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Help put an end to junk mail
Sign the petition to form a national Do Not Mail Registry in the United States. www.donotmail.org/
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Green News Update
To help offset rising food costs, around 1, 000 families in the Kiang Valley, Malaysia ill recieve free bread or a year.
Three international automobile makers commit to reserving 300 hybrid cars per month to assist in New York City's goal of a green transformation for all 13, 000 taxicabs.
As Nigeria is considered one of the countries highly affected by climate change, a meeting was held in Sokoto to urge for limiting greenhouse gas omissions, along with urgent adapation and sustainable development measures.
The UN's Food and Agriculture Organization and partnets are collecting field data about forests worldwide to better assess deforestation and land use, and will publish a report within two years.
To help offset rising food costs, around 1, 000 families in the Kiang Valley, Malaysia ill recieve free bread or a year. ... more -
Urban farming flourishes in Detriot, USA
The goal of the Detroit/Michgan based charity Urban Farming, is to turn unused city land into free vegetable gardens for the communiity. Started by singer Taja Sevelle three years ago, the community gardens have met with great siccess amd sipport from city dwellers. Some of the now regu;ar gardeneres orginiated in inmate rehabilitation programsx, wiith crime rates also noted to have decreased in the Ubran Farming neighbourhoods. I applaud these wonderful efforts, Ms Sevelle and all participnt, for restoring a sense of community spirit, and bringing back a healthy was of life. May Urban Farming continue to grow and spread this new culture of togetherness and plentiful sustenance to many more cities around the world.
The goal of the Detroit/Michgan based charity Urban Farming, is to turn unused city land into free vegetable gardens for the communii... more -
The devastation of the rain forest
About 22% of the earth's original forest coverage remains. Western Europe has lost 98% or so of its primary forests; Asia 94%; Africa 92%; Oceania 78%; North America 66%, and South America 54%. Approximately 45% of the world's tropical forests, originally covering 1.4 billion hectares, have disappeared in the last few decades.
One and one-half acres of rainforest are lost every second with tragic consequences for both developing and industrial countries. Rainforests are being destroyed because the value of rainforest land is perceived as only the value of its timber by short-sighted governments, multi-national logging companies, and land owners
Nearly half of the world's species of plants, animals and microorganisms will be destroyed or severely threatened over the next quarter century due to rainforest deforestation.
Experts estimates that we are losing 137 plant, animal and insect species every single day due to rainforest deforestation. That equates to 50,000 species a year. As the rainforest species disappear, so do many possible cures for life-threatening diseases. Currently, 121 prescription drugs sold worldwide come from plant-derived sources. While 25% of Western pharmaceuticals are derived from rainforest ingredients, less that 1% of these tropical trees and plants have been tested by scientists.
There were an estimated ten million Indians living in the Amazonian Rainforest five centuries ago. Today there are less than 200,000.
The Amazon Rainforest has been described as the "Lungs of our Planet" because it provides the essential environmental world service of continuously recycling carbon dioxide into oxygen. More than 20 percent of the world oxygen is produced in the Amazon Rainforest.
More than half of the world's estimated 10 million species of plants, animals and insects live in the tropical rainforests. One-fifth of the world's fresh water is in the Amazon Basin.
At least 80% of the developed world's diet originated in the tropical rainforest. Its bountiful gifts to the world include fruits like avocados, coconuts, figs, oranges, lemons, grapefruit, bananas, guavas, pineapples, mangos and tomatoes; vegetables including corn, potatoes, rice, winter squash and yams; spices like black pepper, cayenne, chocolate, cinnamon, cloves, ginger, sugar cane, tumeric, coffee and vanilla and nuts including Brazil nuts and cashews.
The Brazilian government is currently trying to protect its section of the rainforest, but it can not stop huge multinational companies from coming in a doing illegal logging.
About 22% of the earth's original forest coverage remains. Western Europe has lost 98% or so of its primary forests; Asia 94%; Africa... more -
---------Don't Give Up------------
Two years ago a deer rubbed the bark off of this small pine tree...........
All last year it looked comepletly dead....................................................
this year the bottom came out and started to grow..................................
Nature.......the ultimate recycler......never gives up.................................. Two years ago a deer rubbed the bark off of this small pine tree........... ... more -
Tree-top walkway to open at UBC
Situated in the David C. Lam Asian Garden section as part of Walk in the Woods Trail, the prefabricated walkway will be connected to nine giant conifers, all sturdy towering grand firs along with a couple of Douglas firs. Situated in the David C. Lam Asian Garden section as part of Walk in the Woods Trail, the prefabricated walkway will be connected to n... more
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Saving Port Gibson
The town of Port Gibson, Mississippi is in need of your help. Declared "too beautiful to burn" by Ulysses S. Grant during the notoriously destructive Vicksburg Campaign of 1863, Port Gibson has become one of the most historically significant towns in the South. Now, a highway expansion project and almost twenty years of indecision and infighting threaten to transform Church Street, a lovely, tree-lined avenue, into a major interstate. Meet a few locals determined to save this national treasure.
Help unite the community around an Eastern bypass!
Sign the petition to save Port Gibson at:
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/save-port-gibson-missi...
For more information on other ways you can help the cause, please visit:
www.portgibsonheritagetrust.org
Credits -
A Pete's House Production
A film by Grady McGahan
Shot by: Robert Northrup
Archival Footage: Robert Clark
Music: "The Second Battle of Port Gibson" by Lonesome Mel, Mary Mac, and Larry
Special Thanks: Bob Thibodeaux, Terry Merritt, Jane Ellis, Al Hollingsworth, Shirley & Willie Daigle, Georgia's at the Depot, and Port Gibson Heritage Trust
If you like the music, be sure to check out www.myspace.com/lonesomemel The town of Port Gibson, Mississippi is in need of your help. Declared "too beautiful to burn" by Ulysses S. Grant during the notorio... more -
Ancient oak trees help reduce global warming : study
The battle to reduce carbon emissions is at the heart of many eco-friendly efforts, and researchers from the University of Missouri have discovered that nature has been lending a hand. Researchers at the Missouri Tree Ring Laboratory in the Department of Forestry discovered that trees submerged in freshwater aquatic systems store carbon for thousands of years, a significantly longer period of time than trees that fall in a forest, thus keeping carbon out of the atmosphere.
“If a tree is submerged in water, its carbon will be stored for an average of 2,000 years,” said Richard Guyette, director of the MU Tree Ring Lab and research associate professor of forestry in the School of Natural Resources in the College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources. “If a tree falls in a forest, that number is reduced to an average of 20 years, and in firewood, the carbon is only stored for one year.”
The team studied trees in northern Missouri, a geographically unique area with a high level of riparian forests (forests that have natural water flowing through them). They discovered submerged oak trees that were as old as 14,000 years, potentially some of the oldest discovered in the world. This carbon storage process is not just ancient; it continues even today as additional trees become submerged, according to Guyette.
The battle to reduce carbon emissions is at the heart of many eco-friendly efforts, and researchers from the University of Missouri ha... more -
United Kingdom Talk Tuesday 17th June 2008
Tuesday's edition of my three times a week talk show.Watch the show here on Current TV on Tues, Thurs & Sats .
THURSDAY'S SHOW WILL BE COMING FROM THE FOREST.
In today's show :
Looking pretty.
Do you pretend to be ill ?
It will stop you dropping dead.
Watch out for the gossips.
My old fantastic job at British Telecom.
Those jumping icons.
"At home with Chris Reardon".
Chop those trees down.
Rudeness.
Welcome Dawn.Are you in Australia ?
Don't let your emails get missed.
What is de-fragging ?
Be nice.
Remote controlled water sensors.
If you're not happy - you must leave.
It's all blowing everywhere.
Fuel prices.
I've oiled the chair !
What must it be like not to be recognized ?
Will the umbrella collapse ?
On benefits ?
Do you forget things a lot ?
The hill in Canberra.
A new computer ?
http://unitedkingdomtalk.forums4free.org/
Email :
chris@unitedkingdomtalk.co.uk
WWW.UNITEDKINGDOMTALK.CO.UK Tuesday's edition of my three times a week talk show.Watch the show here on Current TV on Tues, Thurs & Sats . ... more -
Podcast: A walk through the Garden
Garden authority Steve Whysall offers a personal guided tour of VanDusen Gardens
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Trees in warmer climates may fight global warming more effectively: study
Trees in warm places might be able to shrug off global warming better than those in the UK and colder climes because they contain a remarkable "thermostat" that keeps them the same temperature.
Leaves shed new light on earlier arrival of spring
More proof of global warming?
Greenhouse gases can cause ecological chaos
The temperature inside a healthy tree leaf is affected much less by outside temperature than originally believed, from England to the Caribbean, according to biologists at the University of Pennsylvania.
Researchers found that all tree leaves maintain a near constant temperature
They are concerned that trees in colder regions, such as Britain, could overheat as the climate warms as a result of this hitherto unrecognised mechanism. However, species adapted to warmer climates are likely to take their place.
Surveying 39 tree species ranging in location from subtropical to northerly climates, researchers found a nearly constant temperature in tree leaves.
The conversion of light into chemical energy - photosynthesis - most likely occurs when leaf temperatures are about 21°C, and the outside temperature plays little, if any, role. This means that in colder climates leaf temperatures are elevated and in warmer climates tree leaves cool to keep the temperature just right.
"It is not surprising to think that a polar bear in northern Canada and a black bear in Florida have the same internal body temperature," says Dr Brent Helliker, who reports the work with Suzanna Richter in the journal Nature. "Like us, they generate their own heat.
"However, to think that a black spruce in Canada and a Caribbean Pine in Puerto Rico have the same average leaf temperature is quite astonishing.
"Our research suggests that they use a combination of purely physical phenomena - like the cooling from water evaporation or the warming caused by packing a lot of leaves together - to maintain leaf temperature, a phenomenon we call homeostatisis."
He stresses that this does not mean tree canopies maintain a constant temperature through a day or a season, but rather that this ideal temperature is a long-term target value.
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If true, we then need to be planting more trees in Africa and the Amazon instead of chopping them down. I think this is an interesting find and can lead us to solutions regarding CO2 mitigation.
Trees in warm places might be able to shrug off global warming better than those in the UK and colder climes because they contain a re... more -
Let's plant a tree!
This Yahoo technology search engine helps reforesting trees and safeguard water resources in the Amazon in association with www.Aquaverde.com
Let's plant a tree! This Yahoo technology search engine helps reforesting trees and safeguard water resources in the Amazon in association with www.Aquave... more -
Cool Trees around the World
Wow, I never knew that trees could be so cool!
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Tree Nation:Tree Planting Goal of 30,000 Set For 2008
For 2008, Tree Nation had to plan how many trees will go into their nursery in Niger. So they took the bet that their community will reach 30.000 trees to plant in August. The ultimate goal of Tree Nation is to plant 8 million trees in the shape of a heart in the heart of Niger to mitigate deforestation and poverty. A most worthy goal.
Planting trees is a simple yet effective way to offset the burning of fossil fuels that causes global warming/ climate change. Especially in Niger, where extreme drought and poverty have left many in famine and disease.
So if you are interested in helping this organization reach its goal, you can visit their site and get information on how to help them plant trees in Niger. I have so far contributed about 15 trees through my climate messenger petititon and hope to do more this year. There are ways we here can influence events around the world positively. This is one great way. Planting trees saves lives. For 2008, Tree Nation had to plan how many trees will go into their nursery in Niger. So they took the bet that their community will r... more -
Lutheran Bishop Thomas Skrenes praises interfaith work: EPA Great Lakes 2008 Earth...
An Earth Healing message, thank you and congratulations from Lutheran Bishop Thomas A. Skrenes about the success of the EPA Great Lakes 2008 Earth Day Challenge
A Lutheran Bishop who has participated in interfaith Earth Day recycling projects for four years in a row said "the EPA Great Lakes 2008 Earth Day Challenge has been a success."
Celebrate - what a great day Earth Day has been 2008," said Lutheran Bishop Thomas A. Skrenes of the Northern Great Lakes Synod (NGLS) of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). "The Earth Healing Initiative has been a great success this year."
"Computers have been recycled, pharmaceuticals have been brought together for proper disposal," Skrenes said.
"What a great opportunity it has been to be part of the ecumenical work and interfaith work of assisting others to see the environmental concerns set before us," said Bishop Skrenes of Marquette, Michigan.
With hundreds of thousands of people participating across eight states in the Midwest and Northeast, Bishop Skrenes said interfaith environment projects like the EPA Great Lakes 2008 Earth Day Challenge will help ensure a better future for all humans.
"It is a sign of great significance that people can join hands and work together," Skrenes said. "So celebrate - it is a good day for the environment and it is a good day for all of us together."
Bishop Skrenes thanked the EPA, faith communities and "people of goodwill throughout the upper Midwest who have been a part of this work."
"It has been a great day, a great week, a great Earth day 2008," Skrenes said.
"The EPA Great Lakes 2008 Earth Day Challenge has been a part of the lives and will be a part of the future of this whole area."
Bishop Skrenes is one of the original nine faith leaders who signed the Earth Keeper Covenant in Michigan's Upper Peninsula in 2004 that lead to many interfaith projects
Background: Earth Healing Initiative and the Michigan Earth Keeper Initiative
The Cedar Tree Institute (CTI) co-founded the interfaith Earth Keeper Initiative in Michigan's Upper Peninsula that works closely with ten faith traditions on a wide range of environment projects that include college students, at-risk teens, American Indian tribes and others.
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The CTI Earth healing Initiative is developing the same relationship with the same faith communities in northern Michigan and others across the Great lakes.
The faith communities include Roman Catholic, Episcopal, Lutheran, Presbyterian, United Methodist Church, Unitarian Universalist, Baha'i, Jewish, The Religious Society of Friends (commonly known as the Quakers) and Zen Buddhist.
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For more information:
Interfaith Earth Healing Initiative
http://www.EarthHealingInitiative.org
906-401-0109
An Earth Healing message, thank you and congratulations from Lutheran Bishop Thomas A. Skrenes about the success of the EPA Great Lak... more -
UN: Seven billion trees to be planted worldwide
A grass roots campaign to plant trees around the globe has announced that it is raising its target from 1 billion trees to 7 billion trees, the U.N. announced today.
The campaign, which is under the patronage of Nobel Peace Prize Laureate and Kenyan Green Belt Movement founder Professor Wangari Maathai and Prince Albert II of Monaco, also announced today that in 18 months it has seen two billion trees planted, double its original target.
The campaign was launched by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and the World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF) in 2006 as a response to the threat of global warming.
UNEP Executive Director Achim Steiner said today:
“Having exceeded every target that has been set for the campaign, we are now calling on individuals, communities, business and industry, civil society organizations and governments to evolve this initiative on to a new and even higher level by the crucial climate change conference in Copenhagen in late 2009.”
Tree planting remains one of the most cost-effective ways to address climate change, the agency says. Trees and forests play a vital role in regulating the climate since they absorb carbon dioxide.
Credit: Associated Press of Pakistan A grass roots campaign to plant trees around the globe has announced that it is raising its target from 1 billion trees to 7 billion t... more -
In the time of trees
Awesome pictures - really ginger sweet quotes. I'd choose the forrest over the sea in terms of what I long for.
Even stones have love - a love that seeks the ground.
Take a second to notice how the trees speak to you within your own neighborhood. Awesome pictures - really ginger sweet quotes. I'd choose the forrest over the sea in terms of what I long for. ... more -
Costa Rica plants more trees to become carbon neutral
Great surf and now more plants what a great place.
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Global Warming Puts Koala Population Under Threat
Global warming will threaten the survival of koalas by making the eucalyptus leaves on which they feed toxic, scientists warned on Wednesday.
Australia's most endearing marsupial is already under threat from a severe drought and loss of habitat as housing encroaches on woodland.
But higher temperatures and increased carbon dioxide could shut down their food supply, leaving them to starve to death.
New research shows that the level of toxicity in the leaves of eucalyptus saplings rises, and their nutrient content falls, when they are exposed to higher levels of carbon dioxide.
"What currently may be good koala habitat may well become, over a period of not so many years at the rate that carbon dioxide concentrations are rising, very marginal habitat," said Ian Hume, Emeritus Professor of Biology at Sydney University, who carried out the research.
"I'm sure we'll see koalas disappearing from their current range even though we don't see any change in tree species or structure of the forests."
The koala's ecological niche is precarious enough as it is - eucalyptus leaves have so little nutritional value that the animals have to sleep for 20 hours a day to conserve energy.
The animals are also notoriously fussy eaters - of Australia's more than 600 species of eucalypt trees, koalas will only browse on the leaves of about 25.
The animals would be unable to adapt to the greater toxicity of gum tree leaves, Prof Hume said after presenting his findings at an Academy of Science conference in Canberra. "I don't think they've got enough time to do that, nowhere near enough time to do that," he said.
Global warming will threaten the survival of koalas by making the eucalyptus leaves on which they feed toxic, scientists warned on Wed... more -
World's oldest tree points to global warming impact
The world’s oldest living tree has been found in Sweden, along with remnants of several other generations of it. A ripe 9,550 years old, this special spruce tree in Fulu Mountain, Dalarna, has profound implications for climate change.
The tree is single-stemmed and stands 5 meters — about 16.4 feet – tall. Researchers at Umeå University found decaying wood remnants in the soil that date back 375, 5,660, 9,000 and 9550 years, representing generations of the same genetic individual.
For thousands of years, the spruce appeared in a shrub formation called krummholz. But with warming in the last century, the tree changed its growth and became the single-stem spruce seen in this photo.
The world’s oldest living tree has been found in Sweden, along with remnants of several other generations of it. A ripe 9,550 years ol... more
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