How can we raise awareness of the CO2 in the atmosphere on a daily basis?
Artist/author Franke James, Designer/programmer Bill James, and Michael McGee,
creator of CO2Now.org, worked together to produce the animated CO2 Toaster
widget.
Plugging in the CO2 Toaster is easy and fun.The code can easily be added to most websites or blogs. The CO2 Toaster always shows the latest monthly data for atmospheric CO2 levels.
The widget pulls NOAA data for atmospheric CO2 as measured by the Mauna Loa Observatory in the United States.
Bill McKibben, founder of 350.org and author of Eaarth, has noted: "350 is a very tough number. We're already well past it. The atmosphere holds 390 ppm today, which is why the Arctic is melting and the ocean steadily acidifying. To get back to a safe level we need a very rapid halt to the use of coal, gas and oil so that forests and oceans can absorb some of that carbon."
Michael McGee comments, "CO2 prefers to keep quiet and out of sight. The CO2 Toaster widget yanks away the invisibility cloak and reveals the CO2 trend for the culprit that it is. This widget grabs attention and shares important information about our planet. Not only does it say what CO2 is right now, it shows what CO2 has been, and what it should be."
Franke James says, “The CO2 Toaster is evidence that artistic metaphors and concrete data can mix to produce lively offspring. Right brain people and left brain people can work together and produce some amazing results.”
