MRJHS looks to bring nature to students

Jan 28, 2010
Source: Monmouth Daily Review Atlas

ROSEVILLE — Students and teachers at Monmouth-Roseville Junior High were cautioned by Jacques Nuzzo of the Illinois Raptor Center in Decatur to never do what he was about to do — just before he stuck his head into a modified dog crate housing an adult barred owl. With decades of experience working with raptors, Nuzzo said he knew what he was doing. Soon, through his microphone, the distinctive hooting of the barred owl echoed through the gymnasium to the delight of the assembled students.

Shortly thereafter Nuzzo's boss, Jane Seitz, executive director of the Center and licensed wildlife rehabilitator, brought out the large raptor, which continued to delight the audience with occasional hoots while being shown to the students.

"We hope kids stop staring at their feet playing video games and get outside," Seitz said. "They know more about endangered species in the Amazon rainforest than the ones in their back yards. It is going to be sad when they are all gone."

Principal Don Farr said Wednesday's raptor show was part of a curriculum-wide theme at MRJHS focusing on the Mississippi River and its importance to the surrounding area. Several more special presentations are planned closer to the end of the school year. Students will be expected to complete assignments associated with the overall theme, and specifically with each presentation appropriate to the specific class they are in.

Nuzzo said he became interested in birds of prey because of a close encounter when he was a child — he was five feet away when a raptor killed a pheasant. He said part of his motivation was to get youth to experience nature and get outside.

"I think kids are a little too guarded," he said. "When I was a child, climbing trees was common for kids. Now, they often get yelled at for it."

He hoped to have an effect on young people.

"Kids are smarter than we give them credit for. I hope we inspire them to get off their butts and get on a bike or go outside."

In addition to Octavious the barred owl, three other birds were shown:

— Napoleon, a rarely seen red-shouldered hawk mainly resides in swampy areas inaccessible to people. The bird was on the endangered species list, but has made a comeback for unknown reasons, Nuzzo said. The species features large eyes, the equivalent of tennis ball sized eyes in a human, that have a dimple which acts a a telephoto lens. Their heads move independently of the body, which provides them with image stabilization at high speeds.

— A Kestrel or "sparrow hawk," which Nuzzo said had earned the nickname "the little falcon warriors" because of their tough, never back down spirit, despite relative tiny size. The kestrel shown was about 1/4 the size of the barred owl, but would take the owl on without a second thought Nuzzo said.

— Sam, the peregrine Falcon, an example of the fastest animals in the world. Nuzzo said the top documented speed of a peregrine falcon is 248 miles per hours. The raptors pull 18 Gs in a dive — three times what the best fighter pilots can survive,

"They are one of the greatest conservations success stories," Nuzzo said. "Conservation works, conservation laws work. It is plain and simple."

The single most important thing people can do to support conservation is not something obvious like reducing pollution, Nuzzo said, but rather spending time outdoors — learning to appreciate it and love it.

Nancy Innes and Cherilyn Thomas, teachers at MRJHS helped organize the event, with the substantial support of Farmland Foods, who paid for the presentation.

"We can't thank them enough," Innes said. "With the river so close we have kids that have never even been to it. We thought this would help expose the kids to all those things."

Cassie Harders, a seventh grader, said several facts at the assembly stood out to her.

"I didn't know that males were smaller than females. That is kind of cool. And I liked how the one bird, (the peregrine falcon) snaps off the heads of its prey. That is awesome."

Could biofuel save the rainforest?

29th Jan 2010
Source: Cool Earth

The use of certain types of biofuel and animal feed could lower the need for the production of soy meal - and could therefore reduce pressure on endangered rainforests, it has been claimed.

According to an article on the Engineer, using wheat in order to make bioethanol and animal feed could help reduce rainforest destruction as currently, the soy meal used in some types of animal feed require the clearing of almost 20 million hectares of land and most of this destruction takes place in regions of South America.

"The high protein animal feed produced by refining wheat will reduce these soy imports from South America. This, in turn, will alleviate pressures on deforestation arising from the continuing expansion of soy production in Brazil, Argentina and several other South American countries," the article went on to explain.

Use for industry is one of the main causes of rainforest deforestation and as well as being cleared for growing animal feed, cattle is raised in large areas of the Amazon for use in the global beef industry.

Logging firms also clear large regions in the rainforests.

Eyes in space map changing Congo rainforests

29/1/2010
Source: Technology Newsroom

British company DMCii is using satellites to acquire new images of the Congo rainforests from space, validating a system that can map the vast Congo Basin every year to measure changes in its forest cover. If adopted, the new system will provide more accurate and up to date information for forest management, policy making and programmes such as the UN’s Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+) throughout the region.

Spanning 2 million square kilometres, the forests of the Congo Basin are the second largest area of dense tropical forest in the world, rivalled only by the Amazon rainforests. However, little is yet known about the rate and location of the degradation of the forests of the Congo Basin, or their role in the Earth’s carbon cycle. Earth observation from space is the only way to effectively and efficiently manage such vast landscapes and to provide independent, regular and detailed information about changes in forest cover.

Until recently the resolution of satellite images was too coarse to provide effective local forest management and the data could not be provided in a timely manner, but DMCii now has the satellites, experience and software systems to do just that. Dave Hodgson, Managing Director, DMCii explains: “Our experience monitoring the Amazon rainforest and sub-Saharan Africa, combined with recently extended imaging systems, means that we could rapidly acquire high resolution cloud-free images of the Congo Basin to help the world better understand the location and scale of deforestation.”

DMCii uses a group of satellites called the Disaster Monitoring Constellation (DMC) to provide images of any part of the world every day. It is unique because each satellite is independently owned and controlled by a separate nation which includes African nations, but the satellites are coordinated by DMCii making it possible to image a specific place every day.

Satellite imagery provides essential “base data” that is used to create maps for local governments, foresters and independent auditors. This data can be combined with ground reports to target policing of illegal logging, or to measure the scale of forest clearing. For example, maps based upon the images can be used to identify forest clearance, which is near impossible to manage by foot patrol due to the vast scale and inaccessibility of the rainforests.

About DMC International Imaging Ltd

DMC International Imaging Ltd (DMCii) is a UK based supplier of remote sensing data products and services for international Earth Observation (EO) markets. DMCii supplies programmed and archived optical satellite imagery provided by the multi-satellite Disaster Monitoring Constellation (DMC). DMC data is now used in a wide variety of commercial and government applications including agriculture, forestry and environmental mapping.

In partnership with the British National Space Centre (BNSC) and the other DMC member nations (Algeria, China, Nigeria, Turkey and Spain), DMCii works with the International Charter: ‘Space and Major Disasters’ to provide free satellite imagery for humanitarian use in the event of major international disasters such as tsunami, hurricanes, fires and flooding.

DMCii was formed in October 2004 and is a subsidiary of Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd, the world leader in small satellite technology. SSTL designed and built the DMC with the support of the BNSC and in conjunction with the DMC member nations Algeria, China, Nigeria, Turkey and Spain.

Human rights at UFV

January 29, 2010
Source: BCLocalNews



The Amnesty International Film Festival is returning to Abbotsford UFV on Tuesday, Feb. 2 with five award-winning films.

The movies are meant to inform, inspire and move the audience to act in defence of human rights. The program begins with Our Land, My People; an examination of the long struggle of the Lubicon Cree of Northern Alberta, to assert their rights in the face of intensive oil and gas development, that has caused massive environmental damage.

The rest of the lineup will be:

Justicia Now, which documents a similar struggle in the Northern Ecuadorian region of the Amazon rainforest, where the damage has caused widespread sickness and death.

Seeking Refuge, chronicles the long journey experienced by five individuals hoping to be accepted as refugees in Canada.

The Stolen Child, is the story of Palestinian child prisoners.

Oscar-nominated Burma VJ tells the story of a group of courageous video journalists working underground, to bring the world images of repression from the streets of Rangoon.

The program runs from 5 to 10 p.m. in lecture hall B101. Admission is by donation.

Amnesty International is a worldwide movement of people dedicated to the promotion and protection of human rights.

This festival is presented by Amnesty International Group 163, based in Abbotsford. For more information on the film festival, go to www.amnestyfilmfest.ca.

U.N.'s Global Warming Report Under Fresh Attack for Rainforest Claims

January 28, 2010
Source: FOXNews

A view of the Amazon basin forest north of Manaus, Brazil. A U.N. report stated that global warming is threatening the forests -- a statement that was recently discredited.

A United Nations report on climate change that has been lambasted for its faulty research is under new attack for yet another instance of what its critics say is sloppy science -- adding to a growing scandal that has undermined the credibility of scientists and policymakers who back the U.N.'s findings about global warming.

In the Fourth Assessment Report (AR4), issued in 2007 by the U.N.'s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), scientists wrote that 40 percent of the Amazon rainforest in South America was endangered by global warming.

But that assertion was discredited this week when it emerged that the findings were based on numbers from a study by the World Wildlife Federation that had nothing to do with the issue of global warming -- and that was written by a freelance journalist and green activist.

The IPCC report states that "up to 40 percent of the Amazonian forests could react drastically to even a slight reduction in precipitation" -- highlighting the threat climate change poses to the Earth. The report goes on to say that "it is more probable that forests will be replaced by ecosystems ... such as tropical savannas."

But it has now been revealed that the claim was based on a WWF study titled "Global Review of Forest Fires," a paper barely related to the Amazon rainforest that was written "to secure essential policy reform at national and international level to provide a legislative and economic base for controlling harmful anthropogenic forest fires."

EUReferendum, a blog skeptical of global warming, uncovered the WWF association. It noted that the original "40 percent" figure came from a letter published in the journal Nature that discussed harmful logging activities -- and again had nothing to do with global warming.

The reference to the Brazilian rainforest can be found in Chapter 13 of the IPCC Working Group II report, the same section of AR4 in which claims are made that the Himalayan glaciers are rapidly melting because of global warming. Last week, the data leading to this claim were disproved as well, a scandal being labeled "glacier-gate" or "Himalaya-gate."

The Himalaya controversy followed another tempest -- the disclosure of e-mails that suggested that leading global warming scientists in the U.K. and the U.S. had conspired to hide a decline in global temperatures.

"If it is true that IPCC has indeed faked numbers regarding the Amazon, or used unsubstantiated facts, then it is the third nail in the IPCC coffin in less than three months," Andrew Wheeler, former staff director for the U.S. Senate's Environment and Public Works Committee, told FoxNews.com. "For years, we have been told that the IPCC peer review process is the gold standard in scientific review. It now appears it is more of a fool's gold process."

Wheeler, who is now a senior vice president with B&D Consulting's Energy, Climate and Environment Practice in Washington, said the latest scandal calls into question the "entire underpinnings" of the IPCC's assessment and peer review process.

The U.N. did not return calls seeking comment on the scandal.

Jean-Pascal van Ypersele, vice chairman of the IPCC, was quoted in the European press as saying, "I would like to submit that this could increase the credibility of the IPCC, not decrease it. Aren't mistakes human? Even the IPCC is a human institution."

But not everyone agrees. Ross McKitrick, a professor of economics at the University of Guleph in Ontario, said the U.N. needs to start from scratch on global warming research and make a "full accounting" of how much of its research findings have been "likewise compromised."

McKitrick said this is needed because the U.N. acknowledged the inaccuracy of the data only now that its shortcomings have been exposed. "They are admitting what they did only because they were caught," he told FoxNews.com. "The fact that so many IPCC authors kept silent all this time shows how monumental has been the breach of trust."

Lubos Motl, a Czech physicist and former Harvard University faculty member, said the deforestation of the Amazon has occurred, but not because of global warming. He said it was due to social and economic reasons, including the clearing of cattle pastures, subsistence agriculture, the building of infrastructure and logging.

"Such economically driven changes are surely unattractive for those of us who prefer mysterious and natural forests," says Motl. "But they do help the people who live in Latin America."

The rapidly accumulating scandals surrounding climate change research appear to be driving the public away from its support for government measures to intervene. On Wednesday, Yale University and George Mason University released a survey showing that just 57 percent of respondents believe global warming "is happening." That was down 14 percentage points, from 71 percent, in October 2008. Fifty percent of people said they were "very" or "somewhat" worried about global warming, down 13 points from two years ago.

Another poll released Monday by the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press asked respondents to rank 21 issues in terms of their priority. Global warming came in last.

Crunch time for the cosy cousin?

Thursday, 28 January 2010
Source: BBC News

You'd think that conserving the world's biodiversity would be a pretty uncontroversial aim - wouldn't you?

Who wouldn't think it a good idea that the giant panda survives for our children's children to marvel at, that the intricate dependencies of coral reef ecosystems remain un-ruptured by dynamite and fertilisers, that savannahs and forests and mangroves be allowed to continue providing humanity with game and oxygen and coastal protection?

According to York University's Alastair Fitter - you need to think again.

Co-chairing a wrap-up session at the recent InterAcademy Panel conference, the biologist suggested that biodiversity may not remain climate change's cosy cousin for much longer.

The fundamental reason why e-mails were stolen last year from the University of East Anglia's Climatic Research Unit was, he said, because climate change had reached such a fever pitch of political heat, and if it becomes evident that conserving biodiversity means changing lifestyles, those working in the field must expect debate to reach similar temperatures.

With this year being declared the International Year of Biodiversity, and with the critical session of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) coming up this October, you'd expect such heated conflict to materialise this year, if at all.

History suggests that Professor Fitter may be correct.

Just two countries in the world are not parties to the CBD: Andorra and the US.

I'm a little shaky on Andorra's reasons. But the aetiology of the US position speaks absolutely to the argument that the "mom and apple pie" view of biodiversity can quickly turn into "mom and a lacing of strychnine".

After President Bill Clinton signed the convention in 1993, it went swiftly into Congress for ratification, and the first indications were that it might well pass.

But a number of interested parties began to argue against - organisations concerned with land ownership and land rights, such as the Montana Farm Bureau Federation and Grassroots for Multiple Use, allied with groups opposed in principle to extensions of government and regulation.

Concerns were expressed about possible restrictions on the unfettered access that US pharmaceutical companies had to the developing world's biological riches, and on the nascent technology of genetic engineering.

With senators lining up to condemn the convention, using phrases such as "I am especially concerned about the effect of the treaty on private property rights in my state and throughout America" and "a rather common view among so-called developing nations that this treaty is some sort of an international cash cow to be milked", it went un-ratified - and remains so to this day.

In the domain of public opinion, the parallels are striking.

On the website of Sovereignty International, you'll find a video clip of Lord Monckton speaking against carbon curbs through the UN climate convention, and a video clip of US lobbyist Henry Lamb speaking against moves to protect wild lands through the UN biodiversity convention.

A related consultancy, Environmental Perspectives Incorporated, links the issues by talking of "false environmental catastrophes like global warming and ecosystem destruction" - both promoted by people who want to establish global governance.

The rhetoric on news media is also familiar: "Your instincts tell you there is something wrong, or incomplete about what the media is telling you... We provide information the media leaves out - the other side of the story!"

Now, this post isn't a history lesson, isn't an examination exclusively of US lobby groups, and doesn't assume that UN conventions are the only way to protect biodiversity.

But it does demonstrate the wider point that when panda push comes to financial shove, biodiversity can become every bit as heated as climate change.

Here's a hypothetical example raised at the InterAcademy panel meeting.

Let's say you want to protect the Amazon rainforest and the rich biodiversity it contains.

One way you might look to do that is by reducing deforestation; and one of the main causes of Amazonian deforestation is clearance for cattle ranches.

So you might choose to campaign among Western consumers, or to lobby Western governments, to reduce the amount of beef consumed on Western plates; less beef equals more trees.

Does the issue look uncontroversial now?

So with something of a nod to the industry of our regular commenter davblo2, and without a hint of judgement on their merits, here are just five arguments that I expect to see deployed at some point during the year:

• Biological diversity around the world isn't really declining

• Where it is, it's a product of natural cycles such as the normal run of predator-prey dynamics; species have always gone extinct and always will

• Much of the evidence for declining biological diversity comes from eco-extremist groups, so cannot be trusted, as these organisations have a financial stake in portraying a crisis

• Moves to protect biodiversity are just an excuse to raise taxes

• Developing countries should concentrate on economic growth first, then use their wealth to repair any damage caused; they have more to gain by ripping down their forests and selling the timber than by protecting them

Brazilian beef barons are greenwashing to preserve their place on your plate

Thursday 28 January 2010
Source: guardian.co.uk

Brazilian beef barons claim to be protecting Paraguay's Indian lands – by turning them into ranches. Photograph: Antonio Scorza/AFP/Getty Images

Brazil is the world's biggest exporter of beef. Huge areas of semi-forested grasslands are being cleared to make way for cattle pastures to feed the global love of cattle meat. And Britain is one of the biggest importers.

Now, under greater scrutiny at home for their environmental and humanitarian sins, Brazilian beef barons are buying up land across the border in Paraguay – and bulldozing traditional Indian lands there. But, hey, it's all right, they say. Because, in among the ranches, they are creating nature reserves.

Are the ranchers going green – or engaging in flagrant greenwash to preserve their place on your plate? Now one company has been accused of invading the land of one of the few surviving tribal groups that are uncontacted by the outside world, and setting aside part of it for nature. And it has lined up the unlikely figure of Charlie Chaplin in its defence, bizarrely saying British-born "Chaplin would be turning in his grave in shame" at the accusations from his "countrymen" at Survival International, which has its headquarters in the UK.

I don't usually promote other people's greenwash awards. But this time I make an exception. For this brazen misappropriation of environmental virtue, the NGO Survival, which campaigns for tribal groups, last week gave the company Yaguarete Pora SA its 2010 Greenwash award.

Survival says the uncontacted people are from the Totobiegosode tribe, which is part of a wider family of tribes known as the Ayoreo. "Yaguarete has already destroyed thousands of hectares of the tribe's forests. The company plans to convert around two-thirds of the land to cattle ranching," according to Survival, which has released recent satellite images to prove its claims.

The reclusive forest community has asked for protection via relatives in the wider Totobiegosode tribe, who began legal action on their behalf to secure legal title to their land back in 1993. The case remains unresolved.

The disputed land is 400 kilometres north of the Paraguayan capital Asunción, in the province of Alto Paraguay, where local estimates say 90% of the land is now in the hands of Brazilian cattle ranchers. Media reports say that the government's National Environmental Council last year cancelled logging permits for Yaguarete in the area because of breaches of environmental regulations.

According to documents in support of the reserve plan (pdf) submitted to government authorities, the company has taken over 78,500 hectares, of which it now plans to set aside 27,500 hectares for the nature reserve, of which Survival estimates some 17,000 hectares will be continuous forest.

Plans for the reserve have been drawn up by the National Land Trust, a body set up by a former director of Paraguay's parks department to help landowners create conservation areas. He has won awards for this work, including the Whitley Fund for Nature Award in 2003, which was sponsored by WWF-UK.

But the Survival director, Stephen Corry, says "the nature reserve is textbook greenwashing. Bulldoze the forest and then preserve a bit for PR purposes." Survival is supporting action by a local Paraguayan NGO called GAT to reclaim the tribal lands.

Yaguarete Pora's director, Marcelo Bastos Ferraz, did not respond to questions from the Guardian this week. But the company did issue a statement after receiving the Survival award last week.

"The company decided to establish a wild protected area under private ownership, guaranteeing hunting and fishing rights for hundreds of indigenous families who live in the area," it said. "The Ayoreo-Totobiegosode will be able to use the reserve, and can freely practice their culture and customs."

Fine, but that's not what the Totobiegosode people want, says David Hill of Survival. "They have a long-running law suit claiming legal title to that land themselves."

The company also says it is investing in Paraguay, providing jobs and respecting environmental laws It accuses Survival of "xenophobia", of "profiting by lying" and of "using satire and adopting a Chaplinesque attitude, as well as trying to influence the president of a sovereign country." It points out that there is an international treaty "which guarantees that Paraguay will protect Brazilian investments" in the country. Quite so.

In recent months, the Brazilian government has promised the world it will end the destruction of Amazon rainforest to create new cattle pastures. The tragedy is that it looks as if the reclusive inhabitants of its neighbours' forests are now in the front line.

Omaha Theatre Ballet Presents THE RAINFOREST, 2/11-2/21

Thursday, January 28, 2010
Source: Broadway World

The Omaha Theater Ballet will present its final production, The Rainforest, on The Rose Theater's main stage February 11th-21st. Audiences will be both entertained and inspired by this original ballet choreographed by the Ballet's Artistic Director Robin Welch.

Welch chose the rainforest theme for the Company's last ballet in hopes of creating awareness for a cause that is close to her heart - rainforest conservation. While Welch hopes to inspire change, she also wants to entertain and delight audiences. A giant anteater will guide audiences through this action-packed production that showcases the colorful scenery and inhabitants of this beautiful, perilousl world. Vibrant choreography, stunning sets and intricate costumes bring the Amazon rainforest to life.

The Rainforest will be presented February 11 through February 21 on The Rose's main stage with performances every Thursday, Friday and Saturday at 7 p.m.; Saturday and Sunday at 2 p.m. The show is recommended for children ages 5 to adult, and will run 60 minutes without intermission on Thursdays, February 11 and 18. The production will run 90 minutes with intermission for all other performances.

Tickets are $16 and may be purchased at The Rose Box Office, located at 2001 Farnam Street, by phone at (402) 345-4849 or online at www.rosetheater.org. Discount ticket vouchers are available for $13 each at all Omaha and Council Bluffs-area Hy-Vee Food Stores' customer service counters.
The Rose's 2009/2010 season is sponsored by Children's Hospital & Medical Center. The Rainforest is sponsored by Holland Foundation, Whitmore Charitable Trust, KAT 103 and the Nebraska Arts Council.

'Avatar is real', say tribal people

Wednesday, 27 January 2010
Source: Mmegi Online

A Penan man from Sarawak, in the Malaysian part of Borneo, told Survival International, 'The Penan people cannot live without the rainforest. The forest looks after us, and we look after it. We understand the plants and the animals because we have lived here for many, many years, since the time of our ancestors.

'The Na'vi people in 'Avatar' cry because their forest is destroyed. It's the same with the Penan. Logging companies are chopping down our big trees and polluting our rivers, and the animals we hunt are dying."

Kalahari Bushman Jumanda Gakelebone said, "We the Bushmen are the first inhabitants in southern Africa. We are being denied rights to our land and appeal to the world to help us. Avatar makes me happy as it shows the world about what it is to be a Bushman, and what our land is to us. Land and Bushmen are the same."

Davi Kopenawa Yanomami, known as the Dalai Lama of the Rainforest, said, "My Yanomami people have always lived in peace with the forest. Our ancestors taught us to understand our land and animals. We have used this knowledge carefully, for our existence depends on it. My Yanomami land was invaded by miners. A fifth of our people died from diseases we had never known.'

Director James Cameron received his Golden Globes awards for Avatar last week, and revealed one of the central ideas of the film.

"Avatar asks us to see that everything is connected,' he said in his acceptance speech, 'All human beings to each other, and us to the earth.

Cameron was inspired by the Maori language of New Zealand when devising the language spoken by the Na'vi. Survival's director Stephen Corry says, "Just as the Na'vi describe the forest of Pandora as 'their everything', for most tribal peoples, life and land have always been deeply connected. "The fundamental story of Avatar - if you take away the multi-coloured lemurs, the long-trunked horses and warring androids - is being played out time and time again, on our planet.

"Like the Na'vi of Avatar, the world's last-remaining tribal peoples - from the Amazon to Siberia - are also at risk of extinction, as their lands are appropriated by powerful forces for profit-making reasons such as colonisation, logging and mining." "One of the best ways of protecting the our world's natural heritage is surprisingly simple; it is to secure the land rights of tribal peoples.' (SI)

American pair take rainforest challenge

27th Jan 2010
Source: Cool Earth

Two friends from Austin, Texas, have told the story of their trip down the Amazon river.

Speaking to Austin 360, Tim Hawkins and Joseph Hochman detailed their 1,000 mile trip paddling down the world famous water course, all in the name of highlighting the destruction of the rainforest.

As well as showing the problems with deforestation by documenting their journey on camera, the pair also said that they took the trip to teach themselves about how rainforest destruction is impacting those who live in the forests.

"We wanted to put a face to people being affected by the problem of deforestation," said Mr Hochman.

On their epic journey, the pair saw monkeys, turtles, "fat crocodiles and noisy howler monkeys", they told the source.

Amazon rainforest deforestation is caused by the use of the forest to raise cattle for the beef industry as well as by trees being cut down for use by timber companies.

Global warming to trigger more warming

Wed Jan 27, 2010
Source: Reuters

OSLO (Reuters) - Climate change caused by mankind will release extra heat-trapping gases stored in nature into the atmosphere in a small spur to global warming, a study showed.

But the knock-on effect of the additional carbon dioxide -- stored in soils, plants and the oceans -- on top of industrial emissions building up in the atmosphere will be less severe than suggested by some recent studies, they said.

"We are confirming that the feedback exists and is positive. That's bad news," lead author David Frank of the Swiss Federal Research Institute WSL said of the study in Thursday's edition of the journal Nature.

"But if we compare our results with some recent estimates (showing a bigger feedback effect) then it's good news," Frank, an American citizen, told Reuters of the report with other experts in Switzerland and Germany.

The data, based on natural swings in temperatures from 1050-1800, indicated that a rise of one degree Celsius (1.6 degree Fahrenheit) would increase carbon dioxide concentrations by about 7.7 parts per million in the atmosphere.

That is far below recent estimates of 40 ppm that would be a much stronger boost to feared climate changes such as floods, desertification, wildfires, rising sea levels and more powerful storm, they said.

Carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere have already risen to about 390 ppm from about 280 ppm before the Industrial Revolution. Only some models in the last major U.N. climate report, in 2007, included assessments of carbon cycle feedbacks.

Frank said the new study marks an advance by quantifying feedback over the past 1,000 years and will help refine computer models for predicting future temperatures.

SURPRISES

"In a warmer climate, we should not expect pleasant surprises in the form of more efficient uptake of carbon by oceans and land," Hugues Goosse of the Universite Catholique de Louvain, Belgium, wrote in a comment in Nature.

The experts made 220,000 comparisons of carbon dioxide levels -- trapped in tiny bubbles in annual layers of Antarctic ice -- against temperatures inferred from natural sources such as tree rings or lake sediments over the years 1050-1800.

Goosse said the study refined a general view that rising temperatures amplify warming from nature even though some impacts are likely to suck carbon dioxide from the air.

Carbon might be freed to the air by a projected shift to drier conditions in some areas, for instance in the east Amazon rainforest. But that could be partly offset if temperatures rise in the Arctic, allowing more plants to grow.

Warmer soils might accelerate the respiration of tiny organisms, releasing extra carbon dioxide to the air. Wetlands or oceans may also release carbon if temperatures rise.

Frank said it was hard to say how the new findings might have altered estimates in a report by the U.N.'s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change in 2007 that world temperatures could rise by between 1.1 and 6.4 Celsius by 2100.

"Of the models that did include the carbon cycle, our results suggests that those with slightly below average feedbacks might be more accurate," he said. "But we can't now say exactly what sort of temperature range that would imply."

NightLife returns to the Academy of Sciences

27 January 2010
Source: The Guardsman Online

On Jan. 14th, 2010 the Academy of Science Hosts its Thursday Night events titled "Nightlife" in Golden Gate Park in San Francisco, Calif. Every Thursday Night The academy of science opens their doors to 21 and up guests for them to explore the museum, get drinks and dance to a live dj. JOSEPH PHILLIPS / THE GUARDSMAN

NightLife is to museums what Virgin America is to airlines: A little more lax, a lot more fun, and when you leave you can’t wait to experience it again. Much like the young, hip airline that made flying seductive again, this weekly event at the California Academy of Sciences convinces guests that learning about our planet is sexy.

The lights are dim, the music is pulsing and drinks are flowing from numerous satellite bars throughout the building. The crowd varies widely in age and everyone in attendance is excited and obviously looking for a museum visit outside of the ordinary.

NightLife kicked off another year of music, entertainment and science Jan. 14. The event, held every Thursday from 6 to 10 p.m. for guests 21 and older, has so much to see and experience that a repeat visit is almost guaranteed.

The museum holds the world’s largest all-digital planetarium with shows every hour from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. This is not your grade school planetarium.

The show, “Journey to the Stars,” is 30 minutes of breath-taking IMAX-style imagery and surround sound illustrating the birth and death of a star, focusing on our own sun. Produced by the American Museum of Natural History and narrated by Whoopi Goldberg, the show contains many real life images so awe-inspiring that they’re often indistinguishable from the digital simulations.

The show ends in a more typical planetarium fashion, with a display of the current San Francisco night sky which visitors can later view through telescopes from the rooftop of the museum.

On the main level, the four-story tropical rainforest is almost as stunning from the outside as it is from inside the glass walls.

There are 1,600 live animals inside, many of which are roaming free. While climbing the spiral walkway through a living reproduction of the humid rainforests of Madagascar and Costa Rica, curious guests can find miniature frogs on leaves and watch baby birds at feeding time with their mother, close enough to touch — if that were allowed.

Guests get a whole new perspective of the dome as they ride the glass elevator down to the flooded Amazon forest.

There, visitors can see living replicas of swamps and California’s underwater coast. Also in the aquarium, with brightly colored coral and fish and glowing blue water, is the stunning Philippine Coral Reef, which often serves as an impromptu dance floor on weeks that the aquarium hosts a DJ.

At the Islands of Evolution exhibit, producer and DJ Michael Anthony, accompanied by a saxophone player and bongo drums, catered to an energetic crowd of dancers and spectators.
The event first strikes you as a great first date spot or a place to begin an evening with friends, but it buzzes from beginning to end, making it tough to leave for your second destination. Almost every exhibit at NightLife is do-not-miss, and many will surely draw guests back. It’s official: science is sexy.

NightLife is a weekly event on Thursdays from 6 to 10 p.m. Entry is $12 for general admission and $10 for members. Passes for planetarium shows are given out on a first come, first serve basis. Final entry to the rainforest is at 7:30 p.m. This is a 21 and older event.

Now, UN climate body's Amazon forest claim falls flat

Wed, Jan 27, 2010
Source: IBNLive.com

New Delhi: RK Pachauri-led Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has landed in yet another controversy over its report that 40 per cent of the Brazilian rainforest in Amazon is threatened by climate change.

UK's newspaper Telegraph has reported the IPCC did not even research the claim themselves, merely lifting the report from the World Wildlife Fund.

The daily also claims that the report was written not by rainforest specialists, but a policy analyst and a journalist.

The UN climate body has already courted controversy over wrong claims made in its reports on the melting of Himalayan glaciers and linking floods and hurricanes to climate change.

IPCC had claimed that all Himalayan glaciers would melt by 2035.

Obama Administration Orders World Bank To Keep Third World In Poverty

Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Source: Prison Planet.com

Under the provably fraudulent and completely corrupted justification of fighting global warming, the Obama administration has ordered the World Bank to keep “developing” countries underdeveloped by blocking them from building coal-fired power plants, ensuring that poorer countries remain in poverty as a result of energy demands not being met.

Even amidst the explosive revelations of the United Nations IPCC issuing reports on the Himalayan Glaciers and the Amazon rainforest littered with incorrect data, the U.S. government has “Stepped up pressure on the World Bank not to fund coal-fired power plants in developing countries,” reports the Times of India.

The order was made by U.S. Executive Director of the World Bank Whitney Debevoise, who represents the United States in considering all loans, investments, country assistance strategies, budgets, audits and business plans of the World Bank Group entities.

By preventing poor nations from becoming self-sufficient in blocking them from producing their own energy, the Obama administration is ensuring that millions more will die from starvation and lack of access to hospitals and medical treatment.

Not only does strangling the energy supply to poorer countries prevent adequate food distribution and lead to more starvation, but hospitals and health clinics in the third world are barely even able to operate as a result of the World Bank and other global bodies ordering them to be dependent on renewable energy supplies that are totally insufficient.

A prime example appeared in the documentary The Great Global Warming Swindle, which highlighted how a Kenyan health clinic could not operate a medical refrigerator as well as the lights at the same time because the facility was restricted to just two solar panels.

“There’s somebody keen to kill the African dream. And the African dream is to develop,” said author and economist James Shikwati. “I don’t see how a solar panel is going to power a steel industry … We are being told, ‘Don’t touch your resources. Don’t touch your oil. Don’t touch your coal.’ That is suicide.”

The program labels the idea of restricting the world’s poorest people to alternative energy sources as “the most morally repugnant aspect of the global warming campaign.”

The failure of Copenhagen: what now for the EU?

22.01.2010
Source: European Voice

Raising the EU's emissions-reduction target to 30% should be part of a new, six-point plan for the EU in the wake of the Copenhagen summit.

In her hearing before the European Parliament last week, the new European commissioner-designate for climate action, Connie Hedegaard, made the point that the EU had been ineffective at the UN's recent climate summit in Copenhagen, because, while the massed ranks of India, China, Brazil and South Africa had been able to speak with one voice, the EU's position was characterised by numerous and often conflicting positions.

The outcome of the summit, the Copenhagen Accord, is far from the legally binding and ambitious treaty many had hoped for. There were many reasons for failure, including the ineffective UN negotiating process, deep distrust between developed and developing countries and the unwillingness of the US, China, India, Brazil and South Africa to have a robust treaty. These failures mean that achieving a successful deal within an international framework is to say the least remote. To move forward, the EU needs to act decisively and as one.

The EU can and should develop a strategy based on its own self-interest, its economic power and its partnerships with developing countries. There are a number of important steps, which can help the EU regain its climate leadership and drive economic growth.

Firstly, the EU is already leading the world in many low-carbon technologies. It should capitalise on this position to lead the low-carbon revolution. The existing target of a reduction in greenhouse-gas emissions of between 80% and 95% by 2050 must now be turned into a realistic transition strategy involving a detailed plan for a series of actions over time to decarbonise the economy, giving business the certainty it needs to invest, certainty that Copenhagen failed to provide.

Moving to a reduction of emissions of 30% below 1990 by 2020 will be an essential step in such a transition strategy. To protect EU industry against unfair competition the temporary, non-discriminatory and transparent use of border tax adjustments in specific cases may be needed. However, the EU must also recognise that it is in its own best interests in terms of sustainable economic growth, employment and energy security to embark on the low-carbon growth path.

Secondly, the EU should make climate change the centrepiece of its common foreign and security policy. Climate change is the defining challenge of our times, and acts as a multiplier of crises in unstable regions. The Union's new foreign affairs chief must integrate climate change into every aspect of the EU's foreign relations, and make action on climate change a defining element in bilateral relations. The statements made by Catherine Ashton in her hearing before the European Parliament were a positive start.

Building solidarity with vulnerable countries is also a necessary step and the Lomé Convention on trade and aid currently links Europe with a large number of vulnerable countries in Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific. Important partnerships in the field of renewable energy exist as well, such as the Euro-Mediterranean Renewable Energy Partnership.

Thirdly, the so-called ‘fast start' funding – money pledged in Copenhagen by developed countries to help developing countries build capacity to fight climate change – should be used to create transformative partnerships. Norway has taken an impressive lead on tackling deforestation and established the Amazon Fund with Brazil – a model for rainforest protection that is now being replicated in Guyana, Indonesia and elsewhere. There is considerable scope for similar, transformative partnerships to be pursued with ambitious countries in the field of renewable energy. By co-funding feed-in-tariffs in selected countries, the EU would build trust, mobilise private capital, and provide the institutional learning desperately needed for large-scale international climate finance.

Co-ordination of fast-start funding between the EU, the US, Japan and others is also essential. Since fast-start funding of developing country actions over the coming years will be based on bilateral arrangements, by working together, the major donors can guarantee an effective common approach to ensure that funding goes to developing and implementing low-carbon and climate-resilient growth strategies in interested developing countries.

Fourthly, initiatives should be taken to raise large amounts of new international funding to pay for the adaptation and mitigation policies necessary in the developing world if we are to keep warming to less than 2°C. By mobilising support for a levy on shipping fuels, with the proceeds going to vulnerable countries, or even implementing such a system together with the countries associated through the Lomé Convention, the EU could play a key role.

Fifth, as supported by Hedegaard in her hearing, the EU must stop subsiding fossil fuels. Today, public money is being poured into coal-fired power stations, coal mines, oil fields and similar projects via multilateral development banks and export credit agencies. This can and must be stopped, and public resources should be redirected to lower the risk premium for large-scale private investment in renewable energies.

Finally, the EU can use its market power to drive low-carbon innovation globally. The EU has a market of over 500 million consumers, most of whom are buying goods made overseas. Introducing ambitious standards for energy efficiency of manufactured goods will create incentives for producers around the world to change production processes, which will have a major impact on products used elsewhere.

The EU needs to think beyond the context that was created in Copenhagen, revitalise the battle against climate change and make the decisions now that change the course of our economic development for the future.

The EU has the opportunity to lead the world to a prosperous, low-carbon future while bolstering its competitiveness and the economic and energy security of its citizens. But bold and creative approaches will be required, and Europe must act now if it is not to be left on the sidelines of the next industrial revolution, the low-carbon revolution.

Cool Earth coffee: protecting an endangered rainforest tree with every jar purchased

Wednesday, 27 January 2010
Source: Talking Retail

Cool Earth, a registered charity dedicated to protecting endangered rainforests, is launching its own coffee brand which is set to become one of the most powerful green brands in the supermarket.

Produced and manufactured by FFI (Fine Foods International) from 100% Rainforest Alliance Certified Brazilian coffee beans, Cool Earth Coffee rolls out across supermarkets from spring 2010 at a recommended retail price of £2.99 for 100g jar.

For every jar bought, Cool Earth will protect a critically endangered tree in the Amazon rainforest which would otherwise fall victim to loggers within 18 months.

Founded in 2007, Cool Earth has prevented 14 tonnes of CO2 emissions for every minute it has been in business. With over 110,000 acres and 30 million tonnes of CO2 under 24/7 protection, Cool Earth is also the world's largest community-led climate group.

The launch of Cool Earth Coffee follows on from the successful roll out of their Tree for £1 campaign in November 2009 and opening of their online branded shop, as well as brand partnerships with Red Sky Crisps and Tropicana in the US.

Can the Rainforests Be Saved Without a Plan?

01/26/2010
Source: Spiegel Online

An aerial view of a deforested Amazonian jungle. Can money and good intentions really help
stop deforestation if there really isn't much of an overarching plan?

The West wants to direct billions toward protecting forest lands, but the lack of any standardized rules and enforcement methods could lead to disaster. Experts warn that the wrong people might benefit from the money and argue indiginous peoples, not bureaucrats, should watch over the rainforests.

It would seem like fairly simple logic: If you want to help protect the environment, help save the forests. Huge amounts of carbon dioxide are stored in plants and the soil beneath them. So, clearing forests using slash-and-burn techniques only succeeds in releasing harmful CO2 and methane gas into the atmosphere.

Even if it is still difficult to precisely quantify the carbon footprint of deforestation, it would still only seem logical that there would be some sort of financial reward for protecting the forests. One mechanism, known as "Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation," or REDD -- envisions a system that would allow industrialized countries to pay developing and newly industrializing countries to preserve large tracts of forest land. But a newly published report suggests that the REDD program might also give rise to its own set of problems.

The report was put together by the Washington-based Rights and Resources Initiative (RRI), whose partners include the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR). "The states have pledged heaps of money without agreeing to any framework or standards for REDD," RRI coordinator Andy White told SPIEGEL ONLINE. As White sees it, the fact that the world failed to reach a climate agreement in Copenhagen has meant that there are no rules or enforcement measures in place for properly implementing projects aimed at protecting forests.

Indeed, scientists at RRI fear that governments of developing and newly industrializing countries might be tempted to disregard the rights of local communities in order to get their hands on the money of investors as quickly as possible.

Billions in Promises
The amount of money involved is enormous. So far, there have only been pilot projects, but some industrialized nations have announced plans to devote very large amounts of money to protecting forests. For example, in Copenhagen, six nations -- the United States, Australia, Norway, Great Britain, France and Japan -- pledged to make approximately $3.5 billion (€2.5 billion) available before 2012 for REDD-related projects. In the next few years, this figure could get even higher, particularly if more countries decide to join in the effort.

REDD is attractive to industrialized nations for a number of reasons. First, it helps them protect the environment more effectively. Second, it gives rich countries a chance to spare themselves from having to take unpopular domestic measures by investing in climate protection abroad. But a run on the forest-protection projects could destroy the CO2 trading systems that are already operating in places like Europe. A flood of cheap emissions certificates from REDD projects could drive the price of emitting greenhouse gases way down.

White and his colleagues fear that, as long as there are no uniform rules for the projects, the downpour of REDD-related funding might have problematic consequences. For example, they warn that the measures might lead to more corruption and to indigenous populations being deprived of their rights. For example, in the worst-case scenario, they fear that REDD funds could end up in the coffers of lumber companies that have managed to get their hands on forest licenses beforehand in some sort of shady way.

Slim Chances for Universal Regulation

Rules related to protecting forests are theoretically supposed to come as part of a larger global pact on climate change. But ever since the chaos surrounding last December's climate change summit in Copenhagen, it's been anyone's guess whether such regulations will ever take shape. Given this state of affairs, France and Norway have announced that they will host meetings this year focused on hammering out framework conditions specifically for projects related to protecting forests. Although the meetings will not result in any system of universal regulation, they should succeed in getting key nations -- such as Brazil and Indonesia -- onboard. Still, White is convinced that only a coordinated approach for a REDD system will have any chance of bringing about positive results on the global level.

The main demand of the researchers at RRI are that, to the greatest extent possible, local communities be put in charge of looking after the forests rather than bureaucrats drawn from the administrative ranks. "The level of deforestation is the highest in government forests," Andy White says. On the other hand, he notes that the lowest wood-harvesting rates are found in areas administered by local inhabitants -- and that these rates are even lower than those in national parks. Likewise, White points to "encouraging signs of progress" in land-reform efforts in China and Brazil that benefit local groups.

Some of these efforts have met with apparent success. For example, there have been significant reductions in deforestation rates in the Amazon rainforest. During the climate summit in Copenhagen, Almir Surui, the chief of the Surui tribe in the western Brazilian state of Rondonia, advocated for allowing his people to be put in charge of their own forest. And, as he put it, since his tribe watched over the rain forests, it should also get the money for doing so. His tribe has come up with a 50-year plan aimed at allowing them to keep living in a traditional way within an intact forest.

'A Major Opportunity '

Andy White is calling for the forest protection issues to be resolved by the end of the year. As he sees it, REDD continues to present "a major opportunity." Likewise, many developing and newly industrialized countries continue to be interested in the approach. If nothing else, they still see it as an indication of how willing wealthier nations are to invest in climate protection.

But, as one example in South America shows, it's clear that there is only so much time left for negotiating. And in Ecuador, the government had been planning to forego tapping the enormous Ishpingo-Tambococha-Tiputini oilfields as long as it was adequately compensated for not doing so. The asking price was $3.5 billion (€2.5 billion) -- or half of the estimated market price of the oil that could presumably be extracted over a 10-year period.

But a few days ago, President Rafael Correa expressed his displeasure at the current state of negotiations. As he put it, his country did not intend to let foreign powers impose their will on it. "What they want," Correa said," is for all of the little birdies in the entire Amazon region to live happy lives while the people there starve to death." The state-owned oil company Petroecuador is now reportedly preparing a tender for drilling in the oil reserves. The Chinese oil company Sinopec and its Brazilian competitor, Petrobas, are planning bids, according to the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.

Blue Peter star heads off on Amazon adventure

Jan 25, 2010
Source: Cool Earth

Blue Peter presenter Helen Skelton is to embark on a rainforest adventure which will see her kayak thousands of miles down the Amazon river.

The 26-year-old is attempting to become the first women to ever kayak 2,010 miles down the river solo.

Speaking to the Telegraph, Skelton shared her concerns about the trip and also sought to show people that despite being a children's TV presenter, she can still take on such challenges.

"I'm a kids TV presenter. I use hair straighteners every day. But just because I am a girlie girl doesn't mean I can't be gritty," she insisted.

The newspaper noted that on the journey, she is likely to come face to face with 20 foot long snakes, crocodiles and "hideous blisters" from the rowing.

Skelton is tackling the river to raise funds for Sport Relief and has already turned down a challenge to swim the length of the Panama Canal for "not being good enough".

Skelton hails from Cumbria and begun her journey down the Amazon river on January 20th. Overall, the trip is expected to take six weeks.

Amazon Defense Coalition: Chevron Facing Free Speech Problems In U.S. Over Defense of $27 Billion Ecuador Lawsuit

Tue, 26 Jan 2010
Source: Earthtimes (press release)

SAN FRANCISCO - (Business Wire) Chevron is facing charges that its aggressive defense of a $27 billion environmental liability in Ecuador is crossing the line into violating the free speech rights of its critics in the U.S., according to news reports and publicly available court filings.

Legal papers filed earlier this month in federal court in San Francisco accuse Chevron of trying to create a “chilling effect” by using lawsuits to silence critics of its misconduct in violation of free speech rights guaranteed by the Constitution. Chevron is accused of orchestrating the ejection by the City of Houston of runners from the Houston Marathon Expo Center – where the oil giant was the main sponsor – because the runners wanted to call attention to human rights problems in Ecuador that are the subject of the lawsuit.

“The tactics Chevron is now using have gone beyond what is reasonable in a litigation context and are clearly meant to intimidate its opponents into silence, implicating Constitutional rights in the process,” said Laura Garr, an American advisor to the Amazonian communities.

In Houston, Chevron attracted unwanted headlines earlier this month when members of a team of runners from the Rainforest Action Network participating in the Chevron Houston Marathon were forcibly removed from the marathon’s Expo. The runners had paid for a table to distribute “I’m Running for Human Rights” stickers and information about Chevron’s refusal to clean up the environmental disaster in Ecuador, where a lawsuit accuses the company of dumping billions of gallons of toxic waste into the rainforest to cut costs.

Steven Karpas, director of the marathon, told the runners from RAN that “higher ups at Chevron are freaking out” and threatened to arrest them if they didn’t leave. Police then ejected the runners from the city-owned and operated building for exercising their right to free speech, giving rise to First Amendment claims against both the city of Houston and Chevron, according to RAN.

The ejection received wide coverage in the Houston media.

“It is a sad day when the Chevron Houston Marathon - which raises awareness and money for many important causes - would deny the legal rights of participants to appease a corporate sponsor that is clearly ashamed of its human rights record,” said Maria Ramos, one of the RAN runners.

In San Francisco, the separate, legal case accuses Chevron of violating a California law that prevents corporations from threatening lawsuits to silence its critics. The case was brought by a lawyer, Cristobal Bonifaz, who has been a longtime critic of Chevron’s malfeasance in Ecuador and who was once involved in the underlying environmental litigation in that country.

The California law, called an anti-SLAPP statute, is intended to prevent SLAPP (Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation) lawsuits brought to censor, intimidate and silence critics by burdening them with the cost of defending a frivolous lawsuit until they abandon their criticism. It has been used on over 200 occasions since its inception in 1993.

Bonifaz, a 75-year old semi-retired attorney who works as a sole practitioner on his farm in Massachusetts, was responding to a Chevron lawsuit against him for “malicious prosecution” for bringing an unrelated case against the company on behalf of seven individuals who claimed that had cancer due to contamination caused by the company. Bonifaz later withdrew his claims when it turned out medical records did not support the claims, blaming an Ecuadorian paralegal for the problem.

The case against Bonifaz was brought on Chevron’s behalf by Gibson Dunn & Crutcher, a law firm that prides itself on using scorched-earth litigation tactics to represent large corporations and is now facing charges that is being used by Chevron as a sort of “legal goon squad” to intimidate critics of the company’s Ecuador problem.

In the underlying environmental case in Ecuador, Chevron is charged with deliberately dumping billions of gallons of toxic waste when it operated several large oil fields in Ecuador's Amazon from 1964 to 1990, decimating indigenous groups and causing a spike in cancer rates and other oil-related diseases. A court-appointed Special Master in Ecuador, where the trial is being held at Chevron’s request, found 1,401 excess cancer deaths due to the contamination and pegged damages at $27.3 billion.

A final judgment is expected this year.

Using lawsuits to intimidate its detractors is just one component of Chevron’s overall strategy. The company also is using six public relations firms and numerous lobbyists in the U.S. to try to minimize fallout over the Ecuador problem, but with little success given negative reports on 60 Minutes and various political setbacks for Chevron in the Congress.

“It appears to us that Chevron has no clear strategy to extricate itself from a problem that grows more threatening by the day,” said Garr. “As a result, it is now trying to intimidate its critics into silence. Ultimately, whether these tactics violate the Constitution will be determined by the courts.”

About the Amazon Defense Coalition

The Amazon Defense Coalition represents dozens of rainforest communities and five indigenous groups that inhabit Ecuador’s Northern Amazon region. The mission of the Coalition is to protect the environment and secure social justice through grass roots organizing, political advocacy, and litigation. Two of its leaders, Luis Yanza and Pablo Fajardo, are the 2008 winners of the prestigious Goldman Environmental Prize.

Nike Cuts CO2 Emissions by 4%

January 25, 2010
Source: Environmental Leader

Nike has reduced its overall CO2 emissions across the company and its supply chain by 4 percent in fiscal year (FY) 2009, compared to FY08, representing a return to FY07 levels, according to the company’s 2007 to 2009 corporate responsibility report.

Nike’s CO2 emissions from Nike-owned and operated facilities also declined 15 percent in FY09 from FY07 levels, and CO2 emissions from inbound logistics declined 9 percent between FY07 and FY09.

Here are some environmental highlights in the report.

Nike reports it has made progress implementing Lean and Human Resource Management training in contract factories, which is a key strategy for the company to build a lean and green supply chain. The company is also reducing waste and toxics as well as is increasing its use of environmentally preferred materials thanks to its Considered Design initiative.

Under its Considered Design program, Nike set targets for 100 percent of its U.S. footwear product reaching baseline standards by FY11, 100 percent of apparel product from the U.S., Europe and Hong Kong attaining baseline standards by FY15, and 100 percent of U.S. equipment product reaching baseline standards by FY20. Currently, 10 percent of Nike’s spring 09 footwear models and 17 percent of seasonal production volume achieved baseline considered ranking.

Nike also has created a GreenXchange (GX), a web-based marketplace designed to share intellectual property, which Nike expects will lead to new sustainability business models and innovation. GX will launch in 2010.

Nike also increased its use of environmentally preferred materials (EPMs) in footwear by 77 percent from FY06 to FY09. The company is also making progress in using EPMs in apparel, setting a goal to increase its use of EPMs to 20 percent by FY15.

As an example, Nike agreed to stop using leather imported from cattle raised on former Amazon rainforest lands last year.

The company is also working to reduce waste in the production of its footwear and apparel as well as packaging. The company has achieved a 19-percent reduction in FY09 over FY05 for waste in footwear production, and achieved a 30-percent reduction in packaging.

Between FY06 and FY09, closed-loop materials and take-back programs in footwear increased by 51 percent, to a total of more than 4.6 million kilograms, according to the report. In FY09, 11 percent of manufacturing waste was recycled back into closed-loop materials.

In FY09, Nike also achieved a 9-percent reduction in grams per pair of solid waste over FY07 and 24 percent reduction over FY05. However, when measured in total waste, rather than grams per pair, Nike achieved a reduction in FY09 of 2 percent over FY07, despite an 8-percent increase in production.

Nike also cut waste delivered to landfill from 25 percent of total in FY07 to 13 percent in FY09, and waste processed through in-house factory recycling programs increased from 8 percent of solid waste per pair in FY07 to 10 percent in FY09.

Nike is also working to cut its energy use companywide and in its supply chain. As an example, in 2008, Nike launched a footwear energy efficiency program with five contract manufacturers. So far the program has yielded a six percent decrease in absolute CO2 footprint at contract factories despite a 9 percent increase in production.

In 2009, Nike formed a new coalition of consumer companies called Business for Innovative Climate and Energy Policy (BICEP), which advocates for strong U.S. climate and energy legislation.

Nike also relinquished its position on the board of directors at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in protest over the chamber’s controversial position on climate change.

Preserving water is another goal at Nike. In FY07-09, more than 80 percent of Nike’s footwear factories were fully compliant with all local wastewater discharge standards. Every Nike-contracted footwear factory is required to have an on-site wastewater treatment plant or to discharge wastewater to a central wastewater treatment facility.

Thanks in part to some of these environmental programs, Nike topped Climate Counts’ third annual corporate climate performance scorecard with 83 points (out of a possible 100) for the second year in a row.

Peru: From the Inca ruins of Machu Picchu to the heart of the Amazon

24th January 2010
Source: Daily Mail

Jeeves would have been impressed. Our butler Juan scampered up and down the steep wooden steps to fetch our dinner some 100ft below, while we sipped chilled champagne watching the blood-red sky turn inky black over the jungle.

We were sitting on a platform high above the canopy after crossing a series of wobbly suspended walkways. Beneath us, the carpet of luxuriant foliage was so thick we couldn't see the forest floor.

Brightly-coloured parrots flew past at eye level, and as darkness enveloped us, the lights of fireflies flickered nearby while shooting stars exploded above.

Amazonian wildlife: Alpacas roam the hillsides around Cusco

After a dinner by moonlight, we made our way to a treehouse perched in the cleft of a massive cepanchina tree to camp out for the night.

Sleeping arrangements were basic, with two single beds either side of the tree trunk, a chemical toilet plonked beside it and a small washing bowl. But it was an unforgettable experience to be woken at dawn by a deafening cacophony of cackles, screeches and howls just outside.

I felt I was totally isolated in impenetrable greenery but in fact we were just a few minutes' walk from our eco lodge, situated in a small clearing beside the Madre de Dios river in the heart of the Peruvian Amazon.

Inkaterra Reserva Amazonica lies some 45 minutes downstream from the nearest town, Puerto Maldonado, and is accessible only by boat. Wreathed in dense, steamy rainforest, its pretty thatched cabanas are built on stilts.

Mine was situated right on the riverbank. Safely ensconced within its flyscreen walls, I could lie in my hammock watching weaver birds build their intricate nests while flashes of red overhead turned out to be scarlet macaws.

You don't even need to leave the grounds to see wildlife. In the hotel gardens, large tail-less rodents called agoutis sat nibbling brazil nuts and wild boar ambled across the grass.

On our first jungle walk, we had barely left the lodge before a family of squirrel monkeys leapt across the palm fronds just above us, their little black faces peering down as they swung from branch to branch, curling their long tails around the boughs.

Steamy rainforest: A jungle walk through the Inkaterra Reserve.

Following close on the heels of Elias, our guide, I stepped over gnarled roots and rotting logs as trailing vines and creepers brushed my face. He was an expert at identifying plants, pointing out trees to cure arthritis and malaria, and breaking off leaves for us to taste and smell.

Once darkness fell, nocturnal creatures ventured out. Furry black tarantulas clung to the tree trunks. A bright green monkey frog sat camouflaged in his leafy hideaway and an orb spider spun a huge wheel-shaped web with amazing alacrity, the gossamer threads turning silver in the torchlight.

Walking back along the river, Elias pointed out caimans lying in the mud below. 'Hold the torch up to your ears,' he told me. 'It is easier to spot their red eyes.'

We were to see caimans close up on a visit to the Tambopata National Reserve, just across the river. Gigantic palm trees, their roots immersed in water, towered over us as we paddled silently along the banks of Lake Sandoval in our dugout canoe.

The tips of the caimans' heads were just visible above the water as they lay in the shallows, inches from the boat. Cobalt-blue butterflies, the size of small birds, settled on my hand and turtles basked in the sun.

It was hot and still but suddenly there was a flurry of activity in the middle of the lake. A family of giant otters were diving for fish, their shiny black heads surfacing momentarily for air. 'They are extremely rare now,' Elias told me. 'We are lucky to see them.'

Awe-inspiring: The ruins at Machu Picchu

We found we were gasping for air ourselves the next morning when we stepped off the plane into the rarefied atmosphere of Cusco, the ancient capital of the Incas. In the space of half an hour, we had been catapulted from virtually sea level to two miles above it.

To combat altitude sickness, we gulped mugfuls of Mate de Coca tea as soon as we checked in at our hotel. The coca leaf, chewed by the Incas, helps alleviate symptoms and is still used widely today.

We were staying at La Casona, a beautiful colonial mansion originally owned by one of the Conquistadors. It's hidden away behind the main square, the Plaza des Armas, and the aromatic scent of palo santo ('holy wood' oil) wafted through its inner courtyard, which was decorated with antique wall hangings.

The city itself is a unique blend of Spanish and Inca architecture. The narrow cobblestone alleyways are lined with finely carved Inca walls, the massive blocks fitting together as snugly as a jigsaw. The baroque cathedral was constructed with stones from the nearby fortress of Sacsayhuaman, and at Qorikancha the cloisters of Santo Domingo monastery are built around a former temple complex.

The Incas must have been brilliant stonemasons. As I stood in the doorway of one of the temples, I could see how the walls tilted inwards to withstand earthquakes.

'The whole building would have been inlaid in gold,' my guide told me. Outside, Indian women with embroidered hats, brightly coloured shawls and full skirts posed for photos with their recalcitrant llamas.

Llamas and alpacas roamed the barren hillsides around the city. Travelling through the Sacred Valley, we stopped at Awana Kancha, a local co-operative, to feed them. Some resembled rastafarians, their shaggy hair touching the ground. Others, more like supermodels, gazed at us disdainfully with their kohl-black eyes and long lashes.

Nearly 250 Quechua families from the highlands are involved in the project and come down from their villages to work for ten days at a time. The women sat on the ground spinning and weaving on their handmade looms, while the men showed us how to make natural dyes. The beautifully crafted articles are superb quality and worth buying at premium prices.

We continued past clusters of adobe houses and ancient terraces clinging to the hillsides before boarding a train at Ollantaytambo for the one-and-a-half-hour journey to the fabled Inca ruins of Machu Picchu.

Although they were discovered nearly 100 years ago, there is still no road through the deep gorge linking them to the outside world. The narrow-gauge railway hugs the cliff face while the churning waters of the Urubamba River crash over the rocks far below.

We joined hordes of tourists queuing to enter the site early one morning-The remains of terraces, temples and palaces are draped over a mountain ridge. Clouds rolled in over the citadel, creating an almost mystical atmosphere, as all around us the ghostly forms of junglecovered peaks faded into the swirling mist.

In such an extraordinary setting, it was easy to see why the Incas worshipped-nature. Stone sculptures, positioned to catch the first rays of the sun, had religious significance and as we scrambled up the steep pathways we came across sacred rocks, their outlines mirror-images of the mountains behind them.

At our hotel, I joined our guide Carmen on a twilight walk to our own sacred rock shrouded in lush vegetation in the gardens. Leading us by candlelight to a cliff wall scarred by the branches of a strangled fig, she pointed out prehistoric symbols etched into the granite.

After a silent prayer, she passed round handfuls of dried coca leaves for us to place gently on the ground, our own offerings to Mother Earth.

Blue Peter presenter Helen Skelton begins epic Amazon kayaking adventure

23 Jan 2010
Source: Telegraph.co.uk

Helen Skelton steers her 15-kilo boat along the crocodile-infested river

A terrible thought crosses Helen Skelton's mind. "I am going to need seven bottles of shampoo," she says, aghast.

It is indeed scary news for the 26-year-old Blue Peter presenter, but not perhaps the worry that would be uppermost in the minds of most people setting off on a world record-breaking ordeal.

Her task over the next six weeks is to kayak solo for 2,010 miles down the Amazon. No woman has ever done that before, let alone one with no paddling experience.

On route she can expect to encounter 20ft anacondas and shoals of piranhas; hideous blisters and sores are guaranteed.

As she steers her 15-kilo boat along the crocodile-infested river, there is also a likelihood that she will contract a disease such as yellow fever or malaria.

But, with the glorious optimism of youth, it is her bottle-assisted blonde hair that she is fretting about.

Meeting her in the primary-coloured Blue Peter studio at the BBC before her departure, every inch of 5ft 3", Skelton looks perfect for the life the programme's presenters used to lead – caring for animals, making Tracy Island with sticky-backed plastic – in the days before the producers decided to beat Top Gear at its own game.

Sparkly silver eye liner, a short skirt and a red bow in her hair, make her appear every 7-year-old's dream role model.

But it would be a mistake to underestimate Skelton. "I'm a kids TV presenter. I use hair straighteners every day.

"But just because I am a girlie girl doesn't mean I can't be gritty," she says with the steely glint that has already taken her a long way in her short life.

Last year, she proved her point when, in April, she became the second woman to complete the 78-mile ultra-marathon in Namibia, running the three consecutive marathons in 23 hours and 50 minutes.

So this year, when Blue Peter decided to stage a stunt to raise awareness for Sport Relief, Skelton wanted even more of a challenge.

She was at the hairdressers when Greg Whyte, the Olympic sports scientist who trained David Walliams to swim the Channel, rang to suggest she swam the 51-mile Panama Canal.

"Great, but not tough enough," she replied, "and it must appeal to kids." He then suggested a section of the Amazon, to which she replied: "Why do a bit, when you can do the whole thing?"

James Cracknell, the double Olympic gold medallist, was asked his opinion. Having nearly died during his attempt to row the Atlantic with Sunday Telegraph columnist Ben Fogle, he was blunt.

"You can't do this," he told her. "You don't know me," replied Helen.

She arrived at the start of her journey a week ago, after visiting two of the many charities assisted by Sport Relief: What4, a drop-in centre to keep young people off the streets in Cheriton, Kent, and Proceso Social, which works with the families who live on the rubbish tips of Peru's capital, Lima.

The charity projects were inspiring, but she was soon in tears when she arrived at the Amazon last week.

"Everything went wrong. We didn't have a boat to take us out, so I only managed half a day on Wednesday, the first day, and on Thursday we started late so already I'm behind," she admitted via satellite phone from the river.

"Within two hours of paddling, my hands were so badly blistered that they had to be taped up, I took a wrong direction and had fight the current; it was exhausting. The heat here is so intense that it really drains you."

It sounds like she might almost be ready to give up. "Oh no," she shrieks, "It's pure comedy and there are pink dolphins – really pink, not grey – that come close to the boat. I still reckon that if I manage 60 miles a day – just a little more than the 58 I managed on Thursday – I can make it."

The secret of her iron will is the desire, as a child, to keep up with her sporty elder brother, Gavin, who now plays football for Kilmarnock.

As children on their parents' dairy farm in Cumbria, she would be left behind if she didn't run, bike and play as fast as boys two years' older.

Over the years, her family has learnt not to talk sense into her when a certain look appears on her face. "Good Luck" is all they dare say, for fear of adding to her determination.

Helen will need luck over the next six weeks because a punishing schedule lies ahead.

For six out of seven days each week, she will paddle for at least ten hours, from 5.30am until dark, with only a short break for lunch when the heat and 100 per cent humidity become unbearable.

On the seventh day, she will make films to inform Blue Peter's 750,000 viewers about the flora and fauna of the world biggest river, and write a weekly column for the Sunday Telegraph's Travel section about her adventures.

This is a genuinely risky assignment. Even Google is baffled by trying to find a route from Natua in Peru, where the rivers Maranon and Ucayli join to form the Amazon, down to Almeirim in Brazil where the river becomes tidal.

There are no roads, no towns, only rainforest and the river, often wider than the English Channel, along which she must navigate. If she falls ill, it will take around 11-hours to fly her to safety.

To make life still more stressful, she is paddling against the clock because the BBC – mindful of the licence fee payer, its schedules, and Sports Relief weekend starting on March 19th – has booked her a non-transferable flight home on March 5th.

Nor is the BBC wasting money on frills. Prior to her departure, the Blue Peter studio was piled high with boxes of filming equipment, mosquito repellent and sunscreen, but Helen's personal comfort comes second.

"I've only got one seamless bra, which shouldn't chafe, because they cost £50 each," she says, and some special pants that will act as a wick to remove the sweat.

Surely it would be better to paddle naked, as Cracknell and Fogle did on the Atlantic, to avoid clothes rubbing?

She shakes her head vigorously. "I can't do that because there will be four men on the other boat – producer, cameraman, doctor and fixer – watching me all the time."

Nothing in her life so far has prepared her for the gruelling journey – not being an extra on Coronation Street, nor being an qualified tap-dancer, certainly not her degree in journalism from the Cumbria Institute of Arts, or her pre-Blue Peter experience presenting a breakfast programme on Radio Cumbria.

On November 1st, when she was given the go-ahead for the Amazon trip, she had only ever been kayaking once before, this summer.

"I was in a New York hotel room, having run a marathon. Immediately I took hold of a broom handle and started paddling on my bed."

From then until she left for Peru just over a week ago, she struggled to train for four hours each day. She can now manage 300 press-ups in a row, but still most wiseacres believe the Amazon challenge will defeat her.

If she does make it, it will partly because she is listening to Queen's "Don't Stop Me Now" on her iPod, and partly because children all over the country are emailing her their encouragement.

"Who am I to let them down?" says Miss Grit. "It would be like saying the tooth fairy doesn't exist."

World of words

January 23, 2010
Source: Calgary Herald

Author Glenn Dixon hopes his book, Pilgrim in the Palace of Words, offers a glimpse into the inner workings of cultures around the world.

- Spotlight: Glenn Dixon will hold a mixed-media event at the Engineered Air Theatre on Saturday, Jan. 30, at 7:30 p.m.

Three years ago, Glenn Dixon spent five days at what must have seemed like the end of the earth.

In the Amazon rainforest, he lived among the Achuar, a tribe that was apparently unaware of the outside world, and vice versa, until they were “discovered” in the mid-1970s. Dixon, a travel writer and language consultant with the Calgary Board of Education, was there as part of the research for what would eventually become his newly released debut, Pilgrim in the Palace of Words: A Journey Through the 6,000 Languages of Earth (Dundurn Press, 351 Pages, $24.99). The Achuar, he reckoned, were a good case study in how language evolves without outside influence.

Dixon describes his journey to find them as a somewhat harrowing trip that begins in the capital of Ecuador and continues inside increasingly smaller planes that plunge deeper into the wilderness.

Once there, he discovers the Achuar are anything but quaint tree huggers. One of those rare groups to have been spared the influence of the western world, they apparently remain fierce, blow dart-wielding warriors with a long history of family vendettas and warfare. Meanwhile, the relatively untouched language and rules of social interaction are governed by ritual and a strict code of conduct.

Dixon is told that making eye contact with the men is a bad idea. Making eye contact with the women might be even worse.

And if they offer some of their beloved Nijiamanch, a cloudy substance fermented by human saliva and charitably referred to as “beer,” he should attempt to appear gracious.

“I was told, ‘you don’t really have to drink this stuff, but at least be welcoming of it,’ ” Dixon says, sipping a coffee at the Calgary Herald cafeteria. “I didn’t try it. But it was all very ritualized.”

While Dixon’s sense of adventure might stop short of sampling saliva-beer, it appears to be otherwise all-encompassing.

He is interested in linguistics, having written his master’s thesis on the rarefied topic of linguistic relativity. But it doesn’t take long into a conversation with the amiable Calgarian to realize that his real interest is in globe-trotting adventure.

“I know that Chapters has put it under language and dictionaries,” says Dixon. “There is a whole section there on linguistics. But I thought, no, I’d rather it be under literary, adventure travel.”

Pilgrim in the Palace of Words is certainly defined more by Dixon’s first-person experiences, chance encounters and dialogue with strangers than academic theories.

As of this summer, the 50-something former teacher has visited 60 countries around the world. Four years ago he decided to mix his love of travel with his more scholarly pursuits. But for the most part, his debut is an episodic adventure tale chronicling how his travels influence his study of words. It took him from the troubled holy lands of Israel, to Cambodia’s temples of Angkor, to remote Tibetan palaces and into Turkey, Peru, Greece and countless other spots.

The idea, Dixon said, was to show how the world’s 6,000 languages are fragile and ever-evolving, how they’ve helped shape history while offering a glimpse into the inner workings of cultures around the world.

“I hope people get the bigger picture, not necessarily just the language,” Dixon says. “I myself am not a great language learner. It’s more about just talking with these people and learning about their culture.”

And while his trip to visit the Achuar was certainly well-planned, many of the other moments of enlightenment seem to occur almost by chance. Travelling on a crowded bus while crossing into Turkey, for instance, Dixon comes across a hulking Nigerian who spends the long journey discussing the 200 languages of his home country.

Dixon takes the wrong bus during a planned trip to Athens, and accidentally ends up at the ruins of Delphi, where Greek mythology teaches the “human world meets the divine.” But among the people he meets there are a pair of tourists from Quebec of all places, who are able to offer their own lessons in language.

“I would say almost all of it was happy accidents,” Dixon says. “It’s always in the back of my mind to be asking questions about their language and get them going about that. And everybody is happy to talk about their language and culture. And sometimes that’s not just the people that live there but the other travellers that I’m on the road with. They’re endlessly fascinating people.”

The former Winston Churchill High School student said it was his early years teaching English as a second language in Calgary schools that led to an interest in other cultures. And if he was able to determine any universal truths about humans regardless of their language, it was that we are generally welcoming of outsiders.

In the book, Dixon is attacked by wild dogs while in Spain. A shark comes dangerously close to him while he’s swimming in Belize. Humans, on the other hand, seem relatively benign.

“Everywhere I’ve gone, people have been welcoming,” says Dixon. “In all my travels — 60 countries now — I’ve never had trouble with a human being. Maybe I’m just lucky.”