Global Issues

Stockpiling seeds today saves plants for the future: A quarter of the world's plant species may be headed toward extinction. Seed banks aim to prevent that.

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Stockpiling seeds today saves plants for the future
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According to the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, a quarter of the world’s known plant species – some 60,000 to 100,000 species – are threatened with extinction.

And even though plants may not receive as much attention as endangered animals, like polar bears or tigers, they’re extremely important. Plants are a vital source of food, they can help stabilize the climate, and they also provide shelter, medicines, and fuel.

Link: 

http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Making-a-difference/Change-Agent/2011/0804/Stockpiling-seeds-today-saves-plants-for-the-future

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Pathways to Sustainabaility WBCSD

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Vision 2050:  The new agenda for business

Under the WBCSD's Vsion 2050 Project, twenty-nice WBCDSD member companies developed a vision of a world well on the way to sustainablility by 2050 and the pathways leading to that world.

This mural is a basis for visualizing the possible pathways.  The mural is meant to provide a tool for strategic planning, prioritizing, and monitoring progeress to help countires, businesses, NGOs , international organization and individuals assess the degree to which we are on track to accomplishing the vision.

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http://www.wbcsd.org/web/projects/BZrole/uc-PathwaysMuralWBCSD.pdf

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Delayed action on climate to result in irreversible change and high costs

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Delayed action on climate to result in irreversible change and high costs
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The physics of Earth’s natural systems show that a delay—of even a decade—in reducing CO2 emissions will lock in large-scale, irreversible changes. If carbon dioxide emissions do not begin to trend down this decade, it will be nearly impossible to stabilize the climate at any acceptable level.

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http://www.climateworks.org/news/item/?id=719ba5a6-4040-7c00-6791-e7789df81ca9

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Weather disasters seen costly sign of things to come

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Author: 

Molly O'Toole
Weather disasters seen costly sign of things to come
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WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The United States is on a pace in 2011 to set a record for the cost of weather-related disasters and the trend is expected to worsen as climate change continues, officials and scientists said on Thursday.

"The economic impact of severe weather events is only projected to grow," Senator Dick Durbin said at a hearing of the Senate Subcommittee on Financial Services and Government, which he chairs. "We are not prepared. Our weather events are getting worse, catastrophic in fact."

Link: 

http://old.news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20110729/us_nm/us_climate_disasters_hearing

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Wally's World -- Thirty-five years ago this week, Wallace Broecker predicted decades of dangerous climate change caused by humans. Unfortunately, he was all too prescient.

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Author: 

BRAD JOHNSON
Wally's World
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On Aug. 8, 1975, geoscientist Wallace Smith Broecker published "Are We on the Brink of a Pronounced Global Warming?" in the journal Science, the first time the iconic phrase "global warming" was used in a scientific paper.

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http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2010/08/03/wallys_world

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Melting Arctic ice releasing banned toxins, warn scientists -- Unknown amount of trapped persistent organic pollutants poses threat to marine life and humans as temperatures rise

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Author: 

Damian Carrington
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The warming of the Arctic is releasing a new wave of banned toxic chemicals that had been trapped in the ice and cold water, scientists have discovered.

The researchers warn that the amount of the poisons stockpiled in the polar region is unknown and their release could "undermine global efforts to reduce environmental and human exposure to them."

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http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/jul/24/melting-arctic-ice-banned-toxins-pops

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UN official warns climate change could lead to conflicts over resources -- 'There can be little doubt today that climate change has potentially far-reaching implications for global stability and security,' he says

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UN official warns climate change could lead to conflicts over resources
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Climate change could result in "sudden and abrupt" shocks to countries around the world and have "far-reaching implications for global stability and security," a senior United Nations' official has warned.

Achim Steiner, executive director of the U.N. Environment Program, told the U.N. Security Council Wednesday that natural resources would be "at increasing risk from climate change and its impacts."

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http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/43836312/ns/us_news-environment/#.TjmDXWO6_Sg

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Global warming: study finds natural shields being weakened

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Author: 

Marlowe Hood
Global warming: study finds natural shields being weakened
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The soil and the ocean are being weakened as buffers against global warming, in a vicious circle with long-term implications for the climate system, say two new investigations.

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http://news.yahoo.com/global-warming-study-finds-natural-shields-being-weakened-195106807.html

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Maria Damanaki unveils EU fishing reforms

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Author: 

Fiona Harvey
Maria Damanaki unveils EU fishing reforms
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European fisheries chief hopes phasing out 'discarding' and agreeing plans with member states will preserve Europe's fish stocks

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http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2011/jul/13/maria-damanaki-eu-fishing-reforms

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