Monthly Archive for March, 2009

links for 2009-03-17

links for 2009-03-12

links for 2009-03-11

links for 2009-03-08

links for 2009-03-06

links for 2009-03-05

links for 2009-03-04

Lovelock: lifeboat nations

James Lovelock has obviously been reading my blog.  Just a shame he didn’t link to it really.  Anyway he answers the question I posed in a recent post: in a world where climate change is rapant, where do you go to live?

He suggests either Canada or the UK, or perhaps Siberia.  From Futurismic:

Lovelock’s point seemed to be that we should give up on trying to save the planet and the entirety of the human species by reducing greenhouse gas emissions and focus instead on equipping “lifeboat nations” with the necessary infrastructure (schools, roads, houses) to support swarms of climate refugees.

The UK and Canada are lifeboat nations, in case you’re wondering. Probably Siberia too. Basically, anywhere that will be relatively cool and have water in a world that is on average 5°C warmer than it was 100 years ago.

I have to say, if he thinks the people of Britain are likely to welcome hordes of climate refugees, he’s not met many Brits.  The average Brit’s fellow feeling barely extends to himself, let alone the poor and huddled masses of other countries.

In my mind I can see Sun readers, on the beaches, clubbing parched refugees to death like baby seals whilst humming WWII songs and claiming it’s all just like the blitz.

Anyway, now I know where to build my fortified survivalist camp.  Thanks Mr Lovelock.

links for 2009-03-03

  • search.twitter.com using ESI in varnish.
  • An interview with Alissa Hamilton about her new book, Squeezed, reveals that that fresh orange juice you're buying might not be so fresh or even orange-y.

    Can anyone confirm or deny? In the UK cartons of orange juice just say "100% orange juice" on them, and i'm sure if they had flavourings they'd be required to say so. Is this just typical US disregard for food, or does this apply in Europe too?

    (tags: science food)

links for 2009-03-01