Mad cows (and livid lambs) - Telegraph

"Marauding elephants, aggressive sea lions, snap-happy crocodiles... As animal attacks on humans reach frightening levels, scientists are beginning to understand exactly what the beasts are thinking. And it's not good."

But it's now widely accepted that the relationship between humans and animals is changing. One of the world's leading ethologists (specialists in animal behaviour) believes that a critical point has been crossed and animals are beginning to snap back. After centuries of being eaten, evicted, subjected to vivisection, killed for fun, worn as hats and made to ride bicycles in circuses, something is causing them to turn on us.

Mad cows (and livid lambs) - Telegraph:

The Era of Catastrophe? Geologists Name New Era After Human Influence on the Planet | Environment | AlterNet

The Era of Catastrophe? Geologists Name New Era After Human Influence on the Planet | Environment | AlterNet

The Problem Is Simple: Too Many People, Too Much Stuff | Environment | AlterNet

"Our species' negative impact on our own life-support systems can be approximated by the equation I=PAT. In that equation, the size of the population (P) is multiplied by the average affluence or consumption per individual (A), and that in turn is multiplied by some measure of the technology (T) that services and drives the consumption. Thus commuting in automobiles powered by subsidized fossil fuels on proliferating freeways creates a much greater T factor than commuting on bikes using simple paths or working at home on a computer network. The product of P, A, and T is Impact (I), a rough estimate of how much humanity is degrading the ecosystem services it depends upon."

There is no technological change we can make that will permit growth in either human numbers or material affluence to continue to expand. In the face of this, the neglect of the intertwined issues of population and consumption is stunning.

Read the article The Problem Is Simple: Too Many People, Too Much Stuff | Environment | AlterNet:

Climate change: Prepare for global temperature rise of 4C, warns top scientist | Environment | guardian.co.uk

"There is no doubt that we should aim to limit changes in the global mean surface temperature to 2C above pre-industrial," Watson, the chief scientific adviser to the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, told the Guardian. "But given this is an ambitious target, and we don't know in detail how to limit greenhouse gas emissions to realise a 2 degree target, we should be prepared to adapt to 4C."

"I think that is a dangerous mindset to be in. Thinking through the implications of 4 degrees of warming shows that the impacts are so significant that the only real adaptation strategy is to avoid that at all cost because of the pain and suffering that is going to cost.

"There is no science on how we are going to adapt to 4 degrees warming. It is actually pretty alarming," he added.

Climate change: Prepare for global temperature rise of 4C, warns top scientist | Environment | guardian.co.uk

George Monbiot: The stakes could not be higher. Everything hinges on stopping coal | Comment is free | The Guardian

George Monbiot: The stakes could not be higher. Everything hinges on stopping coal | Comment is free | The Guardian

Electric Cars Are the Key to Energy Independence | Environment | AlterNet

Oil generates only 3 percent of our electricity. Therefore a 100 percent renewable electricity system does little to reduce our oil dependency -- unless that electricity is used to substitute for oil in our transportation system.

The prospect of a large battery capacity contained in tens of millions of electrified vehicles could be, in the words of one utility executive, "a game changer."

A large storage capacity could also ameliorate the intermittency problem of renewable energy, which in turn could allow a much higher proportion of renewable electricity on the grid.

Read the entire story. Electric Cars Are the Key to Energy Independence | Environment | AlterNet