1. |
Follow the Water
03:08
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Water is the world’s most basic resource. It has the power to give life – and take it.
2.2 billion people around the world lack access to safe water. That’s one-third of the world’s population.
Water scarcity is a growing concern worldwide. Overuse, increasing demand, pollution, poor management, lack of infrastructure, and changes in weather patterns due to global warming are key factors that affect the availability of fresh water.
Conserve water and treat it as something truly precious.
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2. |
Atmospheric Rivers
02:27
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After more than four years of drought, Californians may wonder where the current rain is coming from. Rain is often carried by narrow tendrils of moisture called ATMOSPHERIC RIVERS that occur all over the world. The atmospheric rivers that affect the western United States are known as the Pineapple Express because they transport water vapor from as far south as Hawaii to California. When the moisture reaches land, it is forced up over the hills and mountains where it cools, producing significant rainfall.
These giant rivers of water vapor in the sky can be 300 miles wide, a mile deep and more than 1,000 miles long. They're the biggest freshwater rivers on Earth and can behave erratically, changing direction unpredictably. The warmer the atmosphere, the more moisture an atmospheric river can contain.
Atmospheric rivers are the source of most of California’s water supply, but also cause most of the state’s flood damage. The concentrated moisture comes from the ocean. Warm oceans evaporate water into the atmosphere, and winds and storms concentrate that water vapor into long, narrow, speedy trains of extra-wet air. Then, big global winds in the lower few miles of the atmosphere accelerate those amped-up, stretched-out, water-rich versions of normal storms.
Scientists expect that in a hotter future, atmospheric rivers will get correspondingly wetter and stronger.
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3. |
Behold the BEV
02:39
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A battery electric vehicle (BEV) is an automobile which is propelled by electric motors. Electric cars can significantly reduce city pollution by having zero tail pipe emissions. BEVs are having a major impact in the auto industry given advantages in city pollution, less dependence on oil and combustion, and the scarcity and expected rise in gasoline prices. World governments are pledging billions to fund development of electric vehicles and their components. Norway is the world’s most advanced BEV market. Half of all new cars sold in Norway are BEVs.
BEVs do have their problems. Although electric cars do not produce any tailpipe emissions, carbon dioxide is still emitted when the electric vehicle is being manufactured. The mines that are used to produce the lithium and cobalt used in the battery are also creating problems for the environment due to chemical leaks.
As a lifelong car nut, I recently rented a Tesla Model 3 and was blown away by the acceleration and quietness! BEHOLD THE BEV!
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4. |
Time Is Of The Essence
02:39
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“Scientists Agree — We’re Cooked!”
To stop global warming, we would need to leave most of the remaining coal, oil and gas underground. The Exxon Mobils and Saudi Aramcos would need to forgo anticipated revenues of over $33 trillion over the next 25 years.
To save civilization, most of us would need to supplement our standard daily practices with a steady push on the big force that is restraining progress - the fossil fuel industry’s co-option of government, education, science and media. Solving climate change presents humanity with the opportunity to save civilization from collapse.
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5. |
The Nuclear Threat
02:43
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The threat of a nuclear catastrophe is higher now than at any time since the Cold War. The world is filled with dangers, but nuclear weapons are capable of putting civilization at risk. We must not be complacent in the face of this threat.
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6. |
EARTH DAY
03:39
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7. |
MARCH FOR SCIENCE
02:42
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“The greatest danger to our future is apathy” . . . Jane Goodall
The “March for Science” is supported by a nonpartisan coalition of scientific groups and is scheduled for Earth Day — April 22. While the main rally will occur in Washington, D.C., satellite marches have been organized in more than 400 locations around the globe. The D.C. event is “a call for politicians to implement science-based policies, as well as a public celebration of science and the enormous public service it provides in our democracy, our economy, and in all our daily lives.”
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8. |
Thanks For The Rain
03:31
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After a winter and early spring yielding record low Sierra snowpack compounding a crippling multi-year drought, parts of California saw a strangely out-of-season soaking these past few days. Thanks!
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9. |
Fire and Fury
02:26
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Humanity as a whole is being set back because of one single person. The achievements of decades - the fight against a climate disaster, against the nuclear threat, for equality between men and women, between blacks and whites . . .
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10. |
Nuclear Threat Ahead
03:12
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The Russell-Einstein Manifesto (1955):
“In view of the fact that in any future world war nuclear weapons will certainly be employed, and that such weapons threaten the continued existence of mankind, we urge the governments of the world to realize, and to acknowledge publicly, that their purpose cannot be furthered by a world war, and we urge them, consequently, to find peaceful means for the settlement of all matters of dispute between them.”
-Albert Einstein, Bertrand Russell, Linus Pauling, Max Born . . .
Like every U.S. commander-in-chief since John F. Kennedy, Trump has the sole authority to empty the American nuclear arsenal on any target, at any time, for any reason. The good news is that Trump now fully owns this denuclearization issue and wants to resolve it peacefully.
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11. |
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‘Show up, dive in, stay at it. Sometimes you’ll win, sometimes you’ll lose.’
- Barak Obama
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12. |
I AM WORRIED
03:13
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If you weren't already worried about Russia, you should be now.
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13. |
An American Tragedy
04:06
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On January 20, 2017, we will bid farewell to the first African-American President of the United States — a man of integrity, dignity, and generous spirit. We will then witness the inauguration of a con man who got elected through forces of xenophobia and white supremacy. It is impossible to react to this moment with anything less than revulsion and profound anxiety.
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Steve Shapiro Oakland, California
Steve Shapiro has composed music for hundreds of radio and TV commercials, documentary films, infomercials and other TV programs. He was the music director at Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, which produced hundreds of award-winning educational films and recordings. He has a BA in Music from Brown University and an MA in Music from the Manhattan School of Music. ... more
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