Clipmarks | zizzy's 'environment' clips

Peru establishes environment ministry

Thu, 15 May 2008 00:01:44 GMT

clipped by: zizzy

Peru has created its first environment ministry, on the eve of a joint Latin American and European Union summit expected to focus on climate change.

Peruvian President Alan Garcia said the new ministry would help protect the nation's Amazon rainforest

A scientific study has said that Peru - which is hosting this week's summit - is one of the three nations that will be most affected by global warming

Peru's Andes mountains are the home of more than half the world's tropical glaciers, but it is estimated that in 25 years time they will be gone

The glaciers supply rivers which provide water for farms and people on the arid Pacific coast, where almost three-quarters of Peru's population live

On the other side of the Andes lies the biggest stretch of the Amazon rainforest after Brazil's, an area

with the creation of the environment ministry - will be preserved for its important role in combating climate change

urged world leaders to create a global reforestation fund financed by a fossil fuels tax

The Boss Endorses Obama!

Wed, 16 Apr 2008 22:41:38 GMT

clipped by: zizzy

Clip Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

'The Boss' wrote in a message to fans that the Illinois Senator's comments that some small town Americans were "bitter" and therefore clung to religion and guns, had been taken out of context.

"Like most of you, I've been following the campaign and I have now seen and heard enough to know where I stand. Senator Obama

is head and shoulders above the rest

"He speaks to the America I've envisioned in my music for the past 35 years, a generous nation with a citizenry willing to tackle nuanced and complex problems.

"At the moment, critics have tried to diminish Senator Obama through the exaggeration of certain of his comments and relationships.

"While these matters are worthy of some discussion, they have been ripped out of the context and fabric of the man's life and vision... often in order to distract us from discussing the real issues: war and peace, the fight for economic and racial justice, reaffirming our constitution, and the protection and enhancement of our environment."

Sound Art Concert in Second Life

Thu, 27 Dec 2007 15:12:14 GMT

clipped by: zizzy
clipper's remarks:

That concept is anathema to the listening rules of classical music, where the music is understood as the sum of its movements. The audience at a traditional concert has a static relationship to sound. They quietly sit for a discrete amount of time, immersed in a bath of sound waves, as physically passive receivers of music.

Sound art is not quite so static, and this is why the Philharmonic’s performance was more installation than classical performance. During the Second Life concert, avatars listened while removing their clothing, gyrating in the aisles, conversing with other concert-goers, or reading newspapers. As in all installation art, part of the point for the Second Life show was that the audience and its antics were an integral part of the performance, changing the way that the music was heard and experienced.

Clip Source: www.moreintelligentlife.com

When the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic gave a concert in Second Life last week, critical reaction was so-so

But the event was a brilliant publicity stunt—and, looked at the right way, an artistic milestone. Classical music was making its formal debut as sound art.

Sound art is a fairly ambiguous term, describing a wide swath of compositions generally heard in art galleries or online

He or she merely needs to be able to collect sound—from other composers or from the surrounding environment—and fiddle with machinery to create a new aural composition

many modern forms of music, like rap, also don’t require a knowledge of music theory. The primary distinction between sound art and traditional music is not how the music is composed but how an audience listens

Sound art is most often heard in vast installation spaces (including the Internet), where the listener controls the experience by moving through a physical environment that reflects, enhances, or distracts from the auditory input

How you can stop junk mail and save trees

Wed, 07 Nov 2007 13:19:42 GMT

clipped by: zizzy

Clip Source: consciousspending.blogspot.com

#1. We have rights - we can stop junk mail. We just have to contact all the companies that send us junk mail and ask them to stop, or better yet, get companies like 41pounds to help you with the contacting (they make it really easy!)

#2. If you move, ask for a mail forwarding form NOT a change of address, as the post office sells your new address information

#3. Supermarket club cards are an instant way to poof out that mailbox, they track our habits not to give us great savings (ok, maybe that's some of it) but they use it to market and cram our mailboxe full of landfill crap. No club cards anymore conscious spenders!

#4. When you donate, you have to request that they do not sell, share or rent your information as they most likely will.

Help save the planet, be mindful when you spend and know that as a conscious customer you have choices and there are great services to help stop junk mail

Tags: environment, trees

Food Waste in the United States

Sun, 04 Nov 2007 14:42:14 GMT

clipped by: zizzy

Clip Source: www.commondreams.org

Official surveys indicate that every year more than 350 billion pounds (160 billion kg) of edible food is available for human consumption in the United States. Of that total, nearly 100 billion pounds (45 billion kg) -- including fresh vegetables, fruits, milk, and grain products -- are lost to waste by retailers, restaurants, and consumers.

By contrast, the amount of food required to meet the needs of the hungry is only four billion pounds, according to Food Not Bombs, an advocacy group, which estimates that every year more than 30 million people in the United States are going hungry on regular basis.

Tags: hunger, waste, environment

The lost art of leftovers

Sun, 04 Nov 2007 14:39:15 GMT

clipped by: zizzy

Clip Source: news.bbc.co.uk

We throw away 6.7 million tonnes of food a year

We waste too much food and should return to the way we lived during the war, says a new campaign. It would save us money and help save the planet

The WI's Sorella Hampton using up leftovers

Nowadays planning a week's meals down to the last carrot or saving a few pounds by chopping, mixing and cooking leftovers into a new dinner would seem like too much hard work to a lot of people.

But it's these lost skills that are to blame for much of the 6.7 million tonnes of food we throw away each year. A third of all the food we buy is now thrown into the bin and half of it is still perfectly edible

This wanton wastage is not only costing us money - up to £400 a year - but is hurting the environment: the methane released by decomposing food in landfills is the most potent of greenhouse gases. Cutting it out would be the same as taking one fifth of cars off the road

MOST DUMPED FOODS

Bags of salad

Fruit

Bread

Pasta

Cheese

Source: Wrap

Tags: environment, food waste

California Wildfire Event Timeline

Mon, 29 Oct 2007 08:33:48 GMT

clipped by: zizzy
clipper's remarks: Timline from October 20 - 27.

Clip Source: www.mercurynews.com

A week of wildfires in Southern California:

Tags: environment

More Good News About the Environment

Wed, 24 Oct 2007 21:34:42 GMT

clipped by: zizzy

Clip Source: www.goodnewsnetwork.org

Chesapeake Bay's Grasses are Renewing

Grasses in the Chesapeake Bay are rebounding, covering double the acreage they did in 1984. In 2005, grasses, a key component of the bay's health, inhabited 78,260 acres, 7 percent more coverage than in 2004. Efforts to control Nitrogen must be redoubled to reach scientists' goals of 185,000 acres in 2010

China Cleans up River

China will invest around 1.2 billion USD over the next five years to curb the pollution of the Songhua River, funding more than 200 projects, half of which will address industrial pollution, 70 will focus on sewage processing.

Connecticut to use Only Safe Cleaning Products

All state agencies in Connecticut will now use only environmentally safe cleaning products in their facilities. Green products maintain sanitary conditions while minimizing harmful side effects and improving indoor air quality.

Tags: environment, good news

Good News About the Environment

Wed, 24 Oct 2007 21:32:24 GMT

clipped by: zizzy

Clip Source: www.goodnewsnetwork.org

Amazon Deforestation Reduced Dramatically

Deforestation rates in the Brazilian Amazon have dropped by 25 percent each of the past three years, according to Brazil’s environment ministry. From July 31, 2004, through 2007, an average of 4,000 more square kilometers of forest each year have been spared from clear-cutting over the previous period (1,544 sq. miles). — WWF

Brazil Fueling 1 Million Cars on Sugarcane

Latin America’s largest country, Brazil, is the world’s biggest producer of bio-ethanol and 1 million Brazilian cars already run on the fuel made from sugarcane. The cars, introduced three years ago, can use either gasoline or bioethanol.

Chemical Pollution Decreases

The EPA reported that chemical pollution released into the environment fell more than 4 percent from 2003 to 2004, due mostly to the metal mining, electric utility and hazardous waste industries.

Tags: environment, good news

Obesity 'not individuals' fault

Wed, 17 Oct 2007 02:08:22 GMT

clipped by: zizzy

Clip Source: news.bbc.co.uk

It is said we live in an 'obesogenic' environment

Individuals can no longer be held responsible for obesity so government must act to stop Britain "sleepwalking" into a crisis, a report has concluded.

The largest ever UK study into obesity, backed by government and compiled by 250 experts, said excess weight was now the norm in our "obesogenic" society.

Obesity, the authors concluded, was an inevitable consequence of a society in which energy-dense, cheap foods, labour-saving devices, motorised transport and sedentary work were rife.

In this environment it was surprising that anyone was able to remain thin, Dr Susan Jebb of the Medical Research Council said, and so the notion of obesity simply being a product of personal over-indulgence had to be abandoned for good.

"The stress has been on the individual choosing a healthier lifestyle, but that simply isn't enough," she said.

A mandate for change will be difficult because it has to be preceded by an understanding of the dangers of obesity

Tags: health, obesity, fast-food nation, sedentary, society

In the U.S., It's Really Good to be the Boss

Sat, 01 Sep 2007 19:18:00 GMT

clipped by: zizzy

Clip Source: ipsnews.net

Credit:National Governors Association

James Simons, founder of Renaissance Technologies, a private investment firm, earned 1.5 billion dollars in 2006.

WASHINGTON, Aug 29 (IPS) - The pay gap between workers and employers in the U.S. remains enormous, with the typical chief executive officer (CEO) of a top firm earning more in a single workday than the average U.S. worker takes home in an entire year, according to a new study on executive compensation released Wednesday.

But being the CEO of a large company is not the most lucrative job in United States, the study found. That honour went to the managers of the country's top hedge funds, which are exclusive investment groups that operate in a largely unregulated environment.

This year's 364-to-1 CEO-to-worker pay gap remains a massive increase from previous decades: in 1990, the rate was 107-to-1, and in 1980, it was only 40-1, according to the study.

Tags: wage gap, united states, ceo, workers, hedge funds, poverty, wealth

Depleted Uranium to Blame for Iraq's Cancer Problem?ir

Tue, 28 Aug 2007 11:34:08 GMT

clipped by: zizzy

Clip Source: www.truthdig.com

Posted on Aug 27, 2007

Is it just a coincidence that an unusually large number of American troops and Iraqi civilians are suffering from what appears to be a cancer epidemic? Iraq’s environment minister and a growing number of victims, scientists and even politicians say the widespread use of depleted uranium in U.S. munitions is to blame.

Arizona Daily Star:

The prime suspect in all this, in the minds of many victims—and some scientists—is what’s known as depleted uranium—the radioactive chemical prized by the military for its ability to penetrate armored vehicles. When munitions explode, the substance hits the air as fine dust, easily inhaled.

the Pentagon and U.S. State Department strongly deny this, citing four studies, including one by the World Health Organization, that found levels in war zones not harmful to civilians or soldiers

A U.N. Environmental Program study concurs, but only if spent munitions are cleared away

Returning solders have said that isn’t happening.

Tags: iraq, chemicals, cancer, depleted uranium, munitions, war, weapons, environment

NASA Shelves Climate Satellites

Sat, 28 Jul 2007 02:46:16 GMT

clipped by: zizzy

Clip Source: www.boston.com

Environmental science may suffer

By Beth Daley, Globe Staff

NASA is canceling or delaying a number of satellites designed to give scientists critical information on the earth's changing climate and environment.

The space agency has shelved a $200 million satellite mission headed by a Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor that was designed to measure soil moisture -- a key factor in helping scientists understand the impact of global warming and predict droughts and floods

Despite NASA's best-known role as a space agency, one of its key missions is to study the earth. Scientists collect data through ground- and space-based observatories using instruments that can sense heat and through which they can see with exquisite detail from many miles up. In recent years, these missions have increased in importance and visibility as global temperatures rise and scientists rush to better understand the phenomenon and the role of humans in it.

Tags: nasa, global warming, climate change, bush administration, satellites

Adults Have Misclassified Me As A Handful

Thu, 26 Jul 2007 01:24:26 GMT

clipped by: zizzy

Clip Source: www.theonion.com

Clearly, a mistake has been made. For whatever reason, I have been singled out and wrongly characterized by the adult world as a "real handful." In fact, nothing could be further from the truth.

Admittedly, my attention span is short, and at times I am easily distracted by colorful and/or animal-shaped stimuli in my immediate environment. But I cannot stress enough the importance of early-childhood self-image formation. (I believe Thomas the Tank Engine has explored this subject in some detail—I'd cite the specific episode but unfortunately I don't have it in front of me at the moment.)

It is the "terrible twos" all over again. A whole year boiled down to being "terrible," despite many notable achievements during those 12 months. I made huge strides in shape recognition and speech acquisition. Plus, need I remind you, I learned to walk while carrying a stuffed animal in my hands.

Tags: humor

Haiti: A Land Crumbiling Beneath Their Feet

Tue, 24 Jul 2007 07:59:20 GMT

clipped by: zizzy

Clip Source: www.ipsnews.net

By Carmen Gentile

PORT SALUT, Jul 17 (IPS) - Dardy Saint-Jean gazes at the rock-strewn river coursing through his village and shakes his head in disgust.

Credit:Carmen Gentile

Rivers like this one in southern Haiti are clogged with silt and stones due to deforestation in the surrounding hills.

"Look at this river -- it's filled with stones from the mountains," said Saint-Jean, referring to decades of erosion caused by the deforestation that has stripped Haiti of much of its green cover.

The destruction is blamed on necessities of daily life here in this poor Caribbean nation, where the majority of the populace subsists on less than one dollar a day and public utilities are unreliable and far from universal.

With few sources of fuel for cooking and bathing, most people burn charcoal made from trees. More than 70 percent of the energy usage in Haiti is derived from wood and other biomass.

Tags: haiti, deforestation, environment