climate change

Want to stop climate change? Start by trying to fit into a pair of vintage bell bottoms.

A new study reveals that if the current world population was more like that of the 1970s (aka slimmer), there would be less pollution.

The report uses the UK as a case study. In the 1970s only 3.5 percent of the British population was classified as obese. Today, 40 percent of Britons fit that description.

While this larger reality undoubtedly has serious health consequences, researchers wanted to know how the weight gain impacts the environment.

Compared to the 1970s, the UK consumes 19 percent more food. The increase in food production equates to an extra 60 mega tons of greenhouse gas emissions each year. There are also not-so-obvious consequences. Thanks to a heavier population, much more fuel is needed to transport modern-sized people.

So how can we get back to the environmental friendly ways (and weights) of the 1970s? Think green —as in vegetables. Three decades ago people ate larger portions of vegetables and smaller portions of meat. They also engaged in more physical activity back in the day. Can you dig it?

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Nevermore was the message scientists sent today in Coventry, England as a New Orleans-style funeral march was staged to mourn lost generations of the future. It comes on UK's Climate Change Day of Action when the protest leader, NASA's director of the Goddard Institute For Space Studies, said scientists have a moral obligation to become politically involved.

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Activists braved the cold and snow yesterday to participate in Capitol Climate Action Day. The day of civil disobedience focused on getting the capitol's power plant to ditch coal for natural gas. Participants cut off access to the plant's entrances and refused to leave when asked. The group followed action guidelines, which included a ban on violence and damage to property.

NASA's chief climate scientist Dr. James Hansen took some heat for encouraging the act of civil disobedience. The scientist, who claimed the Bush administration muzzled him, thinks:

We need to send a message to Congress and the president that we want them to take the actions that are needed to preserve climate for young people and future generations and all life on the planet.

DC's nonvoting congressperson Eleanor Holmes Norton also supports the cause. She says the plant has "poisoned untold numbers of people who live in the District of Columbia." Last week, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid asked the Architect of the Capitol, which oversees the plant, to switch it to natural gas. Maybe the protesters will get what they asked for.

To see more photos of the protest, read more

• A rare snow storm has hit Las Vegas, leaving more snow than the city has seen in decades, and grounding most flights in and out of sin city. The National Weather Service has called the storm a "significant historical event." — Las Vegas Review Journal
• A former Rwandan Army Colonel has been convicted of genocide by the UN court in Tanzania, after the court determined he masterminded the 1994 mass killings of the Tutsis and moderate Hutus. — New York Times



• MSNBC host Mika Brzezinski was mugged this morning in Washington, D.C. while waiting for a car to pick her up and take her to the studio to tape Morning Joe. — Washington Times
• The man who threw his shoes at President Bush has asked for a pardon, after describing his behavior as an "an ugly act." The attacker's brother says the idea that he sent a letter of apology to Iraq's prime minister is unbelievable. — AP

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Word on the street is that Barack Obama plans to create a "climate czar" position to lead his administration's climate change and energy policies. But Al Gore, the most likely candidate, has already said that he doesn't want the job.

Perhaps Al Gore either didn't want to fill out that cumbersome questionnaire Obama is passing out to potential appointees, or saw the position as a demotion from vice president. Then again maybe he thinks he can get more done outside of government. Whatever the reason, Al Gore's disinterest may clear the way for another candidate — California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.

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