Al Gore notoriously used multimedia to bring global warming to the public’s attention: Millions of people woke up to the climate crisis thanks to the world’s most famous Power Point presentation. An Inconvenient Truth thrust climate into the national discourse, forever branding global warming as an issue we could no longer ignore. But even though we’ve stopped ignoring it, we’re still confused, even apathetic about it. And that’s where 24 Hours of Reality comes in. Gore’s second major climate-themed media event will seek to cut through the haze of confusion and denial, and to the core of what’s really happening right now. Watch it right here, starting at 7 pm (Central) tonight.

Our media has irresponsibly sensationalized the topic as though it were ‘he-said-she-said’. Our politicians brazenly deny it exists to curry favor with corporate donors. Worse, neither are willing to link the recent extreme weather with climate change, even though scientists say we’re seeing exactly what we should expect in a warmer world.

The event will feature precisely what its namesake promises: 24 hours of programming, in 13 languages, all focused on climate change. Every hour will move to a new location — things kick off tonight in Mexico City (7 pm CST) and will move on to places as disparate as Pakistan, Cape Verde, and Alaska, before concluding at 7 pm tomorrow in New York City (where yours truly will be on the ground to cover the finale). In other words, it will certainly be a global event.

And none other than TreeHugger founder Graham Hill will be on hand in the studio for the 5-7 am segment, which will focus on the Solomon Islands, Australia, and Seoul, South Korea. So: night hawks, early risers, and international readers — be sure to tune in. Here’s Al Gore on the Colbert Report explaining his project (and accidentally ‘outing’ Colbert, to boot):

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We need a technological crackdown on feline wildlife carnage
Residents of a new housing estate in Hampshire are to be forbidden from keeping cats or dogs, on pain of eviction. The proposal is wildly unfair — to dogs and their owners. As far as cats are concerned, it's long overdue.
The number of cats kept in Britain has grown rapidly over the last few decades to perhaps nine million. Gardeners will be familiar with some of the consequences, but the impact on wildlife has been altogether more serious. A study by the Mammal Society found that what are now Britain's most abundant carnivores are probably killing at least 300 million wild animals and birds every year. Because they're fed by their owners, their depredations aren't reduced by their impact on their prey's populations, as would otherwise be the case.
Their 70 million feathered victims may not be the most important, though the survey found that hard-pressed species such as yellow wagtails, swifts and bullfinches were being taken. Cats, it emerged, could also be getting through four million frogs, 170,000 newts, 370,000 lizards, 700,000 slow-worms and 80,000 grass-snakes. They may be killing 230,000 bats a year: bats have not only become scarce, but have difficulty making up population losses, since an individual produces on average fewer than one youngster each season.
Owners are often unaware of the depredations wrought by their pets on their nightly forays over surprisingly large areas. When, however, one of their furry darlings kills the blackbird whose song used to make your day, don't expect an apology. Cat-lovers assume they've an inviolable right to force their neighbours and all the wildlife-lovers in their localities to put up with the grisly side-effects of their proclivity.
Dogs can pose a threat to wildlife, particularly to ground-nesting birds. They, however, can be controlled, and increasingly they are being. Part of the growing attraction of cats is that their owners are currently absolved from any duty to keep their pets' behaviour in check. It's about time we expected cat-owners to shoulder some of the responsibility that they owe towards our wildlife.
The Hampshire edict is designed to protect Dartford warblers, nightjars and woodlarks living on heathland near the proposed estate. Such restrictions should be routine in new developments within reach of the haunts of such scarce species. However, cat-owners whose pets threaten only the everyday wild creatures that brighten so many lives should also be expected to shape up.
House sparrows, starlings and song-thrushes have experienced dramatic declines in recent years. Gardens have become a particularly important habitat for them ever since agricultural intensification drove many of them out of the countryside, yet a study in one village found that cats were responsible for 30 per cent of house sparrow mortality.
A cat curfew would be a reasonable step forward. Enforcement would probably require cats to be implanted with electronic chips. Dog-owners are increasingly embracing this technology, however: there's no reason why cat-owners shouldn't be expected to do likewise. Nonetheless, until such a scheme can come into effect, more immediate action is required.
Wildlife kills can be reduced by up to 53 per cent if cats wear devices on their collars designed to inhibit hunting success, according to a study by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds. Some other studies suggest that the bells of legend may not be the most suitable instruments for this purpose. The extra effort they force cats to take may actually increase their hunting prowess. However, new technology is making more effective techniques available.
Electronic warning devices, such as battery powered alarms or lights activated when cats pounce, have been shown to reduce feline predation by between 38 and 51 per cent. Collars emitting sonic warnings are now widely on sale. You can buy one for £12.99. For those who prefer a lower-tech solution, even simpler options are on hand.
A bird-loving cat-owner in Oregon has invented a device called the CatBib. It's made of neoprene, a tear-resistant synthetic fabric, and attached to a cat's collar with velcro, so it will come off if it gets snagged. It provides a visual warning to prey, and gets in the way of pouncing paws. A study in Australia, where the threat to wildlife from cats is taken more seriously than it is in Britain, found that CatBibs helped stop 81 per cent of cats from catching birds, 45 per cent from catching mammals and 33 per cent from catching reptiles and amphibians.
CatBibs, like sonic collars, are readily available to cat-owners, but not many of them seem to be interested. Apparently, they don't want anything to interfere with their pets' fun. Collar restraints for cats should therefore be made compulsory.
ConservationPetsAnimalsWildlifeDavid Coxguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

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