Wednesday, 04 May 2005

A water-conscious reader hopes to reuse her laundry rinse water to give sweet succor to her outdoor plants, but wonders how they'll take to the detergent. Grist's environmental adviser Umbra Fisk satisfies the reader's thirst for knowledge and in the process outs herself as a big fan of giving gently used household water a second life -- aka gray-water recycling.

Plus Ca (Climate) Change ...

Ancient empires crushed by changing climate -- not that you should worry

Elizabeth Kolbert continues her exploration of climate change in the second of a three-part series in The New Yorker. She begins with a look at the world's first great empire, founded 4,300 years ago on the banks of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. Around 25 years ago, archeologist Harvey Weiss uncovered one of that empire's great cities and -- through careful analysis of the layers of sedimentation -- discovered that, around 2200 B.C., all signs of life (even earthworms!) abruptly vanished. His theory, controversial at the time, was that "climate change," namely a vicious drought, had wiped the city out. Paleoclimatologist Peter deMenocal verified Weiss' theory by studying sediment cores from a nearby sea. Since then, the theory that cultures rise or fall based on the contingencies of climate has been applied to the disappearance of a number of civilizations around the world. Meanwhile, NASA scientists say present-day climate change is accelerating. Care to connect the dots?

Ford Imperfect

Ford, G.M. sales down as buyers spurn SUVs and look for fuel efficiency

Detroit automakers Ford and G.M. are cursing Prius drivers right about now. Sales figures and market share for both companies were down in April, as car buyers turned their fickle affections from gas-gulping SUVs to smaller, more fuel-efficient vehicles -- specifically those manufactured by Asian rivals Toyota and Nissan. In fact, Toyota reports that April was the most successful month in its history, with sales up 21.3 percent from April 2004, thanks in large part to booming demand for its hybrid Prius and other gas-sipping vehicles. A Ford sales analyst acknowledged the role of record gas prices in decreased SUV sales, but G.M. argued that gas prices weren't making much of a difference, pointing to an increase in large truck sales.

Play Economisty for Me

U.K.-based weekly Economist exhaustively analyzes global oil situation

Market-lovin' U.K. weekly The Economist has a cover package on oil this week. The major topic, of course, is the recent spike in oil prices. The grumpy Economist editors are bothered by what they consider some pervasive myths. First, "energy independence" is a chimera as long as we're burning oil; oil is fungible and price hikes hit all consumers equally. Second, while China is growing quickly, it still represents a small sliver of global oil demand and likely will for the foreseeable future. Third, the major private oil companies, despite their current health, will be in trouble in the long term, because the big remaining oil reserves are in the hands of state-owned oil firms, mostly in the Middle East. Fourth, they argue, the world is not running out of oil -- new technologies will enable increasingly efficient extraction for a long time to come. However, the mag advises policy makers and oil firms to move quickly to alternate energy sources, to cushion against oil shocks.

The World Less Traveled

Greens shun cheap air travel, point to impacts of industry

A small but growing number of eco-conscious Brits are turning away from cheap airfares and looking to other means of transport or forgoing planned vacations altogether in hopes of reducing their personal environmental footprints. Overall, aircraft-related carbon-dioxide emissions make up some 5 percent of Britain's total, according to Kevin Anderson of the Tyndall Center for Climate Change Research, and airline-industry emissions could double in the next 15 to 17 years as the industry grows. Says transport specialist Meyer Hillman, "We are going to have to face the fact that we cannot go to Australia or Prague or Florida every year. It's a luxury the planet cannot afford to sustain any longer if we are to have any hope in tackling our current climate-change crisis." But whatever to do with all those frequent flier miles?