Clipmarks | bs1999bs's clips

The Amazon continues to be wrecked!

Tue, 02 Sep 2008 07:29:42 GMT

clipped by: bs1999bs
clipper's remarks: The lungs of the World are being wrecked as society ignores the peril.

We will rue the day we chose to ignore this calamity.

Clip Source: www.iht.com

Rate of Amazon deforestation increases

RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil: The rate of Amazon deforestation increased 69 percent in the past 12 months - the first such increase in three years - as rising demand for soy and cattle pushed farmers and ranchers to fell trees, officials said Saturday.

About 8,147 square kilometers, or 3,145 square miles, of forest were destroyed between August 2007 and August 2008 - a 69 percent increase over the 4,820 square kilometers felled in the previous 12 months, according to the National Institute for Space Research, which monitors destruction of the Amazon.

Brazil's government has increased cash payments to fight illegal Amazon logging this year, and it eliminated government bank loans to farmers who illegally clear forest to plant crops.

The country lost 2.7 percent of its Amazon rain forest in 2007, or 11,000 square kilometers. Environmental officials fear even more land will be cleared this year, but they have not forecast how much.

China has the capacity to wreck the natural World

Fri, 22 Aug 2008 12:57:06 GMT

clipped by: bs1999bs
clipper's remarks: The industrial might requires huge natural resources and the Planet is straining under the onslaught - we have to reduce the drain on finite natural resources.

Clip Source: news.bbc.co.uk

China furniture destroys forests

Imports of illegally felled timber into China is destroying some of the world's forests, according to Forest Trends.

Western consumers also play a major role, the Washington based non-profit group says.

China is importing raw wood to turn it into cheap furniture, plywood and other processed products, 70% of which it exports to rich country markets.

The report says this leads to depletion of the world's forests with devastating social and environmental consequences.

In recent years, the study says, China has emerged as the leading importer of tropical trees.

The problem is that much of this wood is illegally sourced and may come from rain forests and other enviromentally sensitive areas.

The numbers are huge.

The study says exports of wood based products going from China to Europe and the US have gone up 900% in just eight years.

The findings are the result of five years of collaborative research by organsiations in the US, Indonesia and China itself.

We must address deforestation - now!

Fri, 08 Aug 2008 09:36:20 GMT

clipped by: bs1999bs
clipper's remarks: The danger signs are very evident - we pursue rainforest destruction at our peril.

Clip Source: plentymag.com

Orangutans and palm-based biofuel don't mix

Crouching low in a canoe, my sneakers and socks are quickly soaked with river water. A stocky, shirtless park ranger in blue jeans pulls the boat across the river by rope-pulley rigged between trees. When we reach the opposite shore, we climb out of the vessel and walk along the muddy riverbanks and up through the rainforest until we reach a feeding platform. There, park rangers bang loudly on a plastic bucket. They are calling the orangutans.

I have come to northern Sumatra, an island in the Indian Ocean covered with twisting dirt roads and steep green mountains, to report on the orangutans because there isn’t much time. Experts say the world’s 30,000 remaining orangutans will go extinct in 3 to 20 years. The last of the hairy apes live on the islands of Indonesia and Malaysia, where they spend most of their time in the trees, eating fruits and leaves.

“The future for the orangutans is in the hands of the humans now,” said

a park ranger

Tags: environment, conservation, nature

Environment under Onslaught

Wed, 06 Aug 2008 10:22:02 GMT

clipped by: bs1999bs
clipper's remarks: There is no question - we have to get our act together as the prospects for our future become increasingly grim.

Clip Source: news.nationalgeographic.com

Congo Gorilla Killings Fueled by Illegal Charcoal Trade

The park's dense forest is rapidly being depleted of its trees to satisfy the almost insatiable demand here for charcoal, which is used for cooking and heating by the millions of people living in this troubled region.

The lucrative charcoal trade is not only wreaking havoc on the park but also on its most famous inhabitants, the rare mountain gorillas.

Conservationists believe last month's execution of four mountain gorillas inside the park was carried out by people associated with the charcoal trade who want the park unprotected.

"The gorillas have become a hindrance for the charcoal trade," said Emmanuel de Merode, director of WildlifeDirect, a conservation group based in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Kenya that supports the park rangers working in Virunga.

"There's a very strong incentive for these people to kill the gorillas."

More than half of the world's 700 remaining mountain gorillas are found in Virunga.

Tags: environmental action, apes, nature, animals

The World Needs to See the Tragedy in Africa

Tue, 05 Aug 2008 08:23:34 GMT

clipped by: bs1999bs
clipper's remarks: Our politicians have, conveniently, played lip-service to the famine in Africa. It needs to be addressed.

Clip Source: news.bbc.co.uk

Desperation as Ethiopia's hunger grows

It is a strange and unsettling ride west from the Ethiopian town of Shashamene. The fields are vibrant green. There is water in the creeks. The soil is a deep rich burgundy.

However, the people here speak of a "green drought".

It is the time when the land is full of new shoots but there is no food. It happens because the last rains failed and few crops were planted.

In every village there were vulnerable children

You can sense the desperation when you arrive in a village.

A crowd gathers quickly. Some hold up their children. They want us to see the distended stomachs which are one sign of hunger.

You can sense the desperation when you arrive in a village.

A crowd gathers quickly. Some hold up their children. They want us to see the distended stomachs which are one sign of hunger.

here lies the challenge: what will become of so many poor, frail children in the months ahead before the next harvest in early autumn.

Tags: famine, society, hunger

Plastic in our oceans is a curse

Thu, 31 Jul 2008 22:50:19 GMT

clipped by: bs1999bs
clipper's remarks: Lasting forever in the environment, plastic is a curse when just discarded.
We have to seek better solutions - now.

Clip Source: www.inl.co.nz

10 Million TONS Of Trash Floating In Pacific

If you should see this amazing floating pile of plastic pollution in the Pacific Ocean, it's called "The Great Pacific Garbage Patch." It features three million tons of plastic debris floating in an area larger than Texas. An eye-popping 46,000 pieces of plastic float on every square mile of ocean! Humans toss another 2.5 million pieces into our oceans hourly.

" Let me repeat this: the United Nations Environmental Program report estimated 46,000 pieces of plastic debris floats on or near the surface of every square mile of ocean.

Captain Paul Watson, www.seashepard.org, composed an essay, "The Plastic Sea." He wrote a penetrating piece on humanity's desecration of our oceans. If you ever see this plastic 'monster' as I have, it will sicken you to the core of your soul. But the terror it manifests sickens you further!

" You may ask, "Where does it go?" The answer grows uglier every day: the ground, air and into our oceans!

An excellent article on China's environmental woes

Thu, 31 Jul 2008 12:48:14 GMT

clipped by: bs1999bs
clipper's remarks: I commend everyone to read this.

Clip Source: www.nytimes.com

As China Roars, Pollution Reaches Deadly Extremes

BEIJING, Aug. 25 — No country in history has emerged as a major industrial power without creating a legacy of environmental damage that can take decades and big dollops of public wealth to undo.

But just as the speed and scale of China’s rise as an economic power have no clear parallel in history, so its pollution problem has shattered all precedents. Environmental degradation is now so severe, with such stark domestic and international repercussions, that pollution poses not only a major long-term burden on the Chinese public but also an acute political challenge to the ruling Communist Party. And it is not clear that China can rein in its own economic juggernaut.

Public health is reeling. Pollution has made cancer China’s leading cause of death, the Ministry of Health says. Ambient air pollution alone is blamed for hundreds of thousands of deaths each year. Nearly 500 million people lack access to safe drinking water.

Tags: environment, china

China pays a high price for environmental indifference!

Thu, 31 Jul 2008 09:40:22 GMT

clipped by: bs1999bs
clipper's remarks: As it vandalizes much of the natural World in its bid to exploit natural resources China's years of indifference to environmental woes is coming to haunt its leaders. Bravo!
All the pomp and ceremony could well be shrouded by a real "pea soup" of pollution. It fits well in a nation which obscures its abuses of human rights, its willingness to tolerate so much fake in medicines, products, etc.
Its time for China to "come clean" in more ways than just its smog!

Clip Source: www.timesonline.co.uk

China struggles to combat thickening smog

Environmental officials in China have announced plans to put in place fresh draconian anti-pollution measures to combat the smog in time for the Olympics.

With the official opening of the athletes' village yesterday shrouded in pea-soup fog, pressure is piling on the government to bring the city's air quality problems under control before the start of the Games in just 11 days.

Although refusing to give details of the new measures, environmental authorities said today that they would try to give the public a little forward notice before activating them. Li Xin, a senior engineer at the Beijing Environmental Protection Buearu, said: "We will implement an emergency plan 48 hours in advance if the air quality deteriorates during the August 8-24 Games."

Environmental authorities insisted that the smog is really only in the eye of the beholder and that the quality of the air itself should be determined by scientific assessment.

These people need our continued support

Sun, 27 Jul 2008 12:49:10 GMT

clipped by: bs1999bs
clipper's remarks: A great cause at a time when destruction is all too obvious. Bravo!!

Clip Source: pr-canada.net

The Rainforest Site Partners with Sumatran Orangutan Society to Plant Trees and Save Orangutans

The Rainforest Site announced today a new partnership with the Sumatran Orangutan Society (SOS) to save vital orangutan habitat. Through The Rainforest Site’s Gifts That Give More™ program, visitors to the site can elect to donate $28 to SOS’s work in replacing coastal mangroves destroyed by the 2004 tsunami, replanting hardwood and fruit trees in degraded forest areas in Aceh province, and reforesting the Leuser Ecosystem in North Sumatra, the most important remaining habitat for the Sumatran orangutan.

Each $28 “Save Orangutan Habitat” Gift pays to plant 50 trees, all of which are native species in Indonesia. The preservation of this orangutan habitat is crucial for the survival of these apes. With a wild population of fewer than 7,000, the Sumatran Orangutan (Pongo abelii) is highly endangered due to habitat loss and poaching.

Great source of power

Sun, 27 Jul 2008 01:38:28 GMT

clipped by: bs1999bs
clipper's remarks: As we despair at energy sources some very basic considerations have been clearly overlooked. Mother Nature offers answers and many of these concepts cleanup our environment in the process.

Clip Source: www.sciencedaily.com

It's Electric: Cows Show Promise As Powerplants

ScienceDaily (Sep. 1, 2005) — COLUMBUS , Ohio – A new study suggests that some of the microorganisms found in cow waste may provide a reliable source of electricity.

Results showed that the microbes in about a half a liter of rumen fluid – fermented, liquefied feed extracted from the rumen, the largest chamber of a cow's stomach – produced about 600 millivolts of electricity. That's about half the voltage needed to run one rechargeable AA-sized battery, said Ann Christy, a study co-author and an associate professor of food, agricultural and biological engineering at Ohio State University.

While rumen fluid itself won't be used as an energy source, some of the microorganisms found in the fluid are also found in cow dung, which may prove to be a good source for generating electricity. In fact, in a related experiment, the researchers used cow manure directly to create energy for a fuel cell.

We are threatening our future

Wed, 23 Jul 2008 04:27:36 GMT

clipped by: bs1999bs
clipper's remarks: Mankind seems to have a death wish - this is crazy stuff!

Clip Source: www.naturalnews.com

Half the Amazon Rainforest to be Lost by 2030

(NaturalNews) Due to the effects of global warming and deforestation, more than half of the Amazon rainforest may be destroyed or severely damaged by the year 2030, according to a report released by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF).

The report, "Amazon's Vicious Cycles: Drought and Fire," concludes that 55 percent of the world's largest rainforest stands to be severely damaged from agriculture, drought, fire, logging and livestock ranching in the next 22 years. Another 4 percent may be damaged by reduced rainfall caused by global warming. This is anticipated to destroy up to 80 percent of wildlife habitat in the region.

By 2100, the report adds, global warming may cause rainfall in the Amazon to drop by 20 percent and temperatures to increase by 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit). This combination will increase the occurrence of forest fires, further accelerating the pace of deforestation.

"The Amazon is on a knife-edge,"

Japan plans more whaling kills

Tue, 01 Jul 2008 02:21:29 GMT

clipped by: bs1999bs
clipper's remarks: Japan is a disgrace and the insipid posturing of World delegates was such that Japan achieved an ability to carry on whaling. We are being led by whimps!

Clip Source: www.chinapost.com.tw

Whales lose, Japan wins

Whales emerged the big losers as a weeklong International Whaling Commission meeting wrapped up in Chile on Friday, conservation groups said after anti-whaling nations failed to halt No. 1 hunter Japan.

Anti-whale hunting nations led by Australia have voiced deep concern at Japan's skirting a nonbinding 1986 moratorium on commercial whaling by killing hundreds of whales each year in the name of scientific research.

Japan says it is unhappy with the moratorium and wants to resume commercial whaling, though detractors say it is already doing so in all but nam

Japan goes home without any votes or resolutions against it. Iceland started a new round of commercial whaling just prior to this conference. So they are not taking it very seriously. Nothing has been achieved for the whales."

Japan gives itself a special permit to catch 1,000 whales each year despite the moratorium, while Norway and Iceland continue to hunt whales in defiance of the ban.

The whales are being attacked from all directions!

Tue, 01 Jul 2008 02:16:12 GMT

clipped by: bs1999bs
clipper's remarks: This is sobering reading and it shows clearly our natural World is being systematically destroyed.

In the longer run mankind will destroy himself.

Clip Source: www.sciencedaily.com

Whales Set To Chase Shrinking Feed Zones

Endangered migratory whales will be faced with shrinking crucial Antarctic foraging zones which will contain less food and will be further away, a new analysis of the impacts of climate change on Southern Ocean whales has found.

A new report* summarises WWF research showing that levels of global warming predicted over the next 40 years will lead to winter sea-ice coverage of the Southern Ocean declining by up to 30 per cent in some key areas.

As frontal zones move southward, they also move closer together, reducing the overall area of foraging habitat available,” the research notes. As the krill is dependent on sea ice, less sea ice is also expected to reduce the abundance of food for whales in the feeding areas.

WWF is recommending the protection of critical habitats and for also limiting other non-climate stresses to whale populations such as fishing, pollution and ocean noise.

Japan is finally feeling the heat on whaling

Sun, 29 Jun 2008 07:44:21 GMT

clipped by: bs1999bs
clipper's remarks: Notwithstanding that a hopelessly astray Kiwi (Glenn Inwood quoted here) sees fit to go against the views of most of his fellow Kiwis, Japan is becoming increasingly pressured to stop whaling. Their days of working scams and shams to continue whaling are coming to an end.
As a fellow Kiwi I hope the Japanese offer Glenn Inwood sufficient inducement to leave New Zealand. He doesn't represent the views of most Kiwis - in fact he shames us!

Clip Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

Whaling group faces crisis as Japan threatens to walk out

Japan has threatened to pull out of the international body set up to protect whale stocks because of its failure to offer any concessions on the vexed issue of commercial hunting.

The ultimatum from Tokyo came after the annual meeting of the 77-nation International Whaling Commission in Chile, where Japan has fought to overturn the moratorium on commercial hunting ever since it was passed by a majority vote in 1986.

Japan insists that controlled commercial whaling can be reintroduced as long as it does not endanger stock levels, but has been consistently outvoted.

This year's meeting took place amid growing international anger at Japan's practice of circumventing the moratorium by catching up to 1,000 whales a year under so-called "scientific quotas"

Partly as a result of attempting to take the heat of the discussions, however, this year's meeting has achieved little substantive progress on the hunting issue.

Jatropha is an exciting development

Sun, 29 Jun 2008 02:35:47 GMT

clipped by: bs1999bs
clipper's remarks: This plant offers HUGE potential as does algae.

Watch that 'big oil" doesn't impede the development!

Clip Source: www.stuff.co.nz

Air NZ sees biofuel on horizon

A kilogram of weight costs about $500 a year in fuel to carry,

The catering on Air NZ's Boeing 747-400 for a long-haul flight weighs in at five tonnes, hence the plastic cups in economy. Less weight equals less fuel burn and lower carbon emissions.

Air NZ is striving to become the world's most environmentally sustainable airline by operating a new fleet of aircraft, flying on a blend of biofuel and modifying some of its jets to improve fuel efficiency.

A step change is expected by 2013, when at least 10% of the airline's total fuel requirements will come from biofuel, reducing its carbon footprint by another 400,000 tonnes a year. In the meantime most of the big jets in the fleet will be fitted with aerodynamic enhancements to make them more fuel efficient

Jatropha is considered the best option to provide commercial volumes of fuel because of its high oil content and its ability to grow readily on non-arable land, where it does not compete with food crops.