Beyond Irene: The Future Of Hurricanes

Posted on August 29, 2011 by quest

By Natalie Wolchover - Hurricane Irene battered the East Coast this weekend, blasting buildings and trees that hadn’t felt such strong winds in decades, and flooding subways, tunnels and entire coastal neighborhoods.
Thankfully, Irene diminished in strength before making landfall on the Mid-Atlantic Coast and New England; though she is estimated to have caused $7 billion in damages, things could have been a lot worse. And atmospheric scientists say they will be.
They warn that hurricanes will get more destructive in the future. And as oceans warm, more and more of the strongest storms will creep north.

Warm seas
About 90 tropical cyclones form worldwide each year; that pace hasn’t changed recently. Rather than causing more hurricanes and typhoons to develop, the 0.5-degree Celsius rise in tropical sea surface temperatures that has occurred over the past 30 years seems to have another effect. As Colorado State atmospheric scientist James Elsner ominously put it: “The strongest storms are getting stronger.”

Hurricanes are like heat engines, Elsner explained. When the ocean puts more heat in, more energy comes out in the form of faster winds that blow for longer. As detailed in a 2008 paper in Nature (and in later studies analyzing subsequent hurricane seasons), he and his colleagues have noticed a steady upward trend in the maximum wind speed of the strongest hurricanes. For the top fifth most intense hurricanes, wind speeds have increased by 4.5 miles per hour per degree-Celsius rise in the ocean temperature. For storms in the top 10th of the intensity ranking, wind speeds have increased by 14.5 mph per degree Celsius. That’s a jump of almost an entire category on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale that rates

Fabien Cousteau, Keynote Speaker at Ecotourism Conference

Irene Lane To Address Ecotourism Conference

Posted on June 29, 2011 by quest

Eco-entrepreneur, Irene Lane, is poised to speak at the 2011 Ecotourism and Sustainable Tourism Conference(ESTC) this September hosted by Hilton Head Island, South Carolina,. A native of Greece and founder of sustainable travel web hub, Greenloons.com, Lane will discuss the relationship between tourism and heritage preservation, presenting Alonissos, Greece as a model of how tourism can be leveraged to effectively raise awareness and contribute to wildlife restoration on a global scale.

Lane’s presentation will center on the Aegean island of Alonissos, whose endangered Mediterranean monk seals feed on fish local fishermen depended on to make a living. To halt the depletion of commercial fisheries and the resolve the issue of subsistence fisherman killing the monk seals out of economic necessity, the National Marine Park of Alonissos was created by government proclamation in 1992. The managers of the minimally funded national habitat then joined forces with the surrounding communities in the Northern Sporades islands to provide sustainable tourism planning and conservation education. The collaborative effort has succeeded in helping the people of Alonissos elevate their standard of living as well as protect one of the world’s most endangered species.

“The methods used successfully by the stakeholders in Alonissos can be replicated in other areas of the world also struggling between environmental responsibility and economic livelihood,” says Lane. “I look forward to discussing the Alonissos effort and its implications in more detail at the ESTC conference.” The Ecotourism and Sustainable Tourism Conference 2011 will be bringing together 500+ business leaders, industry professionals and community stakeholders from September 19-21, 2011 at Hilton Head Island, South Carolina.

SUNNY DAY FOR SOLAR STOCKS

The Wildwoods Named Jersey’s Best Ecotourism Beach

Posted on May 28, 2011 by quest

The Wildwoods’ beaches were voted best in New Jersey in the 2011 Top Ten NJ Beaches survey today by the New Jersey Marine Sciences Consortium (NJMSC), New Jersey Sea Grant and the Richard Stockton College Coastal Research Center. In addition to the #1 ranking for the state of New Jersey, the Wildwoods were also named ‘Best Beach for Family Vacations,’ ‘Best Beach for Day Trips’ and ‘Best Beach for Ecotourism’. The Wildwoods received 7,055 of the 19,158 votes cast for ‘Best Beach in New Jersey’ during an online poll conducted this spring – nearly two thirds more votes than the 2nd place winner. The survey, compiled throughout the spring by NJMSC in conjunction with the New Jersey Sea Grant, the Richard Stockton College Coastal Research Center and the New Jersey Division of Travel and Tourism, collected online votes from residents and visitors. The survey determined the public’s opinion of the Top Ten Beaches in the state, along with the best beach in categories of Ecotourism, Family Vacation and Day Trips.

“We’re honored, yet again, to be named New Jersey’s Top Beach. The Wildwoods’ beaches are second to none, and best of all, they’re FREE,” said John Siciliano, Greater Wildwoods Tourism Improvement & Development Authority executive director. “The fact that our beaches have been named ‘Best in New Jersey’ year after year, as well as earning several other distinctions, such as ‘Best Beach for Day Trips,’ ‘Best Beach for Ecotourism’ and ‘Best Beach for Family Vacations,’ is a tribute to our island’s hard-working public works departments that do an excellent job of maintaining our beaches and assuring that they’re always in pristine condition. Our hat goes off to all those involved in the effort to keep the Wildwoods’ beaches among the very best in New Jersey.”

Long renowned as the premier family vacation destination of the Jersey Shore, more than nine million visitors flock to the Wildwoods every year – taking advantage of New Jersey’s largest beaches. Stretching for five miles along the shores of North Wildwood, Wildwood and Wildwood Crest, the Wildwoods’ wide, white-sand beaches are a perfect way to spend a relaxing, sunny day at the Jersey Shore and are absolutely FREE to enjoy. Consistently growing in size year after year, the Wildwoods’ beaches are the backdrop for a variety of one-of-a-kind festivities throughout the year including the Wildwoods International Kite Festival, the National Marbles Tournament, Monster Truck Races & Motocross Races on the Beach, Beach Soccer & Beach Lacrosse Tournaments, and many more.

GREEN NEWS YOU CAN USE

Solar Cells Mimic Insect Eyes

Posted on January 23, 2011 by quest

Anti-reflective film based on moth eyes increases efficiency of photovoltaics The eyes of moths, which allow them to see well at night, are also covered with a water-repellent, antireflective coating that makes their eyes among the least reflective surfaces in nature and helps them hide from predators in the dark. Mimicking the moth eye’s microstructure, a team of researchers in Japan has created a new film, suitable for mass-production, for covering solar cells that can cut down on the amount of reflected light and help capture more power from the sun.

In a paper appearing in Energy Express, a bi-monthly supplement to Optics Express, the open-access journal published by the Optical Society (OSA), the team describes how this film improves the performance of photovoltaic modules in laboratory and field experiments, and they calculate how the anti-reflection film would improve the yearly performance of solar cells deployed over large areas in either Tokyo, Japan or Phoenix, Ariz. “Surface reflections are an essential loss for any type of photovoltaic module, and ultimately low reflections are desired,” says Noboru Yamada, a scientist at Nagaoka University of Technology Japan, who led the research with colleagues at Mitsubishi Rayon Co. Ltd. and Tokyo Metropolitan University.

The team chose to look at the effect of deploying this antireflective moth-eye film on solar cells in Phoenix and Tokyo because Phoenix is a “sunbelt” city, with high annual amount of direct sunlight, while Tokyo is well outside the sunbelt region with a high fraction of diffuse solar radiation.They estimate that the films would improve the annual efficiency of solar cells by 6 percent in Phoenix and by 5 percent in Tokyo. Yamada and his colleagues found the inspiration for this new technology a few years ago after they began looking for a broad-wavelength and omnidirectional antireflective structure in nature. The eyes of the moth were the best they found. The team is now working on improving the durability of the film and optimizing it for many different types of solar cells. They also believe the film could be applied as an anti-reflection coating to windows and computer displays.

Habitat for Humanity Partners to Create Its First Eco-Tourism Village in the World

Project will make Indonesian history, culture accessible to international visitors
YOGYAKARTA, Indonesia -Habitat for Humanity Indonesia today announced it is partnering with Asia Pulp & Paper (APP) to create Habitat’s first eco-tourism village of more than 420 homes and guest accommodations near some of Indonesia’s most picturesque ancient temples.
“This unique program not only improves housing for most of the community, it also allows Soran villagers to economically benefit from the art and culture they have preserved for centuries, and to share it with the world.”
The development will take place in the village of Soran, located near the famous Prambanan Temple, a UNESCO World Heritage Site built around 850 AD. The village is also located near Mount Merapi, the nation’s most famous volcano, which erupted last year. Read more in

ECOTOURISM

Ecotourism making a difference

Posted on November 21, 2010 by quest

From Toronto Bruce Poon Tip founder of Gap Adventures and Planeterra announced today the appointment of Megan Epler Wood as Director of Planeterra, a global non-profit dedicated to sustainable community development through travel and voluntourism. Epler Wood will share duties with newly named Associate Director Paula Vlamings. A pioneer in the field of sustainable travel and founder and past-president of the The International Ecotourism Society (TIES), Epler Wood has devoted her life to helping governments, travelers, and businesses throughout the world understand how tourism can be a tool to conserve threatened natural areas and help alleviate poverty. Epler Wood has increasingly focused on the economics of tourism as a tactic to combat poverty, demonstrating how tourist dollars can help countries to ethically and sustainably develop even in the most challenging circumstances.

In making the appointment Bruce Tip Poon said, “I have known Megan for many years and have such deep respect for her and for her commitment and leadership in defining and building on her vision for sustainable travel. She is the best person on Earth to lead Planeterra and expand its programs’ influence,”

Founded by Poon Tip in 2003, Planeterra evolved from adventure travel leader Gap Adventures’ commitment to give back to the people and places its travelers visit. The organization supports projects throughout the world in health, education, and community development and arranges sustainable voluntour travel programs.

SEEK PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT

Machu Picchu best Ecotourism destination in South America

Posted on November 8, 2010 by quest

The Inca city of Machu Picchu in Peru has been awarded South America’s Leading Green Destination by the World Travel Awards at the recent 17th Annual World Travel Awards Ceremony in Jamaica. Machu Picchu was chosen over eight nominees, which included Argentina’s Patagonia, Guyana’s Georgetown, Venezuela’s Caracas, and Brazil’s Abrolhos.
Hailed by the Wall Street Journal as the “Travel Industry’s equivalent to the Oscars,” the World Travel Awards are the most comprehensive and prestigious awards program of today’s global travel industry, and involves a voting campaign of about 185,000 travel professionals worldwide. The ancient citadel, one of the Seven Wonders of the World and a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is considered to be one of the most extraordinary examples of scenic architecture in the world.”This award shows that Peru’s tourism sector has a great impact on the economic, social and environmental development of the country,” said Promperu’s Tourism director Rocio Merino.

“The Lost City of the Incas,” it is perhaps the most familiar icon of the Inca World.The city of Machu Picchu itself was built at the top of a granite mountain. The Incas, using ingenious engineering techniques, were able to transport heavy stone blocks up the mountain side, and once there, they used their excellent masonry skills to produce amazingly polished stones that fit together perfectly. Machu Picchu “Old Mountain”, is a located 7,970 above sea level. It is situated on a mountain ridge above the Urubamba Valley in Peru which is 50 miles northwest of Cuzco and through which the Urubamba River flows. Experts believe that Machu Picchu was built as an estate for the Inca empero Pachacuti.

Machu Picchu has three primary buildings which are the Intihuatana, the Temple of the Sun, and the Room of the Three Windows. These are located in what is known by archaeologists as the Sacred District of Machu Picchu.