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earthsystems.org news Volume 2 Issue 33
Please, visit our site:
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FROM EARTHSYSTEMS.ORG:
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ISSUE OF THE WEEK
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Water at the North Pole: This weekend a Harvard oceanographer
reported that on a recent trip to the North Pole he discovered water
where sheets of ice 6 to 9 feet deep should be.
http://earthsystems.org/issues.html
(Also see story below)
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POLL OF THE WEEK
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Do you think the discovery of water at the North Pole signals
climate change accelerated by human activities?
http://earthsystems.org/issues.html#poll
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FROM GRIST:
http://www.gristmagazine.com/grist/gist
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RUN FOR IT, SANTA!
For the first time in perhaps 50 million years, the thick ice
covering the North Pole has melted, opening up an ice-free stretch of
ocean about a mile wide, according to scientists who recently visited
the scene. The melting is being seen by many as further evidence
that climate change is upon us. James McCarthy, a Harvard
oceanographer and scientist with the Intergovernmental Panel on
Climate Change, reported the news after serving as a lecturer on a
tourist cruise aboard an icebreaker earlier this month. On a similar
cruise six years ago, McCarthy says the ship plowed through ice six
to nine feet thick at the North Pole. The Arctic Sea ice cover has
shrunk by about 40 percent since the 1950s. Iceland and other
Sub-Arctic regions are also warming noticeably.
straight to the source: New York Times, John Noble Wilford, 08.19.00
http://www.nytimes.com/library/national/science/081900sci-climate-pole.html
straight to the source: Washington Post, DeNeen L. Brown, 08.20.00
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A56939-2000Aug19.html
straight to the source: San Francisco Chronicle, Colin Woodard, 08.21.00
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2000/08/21/MN106275.DTL
RED HOT CHILE CYCLISTS
On the first Tuesday of every month, hundreds of "Ciclistas
Furiosos," or enraged bicyclists, take to the streets of Santiago,
Chile. Riding as slowly as possible, waving flags, and blowing
whistles, they tangle up traffic to protest the city's dirty air,
caused in large part by cars. The group, which began seven years ago
and now boasts 5,000 members, emulates similar movements in the U.S.
and Europe and aims to get people out of their cars. The cyclists
are hopeful that Chile's new Socialist president, Roberto Lagos, will
be more receptive to their calls for bike paths and car-free days
than the previous administration of Eduardo Frei.
straight to the source: Christian Science Monitor, Jessica Alexander, 08.16.00
http://www.csmonitor.com/durable/2000/08/16/f-p8s2.shtml
FUELING GROOVY
General Motors and ExxonMobil announced yesterday what they called a
breakthrough in fuel-cell technology for automobiles. The companies
have developed a new system that converts gasoline into hydrogen that
is used to run a fuel cell, which in turn produces electricity to
power a car or truck. According to the companies, the system is
twice as efficient as conventional gasoline-powered engines and emits
50 percent less carbon dioxide and significantly less carbon monoxide
and nitrogen oxides than standard engines. GM and ExxonMobil plan to
put the system into a test car within 18 months and predict that it
will be used in hundreds of thousands of cars, trucks, and buses
within 10 years. "This technology is a bridge between today's
conventional gasoline-powered vehicles and where we believe we are
eventually headed, which is hydrogen-powered vehicles that will be
fueled by hydrogen refilling stations," said GM Vice President Larry
Burns.
straight to the source: Los Angeles Times, Terril Yue Jones, 08.11.00
http://www.latimes.com/print/business/20000811/t000075133.html
straight to the source: USA Today, David Kiley, 08.11.00
http://www.usatoday.com/usatonline/20000811/2542548s.htm
read it only in Grist Magazine: Fuel speed ahead -- the story of the
fuel cell -- in our Books Unbound section
http://www.gristmagazine.com/grist/books/books063000.stm
GENERATION XL
The world population, which surpassed 6 billion last year, is
expected to hit 8.9 billion by 2050, according to median estimates
from the U.N. Population Fund. Average fertility worldwide has
fallen dramatically in recent decades, from five children per woman
in the 1960s to 2.7 today, and the fertility in 61 countries,
representing 44 percent of the world's inhabitants, is below the
replacement rate of 2.1 live births per woman. But the overall world
population continues to rise steadily, in part because global life
expectancy has climbed over the past five decades from 46 years to 66
years. Most of the coming population growth is expected to take
place in the poor, developing countries that are least able to
support it.
straight to the source: South Africa Independent, Agence France-Presse, 08.10.00
http://www.star.co.za/general/newsview.php?click_id=143art_id=qw965881741153B211&set_id=1
JOHNNY ROTTEN
ABC News yesterday reprimanded reporter John Stossel and suspended
producer David Fitzpatrick for one month for their roles in a "20/20"
report that questioned the safety and benefits of organic food, two
days after the network acknowledged that the story contained false
information. The report, broadcast in February and rerun in July,
claimed that tests conducted for the network indicated that
non-organic produce does not necessarily have more pesticide residue
than organic produce, but in fact the tests were never conducted.
Stossel has also been ordered to apologize on the air on this
Friday's "20/20," a correction that may run several minutes, an
unusually long time, which would seem to be an acknowledgement by ABC
that the segment harmed the organic food industry, as critics have
claimed. The Environmental Working Group, which has called for
Stossel to be fired over the incident, said the punishments aren't
strong enough.
straight to the source: New York Times, Jim Rutenberg, 08.10.00
http://www.nytimes.com/00/08/10/news/financial/abc-2020.html
straight to the source: USA Today, Peter Johnson, 08.10.00
http://www.usatoday.com/usatonline/20000810/2537326s.htm
WE'RE NOT OUT OF THE WOODS YET
The global rate of deforestation seems to be slowing, according to a
preliminary study by the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization
(FAO). In some regions, most notably the tropics, destruction of
forests declined by as much as 10 percent from the 1980s to the
1990s. Major causes of forest loss include large development
projects that lead to resettlement, such as those in China, as well
as excessive logging and grazing, rapid expansion of subsistence
agriculture, and fires. The FAO warned against complacency, noting
that forests are still being lost too quickly. "These preliminary
results do not mean that the battle against deforestation is over,"
said Hosny El-Lakany of the FAO.
straight to the source: Planet Ark, Reuters, 08.09.00
http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=7734
read it in Grist Magazine: Things are getting worse more slowly --
is this cause for celebration? -- by Donella Meadows
http://www.gristmagazine.com/grist/citizen/citizen063000.stm
FIT TO BE THAI-ED
Environmentalists and other concerned citizens in Thailand are waging
a fierce fight against a proposed coal-fired power plant along the
shore of the Gulf of Thailand, a project that they say could harm a
coral reef and the fishing grounds that provide livelihoods for many
of the 10,000 locals. They also worry that the plant's emissions and
ash waste would pollute the air and land, and that the area's
burgeoning tourist industry would be hurt. Bitter disputes over the
project have led to violent protests and assassination attempts
against activist leaders. This type of grassroots activism was
unheard of in Thailand even a few years ago, but a constitution
adopted in 1997 requires public hearings on major projects like the
power plant and has opened the way for average citizens to demand a
say in decisions affecting their lives.
straight to the source: San Francisco Chronicle/Examiner, Associated
Press, Denis D. Gray, 08.13.00
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/news/archive/2000/08/13/international1215EDT0444.DTL
ROAD WARRIORS
Environmentalists in Vietnam are battling a national highway project
which they say threatens endangered wildlife. Construction began in
April on the Ho Chi Minh Highway, which is planned to run for more
than 1,000 miles from near Hanoi in the north to Ho Chi Minh City in
the south, following parts of the legendary Ho Chi Minh Trail. Five
environmental groups, including the World Wildlife Fund, released a
statement yesterday warning that the highway construction could harm
10 protected areas, including national parks and nature reserves, and
threaten two critically endangered species of langurs, or monkeys, as
well as tigers, elephants, and other animals.
straight to the source: Planet Ark, Reuters, David Brunnstrom, 08.15.00
http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=7796
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