By Suzanne York.   Amazingly, but perhaps not surprisingly, climate change has been barely mentioned in the U.S. presidential elections. This, despite the fact that 2016 is likely to be the hottest year on record. Fortunately, the leaders of other countries seem to have a better handle on it. A landmark international climate agreement was
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By Suzanne York. Recent legislation in California is empowering women to make the best choices for themselves and their families, in terms of reproductive health. Though it seems as if our nation should have passed legislation easing access to reproductive health years ago, it’s nevertheless a positive path forward. As the saying goes, “better late
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By Suzanne York. The clock is ticking and global environmental problems are mounting, with droughts, biodiversity loss, and acidic oceans and much more taking a toll on the planet. The International Union for the Conservation of Nature’s World Congress, currently taking place in Hawai’i, is tackling this growing list of threats to the environment. The
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By Suzanne York. It’s official, more or less – we have entered the Anthropocene epoch, a time when humanity’s impact on the planet is so transformational that it’s pushed the world into a new geological period. “New Age of Man” An international working group, after seven years of deliberation, voted unanimously (with one abstention) at
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By Suzanne York. One thing is for certain – there is not a lack of specially recognized days, especially for Earth’s endangered species. Last week there was World Elephant Day. This week, we have World Orangutan Day. If only the day could be celebrated with uplifting photos and stories.   But sadly, orangutans are facing multiple
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By Suzanne York. One elephant is killed every 15 minutes for its ivory. Perhaps it is appropriate that World Elephant Day (August 12) follows Earth Overshoot Day, the date when humanity exceeds the carrying capacity of the planet. This is because human beings are doing a good job of wiping wild elephants off the face
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By Suzanne York. Most people in the world will blithely go about their lives on August 8th, without knowing that on this day, we go into debt to nature. Otherwise known as Earth Overshoot Day, it is the day when humanity’s resource consumption for the year exceeds the planet’s ability to replenish its natural capital.
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By Suzanne York. Forests play a major role in maintaining life on Earth.   Yet with some exceptions (see India Plants 50 Million Trees in One Day), deforestation continues, with seemingly little regard for the consequences. The recently released UN Food and Agriculture Organization’s (FAO) State of the World’s Forests (Sofo) report found that, amongst tropical
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By Suzanne York. July 11th is officially recognized as World Population Day, a day meant to raise awareness on the impacts of population growth on people and the environment. This year’s theme for World Population Day is “investing in teenage girls.” In much of the world today their needs are shunted to the back burner
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By Suzanne York, www.transition-earth.org. Lately it seems that most of the news on women’s reproductive rights is focused on the shutting down of access to reproductive health/family planning services. But there are actually some good policies on women’s reproductive health that have been passed this year at the state level. In May, the state of Maryland
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