5 Websites That Make Us Green-Geek-Out
Posted on 14. Sep, 2009 by annied in Green News, climate change, green media, greenblogs
1. Strangemaps
Soon to be a book, Strangemaps has all kinds of (you guessed it) strange maps. Actually, they aren’t strange, so much as old.
Here are some high-lights:
“Homeland is where the Heartland is.” is particularly pertinent with the fuss in the British press a few weeks back: much ado about food shortages. DEFRA declared, “farmers must grow more food with less;” The Independent in it’s analysis concludes, “it is also a geopolitical imperative. Britain has plenty of food. But complacency is no longer an option.” Fear mongering? Perhaps. Perhaps not. Check out this bit from the post:
Enter climate change and “geopolitical imperative.”
For the naturalist in you, check out England’s first road map, “From London to Land’s End;” offering further proof that it has always been to Londoners that the rest of England might as well be another country. And there’s loads more!
2. EarthTrends Environmental Information courtesy of the World Resources Institute
This is the end all destination for any research related to the environment– from physics to biodiversity to green economics to energy efficiency measures. Statistical databases are available and enough white papers for a geek’s wet dream. It’s got export capability too– .xls .html and .pdf.
3. MyAbodo.com
Created by DEFRA in conjunction with School Councils UK and others, myabodo.com lets you see the effect of your choices on the climate. Players set up their own house – SimCity style and compete with others in their neighborhood for the lowest climate impact. By making learning passive, myabodo has the potential to affectively teach sustainability values.
4. Economists at Large: Adding Value to Society
Don’t get us wrong, NEF is good (we’re huge fans) but this is better because it’s worldwide and covers more topics. From Australia to Asia to the New World, they cover whaling, forestry, socially positive economic revaluation, and infrastructure.
(Having saved the best for last:) If you ever doubted that China understands better than any other country in the world just what’s at stake at Copenhagen, then spend a few minutes surfing this site and your doubt will be allayed. Sub-sections featured on the main page include “Frontline Earth,” “From Bali to Copenhagen,” & “Green Monitor.” Founded by international journalist Isabel Hilton in 2006, they have branches in Beijing, San Francisco, and London. There are video podcasts (available on iTunes), too!
green.tv’s films are all available on iTunes too! Our most popular downloads are our technologies podcasts: before you subscribe have a look!
What sites do you green-geek-out on? Leave us a comment!
Pifworld
Sep 23rd, 2009
I think you made a interested selection,especially Chinadialogue.net
I think you forget one
http://www.pifworld.com
An interactive charity platform, with a pretty cool globe where you can choose projects that you want to support. Our organisation already have realised one of the first project: Constructing and building a water configuration for school kids in Gambia.
Anita Schillhorn van Veen
Sep 14th, 2009
Interesting selection…I’m not sure if a website founded by a British journalist is a good reflection of what China as a nation understands about climate change. There are a lot of competing interests in China around the question of climate change, and development is usually the priority. We’ll see where China’s chips fall in Copenhagen.
annied
Sep 16th, 2009
Well said and a valid criticism, but someplace between the noise, the propaganda, and the politics lies the truth, no?