The reality is that at the rate we are going with carbon emissions, particularly in this country, we are doomed to destruction unless some sort of action is taken.

In South Africa the average person is probably aware of 'global warming', but doesn’t really care to do anything about it (why bother until it affects him directly, adversely?).

This is why Rob Zipplies, well-known sustainability expert and editor of Bending the Curve, in partnership with Project 90 by 2030 will journey 3000 km on an electric bicycle to raise awareness ahead of the climate change conference in Copenhagen.

Rob’s Climate Challenge 2009 journey will start in Cape Town and end in Durban, via Johannesburg and Pretoria. Along the way, he'll give

The Indonesian government recently revealed that they are the third largest contributer to greenhouse gases in the world. 80% of this is due to large-scale deforestation and significant peatland loss in the area. Projected levels see the gases reaching 2.3 gigatons (billion metric tons) by 2030.

In Southwest Asia, the peatswamps often lose their soil carbon stocks due to drainage for logging, agriculture, palm oil and pulp plantations. Once drained, microbiological processes turn the organic carbon into carbon dioxide.

Wetlands International, an NGO that has been strongly advocating the need to address peatland degradation, has welcomed the acknowledgment of the issue by the Indonesian government. But, while the government does acknowledge this, they have yet to cease their

For some, it has always been clear that climate change and population growth are inextricably linked. They have always had good enough reason to believe this. Think about it logically; if we are going to talk about resources, it makes sense to bring up the impact the exponential growth of our species is having. But, since the topic is dogged down by its taboo nature, we haven’t been able to discuss it much – especially in our mainstream media.

This week a study by Dr David Satterthwaite of the International Institute for Environment and Development analyzed changes in population and in greenhouse gas emissions for the entire world. His research, which assessed data between 1980 and 2005 reveals that population growth’s contribution to the rise in greenhouse gases are almost negligible.

Sub-Saharan Africa, which had 18.5% of the world’s population growth had only 2.4% of the total carbon dioxide emissions, whilst the United States, with 3.4% population growth had 12.6% growth in carbon dioxide emissions.

The critically acclaimed documentary, The Age of Stupid will be screened as part of its global premiere, at The Labia Cinema in Cape Town next week. This jarring and provocative expose on climate change and global warming, which came to our shores a few months ago, should not be missed this time around. See what urban sprout had to say about the film here.

Bring your parents, your partners, your friends and random people off the street with you because this movie is the only way to change people’s minds – passivity is not working in our favour anymore.

The film will be screened on Monday the 21st of September at 8:30 pm and on Tuesday the 22nd September at 6:15 pm. Tickets will be R20, and it is strongly recommended that you reserve them by calling The Labia.

For the time that we’ve been here as human beings, you would think that we should have learnt something from our collective history. But we still have wars, there is still poverty and greed, we’ve still damaged this planet and things like self-interest still dominate our lives. It almost seems like human civilization is still pretty uncivilized. But I think that all of this only goes to show how a simple act of kindness can take on gigantic proportions. While this all might sound wishy-washy to some of you, we now have a chance to actualize some of our ideas of goodwill through Do it Day this Friday the 18th of September.

Do it Day is a singular day that allows us, as South Africans the chance to join a collective effort to make a difference. All you have to do is volunteer yourself to a cause and simply donate your time, energy and skills. We all complain about the issues in this country like poverty and crime and (specifically readers of this blog) climate change and the lack of environmental consciousness. Well then, this is your chance. Join in.

Koeberg plan nuked The City of Cape Town has refused to approve plans to build a new nuclear power plant at Koeberg (yes!). The current Koeberg power station, like the proposed one, doesn't allow for quick evacuation of residents living in the vicinity, should a nuclear emergency arise, and the City recognised that Eskom manages to sidestep the responsibility of removing nuclear waste from the site - something else that will affect locals![Cape Times]

South Africa aims to lead in biotechnology Naledi Pandor, current Minister of Science and Technology, and former Minister of “I-want-to-make- children-pledge-allegiance-to-the-flag-every-morning” has now announced that there are plans to make South Africa a leader in biotechnology...

In March this year, South Africa opened its first Food Bank. And while the media of the country lauded, supported and praised this great cause they... no... wait, they didn't. I mean, did you know about this? Did you read it in the newspaper, watch it on TV? Was there dancing in the streets like when it was announced that we would host the World Cup?

Now tell me if this is fair...

Currently, we have enough food on this planet to feed every single human being. Why then isn't that so? Why is it harder for some to get their hands on a slice of bread whilst it simply falls out of the sky like manna for others?

"I think we are blind. Blind people who can see, but do not see.” ~Jose Saramago

65 Million years ago, the dominant lifeform on this planet was wiped out.

We currently have no way of understanding how or why millions of dinosaurs simply ceased to exist. But, what we do know is that we might be joining them soon, and it's all our fault.

On Wednesday I managed to see documentary filmmaker Franny Armstrong's take on climate change and global warming, The Age of Stupid at the Encounters documentary festival at the V&A Waterfront here in Cape Town, and it's pretty scary and incredibly hard hitting stuff.

Yesterday, amid the flurry of cars, waving hands, tailored suits and a backdrop of the earthquake shattered Italian countryside, 8 countries, represented by their respective leaders, converged to discuss the state of the world.

8 countries? I mean surely there must be more than 8 countries in the entire world. Well, there's the G20, but come on, if world changing decisions are to be made, shouldn't the whole world be in on it? But, alas, I digress. Here we have the U.S.A, Russia, Canada, UK, France, Italy, Japan and Germany discussing the issues currently affecting our world, from the economic crisis to nuclear weapons, and of course climate change...

Are we living in a police state?

Not yet. But it is sure beginning to look like it. Look, don't get me wrong. I'm not saying that we are oppressed, or that we have no rights – we have one of the best constitutions in the world. We even had a political and cultural revolution without any major conflict – look at world history, things like that almost never happen.

But what happens when your rights begin to be impinged upon by the same laws that are there to protect them? This all seems very silly to me because, we have a right to freedom of expression, but, we are slowly losing the means by which we can express ourselves.