Pope Benedict XVI admires the sky aboard a harbor cruise with youths, in Sydney, Australia, Thursday, July 17, 2008. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)

Pope Benedict XVI continues to speak out against global warming.

200,000 pilgrims from 168 countries are in Sydney for the Church’s World Youth Day.

The following is an excerpt from the the 81-year-old pontiff’s speech yesterday:

“Perhaps reluctantly we come to acknowledge that there are also scars which mark the surface of our Earth: erosion, deforestation, the squandering of the world’s mineral and ocean resources in order to fuel an insatiable consumption.”

He went on to say that care for the environment is of “vital importance for humanity”.

Is this unprecedented? Have other popes addressed global warming?

The Roman Catholic Church has over a billion followers worldwide. Will this sort of public awareness campaign make a difference?

– Alex Walker, CNN Science & Technology

Is Gore’s challenge inconvenient?

The former Vice President threw down the gauntlet today, challenging the United States to produce 100% of its electricity with renewables such as solar or wind power, within 10 years.

He likened the speech to President John F. Kennedy’s moon challenge in May of 1961.

We landed on the moon in less than a decade, but is Gore’s goal too audacious?

Is Gore relevant? Is anyone listening to him? Should we listen to him?

– Alex Walker, CNN Science & Technology

A week ago, T. Boone Pickens rolled out his plan for using wind power and natural gas to lead America from the Energy Swamp. Based on your responses, some of you saw a visionary plan, and some saw a corporate swindler.

Source: Getty Images

On Monday, President Bush rolled back an Executive Order originally signed by his Dad as a first step toward re-opening all of America’s coastline to offshore oil drilling. Some of you saw this as an overdue necessity, and some saw a failure of leadership.

Through much of the current discussion about oil prices, discussions about global warming and conserving energy have melted away. Enter former Vice President Al Gore, who’s scheduled a speech at 12 noon ET Thursday. CNN plans to carry the speech live, but we’d love to hear what you think.

Pickens. Bush. Gore. If this were Professional Wrestling, it would be a Steel-Cage Death Match. The only difference is that our economy and environment could be at stake.

So blog away. Once again, we really appreciate the thought and diversity of opinion in the hundreds of responses. Just please continue to be civil with each other!!

Peter Dykstra, Executive Producer CNN Science, Tech, & Weather

Thomas Edison with his electric car in 1913.

They produce zero emissions.

Electricity is cheaper than gas, and can come from renewable resources such as wind and solar power.

EV engines are far more efficient than internal combustion engines, are more reliable, and require less maintenance.

So what gives? Why don’t we buy and drive electric cars?

Program Note: Watch Miles O’Brien’s report on EV’s on CNN TV, Thursday morning.

I want to thank everyone for the hundreds of smart comments on T.Boone Pickens and his wind/natural gas energy plan.

AFP/Getty Images

By contrast, the Pickens plan generated precious little feedback from policymakers and others you’d expect would have a direct stake in this. Not a peep from the White House, nor the candidates, nor Congressional leadership. Virtually nothing from the business community, or from environmental groups.

So let’s keep our part of the bargain, and continue this great discussion. Today, President Bush is addressing another part of the Energy Hunt, by lifting a partly-symbolic Executive Order banning drilling off most of the U.S. coastline. Whaddya think? Is it long overdue? Or, as Pickens said, is it a problem we can’t drill our way out of?

Meteorologists around the world all have the same job…to forecast and explain the weather. But depending where you are, that can mean tracking tropical cyclones, predicting snowfall totals, reporting on the environment. Or if you are a meteorologist on CNN International, it can be all three in one day!

I recently had the wonderful opportunity to attend the 36th Annual American Meteorological Society’s Conference on Broadcast Meteorology in Denver, and I am very excited to share with you some of the highlights.

The conference was not only filled with lectures given by meteorologists around the world, but the best part, I thought was the field trips to the National Center for Atmospheric Research and the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colorado.

Both of these research centers high on a mountain in Boulder, Colorado are researching weather to study climate, air chemistry, storms, the sun and its effect on Earth and the interactions of humans and the environment.

We had the chance to meet one on one with the top scientists in weather! Since my focus is Asia and Australia, I was very interested in the research being done for forecasting these regions. One of the things I learned is that NCAR works with their counterpart’s regularly in Shanghai and in Sydney, for example, to improve techniques in forecasting tropical cyclones and drought. Dr. Gregory Holland took the time to explain to me the topography of his homeland, Australia. The climate there is really fascinating: it’s possible to have drought and floods in close proximity. He described the winter in the Southeastern part of the country as wet and cold, similar to Great Britain at times.

At one point on the tour, a bunch of us went to a dark conference room and donned 3rd glasses (I am not kidding). We were literally wowed by 3-d animations of how wildfire grows and spreads. The animation showed the patterns and movement of fires and smoke plumes depending on atmospheric conditions.Wildfires have been in the news lately in California in the U.S. and in Greece.

The next stop on our field trip was literally down the mountain, to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Here we were treated to two amazing projects NOAA is conduction from Boulder.

The first is “Science on a Sphere”

Science On a Sphere (SOS) ® is a room sized global display system that uses computers and video projectors to display planetary data onto a six foot diameter sphere, analogous to a giant animated globe. Researchers at NOAA developed Science On a Sphere® as an educational tool to help illustrate Earth System science to people of all ages. Animated images of atmospheric storms, climate change, and ocean temperature can be shown on the sphere which is used to explain what are sometimes complex environmental processes, in a way that is simultaneously intuitive and captivating. (NOAA)

For a meteorologist, its one think to look at a satellite image on a flat computer screen, but to see it all moving along overlaid on a huge globe of the Earth was especially cool!
Our guide was able to tilt the Earth model so we could see the North and South Poles clearly. We are also able to watch how warm water literally moves around the world. I was fascinated as warm water came into the Tropical Atlantic, for example, then “looped” into the Gulf of Mexico. That loop of warm deep water and the eddies that break off from it is one of the reasons we saw hurricanes like Katrina explode into Category Five intensity once they moved over this section of water in the Gulf of Mexico!

For all you space fans, our last stop will probably be your favorite to hear about. At NOAA in Boulder you will find the Space Weather Prediction Center.

Did you know that Polar Flights, international air travel that passes over the North and South Pole is dependent on Space Weather forecasting? I was fascinated by this and you will likely find me talking more about it soon on CNN Today Asia in my weather reports!

Some very cool images Space Weather Forecasters use come from Hawaii! From way a top the Mauna Loa Volcano.
The Mauna Loa Solar Observatory (MLSO) is located on the top of Hawaii’s Mauna Loa Volcano.

Later back in Denver, we continued on in the coming days to talk about other topics: including Climate Change, Hurricanes, Tornadoes and communication tools to best display our reports, to you, our viewer.

I can tell you the technology that is coming is truly amazing and in the coming months, keep tuning into CNN International for the most interesting and cutting edge reports on the weather and environment!

It’s my pleasure and privilege to bring it to you weekdays CNN Today on CNN International and alongside my colleagues on Weather FX each month!

CNN Meteorologist Bonnie Schneider

T. Boone Pickens talks energy on CNN in May

Pickens has an astounding track record at anticipating U.S. energy demand — including a prescient warning a few years back that oil was going to be mighty costly about now. Like the old E.F. Hutton ads, when he talks, investors listen. And if he says wind is in, investors will line up.

I’d love to hear your thoughts on his plan.
To start off, here’s my own two cents (bear in mind that I could be out buying one-third of an ounce of gasoline with those two cents):

1. Pickens is neither an altruist nor a treehugger trapped in the body of an oilman. He sees money in this, and has been perfectly transparent about that.
2. It’s a plan — at least a partial one — which is pretty much more than we’ve got now.
3. It may be a plan from a shrewd, battle-tested business tycoon, but it’s probably not as easy as it seems. Wind energy gives out when the wind stops blowing, and there’s no existing technology to store it in large quantity. Wind-dependent power plants would need a robust backup system. We’d also need a much better electric transmission infrastructure than we have right now, in order to move the wind power from the Great Plains, where it’s available, to the population centers, where it’s needed.
4. Wind as a main power source would have an uneven impact in replacing natural gas. About half of California’s electricity comes from natural gas. In Ohio, it’s about 2%.

Your turn — blog away: Is T. Boone Pickens a genius, or is he just spittin’ in the wind?

Peter Dykstra Executive Producer CNN Science, Tech & Weather

Yeah, another bad headline — doesn’t sound possible, you say?  You may be right.  But I just saved $350 outright because gas prices are so high.

Getty Images

A decade ago, we opted to move pretty far away from the center city:  27 miles from the driveway to CNN Center in Atlanta.  The decision was largely due to the prospects for our three school-age kids:  A shaky, in-town school district versus a well-regarded one farther away.  And since the State of Georgia always finishes in the Top 50 among State Educational Quality, we went for it.

The kids have had a good shake in their schools, so no regrets.  But the costs for Daddy driving to work have included up to two-hour commutes, plus more recently, brutal gasoline costs, even with a 32MPG car.

A few years ago, in a nod more to traffic burdens than to energy or environmental concerns, Georgia rolled out commuter buses to far-flung places like Conyers, GA.  Five per day, from the commuter lot next to the Rockdale County Jail into downtown Atlanta.  So yes, I go to the County Jail at least twice a week.

Being in the 24-hour news business, I feel obligated to give you the Bad News First:  The last bus in is at 8am; the last bus back is at 6:15pm.   This does not always fit the bipolar nature of covering 24-hour news.  Bottom Line:  I can’t always rely on the bus — not for late nights, or weekend work.  The Good News?  My employers have had the foresight to let me keep my parking privileges for when I have to drive, plus a part-time pass for the bus.

With minor inconvenience, I can take two bus trips a week to work, with little or no compromise to my workload,  saving 2 gallons of charitable donation to the oil companies per day, plus environmental benefits, per round trip.  But I called my insurer (GEICO), and they also told me that the reduced mileage on my car would save me about $350 a year on insurance costs.   Whoa!! Just think how much extra gasoline I can afford now!!!  I won’t have to take the damn bus!!! (Just kidding).

Actually, the bus isn’t bad.  It’s still only about half full each day, which is amazing to me.  I can listen to my IPod on the way in (it has a lot of songs on it, and you wouldn’t like most of them….), and I arrive at work bearing no anger to all the Barbarians and Fools who would tailgate me or cut me off on Interstate 20 on the way in (full disclosure:  It’s never my fault as a driver; to quote Dustin Hoffman, I’m an excellent driver.) .  Oh, and on the way in,  I read stuff, too.  One more note:  They’re considering Commuter Rail from many towns like Conyers, but ’round here, the feelings still run strongly about General Sherman tearing up the railroad tracks 144 years ago, so it may take a while longer for the State Legislature to warm up to the idea.

So I’d like to thank the Oil Companies, OPEC, the shrinking dollar, the increased international demand, the speculators, the guys who blow up the pipelines in Nigeria every week, and everyone else who’s been blamed for high oil prices for making my ride to work more relaxed and a tad cheaper, at least twice a week. 

Peter Dykstra    Executive Producer   CNN Science, Tech & Weather

It looks like an interesting weather week shaping up. Bertha has become the second Atlantic storm and first hurricane of the season (lest we’ve forgotten, Tropical Storm Arthur dumped a load of rain on Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula during the last week in May).

(NOAA Map) Bertha\

Right now, Bertha is a Category One storm, with winds in the high 70’s MPH range. The long-term track — which is extremely subject to change — has the storm staying away from the mainland U.S. coast, but possibly threatening Bermuda by the weekend. (Monday Evening Update: At 5pm ET, the National Hurricane Center upgraded Bertha to a Category Three hurricane.   The long-term track still keeps the storm out to sea, with a possible risk to Bermuda).  PD

Out west, California continues to fulfill the predictions for a bad fire season, with both coastal and inland fires blackening thousands of acres and filling the skies in the San Francisco Bay Area and Reno, Nevada, with smoke. Hot temperatures will continue all week, so the threat’s not going away anytime soon, according to the National Interagency Fire Center.

Peter Dykstra Executive Producer CNN Science, Tech & Weather

A little more than a century from now, our planet will be so polluted as to be virtually uninhabitable. That’s the cheery premise behind Disney/Pixar’s charming “Wall-E,” the most popular movie in the country last week.

AP Photo

The film takes place in the 2800s, when Wall-E, a cute little trash-compacting robot, is the last life of any kind remaining on Earth (aside from his indestructible pet cockroach). Long since abandoned, Wall-E goes about his solitary and meaningless work in a bleak urban landscape marred by dirty skies, sludgy seas and towering piles of consumer waste from Buy N’ Large, the free market’s last surviving megastore.

From “I Am Legend” to Cormac McCarthy’s “The Road,” recent pop culture has been full of post-apocalyptic stories. But “Wall-E” departs from those tales in one key aspect: The human race in this movie isn’t becoming extinct, it’s just on an indefinite vacation. In the future created by “Wall-E’s” filmmakers, we humans flee our ruined planet in 2110 for giant, cruise-ship-like space vessels, where we drift numbly through the solar system for the next 700 years. Coddled by servant robots, carted around on levitating recliner chairs, fed through Big Gulp-like cups and medicated by programming on ever-present hologram TVs, we have become infantile and morbidly fat.

In this way, “Wall-E” takes 21st-century societal trends – ecological destruction, rampant consumerism, corporate consolidation and obesity – and projects them forward to their most drastic consequences. Right-wing bloggers already have attacked what they see as the movie’s save-the-Earth message, although they might be heartened to see that in “Wall-E’s” vision of the future, government doesn’t seem to exist (the spacecraft are operated by Buy N’ Large).

Like many futuristic stories, “Wall-E” takes a cautionary view of technology. Its chief antagonist is a spaceship’s autopilot function (a nod to HAL in “2001: A Space Odyssey”), and the movie’s ending celebrates the benefits of. . .simple farming. Wall-E himself is a mostly low-tech creation, more mechanical than digital, although he displays remarkable feelings of curiosity, fear and love.

One final thought: Considering that Apple Computer’s Steve Jobs also ran Pixar, it’s no surprise that the solar-powered Wall-E reboots to the swelling sound of the Mac startup tone. But Pixar does have a sense of humor — the evil autopilot computer is voiced by Apple’s speech-recognition software.

–Brandon Griggs, Tech Section Producer, CNN.com