Happy Planet Index

The index uses global data on life expectancy, experienced well-being and Ecological Footprint.

Each of these components is based on a separate measure:

Experienced well-being. 
If you want to know how well someone’s life is going, your best bet is to ask them directly. In this year’s HPI, experienced well-being is assessed using a question called the ‘Ladder of Life’ from the Gallup World Poll. This asks respondents to imagine a ladder, where 0 represents the worst possible life and 10 the best possible life, and report the step of the ladder they feel they currently stand on.

Life expectancy. 
Alongside experienced well-being, the HPI includes a universally important measure of health – life expectancy. We used life expectancy data from the 2011 UNDP Human Development Report

Ecological Footprint. 
The HPI uses the Ecological Footprint promoted by the environmental charity WWF as a measure of resource consumption. It is a per capita measure of the amount of land required to sustain a country’s consumption patterns, measured in terms of global hectares (g ha) which represent a hectare of land with average productive biocapacity.

 5 things to do everyday:

1. Connections/Social-Network, 
2. Curiosity/Learning, 
3. Give/Compassion, 
4. Activity/Exercise, 
5. Notice/Aware

Check out the HPI poster

Global Weirdness

For the first time in six years, National Public Radio has aired episodes about global warming without excuse or apology. The new book "Global Weirdness", by Michael Lemonick, makes no bones about it, we are going to see rough seas ahead.

Listen to the story ... Surprisingly, even our local KPBS is on top of this story.

According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the past year through June 2012 has been the hottest year in the continental U.S. since modern record-keeping started in 1895.

"While it's true that the primary effect of carbon dioxide buildup is to warm the Earth and to change the climate, some of that carbon dioxide is absorbed by the oceans, and when water absorbs carbon dioxide, it becomes more acidic. ... That has some implications for sea life, especially organisms that form shells: In an acidic environment it's harder to form a shell, and because a lot of these organisms are at the very base of the ocean food chain, there could be some real disruptions to that part of our food supply. "

Severe Storms, Deadly Heat Waves, Relentless Drought, Rising Seas, and the Weather of the Future. published by the nonprofit research organization Climate Central