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By Rafael Otto, December 29, 2010 8:49 am

1/9/11 marks the premiere of Tucson’s newest radio show: “The Jake Feinberg Show.” Feinberg plans on exploring community, what it means and how it functions, while considering how America’s values have changed over the past fifty years. Feinberg will host a wide range of guests and play some great music — primarily west coast jazz from the 50s and funk from the early 70s.

Mark your calendars and tune in at 4:00 Sunday afternoons on KJLL AM 1330.

Click here to listen to my interview with the host, Jake Feinberg, featuring audio clips and a suggested reading list for all things 70s.

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By Rafael Otto, December 23, 2010 1:49 pm

Researchers from the 5 Gyres Institute recently completed a 4,100 mile journey from Rio de Janeiro to Cape Town, South Africa. They collected 67 water samples in search of plastic debris throughout the Southern Atlantic ocean.

“Every sample contained small fragments of plastic,” said Anna Cummins, 5 Gyres co-founder. As they approached the Southern Atlantic gyre, they encountered larger debris such as “hundreds of large floating objects, including fishing buoys, nets, buckets, crates, water bottles and construction hard hats.”

“We have confirmed our suspicion that plastic marine pollution is a global issue, and not confined to the Northern Hemisphere,” said Marcus Eriksen, Ph.D., co-founder of the 5 Gyres Institute. The 5 Gyres crew, along with their collaborators at the Algalita Marine Research Foundation (AMRF), have previously discovered plastic pollution in the North Atlantic, North Pacific and Indian Ocean.

The research is intended to answer questions about the global impact of plastic pollution in the world’s oceans. By no means is the plastic debris contained in definable garbage patches. This raises serious questions: How can this kind of pollution be cleaned up? To what degree is consumerism to blame? How does plastic waste in the ocean affect marine life and, ultimately, our food supply?

Read Part 2 of this Ocean Plastic series for more information about previous research results in the Pacific Ocean.

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By Simmons Buntin, December 17, 2010 11:07 pm

As the Terrain.org editor-in-chief, there’s little that feels better than putting the finishing touches on the issue and getting the work of the publication’s many contributors out into the world. But there’s another good side to editing that has little to do with publishing.

Shura Young with her dog Toby at the Tar Pits in the 1950s.

I have to decline far more submissions than I accept (that’s not the good part). Occasionally, however, a submission is close, and if I can find the time I’ll provide critical comments on the essay, poem, or story. That doesn’t happen as often as I’d like, of course. But just the other day I received an email from the writer Shura Young that really made my day. Here it is, with her permission to reprint:

To Simmons Buntin,

In May 2007, you emailed me a page of suggestions in response to an early version of my essay, “Tar Pits.” With that encouragement, I continued two years of revising. “Tar Pits” was published in the 2009 Flyway, A Journal of Writing and Environment, and was selected as Notable in The Best American Essays 2010. Flyway recently interviewed me on their blog [read the interview here].

Although I’ve had nothing else so far that I felt would fit Terrain.org, I wanted to express appreciation for the useful feedback you took the time to give me.

Best,
Shura Young

~~~

Though I admit some envy that Flyway, a lovely print journal, got the opportunity to consider the revised essay when we didn’t, I am delighted to learn that Shura continued to work on it and that it found a home and recognition even beyond that. As an editor, it is very gratifying to know that I had a small part in the essay’s success.

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By Rafael Otto, December 17, 2010 9:15 pm

Consider that every hour, our planet permanently loses three species of animals, plants and other living things. In this context, it is important to examine the importance of biodiversity for the health of our planet and for future generations. Here’s a three-minute video produced by the University of Minnesota’s Institute on the Environment that explores global biodiversity loss:

For further resources on biodiversity, environmental concerns and solutions, and global research, take a look at Momentum Magazine published by the University of Minnesota.

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By Rafael Otto, December 7, 2010 10:59 pm

The December 2010 issue of The Atlantic features an article dedicated to the future of coal in meeting the world’s energy needs. “Dirty Coal, Clean Future” details the argument for developing new technology to utilize coal in more sustainable ways. At the center of the efforts: a Chinese and American partnership that forges ideas with implementation.

The author, James Fallows, takes his plane over America’s coal country in West Virginia and Kentucky to give an aerial view of “mountain-top removal” and open-pit mining:

Fallows argues that any and all solutions must be explored to solve the energy crisis, from solar and wind to sustainable uses for an old-fashioned, abundant resource: coal.

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By Rafael Otto, December 4, 2010 12:23 pm

TED began in 1984 as a way to bring together people from the fields of Technology, Entertainment and Design. The nonprofit has since expanded to host speakers from numerous specialties in venues around the world. Their mission is simple: Ideas Worth Spreading.

TEDx (x=independently organized TED event) offers organizers a framework to initiate local, grassroots presentations and discussions. TEDxTucson’s premier gathering took place on Friday, December 3 at the Rialto Theatre in downtown Tucson. The topic: Innovating Our Green Economy. Jane Poynter, a crew member of the historic Biosphere 2 project, hosted the evening.

Among many notable speakers were Dr. George Land of the Arizona Innovation Institute who compressed two million years of human history into a twelve month calendar. On that scale, human beings finally discovered fire by mid-November. All of the change and innovation of the last century would be compressed into the final moments on December 31. Most importantly, he stressed the significance of creative, innovative thinking to help guide us toward a sustainable future. By suggesting that we return to creative thought patterns from our earlier years, about age 5, we would stimulate innovative ideas by physically using larger portions of our brain, specifically activating the frontal lobe.

Bruce Wright discussed the current state of solar power innovation at the University of Arizona’s Science and Tech Park Solar Zone. The Solar Zone is on track to start producing enough solar-generated electricity to meet its own energy needs, as well as generating power for the Tucson community.

James MacAdam of the Watershed Management Group suggested something quite simple: less concrete = less water runoff = more urban green spaces.

Ever considered growing chemical-free food with artificial light and no soil? Josh Hottenstein of Verdant Earth Technologies discussed “containerized” growing systems that use 99% less water than conventional field-based crops. In fact, these systems are already being used by some Subway restaurants in Japan, providing fresh lettuce grown on location.

Jonathan Northover painted a hopeful picture for the future of all electric vehicles, one where cars might use interchangeable batteries at stations along America’s highways to reduce charging time. He left the audience, and Jane Poynter, drooling over the sporty, $60,000 Tesla S which will be available in 2012. The vehicle can travel up to 300 miles per charge, go from 0 to 60 in 5.6 seconds, has no tailpipe emissions, and is built in California.

The message at TEDxTucson was upbeat, hopeful and encouraging, and every speaker left the audience thinking about prospects for the future. From entrepreneurship to regional policy to rainwater harvesting at our homes, the event set the stage for developing Tucson’s green economy, opening the doors for ideas and innovation. Only one question remains, how will you play your part?