Earth, Environment & Endangered Species 01 (May 08 - Mar 11)

Re: Earth, Environment & Endangered Species 01 (May 08 - Feb 11)

Postby winston » Tue Feb 22, 2011 10:33 pm

Wonder how much they spend on such studies and having such conferences, instead of using the money to provide food to the needy ?


50 million 'environmental refugees' by 2020, experts say

WASHINGTON (AFP) - – Fifty million "environmental refugees" will flood into the global north by 2020, fleeing food shortages sparked by climate change, experts warned at a major science conference that ended here Monday.

"In 2020, the UN has projected that we will have 50 million environmental refugees," University of California, Los Angeles professor Cristina Tirado said at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS).

"When people are not living in sustainable conditions, they migrate," she continued, outlining with the other speakers how climate change is impacting both food security and food safety, or the amount of food available and the healthfulness of that food.

Southern Europe is already seeing a sharp increase in what has long been a slow but steady flow of migrants from Africa, many of whom risk their lives to cross the Strait of Gibraltar into Spain from Morocco or sail in makeshift vessels to Italy from Libya and Tunisia.


http://sg.news.yahoo.com/afp/20110222/t ... 2e412.html
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Boredom Strikes! 04 (Sep 10 - Mar 11)

Postby kennynah » Tue Mar 08, 2011 1:00 am

a chain of volcanoes at hawaii is continuously spewing out enormous amounts of magma...

after it cools...must go there to search for diamonds :mrgreen:
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Re: Earth, Environment & Endangered Species 01 (May 08 - Mar 11)

Postby winston » Sun Mar 13, 2011 9:00 am

Did ‘Supermoon’ Have Anything to Do With Quake?

Nearly two weeks ago, market analyst Paul Macrae Montgomery wrote an eight-page report to clients giving various reasons to be flat in their positions heading into March because of the increased chance of financial market volatility.

At the very end of the report, Montgomery added another reason to be cautious, an upcoming so-called Supermoon, a full moon occurring while the celestial body is at its closest distance to Earth that is “associated with high tides, earthquakes, volcanism and weather anomalies,” he wrote.


http://www.cnbc.com/id/42031023/
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Re: Earth, Environment & Endangered Species 01 (May 08 - Mar 11)

Postby winston » Sat Mar 26, 2011 5:42 pm

World urged to use 'Earth Hour' to protect planet by Madeleine Coorey

From Sydney to Seoul, London to Lima, and Dubai to Davis Station in frozen Antarctica, hundreds of millions of people are expected to switch off their lights on Saturday to mark "Earth Hour".

The movement that began in Sydney in 2007 to raise awareness about climate change now brings together people from around the world to turn the lights off for 60 minutes to reduce energy consumption.

"It's an hour in one day of the year," Earth Hour co-founder and executive director Andy Ridley told AFP early Saturday.

"The amount of power that's saved during that time is not really what it's about. What it is meant to be about is showing what can happen when people come together."

Ridley said 134 countries or territories were on board for the event, with many groups expected to use the hour to also pay tribute to Japan which this month suffered a 9.0 magnitude quake and tsunami.

In Scotland, there will be a traditional bagpipe lament to remember the thousands killed in the disaster while a minute's silence will be observed by a group climbing the Sydney Harbour Bridge and another in Antarctica.

Ridley said hundreds of millions of people took part in 2010 and he was hopeful of the same response this year when landmarks such as the world's tallest building Burj Khalifa in Dubai, Times Square New York, the London Eye and Brazil's Christ the Redeemer statue go dark to mark the hour.

Designed as a symbolic act to make people aware of everyday energy use, Earth Hour has evolved into a global movement, and this year will take place from 8:30pm local time around the world.

United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon urged people to celebrate the shared quest to "protect the planet and ensure human well-being."

"Let us use 60 minutes of darkness to help the world see the light," he said of the event, which kicks off in the Pacific, takes in Fiji, New Zealand and Australia, before rolling to Asia, Europe, Africa and the Americas.

"The simple and powerful idea of switching off lights for an hour to drive action on climate change began in Sydney and has been embraced around the world," said Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard from Canberra's Parliament House, a landmark which will go dark from 8:30 pm (0930 GMT).

British Prime Minister David Cameron said sharing responsibility was the key to fighting climate change, describing Earth Hour as "a huge symbol of global solidarity, an inspiring display of international commitment."

Earth Hour this year will focus on connecting people online so they can inspire each other to go beyond the hour and make commitments to help protect the environment, Ridley said.

Organisers are asking people to commit to an action, large or small, that they will carry through the year to help the planet.

Ridley said he never expected the Earth Hour movement to become so large.

"We didn't imagine right at the beginning... it would be on the scale that it is now. And the fact that it is so cross cultural, beyond borders and race and religion," he said earlier this week.

Source: AFP Global Edition
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Re: Earth, Environment & Endangered Species 01 (May 08 - Mar 11)

Postby winston » Sun Mar 27, 2011 7:06 pm

Tsunami harpoons Japanese whaling town by Shingo Ito

The Japanese whaling town of Ayukawa has survived the wrath of environmental groups for decades, but had no defence against a giant tsunami that wiped out the industry here, possibly for ever.

One of only four communities in Japan that have continued to hunt and eat whales in defiance of international opposition, the town was already down to a single operating company, Ayukawa Whaling.

The March 11 tsunami that slammed into Japan's northeast coast took most of Ayukawa with it, destroying 80 percent of houses and leaving 400 of its 1,400 residents unaccounted for.

The wave shattered Ayukawa Whaling's storage facility and carried its fleet of three whaling ships hundreds of metres inland where they now lie grounded and impotent.

"This is the biggest ever crisis for us," said company chairman Minoru Ito.

Ito, 74, survived the disaster, along with all of his 28 employees, after they fled to higher ground in the wake of the 9.0-magnitude earthquake that triggered the tsunami.

The survival of their livelihoods is another matter and Ito said he had already decided to lay everybody off and suspend all whaling operations until further notice.

It was a tough decision. Ito has been hunting whales for half a century and his father was an Ayukawa whaler in the town's boom days.

"For me, whaling is not just culture or tradition. It's part of my life," he said.

The history of commercial whaling in Ayukawa dates back to the early 1900s when three major whaling firms set up in the town, which lies on the eastern tip of Ojika peninsula, bordering the Pacific.

The industry lost ground during World War II, but bounced back with the growing demand for whale meat as a cheap and plentiful source of protein in the lean post-war years.

Temples dedicated to the souls of whales attested to the town's heritage, and tourists were drawn by a whaling museum -- now gutted by the tsunami -- that boasted skeletons, hunting tools, educational displays and a 3-D cinema.

But the industry had long been in decline, especially since commercial whaling was banned in 1986.

Japan has continued to hunt whales under a loophole that allows killing of the sea mammals for what it calls "scientific research", although the meat is later sold openly in shops and restaurants.

Japan's argument that whaling is an integral part of the island nation's culture finds some of its strongest voices among the residents of Ayukawa, for whom the prospect of stopping hunting is inconceivable.

"We should resume whaling at any cost," said 70-year-old Ryoetsu Okumi. "Whaling is my job and my life. If someone takes whaling from me, nothing will be left.

"Anti-whaling groups may be pleased with this disaster, but we will never surrender."

The tsunami came shortly after Japan recalled its Antarctic whaling fleet a month early, citing the threat posed by the militant environmentalist outfit Sea Shepherd.

The group, which says its tactics are non-violent but aggressive, has hurled paint and stink bombs at whaling ships, snared their propellers with rope and moved its own boats between the harpoon ships and their prey.

Okumi's defiance was not shared by all Ayukawa's residents, some of whom said the tsunami had probably dealt a death blow to the town's already ailing whaling operations.

"I'm afraid that not so many people will stay under this kind of condition. It's hard to resume," said retired whaler Taichi Endo, 82.

And despite hopes that the central government will step in and help Ayukawa Whaling get its ships back in the ocean and back to work, local officials were also pessimistic about the future.

"Whaling represents Ayukawa. That's for sure," said Shin Okada, a local government official.

"But facing reality, I have to say the current situation is quite hard."

Greenpeace Japan said its opposition to commercial whaling, including Japan's "scientific research", remained unchanged, but insisted its primary concern was for the victims of the tsunami in Ayukawa.

"We hope all survivors, including whalers, will recover," said spokesman Junichi Sato.

Source: AFP Global Edition
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