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Greenland: roar of melting glacier sounds climate change alarm
When are we going to hear the roar of the American people demanding Washington Dc wake the hell up and stop touting some bogus 80% by 2050 emissions reduction line when it is obvious that will be too late? However, the price of gas is supposedly going down now so conveniently before 'election' day and with the current global financial crisis so conveniently placed where it is I suppose dealing with climate change will now be an afterthought to governments that really weren't going to do much about it anyway.
To me this all seems surreal. It is like slowing down to watch a car wreck and then speeding up once you get by to continue on your way because the thrill of seeing it is gone because you really didn't care if anyone was hurt, it was just exciting to look at. 'Oh my, the Greenland ice caps are melting... how terrible... look at that video... oh boy, something to talk about today...then... nothing to see here, move on... let's look at pictures of Jamie Lynn Spears breastfeeding instead.' The Earth is speaking to us, crying out to us. The signs are everywhere. And we continue driving down the road turning our radios up so as not to be bothered, thinking someone will take care of that; or, it won't melt enough in my lifetime to make any difference; or, it is all natural or the will of God so why fight it. I just do not know what else can be said anymore.
We need to be scaling more chimneys and unfurling more banners, and standing around more fossil fuel plants, and shouting even louder, and writing relentlessly to newspapers and media and badgering representatives in Dc and elsewhere, and we need to be telling ALL presidential candidates that "clean coal' is not the answer. We need to pull over and get out of the car and do something besides gawking at the tragedy unfolding before our eyes.
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From the article:
Flying low over the vast, white expanse of Greenland's Ilulissat glacier, one of the biggest and most active in the world, the effects of global warming in the Arctic are painfully visible as the ice melts at an alarming rate.
The helicopter lands on a granite cliff overlooking the Ilulissat ice fjord, or Kangia in Greenlandic, offering a magnificent, panoramic view of elaborate ice formations as they float towards the sea at a rate of two meters (yards) an hour, spilling massive icebergs into the open water.
Off in the distance, huge boulders of ice break off of the imposing Ilulissat glacier, more commonly known by its Greenlandic name Sermeq Kujalleq, creating a thunderous roar as the glacier recedes in one of the planet's most striking examples of global warming.
"The ice in some places on the coast is now melting four times faster than before," says Abbas Khan, a Dane who studies the movements of Greenland's glaciers at the Danish Space Centre.
The Ilulissat glacier and icefjord have been on UNESCO's world heritage list since 2004 and is the most visited site in Greenland, its ice and pools of emerald-blue water admired by tourists and studied by scientists and politicians around the world.
The glacier is the most active in the northern hemisphere, producing 10 percent of Greenland's icebergs, or some 20 million tonnes of ice per day.
But the glacier is in bad shape, experts warn.
Recent estimates by US scientists who study NASA's satellite images daily show that it is rapidly disintegrating.
It has shrunk more than 15 kilometres (9.3 miles) in the past five years, and is now smaller than it has ever been in the 150 years of observation and topographical data.
According to professor Jason Box and his team from the department of geography at Ohio State University, the Ilulissat glacier may not have been this small in 6,000 years.
more at the link
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Photo credit:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/danielheaf/1343411263/ When are we going to hear the roar of the American people demanding Washington Dc wake the hell up and stop touting some bogus 80% by ... more -
Soldiers leave Congo gorilla park, but rebels remain - CNN.com
DAKAR, Senegal (AP) -- More than 1,000 soldiers have withdrawn from a national park that has been on the front lines of fighting in eastern Congo, but rebels still occupy a sector that is home to some of the world's last remaining mountain gorillas, officials said Wednesday.
The decision to move out the government troops and their families -- about 6,000 people in all -- came after negotiations between Virunga National Park Director Emmanuel de Merode and Gen. Vainqueur Mayala, the army's commanding officer, de Merode said in a statement.
The move aims to "reduce human presence in the area and preserve the flora and fauna of Africa's oldest national park," de Merode said.
The reserve -- home to endangered gorillas and hippos and also containing active volcanoes -- is located in a lawless swath of Congo adjacent to neighboring Rwanda and Uganda that the government has struggled to control for years. Established in 1925 as Africa's first national park, it was classified as a U.N. World Heritage Site in 1979.
Congolese and Rwandan rebels and militia have hidden in the park's dense forests for more than a decade and used parts of it as bases to launch attacks. Last week, the army and rebels led by Laurent Nkunda exchanged machine-gun and mortar fire outside the reserve in one of the fiercest clashes in the region this year.
"De-militarizing Virunga National Park remains our greatest and most difficult challenge. The Congolese National Army has taken the first step, which represents a major breakthrough at a time when the threats to the park have never been greater," de Merode said.
Congolese Col. David Kitenge said the army's occupation had been "strategic." The statement said the army had 10,000 soldiers in North Kivu province, about 10 percent of them in the park.
"We had to have a strong presence ... to safeguard the main road north of Goma," the regional capital, and prevent attacks by Rwandan and Congolese rebels, Kitenge said. "Today we wish to support the Congolese Wildlife Authority in their efforts."
Congo held its first democratic elections in more than four decades in 2006, and is still coping with the effects of a 1998-2002 war and Rwanda's 1994 genocide, which saw millions of hungry refugees -- including Rwandan militias who remain today -- spill across the border. Despite its vast mineral wealth, most people remain deeply poor and desperate.
Nkunda's rebels have been accused by wildlife officials of attacking gorillas in the past, but since last year they have taken tourists and some journalists on unauthorized visits to the rare animals.
Only about 700 mountain gorillas remain in the world, an estimated 380 of them in a range of volcanoes straddling Congo's borders with Uganda and Rwanda. Only 200 are believed to live on the Congo side of the border, about 72 of which have been used to contact with tourists or rangers. Ten of them were killed last year.
http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/africa/09/03/congo.vi... DAKAR, Senegal (AP) -- More than 1,000 soldiers have withdrawn from a national park that has been on the front lines of fighting in ea... more -
Evolution in Galapagos
Galapagos has recently been inscribed on the UNESCO's List of World Heritage in danger.
Many of the species on these islands are found nowhere else on Earth.
Pressure on the Galapagos' marine environment has become particularly intense. Export markets for sea cucumbers and lobster have led to an unsustainable increase in fishing.
Meet Macarron, the first fisherman in Galapagos who has hung up the nets and has become a diving instructor. This is one typical day in the life of Macarron. Galapagos has recently been inscribed on the UNESCO's List of World Heritage in danger. ... more -
Bahai Gardens Added to World Heritage List (photos)
The gardens of the Bahai faith - located in Haifa, Israel - have been added to the list of World Heritage Sites. Check out the photos of this beautiful place. The gardens of the Bahai faith - located in Haifa, Israel - have been added to the list of World Heritage Sites. Check out the photos ... more
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China holds funeral for panda killed by earthquake
The endangered panda is revered as a kind of national mascot in China. About 1,590 pandas live in the wild, mostly in Sichuan and the neighboring province of Shaanxi. Another 180 have been bred in captivity.
See Video & associated stories:
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2008/05/080521-...
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2008/05/080519-...
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2008/06/080610-...
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2008/05/080516-... The endangered panda is revered as a kind of national mascot in China. About 1,590 pandas live in the wild, mostly in Sichuan and the ... more -
Panda Cubs Rescued After Quake:VIDEO
Seen in cell-phone camera footage, handlers at the Wolong National Nature Reserve in China evacuated more than a dozen panda cubs just after the massive May 12 earthquake. Seen in cell-phone camera footage, handlers at the Wolong National Nature Reserve in China evacuated more than a dozen panda cubs just... more
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Next Smithsonian exhibit may be portraits of museum executives doing "perp�...
Washingtonians - and others with big egos - have a portrait fetish that is obscene especially when it involves taxpayers money.
Even half that nealry 50 grand could have been significant funding for the non-profit Native American and environment projects I volunteer for in northern Michigan.
More comment after a few sentences of the article and a look at this portrait:
Portrait Cost Indian Museum $48,500: Senators, Trustees Question Spending By Former Director
By James V. Grimaldi
Washington Post Staff Writer
W. Richard West Jr., the founding director of the Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Indian, spent $48,500 in museum funds to commission a portrait of himself.
The portrait of West by New York artist Burton Silverman hangs in the patrons' lounge on the fourth floor of the flagship museum, which is dedicated to the arts and culture of American Indians.
Silverman said West picked him after he saw a portrait Silverman had done of former Smithsonian secretary Robert McCormick Adams.
The Adams portrait, completed about a decade earlier, was smaller and cost about half as much.
Rest of the Washington Post story:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/20...
Portrait:
http://media3.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/photo/2...
[IMG http://i235.photobucket.com/albums/ee225/YOOPERNEWSMAN/...[/IMG]
Native American on Native American crime - much like black on black crime - is especially insidious because so much good could have been done for First Nations peoples heritage with this wasted and misappropriated money.
It's also a crime against taxpayers and common decency.
Spending $48,500 on a self portrait is among the disgraceful financial crimes of W. Richard West Jr., the founding director of the Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Indian.
For this crime to occur in the hallowed halls of the Smithsonian shows again thievery knows no class boundaries - and should be treated just as severely as the poor man who sticks a gun into the face of a 7-11 clerk.
The Smithsonian needs to be thoroughly audited from top to bottom as this is at least the second huge scandal to tarnish its once respected reputation.
No doubt it's only the tip of the fiduciary iceberg that's tearing through the Smithsonian's highbrow richly-protected hull.
I do volunteer work for several Native American related non-profits whose budgets are much smaller than even the cost of that disgraceful portrait.
And the suggestion that it could not have been painted by an American Indian artist is as laughable as it is sickening with a hint of racism against one's own culture.
Even the portrait stance is borrowed and unoriginal, as a buttoned-down Mr. West gazes thoughtfully off to the east, his coat hanging on a crooked forefinger and tossed over suspenders with his soft thumb and the remaining fingers forming the "OK" sign.
The Washington ego commands that a portrait much be painted to prove one's importance.
No doubt many law offices, banking institutions and the halls of officialdom are plastered with the self-aggrandizing crafty art.
Prior to the Polaroid, a self-portrait may have been necessary to preserve one's historic legacy but in today's world it's merely a measure of one's self-importance that is more often scoffed at than admired by those it's meant to impress. Perhaps, a modern definition of irony.
Maybe the next exhibit at the Smithsonian will be portraits of former executives doing the proverbial "perp walk" - cuffed and stuffed for perp-etuity. Washingtonians - and others with big egos - have a portrait fetish that is obscene especially when it involves taxpayers money. ... more -
Toshogu Shrine Nikko Japan
Some peaceful and tranquil scenes from Toshogu Shrine in Nikko, Japan Completely filmed and edited by Rob Pongi. See more at http://www.RobPongi.com Some peaceful and tranquil scenes from Toshogu Shrine in Nikko, Japan Completely filmed and edited by Rob Pongi. See more at http://w... more
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Kyoto, Japan: The Golden Pavilion
This video shows a serene look at the very beautiful temple grounds of 'KINKAKUJI' or 'The Golden Pavilion' in Kyoto, Japan. Completely filmed and edited in by Rob Pongi. All rights reserved. See more at http://www.robpongi.com This video shows a serene look at the very beautiful temple grounds of 'KINKAKUJI' or 'The Golden Pavilion' in Kyo... more
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