Climate change conferences on islands are in vogue this week. Not only is the U.N. hosting one in on the real island of Bali, but a scientific journal is sponsoring one on its virtual archipelago in a computer-generated world.
Second Nature is a locale built by the journal Nature in the virtual world of Second Life. (You have to be a member of Second Life to get on to the site.) It is the scene of four talks on the science of climate, beginning today and continuing through next week. First, Tara LaForce, a lecturer at Imperial College London, will speak about her research into carbon capture and storage, followed by Euan Nisbet, a professor at Royal Holloway College of the University of London. Next week Simon Buckle, Director of Climate Change Policy at the Grantham Institute for Climate Change, will give a talk, as will George Monbiot, columnist for The Guardian newspaper and author of a book on global warming.
Avatars, the cartoonlike representations of users in Second Life, can attend the talks. The carbon footprint of each avatar, incidentally, has been estimated at a relatively modest 1,752 kilowatt hours per year, although the exact number is subject to debate.—Josh Fischman
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