In the movie adaptation of N. Richard Nash’s The Rainmaker, Burt Lancaster plays a flamboyant confidence man who promises to bring rain to drought- stricken Texas. How? By using sodium chloride to “barometricize the tropopause” and “magnetize occlusions in the sky.” Are today’s climate engineers the modern equivalent of steam-era […]
Technology
E-Wasted
Dear 2014 Greta,
Free Virtual Reality Tours in Downtown Kitchener!
On Wednesday, February 19th, 2020, Alternatives Media and Western University’s Centre for Environment and Sustainability will be hosting a FREE Virtual Reality exposition on key areas under the banner of environment and sustainability at the Project 220 event space in Carl Zehr Square, Kitchener City Hall. The event will be […]
Energy Policy Options for Canada
Almost all environmental concerns lead back to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. I mean, of course it all leads back to the climate crisis. Most people can agree that it is primarily caused by human activities such as resource extraction and use and agriculture.
The Green New Deal: Our Best Chance on Climate
The Green New Deal (GND) has gotten a lot of attention since legislation was proposed in the U.S. Congress in February. The term derives from Roosevelt’s New Deal policies during the Great Depression. The Green New Deal, however, addresses today’s two most urgent problems simultaneously: climate change and rising inequality. […]
Electrify Everything
If you electrify everything and produce electricity from wind, water, and solar, your power demand goes down 42.5 percent. Most of that is due to the fact that electricity is more efficient than combustion. If I drive a car, the plug-to-wheel efficiency of an electric car is about 80 to […]
Yearning for Free Learning
Right now, you – yes, you reading this magazine – have access to thousands of absolutely free, open, online courses covering hundreds of topics taught by the world’s leading experts and teachers. Welcome to the information revolution! Advancements in technology and knowledge sharing have transformed all areas of learning and […]
Health Care Meets High Tech
Some day, for reasons big or small, everyone ends up using services at a local hospital. With that in mind, Dr. Doug Dittmer, Medical Director of Rehabilitation at Grand River Hospital in Kitchener, Ontario, began asking, “Why shouldn’t it be the best experience possible?”
Mobile Movie Magic
With the anticipation for this year’s biggest climate change negotiations rising, people are finding new ways to be involved with COP21. The 11th edition of the Mobile Film Festival, an official event of this year’s COP21, was an opportunity for anyone with a smartphone to have their say on climate […]
Local Heroics
With Kyoto’s deadlines looming, Canada faces the likelihood that we will not reach our targets of reducing emissions to six percent below 1990 levels between 2008 and 2012. And Canada is not alone. A number of European countries, Japan and New Zealand are realizing that their emissions continue to rise […]