|
|
| pkcRAISTLIN |
| quote: | Originally posted by gumble
depends what scale of time you look at pkc :p
my main point is that we can't take ourselves outta what we do to the world, we are inevitably going to change it, and therefore we have to adapt (prolly should have used that word instead) to our consequences. it doesnt at all make it right tho.
i think its quite healthy that people are challenging the idea of global warming tho, being mainly attributed to what homo sapiens get up to...
as a zoologist i whole heartedly appreciate the need to try and preserve what we have. but i think its also important to recognise that we are only in the here and now, the planet has gone through many periods of warming and cooling, and this has led to evolutionary changes and differing levels of species diversity.
there have been many more (and greater) mass extinctions that what humans have done, and allthough i dont think we should use that as an excuse, the point is that the building blocks of life still exist beyond what we can possibly do to the planet, and life will go on...
the thing with this earth hour, as raised before, is that anyone can see that its not going to do anything. if one hour of non electrical usage can change the millions of hours of usage, then i think we would have been in a LOT of trouble, a LONG time ago.
the real solution and bottom line is this: GO NUCLEAR. :)
radioactivity is what makes the world go round (literally). |
wow. a well-reasoned, well-argued, mature and considerate post by gumble. i think i just fell off my chair :p we mostly agree then.
| quote: | Originally posted by Philby
who says global warming is a bad thing anyway? would you all prefer to live in an ice age? |
moderate, natural changes in weather isnt a bad thing. but a continual rise in temperature, brought on my artificial means (ie us) is a bad thing. it occurs infinitely faster than natural warming and as such the natural organisms dont have the time to adjust. so they die. there arent too many people that argue the warming in the last 80 or so years is natural.
ultimately, we can't afford to take the view that global warming isn't a bad thing, coz by the time we're really dealing with the fallout, it'll be too late (on many fronts) to do anything about it. |
|
|
| eRRaTiK |
What a difference an hour can make…
- According to Energy Australia, for the hour between 7.30pm and 8.30pm on 31 March 2007, there was a 10.2% reduction in electricity consumption across the Sydney CBD. This is calculated as follows: Sydney CBD temperature during Earth Hour was 19.8c. Typical energy consumption at this temperature between 7.30 and 8.30 is 228,180 KWh. Actual electricity consumption in the Sydney CBD at this time was 204,900 KWh. Energy Australia analysed data over 4 years to get the typical consumption on a Saturday night in the CBD during March and April. This takes into account daylight savings and weather.
- The energy saving during Earth Hour is equivalent to taking 48,613 cars off the road for one hour, or 200,000 standard televisions turned off for one hour. This represents a saving of 24.86 tonnes of carbon dioxide.
- Integral Energy manages the network covering Greater Western Sydney, The Blue Mountains and the Southern Highlands and the Illawarra. According to their Corporate Environment Manager, Denise Corish, their data showed that Earth Hour definitely had an effect. "Major substations in residential areas across western Sydney and also in parts of the Illawarra showed a noticeable drop in load between 7.15pm and 8.00pm, more than we would expect on a similar Saturday night. We noticed a steep decline in the first five minutes of Earth Hour, between 7.30 and 7.35pm, equivalent to the amount of electricity needed to power 6,500 homes."
Refer here for some more Earth Hour 2007 results.
...
What's next?
Earth Day comes around on April 22nd in North America, and World Environment Day is celebrated on June 5th across the rest of the world.
Read more about what you can do (all year round) at http://www.worldwildlife.org/earthday/ |
|
|
| Lloyd |
The point has already been made as to why Earth Hour isn't all that great.
That point being that, while for one hour in one day we saved X amount of power, we're going to make up for that very quickly.
It's not a bad thing that the power was saved - but what good has it done if everybody just turns their lights back on when it's over, pats themselves on the back, thinks "I've done the world some good!", and then leaves the outside light on while they sleep?
Earth Hour should be Earth All The ing Time. People need to turn things off when they leave the room, not, for one hour in their liftime, turn everything off and believe they're making a difference. |
|
|
| Fledz |
| The point was that this was a start. Your points are very valid but it needs to begin somewhere. |
|
|
| eRRaTiK |
| quote: | Originally posted by Lloyd
Earth Hour should be Earth All The ing Time. People need to turn things off when they leave the room, not, for one hour in their liftime, turn everything off and believe they're making a difference. |
Nobody is disagreeing with you here, the campaign is all about raising awareness. That if x could be achieved in one hour, then so much more could be achieved all the time. Campaigns like this are particularly good for people who want or need statistical/visible proof of what's possible.
However it's not easy to change the behaviour of millions at the drop of a hat. By doing absolutely nothing at all (ie. no campaign), how is that helping anybody?
It's got to be a gradual process. All great feats are accomplished by first taking little steps. |
|
|
CLICK TO RETURN TO TOP OF PAGE
tranceaddict Forums Archive > Local Scene Info / Discussion > Australia
|
