Posts Tagged ‘ Climate Change ’

Time to Shed Our Fear: Words of Wisdom From an Inspiring Woman

Jun 5th, 2014 | By
mathaai-slider

By Suzanne York, www.howmany.org World Environment Day – a day “for encouraging worldwide awareness and action for the environment” – is another officially recognized day by the United Nations for doing something (anything) positive for the environment. Given the fragility of the climate, environment and communities around the world, it is a good time to
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Endangered Species Day: Changing the Way People View Wildlife

May 16th, 2014 | By
[image credit: Jennifer Hennessey, http://www.fws.gov]

Wildfires are already raging in southern California, as the state drought worsens.  The impact on residents will be great, but what about the ecosystem itself?  With May 16th designated as Endangered Species Day, what will be the fate of wildlife trying to cope in a world of climate extremes? According to a 2012 California Department
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Coal vs. Communities: Is It Worth the Price?

Apr 17th, 2014 | By
[photo credit: www.ecocenter.org]

By Suzanne York, www.howmany.org Renewable energy?  Forget it!  Despite the increasing effects of climate change – not to mention the increase in almost daily warnings from the UN, scientists, and policymakers – the U.S. continues to push production of dirty fuels. The latest report from the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change warned that the
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Up for Grabs: Land and Food in a Hungry World

Apr 9th, 2014 | By
[image credit: ciat.cgiar.org/]

By Suzanne York, www.howmany.org The president of the World Bank, Jim Yong Kim, warned that battles over water and food will erupt within the next five to ten years as a result of climate change.  As he was talking of the risks of climate change, the UN announced that food prices had risen to their
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Condoms and Climate: The Role of Family Planning

Feb 27th, 2014 | By
[photo credit: tripadvisor.com.au]

By Suzanne York, www.howmany.org One solution to easing the effects of global climate change is one that is not often heard – that of voluntary family planning. At a talk this week on “Condoms and Climate” given at the Commonwealth Club of California, Alan Weisman, author of Countdown: Our Last, Best Hope for a Future
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Coal and Business as Usual: Destroying the World’s Seventh Wonder

Feb 6th, 2014 | By
[photo credit: www.acfonline.org.au]

By Suzanne York, www.howmany.org It is the largest coral reef ecosystem on earth and one of the seven wonders of the natural world, but that isn’t enough to stop an effort to continue down the road of dirty fossil fuel energy. Last week, the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority (GBRMA) in Australia approved a
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Creating a Livable Planet: The Rights of Nature Movement

Feb 2nd, 2014 | By
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By Suzanne York, www.howmany.org Corporations, law, and governments often operate as if nature is something only to be exploited for its abundant resources.  Little thought is given to what this might mean for the global ecosystem, let alone for future generations. In mid-January, the Global Alliance for Rights of Nature hosted a thought-provoking conference in
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We Can’t Say We Didn’t See It Coming

Jan 19th, 2014 | By
Low water levels at Shasta Lake [www.americansouthwest.net]

By Suzanne York, www.howmany.org The governor of California has declared that the state is experiencing a drought emergency and is urging water rationing.  Governor Jerry Brown called it “perhaps the worst drought that California has ever seen since records (began) about 100 years ago.” This came shortly after the release of a MIT study this
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Climate Change Roulette and Water Scarcity

Dec 23rd, 2013 | By
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By Suzanne York, www.howmany.org A new study by the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, found that climate change is likely to put 40 percent more people worldwide at risk of absolute water scarcity, due to changes in rainfall and evaporation. Unsurprisingly, the study
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How Do Rising Harvests Equal Increasing Food Insecurity?

Dec 13th, 2013 | By
[photo credit: www.fao.org]

By Suzanne York, www.howmany.org Alarmingly, food insecurity in Africa’s Sahel belt continues to worsen. This week the United Nations reported that 16 million people in the region are at risk of going hungry in the next year due to violent conflicts and rapid population growth. The Sahel encompasses a semiarid strip of land in Sub-Saharan
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