Climate Change. Is it real? Of course. Is it happening? Of course. Are we doing it?

Today is Blog Action Day. The topic is Climate Change. You gotta ask, could nearly all of the respected scientific community be wrong, and humans have nothing to do with it?

Well, with billions of humans on this hunk of space rock, it's hard to imagine we don't have an impact over time. I always think of the blacktop parking lots absorbing heat. Were there any of those 100 years ago? Minor details, but there's tons of minor details, and they add up in tiny sums.

Interestingly, I've been reading an old Isaac Asimov book of mine, From Earth to Heaven and he mentions in passing the potential effects of global warming. And to think I didn't know people were discussing this in print already in the early 60's? Ah, my arrogance to think people weren't talking about this until I was an adult. Now it's our arrogance to think that all the things we do have no effect on the environment we live in.

Then there's the CO2 levels. Hmmm. Are we responsible for that? I'd say that is obvious. Extracting millions of barrels of volume from the Earth's carbon storage devices and releasing CO2 surely adds to the balance. So, now we talk about pumping CO2 back underground? That's an interesting trade.

Oh well, I use simple math. There's little disagreement that CO2 in the atmosphere contributes to climate change. We add more of it to the surface environment, and in the meantime spend hundreds of years removing the biggest surface storage devices (trees and forests.)

Climate change. It's not about real or not, it's just how much we have affected our environment, and how much effect we are capable of. I'd rather not find out the latter. Reuse shopping bags. Wash them if there's bacteria build up. Do all the little things, and they'll add up in tiny sums just like all the little things we've done to the planet. Eliminating my impact is impossible until I die, and then I'll contribute a little CO2 until I'm dust. Shrinking my impact can be done every day, and it doesn't hurt.

Can't wait for Madison!

After hours to and from the airport, and hours to and from the East Coast, I've decided my favorite thing about Madison today is... the airport! 13 gates, 15 minutes from where we'll live downtown, and 4 hours closer to NYC and ATL makes quite a list of happiness right now. I figure if I end up in A non-stop destination, I'll save a minimum of 10 hours in a week, if I have to connect, it will be a minimum of 6 hours. Of course, when considering this weeks destination of West Palm Beach, that doesn't have non-stop service to SFO, I still save 10 hours.

7.5 * 42 = 315 hours saved in an average year of 42 weeks travelling

315 / 40 = 7.875 weeks less that I have to work

According to TerraPass.com If I trim 36 flights from going all the way to the West Coast (saving 8 weeks of the 42 average to go back to the office. Generous.) I'll also save 32,508 Lbs. of CO2 for the rest of the world. Cool beans.

Tomorrow, my favorite thing about moving to Madison will be that it practically makes me an environmentalist.

Google Fast Flip... better than the news tab!

Since I was totally stuck today at SFO, I got to catch up on a lot of work, and catch up a bit on what my favorite folks at Google are up to, well what they've released anyhow. Microsoft makes lets me work in the information world efficiently, and Google lets me live in the chaotic information world manage to navigate through it too. Check it out!

http://fastflip.googlelabs.com/