CNN put a list together of the most influential environmental moments from the last 10 years and I wanted to share a few of the items listed. For the entire article please check out CNN. The Toyota Prius: Released in 2001, this became the first mass-produced hybrid vehicle to be sold globally and has since sold more than one million worldwide. Many other automobile companies have since followed suit, developing their own hybrid and electrical vehicles.
Al Gore's star power: "An Inconvenient Truth" and the Nobel Peace Prize:
"Al Gore's 2006 "An Inconvenient Truth" has its place in history. The film was instrumental in spreading the message of climate change and had the rare opportunity of having a wide-spread release (it was one of the highest grossing documentaries of all time). The film brought Al Gore an unexpected accolade in 2007, the Nobel Peace Prize."
The Rise of CFLs
"Compact Fluorescent Lightbulbs (CFLs) brought environmentalism into the home. Despite some initial objections to cost and its less than ideal performance (an initial flicker and the inability to use it with a dimmer), producers overcame those hurdles and in 2007, sales of CFLs reached record heights worldwide. Australia has already implemented a ban of traditional incandescent light bulbs while the European Union and Canada are also phasing out the old bulbs.
According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the average CFL uses 75 percent less energy than the traditional incandescent light bulb. This translates into a $30 saving which would pay for itself in 6 months."
A decade of extreme weather
"Hurricane Katrina in 2005, a string of deadly hurricanes devastating Haiti in 2008 and the heat wave in Europe in 2003, just some examples that this decade was plagued by wild weather."
Many scientists are saying not to jump to conclusions as it is not possible to make a link between extreme weather and man-made climate changes. The U.S Environmental Protection Agency says however "climate change may increase the probability of some ordinary weather events reaching extreme levels or of some extreme events becoming more extreme."
The U.N.'s weather agency said that this decade was the hottest on record.
"Carbon Footprint"
"Growing awareness for the environment means that words like "carbon footprint," "carbon neutral" and "greenwashing" were accepted into the Oxford English Dictionary in 2007. Carbon footprint was defined as "the amount of carbon dioxide emitted due to the activities, especially the consumption of fossil fuels, of a particular person, group, etc."
Other items on the list include:
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report
Ten years of growth: Renewable Energy
The Stern Review on the Economics of Climate ChangeCap and trade
1 comments:
Great compilation!
I've realized that each day we, green people -- environmental concern citizen, is increasingly growing and it's such a great news to Mother Earth.
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