Download April 2013 News - South Asian Dialogues on Ecological Democracy

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Serial No. 10 (April 2013)
ECOLOGICAL NEWS
Source: http://www.countercurrents.org/cc010413A.htm
Arctic Greens While Antarctic Ice Grows
By Countercurrents.org
01 April, 2013 Countercurrents.org
An AFP report carried by ABC Science said:
In the coming decades, global warming will cause grass, shrubs and trees to thrive in Arctic soil
stripped of ice and permafrost, while sea ice around Antarctica will grow, according to a
computer simulations published in the journal Nature Climate Change published on April 1,
2013.
Wooded areas in the Arctic could increase by as much as 52 percent by the 2050s as the socalled tree line - the maximum latitude at which trees can grow - shifts hundreds of kilometers
north, according to the research.
The report said: Arctic has become one of the world's 'hotspots' for global warming…
Source: http://www.countercurrents.org/cc020413A.htm
Climate Crisis Threatens Urban Food Security
By Countercurrents.org 02 April, 2013 Countercurrents.org
Policies that focus on rural food production alone will not tackle the rising food insecurity in
urban areas, says a report published on April 2, 2013 by the International Institute for
Environment and Development.
The report said: Policies to increase food security in the global South focus too much on rural
food production and not enough on ensuring poor people can access and afford food, especially
in urban areas.
The IIED report warned: Climate crisis will only worsen this policy gap, as the crisis will affect
not only harvests but also the systems that people use to transport, store and buy and sell food…
“The journey that food takes from a rural producer to an urban consumer involves many steps,”
says Dr Tacoli. “It must travel through formal and informal systems as it is stored, distributed
and sold. Each one of these steps is a point of potential vulnerability to climate change. For
consumers, this will mean sharp and sudden increases in food prices”…
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Press clippings compiled by SADED, Delhi.
Acknowledgment and Copyright
We thankfully acknowledge the published articles, which have been taken from various sources, indicated as
‘Source’ for reference. SADED does not claim copyright on the articles collected for non-commercial purpose to
generate awareness among the people.
(These articles do not reflect the official views of SADED. We are not responsible for the authenticity of the
contents.)
Source: http://www.countercurrents.org/cc020413B.htm
Most Vulnerable People Need Protection From Geoengineering, Say Scientists
By Countercurrents.org 02 April, 2013 Countercurrents.org
World's most vulnerable people need protection from huge and unintended impacts of radical
geoengineering projects. Citing scientists and engineers Ian Sample, science correspondent, The
Guardian, reported:
Controversial geoengineering projects that may be used to cool the planet must be approved by
world governments to reduce the danger of catastrophic accidents, British scientists said.
Met Office researchers have called for global oversight of the radical schemes after studies
showed they could have huge and unintended impacts on some of the world's most vulnerable
people…
Source: http://www.countercurrents.org/lantier030413.htm
US Escalates Military Tensions Over North Korean Nuclear Program
By Alex Lantier 03 April, 2013 WSWS.org
Washington is continuing to escalate military tensions in the global crisis triggered by the US
confrontation with North Korea over its nuclear program. All of the region’s major powers are
carrying out military exercises amid rising fears of a war fueled by the US “pivot to Asia,” aimed
at containing China, North Korea’s main ally and protector.
Yesterday, US officials deployed more forces to the Asia-Pacific and held high-level talks with
Asian allies in Washington, while North Korea pledged to restart the Yongbyon nuclear
reactor…
Source: http://www.countercurrents.org/cc030413A.htm
Tropics Could Experience Dramatic Shift In Rainfall Pattern
By Countercurrents.org 03 April, 2013 Countercurrents.org
One often -ignored consequence of global climate change is that the Northern Hemisphere is
becoming warmer than the Southern Hemisphere, which could significantly alter tropical
precipitation patterns, according to a new study by climatologists from the University of
California, Berkeley, and the University of Washington, Seattle.
Such a shift could increase or decrease seasonal rainfall in areas such as the Amazon, subSaharan Africa or East Asia, leaving some areas wetter and some drier than today…
Source: http://www.countercurrents.org/vombatkere030413.htm
The Politics Of Power And Control: Focus On Nuclear Power
By S.G.Vombatkere 03 April, 2013 Countercurrents.org
Control of the nuclear fission process is the use of science and technology for political power.
Electric power generated from controlled fission can be for social benefit and is thus a source of
political power. Controlling the delivery of explosive power from nuclear fission is an even
greater source of political power. Fortunately its use has so far been limited to Hiroshima and
Nagasaki, but serious threats remain. Control of nuclear fission was first developed in order to
manufacture nuclear weapons. It was later adapted to naval propulsion and electric power
generation.
The nuclear establishments (government-corporate nexus) in all countries have built a draconian
legislative wall of secrecy around all matters nuclear…
Source: http://www.countercurrents.org/cc040413A.htm
Fiji To Relocate Villages As Sea Level Rises
By Countercurrents.org 04 April, 2013 Countercurrents.org
In Fiji, sea walls are not an option to stop rising sea levels and villagers threatened by climate
change must be relocated, a gathering of religious leaders have been told. Nasik Swami reported:
Director Political and Treaties Division of the Foreign Affairs Ministry Esala Nayasi told the
National Faith Based Environmental Stewardship Summit in Sigatoka that sea walls were
temporary facilities.
"The government does not have the money to build sea walls in every coastal village in the
country," Nayasi said.
He said they were in the process of relocating two coastal villages because they were under
threat…
Source: http://www.countercurrents.org/germanos050413.htm
Global Warming To Intensify Already Extreme Rainfalls
By Andrea Germanos 05 April, 2013 CommonDreams.org
In another grim warning of the inheritance we have left future generations, a new NOAA-led
study details how global warming is set to intensify already extreme "precipitation events."
As the planet's temperature continues to rise, the warmer atmosphere can hold more moisture,
which will fuel these more intense rains…
Source: http://www.countercurrents.org/shiva050413.htm
Seeds Of Suicide
By Vandana Shiva 05 April, 2013 The Asian Age
Monsanto’s talk of ‘technology’ tries to hide its real objectives of control over seed where
genetic engineering is a means to control seed,
“Monsanto is an agricultural company.
We apply innovation and technology to help farmers around the world \produce more while
conserving more.”
“Producing more, Conserving more, Improving farmers lives.”
These are the promises Monsanto India’s website makes, alongside pictures of smiling,
prosperous farmers from the state of Maharashtra. This is a desperate attempt by Monsanto and
its PR machinery to delink the epidemic of farmers’ suicides in India from the company’s
growing control over cotton seed supply — 95 per cent of India’s cotton seed is now controlled
by Monsanto…
Source: http://www.countercurrents.org/sundaram050413.htm
Does India Have The World’s Safest Reactor?
By P K Sundaram 05 April, 2013 DiaNuke.org
The claim of Koodankulam reactors being ‘safest in the world’ appeared in the newspapers
today, nth time in last couple of years. The Russian Deputy-PM last year in October had said
Koodankulam is world’s safest. I thought of doing a google search for the term ‘safest reactor of
the world’. Here are some interesting observations:
The independent experts would rightly tell us that while every nuclear accident might be a
different kind of accident and we might be able to incorporate its lessons in new designs, it
simply means that new reactors might undergo new kind of accidents…
Source: http://www.countercurrents.org/cc060413.htm
1,600 Years Of Andes Ice Melts In 25 Years
By Countercurrents.org 06 April 2013 Countercurrents.org
A glacier in Peru has melted to levels not seen since the end of the last ice age. Citing a new
study published in Science Keith Wagstaff reported: Ice that took 1,600 years to form in the
Peruvian Andes took only 25 years to disappear…
Source: http://www.countercurrents.org/cc060413A.htm
Trade Drives Brazilian Deforestation
By Countercurrents.org 06 April, 2013 Countercurrents.org
A new study published online on April 4 in the journal Environmental Research Letters finds
that trade and global consumption of Brazilian beef and soybeans is increasingly driving
Brazilian deforestation. Consequently, current international efforts to protect rainforests (e.g.,
REDD) may be undermined by the increased trade and consumption.
By estimating CO2 emissions from deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon from 1990 to 2010,
and connecting the emissions to the most important direct drivers of Brazilian deforestation, i.e.
cultivation of soybeans and grazing of cattle, the study allocates the emissions to countries based
on domestic consumption and international trade of Brazilian soybeans and beef…
Source: http://www.countercurrents.org/cc080413A.htm
Melting Ice To Affect India, China While Kolkata Dhaka Shanghai Are Threatened
By Countercurrents.org 08 April, 2013 Countercurrents.org
Iceland President Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson warned on April 6, 2013: Himalayan nations,
including India and China, will be affected in a big way by the melting of the ice in Arctic and
the glaciers in Himalayas. He asked parties and organizations to hold dialogue to deal with the
issue.
Noting that the Arctic, the Himalayas and Antarctica (AHA) are not isolated and separate parts
of our global, he said their fate and fate of the people and future are closely connected…
Source: http://www.countercurrents.org/pearce090413.htm
Probing The Reasons Behind The Changing Pace Of Warming
By Fred Pearce 09 April, 2013 Yale Environment 360
A consensus is emerging among scientists that the rate of global warming has slowed over the
last decade. While they are still examining why, many researchers believe this phenomenon is
linked to the heat being absorbed by the world’s oceans
Whatever happened to global warming? Right now, that question is a good way of starting a
heated argument. Some say it is steaming ahead. But others say it has stalled, gone into reverse,
or never happened at all — and they don’t all run oil companies or vote Republican.
So what is going on?
First, talk of global cooling is palpable nonsense…
Source: http://www.countercurrents.org/quillen090413.htm
Why The Most Powerful Thing In The World Is A Seed
By Abby Quillen 09 April, 2013 YES! Magazine
“The Seed Underground” is a love letter to the quiet revolutionaries who are saving our food
heritage.
Janisse Ray celebrates the local, organic food movement but fears we’re forgetting something
elemental: the seeds. According to Ray, what is happening with our seeds is not pretty. Ninetyfour percent of vintage open-pollinated fruit and vegetable varieties have vanished over the last
century.
Ray begins The Seed Underground: A Growing Revolution to Save Food by explaining how we
lost our seeds. Feeding ourselves has always been a burden for humans, she explains. “So when
somebody came along and said, ‘I’ll do that cultivating for you. I’ll save the seeds. You do
something else,’ most of us jumped at the chance to be free.”
But, according to Ray, when the dwindling number of farmers who stayed on the land gave up
on saving seeds and embraced hybridization, genetically modified organisms, and seed patents in
order to make money, we became slaves to multinational corporations like Monsanto and
Syngenta, which now control our food supply…
Source: http://www.countercurrents.org/zencey090413.htm
China’s Infinite-Growth Haze
By Eric Zencey 09 April, 2013 The Daly News
A few weeks ago, air quality at the U.S. embassy in Beijing registered 755 on a scale to 500. A
thick, choking haze enveloped the entire city. You couldn’t see from one high-rise office tower
to the next; flights were cancelled, some highways were closed, schoolchildren were kept
indoors, hospital admissions soared. China’s air quality problems aren’t limited to Beijing — a
2010 study found that air pollution led to 1.2 million premature deaths nationwide — and killer
air is just one of the country’s ecological sorrows. One-half of its surface water is so polluted it
can’t be treated to make it drinkable, and half of that is so bad it can’t even be used for industrial
purposes. Seventy percent of the country’s rivers and lakes receive raw sewage or untreated
industrial toxins. Cancer rates are up, and the country has been losing an area the size of
Connecticut every year to desertification, brought on by unsustainable farming practices in
grassland ecosystems…
Source: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/04/130411194647.htm
Science Daily Science News Apr. 11, 2013
New Technique Measures Evaporation Globally
Researchers at Columbia Engineering and Boston University have developed the first method to
map evaporation globally using weather stations, which will help scientists evaluate water
resource management, assess recent trends of evaporation throughout the globe, and validate
surface hydrologic models in various conditions. The study was published in the April 1
online Early Edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).
"This is the first time we've been able to map evaporation in a consistent way, using concrete
measurements that are available around the world," says Pierre Gentine, assistant professor of
earth and environmental engineering at Columbia. "This is a big step forward in our
understanding of how the water cycle impacts life on Earth."…
Source: http://science.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/04/11/17708881-where-did-global-warminggo-the-deep-ocean-experts-say?lite
Science on NBC News 11 Apr 2013 By John Roach, Contributing Writer, NBC News
Where did global warming go? The deep ocean, experts say
The deep oceans have recently been soaking up much of the excess heat trapped under the everthickening blanket of greenhouse gases that humans pump into the atmosphere, according to a
recent study.
The finding may help explain why the pace of global warming at the surface has slowed in recent
years compared to the 1990s, a phenomenon that has left members of the climate science
community scratching their heads.
"The warming at the surface hasn't stopped, but it has been less than most of the climate models
have been predicting," David Pierce, a climate researcher with the Scripps Institution of
Oceanography, explained to NBC News. "So the question is: Where is that extra heat going?"…
Source: http://www.countercurrents.org/symonds120413.htm
Obama Issues New Threat To North Korea
By Peter Symonds 12 April, 2013 WSWS.org
Amid continuing high tensions on the Korean Peninsula, American President Barack Obama
yesterday issued another threat to North Korea. He warned that the US would take “all necessary
measures” to protect its people and allies, if Pyongyang did not “end the kind of belligerent
approach that they’ve been taking and to try to lower temperatures.”
Obama made the comments after meeting with UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon. The US
president declared: “Nobody wants to see conflict on the Korean Peninsula. But it’s important
for North Korea, like every other country in the world, to observe the basic rules and norms that
are set forth, including a wide variety of UN resolutions.”
Far from attempting to lower temperatures on the Korean Peninsula, the Obama administration
has been deliberately stoking the crisis…
Source: http://www.countercurrents.org/mckibben120413.htm
The Fossil Fuel Resistance
By Bill McKibben 12 April, 2013 CommonDreams.org
As the world burns, a new movement to reverse climate change is emerging - fiercely, loudly and
right next door.
It got so hot in Australia in January that the weather service had to add two new colors to its
charts. A few weeks later, at the other end of the planet, new data from the CryoSat-2 satellite
showed 80 percent of Arctic sea ice has disappeared. We're not breaking records anymore; we're
breaking the planet. In 50 years, no one will care about the fiscal cliff or the Euro crisis. They'll
just ask, "So the Arctic melted, and then what did you do?"
Here's the good news: We'll at least be able to say we fought.
After decades of scant organized response to climate change, a powerful movement is quickly
emerging around the country and around the world, building on the work of scattered front-line
organizers who've been fighting the fossil-fuel industry for decades. It has no great charismatic
leader and no central organization; it battles on a thousand fronts. But taken together, it's now big
enough to matter, and it's growing fast…
Source: http://www.countercurrents.org/cc120413.htm
Northern Warmest Summers In Last 20 Years
Were Unprecedented In Six Centuries
By Countercurrents.org 12 April, 2013 Countercurrents.org
Two Harvard researchers, Martin Tingley, a research associate in the Department of Earth and
Planetary Sciences, and Peter Huybers, professor of earth and planetary sciences, through their
statistical model of Arctic temperatures and how they relate to instrumental and proxy records,
have shown that the warmest summers in the last two decades were unprecedented in six
centuries. The work is described in paper published in the April 11 issue of Nature.
"We call upon multiple proxies -- including those derived from trees, ice cores, and lake
sediments -- to reconstruct temperature back through time using a Bayesian statistical approach,"
Tingley said. "What we are trying to do is put statistical inference of past changes in temperature
on a more solid and complete footing.”…
Source: http://www.countercurrents.org/cc130413.htm
Arctic Will Be Almost-Completely Ice-Free By 2020
By Countercurrents.org 13 April 2013 Countercurrents.org
The Arctic is melting much faster than most studies previously predicted. As early as 2020 and
not later than 2050 it will be almost completely ice-free, according to a new study by the US
National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration.
"It's pretty scary how rapidly all this Arctic change is happening," said James Overland, lead
author of the new study, and a research oceanographer with the NOAA. "The Arctic is a real
indicator of global change here, that's why we wrote the paper," he told The Verge…
Source: http://www.countercurrents.org/cc130413A.htm
With Surging Emission Global Climate Change Goal Is At Risk, Say UN
By Countercurrents.org 13 April 2013 Countercurrents.org
A global goal for limiting climate crisis is slipping out of reach and governments may have to
find ways to artificially suck GHG from the air if they fail to make deep cuts in rising emissions
by 2030, a draft UN report said.
A 25-page draft summary, by the UN panel of climate experts and due for publication in 2014,
said emissions of heat-trapping gases rose to record levels in the decade to 2010, led by Asian
industrial growth.
The surge is jeopardizing a UN goal, set by almost 200 nations in 2010, to limit a rise in
temperatures to below 2 degrees Celsius above levels before the Industrial Revolution…
Source: http://www.countercurrents.org/gerdes130413.htm
Copenhagen’s Ambitious Push To Be Carbon Neutral by 2025
By Justin Gerdes 13 April, 2013 Yale Environment 360
The Danish capital is moving rapidly toward a zero-carbon future, as it erects wind farms,
transforms its citywide heating systems, promotes energy efficiency, and lures more people out
of their cars and onto public transportation and bikes.
Among the first sights to greet visitors to Denmark on the descent to Copenhagen’s airport is a
sweeping arc of wind turbines rising from the harbor. From the airport, passengers can board an
automatic Metro line that hustles them to the city center in just 15 minutes, crossing the path of
the City Circle Line, a subway project that will place 85 percent of Copenhageners within 650
yards of a Metro station when the line opens in 2018.
Everywhere, visitors are greeted by streams of bicyclists; 36 percent of trips to work or school in
the Danish capital are made by bike, and more than 20,000 cyclists enter the city center at peak
hours, filling Copenhagen’s 249 miles of cycle tracks. Less visible are state-of-the-art facilities
where waste heat from power plants is used to keep buildings warm via the world’s largest
district heating network, or where waters from the city harbor are deployed to cool department
stores, office buildings, hotels, and data centers…
Source: http://www.countercurrents.org/hayes130413.htm
Instead Of Trying To Feed The World, Let’s Help It Feed Itself
By Shannon Hayes 13 April, 2013 Yes! Magazine
We know about the ecological problems that follow when farmers are asked to “feed the world.”
What would happen if they just tried to feed their neighbors instead?
Sooner or later the question comes up, whether it is between two friends sharing a pot of stew
made from local grassfed beef and their garden harvest, livestock farmers gathered on a pasture
walk, neighbors working together to tend a flock of backyard chickens, or organic vegetable
producers discussing yields at a conference.
“But can we feed the world this way?”
As we try to move humanity away from dominant power regimes and thoughtless extraction of
the earth’s resources, toward a way of life that honors the earth and all of her creatures, I think
this is the most maddening question we can be asking ourselves.
Nevertheless, we’ve all been conditioned to reflexively turn to this question as we challenge our
methods and consider new paths toward sustainability…
Source: http://www.countercurrents.org/hirsch130413.htm
Peak Oil As Seen Through The Eyes Of Arab Oil Producers
By Robert Hirsch 13 April, 2013 Fabius Maximus
Reflections by the author of the "Hirsch Report" on the Conference “Peak Oil: Challenges and
Opportunities for the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Countries.”
I was fortunate to be among the few westerners invited to attend and speak at this first-of-its kind
“peak oil” (PO) conference in a Middle East. The fact that a major Middle East oil exporter
would hold such a conference on what has long been a verboten subject was quite remarkable
and a dramatic change from decades of PO denial. The two and a half day meeting was well
attended by people from the GCC as well as other regional countries.
The going-in assumption was that “peak oil” will occur in the near future. The timing of the
impending onset of world oil decline was not an issue at the conference, rather the main focus
was what the GCC countries should do soon to ensure a prosperous, long-term future…
Source: http://www.countercurrents.org/cc140413.htm
Climate Crisis Threatens Millions With Starvation And Destitution
By Countercurrents.org 14 April, 2013 Countercurrents.org
Our world is not prepared to face the food disaster due to climate crisis. Parts of Africa face risk
of turning into permanent disaster areas, say food experts. Millions of people could become
destitute in Africa and Asia as prices of staple foods will more than double by 2050 as a result of
extreme temperatures, floods and droughts that will transform the way the world farms.
As food experts gather at two major conferences to discuss how to feed the nine billion people
expected to be alive in 2050, leading scientists have told the Observer (UK) that food insecurity
risks turning parts of Africa into permanent disaster areas. Rising temperatures will also have a
drastic effect on access to basic foodstuffs, with potentially dire consequences for the poor…
Source: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/04/130414193136.htm
ScienceDaily Science News Apr. 14, 2013
Cutting Specific Pollutants Would Slow Sea Level Rise, Research Indicates
With coastal areas bracing for rising sea levels, new research indicates that cutting emissions of
certain pollutants can greatly slow down sea level rise this century.
The research team found that reductions in four pollutants that cycle comparatively quickly
through the atmosphere could temporarily forestall the rate of sea level rise by roughly 25 to 50
percent.
"To avoid potentially dangerous sea level rise, we could cut emissions of short-lived pollutants
even if we cannot immediately cut carbon dioxide emissions," says Aixue Hu of the National
Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), the first author of the study. "This new research
shows that society can significantly reduce the threat to coastal cities if it moves quickly on a
handful of pollutants."…
"It must be remembered that carbon dioxide is still the most important factor in sea level rise
over the long term," says NCAR scientist Warren Washington, a co-author. "But we can make a
real difference in the next several decades by reducing other emissions."
Source: http://www.countercurrents.org/cc150413A.htm
Short-Lived Climate Pollutants Reduction Might Slow Down Sea Level Rise, New Study
Shows
By Andrew Freedman 15 April 2013 Climate Central
A new study finds that it is possible to greatly slow the rate of sea level rise, which is one of the
biggest threats global warming poses, by cutting so-called “short-lived climate pollutants,”
which warm the climate on timescales of a few weeks to a decade, in combination with
reductions in long-lived greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide (CO2).
The study, published in the journal Nature Climate Change, found that reducing emissions of
these short-lived climate pollutants, including soot and methane, by 30 to 60 percent by 2050
would slow the annual rate of sea level rise by about 18 percent by 2050. Combining reductions
in short-lived pollutants with decreasing CO2 emissions could cut the rate of sea level rise in half
by 2100, from 0.82 inches to 0.43 inches per year, while reducing the total sea level rise by 31
percent during the same period.
Related research by Climate Central scientists shows that the emissions reductions would
potentially benefit more than 2 million Americans by 2100, who might otherwise be living below
sea level at that point…
Source: http://www.countercurrents.org/cc150413B.htm
Antarctic Summer Ice Melting Intensifies 10-Fold And Higher Over 1,000 Years
By Countercurrents.org 15 April, 2013 Countercurrents.org
A new 1,000-year Antarctic Peninsula climate reconstruction shows that summer ice melting has
intensified almost ten-fold, and mostly since the mid-20th century. Summer ice melt affects the
stability of Antarctic ice shelves and glaciers…
In 2008, a UK-French science team drilled a 364-metre long ice core from James Ross Island,
near the northern tip of the Antarctic Peninsula, to measure past temperatures in the area. They
discovered that this ice core could also give a unique and unexpected insight into ice melt in the
region…
Source: http://www.countercurrents.org/khawaja170413.htm
Towards Understanding Global Peace: Warlords Are Killing Mankind
By Mahboob A. Khawaja 17 April, 2013 Countercurrents.org
Global political affairs are a complex discipline and often require serious, critical and impartial
mindset to see the man-made problems truthfully, objectively, rationally and dispassionately.
The 21st century of hope for Peace is fast turning into a fraught history of highly sophisticated
wars both on Earth and in Space poised to destroy the mankind…
Given the strategic know-how and the scientific-technological developments, it is an established
fact that any futuristic global warfare could end the very existence of man and humanity on this
planet...
Source: http://www.countercurrents.org/king170413.htm
Desertification Crisis Affecting 168 Countries And Annual Cost Is $490 Billion
By Ed King 17 April, 2013 Rcc.org
Severe land degradation is now affecting 168 countries across the world, according to new
research released by the UN Desertification Convention (UNCCD).
The figure, based on submissions from countries to the UN, is a marked increase on the last
analysis in the mid-1990s, which estimated 110 states were at risk.
In an economic analysis published last week the Convention also warns land degradation is now
costing US$490 billion per year and wiping out an area three times the size of Switzerland on an
annual basis…
Source: http://www.countercurrents.org/cc170413B.htm
Clean Energy Progress Too Slow, Warns International Energy Agency
By Countercurrents.org 17 April, 2013 Countercurrents.org
The development of low-carbon energy is progressing too slowly to limit global warming, the
International Energy Agency (IEA) said on April 17, 2013. A London datelined report by Nina
Chestney said: With power generation still dominated by coal and governments failing to
increase investment in clean energy, top climate scientists have said that the target of keeping the
global temperature rise to less than 2 degrees Celsius this century is slipping out of reach.
"The drive to clean up the world's energy system has stalled," said Maria van der Hoeven, the
IEA's executive director, at the launch of the agency's report on clean energy progress.
"Despite much talk by world leaders, and a boom in renewable energy over the past decade, the
average unit of energy produced today is basically as dirty as it was 20 years ago."…
Source: http://www.countercurrents.org/cc170413A.htm
Australian Government To Prepare For Thousands Of Climate Refugees
By Countercurrents.org 17 April, 2013 Countercurrents.org
Australia, a close neighbor of small, low-lying South Pacific states at the frontline of climate
change, should be the first country to formally recognise climate change refugees, the country's
main refugee advisory body has said.
Referring to the Refugee Council of Australia Bernard Lagan for the Global Mail reported:
The Council has told the Australian government that it should create a new refugee category for
those fleeing the effects of climate change so that they can be offered protection similar to those
escaping war or persecution.
According to The Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, the key legal document that
defines refugees, a refugee is a person who has a well-founded fear of persecution in their
homeland because of their race, religion, nationality of membership of a particular group.
The convention was forged in 1951 in the aftermath of WWII. But it does not offer protection to
those claiming to be endangered by climate change…
Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/earth-day/eventcoverage/19631889.cms
The Times of India
Earth Day April 22
Earth Day is observed every year on April 22 to create awareness and support among the mass to
protect the environment. The event is held worldwide to outreach to society and raise the issue
on the occasion. Like every year, the world will be celebrating the 43rd anniversary of Earth Day
on Monday, April 22, 2013…
Today, Earth Day is observed in more than 192 countries.
Every year, across the world millions of people take part to observe Earth Day. Moreover, nonprofit organisations, governments, schools and communities hold various interactive
programmes and activities to create awareness about the protection of the environment and mark
the anniversary of the event. The main objective is to raise the concerns for the planet and find a
sustainable solution for a good environment. The event also aims to grab attention of the
governments and people to help the animals, birds, insects and people that are affected by
climate change…
Source: http://zeenews.india.com/news/science/earth-day-2013-20th-century-warmest-in-1-400yrs_843760.html
Zee News Science April 22, 2013
Earth Day 2013: 20th century warmest in 1,400 yrs
Paris : Earth was cooling until the end of the 19th century and a hundred years later, the planet's
surface was on average warmer than at any time in the previous 1,400 years, according to climate
records presented on Sunday.
In a study spanning two millennia published in Nature Geoscience, scientists said a "long-term
cooling trend" around the world swung into reverse in the late 19th century.
In the 20th century, the average global temperature was 0.4 degrees Celsius (0.7 degrees
Fahrenheit) higher than that of the previous 500 years, with only Antarctica bucking the trend.
From 1971-2000, the planet was warmer than at any other time in nearly 1,400 years…
Source: http://www.earthday.org/2013/about.html
Earth Day 2013: The Face of Climate Change
Climate change has many faces.
A man in the Maldives worried about relocating his family as sea levels rise, a farmer in Kansas
struggling to make ends meet as prolonged drought ravages the crops, a fisherman on the Niger
River whose nets often come up empty, a child in New Jersey who lost her home to a superstorm, a woman in Bangladesh who can’t get fresh water due to more frequent flooding and
cyclones…
And they’re not only human faces.
They’re the polar bear in the melting arctic, the tiger in India’s threatened mangrove forests, the
right whale in plankton-poor parts of the warming North Atlantic, the orangutan in Indonesian
forests segmented by more frequent bushfires and droughts…
These faces of climate change are multiplying every day.
For many, climate change can often seem remote and hazy – a vague and complex problem far
off in the distance that our grandchildren may have to solve…
Date: Mon, Apr 22, 2013
(E-Mail from Col Devinder Sehrawat - Secretary - Delhi Gramin Samaj)
PROPOSED LAND POOLING POLICY OF DDA IS DETRIMENTAL TO SMALL
FARMERS & PROSPECTIVE BUYERS OF PROPERTIES
Delhi Development Authority has proposed a land policy and sought comments from the public
within 45 days. The policy is based on land pooling where in land parcels owned by individuals
or group of owners are consolidated by transfer of ownership rights to the designated pooling
agency which later transfers the ownership of part of land back to the land owners for
undertaking development of the area.
Although the policy sets out a noble aim of DDA turning to be a facilitator in development, a
closer look at its provisions reveal the real intent, which is clearly and blatantly to enhance the
profit making by the DDA. The authority not only wants to control the remunerative portion of
land development it wants to control the EWS houses as well…
Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/delhi/Delhi-fails-to-draw-upon-greenenergy/articleshow/19687209.cms
The Times of India Jayashree Nandi, TNN | Apr 23, 2013
Delhi fails to draw upon green energy
NEW DELHI: When it comes to meeting renewable energy targets, the capital is among the
worst performers. A report released by Greenpeace and Infraline Energy on Monday - which
compares the strides made by 29 states to increase the share of renewable power in the total
supply - shows Delhi's lack of ambition on this front. This is despite having a per capita
consumption that is almost twice the national average.
According to the report, Powering Ahead on Renewables: Leaders and Laggards, Delhi met 0%
of its renewable purchase obligation (RPO) in 2012, while Meghalaya, Tamil Nadu, Nagaland,
Uttarakhand and Karnataka overshot their targets. Twenty-two states did not measure up…
Source: http://science.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/04/22/17818523-earth-day-founders-livingbuilding-signals-new-era-of-sleek-sustainability?lite
Science on NBC News By John Roach, Contributing Writer, NBC News
Earth Day founder's 'living' building signals new era of sleek sustainability
In cloudy, drizzly Seattle, Denis Hayes, the environmental activist who organized the first Earth
Day in 1970, is pulling the wraps off a six-story office building that generates all of its electricity
via an oversized rooftop array of solar panels.
A sun-powered building in Seattle is "formidable," Hayes told NBC News, but the Bullitt Center
project aims to show it is possible in a visible, tangible manner that, in turn, makes an impact on
the often invisible, slow-motion challenge of global climate change.
"When this whole [Earth Day] thing got launched in 1970, we had people walking around with
gas masks and smokestacks were pouring out enormous impenetrable clouds of black smoke,"
said Hayes, who is now president of the Bullitt Foundation, which supports environmental
causes.
Today, the sooty smokestacks and black clouds are largely gone, but our energy demands have
never been greater, and the impacts of climate change are considered by environmental
advocates to be more and more apparent, ranging from extreme weather to growing food
insecurity. As scientists toil to identify how our world is changing, the environmental movement
will have to spend the next decades finding better ways to rally the world's citizens to address the
new challenges…
Source: http://science.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/04/25/17917262-earths-core-1800-degreeshotter-than-thought
Science on NBC News By Elizabeth Howell LiveScience
Earth's core 1,800 degrees hotter than thought
Earth's internal engine is running about 1,000 degrees Celsius (about 1,800 degrees Fahrenheit)
hotter than previously measured, providing a better explanation for how the planet generates a
magnetic field, a new study has found.
A team of scientists has measured the melting point of iron at high precision in a laboratory, and
then drew from that result to calculate the temperature at the boundary of Earth's inner and outer
core — now estimated at 6,000 C (about 10,800 F). That's as hot as the surface of the sun.
The difference in temperature matters, because this explains how the Earth generates its
magnetic field. The Earth has a solid inner core surrounded by a liquid outer core, which, in turn,
has the solid, but flowing, mantle above it. There needs to be a 2,700-degree F (1,500 C)
difference between the inner core and the mantle to spur "thermal movements" that — along with
Earth's spin — create the magnetic field…
Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Climate-change-may-reduce-crop-output-by18-in-2020-Sharad-Pawar/articleshow/19742207.cms
The Times of India PTI | Apr 26, 2013
Climate change may reduce crop output by 18% in 2020: Sharad Pawar
NEW DELHI: Climate change is likely to bring down the production of key foodgrain crops like
wheat and rice in the country by up to 18 per cent in 2020, agriculture minister Sharad Pawarsaid
on Friday.
"Climate change is projected to reduce timely sown irrigated wheat production by about 6 per
cent in 2020. In case of late sown wheat, the projected levels are to the extent of 18 per cent,"
Pawar said in the Rajya Sabha…
Source: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/tech/hardware/mobile-chargers-prepare-for-theirday-in-the-sun/articleshow/19732568.cms
The Economic Times
By New York Times | 26 Apr, 2013, 04.00AM IST
Solar tech firms offering chargers for less than $100 providing power on the go
Whether you're comparing restaurant menus while sitting in the park or turning on the air
conditioner before getting home, life is becoming increasingly mobile thanks to smartphones and
tablets. And with new apps appearing constantly, the possibilities for this kind of connected
living could be endless - if only the batteries lasted long enough.
Now, a range of solar technology companies are offering small, portable chargers and accessory
cases that provide power on the go. Some are on the market already, while others are in
development.
"A mobile life demands mobile power,"…
Source: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/04/130428144921.htm
ScienceDaily Apr. 28, 2013
Plants Moderate Climate Warming
As temperatures warm, plants release gases that help form clouds and cool the atmosphere,
according to research from IIASA and the University of Helsinki.
The new study, published in Nature Geoscience, identified a negative feedback loop in which
higher temperatures lead to an increase in concentrations of natural aerosols that have a cooling
effect on the atmosphere…
Scientists had known that some aerosols -- particles that float in the atmosphere -- cool the
climate as they reflect sunlight and form cloud droplets, which reflect sunlight efficiently.
Aerosol particles come from many sources, including human emissions. But the effect of socalled biogenic aerosol -- particulate matter that originates from plants -- had been less well
understood…
Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/science/India-plays-key-role-in-buildingsuper-machine-that-will-offer-unlimited-energy/articleshow/19774048.cms
The Times of India Kounteya Sinha TNN | Apr 29, 2013
India plays key role in building super machine that will offer unlimited energy
LONDON: India is developing the heaviest and the largest parts of the Tokamak, the machine
behind the biggest scientific collaboration on the planet, to produce unlimited supplies of cheap,
clean, safe and commercial energy from atomicfusion.
The international nuclear fusion project known as ITER, meaning "the way" in Latin, is based on
the 'tokamak' concept of magnetic confinement, in which the plasma is contained in a doughnutshaped vacuum vessel.
The fuel-a mixture of deuterium and tritium, two isotopes of hydrogen-is heated to temperatures
in excess of 150 million degrees Celsius forming a hot plasma…
Source: http://www.countercurrents.org/rosner290413.htm
By David Rosner & Gerald Markowitz 29 April, 2013 TomDispatch.com
You And Your Family Are Guinea Pigs For The Chemical Corporations
How Americans Became Exposed to Biohazards in the Greatest Uncontrolled Experiment
Ever Launched
A hidden epidemic is poisoning America. The toxins are in the air we breathe and the water we
drink, in the walls of our homes and the furniture within them. We can’t escape it in our cars. It’s
in cities and suburbs. It afflicts rich and poor, young and old. And there’s a reason why you’ve
never read about it in the newspaper or seen a report on the nightly news: it has no name - and no
antidote.
The culprit behind this silent killer is lead. And vinyl. And formaldehyde. And asbestos. And
Bisphenol A. And polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). And thousands more innovations brought
to us by the industries that once promised “better living through chemistry,” but instead
produced a toxic stew that has made every American a guinea pig and has turned the United
States into one grand unnatural experiment…
Source: http://www.countercurrents.org/todhunter290413.htm
By Colin Todhunter 29 April, 2013 Countercurrents.org
Countering Hyprocrisy: From Bt-Cotton To Koodankulam, It's Not Luddism,
It's Evidence-Based Legitimate Protest!
Scientists and groups that express serious concerns about GM and nuclear energy technologies
are frequently accused of possessing a culturally backward mindset and waging a reactionary
war against science and progress. GM-industry man Shanthu Shatharam, writing in India's
Deccan Herald newspaper this week, forwarded such a notion and described opponents of
nuclear power and GMOs as often possessing vague ideas about the safety and utility of modern
technologies based on cuddly feelings for all things natural.
Admiral L. Ramdas, former Chief of Naval Staff of the Indian navy, could not easily be
described as someone possessing vague ideas or cuddly notions of ‘all things natural'. In his
recent letter to PM Manmohan Singh, the retired admiral, a long standing opponent of nuclear
energy in India, expressed deep concerns about the Koodankulam Nuclear Power Plant in Tamil
Nadu and spoke of the mounting evidence about safety and allegations of corruption…
Source: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/04/130429175908.htm
ScienceDaily Apr. 29, 2013 Smoke Signals: How Burning Plants Tell Seeds to Rise from the
Ashes
In the spring following a forest fire, trees that survived the blaze explode in new growth and
plants sprout in abundance from the scorched earth. For centuries, it was a mystery how seeds,
some long dormant in the soil, knew to push through the ashes to regenerate the burned forest.
In the April 23 early online edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of
Sciences (PNAS), scientists at the Salk Institute and the University of California, San Diego,
report the results of a study that answers this fundamental "circle of life" question in plant
ecology. In addition to explaining how fires lead to regeneration of forests and grasslands, their
findings may aid in the development of plant varieties that help maintain and restore ecosystems
that support all human societies…