IPCC: Climate Change Increasing Risk of Hunger, Thirst, Disease, Refugees and War

UPDATE:4-23-14: IPCC Report Leaves Hopes Hanging On Fantasy Technology

It would appear I am not the only one who shares the opinion that solutions cited are weak and counterproductive.

UPDATE:4-14-14: IPCC: Working Group III: Mitigation Of Climate Change

Unfortunately, the IPCC has chosen to suggest mitigation solutions (we also need to ADAPT and plan for massive amounts of climate refugees falling victim to rising seas) that will only exacerbate the crisis as it gives impetus for fossil fuel companies to continue with business as usual even knowing that we must leave them in the ground in order to avoid cataclysm. Suggesting CCS (carbon capture and sequestration) is a fool's errand as is even suggesting nuclear (water intensive energy sources are not going to sustain a world in drought!- and hello,-Fukushima?) Biomass is polluting and produces black carbon. There was mention of afforestation but not in concert with Sustainable Agriculture on a wide scale-we need sinks, sinks and more sinks. Also telling us to "fix leaks in pipes transporting fuel" is not a solution. LEAVING IT IN THE GROUND IS.

People in the developing world (who BTW need contraception and education with us NOT going to the dark side of this) as well as everywhere else must also have access to solar on a massive scale NOW, as well as access to seeds they can save, an end to the privatization of their lives (including their water) and NO corporate GMO monoculture seeds especially if we care about biodiversity. How about we also stop consuming so much so unequally on the whole? Too much emphasis on tech fixes not enough emphasis on humanity and the moral will needed as well.

These suggestions on the whole just give more leeway for corporations to continue business as usual especially regarding time frames of emission output and corresponding PPM in relation to emissions timelags/feedbacks which I did not see mentioned. Suppose it is time to take out the countdown clock.

At a time when urgency must prevail we get suggestions that give the impression we now have the rest of this century to get our act together intimating that when push comes to shove even they are afraid to stand up to the fossil fuel industry and the governments in collusion with them. We need a specific transition time frame regarding renewables in concert with resource depletion rates in order to meet the gap of peak oil which will occur before 2050. Refusing to discuss this is only dooming us down the line.

Also see:

Nine Ways To Slow Climate Change

In other words, we are screwed so here are some ways to make us look like we did something so we can tell our grandchildren we tried while still not having to take moral responsibility for our fossil fuel addiction. I weep for the future if this is the best we can do.

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IPCC: Climate Change 2014: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability



This report released today really doesn't tell us anything new. However, it does warn us more starkly that our belief that we can continue to walk the path we are on and avoid catastrophic consequences is more than ill founded, it is a definite betrayal to ourselves, all species and those to come.

It also tells me that the solutions are not hard. They are the ones we have always had right before our eyes. Humility and respect for Earth that translates into smarter more efficient ways of farming, building, protecting and nourishing our Earth which in turn will then protect and nourish us.

I have stated this many times before and will state it again: Sustainable Agriculture is the key to our continued survival as well as massive tree planting and a transition to renewable energy that excludes all fossil fuels in time to meet the peak oil curve and to conserve water.

Technology cannot save us, humanity will.

reade more... Résuméabuiyad

Tropical Cyclone Hellen Crushing Parts of Madagascar

UPDATE: 4-1-14: Tropical Cyclone Hellen: Worst Case Scenario Avoided in Madagascar

Good news. Still looking for more information.

Tropical Cyclone Hellen Crushing Parts of Madagascar

"In the southwestern Indian Ocean today (March 31, 2014), a powerful cyclone is bringing dangerous storm surge, violent winds, and heavy rain that could result in flooding and mudslides in Madagascar, an island country in the Indian Ocean, off the coast of southeastern Africa. Tropical Cyclone Hellen peaked on March 30 with sustained winds around 150 miles per hour (240 km per hour). Hellen is a slow moving cyclone, so flooding will be a significant issue through Wednesday, April 2.



Bottom line: Although the storm’s wind intensity and satellite appearance indicates a weaker storm, we warn you to not be fooled. Tropical Cyclone Hellen will still be a formidable storm capable of producing widespread flooding and a significant storm surge as high as 15 to 25 feet in Madagascar. Meteorologists said Hellen was likely to be “one of the most powerful tropical cyclones ever seen over the northern channel [of the southwestern India Ocean] since the satellite era (1967).”

End of excerpt.

Dangerous Category 4 Hellen Nears Madagascar

I will update when I find more information. Prayers for people there to remain safe especially in light of projected storm surge.

reade more... Résuméabuiyad

Bolivia and Britain-A Tale of Two Floods - and Some Climate Truth

UPDATE: 4-3-14: Are Brazil’s Dams to Blame for Record Floods in Bolivia?

The proliferation of megadams (that do not benefit the poor) that also effect agriculture, rivers and displacement of indigenous people are not feasible especially in light of amplififation of climate change effects.

In recent months, Bolivia’s Amazonian region has experienced the most disastrous flooding of the past 100 years. In the Beni department, 7 of 8 provinces and 16 of 19 municipalities are under water, with 75,000 people (more than one-quarter of the population) affected. Economic losses from the death of 250,000 livestock heads and destruction of seasonal crop lands, estimated at $180 million, are mounting daily.

While seasonal flooding is common in Beni, experts agree that climate change has added a threatening new dimension to the cyclical pattern, bringing record rainfall to most of Bolivia this year. Deforestation, exploitation of cultivable land, and loss of infrastructure through the breakup of traditional communities are other factors contributing to soil erosion and increased vulnerability to flooding.

In the past weeks, attention has focused on the role played by two recently-inaugurated Brazilian mega-dams—the Jirau and the San Antonio—in Bolivia’s floods. Located on the Madeira River, the largest tributary of the Amazon which receives its waters from rivers in Bolivia and Peru, the dams are just 50 and 110 miles, respectively, from Brazil’s Bolivian border.

The dams are part of an even largerhydroelectric power complex planned for the area, which will include a third, binational dam (Ribeirao) directly on the border, and a fourth station inside Bolivia (Cachuela Esperanza). The dams are designed to generate electricity for Brazil’s industrial heartland, one thousand miles to the south.

End of excerpt

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UPDATE: 3-29-14:

UN climate science report will highlight ‘limits to adaptation’

Once again we will see the rich nations push aside "loss and damage" in trying to skirt responsibility. Climate change will reveal the ugly prejudices people have been harboring when called to truly be human first in order to save us all. This is truly the greatest moral challenge of our time. Describing this in terms of economics and politics leaves us failing. Describing this in terms of us being human first is the only way to save lives.

NASA/Earth Observatory/Flooding In Bolivia

"Residents of Bolivia’s low-lying Beni region are accustomed to flooding. Every February and March, rivers routinely burst their banks due to melting snowpack in the Andes Mountains and near daily rainstorms associated with the wet season. However, the floods Bolivians faced in February 2014 were unusually severe. Weeks of heavy rains caused the Beni and Mamoré Rivers to swell, swamping more than 40,000 hectares (100,000 acres) of land. According to media reports, floodwaters killed at least 60 people and damaged the homes of more than 60,000. Large numbers of livestock were also affected. Preliminary estimates suggest at least 100,000 cattle were killed by floods, and hundreds of thousands more were threatened by starvation.

The false-color image at the top of this page was acquired by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Aqua satellite on February 17, 2014. For comparison, the second image shows conditions along the rivers under more typical conditions on March 28, 2013 (as seen by Terra). Sediment-laden flood and river water appears blue; flood water with less sediment appears black. A natural-color view of the same area is available here. "What is happening, particularly in Beni province, is something never before seen in the history of Bolivia,” said president Evo Morales during the midst of the crisis."

Also see:

UPDATE 6-6-13:Czech Floods...Floods in Central Europe... Floods in the Midwest... Monster Tornadoes...Heatwaves...Glacier Melting...Excessive Drought... Now, What Could Be The Reason? Really? People Are Still Asking That Question?



Earth is home to ALL of us. What we do to our only home we do to ourselves.

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Bolivia and Britian-A Tale Of Two Floods

By Maddy Ryle
11th March 2014

Living between southern England and Bolivia, Maddy Ryle finds inconsistent media attitudes in reporting extreme weather and climate change - and searches out new narratives that engage and empower communities across the world.

In a recent blog a Bolivia-based climate commentator referenced media commentary on the aftermath of floods in the UK - as a way of drawing comparison with the extreme weather that has been causing devastation in parts of Bolivia in the last few weeks.

I normally live in the south of England but have been in Bolivia during this torrential period for both countries. The impact in both places has been severe, but undoubtedly more so here, in South America's poorest nation.

The flooding in Bolivia - particularly dire in the Beni region that borders Brazil in the northeast - has resulted in close to 60 deaths, affected close to 60,000 families (including many homes lost entirely), and done away with nearly 40,000 hectares of crops and around 100,000 head of cattle in this significantly agricultural economy.

Increasing severity

Floods are not unusual in Bolivia (or in the UK), although their severity and regularity in recent years is something new. I work for an organisation here that was doing field work back in 2010 about floods, drought and glacier loss.

The work focused on the fact that Bolivia was an 'early impact' country for the effects of climate change, and that its matrix of vulnerabilities (geographic, topographical, economic, social and political - amongst others) mean that as climate change gathers pace, people in Bolivia are going to be exposed to a wide range of problems and insufficient resources to deal with them.

Now maybe we don't need to talk about 'early impact' countries any more. The extreme weather that we are witnessing across the globe, in rich countries and poor - and especially in the last couple of months - has put climate change back in the headlines, or at least the comment pages.

Are we worried about money? Or people?

Of course, it is notable (and infuriating) that it takes a flood in southern England or a drought in California to do that, when Bolivians, Pakistanis, Somalians, Filipinos and millions of others exposed to the deadly combination of poverty and climate change have been suffering for some time now.

And it remains the case that people in the so-called 'developing world' will always be harder hit by these events. As British Prime Minister David Cameron and the UK insurance industry knows, it costs money to deal with the impacts of flooded businesses and homes, the loss of crops, the cleaning up ...

It also costs money to take measures to prevent these occurrences. Bolivia's president Evo Morales was quick to emphasise the responsibility of the "powers" - the rich industrialised countries of the global North - to deal with the climate crises affecting the global community.

Physician, heal thyself

But there have been others in Bolivia who have turned the spotlight on the government itself, asking that it assume some mantle of responsibility.

Various commentators have pointed to the administration's lack of preparedness despite the fact that some flooding occurs virtually every year during the rainy season in Bolivia.

End of excerpt.

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Comment

Torrential rains and floods above what is normally seen have been pummeling Bolivia as well as Peru and Argentina since the end of last year in a trend that continues to get worse. I bet you didn't know that... however, I am sure everyone who is reading this now knows of the floods that hit Britain because we saw it, actually saw it reported by the media (though of course those two words that shall not be spoken weren't) and it was right that we did see it covered. I know I can recall the nightly news reporting on Prince Harry carrying sandbags to protect the well to do of the towns effected from the oncoming rising Thames. However, I do not recall one broadcast where I saw any reports of the floods hitting Bolivia or any pictures of the poor and indigenous people there struggling or the farmers looking to save their livestock from the rising waters.





Now, why is that? Well, here is some climate truth many do not speak about especially regarding the developing world where it seems to speak such truth is tantamount to heresy. Climate change spawned by anthropogenic excess effects ALL races, creeds, income brackets, sexes, beliefs and locations. Climate change is an equal opportunity destroyer. It is the ultimate equalizer. However, to those who are racist, intolerant and out of touch with any reality but their own climate change is only a threat to their world if at all (and for some something to now only be used for profit) and something they don't think they have to worry about regarding anyone else especially the poor who they believe do not contribute anything to the world. This I do believe is one of the main reasons why progress on addressing and solving this crisis has been stifled.

Why is it when climate change hits California, Britain or France the news is filled with reports and people like John Kerry finally step out of their hiding places to say climate change is "a weapon of mass destruction." Yet, the developing world and poor indigenous people in it have been dealing with the effects of our folly and excess for years- and virtual silence. It cannot be helped but to be said that there are prejudices held that stop people from wanting to help others. Climate change is no different. These are the barriers we will have to lift if we are to save our entire species. People who live in La Paz Bolivia are just as important as people who live in the South of France! People who live in Indonesia and other islands that will sink under the tide of rising seas are just as important as people who live in the mansions of Bel Air!

In all my years of writing about and studying climate change one observation has always struck a chord with me: The climate exclusivity of it all especially regarding UN COP Conferences and other climate "meetings" that are supposedly meant to bring about climate accords to help people adapt that specifically exclude poor nations and indigenous people. Also, watching as the environmental movement and these conferences are slowly commandeered by corporate interests that introduce mechanisms that claim to want to save the climate but are actually only mechanisms being used by corporate interests to push indigenous populations off their land in order for these corporate interests to have tax write offs while they continue to pollute! How does that solve this crisis? How does that bring climate justice? How does that address the climate catastrophe we are ALL heading for?

Bolivia is one of the poorest countries in the world and one of the countries most vulnerable to climate change. This was seen just a few years ago when Chacaltaya Glacier completely disappeared six years early:



Bolivia's Chacaltaya Glacier Disappears

Once Upon A Time There Was Chacaltaya

Many Bolivians on the highland plains and in two cities depend on the melting of the glaciers for their water supply during the dry season.

Now what?

These countries are said to be meeting in Paris (big surprise there- another "rich" city that everyone will fly to) in 2015 for yet another COP Conference where it is believed a climate accord will be signed by 194 countries- although Christiana Figueres has already admitted this so called accord will not stop the world from surpassing 2 degrees C or even 4 degrees C. I suspect that once again countries like Bolivia will not be the prime concern as corporate interests will once again seek to fight any true progress that addresses the current and future effects on our world in total in an equitable fashion. And of course, this also applies to the governments of these countries that many times also shirk their responsibilty to their people.

Therein again lies the problem: having those who precipitated the crisis being those in charge of solving it. It is already a self fulfilling prophecy that poor countries like Bolivia that are living on the edge of climate change due to increased severity of droughts, floods, and glacier melt effecting their agriculture and livelihoods will see little help.

This is the crux of our lack of action as humans. Our own failings to see the world as the home of all of us and that we are all in this together. This isn't about anything more than finally seeing the huge challenge before our eyes and not forgetting that our hearts are just as instrumental in solving it as our pens.

The people of Bolivia and those who live in other areas of the world who are developing, poor, indigeneous yet just as resolved maybe even more so to saving this planet to save ourselves deserve no less than the same attention and help that we give to those who live in the developed world. Only when we see that our similarities as humans transcend our money, pride and prejudices will we be able to save this planet for all our children. If you look at the picture of the two Bolivian children above you will see one thing: They are no different than your own and deserve to live and thrive. THAT IS THE CRUX OF CLIMATE JUSTICE. Without it, we fail them all.

Bolivia In Need Of Coordinated Climate Change Policies

Climate Variability and Trends in Bolivia



Vast Areas of Bolivia and Brazil Flooded After Weeks of Torrential Rains

Bolivia floods affect 150,000 people as rains continue -reports

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International Bird Rescue Remembers Exxon Valdez - 25 Years Later

Our legacy?

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International Bird Rescue Remembers Exxon Valdez - 25 Years Later from International Bird Rescue on Vimeo.

Heartbreaking and CRIMINAL ECOCIDE.

AND WE STILL HAVEN'T LEARNED!

My respect and thanks to all who protect our water and the species that live there.

Voices from the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill: "The Day the Water Died"

"For the record, as a commercial fisherman and as an Alaskan, I would like to say that the oil isn't gone, the spill isn't over, and despite Exxon's promises, neither I, nor Kodiak Island, have been made whole."

— Toby Sullivan, Fisherman, Kodiak

OIL KILLS. It is time for humans to truly evolve by ending this deadly addiction!

BP Disaster Recovery Through the Lens of the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill



Flesh Eating Bacteria Tied To BP Oil Ecocide Tarballs

The Gulf Of Mexico-Three Years Later

And these companies are STILL trying to get their hands on the Arctic as the EPA just gave BP permission to bid in the Gulf AGAIN!

Only OUR VOICES can tell them NO to the Arctic. HANDS OFF!

Not another Exxon Valdez!!



ENOUGH!

reade more... Résuméabuiyad

West Virginians Still Not Drinking Their Water/Duke Energy's Crimes On Display

UPDATE: 4-1-14: FREEDOM INDUSTRIES HEADS TO COURT AMID QUESTIONS ON ‘INSIDER’ PAYMENTS

But it doesn't end there:

President Of Company That Tainted West Virginia’s Water Wants To Be Paid During Bankruptcy

Typical, out of touch arrogance. No caring about the water poisoned, the fact that people still aren't drinking it, the lost wages and business of those effected by it, the sick children, etc. He so needs to go to prison. At least there he can get bread and water- hopefully from the tap.

~~~~~~~~



Non physical scarcity. They have water, but they can't drink it. The media is not reporting this story anymore. Yet, the people of West Virginia live it everyday.

As we recognize World Water Day on March 22, we not only need to recognize the plight of over one billion in our world who have no water access but also the plight of those who have water but through political and corporate corruption cannot use it. We need a true shift of priorities in our world in order to save ourselves. The fox has been in charge of the hen house for far too long. What is happening in West Virginia and in other states in the US where coal has killed the water is something that must be reported everyday.

We simply cannot survive in a world where dirty energy exists. If this area had solar/wind energy providing its electricity there would be no need for these toxic chemicals and no spill would have taken place. This is the price of dirty energy combined with political cronyism and privatization of our water and it is a price too great in order for a few to profit over the many while destroying this Earth!

Clean water is a human right for ALL OF US and our rivers are not sewers there for the use of those who care more about profits than people!

Also see:

Local Reporter Puts Smug Freedom Industries President In His Place/Updates on West Virginia Chemical Spill

West Virginia Chemical Spill Declared Federal Disaster

Keep fighting for clean water, West Virginia.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Duke Energy also continues to break the law. Why are these companies still in business?



NC Says Duke Energy Illegally Pumped Water From Coal Ash Ponds Into Cape Fear River

This was no accident. People need to be doing prison time. Why are our waterways that are our life not considered as important as our lives?



WHY?

Also see:

Duke Energy Poisons More Water With Their Coal Ash

UPDATE 3-24-14:

DUKE ENERGY'S'SWEETHEART'POLLUTION DEAL UNDONE

North Carolina regulators said Friday that they have asked a judge to withdraw a proposed settlement that would have allowed Duke Energy to resolve multiple cases of environmental abuse by paying a $99,000 fine with no requirement that the $50 billion company clean up its pollution.

The consent order that the state's Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) scuttled had been meant to settle violations for groundwater contamination leeching from coal ash dumps near Charlotte and Asheville, N.C. Critics had called the deal too lenient.

The order had been reached in July 2013, well before a massive February 2014 spill in Eden, N.C., coated 70 miles of the Dan River in toxic sludge and focused attention on Duke's long history of polluting groundwater with its leaky, unlined, open air coal ash ponds.

The state only took legal action against Duke after a coalition of environmental groups represented by the Southern Environmental Law Center (SELC) filed notice that they planned to sue Duke under the Clean Water Act for its pollution. The administration of North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory — who himself spent 29 years in the employ of Duke Energy and has benefited from hundreds of thousands of dollars in campaign contributions from the company, its employees and their spouses — used its authority under the act to file state violations against Duke and then quickly negotiated the consent order, a move environmentalists say was intended to shield the company from far-harsher penalties it might have faced in federal court.

But now the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the DENR and the SELC, which had brought the original Clean Water Act suit against Duke last year, are joining a suit against the energy giant to get it to clean up some of its coal ash contamination.

Coal ash is the byproduct of burning coal for industrial power generation and contains concentrated amounts of toxic metals such as arsenic, lead, mercury and selenium, as well as aluminum, barium, boron, and chlorine and varying amounts of radioactive uranium, thorium and potassium. The toxins have been linked to cancer, heart damage, lung disease, respiratory distress, kidney disease, reproductive problems, gastrointestinal illness, birth defects, impaired bone growth in children and behavioral problems, according to waste assessments done by the EPA (PDF).

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Again, we need to see some people going to prison. Government officials who benefited from these companies should be first to go. Also, this is not about political parties this is about corruption in the coal industry which effects as we can see all states and is endemic in both parties in those states.

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World Water Day- March 22, 2014

Water is our most precious resource. We cannot survive without it- yet over a billion people on our planet struggle daily to have it while many of us take it for granted. March 22nd yearly is a day set aside to remind the world of how precious and important this resource is to our lives. This year I will be walking for water and donating to an organization that works to dig wells in developing areas with a need for access to water.



Water has never been more at risk globally than it is now. The proliferation of pollution, privatization, dams, scarcity both physical and non-physical added to the effects climate destruction are bringing due to more severe droughts and floods tells us that we must now work to conserve and to also speak out for renewable energy sources that do not waste water. Our energy structure as it stands now is simply unsustainable in a world where population increases in concert with increasing resource depletion place us in a very urgent situation for our future.

This World Water Day, make a pledge to conserve, donate, or spread the important truth about how precious our water resources are to our survival.

WATER IS LIFE-EVERYDAY.

Other entries on World Water Day here:

World Water Day 2013

World Water Day 2012

World Water Day 2011

World Water Day 2010

World Water Day 2009

World Water Day 2008

World Water Day 2007

This entry will have information and links about World Water Day 2014 added to it through Saturday, March 22nd.

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2014 Theme: Water and Energy

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Water Is Life supports this initiative:

100K World Water Day



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World Water Day 2014: The World's Thirstiest Places

Take action on World Water Day:

Tell Congress to Demand the World Bank Stop Funding Global Water Privatizers and Keep Public Water in Public Hands

Global Thirst For Energy Threatens Water Supplies



March 22 is World Water Day: Pray For the Healing of Our Waters

Water is sacred.

World Water Day 2014: When Water Is Death

The quality of our water is a statement about the quality of humanity.

World Must Use Renewables To Avoid/Water/Energy Crisis

To differ a bit personally from the title of this article- we ALREADY have a water/energy crisis. The LAST THING we need is more tarsands excavation!



We need to see more smiles of children having access to clean water. We can see that if we get off the fossil fuel/chemical merry go round and do what is morally right for civilization!

Clean water is worth more than all the gold in the world when it comes to preserving our planet and our lives!

Fossil Fuel Giants Guzzling World's Water as Poor Go Thirsty: UN 'Great political clout' of energy industry trumps those in need of drinking water

Where the rubber meets the road on the nexus of energy and water.

Water In The Anthropocene

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Scientists Sound Alarm On Climate

UPDATE: April 6, 2014 is one for the climate history books. 402 ppm of CO2 was recorded at Mauna Loa. This is the highest-ever daily reading posted by Scripps at Keeling Curve. Carry on...

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Typhoon Haiyan from space. NEW NORMAL? What is normal about this? About hundreds of millions of refugees with no homes, no food, no water, no way to grow food? What is normal about perpetual war? Do people really see how SERIOUS this all is?

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Scientists Sound Alarm on Climate

By Justin Gillis

"Early in his career, a scientist named Mario J. Molina was pulled into seemingly obscure research about strange chemicals being spewed into the atmosphere. Within a year, he had helped discover a global environmental emergency, work that would ultimately win a Nobel Prize.

Now, at 70, Dr. Molina is trying to awaken the public to an even bigger risk. He spearheaded a committee of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the world’s largest general scientific society, which released a stark report Tuesday on global warming.

The report warns that the effects of human emissions of heat-trapping gases are already being felt, that the ultimate consequences could be dire, and that the window to do something about it is closing.

“The evidence is overwhelming: Levels of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere are rising,” says the report. “Temperatures are going up. Springs are arriving earlier. Ice sheets are melting. Sea level is rising. The patterns of rainfall and drought are changing. Heat waves are getting worse, as is extreme precipitation. The oceans are acidifying.”

In a sense, this is just one more report about global warming in a string going back decades. For anybody who was already paying attention, the report contains no new science. But the language in the 18-page report, called “What We Know,” is sharper, clearer and more accessible than perhaps anything the scientific community has put out to date.

And the association does not plan to stop with the report. The group, with a membership of 121,200 scientists and science supporters around the world, plans a broad outreach campaign to put forward accurate information in simple language.

The scientists are essentially trying to use their powers of persuasion to cut through public confusion over this issue.

Polls show that most Americans are at least somewhat worried about global warming. But people generally do not understand that the problem is urgent — that the fate of future generations (not necessarily that far in the future) is being determined by emission levels now. Moreover, the average citizen tends to think there is more scientific debate about the basics than there really is.

The report emphasizes that the experts have come to a consensus, with only a few dissenters. “Based on well-established evidence, about 97 percent of climate scientists have concluded that human-caused climate change is happening,” it says.

That is not the same as claiming that all questions about climate change have been answered. In fact, enormous questions remain, and the science of global warming entails a robust, evolving discussion.

The new report walks through a series of potential consequences of planetary warming, without asserting that any is sure to happen. They are possibilities, not certainties, and the distinction is crucial for an intelligent public debate about what to do. The worst-case forecasts include severe food shortages as warming makes it harder to grow crops; an accelerating rise of the sea that would inundate coastlines too rapidly for humanity to adjust; extreme heat waves, droughts and floods; and a large-scale extinction of plants and animals.

“What’s extremely clear is that there’s a risk, a very significant risk,” Dr. Molina said by telephone from Mexico, where he spends part of his time. “You don’t need 100 percent certainty for society to act.”

End of excerpt

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“You don’t need 100 percent certainty for society to act.”

Truth. 97% certainty is more than enough and it cannot be said too many times that the public's continued reliance on getting their information about this from mass media and politicians bought by the fossil fuel industry and those only using it to gain political points will only delay that action and make those possibilities certainties.

There is absolutely no doubt that the effects of our forcing upon this planet over the last century and a half are now manifesting themselves in ways that are not only threatening our survival and ability to live sustainably but already effecting it now.

This is the current intiative put forth by the AAAS to clear up the confusion in the public that there is still scientific debate regarding anthropogenic climate change:

What We Know

Excerpt:

"The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is the world’s largest non-government general science membership organization and the executive publisher of Science, a leading scientific journal.

Its mission is “advance science for the benefit of all people.” Its goals include providing a voice for science on societal issues and promoting the responsible use of science in public policy. There may be no more pressing issue intersecting science and society than climate change and the What We Know initiative was born in response to that reality.

The What We Know initiative is dedicated to ensuring that three “R’s” of climate change communicated to the public.

The first is Reality — 97% of climate experts have concluded that human-caused climate change is happening.

The second is Risk — that the reality of climate change means that there are climate change impacts we can expect, but we also must consider what might happen, especially the small, but real, chance that we may face abrupt changes with massively disruptive impacts.

The third R is Response — that there is much we can do and that the sooner we respond, the better off we will be.

The What We Know initiative will include outreach to scientists, economists, community leaders, policy makers and the public at large over the following months via meetings and media outreach.

To guide the What We Know initiative, AAAS convened a group of prominent experts in climate science to address the fact that many Americans still erroneously believe that the scientific community is divided on the issue and that Americans are largely unaware of the full spectrum of climate risks – both what is likely to happen and what might happen — that human-caused climate change presents to Americans now and in the future."



Week ending March 17, 2014

Keeling Curve

The public perception that science is still divided on this is erroneous. The fact that humans are now altering the climate system of our planet thus producing more extreme events across a wider area of our planet is fact. There is no disputation that CO2 is a heat trapping gas and that the burning of fossil fuels is the fingerprint along with deforestation, land use changes and agricultural practices. Our rapacious rate of consumption of fossil fuels, water, forests and all resources is now catapulting us into a new epoch of history where our actions are already affecting our ability to live and will see devastating consequences taking place in future generations.

We are already seeing this come to pass in the Arctic where as I have reported previously, methane feedbacks are now occurring. There is no more time to waste on political bickering and using this urgent planetary crisis as a football just to gain votes with no substance. Without a habitable world nothing else matters. Unless we all join together as one human species to see the truth and see our part in telling it and taking action the ecosystems that are our life support will fail us.

I am grateful that this initiative has been implemented especially in regards to alerting the public to this most urgent reality apart from the political, ideological and economic factors that seek to inhibit solutions in a timeframe expedient enough to forestall catastrophe. Make no mistake, we are playing with fire when it comes to moving slowly regarding the effect our consumption has had and will continue to have on our only home if we do not act now. This then means heeding the warnings of scientists and those who see the danger and the effects taking place that the continued excavation and burning of fossil fuels presents.

As also will the continued rapacious consumption, pollution and disregard for our global water sources, especially in light of increased populations in correlation with more severe and frequent effects of droughts, floods, storms, ocean acidification, sea level rise and glacial melt that have been amplified as a result of the greenhouse effect.

The picture above shows that we have now surpassed 400PPM of CO2 in our atmosphere. 450 is game over as far as reversing effects. You do the math and try to understand that our current trajectory is not in the right direction. It will take unparalleled moral courage to go in the direction we need to go. This is why listening to the scientists instead of politicians with an agenda is absolutely imperative at this point in time in order to see our children with a world they can inhabit. I truly don't know how much more plain this can be.

Our Carbon Debt Our Moral Duty

This is a debt our children will hate us for leaving them. They also have every right to do so if we fail them.



Response of AGW deniers, politicians, those who think they don't need to change, those who make $$$$$$ by exploiting this Earth and basically anyone who thinks this information is put here just to take up space. Guess what- doing and or thinking that changes nothing about REALITY.

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International Day Of Rivers

Celebrating International Rivers (In pictures)

Day Of Action Defending World Heritage Rivers

snip

"Governments the world over have taken legal measures to protect particularly unique and valuable natural and cultural treasures in perpetuity. The establishment of national parks is one mechanism that has resulted in an estimated 6,500 protected areas in countries across the globe. Yet even these protected areas face destructive large dams. With more than 500 dams now planned in the Balkans, for example, our friends at River Watch are organizing to “Save the Blue Heart of Europe” against dams planned in national parks in Albania, Macedonia and Slovakia. The question has been posed: If we can’t stop destructive dams in our national parks, then where can we draw the line?

International Rivers will be taking action on March 14 to profile the threats to rivers and related ecosystems that are designated UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Of the nearly 1,000 sites of “outstanding universal value” in the World Heritage system, several are directly threatened by large hydropower projects.

The World Heritage Committee meets annually to, among other business, review and consider sites to include on its “In Danger” list, a designation that aims to mobilize attention and resources to address imminent threats. International Rivers has provided evidence to the Committee, comprised of 21 member-states, on threats to river-dependent World Heritage Sites. Two sites under clear and immediate threat in 2014 are the Three Parallel Rivers site in China and the Lake Turkana Basin in East Africa.

Three Parallel Rivers is a 17,000-square-kilometer site featuring upper reaches of the Yangtze (Jinsha), the Mekong (Lancang) and Salween (Nu) rivers, which run roughly parallel in deep gorges along 300 km. Inscribed as a World Heritage site in 2003, the area is considered one of the richest temperate regions in the world for biodiversity and today is still a relatively undisturbed ecological zone. China has revived plans to build up to 13 dams on the Nu River, which would significantly change the scenic and ecological value of this World Heritage Site. The Committee has requested that China update the Site’s status for review at its 2015 meeting.

Kenya’s Lake Turkana is the largest desert lake in the world. Inscribed in 1997, this World Heritage site has supported hominids for 2 million years, and is today the life-source for a quarter million people, abundant crocodiles and fish, and some 350 species of birds. Ethiopia is poised to begin filling the Gibe III Dam on the Omo River – the source for this lake – with potentially disastrous hydrological consequences.

This year I’ll be joining in a Day of Action for Rivers that will send a message to World Heritage Committee members in time for their June meeting in Qatar: Alert the world to the risks these sites face, and grant them World Heritage “In Danger” status. If you aren’t already joining an action on March 14, then consider organizing embassy and consulate visits in your own metropolitan area. Visit our website to get a list of the 21 voting nations on the World Heritage Committee and briefing kits for the full range of activities for the International Day of Action for Rivers.

Whether you pump your fist in the air, bring your hands together in prayer, or go knocking on consular doors, do find a way to join into the International Day of Action for Rivers on March 14. The fate of the world’s rivers are in our hands!

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Speak out to protect your rivers. They are our lifelines.



Mega Dams Economically Unviable-Oxford Report

India's Dam Building Bonanza

Rivers globally are being choked due to the proliferation of huge mega dam projects under the guise of "green" energy. This is a misrepresentation as we see these mega projects not only costing more in $$$$ but also in environmental damage to indigenous lands, displacement, pollution and diversion of rivers that effects agricultural output. To stand up for our rivers means to also stand up for sensible solutions and our indigenous communities globally.

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Scientists: Earth Has A Secret Reservoir of Water

'Ringwoodite' points to water deep within Earth

Late Melbourne scientist Ted Ringwood's theories appear to have been validated with the discovery of a sample of Ringwoodite from deep beneath the Earth's surface.

One hundred and fifty years ago, in Journey to the Centre of the Earth, French science-fiction forerunner Jules Verne pictured a vast sea that lay deep under our planet's surface.

Today, that strange and haunting image has found an unexpected echo in a scientific paper.

That particular zone in the Earth, the transition zone, might have as much water as all the world's oceans put together.

Graham Pearson, University of Alberta

Writing in the journal Nature, scientists said they had found an elusive mineral pointing to the existence of a vast reservoir deep in Earth's mantle, 400 to 600 kilometres beneath our feet.


The brown diamond that yielded the ringwoodite sample. Photo: Richard Siemens/University of Alberta It may hold as much water as all the planet's oceans combined, they believe. The evidence comes from a water-loving mineral called ringwoodite that came from the so-called transition zone sandwiched between the upper and lower layers of Earth's mantle, they said. Analysis shows a whopping 1.5 per cent of the rock comprises molecules of water.

The find backs once-contested theories that the transition zone, or at least significant parts of it, is water-rich, the investigators said. "This sample really provides extremely strong confirmation that there are local wet spots deep in the Earth in this area," said Graham Pearson of Canada's University of Alberta, who led the research. "That particular zone in the Earth, the transition zone, might have as much water as all the world's oceans put together."

Ringwoodite is named after Australian geologist Ted Ringwood, who theorised that a special mineral was bound to be created in the transition zone because of the ultra-high pressures and temperatures there. A piece of this mineral has been a long-sought goal. It would resolve a long-running debate about whether the poorly-understood transition zone is bone-dry or water-rich. But until now, ringwoodite has only ever been found in meteorites. Geologists had simply been unable to delve deep enough to find any sample on Earth.Good fortune, though, changed all this.

In 2008, amateur gem-hunters digging in shallow river gravel in the Juina area of Mato Grasso, Brazil, came across a tiny, grubby stone called a brown diamond. Measuring just three millimetres across and commercially worthless, the stone was acquired by the scientists when they were on a quest for other minerals. But the accidental acquisition turned out to be a bonanza. In its interior, they found a microscopic trace of ringwoodite – the very first terrestrial evidence of the ultra-rare rock. snip

"In some ways it is an ocean in Earth's interior, as visualised by Jules Verne ... although not in the form of liquid water," Keppler said in a commentary also published by Nature. The implications of the discovery are profound, Pearson suggested. If water exists in huge volumes beneath Earth's crust, it is bound to have a big impact on the mechanics of volcanoes and the movement of tectonic plates."One of the reasons the Earth is such a dynamic planet is the presence of some water in its interior," Pearson said. "Water changes everything about the way a planet works."

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Incredible find. There is still so much we have to yet learn about Earth. I have no doubt there is water at the center. In the early stages of Earth's development bombardments by meteors and comets formed the oceans we see around us. It is very likely to me that these relentless bombardments sent water deep into the Earth. Could it be a world within a world?

“Is the Master out of his mind?' she asked me.
I nodded.
'And he's taking you with him?'
I nodded again.
'Where?' she asked.
I pointed towards the centre of the earth.
'Into the cellar?' exclaimed the old servant.
'No,' I said, 'farther down than that.”

― Jules Verne, Journey to the Center of the Earth

Journey To The Centre of The Earth-All Editions

Also see: Where Did Earth's Water Originate

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Repost for International Women's Day: Women -The Caretakers of Our World In a World of Water and Climate Injustice

Women Lack Access To Safe Drinking Water

Access to safe drinking water and adequate sanitation is one of the most important factors regarding economy, health and education in the developing world. And yes, it is also a factor regarding men but for women who suffer from cultural inequality in these areas of the world and who are charged with the rearing of children, farming, household duties, etc. this becomes a much more crucial issue for them and especially for their children. We are now also experiencing more frequent and severe drought, glaciers globally melting faster than predicted that threaten water supplies for billions, landgrabbing and more corporate ownership of the resources necessary for survival and conflicts that threaten access to water and land.

Even now as we enter the 21st Century and eclispe the heights of technological genius we still have not found a way to provide safe drinking water to all our people on Earth even though three quarters of this Earth is covered by it. I say, a world in which three quarters of it is covered with water yet sees its people dying of thirst is a world that has lost its way. Where will this century take us in regards to water issues? Climate? We are certain to see technological advances that go beyond our comprehension in our zeal to "perfect" ourselves and make our world more convenient for the uses we in our arrogance deem necessary to control it. However, in doing so will we lose focus on the one word we need to work on: Humanity? Feeding our people, providing them with water, health, education, opportunity and dignity. These should be the goals that transcend centuries and egos. Please, let it be.

Women and Water: Scarcity, Access and Sanitation.



This is about lack of access to water because of non physical scarcity/pollution that causes disease and preventable death as well as lack of sanitation that affects education and health. The UN Millenium goals for safe drinking water have been met but still fall short. Millenium goals on sanitation however are much harder to reach, but work is being done. This is also a human rights issue and bridging the gap between rich and poor. It will take the global community joining together to solve this crisis and recognizing the rights of women which is a huge part of the solution.

___ Some solutions:

SOLUTION: Declare water to be a global human right.

SOLUTION: Hold chemical and oil companies accountable for their pollution and the toxification of our water globally.

SOLUTION: Stop drilling in our water.

SOLUTION: Fight the privatization of our global water supplies.

SOLUTION: Support sustainable agriculture that conserves water (drip irrigation) and lessens the use of pesticides and fertilizers.

SOLUTION: Speak out about the lack of sanitation because it needs to be known. Support NGOS working to bring dignity to people.

SOLUTION: Support efforts to decrease the emissions that add to the global warming that is bringing about the glacial melt and more frequent droughts and floods that threaten water supplies.

Also see:

The Water Crisis Looms Large Over Our World

Water Facts

WHO: Water, Sanitation And Health

The crisis of sanitation is now even more acute than water access.
The Global Water Crisis- What you can do.

Addition 3-8-14:



We are mothers, lovers, fighters, caretakers, farmers, innovators, diplomats. We are the world. And we are more impacted by climate change/water scarcity in this world and therefore also more passionate about preserving this world's beauty and resources for future generations.

Women and Climate Change

Excerpt:

"Family nutrition is directly affected by a woman’s ability to farm. Women farmers grow more than half of all the food in developing countries, and up to 80 percent in parts of Africa, generally in the form of small-scale crops for household consumption. Climate change has already begun to affect agricultural production and, consequently, women’s livelihoods and their ability to support the nutritional needs of their families. Extension efforts need to reach women, who often do not have access to information that would help them make better decisions about how to adapt to climate change.

Women are also the primary collectors of wood for fuel and water for household use. As climate change exacerbates desertification, these resources will become increasingly scarce, and make these tasks more difficult and time-consuming. This may directly affect girls’ ability to attend school, as household chores consume more of their time.

Women are also highly vulnerable to climate change-related natural disasters, and, as recent research has shown, face a significant risk of disaster-related fatalities. Following the 2004 tsunami in Asia, Oxfam International reported that three-quarters of the fatalities in eight Indonesian villages were women and girls. In the second most affected district in India, Cuddalore, the proportion of female fatalities was nearly 90 percent. Furthermore, many of the daily challenges facing women farmers in the developing world, such as the difficulty of accessing credit, tools, training, and technical advice, only increase their vulnerability to climate change."

The solutions to both the climate and water crises lie not in technological fixes that only seek to profit those investing in them. The solutions lie in the ingenuity, passion and wisdom of those who work the land (both men and women) and understand not only our physical relationship to the Earth but our spiritual bond as well. Food sovereignty, food security, water access, defeating the scourge of poverty all hinge on education and inclusion of girls and women in their communities in policy making and leadership. A better world is possible but only if humanity and true equality are at its core.

To all women who struggle for equality and justice I stand with you as your sister in the fight for a better world.

(To my mother who left me and this world too soon who taught me to love, be my own person and speak truth- Thank you- you are always in my heart.)

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