The seas are rising. Climate change has made it inevitable. I have a strange question... Assuming that world sea-level rises by 1 metre over the next hundred years - Would it be possible to cordon off a section of land, somewhere in the centre of a continent, and flood it to create an artificial ocean, thus reducing the consequences of the sea rise? [more inside]
posted by 0bvious on Sep 18, 2009 - 30 answers

I need a good collection of readings identifying major issues associated with energy production using biomass. [more inside]
posted by greekphilosophy on Apr 21, 2009 - 3 answers

What are some social media sites that have an environmental tilt? [more inside]
posted by GIMG on Mar 29, 2009 - 6 answers

In high school, I remember a teacher who taped some news show and showed it to us in class and it said that we had like, ten years to turn the planet around or global warming and our First World lifestyle where ten percent of the planet caused fifty percent of the emissions or something would push us past the point of no return. Anyway, my question is, have we passed it yet? When can I stop caring about the Environment? [more inside]
posted by Sully on Mar 23, 2009 - 33 answers

Could activists for social causes (e.g. global warming) learn something from the Obama campaign in how to effectively engage and mobilize people?
posted by GIMG on Jan 22, 2009 - 13 answers

Will China's efforts to go green for the Olympics be instituted for the longer-term or for a broader geographic range?
posted by GIMG on Dec 5, 2008 - 3 answers

How does the Chinese media handle climate change, and what (if any) difference did the Beijing Olympics have in this? [more inside]
posted by GIMG on Nov 26, 2008 - 1 answer

How big a part of the global warming solution might come from land-use changes, how much from no-till farming and so forth? [more inside]
posted by teracloth on Jul 21, 2008 - 5 answers

Does anyone know of a good online resource that explains in detail the exact series of events that is predicted to occur as a result of climate change if it continues on its current path? [more inside]
posted by textilephile on Oct 25, 2007 - 3 answers

Is it better for the environment to drive or fly a long distance? [more inside]
posted by JPDD on Oct 12, 2007 - 16 answers

Lets just say that the U.S. decided to stop burning hydrocarbons (oil, coal, natural gas) completely for environmental reasons. Lets say that everything went electric. Cars, Power Plants, factories, everything. How many nuclear plants (using current technology) would we need to produce? Would there be one in every moderate sized town? Also, how long would the raw materials last before another energy crisis was imminent (peak uranium, I guess)?
posted by DarkForest on Jun 6, 2007 - 52 answers

A delicate Yorkshire Riesling, robust Canadian Cabernet? If global warming raises temperatures, an often mentioned consequence is the growing of wine grapes in the far North (for example the article in Slate today). Does this really follow? [more inside]
posted by grahamwell on Sep 22, 2006 - 13 answers

Is living in New York City more environmentally sensitive than living in the suburbs? [more inside]
posted by logovisual on Apr 24, 2006 - 18 answers

What are the Big Ideas for combating global warming? Who is proposing them? Which do you find most plausible? [more inside]
posted by Galvatron on Apr 3, 2006 - 15 answers

Is there a simple proof to demonstrate the human impact on global climate change? A common argument made by American conservatives is that humans can't possibly have a great enough impact to make a difference. Surely there's some relatively simple bit of logic that can prove our impact. Perhaps something along the lines of: "Global emissions of greenhouse gases amount of X billion tons each year, or Y trillion in the past century. Every Z billion tons of greenhouse gases increase the earth's radiative forcing by A%, each percent of which warms the earth by B degrees."
posted by waldo on Sep 29, 2005 - 29 answers