O.C. Heaton's Blog, page 9

How space junk is destroying our planet from above

My last post looked at how we are trashing our planet below the surface, from within our oceans. But we're also busily creating a giant garbage patch way above the earth. This rubbish dump, floating millions of miles above us, is known as space junk.

What is space junk?

Space junk, sometimes known as space debris, is the collection of human-created objects in orbit around the earth. These objects consist of everything from spent rocket stages and defunct satellites to erosion...

The Great Pacific Garbage Patch: going round in circles

Perhaps the reason why I haven't written about the Great Pacific Garbage Patch before now is because my interest in our impact on the planet has much do with how the storyline for The Human Race developed.

The book predominantly focuses on the airline industry and a device that has the power to reverse global warming. As a result, my research for The Human Race focused on these areas and specifically, on air and land-based pollution. My research was so consuming that even now i...

The Code, the Nautilus and the human race

The other night I was watching The Code on the BBC which, as a non-mathematician, was something of a revelation. Essentially the programme concerns how numbers shape the natural world. In essence The Code is to Mathematics what the Wonders of the Universe is to Astronomy. It simplifies the science, or the maths, in this case, and is hosted by an equally eloquent presenter, in the form of Marcus du Sautoy.

One of the programme segments reminded me about The Human Race and in...

Could America's 'bigger is better' attitude help save the environment?

I've just spent a week in Florida and the trip involved quite a lot of driving – nearly 1000 miles in total. As ever, I was amazed at how huge the place is compared to England. When I got home, I did a little research and discovered that the Sunshine State is even bigger than I thought. Way bigger in fact. England has just 50,337 square miles of land. By comparison, Florida is thirty per cent larger with a land mass of 65,755 square miles. And that's just one state in the US. ...

Welcome to the Summer Giveaway Hop!

Welcome to the Summer Giveaway Hop!

A Rush of Green is one of 300+ blogs participating in the Summer Giveaway Hop! Each blog is offering a book-related giveaway and we have all joined together so you can easily hop from one giveaway to another and win plenty of book goodies.

THE PRIZE: A Rush of Green will be giving away copies of sci-fi thriller, The Human Race, to three lucky winners.

The Human Race by O.C. Heaton

Ever had a secret so big that your very knowledge of it consumed...

Why flying will always be a dirty word

Back in 2002, when I was researching The Human Race, I dug deep into the world of the airline industry and found it to be in some degree of turmoil. Still recovering from the devastating aftermath of 9/11, the airline industry also had additional challenges to contend with. These included the SARS virus, the continued threat of terrorism, sky high oil prices, a nascent green movement and economy airlines undercutting the established carriers. There was also a strong...

Could a "techno-fix" be the answer to global warming?

The idea of a techno-fix as a way to cool the planet caught my attention last week, after reading a story in the Guardian about geo-engineering.

The title of that Guardian piece, Geo-engineering: green versus greed in the race to cool the planet, took me back to 2009, when I was deciding what to call my first novel. My publisher and I settled upon The Human Race, but two of the main contenders for the title were Greed and Greed V Green. Why? Because the central themes of the...

The sequel to The Human Race

I have finally finished the sequel to The Human Race this morning, or at least the first draft. Wow that's a relief to be able to move on at long last. It only took me 2 years and 2 month's this time round which sounds a long time but that's 8 years faster than THR. Yes I'm afraid that took ten whole years of my life.

Now begins the editing phase ......

I feel the need… the need for speed!

Last week I had to read a few chapters of The Human Race, in connection with some promotional work, and one section caught my eye. It is when Uma is talking to Ethan about the speed at which technology invades our lives these days. The examples she cites are all consumer products and she looks at the time it took to sell 15,000,000 of the following items:

15 years for the television.12 years for the video recorder.11 years for the mobile phone.10 for the PC.8 years for the CD...

Want to save our planet? Forget about "global warming"!

Have you heard of the Anthropocene? It is a recent term, which serves to mark the evidence and extent of human activities and their effects on the environment and our planet. I hadn't heard of it until recently and truthfully, I really should have. In fact, so should anybody who has even a passing interest in climate change and living a greener life.

Taken at its most literal, the term means "the recent age of man". It was coined in 2000 by Paul Crutzen, an atmospheric...