Following up on my Santa Catalina Island post on nesting eagles, here is a story from NPR on the aftermath of the recent fire on the island. The outlook may be ok, as some of the creatures that call Catalina home are native to the Channel Islands, and are therefore used to periodic fires. Time will tell, but for now, you can still find your love in Avalon.

• Santa Catalina Island post conflagration

continue reading.....

What do hummingbirds and the cultivation of coca have in common? Read the following link to find out.

• Hummingbirds and Deforestation

continue reading.....

It seems that the media has caught on to the changes that the lighting industry has undergone in the past 10 years. Our household is almost fully fluorescent at this point, and it works well for us. It’s great to be able to save money, and at the same time not have to haul out a ladder to replace the same pesky light bulb in the hallway. I’ve been watching the market for LEDs for about three years now, waiting for the price to drop to a consumer-friendly level before I make the plunge into that technological pool. It appears that waiting is probably a good thing for the average person, as industry is still making big advances in LED efficiency and variety, and the price is expected to be
quite affordable by 2008.

continue reading.....

One very obvious contributor to world climate change doesn’t seem to get a lot of press, lately. Deforestation has been the focus of conservationists for some decades now, especially the destruction of equatorial rain forests in Brazil and Asia. Recently, however, it has lost its place in the media due to the attention brought to the effects of industry, energy production and autos on the global CO2 budget. These things tend to be cyclical, to be sure, but the CO2 absorption budget represented by the world’s forests is massive, and to allow continued deforestation would create a great peril to a balanced world climate.

continue reading.....

Seville is the site for a new twist on the use of solar energy. A giant tower has been constructed and surrounded by many large, solar-tracking mirrors. These mirrors focus the sun’s rays to a point at the top of the tower, which then causes water to be heated and turn into steam, which then turns turbines and generates electricity.

• Solar Tower

continue reading.....