Sleep Spent

Head on over to this site and check out what California will look like with a 2 meter sea level rise. I was actually surprised that San Francisco proper wasn’t more directly affected by that level of an increase—I had expected more than some parts of the Embarcadero and SFO to be inundated.

Also of note is this article on how rising sea levels will affect the region (transit and the new Mission Bay building boom, in particular) as well as this one on the really scary long-term picture of what changing weather patterns mean for an over-devloped, under-protected and heavily aquaduct-dependent California.

As you will probably be aware, the Governor made a speech at the World Environment Day festivities in San Francisco. He announced that he would be signing an executive order to limit California’s output of greenhouse gasses over the next 45 years.

This is big news, and it deserved a supportive letter.

I’m a California resident, and I wanted to let the Governor know that I am very, very pleased with the bold action he has taken to limit California’s contribution to global warming. I have recently become re-energized on the topic of global warming after reading a three-part series in The New Yorker. I had begun to despair that anything was being done, with the most recent activity on many global warming action websites being discussion of the McCain-Liberman Climate Stewardship Act of 2003.

And then came the World Environment Day and Gov. Schwarzenegger’s speech. And not just talk, but also an Executive Order mandating lowered greenhouse gas emissions!

I’m grateful to the Governor for having tackled this problem. It’s especially gratifying to hear one of the foremost Republican politicians in the country publicly contradict the Bush Administration’s wrongheaded “do nothing” policy on global warming. Bravo!

Signed,
Nick Kocharhook

It’s just a matter of time before we get a space elevator! C’mon, George: if you’re going to spend my money, at least spend it on something cool and useful.

It appears that some researchers at the University of Calgary may have discovered a tremendously beneficial use of a naturally-occuring virus called a reovirus. There’s a FAQ on the subject.

This is incredible, incredible news! Almost everyone has apparently already been exposed to the virus, with no more than cold-like symptoms. It’s almost entirely harmless and it appears to have the ability to kill two thirds of cancers. Perhaps we can put the blunt instruments of radiation and chemotherapy behind us!