1 Must Read

Local Decisions To Protect Nature Boosts Economy, Quality of Life and Secure Jobs — Global Study

Stephen 1 Must Read, Biodiversity, CLIMATE CHANGE/GLOBAL WARMING, ECOLOGY, economics, Energy, Food, Forests, global warming, News, WILDLIFE , , , , ,

Multi-trillion-dollar ecosystem services can boost local economies and quality of life

By Stephen Leahy

UXBRIDGE, Canada, Sep 10, 2010 (IPS)

What do New York City, Vienna, Quito and Rio de Janeiro have in common? They all get their high quality drinking water through aqueducts connected to protected areas in nearby hills and mountains.

Twenty years ago, a rapidly expanding New York City determined it was far cheaper to protect and restore the source of its water supply, the Catskill/Delaware forests and wetlands, than spend six to eight billion dollars on a water treatment plant.

Cities are dependent on nature. There are many examples of how the ecosystem services provided by nature can provide cost-effective solutions for local municipal services, according to a new major study titled “TEEB report for Local and Regional Policy Makers” released Thursday in India, Brazil, Belgium, Japan and South Africa.

Is this article of interest? It exists thanks to contributions from readers. Please click here to learn more about Community Supported Journalism.

However, the study notes that few politicians and public officials realise that factoring in the planet’s multi-trillion-dollar ecosystem services into their policy-making can help save cities and regional authorities’ money while boosting the local economy, enhancing quality of life, securing livelihoods and generating employment.

“All economic activity and most of human well-being whether in an urban or non-urban setting is based on a healthy, functioning environment,” said Pavan Sukhdev, study leader of The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity (TEEB) initiative hosted by the United Nations Environment Programme. Continue reading →

Global Warming: What is the chance that thousands of scientists are wrong and Rush Limbaugh is correct? (video)

Stephen 1 Must Read, arctic, CLIMATE CHANGE/GLOBAL WARMING, Energy, global warming, News, Science ,

Noam Chomsky gets it exactly right in my experience when he says that a large minority of  scientists are terrified that climate change may be much worse than anyone wants to admit. — Stephen

My related articles:

Ocean Losing Its Green – Planet’s Life Support System In Decline

OUR Roof is on Fire: Dangerous Climate Change is Here

Proof of Anti-Global Warming Cabal: Fossil fuel Interests, Christian Evangelicals and the Media

Arctic Leaking Methane a Super-Potent Global Warming Gas — Reaching Feared Tipping Point?

Europe to cook the world’s tropical forests for biofuels — British told to back off targets by its climate advisors

Stephen 1 Must Read, CLIMATE CHANGE/GLOBAL WARMING, ECOLOGY, Energy, global warming, News, Science/Tech , , ,

UPDATE 13 Sept: UK must cut biofuels target “so that tropical forests are not cut down to make way for biofuel crops, government climate advisors said last Friday.”

“Europe is going to cook the world’s tropical forests to fight climate change; it’s crazy” — Millions of Trees Burned for ‘Green Energy’ Burning trees for energy produces 1.5 times as much carbon as coal – study shows

By Stephen Leahy*

UXBRIDGE, Canada, Sep 24 ’09 (Tierramérica) (Revised Sept 1’10)

Millions of trees, especially from the developing countries of the South, are being shipped to Europe and burned in giant furnaces to meet “green energy” requirements … Read More

via Stephen Leahy, International Environmental Journalist

Arctic Melt Down Is Bringing Harder Winters and Permanently Altering Weather Patterns

Stephen 1 Must Read, Alaska, arctic, CANADA, CLIMATE CHANGE/GLOBAL WARMING, Energy, Global Issues and Perspectives, global warming, News, OCEAN, Science , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Last year’s cold and snowy winter directly connected to warmer Arctic new research reveals

By Stephen Leahy

OSLO, 15 June 2010 (IPS)

Last winter’s big snowfall and cold temperatures in the eastern United States and Europe were likely caused by the loss of Arctic sea ice, researchers concluded at the International Polar Year Oslo Science Conference in Norway in June.

Climate change has warmed the entire Arctic region, melting 2.5 million square kilometres of sea ice, and that, paradoxically, is producing colder and snowier winters for Europe, Asia and parts of North America.

“The exceptional cold and snowy winter of 2009-2010 in Europe, eastern Asia and eastern North America is connected to unique physical processes in the Arctic,” said James Overland of the NOAA/Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory in the United States.

“In future, cold and snowy winters will be the rule rather than the exception” in these regions, Overland told IPS.

[[UPDATE Dec 29 2010 – Winter of 2010-11 appears to follow same pattern, see new post with northern hemisphere temp map for 20 Dec:  Arctic Hothouse Turns Europe into an Icebox]]

Scientists have been surprised by the rapid warming of the Arctic, where annual temperatures have increased two to three times faster than the global average. In one part of the Arctic, over the Barents and Karas Seas north of Scandinavia, average annual temperatures are now 10 degrees C higher than they were in 1990.

Is this article of interest? It exists thanks to contributions from readers. Please click here to learn more about Community Supported Journalism.

Overland explains the warming of the Arctic as the result of a combination of climate change, natural variability, loss of sea ice reflectivity, ocean heat storage and changing wind patterns, which has disrupted the stability of the Arctic climate system. In just 30 years, all that extra heat has shrunk the Arctic’s thick blanket of ice by 2.5 million square kilometres – an area equivalent to more than one quarter the size of the continental U.S.

The changes in the Arctic are now irreversible, he said. Continue reading →

Low Levels of Air Pollution Dangerous For Your Heart

Stephen 1 Must Read, CLIMATE CHANGE/GLOBAL WARMING, Energy, Health , , ,

This is the first study to assess the effect of real-world air pollution according to environmentalresearchweb:

“Air pollution is bad for your heart – particularly if you are elderly.”

This new animal study provides biological evidence of the well-known finding that air pollution increases cardiovascular disease and mortality.

Turns out that even relatively low levels of pollution — particulates from the burning of fossil fuels or wood — is “reducing the blood’s ability to carry oxygen and perhaps altering neural reflexes too. Meanwhile, the gaseous pollutants might be causing tissue inflammation, leading to less efficient uptake of oxygen through the lungs”.

The affects were worse with age. “It would seem prudent to work towards reducing exposure to these pollutants…”

Yet another compelling reason to end the addiction to fossil fuel use and to also help bring cleaner-burning stoves to the people who need them for cooking. — Stephen

Related: Burning Oil, Gasoline, Coal Causes Heart Attacks – American Heart Association

Europe’s Green Energy Portfolio Up in Smoke?

Stephen 1 Must Read, arctic, CLIMATE CHANGE/GLOBAL WARMING, Energy, global warming, Science/Tech , , , , , , ,

…the truth about the “big lie” that burning wood for energy is carbon- neutral

By Stephen Leahy

BERLIN, Jun 7, 2010 (IPS)

Europe seems hell-bent on burning the world’s forests for bioenergy, even as it offers billions of euros to save them, critics say.

The dirty secret of Europe’s vaunted green energy revolution is the fact that 68.5 percent of its renewable energy portfolio comes from biofuels and burning wood for energy, according to a report released in Brussels last week. Modern technologies like wind and solar get all the press, but burning wood is well, prehistoric.

“We estimate at least 27 million tonnes of wood biomass will be needed annually to supply planned power stations in the UK (United Kingdom) alone,” said Almuth Ernsting from Biofuelwatch, a British NGO focused on bioenergy issues.

In a story broken by IPS last fall, at least one million hectares of forest annually will be needed to feed the dozens of planned wood-fired power plants in Britain alone. The Netherlands is already burning one million tonnes of wood. Germany is up 23 million cubic meters (16.5 million tonnes) – mostly imported – and plans to double this figure by 2020, said the report co-published with the Global Justice Ecology Project, “Wood Based Bioenergy: The Green Lie”.

“It’s getting pretty scary,” Ernsting, a report co-author, told IPS. Continue reading →

Earth Day Wish – The 3 Rules

Stephen 1 Must Read, CLIMATE CHANGE/GLOBAL WARMING, Global Issues and Perspectives, global warming, Health, sustainability ,

Take time to be outside today.

Think about everything that nature provides – air, water, plants and animals that sustain us. Such gifts should not be taken lightly for they can vanish or be degraded. With our numbers and powerful technologies we are ‘the bull in nature’s china shop’.

We need to take great care and practice Climate-safe Living.

3 Rules to dial down the temperature on our global greenhouse:

1. Reduce.

Reduce fossil fuel consumption everywhere.

2. Eliminate.

Eliminate all non-essential activities and products that involve burning fossil fuel.

3. Demand.

Demand that business and government provide transport, activities and products that use minimize fossil fuel use.

Reduce. Eliminate. Demand. R.E.D.

May you always cherish this Earth and share in her joys.

Stephen

[I’m an independent journalist based in Canada who supports his family and the public interest writing articles about important environmental issues. This is now only possible with your support (see Collapse of Media). A small contribution ($5, $10, $20) is the ONLY way this can continue.  PayPal or Credit Card Or contact me for mailing address.]

Traditional Indigenous Knowledge & Global Warming

Stephen 1 Must Read, CLIMATE CHANGE/GLOBAL WARMING, Culture, developing world, Forests, Global Issues and Perspectives, global warming, Indigenous People, Media, News

Returned from Panama a few days ago. I was offline for a week in a village in autonomus Kuna Yala territory on an island in the south Caribbean Ocean with no electricity, no roads, vehicles….just the sounds of the ocean and children playing. It was an amazing experience amongst unique group of Indigenous people still living by their traditional ways with a very strong emphasis on family, community and reciprocity.

Thanks to travel funding from an educational organization I was able to be at a unique workshop on the island where 18 indigenous people from around the world came to share their experiences in dealing with climate change. They are also documenting how their traditional knowledge is helping them adapt. What is often forgotten by those of us in the north is the lengthening of summer seasons, shortening winter, or changes in rainfall that are minor inconveniences for us often spell disaster for those who are subsistence farmers.

CONTRIBUTION UPDATE:

Special thanks to Ken of Ottawa, James from Toronto, Richard of Oshawa, Aidan who lives in Germany, Siri of London UK, Michael of Toronto, David of Salmon Arm and Catherine from Atikokan for your recent support. It is heartening to receive your encouragement and desire to help ensure I can continue to write and report on these important issues for everyone.

Thanks to these good folks the Community Supported Environmental Journalism Fund has now reached $1450.00, nearly 10 per cent of what’s needed for 2010.

There are some very important articles I’m hoping to write this year so help out if you can.

Contributions can be made via PayPal or Credit Card here:

(NOTE: For ocean lovers there is a major conference on Oceans this May –there are new prospects of international governance to hopefully end the ruthless rush to get the last fish. But will need $1000 to be able to get there)

— Greenest wishes, Steve

Tsunami of E-Waste Could Swamp Developing Countries

Stephen 1 Must Read, Energy, News, Pollution and Toxics, Science/Tech

By Stephen Leahy

UXBRIDGE, Canada, Feb 22, 2010

(IPS)

The mighty mountains of hazardous electronic waste are growing by about 40 million tonnes a year globally. In China, India and South Africa, those mountains are expected to grow 200 to 500 percent in the next decade, a new report warns.

And that’s just from domestic sales of TVs, computers and cell phones. The figure doesn’t include millions of tonnes of e-waste that is exported, mostly illegally, into these countries.

Sales of electronic consumer goods are skyrocketing in emerging economies, but that is not matched by capabilities to properly collect and recycle such products, which contain both toxic and valuable materials, says the United Nations report, “Recycling – from E-Waste to Resources“.

It was released in Bali, Indonesia Monday at a meeting of the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and Their Disposal.

E-waste from discarded mobile phones will be about seven times higher than 2007 levels in China by 2020. In India, the mobile phone e-waste mountain will be 18 times higher. At the same time, e-waste from televisions will be 1.5 to 2.0 times higher in China and India, while in India e-waste from discarded refrigerators will double or triple, the landmark report states. Continue reading →

Canada’s Idea of Working on Climate Change Means Muzzling Climate Scientists, Closing Research Stations and Cutting Funding

Stephen 1 Must Read, CANADA, CLIMATE CHANGE/GLOBAL WARMING, Energy, global warming, News, Science, sustainability , , ,

“This government is doing nothing on climate but they always make sure to sound like they’re doing something to fool Canadians.” — John Bennett, Sierra Club of Canada

By Stephen Leahy

UXBRIDGE, Canada, Mar 16, 2010 (IPS)

Canada’s climate researchers are being muzzled, their funding slashed, research stations closed, findings ignored and advice on the critical issue of the century unsought by Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s government, according to a 40-page report by a coalition of 60 non-governmental organisations.

“This government says they take climate change seriously but they do nothing and try to hide the truth about climate change,” said Graham Saul, representing Climate Action Network Canada (CAN), which produced the report “Troubling Evidence”.

“We want Canadians to understand what’s going on with this government,” Saul told IPS.

Climate change is not an abstract concept. It already results in the deaths of 300,000 people a year, virtually all in the world’s poorest countries. Some 325 million people are being seriously affected, with economic losses averaging 125 billion dollars a year, according to “The Anatomy of a Silent Crisis“, the first detailed look at climate change and the human impacts.

Released last fall by the Geneva-based Global Humanitarian Forum, the report notes that these deaths and losses are not just from the rise in severe weather events but mainly from the gradual environmental degradation due to climate change.

Is this article of interest? It exists thanks to contributions from readers. Please click here to learn more about Community Supported Journalism.

“People everywhere deserve to have leaders who find the courage to achieve a solution to this crisis,” writes Kofi Annan, former U.N. secretary-general and president of the Forum, in the report.

Canadians are unlikely to know any of this. Continue reading →