Daily Green Wrap-up 30.August, 2012

Chlorophyll shadows and the soft whispering sway of bamboo trunks characterize the Arashiyama bamboo forest outside Kyoto, Japan. This beautiful grove is both peaceful and naturally aesthetic. Bamboo, an exotic, giant grass, is a rich and fascinating part of Japanese culture and has huge potential as a green resource.
The potential benefits of high speed rail are many: reduced congestion, less pollution, slashed greenhouse gas emissions, and we get a nice, comfortable alternative mode of travel to boot. But from time to time, folks grow dubious about those benefits, and claim that rail is a worthless liberal boondoggle. They’re wrong.
The potential damage to bird and bat populations by large wind turbines is often used as an argument against more wind power installations, and serves as great fodder for comments here on TreeHugger when we publish something about wind technology.
But there are other options for viable wind turbines that are claimed to be bird- and bat-friendly, including the Catching Wind Power (CWP) device, which will soon be tested, improved upon, and manufactured by Sigma Design.
If you live in the northern hemisphere, chances are you’re feeling the first whispers of fall in the air right about now. Sure, the sun-bunnies among you might be lamenting the shorter days and cooler temperatures, but the foodies will be delighting in the abundance of produce that’s available at this time of year. Autumn is the harvest season after all, and the bounty is evident in farmer’s markets and grocery aisles around the world; this is the time for roasted squash soup, apple pie, countless jars of preserves, and so much more. Jump ahead to learn how you can preserve the seeds of this year’s harvest so you can be up to your armpits in organic produce next year!
Global warming has wreaked havoc over the central US this summer, with crops withering, record high temps becoming the norm, and huge fires in Colorado. But the massive fires that have erupted throughout the west this year are not only the result of change in the global climate, but a century of humans misunderstanding of the forest eco-system, leading to a tinderbox unrecognizable from its natural state for a least a millennium. So, where did Smoky the Bear go wrong?
George Monbiot has a new piece in the Guardian titled “The day the world went mad,” which looks at the underwhelming reaction in the press and political sphere to the Aug. 27 announcement of record Arctic ice melt.

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