NASA : Summer Temperatures to Rise Dramatically

The following Article was first published in May 10th, 2007 at NewsInferno.com, with a forecast from NASA on the rise in summer temperatures in the USA.
Source : http://www.newsinferno.com/archive/nasa-summer-temperatures-to-rise-dramatically/

Scientists at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) concluded that average high summer temperatures in the eastern United States may rise by as much as 10 degrees by the 2080s. The culprit: greenhouse gases.

To reach their conclusions, researchers at NASA ’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies looked at three decades of temperature and precipitation data and used computer model simulations that measured soil, atmospheric, and oceanic conditions, along with projected changes in greenhouse gases.


NASA scientists expect average high temperatures during summer on the eastern seaboard to soar into the 90s by the 2080s, and they also predict that in summers where rainfall is below average, temperatures may regularly reach between 100 and 11 degrees.

According to NASA, “ The global model one of the models used in the recently issued climate report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), was utilized in this study to identify future changes in large-scale atmospheric circulation patterns due to the build up of greenhouse gases. This information was then fed into the weather prediction model to forecast summer-to-summer temperature variability in the eastern United States during the 2080s. The weather model showed that extreme summertime surface temperatures developed when carbon dioxide emissions were assumed to continue to increase about 2 percent a year, the ˜business as usual" scenario.

Using high-resolution weather prediction models, we were able to show how greenhouse gases enhance feedbacks between precipitation, radiation, and atmospheric circulations that will likely lead to extreme temperatures in our not so distant future, said lead study author Barry Lynn.

The study's authors believe that theirs is the first study to accurately incorporate precipitation predictions into future temperature analysis. Previous studies, they say, used models that overestimated the amount of precipitation to be expected, and therefore, much of the previous research tended to underestimate the amount of future warming.

STEADY RISE IN TEMPERATURE SINCE 1970 : NASA

(REPORTED BY : Amit Bhattacharya, THE TIMES OF INDIA, 20th May, 2010)
Link : http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/Steady-rise-in-temperature-since-1970-Nasa/articleshow/5951409.cms

Following the release of global temperature data which revealed April of 2010 was the hottest April ever and that this year so far has been warmest on record, Nasa has said global temperatures have been steadily rising since the late 1970s with no significant let-up in the trend.

The draft paper released by Nasa's Goddard Institute for Space Studies is a rebuff to claims by some experts that the warming trend had flattening out in the current decade. Terms like 'global chill' had briefly gained currency after heavy snowfall in parts of US and Europe last winter.

However, the paper — Current GISS Global Surface Temperature Analysis — says the overall warming trend has held through this decade. "We conclude that global temperature continued to rise rapidly in the past decade... That there has been no reduction in the global warming trend of 0.15-0.20 degrees Celsius per decade that began in the late 1970s," it says.

Apart from 2000-2009 being the warmest decade ever, 17 of the 20 warmest years have been in last two decades. In the monthly global temperature data released by US-based National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, India is shown as having higher than normal temperatures all through this year. Dr K Krishna Kumar of Pune-based Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology, said this was expected.

"Our studies have shown that the spring and summer following an El Nino year are warmer than normal in India. The El Nino phenomenon returned last year, so we expected the higher temperatures this year. I feel this, along with global warming factors, has lead to the sustained high temperatures in India," he said.

Indian Meteorological Department's data shows temperatures in India are in sync with global warming trends. Year 2009, with an average annual temperature of 24.64 degrees Celsius — 0.913 degrees C above the long term average — was the warmest year in the country since systematic record-keeping began in 1901. The next five warmest years have all come post-2000 — 2002, 2006, 2003, 2007 and 2004, in that order.

Meanwhile, experts at IMD Pune said the hot summer may not have any impact on this year's monsoon since the land-ocean temperature difference isn't high as the Indian Ocean too is warming. Cyclone Laila, which is poised to hit the Andhra coast, too, will not affect the onset of the monsoon, senior officials said.

SUMMER 2010 - Hottest Ever??

(Posted by : Melissa Breyer, Oct 3, 2010, Care2.com)
Link : http://www.care2.com/greenliving/summer-2010-hottest-ever.html)

Summer 2010? Man, it was a hot one. Unparalleled heat waves in eastern Europe, drought and fires in Moscow, forests aflame in the western U.S. and failing power grids in the East. And just last week, with one foot firmly planted in Autumn, triple digits were defiantly tipping the mercury in California. I’d love to know exactly how many west coast Facebookers mentioned the temperature in their status updates last week.

But was this summer really any hotter than others? I’ve long suspected that we have a strange relationship with how we perceive and remember weather. In the thick of it, it always feels like this is the coldest, wettest, snowiest, driest, hottest, etc season ever. But it seems to me that that is more a function of it just being the weather we are living through, it’s the present; the memory of weather can be so subjective.

So from a global perspective, exactly how hot was this summer? Aside from our personal perspective, what do the statistics look like on paper? And when everyone starts grumbling about the heat and global warming–is there any merit to it? These are the questions that scientists at NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) in New York City, led by GISS’s director, James Hansen, addressed as they analyzed summer temperatures for the recent update on the GISS website that tackles these types of issues.

According to the GISS analysis, June through August of 2010 was the fourth-warmest summer, globally, in GISS’s 131-year-temperature record. Last summer (2009) was the second warmest on record. The slightly cooler 2010 summer temperatures were primarily the result of a moderate La Niña (cooler than normal temperatures in the equatorial Pacific Ocean) replacing a moderate El Niño (warmer than normal temperatures in the equatorial Pacific Ocean). But then I wonder, how does that jive with the cold winter we had?

As part of their analysis, Hansen and colleagues created a set of graphs that help explain why perceptions of global temperatures vary, and are often wrong, from season to season and year to year. So for example, my Brooklyn heat wave had New Yorkers uttering “global warming!” as we lumbered through each furnace-blast of a day; while the winter’s unusually frigid temperatures had climate change naysayers smugly tossing out comments of “global warming? ha!”

By looking at data from a more global perspective makes clear that extrapolating global trends based on the experience of one or two regions can be misleading.

“Unfortunately, it is common for the public to take the most recent local seasonal temperature anomaly as indicative of long-term climate trends,” Hansen notes. “[We hope] these global temperature anomaly maps may help people understand that the temperature anomaly in one place in one season has limited relevance to global trends.”

So even if last winter’s chilly temperatures in much of the United States caused many of us to ponder why temperatures seemed to be plummeting if we’re really in the midst of global warming, a more global view (as seen in the graphs) shows that global warming trends had hardly abated. In fact, believe it or not: despite the cool temperatures in the United States, last winter was the second-warmest on record!

Meanwhile, the global seasonal temperatures for the spring of 2010 (March, April, and May) were the warmest on GISS’s record. Does that mean that 2010 is gearing up to be the warmest on record? Since the warmest year on GISS’s record (2005) experienced especially high temperatures during the last four calendar months of the year, the jury is still out on 2010. Stay tuned…if last week’s sizzling start to fall in California was any indication, we may have a “winner.”

HOW TO GET SOMEONE TO STOP SMOKING....

How to Get Someone to Stop Smoking Without Hating You
(POSTED BY Lara, Caring.com 4th October, 2010)

Read more: http://www.care2.com/greenliving/how-to-get-someone-to-stop-smoking-without-hating-you.html#ixzz10SeinU8h

Do you bite your tongue every time a beloved family member or friend lights up or steps outside for a smoke? Or maybe you’ve tried the opposite tack: nagging. Neither approach works, experts say. What has helped thousands of smokers to quit, they point out, are the following simple strategies.

Keep the focus on you — not on the smoker
Saying “I hate it when you smoke” is likely to provoke an equally negative response. But talking about how the person’s smoking affects you might just lead to a breakthrough, or at least a moment of connection. If you hate the way the house or car smells, say that. If you’re getting to the point that you avoid kissing your smoker unless he’s come straight from brushing his teeth, that’s an important point to make. State your feelings as simply as possible in a way that sounds personal rather than accusing.

Trap to avoid: Anger.
It’s important to distinguish between the anger you might feel about a smoker’s habit and your own underlying worries that prompt those feelings. Maybe you heard the smoker in your life cough and felt a pang of worry before lashing out in frustration, for example. Try expressing that feeling of concern instead of the frustration, experts say, and you’ll get much better results.

Keep it positive
In order to quit smoking, smokers must come to the realization that they want something else more than they want to smoke, experts say. Usually this takes the form of some very basic pros and cons; smokers have to want better health and freedom from addiction more than they want the temporary pleasure of smoking. When the smoker in your life expresses an interest in quitting — even if it’s just a passing comment — help him think about how his life would change for the better without cigarettes.

Encouraging positive images can be especially helpful. Smokers who quit successfully say they did it by articulating the rewards awaiting them in a nonsmoking life. “I ask smokers, `What is it you want — do you want to become thinner, healthier, happier?’ Then that’s what we focus on,” says Tim Shurr, who leads smoking cessation workshops in Gary, Indiana. “People don’t want to wear braces, but they want straight teeth.”

Trap to avoid: Fear.
A big reason smokers fear quitting so much is that they’ve convinced themselves they “need” to smoke, and that without that crutch they won’t be able to cope with the pressures of life. “To smokers, the cigarette is their buddy; they absolutely believe that smoking a cigarette is going to make them feel better,” says Shurr. In his workshops, Shurr helps smokers think about how to meet their need for stress release in other ways. “We talk about other ways to manage stress and feel comforted. Most people don’t know there’s a better way. ”

Use family ties as a motivator
The most powerful motivating factor for many smokers is the simple realization that smoking is keeping them away from friends and family, experts say. Elizabeth Lombardo recounts the story of an older man who’d stubbornly smoked and refused to consider quitting all his life, until his granddaughter was diagnosed with asthma and couldn’t come to visit anymore. “He came in and told me, ‘I want so spend time with my granddaughter, and she can’t come stay with me because of my smoking.’ Suddenly he hated what he was doing and wanted to quit.”

Visual and other reminders can be especially helpful in this regard. Tack a photo of a beloved grandchild to the fridge, or put it on the mantel as a reminder of why the smoker in your life wants to quit. Even better, schedule a trip or family visit as a “carrot” to strengthen his or her resolve.

Trap to avoid: Guilt trips.
All guilt does is make the other person feel bad, and feeling bad is the opposite of how you want your smoker to feel. In order to quit he has to feel empowered, not crummy about himself. Let family ties work as a positive motivator, but zip your lip when you’re tempted to chide.

Wait for the right moment
Readiness is the single most essential factor in smoking cessation, experts say. What tells you a smoker is ready to quit? He’s reached the point that he really doesn’t want to smoke anymore; he wants to be rid of this habit that’s affecting the quality of his life. The motivation has to be his alone; if a smoker announces he’s quitting because the doctor told him to or to make you happy, that’s not going to fly, because his motivation is to please someone else.

Trap to avoid: Forcing things.
Even if you succeed in prodding a smoker to try quitting, it won’t last, experts say. “I tell people it’s like making kids clean their room before they go outside,” says Pam Mills. “Do they clean their room? Well, sort of — they throw the dirty clothes under the bed, stuff everything in the closet, and they’re mad and resentful about it the whole time. Does the room stay clean? Of course not.”

Enlist expert help
Many medical centers have stop-smoking programs and support groups, and these can be extremely helpful when the smoker in your life is ready to quit. Doctors can be powerful allies, talking to the smoker about the health risks of smoking and — once he quits — emphasizing how quickly his body is recovering. Hypnotherapists and counselors also have powerful techniques that can make quitting less tortuous. Support groups and counselors can have an important role in making a smoker feel less alone — and more accountable — in quitting.

Hypnosis isn’t a magic spell that cures smoking, but it is a powerful tool that can help strengthen the resolution to quit, curb cravings, and cement positive images and goals. Good hypnotists claim success rates as high as 90 percent, but they’re also choosy and only take patients who are truly ready to quit. Then they use hypnosis to help the smoker strengthen his resolution and stay focused on his goals. In addition, hypnotists can teach smokers self-hypnosis techniques to combat anxiety and stress, replacing smoking with a much more effective stress-relief tool.

Keep in mind, though, that smokers are often dismissive of seeking expert advice. “I’ll quit when I’m ready and I don’t need any help,” is a common response. Gently remind the smoker that hypnosis and counseling are simply tools that can make quitting easier or more effective. You might point out that quitting smoking cold turkey is like trying to do a job without tools — he wouldn’t do that, would he? There’s no reason to do this particular job in the hardest possible way.

Trap to avoid: Doing it yourself.
It’s not unusual for a well-meaning family member or friend to try to set up an appointment for a smoker with a therapist or hypnotist specializing in smoking cessation. Don’t bother; most experts won’t even see a smoker unless he or she shows enough initiative to make the appointment.

Reward success.
Quitting smoking is really, really hard work. So why shouldn’t smokers be rewarded for making the effort? Incorporate both small incremental rewards and big picture rewards into any stop-smoking plan. After a day without cigarettes, have a nice meal out or go see a movie - "5 Secrets to Slowing Aging"

One idea: Take all the money the smoker in your life is saving on cigarettes (you’ll be surprised how quickly it adds up) and put it in a jar or bank account to save for something special, like a trip.


Trap to avoid: Nagging.
It’s always better to use positive reinforcement as much as you can. The problem with nagging, experts say, is that it doesn’t work. “The only thing that nagging does is make smokers feel bad about themselves,” says Pam Mills, an addiction counselor and hypnotherapist in Denver, Colorado. In the long run nagging can have the opposite effect, leading the smoker to shut you out. “”Nagging has the same effect on smokers that it has on kids: It makes them angry and belligerent, so even if someone was thinking about quitting, it pushes them in the other direction,” Mills says.

Don’t give up.
When someone is trying to quit smoking, relapses are common. They don’t mean the smoker has lost the battle. Smoking is one of the most powerful addictions there is; some experts liken giving up tobacco to getting off heroin. Once you accept the power — both physiological and psychological — of the nicotine addiction, it’s easier to feel like you’re on the same side as your smoker: You’re both trying to beat this thing, and it’s going to take persistence.

“It takes the typical person seven times to quit smoking,” says therapist Elizabeth Lombardo. This is totally normal; what’s important is to keep the smoker from getting discouraged and giving up. “I tell smokers if they do relapse, it’s not a failure; it’s data,” says Lombardo. “They can learn from what happened.”

Analyzing the reasons for any relapses that happen can be especially helpful. “I tell smokers to ask themselves, ‘OK, I had a cigarette — why?’” says Lombardo. “What was happening that led up to that? What can I do differently next time that happens?” Taking this approach is empowering; the smoker feels like he can try again and not repeat the same mistake.

Trap to avoid: All-or-nothing thinking.
Just like dieters who dip into the ice cream then give up and eat the whole tub, smokers tend to beat themselves up when they have a cigarette — then turn around and have five more. This is the result of what experts call “all-or-nothing thinking” — you feel like you had a cigarette, you blew it, so why bother trying to quit at all?
If you see the smoker in your life falling into this trap, point it out gently: “Just because you had a few cigarettes doesn’t mean all those days without one don’t count.” Keep the focus on quitting, and remind him that setbacks are normal.


For "5 THINGS NOT TO SAY TO SOMEONE WHO'S TRYING TO QUIT SMOKING" , please go to the following link :
(http://www.caring.com/articles/not-to-say-to-smoker?utm_source=care2&utm_medium=partner

For "6 Simple Tricks That Help Smokers Quit", please go to the following link:
http://www.caring.com/articles/6-tricks-quit-smoking?utm_source=care2&utm_medium=partner

Vegan Muffins Recipes

Hi all,

Thanks to ANGEL FLINN for a whole list of yummy vegan muffins .... great as "GREEN" snacks! Enjoy and eat happy!


Muffins… The cupcake’s healthier cousin, and a fun snack for all ages. Muffins are great because you can make them in so many different flavors, both savory and sweet.

Unlike most muffins, the recipes in the following collection contain no eggs or dairy, so they’re cholesterol-free and do not include any ingredients that involve animal exploitation.

If you’re skeptical about the results of baking without eggs or dairy, consider the impressive accomplishment of vegan chef Chloe Coscarelli, who recently won a $10,000 prize with her gourmet cupcakes on The Food Network’s Cupcake Wars.

Read all the way to the end for a home-made substitute for store-bought soy milk to be used in baking. For more vegan baking tips, see : Veganizing Your Favorite Baked Goods.

Easy Apple Cinnamon Muffins
yields 18

1 cup bran
2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
1 Tbsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1 cup dry sweetener
1 cup tofu milk (see page 6)
1/2 cup oil
1 cup apples, grated
1/2 cup raisins

1. Place bran into a bowl. Sift remaining dry ingredients into the bowl and stir.
2. In a separate bowl, mix tofu milk with oil. Add grated apple and raisins. Stir.
3. Add dry batter to the wet and mix well. Oil and flour muffin tins (or use baking paper cups). Fill cups 3/4 full. Bake in a pre-heated oven at 350° for about 35–45 minutes until a toothpick comes out dry.


Blueberry Muffins
yields 1 dozen

2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
a pinch of sea salt
1/2 cup dry sweetener
1/4 cup oil
1/4 cup applesauce
1/3 cup organic fruit juice/water
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1/2 cup blueberries

1. Combine all dry ingredients in a bowl and stir well.
2. Add all other ingredients except blueberries to the bowl. Stir until creamy. Add berries and mix gently.
3. Oil and flour a muffin tin (or use baking paper cups). Pour batter into muffin tin, filling each cup 3/4 full. Bake in a pre-heated oven at 350° for 15-20 minutes or until golden-brown and a toothpick comes out dry.


Blueberry Corn Muffins
yields 18

Wet Mixture
2 cups dry sweetener
1/3 cup oil
1 1/2 cups blueberries
2 1/2 cups thick tofu milk (see page 6)

Dry Mixture
1 1/2 cups blue cornmeal
1 1/2 cups whole wheat pastry or spelt flour
2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. sea salt

1. Mix wet ingredients in a large bowl.
2. Sift dry ingredients together in another bowl. Stir.
3. Add dry to the wet and mix. Pour batter 3/4 full into oiled and floured muffin tins (or use baking paper cups).
4. Bake in a pre-heated oven at 350° for 20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out dry.


Bran Muffins
yields 1 dozen

1 1/4 cups whole wheat pastry flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 cup bran
1/3 cup oil
1/3 cup liquid sweetener (preferably sorghum)
1 tsp. vanilla
1 cup soy milk, or tofu milk (see page 6)

1. In a small bowl, sift flour, baking soda and cinnamon. Add bran and stir.
2. In a separate bowl, whisk the wet ingredients together. Add dry to the wet and mix.
3. Oil and flour a muffin tin (or use baking paper cups). Spoon batter into each cup, filling 2/3 full. Bake in a pre-heated oven at 400° for 25 minutes or until golden-brown and a toothpick comes out dry.



Banana Walnut Muffins
yields 24 muffins

3 cups mashed bananas (approx. 6)
3/4 cup maple syrup*
1/2 cup oil
1/2 Tbsp. vanilla
1 tsp. baking powder
3 1/2 cups pastry flour
2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. sea salt (optional)
1 tsp. nutmeg
1/2 cup walnuts, finely chopped

1. Combine all the wet ingredients.
2. In a separate bowl, sift all dry ingredients together, except walnuts. Add the dry to the wet and mix thoroughly, then fold in walnuts.
3. Oil and flour muffin tins or use baking paper cups. Fill each cup 3/4 full. Bake in a pre-heated oven at 350° for 30 minutes, or until golden-brown and a toothpick comes out dry.

* To produce maple syrup, sap has to be collected and boiled down. During the boiling, a drop of lard, shortening or vegetable oil is sometimes added to prevent the sap from foaming up, and this ingredient is not listed on the label. When buying maple syrup, look for the kosher symbol, or call the company to see that they use vegetable-based defoamers.


Carrot Muffins (party–sized recipe)
yields approx. 4 dozen

Wet Mixture
1/2 cup vegan margarine
1/2 cup oil
4 1/3 cups dry sweetener
2 cups tofu milk (see page 6)
5 cups grated carrots

Dry
8 cups whole wheat flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1 Tbsp. baking soda
4 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. allspice
1/3 tsp. sea salt

Additional Ingredients
1 cup walnuts, chopped
1 cup raisins
1 cup shredded coconut (optional)

1. Mix wet ingredients in a very large bowl.
2. Sift dry ingredients into a separate bowl and stir. Mix the dry into the wet.
3. Add raisins, nuts and shredded coconut. Mix well.
4. Pour batter into an oiled and floured muffin tin, or into baking paper cups, filling each cup 3/4 full.
5. Bake in a pre-heated oven at 350° for 20 minutes or until golden-brown and a toothpick comes out dry.


Tofu Milk

Tofu milk is a home-made alternative to soy milk or other non-dairy milk. It is used for baking only, as it contains no sweetener or flavoring, so it wouldn’t taste good by the glass or on cereal! It is easily made by blending tofu with water.

To prepare 2 1/2 – 3 cups:

Rinse and drain 8 oz. (one cup) of organic medium-firm tofu.
In a blender, blend tofu with one cup water. Purée until smooth.
Add one more cup of water and blend.


NOTE : GENTLE WORLD - is a non-profit educational organization, whose core purpose is to help build a more peaceful society, by educating the public about the reasons for being vegan, the benefits of vegan living, and how to go about making such a transition. Incredibly Delicious: Recipes for a New Paradigm contains many more tips to make the transition to veganism easy and delicious! Visit www.GentleWorld.org for more information.

Read more: http://www.care2.com/greenliving/muffins-muffins-and-more-muffins.html?page=6#ixzz10Jh9WcBb


Source; Posted by Angel Flinn on 30th Sept, 2010 (Care2.com)

放生 ！ 放生！

曾经有友人问我对放生有何看法?

我当然举手举脚100%支持 ， 可我想，最好的放生是天天茹素。 而且要尽量避免在一些民间的所谓放生日或等某些放生庆典时赶去放生，因为一些没有修行概念的生意人，就等这个机会特地去抓一些小动物关起来，等顾客买来放生，我们放生的慈悲心还未开始呈现，已先造成动物的痛苦了，这样子的放生是否有意义呢？值得我们深思和反省。



也有些人是静悄悄的买了小动物，拿到野外去放生，生意人不会察觉他们在搞什么东东，这是很慈悲的做法，不过若是能为盘中的动物再多做一点点，放它们一条生路，我想，这样子的放生将会更有意义吧 ！如果我们初一十五去放生，初二至十四，十六至月底都吃动物，那不是很奇怪吗？



放生，也不仅是吃方面而已。如果我们存有放生之心，甚至天天茹素，却不谨慎自己的生活习惯，造成地球污染，连累到其他人类和在地球上生存的众生，恐怕这就变成间接的杀生，也违反了本来想放生爱护生命的心，那就很可惜了。所以学习如何在日常生活中保护环境，其实是非常重要和值得修的一门功课。

表面上看来是帮助地球，实际上是修理自己，在提升自己的灵性，不是吗？

What does it take for AL GORE to turn Vegetarian?

Al Gore Agrees That Going Vegetarian Helps The Environment But stops short of saying he's headed in that direction

By : Michael d'Estries (EcoRazzi - the latest in Green Gossip 4th Nov, 2009)
Source : http://www.ecorazzi.com/2009/11/04/al-gore-agrees-that-going-vegetarian-helps-the-environment/

Ever since Al Gore introduced his famous slideshow to the world and stood up as a leader in the fight against climate change, advocates of the vegetarian scene have urged the former Vice President to acknowledge the link between eating less meat and helping the environment. Yesterday, Gore finally jumped on board saying that reducing meat in one’s diet is “the responsible thing to do” when it comes to the fight on climate change.

Talking to ABC, Gore agreed with the UK’s Nicholas Stern that meat eaters have contributed greatly to increased global carbon emissions.”I’m not a vegetarian, but I have cut back sharply on the meat that I eat,” he said. “It’s absolutely correct that the growing meat intensity of diets around the world is one of the issues connected to this global crisis – not only because of the CO2 involved, but also because of the water consumed in the process.”

“You could add in the health consequences as well.”

Gore also added that substituting more fruit and vegetables in an everyday diet was the responsible thing to do. “I’ve made those changes, and while I don’t go quite as far as Nick saying everybody should become a vegetarian – partly because it’s difficult enough to get the agreement without adding that on top of it – it is a legitimate point of view.”

Some on this site have criticized Gore for not mentioning factory farming in his new book “Our Choice”. I haven’t had a chance to read it yet, but Think Progress says that Gore does indeed address the issue. From the site,

“Chapter Ten of Our Choice, ‘Soil,’ discusses the complex range of challenges and opportunities related to food production and consumption, noting in particular the costs of industrial agriculture. The chapter concludes with a series of recommendations, including practical ones for American consumers, like supporting farmers’ markets and eating less meat. And Gore follows his own advice:

There is a serious issue about the connection between the growing meat intensity of diets around the world and damage to the environment. And like a lot of people, I eat less meat now than I used to. I’m not a vegetarian, don’t plan to become one, but it’s a healthy choice to eat more vegetables and fruits. So it’s not a laughable issue.”

So, what do you think? Gore has reduced his consumption of meat — but is not planning on becoming a vegetarian. He also now publicly links factory farming as a contributor to climate change — and encourages people to reduce the meat in their diets. A good start? Or still falling far short of what you expect?