This Is What Climate Change Looks Like in VR

As I look down from space on our spinning blue and green planet, I understand why astronauts so often describe the experience of “Earth-gazing” as life-changing. I’m seeing our tiny planet highlighted against the infinite black expanse of the universe as I have never seen it before. It really does evoke a visceral sense of vastness and wonder.

Looking at climate change through virtual reality.

It would be intimidating were I not able to anchor myself with familiar landmarks. That dry patch over there is the Sahara Desert. There’s the North Pole. And that’s North America! Below is the verdant Brazilian rainforest. Here comes Australia, with its vast expanse of parched Outback — and that long, lush green chain of islands must be Indonesia. I feel a profound sense of pride. Earth may be a tiny, insignificant speck in the universe, but this amazing speck is our home.

My reverie is broken by a somber female voice. “Climate change has begun.”

I’m not actually in outer space, of course. I’m standing in a bare Columbia University classroom on Manhattan’s West Side. I’m wearing virtual reality goggles tethered to a computer, headphones swallow up my ears, and I’m holding controllers that allow me to reach out and “touch” the world around me. It’s so immersive that a researcher trails behind me to make sure I don’t accidentally walk into a wall or out a window.

Read the story from Medium by Adam Piore - “This Is What Climate Change Looks Like in VR."

Smartphones are killing the planet faster than anyone expected

Before you upgrade your next iPhone, you may want to consider a $29 battery instead. Not only will the choice save you money, it could help save the planet.

Think twice, and then think again before replacing
your smartphone as they are energy-rich and are
 chewing up the Earth/s resources at an alarming rate.

A new study from researchers at McMaster University published in the Journal of Cleaner Production analyzed the carbon impact of the whole Information and Communication Industry (ICT) from around 2010-2020, including PCs, laptops, monitors, smartphones, and servers. They found remarkably bad news. Even as the world shifts away from giant tower PCs toward tiny, energy-sipping phones, the overall environmental impact of technology is only getting worse. Whereas ICT represented 1% of the carbon footprint in 2007, it’s already about tripled, and is on its way to exceed 14% by 2040. That’s half as large as the carbon impact of the entire transportation industry.

Smartphones are particularly insidious for a few reasons. With a two-year average life cycle, they’re more or less disposable. The problem is that building a new smartphone–and specifically, mining the rare materials inside them–represents 85% to 95% of the device’s total CO2 emissions for two years. That means buying one new phone takes as much energy as recharging and operating a smartphone for an entire decade.

Read the story by Mark Wilson from Co.design  - “Smartphones are killing the planet faster than anyone expected.”

What grandparents can teach us about reducing food waste

Before the era of supermarkets, seasonal shopping and health buzzwords, our grandparents reduced food waste not because they wanted to, but because they had to.

Cutting waste: Rebecca Sullivan with grandmother Pauline.

With public awareness of food sustainability on the rise, their experience remains as relevant today as it was 70 years ago.

Evacuated during the Second World War from London to a farm in rural Wiltshire, Pauline Tee grew up not taking a single meal for granted.

Ms Tee said meat in particular was a privilege and every scrap would be used.

Read the ABC News story by Dominic Cansdale and Megan Whitfield - “What grandparents can teach us about reducing food waste.”