The WMO's new weather data system will not only collect data on weather, climate and water, but also interpret this data for the optimization of agricultural practices (i.e., helping to improve food security worldwide).

Though climate talk seems reserved for the back burner these days (no pun intended), there is some promising behind-the-scenes action. Most recently, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) announced its development of a new weather data system aimed at collecting the kind of data we need to navigate a warming world.

The WMO is an arm of the United Nations, meaning this new weather data system will have global reach.  As reported by the Environmental News Network, this system will not only collect data on weather, climate and water, but also interpret this data for the optimization of agricultural practices (i.e., helping to improve food security worldwide).

This latest development is a nice supplement to news at the end of last year that the U.N. reached an agreement on how to handle the expiration of the Kyoto Protocol at the end of 2012.

As I blogged in December:

The Kyoto Protocol has now been extended to 2017. Dovetailing this development is news that the same countries have agreed to draft and sign a new agreement by 2015, intended to replace Kyoto and go into effect in 2020. It’s unclear what framework will apply between 2017 and 2020, but it’s probably safe to assume Kyoto would be extended the additional three years until the new agreement goes into effect.

In a nutshell, the Kyoto Protocol sets limits on the greenhouse gases participating nations are allowed to emit. Unfortunately, two of the world’s biggest emitters are not participants – the United States and China – which is the very reason for Canada’s dramatic announcement yesterday.

It will be interesting to see how data from the WMO’s new weather system may inform the new climate agreement.

Meredith Simonds Climate Change climate, Climate change, climate talk, Kyoto Protocol, U.N., United Nations, WMO, World Meteorological Organization

What do you think? Is nuclear power a safe energy source or should it be avoided at all cost?

Nuclear reactors more than 30 years old probably make many of us nervous, especially since that describes most of the 104 nuke facilities used to provide a fifth of U.S. electricity today. Where some of us may be split on the issue, though, is exactly what should be done about it.

Possibility number one is the direction we appear to be headed – building new nuclear power reactors.

Just this month, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) approved the first new nuke power reactors since 1978 – two of them, in fact, at Georgia’s Plant Voglte. It’s a $14 billion project backed by a federal loan guarantee.

Possibility number two (and certainly own personal preference) – phase out the use of nuclear power altogether.

Though I already objected to the threat of nuclear radiation prior to the Fukushima disaster in 2011, as a California resident, it sealed the deal in my book. As I blogged last year:

I look at the level of concern we’re feeling for radiation from the meltdown of the Fukushima nuclear power plant in Japan being carried via the jet stream to the West Coast. That radiation has the entire Pacific Ocean to cross! What of the radiation danger if and when “the big one” hits California with a tsunami to follow?

Of course, my personal opinion matters not at all to the powers that be. Thanks to a 4-1 approval by the NRC, Westinghouse Electricity Co., is building two twin 1,100 megawatt reactors – also knows as AP1000s – for Southern Co., the company that will owns and operates the Georgia plant.

Westinghouse says these two new reactors will utilize a new design aimed at preventing a Fukushima-like disaster. Let’s hope they’re right, as the company says it has 20 other new nuclear power projects in the works, 14 of which will (if approved) utilize the same new reactor design.

What do you think? Is nuclear power a safe energy source or should it be avoided at all cost?

Meredith Simonds Nuclear Power Fukushima, Georgia, NRC, nuclear, Nuclear Power, nuclear reactors, Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Plant Vogtle, reactors, Southern Co, Westinghouse Electric

From your sweetheart, to your mom, to your best friend, just about anyone in your life is bound to love Valentine's Day gifts from your green heart to theirs.

Whether you keep it simple with one or two of these ideas, or you go for the whole shebang, here’s a plan for turning Valentine’s Day into a daylong affair for the green-at-heart sweetheart in your life.

Start with an oldie but a goodie – breakfast in bed. Mix it up, though, with a homemade meal made from all organic, fair-trade ingredients. Serve it on a tray with fresh flowers or foliage cut from your own backyard garden, along with a Valentine’s Day card, either homemade or one made from recycled paper and non-toxic ink.

For mid-day, arrange for a delivery of an organic, fair-trade bouquet of flowers or potted plant. Steer clear of roses, as 80 percent of roses in the U.S. market are grown in and shipped from South America. Your safest best is to go through your local florist, requesting an organic, locally-grown, in-season arrangement.

For dinner, go out for a nice meal at the closest organic restaurant you can find. If it proves too far, make dinner at home. Be sure to serve with it an organic fair-trade wine for a meal-at-home (by vegetable-wax candlelight, of course). Oh, and don’t the dessert of fair-trade organic chocolate, either as an ingredient in a delectable dish, or on its own.

During or after dinner, present your Valentine with the gift-wrapped goods – organic, fair-trade perfume or cologne; sustainable, fair-trade jewelry; and/or sexy undergarments made from natural, organic fabrics.

Of course, a number of these ideas work wonders for all the Valentine’s in your life. From your sweetheart, to your  mom, to your best friend, just about anyone in your life is bound to love Valentine’s Day gifts from your green heart to theirs.

Meredith Simonds Green Living cologne, dinner, fair-trade, flowers, green valentines day, natural, organic, perfume, recycled, sustainable, Valentine, Valentine's Day