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THE TIME IS NOW FOR GLOBAL ACTION ON EMISSIONS REDUCTION
CRISIS POLICY FORUM PUBLISHED THIS MONTH AN INTRODUCTORY TEXT FOR AN ACTION PLAN TO CURB GLOBAL EMISSIONS & TRANSFER TO GREEN ECONOMY
28 November 2007

Due to the science we already have, the laws we have to govern our own activity and to force government to act for the public health, we face the real possibility of being forced, in American courts, in the future, to pay for damage done to the most affected populations in other parts of the world, as a result of inaction by our government. The public voice, and those campaigning for the level of public respect needed for election to office, should bring this issue to the fore, push for real initiatives to tackle the problem boldly, in a collaborative way, now. [Keep Reading]

THE COST OF GOING GREEN MAY ACTUALLY BE NEW BOOM ECONOMY
THROUGH EXISTING ECONOMIC STRUCTURES & TECHNOLOGICAL SYSTEMS, WE CAN FUND THE ECOTECH REVOLUTION
11 November 2007

Ecological advancement and retro-fitting will be the new boom economy. Let's make sure we do everything possible to fund not only research, but implementation. What will it cost to produce an environmentally-oriented overhaul of the US economy, by way of the private sector, with government incentives, and to the ever-growing benefit of private sector interests? [Full Story]

PREVENTIVE MEASURES TO CURB DAMAGE FROM CLIMATE CHANGE: HOW CLOSE ARE THEY?
15 October 2007

Can the world prepare to face the potential economic fallout from increasingly intense weather phenomena, prolonged heat waves, desertification, ice-melt and flooding? While there is no clear proof Hurricane Katrina was a direct result of climate change, hurricanes of such intensity will become increasingly frequent as Gulf waters warm; the aftermath provides real instruction for just how fragile the social fabric can be in the face of natural disaster. [Full Story]

NOBEL PEACE PRIZE AWARDED FOR WORK TO RAISE AWARENESS ABOUT GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE
FMR US VP AL GORE SHARES AWARD WITH THE UN'S IPCC, FOR GLOBAL CAMPAIGN TO EDUCATE PUBLIC
14 October 2007

Climate change is no longer controversial; it has been accepted as scientific fact by a global consensus of researchers and policy makers, including the Bush White House, which resisted acknowledging human activities were a vital contributing factor, until recently. Now the Nobel committee selecting the Peace Prize laureate has raised the issue of warming posing a major international security crisis. [Full Story]

CHINESE CITY EXAMPLE OF CRISIS IN FRESH WATER FOR FUTURE DEVELOPMENT
SHIJIAZHUANG, CITY OF 2 MILLION, FAST RUNNING OUT OF WATER, HAS LITTLE PLANNING TO FACE IMMINENT CHRONIC DROUGHT
28 September 2007

Shijiazhuang, a city of 2 million on the North China Plain saw 11% growth last year, is undergoing a population and construction boom, and is inviting new residents with money to spend to inhabit water-intensive luxury housing, even as irreplaceable aquifers are drying up, and water tables are dropping at alarming speed. Fossil aquifers upon which the region is already over-dependent may be dry by 2037. [Full Story]

BARCELONA PLACES 8TH WORST FOR AIR QUALITY IN STUDY OF 26 CITIES
FROM CRISIS POLICY FORUM, A PROJECT OF CASAVARIA'S THINK INITIATIVE
19 September 2007

Barcelona, a city often thought to be a bastion of liberal thought and green politics (the Green party is part of the regional coalition government), is listed one of the worst cities for air quality in Europe, according to La Vanguardia newspaper and CREAL, a Barcelona-based research institute. The city and the region are dealing with a sometimes unmanageable influx of new inhabitants and tourist activity, which have produced soaring demand for transportation, air travel, electricity and new construction. [Full Story]

AT WAR: FACING GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE AS SECURITY THREAT
26 August 2007 :: Lainey Johr

New efforts are being encouraged to recategorize climate change, shifting public focus away from science and shedding light on its vital importance by comparing global warming to a global security threat. According to British climate change ambassador John Ashton, there is a need to approach global warming from a war stance. We are in a war, and our soldiers —people, plants, animals, the very Earth itself— are down for the count. [Full Story]

GREECE SAVAGED BY BRUSH-FIRES, AT LEAST 51 PEOPLE KILLED
ANCIENT SITE OF OLYMPIA, MONUMENTS THREATENED NEAR ATHENS, AS EU FIRE-FIGHTERS ARRIVE TO ASSIST
26 August 2007

Fires across Greece have taken at least 51 lives over three days, and the government has declared a state of emergency in all parts of the country. Media, ministries, and scientists are attempting to understand how so many forest- and brush-fires could appear in so many places so quickly. The southern Peloponnese peninsula has been called the "epicenter" of the catastrophe, with fires now threatening major ancient monuments and the capital, Athens. [Full Story]

WATER RESOURCE STRESS: GLOBAL ECONOMIC-ECOLOGICAL FACTOR FOR THE 21ST CENTURY
MORE THAN 1 BILLION PEOPLE ALREADY FACE FRESH WATER SCARCITY, FIGURE EXPECTED TO DOUBLE IN 20 YEARS' TIME
14 August 2007

Water is one of the "fundamental building-blocks of life", as is often said in science, in biology classrooms, in medicine, theology, environmental policy debates, and in cosmology and space exploration. It is also a commodity whose economic reality is increasingly defined by chronic scarcity and often intensely uneven distribution. [Full Story]

GEOTHERMAL ENERGY CREATES HOPE FOR GLOBAL ENERGY SOLUTION
STEAM-DRIVEN PROCESS USING DEEP UNDERGROUND VENTS TO SUPER-HEAT WATER COULD BE 'NEARLY INEXHAUSTIBLE' RESOURCE
10 August 2007 :: Lainey Johr

The race to tap large quantities of underground, geothermal energy is heating up. In a recent bid to solve their country's demand for clean energy, the Swiss are digging deep, and the Earth is responding. A scientist at MIT, in the US, says 40% of US geothermal sources could power the entire country's energy needs in excess of 56,000 times. [Full Story]

TEXAS BUILDING WIND FARM INFRASTRUCTURE WITH 7,000 MEGAWATTS' CAPACITY
OIL-RICH STATE USES FORWARD-THINKING INITIATIVE TO POSITION ITSELF AS WIND-ENERGY HEAVYWEIGHT
7 August 2007 :: Lainey Johr

"A typical coal-fired power-plant is 300 megawatts", reminds the ecological researcher and author, Lester Brown. In Texas, in a demonstration of what he calls "quantum-jump thinking of what the future might look like", thy're building a wind-harvesting industry that will produce 7,000 megawatts of electricity. This is a huge advance for the economical commitment to renewable resources. [Full Story]

PINK SOLAR CELLS CAN PRODUCE POWER AT 25% OF CURRENT COST
DYE-SENSITIVE SOLAR CELLS, DEVELOPED AT OHIO STATE UNIV., COULD BE FUTURE OF GREEN POWER
3 August 2007

As environmental groups, lobbyists and the general public push for more environmentally friendly industrial practices, scientists are finding innovative ways to bring down costs and increase the efficiency of renewable resources. The dye-sensitive solar cells (DSSC), with a pinkish sheen, now being developed at Ohio State University, are an example of the type of engineering innovation that could bring about a genuine green-power revolution. [Full Story]

MONSOONS HAVE CAUSED CATASTROPHIC FLOODS IN BANGLADESH, NEPAL, EASTERN INDIA
31 July 2007

Bangladesh is one of the world's most low-lying countries, with nearly half its area below sea level. At the end of the Himalayan watershed, it is prone to floods of sometimes incomprehensible proportions. This year's monsoons have taken at least 75 lives in one week, with 29 killed across eastern India and Bangladesh on Monday alone. [Full Story]

NEW STRAIN OF STEM RUST THREATENS WHEAT CROP ACROSS AFRICA, SOUTHERN ASIA
UG99 COULD TRAVEL TO ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD IN JUST A FEW YEARS, PUT AT RISK SUSTAINABILITY OF ENTIRE GLOBAL WHEAT HARVEST
6 June 2007

A new strain of wheat-eating stem rust has emerged as a threat to the global food supply. Ug99, named for the place and date of its discovery, Uganda, 1999, takes advantage of weaknesses in wheat varieties which were specifically developed to be resistant to stem rust, and which have been so for nearly 4 decades. [Full Story]

BUSH ANNOUNCES PLAN TO REGULATE GASOLINE CONSUMPTION IN VEHICLES
REGULATIONS WOULD NOT TAKE EFFECT UNTIL LATE 2008, BUT SIGNAL MAJOR SHIFT IN ADMINISTRATION CLIMATE ACTION
15 May 2007

In response to a Supreme Court ruling 6 weeks ago that found carbon dioxide to be a pollutant eligible for regulation, Pres. Bush has announced he will order the EPA to regulated gasoline consumption for vehicles by the end of 2008. Bush said in the White House rose garden that the American people "expect action" on greenhouse gas emissions. Critics say the long delay in enacting the new regulations is designed to forestall the implementation of new standards in some states. [Full Story]

NEW IPCC REPORT PLOTS WAY TO REVERSE CLIMATE CHANGE
UN BODY SAYS MAJOR EFFORT TO MOVE ENERGY USE TO NON-GREENHOUSE-PRODUCING FUELS CAN REDUCE MAJOR EFFECTS OF GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE
30 April 2007

Two major reports from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) earlier this year made front-page headlines across the world, warning of dire consequences of global climate change. Now, the new report, due to be released this week, plots a course to combat and reverse the climate phenomenon. [Full Story]

DANUBE ADDED TO LIST OF MAJOR RIVERS IN DANGER OF DISAPPEARING
INCREASING NUMBER OF RIVERS, INCLUDING SOME OF CIVILIZATION'S MAJOR WATERWAYS, AT RISK OF 'EXTINCTION'
21 March 2007

How can a major river disappear? It is all too easy to thing this will never happen, that nature is in balance and will always find a way. But the reality is that nature replaced no-longer viable realities with others that can stand up to circumstance, and circumstance is stressing some major rivers beyond their capacity. The Danube is the latest to be added to a list of endangered rivers. [Full Story]

BUSH COURTS LATIN AMERICA FOR ALLIES IN BIOFUEL PRODUCTION
US PRES. PROPOSES FORMING COLLECTIVE BARGAINING CARTEL WITH BRAZIL FOR CROP-BASED FUELS
20 March 2007
:: Lainey Johr

The war in Iraq is not winning US President George Bush any popularity points internationally these days, but a focus on the war against poverty and environmentally progressive energy production certainly might; or that is the bet the Bush administration is wagering as the president visits South America this week to discuss biofuel. [Full Story]

DISTILLERY DEMAND FOR GRAIN TO FUEL CARS VASTLY UNDERSTATED
WORLD MAY BE FACING HIGHEST GRAIN PRICES IN HISTORY
19 March 2007 :: Lester R. Brown

Investment in fuel ethanol distilleries has soared since the late-2005 oil price hikes, but data collection in this fast-changing sector has fallen behind. Because of inadequate data collection on the number of new plants under construction, the quantity of grain that will be needed for fuel ethanol distilleries has been vastly understated. Farmers, feeders, food processors, ethanol investors, and grain-importing countries are basing decisions on incomplete data. [Full Story]

GEOTHERMAL: WEST DIGS DEEP FOR THE NEXT BIG THING IN POWER
HARNESSING GEOTHERMAL ENERGY COULD PROVIDE SUBSTANTIAL SUSTAINABLE FUEL SOURCE FOR GREEN ECONOMY
19 February 2007 :: Lainey Johr

Geothermal energy is increasingly being touted by scientists and researchers as one of the most efficient and environmentally friendly sources of power available.  Currently, geothermal sources supply enough energy, 2,800 megawatts, to run 2.8 million American homes. [Full Story]

BRAZIL MAP OUTLINES DEVELOPMENTAL SPRAWL INTO AMAZON
18 February 2007 :: Lainey Johr

For the first time, Brazil’s national statistics office (IBGE) released maps detailing the country’s geographical, social and political conditions, which include the human agricultural encroachment into the Amazon region. This could mean the beginning of a real recognition by the state of the toll its development projects are takin the integrity of the region's ecology. [Full Story]

A RISING TIDE OF RECOGNITION THAT CLIMATE CHANGE IS HUMAN-INDUCED
IPCC REPORT SHOWS GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE A REAL & GATHERING PERIL
8 February 2007 :: Lainey Johr

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change declared last week that global warming and climate change is linked directly to human activities. The UN-based group, made up of 2500 of the world’s foremost scientists working on climate change convened again for the first time since 2001 to discuss the issue with more urgency to the global community. [Full Story]

CHINA SEEKS TO CURB ENVIRONMENTALLY HARMFUL ACTIVITIES IN ADVANCE OF 2008 OLYMPICS
1 February 2007 :: Lainey Johr

China’s hosting of the 2008 Olympic Games means even greater changes to the country’s already expansive environmental agenda.  In a bold move to establish itself as not only an economic powerhouse, the Chinese government is trying to make environmental protection a public affair and change its international reputation as a heavy polluter. [Full Story]

TUNA CATCH DOWN 80 PERCENT SINCE 1990 IN PARTS OF MEDITERRANEAN
ROME CONFERENCE EXAMINES OVERFISHING, IF TUNA BOATS CAN STAY AFLOAT?
27 January 2007 :: Lainey Johr

In Rome on Tuesday, 24 countries met to protect the Mediterranean Sea from the imminent dangers of over-fishing.  Meeting at the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization they announced new cooperative efforts aimed at correcting years of failed policies leading to the dwindling fish populations in some of the region’s most pivotal fishing waters. [Full Story]

STORM DUMPS CARGO OVERBOARD AS SHIP BREAKS UP AT SEA
AT LEAST 158 OF 2,323 CONTAINERS COULD SPILL HARMFUL POLLUTANTS
24 January 2007 :: Lainey Johr

The 62,000 ton cargo ship MSC Napoli broke apart off the coast of Devon, England, during last Thursday’s storm system over the UK.  A World Heritage Site, the coastline is home to a variety of plant and animal species, and some of the ship’s toxic cargo containers have already spilled into the sea. [Full Story]

NUCLEAR SCIENTISTS HAVE MOVED DOOMSDAY CLOCK FORWARD, WARNING OF 'NEW NUCLEAR AGE'
SCIENTIFIC REFERENCE FOR STABILITY OF CIVILIZATION NOW INCLUDES GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE AS MAJOR, GROWING THREAT
18 January 2007

The Bulletin of Atomic Scientists has moved the minute hand on the figurative 'Doomsday Clock' forward 2 minutes, from 7 minutes to Midnight to 5 minutes to midnight. The figurative clock measures the possibility of major threats to civilization bringing about the end of continuity in human society, and was initiated due to the threat from nuclear weapons. [Full Story]

CRUMBLING CANADIAN ICE SHELF SIGNALS ARCTIC CLIMATE IN DISTRESS
HIGH SUMMER TEMPERATURES REPORTEDLY CONTRIBUTED TO REDUCTION IN ICE MASS, WEAKENING OF ANCIENT FORMATION
17 January 2007 :: Lainey Johr

Less than 500 miles from Canada’s north pole, ice shelves continue to show increasing signs of distress.  A 41 square mile ice shelf, the largest to fracture in almost 30 years, broke free without notice last summer from the coast of Ellesmere Island. [Full Story]

FEDERAL JUDGE STRIKES DOWN BUSH POLICY LOOSENING CONTROLS ON PESTICIDE USE
28 August 2006

U.S. District Judge John C. Coughenour has struck down a Bush administration policy loosening regulation of toxic pesticides. He found the rule change "striking in its total lack of any evidence of technical or scientific support for the policy positions ultimately adopted" and further chastised the government for failing to properly apply the Endangered Species Act. [Full Story]

INVESTIGATIONS INTO BP'S OPERATIONS IN ALASKA WIDEN
PIPELINE DECAY MAY INDICATE LONG-RUNNING PRACTICES FALLING BELOW REGULATORY REQUIREMENTS
10 August 2006

Global petroleum giant BP has been forced to shut down the entire supply from its Prudhoe Bay pipeline, due to corrosion that has caused several spills and threatens an environmental catastrophe. Now, US investigators are demanding sections of the pipeline be dismantled and sent as evidence to a criminal inquiry. [Full Story]

WORLD’S WATER RESOURCES FACE MOUNTING PRESSURE
26 July 2006 :: Elizabeth Mygatt

Global freshwater use tripled during the second half of the twentieth century as population more than doubled and as technological advances let farmers and other water users pump groundwater from greater depths and harness river water with more and larger dams. As global demand soars, pressures on the world’s water resources are straining aquatic systems worldwide. Rivers are running dry, lakes are disappearing, and water tables are dropping. [Full Story]

'AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH' BRINGS SCIENCE TO THE FORE IN ENVIRONMENTAL POLITICS
CENTERING ON DECADES OF ADVANCEMENT IN SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH, DOCUMENTARY HAS REACHED MASS AUDIENCE BY PUTTING POLITICS ASIDE
25 July 2006

For a long time, conventional wisdom dictated that environmental issues were political in nature, and a matter of preference or opinion. The landmark documentary 'An Inconvenient Truth' demonstrates conscientiously that the issue is beyond politics. The film takes pains to show that while priorities —and opinions about them— are at issue, not making ecological sustainability a top priority is not only foolish, but morally unjustifiable. [Full Story]

SUPERMARKETS & SERVICE STATIONS NOW COMPETING FOR GRAIN
24 July 2006 :: Lester R. Brown

Cars, not people, will claim most of the increase in world grain consumption this year. The U.S. Department of Agriculture projects that world grain use will grow by 20 million tons in 2006. Of this, 14 million tons will be used to produce fuel for cars in the United States, leaving only 6 million tons to satisfy the world’s growing food needs. [Full Story]

WORKING OUT THE KINKS IN RENEWABLE ENERGY'S GREATEST PROMISE: WIND POWER
CONSERVATIONISTS COMPLAIN WIND TURBINES CAN HARM THE ENVIRONMENT, BUT THERE ARE SOLUTIONS TO PREVENT IT
11 July 2006

Opponents of wind-harvested power generation —usually lobbying for subsidies or public support for fossil fuels purveyors, but also including conservationists— like to crow that giant turbines kill birds, destroy pristine habitat and even "emit" carbon dioxide indirectly. The gist: that an "environmentally friendly" power source is in point of fact not so environmentally friendly. [Full Story]

GLOBAL WIND POWER EXPANDS IN 2006
28 June 2006 :: Joseph Florence

Global wind electricity-generating capacity increased by 24 percent in 2005 to 59,100 megawatts. This represents a twelvefold increase from a decade ago, when world wind-generating capacity stood at less than 5,000 megawatts. Wind is the world’s fastest-growing energy source with an average annual growth rate of 29 percent over the last ten years. In contrast, over the same time period, coal use has grown by 2.5 percent per year, nuclear power by 1.8 percent, natural gas by 2.5 percent, and oil by 1.7 percent. [Full Story]

WORLD GRAIN STOCKS FALL TO 57 DAYS OF CONSUMPTION
GRAIN PRICES STARTING TO RISE
15 June 2006 :: Lester R. Brown

This year’s world grain harvest is projected to fall short of consumption by 61 million tons, marking the sixth time in the last seven years that production has failed to satisfy demand. As a result of these shortfalls, world carryover stocks at the end of this crop year are projected to drop to 57 days of consumption, the shortest buffer since the 56-day-low in 1972 that triggered a doubling of grain prices. [Full Story]

SHIFTING PROTEIN SOURCES
FROM 'OUTGROWING THE EARTH', CH. 3, "MOVING UP THE FOOD CHAIN EFFICIENTLY"
13 June 2006 :: Lester R. Brown

The composition of world meat production has changed dramatically over the last half-century or so. From 1950 until 1978, beef and pork vied for the lead. Then the world meat consumption pattern began to change as economic reforms adopted in China in 1978 led to a dramatic climb in pork production, pushing it far ahead of beef worldwide. [Full Story]

THE WORLD AFTER OIL PEAKS
26 May 2006 :: Lester R. Brown

Peak oil is described as the point where oil production stops rising and begins its inevitable long-term decline. In the face of fast-growing demand, this means rising oil prices. But even if oil production growth simply slows or plateaus, the resulting tightening in supplies will still drive the price of oil upward, albeit less rapidly, and in a world of declining oil production, no country can use more oil except at the expense of others. [Full Story]

'THE WIND RUSH IS ON' IN TEXAS
TEXAS TO BUILD 500 OFFSHORE TURBINES, LARGEST OFFSHORE WIND FARM IN U.S.
15 May 2006

State authorities in Texas have announced plans to build the nation's largest offshore wind farm. The facility would be built about 10 miles off Padre Island in the Gulf of Mexico and would consist of 500 wind-harvesting turbines, 400 feet in height. [Full Story]

LET’S RAISE GAS TAXES & LOWER INCOME TAXES
11 May 2006 :: Lester R. Brown

The amount of oil pumped has exceeded new discoveries since 1980. And the gap is widening. Instead of encouraging gasoline use with tax rebates or gas tax holidays, we need a way to reduce gasoline use, one that is practical and politically acceptable. We need a higher gas tax, but the only way to get a gas tax rise large enough to wean us from imported oil is to offset the rise with a reduction in the tax on income. [Full Story]

THE COMING DECLINE OF OIL
5 May 2006 :: Lester R. Brown

When the price of oil climbed above $50 a barrel in late 2004, public attention began to focus on the adequacy of world oil supplies —and specifically on when production would peak and begin to decline. Analysts are far from a consensus on this issue, but several prominent ones now believe that the oil peak is imminent. [Full Story]

U.S. MAYORS RESPOND TO WASHINGTON LEADERSHIP VACUUM ON CLIMATE CHANGE
3 May 2006 :: Janet Larsen

Recognizing that global warming may fast be approaching the point of no return and that the world cannot wait for the U.S. government to act, hundreds of U.S. city mayors have pledged to cut emissions of greenhouse gases. By signing the U.S. Mayors Climate Protection Agreement, these mayors —representing some 44 million Americans— have committed their cities to meet or beat the U.S. emissions reduction target in the Kyoto Protocol, despite the federal government’s refusal to ratify that treaty. [Full Story]

GOV'T POLICY UNLAWFULLY CRIMINALIZES COMMENT ON SCIENTIFIC FACT
NASA SCIENTIST TARGETTED FOR SPEAKING TO PRESS, EPA STAFF GAGGED SO BOSSES AREN'T "SURPRISED" BY COVERAGE
20 April 2006

The global environment is, of course, a global issue, one that touches every life on the planet, and the science about it should be open and available to all. Past government policy and existing federal law mean that such scientific evidence should be readily available to the public. But now, it appears that several agencies are laboring to silence scientists who are researching climate trends and alterations. [Full Story]

CHERNOBYL DISASTER 20 YEARS ON, STILL NOT FULLY ADDRESSED
NUCLEAR DISASTER CAUSED WIDESPREAD ENVIRONMENTAL, PUBLIC HEALTH CRISES WHICH ARE STILL BEING HIDDEN
18 April 2006

The world's worst nuclear accident occurred 20 years ago this week in Chernobyl, Ukraine, under the Soviet regime of the USSR. Fallout from the explosion directly contaminated an area inhabited by 5 million people in Belarus, Ukraine and Russia. Now, a new study based on research from the Russian Academy of Sciences finds 200,000 people or more will eventually die from maladies directly caused by the Chernobyl disaster. [Full Story]

WORLD WATER DAY HIGHLIGHTS EFFECTS OF POVERTY, CLEAN WATER SCARCITY ON 1 BILLION WORLDWIDE
6,000 CHILDREN DIE EACH DAY FROM LACK OF CLEAN WATER, SANITATION
22 March 2006

Parts of east Africa have not seen rain for six years and six nations there are facing extreme famine. Through events organized by UNESCO, the UN and NGOs are hosting World Water Day today, to raise awareness of the problem of scarcity of safe drinking water affecting an estimated 1 billion people worldwide. [Full Story]

SNOWS OF KILIMANJARO DISAPPEARING AT ACCELERATED RATE
27 February 2006

Research and new images show glaciers famed as "snows of Kilimanjaro" receding at alarming rate, far faster than projections had suggested. Researchers at Ohio State University, who warned five years ago that the famed snowcap on Mount Kilimanjaro might melt or even disappear now say the melt is occurring, but at a rate much faster than expected. [Full Story]

BRAZIL MONKEYS SIGN OF INTENSE BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY
ONE-THIRD OF WORLD MONKEY SPECIES LIVE IN BRAZIL, DIVERSITY KEY TO ASSESSING ECOLOGICAL HEALTH
22 February 2006

Brazil is home to one-third of the world's monkey species, making the nation one of the richest in primate genetic diversity.  The survival and prevalence of monkeys in Brazil stands against the country’s demand for more arable land to feed and house an ever-growing population.  This makes the monkeys’ survival an important measure of the effect of human beings on the natural environment. [Full Story]

1,800 FEARED DEAD AFTER LANDSLIDE IN LEYTE, PHILIPPINES
EXPERTS SAY ILLEGAL LOGGING MAY HAVE DESTABILIZED MOUNTAIN TERRAIN, ALLOWING CATASTROPHIC RUNOFF, MUDSLIDES
18 February 2006

The mudslides began amid two weeks of torrential rains, which flooded and destabilized mountainside soils. Witnesses described the event as sounding "like the mountain had exploded". The entire village of Guinsahugon essentially disappeared beneath the heavy sheets of mud. [Full Story]

BOTTLED WATER: POURING RESOURCES DOWN THE DRAIN
2 February 2006 :: Emily Arnold and Janet Larsen

The global consumption of bottled water reached 154 billion liters (41 billion gallons) in 2004, up 57 percent from the 98 billion liters consumed five years earlier. Even in areas where tap water is safe to drink, demand for bottled water is increasing—producing unnecessary garbage and consuming vast quantities of energy. Although in the industrial world bottled water is often no healthier than tap water, it can cost up to 10,000 times more. At as much as $2.50 per liter ($10 per gallon), bottled water costs more than gasoline. [Full Story]

ARCTIC ICE MELT WILL SOON OPEN NORTH-POLE SHIPPING
BUSINESSES & NATIONS RALLY TO LOCATE & DIVIDE NEW RESOURCES
5 January 2006

As ice melts across the arctic north, and the Arctic Ocean opens up in summer months, the mythic Northwest Passage is expected to open to regular shipping, and Russia's Northern Sea Route is expected to rival it in global trade traffic, within a generation. It is also expected the Arctic Ocean will be completely without ice in warm months by the end of the 21st century. [Full Story]

PERMAFROST MELT IMPERILS INFRASTRUCTURE, HOMES
28 December 2005

A new study by American researchers, published today in Geophysical Research Letters, suggests the top layers of arctic permafrost could be melted by the end of this century. Researchers believe the melt would release large amounts of contained carbon into the atmosphere, contributing to an accelerating cycle of warming and interrupting deep ocean currents that help regulate the planet's climate. [Full Story]

DEPENDENT SPECIES ALSO FACE EXTINCTION PERIL
18 December 20
05

New calls from conservation groups to take swift and sweeping action to protect species endangered by global climate change are gaining attention. This week, three such groups filed suit against the US government to gain listing for the polar bear as a species endangered by climate change. A planetary "extinction crisis" is spreading and accelerating... [Full Story]

GREEN LIGHT FOR RENEWABLE FUELS
NEW TECHNOLOGY MAKES SOLAR END-USER FRIENDLY
15 December 2005

Renewable fuels have enjoyed a lot of attention in recent months, in a market driven by escalating oil costs, strained fuel stocks, worsening environmental degradation, and promises by the G8 to reduce carbon emissions. Revelations about the vulnerabilities inherent in the fossil fuel infrastructure, together with new technological advances in wind- and solar-based power generation mean renewables are now directly competitive with traditional fuel sources. [Full Story]

FIRE UPDATE: SMOKE STILL CARRIED IN CLOUDS OVER LONDON
13 December 2005

One day after officials warned the soot in the atmosphere could pose health risks as rain brought particulate pollution out of the sky, dark streaks were still visible in the London sky, and clouds were carrying contaminants from the most massive peacetime fire in Europe's history. [Full Story]

OIL DEPOT FIRE LEADS TO SPREADING SMOKE & SOOT CLOUD OVER LONDON
11 December 2005

Today the city of London was obscured by a cloud of black smoke emanating from a massive petroleum fire at the Buncefield fuel depot, in Hertfordshire, near Luton airport, north of London. The fire resulted from at least one severe explosion at the fuel storage facility. The blast occurred just after 6:00 GMT and was reportedly heard up to 100 miles away, including in northern France and the Netherlands. [Full Story]

CARTERET ATOLLS OFFICIALLY TO EVACUATE PLANET'S FIRST CLIMATE CHANGE REFUGEES
5 December 2005

On 26 November, the Guardian newspaper first reported that inhabitants of the Carteret atolls, six islands which form part of Papua New Guinea, in the southwest Pacific, have been subject to the first officially mandated permanent climate change evacuations. Rising sea levels have placed the circular grouping of six islands in serious danger of permanent inundation, and have left the soil useless for harvesting traditional foods. [Full Story]

CHINESE CITY STRUGGLES WITHOUT WATER, AMID CHEMICAL CONTAMINATION
24 November 2005

The Chinese city of Harbin and environs, located in Heilongjiang province, and home to an estimated 3.8 million people, is beset with a severe water crisis. Panic buying followed hoarding of municipal water, after authorities announced they would shut off the entire municipal water system, to spend four days testing and cleaning water reportedly contaminated by runoff from a chemical plant explosion. [Full Story]

More at Sentido's Environment & Ecology archives...

Ecovaria, the precursor to Sentido's ecology pages, will become a print anthology in 2006.

THE CLOUD:
WORLD'S LARGEST KNOWN POLLUTANT PHENOMENON
from CASAVARIA ECOLOGY PAGES

South Asia is gasping under a two mile thick cloud of toxic pollutants and carcinogens. This mega-smog is caused by industrial and automotive emissions, and is said to be killing half a million people a year. It is so vast that it is altering some of the most powerful, established weather systems on the planet. And its influence is not restricted to South Asia. It is estimated that the cloud is capable of reaching half-way around the globe at any given time, meaning that the Americas may be seeing environmental impact from this unfettered pollution. [Keep reading]

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RESEARCH PROJECT EVOVLING BOLD NEW SOLUTIONS FOR SMARTER LIVING
CRISIS POLICY FORUM LAUNCHES DEBATE BLOG
13 September 2007 :: CPF aims to highlight and bring about new research and policy-proposals, to produce viable, locally-relevant solutions to pervasive crises such as fresh-water scarcity, chronic poverty, access to technology and education, voting rights, agricultural sustainability, infectious disease, conflict resolution and democracy.
'EXPANDABLE' RENEWABLE ENERGY RESOURCE
27 July 2007 :: The most important of the Think research projects uses a broad array of computational, spatial and energy conducting technologies, with the aim of creating a unique renewable resource for power generation, which could outstrip the limitations of finite natural materials and eliminate the risk of contaminating or combustible fuels.

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DEPLETED URANIUM WILL POLLUTE IRAQ FOR 4.5 BILLION YEARS
26 May 2004 :: The President of the Nuclear Policy Research Institute has called for a comprehensive cleanup initiative in Iraq, to reduce the danger posed by Depleted Uranium, left over from artillery shells launched against Iraqi cities and military positions. According to NPRI, Uranium 238, the radioactive isotope present in Depleted Uranium, has a half-life of 4.5 billion years. This means that land contaminated with DU spilled from exploding artillery shells will still be radioactive 4.5 billion years from now. [Full Story]