Day: 22/05/2007

Cancer Rates Soaring – Common Toxic Chemicals Responsible

Stephen Health, Interconnections

shodou-calligraphy.gifIn the 45 years since Rachel Carson wrote Silent Spring warning of the toxic affects of pesticides and industrial chemicals cancer rates have soared. In 2007, nearly half of all North American men and close to 40 per cent of women will be diagnosed with a malignant cancer at some point in life according to this article in the Toronto Star Winning the War on Cancer.

Despite the clear linkages to cancer and availability of new non-toxic Green Chemicals, use of toxic chemicals in North America skyrockets. Without strict regulations and national objectives to eliminate all toxic chemicals as Sweden is doing, you, me, our children and other family members and friends will continue to get cancer.

Governments will not act on this unless hundreds of thousands of people force them to.

A very important national conference on this issue called Cancer: It’s About Prevention, It’s About Time  was held May 24-27 in Ottawa.

New Book on cancer prevention by avoiding toxic chemicals: Cancer: 101 Solutions to a Preventable Epidemic by Liz Armstrong, Guy Dauncey & Anne Wordsworth

Go if you can, buy the book, support the coalition which is made up of volunteers.

We are Undermining Life on Earth — World Biodiversity Day (May 22)

Stephen CLIMATE CHANGE/GLOBAL WARMING, News, WILDLIFE

Putting a Human Face on Biodiversity
By Stephen Leahy


Credit:Courtesy of CBD

Ahmed Djoghlaf, executive secretary of the Convention on Biological Diversity.


May 21 (Tierramérica) – Biodiversity is what sustains life on Earth, but we are on the verge of the sixth mass extinction of species in the planet’s history, Ahmed Djoghlaf, executive secretary of the Convention on Biological Diversity, told Tierramérica.

On the eve of World Biodiversity Day, May 22, Djoghlaf underscored that climate change is creating conditions to which plant and animal life cannot react to quickly enough. In turn, the loss of species will aggravate global warming, creating a vicious cycle.

TIERRAMÉRICA: What is the link between climate change and biodiversity?

AHMED DJOGHLAF: Species cannot respond fast enough to changing climatic conditions. The warming oceans are having a tremendous impact on coral reefs and plankton, crucial to marine biodiversity. And combined with over-fishing, this means fish stocks will be effectively wiped out by 2048, recent research shows. That will affect the livelihoods of many millions of people. Continue reading →

No More Lions, Tigers or Bears in a Warmer World (and two steps to keep that from happening)

Stephen CLIMATE CHANGE/GLOBAL WARMING, Global Issues and Perspectives, News, WILDLIFE

“The really awful predications about rapid, massive extinction appear to be true” — Jeremy Kerr, University of Ottawa

“Unless we do something there will be no tigers, lions or bears left in the wild for my grandchildren” — Stuart Pimm, Duke University

Scientists Foresee Extinction Domino Effect
By Stephen Leahy


Credit:morgueFile

Sri Lankan monkey with its young.

May 17 (IPS) – Climate change is accelerating species extinctions and unraveling the intricate web of life, experts fear.

Birds, animals, insects and even plants are on the move around the Earth, trying to flee new and increasingly inhospitable local weather conditions. For some, including alpine species and polar bears, there is nowhere to go. And many others, like plants, lack the mobility to stay ahead of changing climatic conditions.

“We’re already seeing species moving, but they’re not moving fast enough to avoid potential extinction,” says Jeremy Kerr, an ecologist at the University of Ottawa in Canada.

“The really awful predications about rapid, massive extinction appear to be true, according to the early evidence,” Kerr told IPS.

One of those predictions came last year from the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MA), an unprecedented international four-year research effort. The MA warned that up to 30 percent of all species on Earth could vanish by 2050 due to unsustainable human activities. Continue reading →