Released today! The all-new PDF edition of Hot Topic. Available exclusively through this blog, it costs a mere NZ$20. The full text and pictures from the paper version in a handy electronic format. If you’re a New Zealander living overseas who needs to know what climate change means for Aotearoa, or just interested in a southern hemisphere take on climate change issues, Hot Topic tells you all you need to know. To learn more, click the PDF edition link at the top of the page.
Author: Gareth
Hot Topic: finalist Best Australia or NZ Blog in 2007 Weblog Awards
Well, blow me down with a ‘norwester, HT’s been nominated as a finalist in the Best Australia and New Zealand Blog category of the 2007 Weblog Awards. Voting starts soon, so get on over there and give us a click. Competition’s tough, though – we’re the only NZ blog up against some Aussie big hitters: Ask Sam, After Grog Blog, Dipping into the Blog Pond, The Road to Surfdom, Tim Blair, John Quiggin, The Family Room, All Men Are Liars and iCiNG. It’s good to be the underdog, though…
UPDATE: Voting now open: you can vote once a day through to November 8th.
Float on…
A big float story slipped under the HT radar a month ago. Luckily I noticed the NZ connection in a recent release from the Scripps Institute in California – designers and builders of many of the Argo float network – and so I bring you news of the completion of this ocean monitoring system and the big role played by NIWA and its research ship, the Kaharoa, in deploying the floats. Better late than never…
Friday on my mind
Meridian got the resource consent for its 176 turbine, $1.5bn Project Hayes wind farm on the Lammermoor Range, 70 km north west of Dunedin in Central Otago, but only on a split decision. Next stage: almost certainly the Environment Court. [Herald , The Press , Southland Times] Meanwhile:
- Brian Fallow follows up on fast following in the Herald, and gets it right.
- Desmogblog highlights an excellent NASA animation illustrating the sheer extent of this summer’s Arctic ice melt.
- Technology Review covers MIT’s Smart Cities group design for a folding, stackable, electric city car (and scooter).
- The Guardian [UK]reports on a list of the top 50 things to do to save the planet, drawn up by the Environment Agency [full list(PDF)]. Toppermost of the poppermost? Dramatically improve the energy efficiency of electrical goods. In the charts at number 2 (with a bullet)? Religious leaders to make the environment a priority for their followers.
- The Guardian [UK] also has an interesting feature on plans to collect solar energy in space (thus avoiding the losses caused by passage through the atmosphere) and then beam it down to earth via microwave or laser beams.
Formerly the weekend roundup
Saturday’s promised omnibus extension never arrived, in part because of the arrival of a big cat on my computer, so here’s a Tuesday update.