Oceans Becoming More Acidic
Wednesday, March 19th, 2008
By now you’ve probably heard most of the doomsday scenarios regarding global warming. Temperatures and sea levels are rising, glaciers and ice caps are melting, and shifting weather patterns are wreaking havoc with ways of life that have otherwise changed little for centuries. Climate change has been connected with everything from water-rights squabbles to failing crops to an increasing prevalence of malaria and dengue fever. Some scientists have speculated that these scenarios may be avoided by sequestering greenhouse gases in large bodies of water, but this short-sighted approach begs the question: what exactly are these emissions doing to our oceans?
“Ocean acidification” was a hot topic at the recent meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). According to researchers, our oceans have lower pH levels now than at any point in the last 40 million years, and at the present rate these levels will drop by another .3 units by the end of the century. This is due to the chemical reactions that result when carbon dioxide is dissolved in water, forming carbonic acid. Over the long term, this process could affect the food chain in significant ways. First, many organisms will not grow as large or will produce fewer offspring, as increased levels of CO2 render respiration and other physiological processes less efficient. Also, the absorption of greenhouse gases is likely to create dead-zones at some depths where the CO2-oxygen ratios are too low to support life. This is apparently already happening and is somewhat similar to the poisonous volcanic crater lakes that exist in central Africa, where high levels of CO2 and other gases are kept at the lake bottom due to water pressure — until something stirs up the water, leading to the release of noxious plumes that can have lethal, large-scale consequences, such as the 1700 people killed in Cameroon in 1986.
It is unlikely that the presence of such dead-zones in the oceans will present any significant danger to human populations, except in that such zones will lower the productivity of the ecosystem, affecting subsistence fishermen and others who rely on the sea for their sustenance and livelihood. But there is one more way in which ocean acidification could have serious consequences. Shellfish, coral and echinoderms may not be able to form their exoskeletons, as the calcium carbonate on which they depend dissolves during carbonic acid formation. One researcher referred to the massive volcanic explosions at the end of the Permian period 250 million years ago which caused oceanic pH levels to change suddenly, leading to the extinction of 90% of oceanic species, particularly those that make shells from calcium carbonate. Another researcher, looking into the combined effects of acidification and temperature increase, conducted experiments on purple sea urchins that replicated the ecological conditions that will exist in 2100 if emissions levels continue unabated. Her results indicated that the urchins had to work up to three times harder to create their shells, and that these shells were often deformed.
All this goes to show that you can’t simply shrug off greenhouse gases by pumping them underwater.
Posted in Art, Global Warming, Technology, Waste, Water | Permalink
Solar One in Eyebeam’s FEEDBACK Exhibition
Tuesday, March 11th, 2008
Eyebeam’s expansive new exhibition, FEEDBACK, surveys artists, designers, architects and engineers on the topic of sustainability, and presents their responses—19 projects varying from public art projects and industrial design to DIY energy solutions and software tools—to inspire discussion and action on this pervasive (and increasingly commodified) subject.
As the culmination of Eyebeam’s Beyond Light Bulbs programming series, the show highlights the concerns, interests and work of Eyebeam’s Sustainability Research Group, with work by individuals, collectives, students, local community groups and the Eco-Vis Challenge winners. Free, artist-run workshops are integral to the exhibition’s design and are scheduled Saturdays throughout the show’s duration. See Solar One in the FEEDBACK exhibition today at Eyebeam: 540 W. 21st St.
Posted in Art, Education, Energy, S1 in the News | Permalink
Futurefarmers + Solar One Collaboration Mentioned in NY Metro
Tuesday, February 12th, 2008
Modern Victory Gardens may ease urban hunger
by amy zimmer / metro new york
FEB 12, 2008
UNION SQUARE. To Amy Franceschini, the empty space in front of the Gandhi statue here could be an urban garden. The windows on buildings could have boxes for herbs and tomatoes. The roofs could have raised beds.
Franceschini, founder of the San Francisco-based design collective Futurefarmers, has convinced her city to plant crops in front of its City Hall as part of a pilot program to turn yards, balconies and unused land into food production areas. [...]
Franceschini plans to document their gardens online and help other cities adopt the program. She’s been contacted by several New York groups, she said, including Grow Greenpoint.com, the Conflux festival and Solar One.
“We want our audience to think about the potential for change through participation, but also about the messy politics of implementation”… full article
more on victory gardens: here
Posted in Art, Citysol, Native Plants, New York City, S1 in the News | Permalink
Unlimited Energy Can Happen
Wednesday, January 16th, 2008
We can do it, and if you have any doubts read a great comic from psych band/clean energy supporter: Lavender Diamond [link]
Posted in Art, Education, Energy, Solar One | Permalink
Eyebeam Announces Winners of Eco-Vis Challenge
Thursday, January 10th, 2008
Eyebeam, 540 W. 21st St. (between 10th Ave. and 11th Ave.), NYC
At a public reception at Eyebeam Saturday, December 15, Executive Director Amanda McDonald Crowley announced the winners of Eyebeam’s two-part, online Eco-Vis Challenge competition. Oz Etzioni’s Unrecyclable Icon was awarded a $2000 grand prize in the Eco-Icons category, and the Studio for Urban Projects’ In Popular Terms, the Evolving Language of Ecology was awarded a $2000 grand prize in the Eco-Visualization category. The winning projects will be previewed during the month of January, and exhibited as part of Eyebeam’s Feedback show in March 2008.
Posted in Art, Education, Waste | Permalink
Eve Mosher Brings Her “HighWaterLine” project to the Green Renter Tomorrow
Monday, November 26th, 2007 Eve Mosher is the guest at this week’s Green Renter and will speak on her HighWaterLine project, which she completed this summer. Come to Solar One for another engaging Renter tomorrow at 7pm. Birdbath Bakery, as always, will supply delicious cookies.Posted in Art, Solar One | Permalink
Graphic Design as Treehugging
Monday, November 12th, 2007 Below is an entry from the “Love Your Earth” competition from Design Boom.Pretty neato right?
More images here
Posted in Art, Education, Energy, Energy Efficiency | Permalink
SlowLab
Tuesday, November 6th, 2007 Feeling a bit frenetic in the city? Well then slow down, with NYC’s slowlab:SlowLab is an emerging organization based in New York City and with activities worldwide.
The mission of the organization is to promote ’slowness’ as a positive catalyst of individual, socio-cultural and environmental well-being, engaging the innate creative capacities of individuals and leveraging the collaborative potential of communities to spur networks of cooperation that incite new thinking and approaches.
To achieve this, slowLab has initiated and is growing a network of creative, civic-minded individuals from all areas of the general public to exchange ideas and resources, share knowledge and cooperatively develop projects that positively impact the lives of individuals, the communities they participate in and the planet that we share.
slowLab’s current and future programs include public lectures, discussions and exhibitions, a dynamic online project observatory and communication portal, academic programs and publishing projects. Our objective is to reach a wide spectrum of disciplines and communities, enabling slowLab’s more holistic approach to take root and grow among the national and international public.
Posted in Art, Education, New York City, Sustainability | Permalink
Seattle Artist Captures “Slow-Motion Apocalypse” of Consumer Culture
Tuesday, October 16th, 2007
Plastic Bags, 2007- A picture of 60,000 plastic bags, used every 5 seconds in the US
Photographer Chris Jordan, recently featured on the Colbert Report on Comedy Central, takes pictures of the things we throw away. He has photographed crushed cars, cigarette butts, aluminum cans and oil drums, among many, many others. His latest exhibit, “Running the Numbers: An American Self-Portrait”, gives the viewer a queasy-but-fascinated sense of the immense scale of what we throw away. Looking at the number of plastic bags we use every 5 seconds (60,000!) could really make you think twice at the grocery store.
Check out more of his beautiful, disturbing work at chrisjordan.com.
Posted in Art, Pollution, Recycling, Waste | Permalink
