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bmoran

Carbon Sinks, Forests and Climate Change - Global Issues - 0 views

  • Over the past 150 years, deforestation has contributed an estimated 30 percent of the atmospheric build-up of CO2. It is also a significant driving force behind the loss of genes, species, and critical ecosystem services. However, in the international policy arena, biodiversity loss and climate change have often moved in wholly unconnected domains. — Climate, Biodiversity, and Forests, World Resources Institute, 1998
  • Carbon Sinks and LandA mechanism suggested for tackling climate change and warming has been the idea of using "Carbon Sinks" to soak up carbon dioxide. To aid in this, reforestation, or planting of new forests, have been suggested. This is a popular strategy for the logging industry and nations with large forests interests, such as Canada, the United States, various Latin American nations, and some Asian countries such as Indonesia.While there may be some potential in this solution, it cannot be effective on its own. This is because it legitimizes continued destruction of old-growth and pristine forests which are rich ecosystem and have an established biodiversity base (albeit shrinking now) that naturally maintain the environment (at no cost!). Creating new forest areas would require the creation of entire ecosystems. It is also criticized for being a quick fix that doesn't tackle the root causes effectively and doesn't lead to, or promote actual emissions reduction.
  • Environmentalists and others point out that the use of carbon sinks is a big loophole in the Kytoto Protocol; that if carbon sinks can be counted towards emissions reductions credit, then industrialized countries would be able to meet their commitments while reducing emissions by less than would otherwise be required. Because they are carbon sinks, it means that when forests burn or as vegetation naturally dies, they release more carbon too (because it is stored carbon). As the climate changes, it is possible that there may be more forest fires etc, releasing more carbon. (And then these sinks would become sources!)
Chelcie

Climate Change - Guaraqueçaba Climate Action Project - global warming and cli... - 0 views

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    This article focuses on climate change problems that are directly affecting the South America area. Due to destruction of tropical rainforest, which is an issue we discussed on Friday during class, there are at least 15 species of birds that are being endangered.
Chelcie

Climate Change - Climate Change and Biodiversity: An Interactive Map - 0 views

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    This website has an interactive map that allows users to see potential problems that the climate change is causing globally.
katiescan

The Earth Institute at Columbia University - 0 views

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    This is a website about how climate effects society.  It talks about how the climate has changed and how you can help.  It also has great links to other sites for example, poverty and food scaracity. 
bmoran

Global Warming and Population - Global Issues - 0 views

  • Population and Climate ChangeA “Malthusian” theory about the relationship between population growth and the environment suggests that as populations grow, they will strip their resources leading to famine, hunger and environmental degradation.As detailed further in this site’s section on population, that is an oversimplification and has largely shown not to be true. Instead, it has been factors such as politics and economics (i.e. how we use our resources and for what purpose) that has determined environmental degradation or sustainability.For example, the world’s wealthiest 20% (i.e. the rich countries) consume approximately 80% of the world’s resources, while the rest of humanity shares the other 20% of resource consumed, as noted in the consumption section of this web site.In regards to climate change, countries with large populations such as China and India have not been the countries contributing greenhouse gases for the decades that has been required to trigger climate change, as noted further above.While in total amounts their emissions might be high (China is second largest emitter after the United States, for example), per person, their emissions are significantly smaller as noted earlier.
  • as countries such as China, India and Brazil grow in prosperity, there will be large populations with purchasing power, consuming more goods and services, thus making more demands on the planet.Indeed, many environmentalists have constantly noted that if such countries were to follow the style of development that the rich countries used and emulate them, then our planet may not be able to cope much longer.
  • researchers have found that depending on what variables you factor in, the planet can support an extremely large population, or an extremely small one. These ranges are ridiculously wide: from 2 billion to 147 billion people! Why such variance? It depends on how efficiently resources are used and for what purpose (i.e. economics).
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    This article shows that overpopulation isn't really a problem IF we learn to use our resources effectively.
Sara Bedell

Climate 411 » President says CO2 emissions have declined - have they? - Envir... - 0 views

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    The president's report on CO2 for the year dipped in an ever steady up hill trend.  Graphs included.
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    the president's report on CO2 for the year dipped in an ever steady up hill trend. Graphs included
Sara Bedell

Climate 411 » That Ocean Fertilization Idea - Environmental Defense - 0 views

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    This is a blog about ocean firtialization and the information about what it can do to our environment if we start putting this stuff in our oceans.


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    This is a blog about ocean firtialization and the information about what it can do to our environment if we start putting this stuff in our oceans

Chelcie

My Way News - Pelosi: Climate Change Is a Reality - 0 views

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    This article discusses Nancy Pelsoi reaction to a meeting she attended in Greeland that dealt with Global Warming.
bmoran

UN Framework Convention on Climate Change - Global Issues - 0 views

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    This article informs us on the achievements and shortcomings of the UN's UNFCCC in facing Global Warming.
bmoran

Governments | Greenpeace International - 0 views

  • Industrialised nations are responsible for the bulk of greenhouse gas emissions - both today and historically. In the past, economic progress was linked directly to carbon dioxide emissions (via the burning of oil, coal and gas to generate energy). Renewable energy sources change this, but only a small number of nations have begun to implement them in earnest.
  • Two billion people – one third of the world's population – have no access to electricity for basic needs such as lighting or cooking. Getting people the clean and reliable energy necessary for essential needs such as clean water, health care facilities, heating and lighting is one of the most pressing problems facing humanity today.
  • Industrialised nations have the capital, resources and expertise to jump-start their renewable energy industries. Obviously, countries with advanced space programs, established higher educational systems and abundant cash for investment are better positioned to implement these new energy technologies then countries still struggling with basic energy needs.
bmoran

The Ozone Layer and Climate Change - Global Issues - 0 views

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    CFC's may not be the only thing that can destroy the ozone layer...
katiescan

Global Green - 0 views

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    This website is completely dedicated to global warming and what you can do to help turn it around.  There are a variety of ways one can help lower their CO2 emissions and this website shows you how you can start to make a big difference.
katiescan

Climate change controversy - SourceWatch - 0 views

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    This is a fabulous website to discuss the climate change controversy.  It gives a variety of challenges to those who believe global warming is happening.  Check it out and see what you think!!
jcoop11

Indigenous Australians - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia - 0 views

  • not been shown to be related to any languages outside Australia. In the late 18th century, there were anywhere between 350 and 750 distinct groupings and a similar number of languages and dialects
  • At the time of first European contact, it is estimated that a minimum of 315,000 and as many as 1 million people lived in Australia. Recent archaeological evidence suggests that the land could have sustained a population of 750,000[11].
  • the regions of heaviest Indigenous population were the same temperate coastal regions that are currently the most heavily populated
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  • While Torres Strait Island populations were agriculturalists who supplemented their diet through the acquisition of wild foods the remainder of Indigenous Australians were hunter-gatherers. Indigenous Australians along the coast and rivers were also expert fishermen. Some Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders relied on the dingo as a companion animal, using it to assist with hunting and for warmth on cold nights.
  • Torres Strait Islanders
  • Indigenous Australians did practise agriculture.
  • sugar cane, taro and sweet potato as well as husbanding pigs
  • In contrast Australian Aborigines did not cultivate any crops and lacked any domestic food animals
  • mainland Australia no animal other than the dingo
  • Indigenous diet included a wide variety of foods, such kangaroo, emu, wombats, goanna, snakes, birds, many insects such as honey ants and witchetty grubs. Many varieties of plant foods such as taro, nuts, fruits and berries were also eaten.
  • A primary tool used in hunting was the spear, launched by a woomera or spear-thrower in some locales. Boomerangs were also used by some mainland Indigenous peoples. The non-returnable boomerang (known more correctly as a Throwing Stick), more powerful than the returning kind, could be used to injure or even kill a kangaroo.
  • Permanent villages were the norm for most Torres Strait Island communities. In some areas mainland Indigenous Australians also lived in semi-permanent villages, most usually in less arid areas where fishing could provide for a more settled existence. Most Indigenous communities were semi-nomadic, moving in a regular cycle over a defined territory,
  • Many Indigenous communities also have a very complex kinship structure and in some places strict rules about marriage. In traditional societies, men are required to marry women of a specific moiety
  • To enable men and women to find suitable partners, many groups would come together for annual gatherings (commonly known as corroborees) at which goods were traded, news exchanged, and marriages arranged amid appropriate ceremonies. This practice both reinforced clan relationships and prevented inbreeding in a society based on small semi-nomadic groups.
  • The Indigenous Australians lived through great climatic changes and adapted successfully to their changing physical environment
Amanda Stueve

HEALTH-AFRICA: Beef up Budget Allocations to Achieve MDGs - 0 views

  • the Africa Health Strategy 2007-2015.
  • 15 percent of national budgets to health care,
  • It also urged governments to engage civil society and line ministries in mobilising resources for tuberculosis (TB).
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  • ‘‘Eight million Africans are dying from HIV/AIDS, TB and malaria every year. We want to stop this,'' Regis Mtutu of the Treatment Action Campaign
  • Regarding the commitment to put aside 15 percent of national budgets for health services, ‘‘only Botswana and The Gambia have met this promise'', Mtutu said.
  • included a plan to set up pharmaceutical plants for producing life-prolonging anti-retroviral drugs (ARVs). Mtutu pointed out that ‘‘the ministers for finance and industry were not part of the discussion. To succeed, the health ministers need mandates from their finance and industry counterparts.
  • policy officer at Oxfam Kenya office, told IPS that ‘‘‘MDGs' is just a label. It is a brand. ‘‘HIV/AIDS, TB, malaria and other diseases are really the issue. It is about systems to deliver health care. This should be the starting point to meeting the MDGs,'' said Edete.
  • lthough governments have committed themselves to the MDGs and the Abuja target, some prefer to move at their own pace. Kenya's government, for example, says it will commit 12 percent of its national budget to health by 2008
  • ‘‘It should be a step-by-step approach. Each country has its own strategy. If you set a time frame it might not work. For example, you cannot expect (strife-torn) countries like Somalia, Zimbabwe and the Democratic Republic of Congo to reach the 15 percent target. It is not practical,'' she told IPS.
  • the political and economic crisis in Zimbabwe deserves special mention as it is also a health crisis for Africa. People living with HIV/AIDS in Zimbabwe cannot obtain the care they need and the climate of violence is perpetuating the epidemics of HIV and TB. ‘‘The shockwaves from the crisis in Zimbabwe are reverberating throughout the continent as refugees seek health care and other services in neighbouring countries. Our health ministers must speak out on Zimbabwe on health and humanitarian grounds,'' the coalition argued.
  • a new report, ‘‘Paying for People'', published this month (April), Oxfam estimates that 13.7 billion US dollars must be invested every year to appoint an additional 1 million teachers and 2.1 million health care workers urgently needed to break the cycle of poverty in Africa.
  • ‘‘Today in too many of the world's poorest countries health and education services are dependent on a handful of workers struggling heroically to do their jobs on pitiful wages and in appalling conditions. Becoming a doctor, nurse or teacher is like signing a contract with poverty,'' Oxfam's Elizabeth Stuart wrote in the report.
  • Africa has 13 percent of the global population and 25 percent of the global burden of disease but only 1.3 percent of the global workforce.''
    • Amanda Stueve
       
      good stat
  • The report cites Tanzania as an example. This southern African country produces 640 doctors, nurses and midwives each year. But to reach the World Health Organisation's recommended staffing levels within 10 years it would need to produce 3,500 such health workers each year. Another example is Malawi where only nine percent of health facilities have adequate staff to provide basic health care. The country loses around 100 nurses each year ‘‘who emigrate in search of a better wage'', according to the Oxfam report. Charo told IPS that Kenyan health workers are not only moving overseas but are also seeking opportunities in the private sector for better pay. ‘‘If you work for government, you get 12,000 Kenya shillings (about 172 US dollars) but in the NGO or private sector you earn 40,000 shillings (nearly 572 US dollars) a month. People are tempted to move on.'' (END/2007)
    • Amanda Stueve
       
      good stats
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    Has some good statistics. Lists lots of problems in African heatlhcare. Has some info on Africa Health Strategy, and proposes more money will solve more problems.
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