White House partners with Amazon and others on climate change resilience

Posted on August 2, 2014 by Jim Brennan

This recent article by the Guardian discusses actions being taken by the US government in concert with several companies to prepare for the effects of climate change:

The US government is working with several companies, including Amazon and Microsoft, to prepare for the effects of climate change. (Image credit)

The US government is working with several companies, including Amazon and Microsoft, to prepare for the effects of climate change.
(Image credit)

Along with its warning this week that delaying action on climate change would cause enormous economic losses, the White House has announced a series of data-related initiatives to prepare US food and water supplies – along with the industries and jobs that rely on them – for climate challenges.

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A new report from president’s council of economic advisors found that the costs of cutting greenhouse gas pollution and coping with global warming’s impacts would rise by 40% for every decade of delay. It is “clear that not taking action has far greater costs” than prompt action, White House counselor John Podesta told reporters on a press call this week.

To read more about the changing world and what you can do to prepare, visit: www.newmessage.org

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Tiger populations are dwindling due to poaching and habitat destruction

Posted on July 30, 2014 by Jim Brennan

This report from the Washington Post speaks on the plight of the world’s tiger population:

The world's tiger population has been greatly affected by poaching and habitat loss. (Image credit)

The world’s tiger population has been greatly affected by poaching and habitat loss.
(Image credit)

Photojournalist Steve Winter spent a decade photographing tigers in the wild in Asia. In 2007, when his life partner, writer Sharon Guynup, joined him for an assignment in India’s Kaziranga National Park, they both came away concerned about the fate of these great animals.

A century ago, more than 100,000 tigers roamed across 24 Asian countries, from Turkey to Indonesia. Today, they have disappeared from most of their historic range, and poaching, deforestation and a huge Chinese market for tiger parts (which are used in traditional Chinese medicine and as luxury items) have reduced their numbers to no more than 3,200. “We realized that tigers are almost gone, and no one seems to recognize that,” Guynup said.

To read more about the changing world and what you can do to prepare, visit: www.greatwavesofchange.org

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Nigeria on red alert after Ebola death

Posted on July 26, 2014 by Jim Brennan

The Times of India reports on a recent death from Ebola virus which occurred in the Nigerian capital Logos:

Pandemic virus threats, such as the current Ebola Virus outbreak in West Africa, are one of the things people are instructed to be aware of in the revelatory text The Great Waves of Change. (Image credit)

Pandemic virus threats, such as the current Ebola Virus outbreak in West Africa, are one of the things people are instructed to be aware of in the revelatory text The Great Waves of Change.
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Nigeria was on alert against the possible spread of Ebola today, a day after the first confirmed death from the virus in Lagos, Africa’s biggest city and the country’s financial capital.

The health ministry said Friday that a 40-year-old Liberian man died at a private hospital in Lagos from the disease, which has now killed more than 650 people in four west African countries since January —the deadliest outbreak in history.

The victim, who worked for the Liberian government, collapsed at Lagos international airport after arriving on a flight from Monrovia via the Togolese capital Lome on Tuesday, according to the Nigerian government.

To read more about the changing world and what you can do to prepare, visit: www.newmessage.org

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A documentary about the changing world

Posted on July 24, 2014 by Jim Brennan

Here is a great documentary regarding human impact on the world and the great change that is beginning to occur as a result. Highly recommended:

Home – a 2009 documentary about the changing world

To read more about the changing world and what you can do to prepare, visit: www.greatwavesofchange.org

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Only 15 percent of world’s biodiversity hotspots left intact

Posted on July 23, 2014 by Jim Brennan

This article on mongabay.com discusses the threat many regions of the world face in regard to loss of biodiversity:

Many of the world's biodiversity hotspots are imperiled due to human activity. (Image credit)

Many of the world’s biodiversity hotspots are imperiled due to human activity.
(Image credit)

The world’s 35 biodiversity hotspots—which harbor 75 percent of the planet’s endangered land vertebrates—are in more trouble than expected, according to a sobering new analysis of remaining primary vegetation. In all less than 15 percent of natural intact vegetation is left in the these hotspots, which include well-known wildlife jewels such as Madagascar, the tropical Andes, and Sundaland (Borneo, Java, Sumatra, and the Malay Peninsula). Worse yet, nearly half of the biodiversity hotspots have less than 10 percent primary vegetation left with five of these containing less than five percent.

“If we lose the hotspots we’ll say goodbye to over half of all species on Earth. It would be comparable to the mass-extinction event that killed off the dinosaurs,” said William Laurance, a co-author of the study in Biological Conservation with James Cook University.

To read more about the changing world and what you can do to prepare, visit: www.greatwavesofchange.org

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Great Barrier Reef ‘in worst state since records began’

Posted on July 21, 2014 by Jim Brennan

According to this recent article by the Guardian, the health of the Great Barrier Reef has greatly deteriorated:

Many precious natural landmarks, such as the Great Barrier Reef in Australia, are threatened not only by human activity, but also by the changing climate of the world. (Image credit)

Many precious natural landmarks, such as the Great Barrier Reef in Australia, are threatened not only by human activity, but also by the changing climate of the world.
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The Great Barrier Reef is in the worst state it’s been in since records began and will be “pretty ugly” within 40 years, Australian scientists say.

A Senate committee is investigating how the Australian and Queensland governments have managed the reef, with Unesco to decide next year whether to list it as a world heritage site in danger.

Scientists have told the committee the reef is facing threats from coastal development, such as a massive port-related dredging project at Abbot Point, farm runoff and poor water quality. The reef cannot rejuvenate after times of stress as it once did, the scientists say.

To read more about the changing world and what you can do to prepare, visit: www.greatwavesofchange.org

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Fertilization Major Cause of Biodiversity Loss

Posted on July 19, 2014 by Jim Brennan

The Epoch Times reports on a recent paper published in the journal Nature:

Agricultural use of fertilizer is having a negative impact on grassland biodiversity worldwide, a recent study has found. (Image credit)

Agricultural use of fertilizer is having a negative impact on grassland biodiversity worldwide, a recent study has found.
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The world’s grasslands are being destabilized by fertilization, according to a paper recently published in the journal Nature. In a study of 41 grassland communities on five continents, researchers found that the presence of fertilizer weakened grassland species diversity.

The researchers surveyed grasslands in countries around the world, such as China, the U.S., Switzerland, Tanzania and Germany, and discovered that grassland communities that had not been managed by humans contained more species. They also had greater species asynchrony, which means that different species thrive at different times so that the grassland produces more consistently over time, resulting in more stable biomass production.

To read more about the changing world and what you can do to prepare, visit: www.greatwavesofchange.org

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Eight ways climate change is making the world more dangerous

Posted on July 16, 2014 by Jim Brennan

Natural disasters have become more frequent and costly since the 1970s, as this article from the Guardian illustrates:

Storms are becoming more destructive due to climate change. (Image credit)

Storms are becoming more destructive due to climate change.
(Image credit)

Forget the future. The world already is nearly five times as dangerous and disaster prone as it was in the 1970s, because of the increasing risks brought by climate change, according to a new report from the World Meteorological Organisation.

The first decade of the 21st century saw 3,496 natural disasters from floods, storms, droughts and heat waves. That was nearly five times as many disasters as the 743 catastrophes reported during the 1970s – and all of those weather events are influenced by climate change.

The bottom line: natural disasters are occurring nearly five times as often as they were in the 1970s. But some disasters – such as floods and storms – pose a bigger threat than others. Flooding and storms are also taking a bigger bite out of the economy. But heat waves are an emerging killer.

To read more about the changing world and what you can do to prepare, visit: www.newmessage.org

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Dispersal ‘key to reptile survival’

Posted on July 12, 2014 by Jim Brennan

This article on the BBC website speaks on how some species of reptile, the gender of whose offspring is determined by incubation temperature, are threatened by the effects of the changing world:

Some species of turtle, the gender of whose offspring is determined by incubation temperature, could well go extinct due to climate change. (Image credit)

Some species of turtle, the gender of whose offspring is determined by incubation temperature, could well go extinct due to climate change.
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Temperature of egg incubation decides gender in some reptile species, such as alligators and some turtles.

Australian researchers found that in populations where more females are produced, male dispersal is vital.

Species unable to disperse could become extinct from some areas, suggested the research reported in BMC Ecology.

To read more about the changing world and what you can do to prepare, visit: www.greatwavesofchange.org

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China and the US sign deals on climate change

Posted on July 10, 2014 by Jim Brennan

This article by the Guardian reports on a recent deal between two of the world’s most powerful nations aimed at curbing CO2 emissions:

China and the US are two of the world's biggest polluters. This new deal, aimed at curbing CO2 emissions, is a positive step in a world feeling the effects of climate change more every year. (Image credit)

China and the US are two of the world’s biggest polluters. This new deal, aimed at curbing CO2 emissions, is a positive step in a world feeling the effects of climate change more every year.
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The United States and China on Tuesday signed eight partnership pacts to cut greenhouse gases, bringing the world’s two biggest carbon emitters closer together on climate policy.

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In one of the memoranda of understanding (MOUs), China’s Huaneng Clean Energy Research Institute, a subsidiary of state-owned power company China Huaneng and Washington-based Summit Power Group agreed to share information on clean coal power generation technology.

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Another project partners West Virginia University with Yanchang Petroleum on an industrialized demonstration of ultra-cleaning technology in northern Shaanxi province.

Whilst the Great Waves text affirms that many solutions will be needed to adapt to the changing world, this event serves as a demonstration of nations cooperating to mitigate the damaging effects that human activity is having on the world. Many more actions like this will be needed at many levels in order for humanity to survive and prosper in the future.

To read more about the changing world and what you can do to prepare, visit: www.newmessage.org

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