Eric Roston, author of The Carbon Age: How Life’s Core Element Has Become Civilization’s Greatest Threat, was last night’s featured guest on The Colbert Report. Even if you’re not big a fan of the comedic stylings of Stephen Colbert, it’s a fun watch. Sciencey, too!

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Ladies and gentlemen:

There are times in the history of our nation when our very way of life depends upon dispelling illusions and awakening to the challenge of a present danger. In such moments, we are called upon to move quickly and boldly to shake off complacency, throw aside old habits and rise, clear-eyed and alert, to the necessity of big changes. Those who, for whatever reason, refuse to do their part must either be persuaded to join the effort or asked to step aside. This is such a moment. The survival of the United States of America as we know it is at risk. And even more - if more should be required - the future of human civilization is at stake.

I don’t remember a time in our country when so many things seemed to be going so wrong simultaneously. Our economy is in terrible shape and getting worse, gasoline prices are increasing dramatically, and so are electricity rates. Jobs are being outsourced. Home mortgages are in trouble. Banks, automobile companies and other institutions we depend upon are under growing pressure. Distinguished senior business leaders are telling us that this is just the beginning unless we find the courage to make some major changes quickly.

The climate crisis, in particular, is getting a lot worse - much more quickly than predicted. Scientists with access to data from Navy submarines traversing underneath the North polar ice cap have warned that there is now a 75 percent chance that within five years the entire ice cap will completely disappear during the summer months. This will further increase the melting pressure on Greenland. According to experts, the Jakobshavn glacier, one of Greenland’s largest, is moving at a faster rate than ever before, losing 20 million tons of ice every day, equivalent to the amount of water used every year by the residents of New York City.

Two major studies from military intelligence experts have warned our leaders about the dangerous national security implications of the climate crisis, including the possibility of hundreds of millions of climate refugees destabilizing nations around the world.

Just two days ago, 27 senior statesmen and retired military leaders warned of the national security threat from an “energy tsunami” that would be triggered by a loss of our access to foreign oil. Meanwhile, the war in Iraq continues, and now the war in Afghanistan appears to be getting worse.

And by the way, our weather sure is getting strange, isn’t it? There seem to be more tornadoes than in living memory, longer droughts, bigger downpours and record floods. Unprecedented fires are burning in California and elsewhere in the American West. Higher temperatures lead to drier vegetation that makes kindling for mega-fires of the kind that have been raging in Canada, Greece, Russia, China, South America, Australia and Africa. Scientists in the Department of Geophysics and Planetary Science at Tel Aviv University tell us that for every one degree increase in temperature, lightning strikes will go up another 10 percent. And it is lightning, after all, that is principally responsible for igniting the conflagration in California today.

Like a lot of people, it seems to me that all these problems are bigger than any of the solutions that have thus far been proposed for them, and that’s been worrying me.

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And since Dr. Stephen Colbert, DFA is just as refreshing as the wet stuff (and also due in no small part to the crazy amount of yard work I have to do today), I’ll let him give you the lowdown on WWD. Here are all five segments of Thursday’s Colbert Report Special ReporT, “Watershift Down: Getting the Sea Monkey off America’s Aqua-Back.”

If you’d like to learn more about World Water Day (this year’s theme: Sanitation), check out www.worldwaterday.org and www.worldwaterday.net. Also, you can read more about the awesome Dean Kamen here. (If you only watch one clip, make it Stephen’s interview with Dean, which is the fourth one down below.)

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Here’s something you probably didn’t know…

Throughout the developed world the business surrounding death has often been an uneasy topic of discussion. Originating in the mid-19th Century, the modern funeral has evolved into an economic and cultural monster, with a vast network of supporting industries and myriad options for your earthly remains.

This original GOOD Magazine animation takes you inside the business of death.

More on the business of death and eco-friendly burials here (or jump right on down to the list of DIY/consumer orgs, here).

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Tagged: kcfreecycle death dying environment green good magazine you tube animation green burials cremation pollution climate change global warming

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Anderson Cooper! Promoting Planet in Peril! On The Colbert Report!

Let the snark ensue.

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Distractions have kept me away from the internets this weekend, so I thought I’d make up for the lack of kcfreecycle links with Episode 2 of KAB Man. You know, that “skinny dude in a cape” I introduced y’all to back in July. This week, he brings a heartwarming message: Recycle or die!

“Improper recycling habits, meet your untimely end. Keep America Beautiful Man is here!”

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Tagged: you tube kab man keep america beautiful reduce reuse recycle kcfreecycle animated cartoon short video video blogging

I was killing some time, browsing the You Tube for some green vids, and discovered a cute eco-animated series called The Adventures of KAB Man. (KAB = Keep America Beautiful.) Here’s Episode 1: Enter KAB Man. More to follow - or you can check the whole series (three eps and counting) out at youtube.com/user/kabmanKAB and visit the series site at kabman.org.

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Tagged: you tube kab man keep america beautiful reduce reuse recycle kcfreecycle animated cartoon short video video blogging

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By the by, the NY Times article that caught Stephen’s ire is available for viewing - for free (!) - here.

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