Once again, it’s October 15th, and that means Blog Action Day, a one-day event held once a year to spark online conversation on pressing topics of global importance. Two years ago, Blog Action Day’s inaugural run stirred up talk concerning our environment, and last year on the same date, the blogosphere buzzed with chatter on the topic of poverty. Having an “attendance” of just over 8,000 11,000 13,590 blogs, ranging from small blogs like mine to bigger blogs like those of Google, Mashable, and TUAW, Blog Action Day helps to generate ideas that lead to positive change in regards to these topics. My blog here was actually started because I wanted to give my two cents on poverty during last year’s event since it’s a subject I’m very passionate about, but I didn’t get it setup in time for October 15th. Anyway, with that aside, this year’s Blog Action Day puts a new topic on the table to discuss: climate change.

I believe that before any change can occur, people must be informed about global warming so they know why it’s such an important and serious topic. With that, I’d like to focus first on some facts from National Geographic.

• “Average temperatures have climbed 1.4 degrees Fahrenheit (0.8 degree Celsius) around the world since 1880, much of this in recent decades, according to NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies.”
• “Industrialization, deforestation, and pollution have greatly increased atmospheric concentrations of water vapor, carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide, all greenhouse gases that help trap heat near Earth’s surface.”  (This is nothing new.  We’ve been learning about the greenhouse effect since the ’90s.)
• “Glaciers and mountain snows are rapidly melting—for example, Montana’s Glacier National Park now has only 27 glaciers, versus 150 in 1910. In the Northern Hemisphere, thaws also come a week earlier in spring and freezes begin a week later.”
• “Arctic ice is rapidly disappearing, and the region may have its first completely ice-free summer by 2040 or earlier. Polar bears and indigenous cultures are already suffering from the sea-ice loss.”
• Coral reefs, which are highly sensitive to small changes in water temperature, suffered the worst bleaching—or die-off in response to stress—ever recorded in 1998, with some areas seeing bleach rates of 70 percent. Experts expect these sorts of events to increase in frequency and intensity in the next 50 years as sea temperatures rise.
• Research has shown “the decline of the Adélie penguins on Antarctica, where their numbers have fallen from 32,000 breeding pairs to 11,000 in 30 years.”
• “Some butterflies, foxes, and alpine plants have moved farther north or to higher, cooler areas.”
• “Spruce bark beetles have boomed in Alaska thanks to 20 years of warm summers. The insects have chewed up 4 million acres of spruce trees.”
• Speaking of which, global warming has allowed for a similar problem where I live in Colorado.  With winters that aren’t cold enough to stop their progression, global warming has led way to an unstoppable population of mountain pine beetles which have eradicated nearly all lodgepole pine forests over thousands of square miles.  To get a sense of the severity of this probem, the satellite images of red forests speak for themselves. (more on this: here, here, and here)

The one that gets me, though, is that many people don’t believe in global warming (like its a religion or something). In fact, I have friends that insist it’s a natural process and shouldn’t be accredited to humans.  Evidence, however, proves otherwise.  While the global temperature does fluctuate naturally in cycles of hundreds of thousands of years (the carbon dioxide levels in arctic ice core samples show proof of this), the current rate of global warming is drastically accelerated.  Today’s temperature changes have occurred just over the past century. (source)

If global warming continues as it is now, the results will be very serious.  Here are some facts from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (via National Geographic) about what will happen if we don’t do something now.

• “Sea level could rise between 7 and 23 inches (18 to 59 centimeters) by century’s end, the IPCC’s February 2007 report projects. Rises of just 4 inches (10 centimeters) could flood many South Seas islands and swamp large parts of Southeast Asia.”
• “Some hundred million people live within 3 feet (1 meter) of mean sea level, and much of the world’s population is concentrated in vulnerable coastal cities. In the U.S., Louisiana and Florida are especially at risk.”
• “Glaciers around the world could melt, causing sea levels to rise while creating water shortages in regions dependent on runoff for fresh water.”
• “Strong hurricanes, droughts, heat waves, wildfires, and other natural disasters may become commonplace in many parts of the world. The growth of deserts may also cause food shortages in many places.”
• “More than a million species face extinction from disappearing habitat, changing ecosystems, and acidifying oceans.”
• “The ocean’s circulation system, known as the ocean conveyor belt, could be permanently altered, causing a mini-ice age in Western Europe and other rapid changes.”
• “At some point in the future, warming could become uncontrollable by creating a so-called positive feedback effect. Rising temperatures could release additional greenhouse gases by unlocking methane in permafrost and undersea deposits, freeing carbon trapped in sea ice, and causing increased evaporation of water.”

Assuming these facts are convincing enough (that is, if you weren’t already a “believer” to begin with), here are a few easy ways from Stop Global Warming in which you can do your part to reduce greenhouse gases, the root cause of global warming (you can also read all of them here).

• Use compact fluorescent bulbs: Replace 3 frequently used light bulbs with compact fluorescent bulbs. Saves 300 lbs. of carbon dioxide and $60 per year.
• Fill the dishwasher: Run your dishwasher only with a full load. Saves 100 lbs. of carbon dioxide and $40 per year.
• Use recycled paper: Make sure your printer paper is 100% post consumer recycled paper. Saves 5 lbs. of carbon dioxide per ream of paper.
• Take shorter showers: Showers account for 2/3 of all water heating costs. Saves 350 lbs. of carbon dioxide and $99 per year.
• Carpool when you drive (or take public transit): Carpooling with friends and co-workers saves fuel. Saves 790 lbs. of carbon dioxide and hundreds of dollars per year.
• Plant a tree: Trees suck up carbon dioxide and make clean air for us to breathe. Saves 2,000 lbs. of carbon dioxide per year.
• Unplug unused electronics: Even when electronic devices are turned off, they use energy (called phantom power). Saves over 1,000 lbs of carbon dioxide and $256 per year.
• Ditch the plastic: 2.5 million individual plastic water bottles are thrown away every hour in the US. Start using a reusable water bottle and just say no to plastic!
• Turn off your computer: Shut off your computer when not in use, and save 200 lbs of C02. Conserve energy by using your computer’s “sleep mode” instead of a screensaver.
• Use reusable cloth bags at the grocery store: Using your own cloth bag instead of plastic or paper bags reduces waste and requires no additional energy.

Although some of these things might be pretty obvious, it’s easy to take them for granted and forget about them. I hope Blog Action Day 2009 can help educate people about the reality of climate change and serve as a reminder that in all the ways in which we can help, we make an impact no matter how big or how small it is. After all, doing something is better than doing nothing.

If you have any suggestions for how others can help, or if you’d like to share your thoughts on climate change, let us know in the comments.

Sources: National Geographic (here and here), Stop Global Warming (here).

Although it’s starting to seem like so long ago, only three weeks have passed since I returned from my journey around Europe. Each day I was there, I meant to write something to let everybody know what I was up to, but to be honest, I never had the motivation to sit down and write when I could be out seeing new places and making new friends. Now that I’m back, however, falling into the same day-to-day repetition of a “normal” life, I’ve finally gotten some time to relive the memories and let everyone know where my adventure took me.

France

After the UK, my trek picks back up across the English Channel in France. First stop: Paris.

During the rest of the week, I really didn’t do too much. After all, I had already been to the Eiffel Tower and the Arc de Triomphe and walked down the Champs-Élysées. Instead of hitting up all the usual tourist places, I decided to try something a little differently and travel at a slower pace (more to come about this later). Over the next four days, I went to some parties, listened to street musicians near Notre Dame along the Seine, went to the top of the Sacré-Cœur, and spent a whole day in my favorite spot of Paris, Montmartre.

The next stop of my journey was Lyon in the central east part of France. There, I had an old friend from four years back to visit. It was awesome seeing him, and he was great enough to show me all of Lyon and its ancient Roman ruins. As it turns out, Lyon used to be one of the largest Roman centers in France. Weaved in with the busy modern apartments and businesses are old theaters, hippodromes where they had chariot races, and museums filled with thousands of sculptures, tablets, and other artifacts from the Roman era. I also went to Vienne, France which is home to France’s biggest Roman theater which is still used for concerts to this day. Aside from the wanderings through Lyon’s history, I spent the rest of my time catching up with my friend and really living the French lifestyle. We even went to my friend’s parents’ house for dinner one night for a tasty home-cooked meal and ate out another night at a small kind of French restaurant special to Lyon called a bouchon lyonnais. One of my favorite parts of Lyon, however, was actually the gigantic park they have in the middle of the city called the Parc de la Tête d’Or. At nearly half a square mile, this park has a lake, rivers, a velodrome, huge gardens, several gigantic lawns, and even a zoo!

After Lyon, another friend from two summers ago picked me up and took me to where he lives in a nearby city called St-Étienne. We caught up the night I arrived, but after that, we didn’t waste any time getting out to see things. The next morning we took off around 5:00 am or so and headed to Oradour-sur-Glane in the west part of France. Instead of beautiful landscapes or ancient Roman ruins, we actually went to Oradour-sur-Glane to see a different type of ruin – a demolished village that was left as a ghost town during World War II.

On June 10, 1944, the 2nd SS Panzer Division Das Reich surrounded the village and brought everyone to town square saying were just searching the buildings for weapons. Thinking that this was all, the townspeople didn’t do much to resist. The men were taken to barns and the women and children were locked inside a church. Without a warning, the Nazis fired upon the men in the barns and the women and children in the church. After people were wounded and had fallen to the ground, the Nazis poured fuel on them and burned them alive. As a result of that day’s massacre, 642 people were killed, and only six survived.

Experiencing this village and standing inside the church where hundreds of people were murdered was almost overwhelming. Seeing as there’s not places in the United States with such a gruesome recent history like this – apart from those of 9/11, it meant a lot to go here.

On the way back from Oradour-sur-Glane, we stopped at some old French châteaux along the countryside before arriving at a friend’s country home in La Chaulme, a small commune of around 20 buildings back in eastern France. We barbecued some fresh sausage, listened to music, and just enjoyed a typical night in the French countryside.

The next day, we returned to St-Étienne, and the rest of the week was pretty relaxed back at my friend’s apartment. Days were spent editing photos, exploring town, and even play pool while the nights were spent trying new cuisines and tasting different apéros.

The end of the week brought a sudden change of plans. Originally, I was supposed to stay with my friend in St-Étienne for almost two weeks. However, after chatting online with my host brother (who I know from when I went to France in high school), it was decided that it would be best if I reschedule my stay with them to the next week and then return to stay with my friend in St-Étienne afterward. So with the new plans, I bought a ticket and headed for Aix-en-Provence, France where my other host brother would meet me and take me to their place in Nans-les-Pins, a small village east of Aix.

The next ten days I spent at my host family’s house seemed like I had only been gone for a few days since I last saw them – well, except for my younger host brother was as big as me. It was nice seeing old family and meeting some new friends, too. For fun while I was there, we saw a French movie at the cinema, went to the beach in Saint-Cyr-sur-Mer, played some soccer, had a pool party (one of my favorite parts!), went out in Aix-en-Provence for the Fête de la Musique, and even went to a Muay Thai boxing tournament! My time with my French family was one of the most exciting parts of France, and it was great to hang out with some kids my age.

Before I knew it, I was on the train again heading to St-Étienne for my last week in France. Back with my friend, we mostly hung out, and most of my time during the day was spent planning the rest of my trip, which, at that time, was completely unknown. I didn’t even know where I’d be five days from then. Besides the hours on Google Maps, Flickr (had to find somewhere picturesque), Hostelworld, and other backpacking sites, we make it up to a beautiful scenic overlook above St-Étienne (check out the time lapse video I shot here). Toward the end of the week, we spontaneously decided to go see Mont Blanc, Europe’s tallest mountain at 15,781 feet, and Annecy, France, a city in the Alps where I had thought about studying abroad.

The drive to Mont Blanc was amazing! It was the first time actually seeing the Alps during my whole trip even though it was just the start of the great mountain range (more of which I’d see later on in my journey). Despite the cloudy day, I did get a small glimpse at the peak of the giant mountain, and, wow, is it way up there! We took a gondola ride up to the side of another mountain across the valley to get an even better view. Mont Blanc was very impressive! On our way back, we stopped in Annecy, and it was way more beautiful than in the pictures. Luckily, we made it there in time to see the beautiful lake because after about fifteen minutes, rain started pouring, so we were confined to the car for pretty much the rest of the time.

We returned back to St-Étienne later that night, and a couple of days later, I was already off for my last excursion in France – this time to Dijon, the former principal city of old Burgundy and the present-day capital of the French région of Bourgogne. To get there, we had to drive down the Route des Grands Crus (roughly the “Route of Great Wines”) through the Côte d’Or (or “Golden Coast”), a hillside known for its exceptional Burgundy wines. It’s even home to one of the most expensive wines in the world called Romanée-Conti, and I was lucky enough to see the vineyard (which is only 4 acres big!).

As we drove through the wine country, it was obvious we were getting deeper and deeper into the Burgundy region because more and more of the decorated rooftops were popping up. These special roofs with a style specific to Burgundy have different colored shingles organized in different repeating designs.

Alas, we arrived in Dijon. I was very impressed with how clean the city was. We visited some old churches and a museum, and all of the old Burgundy history inside was actually pretty interesting. After, we continued to walk around town where I touched the famous owl on the side of the Notre-Dame de Dijon. It is said to bring you good luck if your rub it (and, as I was told, it must be with your left hand while walking by from the left to the right). Finally, with some recently purchased Dijon mustard in my bag, we took off to see an old Roman road still in pieces tucked away in a city park. Although it wasn’t much, it was still pretty cool to see something that was constructed before my continent was even known to exist.

The night finished in a small town outside of Dijon where my friend and I stayed with some of his friends for the night. After a delicious outdoor dinner, we headed down the street for a town festival and gigantic bonfire where we had a great time full of music and chatting.

Well, that’s it for my time in France and for the first month of my journey in Europe. Like I had expected, I had a wonderful time in France, and I wasn’t disappointed once. Seeing all of my friends and [host] family made it feel like a home away from home. I was, of course, a bit sad to leave France, but, at the same time, I couldn’t be anymore excited for the unknown road I’d be venturing down the next day completely on my own. The first stop: Switzerland.

To be continued…

Just a few days ago, I was in the United Kingdom. Apart from London Heathrow Airport, I had never been there before. In fact, I wasn’t even planning on visiting the UK during my trip to Europe. However, a ticket to London half the price as one to Paris made me change plans to start my journey in Great Britain.

London

Being the first stop on my journey, it was exciting to finally be in Europe. Right from the station where I got in, I got on the Underground and headed for my hostel. After five minutes, though, I realized traveling in dark tunnels below the city streets is not the way to see London, so I got off the Underground and walked across town, seeing Westminster Abbey and Big Ben on the way.

After getting a solid night of sleep at the hostel, I took off in the morning to a place called Covent Garden thinking I could get some good photos of flowers, etc. Once I got there, though, I found out that Covent Garden isn’t actually a garden but a huge market full of shopping, food, and street performers. I ended up staying all day watching the funny street acts that were put on.  Going to Covent Gardens without even knowing what it was was one of the best choices I made in London.

Besides my fun time in Covent Garden, London was a little bit different from the friendly Boulder I’m used to.  I felt that my interactions with locals weren’t ever very personal.  Overall, I got the vibe that Londoners are a bit stand-offish.  A typical ride on the Underground backs that up.  Nearly everyone sits down, avoids eye contact with others, and stays in their own little world behind the day’s newspaper.

Manchester

After two days in London, I headed up to Manchester to visit a friend.  A bit out of the usual traveler’s path, I felt Manchester had a much friendlier atmosphere.  People were less robotic and easier to approach.  As far as the city itself goes, I loved it.  I got to see a great art gallery and an extremely old (with books from the 1600s), off-the-beaten-path library where Karl Marx studied and may have written the Communist Manifesto.  Manchester’s buildings were old and beautiful, and the city had a warmer feel with tiny pubs in every nook.  It was much calmer than the country’s capital, and the people were great.

Despite the sometimes cold feel, my time in the UK was awesome.  Being a small-town guy, what I thought about the people in London is probably common to any large, busy city.  With that aside, it was very easy to get around, (even going ~200 miles to Manchester), the places I saw were beautiful, I always had something to do, and I got to take a ton of photos (which should be up soon!).  Thanks, United Kingdom, I had a great stay.