost of a cup of coffee.

Reflection of a wind turbine in an office window
Internet of Things (IoT)

How IoT Helps Fight Climate Change


The internet of things, or “IoT,” is a system of connected devices that share data and work together to achieve a common goal. By 2025, it’s estimated that there will be 75 billion IoT devices in use worldwide. That represents a major opportunity to reduce carbon emissions and make our economy more sustainable. Here’s how IoT is already reducing carbon emissions, and how it can do even more in the future.

Monitoring and reducing energy usage: One of the most direct ways IoT is reducing carbon emissions is by monitoring and reducing energy usage. Connected devices can track everything from how much electricity a building is using to how much water a factory is consuming. This data can be used to make real-time adjustments that result in significant reductions in energy usage. In some cases, these reductions can be as much as 30%.

Improving transportation: Another way IoT is reducing carbon emissions is by improving transportation. Connected devices can be used to optimize shipping routes and traffic patterns. This results in fewer vehicles on the road and less congestion. Additionally, IoT can be used to develop new alternative fuel sources like electric vehicles.

Increasing green energy use: In addition to reducing energy consumption, IoT can also be used to increase the use of renewable energy sources. For example, wind turbines and solar panels can be outfitted with sensors that allow them to adjust their output based on real-time conditions. This ensures that they’re always operating at maximum efficiency, which reduces the need for traditional (and emitting) forms of energy generation.

IoT presents a major opportunity to reduce carbon emissions and make our economy more sustainable. By monitoring energy usage, improving transportation, and increasing green energy use, IoT is already having a positive impact on the environment. As the number of connected devices continues to grow, so too will the potential for even greater reductions in carbon emissions.

If you’d like to know more about successful climate emissions reduction strategies, don’t forget to check out my weekly Climate 21 podcast. With roughly 100 episodes published, you’ll be sure to find lots of learnings there.

Technology / Software

Technology for Good – episode thirty four with Salesforce’s John Tascheck

Welcome to episode thirty four of the Technology for Good hangout. In this week’s episode our guest was SalesForce SVP of Strategy, John Taschek. John and I are both longtime members of the Enterprise Irregulars, but this was the first time John and I had had a conversation outside of email!

Some of the more fascinating stories we looked at on the show, included a very successful Kickstarter campaign for a small router which can completely anonymise your internet activity, Lockheed Martin announcing that they’ve made a breakthrough on nuclear fusion technology, and Satya Nadella’s response to his gaffe last week about women seeking a raise.

Here is the full list of stories that we covered in this week’s show:

 

Climate

Energy

Hardware

Internet of Things

Wearables

Mobility

Comms

Privacy

Open Source

Sustainability

(Cross-posted @ GreenMonk: the blog)

Trends & Concepts

Technology for Good – episode thirty two with SAP’s Sameer Patel

Welcome to episode thirty two of the Technology for Good hangout. In this week’s episode we had SAP‘s Sameer Patel as the guest on our show. Sameer and I are members of the Enterprise Irregulars group – a loose group of analysts and vendors with an interest in enterprise software. Previous Enterprise Irregulars who have guested on the show include David Terrar, Craig Cmehil, and Jon Reed.

There was a problem which wasn’t apparent to us during the show and that was that the video from my side never showed up in the recording. I suspect that’s because I was using a beta version of Chrome, but anyway, the audio, and Sameer’s video feed was recorded, so all’s well.

This week we didn’t get through all the stories we had lined up, ‘cos we had such a good discussion around the ones we did manage to fit in!

Some of the more fascinating stories we looked at on the show, included the growing number of technology companies who are abandoning ALEC, IBM’s new concentrating solar array which can create clean water, as well as solar power, and a new smartphone app which will help visually challenged users to read.

Here is the full list of stories that we covered in this week’s show:

 

Climate

Renewables

Lighting

Transportation

Data Centres

Connectivity

Drones

Hardware

Apps

Education

(Cross-posted @ GreenMonk: the blog)

Climate Change

2007 was Earth's 2nd warmest year

According to NASA, 2007 was tied with 1998 as the second-warmest year in a century.

global climate change

According to the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS), the eight warmest years in the GISS record have all occurred since 1998, and the 14 warmest years in the record have all occurred since 1990.

The article goes on to say:

The greatest warming in 2007 occurred in the Arctic, and neighboring high latitude regions. Global warming has a larger affect in polar areas, as the loss of snow and ice leads to more open water, which absorbs more sunlight and warmth. Snow and ice reflect sunlight; when they disappear, so too does their ability to deflect warming rays. The large Arctic warm anomaly of 2007 is consistent with observations of record low geographic extent of Arctic sea ice in September 2007.

“As we predicted last year, 2007 was warmer than 2006, continuing the strong warming trend of the past 30 years that has been confidently attributed to the effect of increasing human-made greenhouse gases,” said James Hansen, director of NASA GIS

The data in the graph above are pretty conclusive. The planet’s climate is changing. Now what are we going to do about it?