China and India exceed their biocapacity

State of the World’s Cities Report 2008/9 of UN-HABITAT: Harmonious Cities



The report puts the current ecological footprint of humanity as 2.2 hectares per person, while the earth’s biocapacity remains at 1.8 ha. China and India have ecological footprints that are twice their biocapacity. In other words, what the population consumes in a year, their area of earth will take two years to produce. Other challenges facing cities are mobility, waste management and environment. The report says a number of cities in Asia have a high rate of car ownership. In this context, it cites the World Health Organisation’s estimates that more than a billion people in Asia are exposed to air pollution levels that exceed its guidelines. more 

Climate change 'happening faster' than predicted

Yahoo News

Mon, Oct 20 12:47 PM

Climate change is occurring far faster than the predictions of the world's best scientists, a new report has warned.

According to the report, "extreme weather events" will happen more frequently unless action is taken on a global scale to combat global warming, leading British newspaper 'The Daily Telegraph' reported.

The report from the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) has also predicted massive crops failures and the collapse of eco-systems on both land and sea.

The agency has clearly pointed out that global warming could result in rapid and abrupt climate change rather than the gradual changes forecast by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

The report, titled 'Climate Change: Faster, stronger, sooner', WWF claims, has updated all the scientific data and concluded that global warming is accelerating far beyond the IPCC's forecasts.  more 

The National Environment Appellate Authority (NEAA): A Case of hoodwinking people

Take out those earplugs, pleaseKumKum Dasgupta, Hindustan Times that was set up through a Parliamentary Statute in 1997 on the suggestions of the Supreme Court. Its mandate: hear the grievances of affected people impacted by approvals to industries, dams and mines etc by the Ministry of Enviro-nment and Forests (MoEF). The simple rationale behind its formation: reduce the burden on the country’s legal process and ensure that environmental matters are decided by a panel of judicial, administrative and scientific experts. In other words, a one-stop shop for putting up your case.

But trying to find details about the body, or procedures for filing a case or, the simplest of all, where it is housed in Delhi, is a waste of time. The NEAA has no internet presence and is housed somewhere in Bhikaji Cama Place, a commercial complex in the Capital. With this kind of mystery shrouding such a premier body, you can be forgiven for feeling that this is a deliberate ploy by the ministry to keep it out of reach of the complainants.

There are other reasons for people to question the NEAA’s existence: in its 11 years of existence, it has dismissed every single case which was filed before it, except one. In fact, 11 years on, the NEAA is yet to become ‘fully functional’. It does not have a Chairman since Justice N. Venkatachala retired in 2000 and has had no Vice-Chairman since the last three years. At present, the ‘technical experts’ panel comprises retired Indian Forest Service (IFS) and IAS officers, not members with a scientific and technical background. In 2005, the Delhi High Court directed the MoEF to fill the two top posts within 45 days. Today, three years after the ruling, they are still lying vacant. The reason given is that the MoEF officials “could not locate the phone number of retired judges”. On August 6, 2008, the Chief Justice of the Delhi High Court directed the MoEF to produce records and files relating to the appointment of its Chairman and Vice-Chairman.

According to lawyers appearing before the NEAA, the functioning of the body has been handicapped because there are no judicial members and technical experts in it. According to an activist, this body has become a ‘parking lot’ for retired babus. There is also the case of a conflict of interest here: the MoEF appoints the NEAA members and also makes all the budgetary allocations. Therefore, it is unlikely that the MoEF will appoint people who will overrule its decisions.

Considering that the fight for resources looks set to escalate, is it prudent to leave matters as they are?

Even if you manage to locate the panel and file your case, chances are the babu will throw the rulebook at you and delay proceedings. Ironically, the NEAA was envisaged as a forum to provide a simplified and liberal procedure. Appeals are routinely dismissed on the ground that the appellants could not file an appeal within 30 days from the approval granted by the MoEF, despite an outer limit of 90 days. “For a grassroots worker in some faraway town, it is not always easy to file within 30 days. For example, if you are in the hilly areas, to get even one signature from an affected party, you need to walk miles. And, yet when you knock at the NEAA doors, after spending considerable time and money, there are procedural hassles,” says Vimal Bhai, a grassroots worker. “This deters villagers from filing cases”.

He narrates an incident when one of the present NEAA officers deliberated for more than three hours on the usage of two words in a case: ‘access’ and ‘provide’. “Non-issues are made issues. All we demand is a fair hearing but they don't seem to see the problems that often crop up due to faulty public hearings and Environment Impact Assessment studies,” he adds.

Transparency and grievance redressal are key to a democracy. But unfortunately, the more doors we open, an equal number get shut elsewhere. read it all 

Eco Spirituality

Eco Spirituality by Charles Cummings

Green Theology

Beat greenhouse effect with greenhouses

How to solve greenhouse effect? Build greenhouses

Thu, Oct 9 07:01 PM

By Juan Arias

EL EJIDO, Spain (Reuters Life!) - The greenhouse effect may be heating the planet but a new study says Europe's driest spot, Almeria, Spain, is actually cooling ... thanks to greenhouses.

A group of researchers at the University of Almeria found that the southern Spanish province had so many commercial greenhouses, seen from space as a white swathe across the arid province, that they reflected solar energy back into space.

Seventy percent of the province's coastal strip -- 30,000 hectares (74,130 acres) -- is covered in transparent plastic sheeting used to grow thousands of tonnes of fruit and vegetables for export. more 

Climate change could force millions from homes

Enlarge Photo Giant tabular icebergs surrounded by ice floe drift in Vincennes Bay in the Australian Antarctic...

Thu, Oct 9 07:50 AM

BARCELONA, Spain (Reuters) - Environmental damage such as desertification or flooding caused by climate change could force millions of peoples from their homes in the next few decades, experts said on Wednesday.

"All indicators show we are dealing with a major emerging global problem," said Janos Bogardi, director of the U.N. University's Institute on the Environment and Human Security in Bonn, Germany.

"Experts estimate that by 2050 some 200 million people will be displaced by environmental problems, a number of people roughly equal to ...  read more 

Why does earth's magnetic field occasionally reverse direction.

Earth's Magnetic Field Reversals Illuminated By Lava Flows Study

ScienceDaily (Sep. 26, 2008) — Earth's north magnetic pole is shifting and weakening. Ancient lava flows are guiding a better understanding of what generates and controls the  – and what may drive it to occasionally reverse direction.

---

See also:

Earth & Climate

• Atmosphere
• Geology
• Earth Science
• Ice Ages
• Climate
• Geography

Reference

• Mid-ocean ridge
• Shield volcano
• Igneous rock
• Basalt rock

The main magnetic field, generated by turbulent currents within the deep mass of molten iron of the Earth's outer core, periodically flips its direction, such that a compass needle would point south rather than north. Such polarity reversals have occurred hundreds of times at irregular intervals throughout the planet's history – most recently about 780,000 years ago – but scientists are still trying to understand how and why.

A new study of ancient volcanic rocks, reported in the Sept. 26 issue of the journal Science, shows that a second magnetic field source may help determine how and whether the main field reverses direction. This second field, which may originate in the shallow core just below the rocky mantle layer of the Earth, becomes important when the main north-south field weakens, as it does prior to reversing, says Brad Singer, a geology professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.  more

Pollution Increases 3 Percent

Global Warming Pollution Increases 3 Percent

Chinese Greenhouse Gas Pollution Largely Responsible for Bringing CO2 Emissions to Record High

By SETH BORENSTEIN AP Science Writer
WASHINGTON September 25, 2008 (AP)

The Associated Press 
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Carbon dioxide output rose 3 percent from 2006 to 2007.

(ABCNews Photo Illustration)

The world pumped up its pollution of the chief man-made global warming gas last year, setting a course that could push beyond leading scientists' projected worst-case scenario, international researchers said Thursday.

The new numbers, called "scary" by some, were a surprise because scientists thought an economic downturn would slow energy use. Instead, carbon dioxide output jumped 3 percent from 2006 to 2007.

That's an amount that exceeds the most dire outlook for emissions from burning coal and oil and related activities as projected by a Nobel Prize-winning group of international scientists in 2007.

Meanwhile, forests and oceans, which suck up carbon dioxide, are doing so at lower rates than in the 20th century, scientists said. If those trends continue, it puts the world on track for the highest predicted rises in temperature and sea level.The pollution leader was China, followed by the United States, which past data show is the leader in emissions per person in carbon dioxide output. And while several developed countries slightly cut their CO2 output in 2007, the United States churned out more.  more 

Food and Agriculture: Global Crop Diversity Trust collects seeds from Azerbaijan to Nigeria

Crop diversity is the raw material needed for improving and adapting food crops to harsher climate conditions and constantly evolving pests and diseases. However, it is disappearing from many of the places where it has been placed for safekeeping—the world's genebanks. Compounding the fact that it is not well conserved is the fact that it is not well understood. A lack of readily available and accurate data on key traits can severely hinder plant breeders' efforts to identify material they can use to breed new varieties best suited for the climates most countries will experience in the coming decades. The support provided by the Global Crop Diversity Trust will not only rescue collections which are at risk, but enable breeders and others to screen collections for important characteristics. 

Read more :- Food and Agriculture: Global Crop Diversity Trust collects seeds from Azerbaijan to Nigeria

Dirt Make More Rain

Moderate Quantities Of Dirt Make More Rain

ScienceDaily (Sep. 17, 2008) — Drought or deluge? Scientists working with Meinrat O. Andreae, Director at the Max Planck Institute for Chemistry in Mainz, have now discovered how aerosols affect the when, where and how much of rainfall.

Until now, the answers to these questions have been as varied as they have been inconsistent. Andreae and his co-authors are now tracing a common theme through the sometimes contradictory effects that these tiny particles have on precipitation.

Their new approach: they are observing how aerosols change the flow of energy in the atmosphere and thus air circulation, the way drops form and the way they fall. Because the role of aerosols has to date been very much a subject of dispute and a source of great uncertainty in climate predictions made by researchers, this work removes one of the largest obstacles to the development of more accurate climate forecasts.

....> full story

Threat of global warming justifies breaking the law

Jury decides that threat of global warming justifies breaking the law

By Michael McCarthy, Environment Editor
Thursday, 11 September 2008

PA

The Kingsnorth Six leave Maidstone Crown Court after being found not guilty of causing criminal damage during a protest at a coal-fired power station in Kent

The threat of global warming is so great that campaigners were justified in causing more than £35,000 worth of damage to a coal-fired power station, a jury decided yesterday. In a verdict that will have shocked ministers and energy companies the jury at Maidstone Crown Court cleared six Greenpeace activists of criminal damage.

Jurors accepted defence arguments that the six had a "lawful excuse" to damage property at Kingsnorth power station in Kent to prevent even greater damage caused by climate change. The defence of "lawful excuse" under the Criminal Damage Act 1971 allows damage to be caused to property to prevent even greater damage – such as breaking down the door of a burning house to tackle a fire.

The not-guilty verdict, delivered after two days and greeted with cheers in the courtroom, raises the stakes for the most pressing issue on Britain's green agenda and could encourage further direct action.  More

Rajendra Pachauri, chairperson of the IPCC:Shun meat to combat global warming

Shun meat, says UN climate chief

By Richard Black  Environment correspondent, BBC News website Livestock production has a bigger climate impact than transport, the UN believes People should consider eating less meat as a way of combating global warming, says the UN's top climate scientist. Rajendra Pachauri, who chairs the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), will make the call at a speech in London on Monday evening. UN figures suggest that meat production puts more greenhouse gases into the atmosphere than transport. But a spokeswoman for the UK's National Farmers' Union (NFU) said methane emissions from farms were declining. "The UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has estimated that direct emissions from meat production account for about 18% of the world's total greenhouse gas emissions," he told BBC News. "So I want to highlight the fact that among options for mitigating climate change, changing diets is something one should consider. Read more

Algae: Biofuel Of The Future?

Algae are tiny biological factories that use photosynthesis to transform carbon dioxide and sunlight into energy so efficiently that they can double their weight several times a day.

As part of the photosynthesis process algae produce oil and can generate 15 times more oil per acre than other plants used for biofuels, such as corn and switchgrass. Algae can grow in salt water, freshwater or even contaminated water, at sea or in ponds, and on land not suitable for food production.

Read it all from ScienceDaily (Aug. 19, 2008)

---

Sins Against Nature; Sins Against God: Archbishop Bartholomew of Constantinople To the Plenitude of Rome

( Courtesy :thenazareneway to Communions )

Sins Against Nature; Sins Against God

Archbishop Bartholomew of Constantinople
Ecumenical Patriarch To the Plenitude of Rome

Patriarch Bartholomew is the leader of the Orthodox Christian Church, and has a flock of over 300 million. Unlike most other religious leaders, his crusade is for the preservation of the environment. "To commit a crime against the natural world is a sin," he says. "For humans to cause species to become extinct and to destroy the biological diversity of God's creation; for humans to contaminate the Earth's waters, land, air, and life with poisonous substances, these are sins against God."

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Grace and Peace from Our Lord, God, The Fashioner and Sustainer of Every Creature Beloved Brethren and Children in the Lord,

The God of tender mercy and love for mankind created the cosmos to be a place of sublime beauty, serviceable and apt to the needs of every human being. Into such a world, God allowed the crown and monarch of His creation, the human person, to partake of everything in it that is needful for life.

Every necessary relationship of the human being with creation is conjoined with a sense of joy and satisfaction. If there is an excess or privation of what is, by its use, naturally good then there is an accompanying sensation of want (in the case of privation) or surfeit (in the case of excess).

Thus does the human being possess in himself instinctively a means of measuring beneficial need or detrimental excess. The need manifests as privation; the excess manifest as wasteful superfluity.

It follows then that all human beings, endowed with freedom of will, have the capacity to direct their own instinctual faculty to prescribe their own limits; whether to restrain such limits for reasons of ascetical discipline, or to exceed them by the power of desire.

Thus we find ourselves confronting this condition: either we are subject to greed, or to a certain hatred for life, for the natural blessings and gifts God, that is to attitudes which are equally unacceptable, being opposite to the perfect plan of God for humankind's enjoyment of life.

The unfortunate reality is that humanity has rejected to be shaped by the suggestions and inducements of God. We have not followed His guiding grace in determining the measure of our needs and how we use the world; how we work in the world or how we preserve the world. The result is that we behave toward the environment, toward nature, rapaciously and catastrophically.

When we apply our own sense of mastery and not appropriate use we upset the natural harmony and equilibrium that is based in God.

Nature reacts negatively and the result is that terrible desires pile up on the human family. Unusual fluctuations in temperature, typhoons, earthquakes, violent storms, the pollution of the seas and rivers, and the many other catastrophic actions for man and the environment ought to be an obvious alarm for something to be done with human behavior.

The principal reason for this catastrophic behavior of contemporary man is his egocentrism, which is another face of self-reliance apart from God, and even self-divinization. On account of this egocentrism, the relationship between humanity and nature has been radically altered.

Now an impertinent, arrogant subjugation of the forces of nature has supplanted that which was designed by God. In place of the preservation of life and freedom, these forces serve to destroy and oppress our fellow man, or we indulge in excessive consumption, without regard to the consequences of such excess.

The use of atomic and nuclear forces of nature for warlike purposes constitutes unmitigated hubris. Whatever the manner of our over consumption, we have burdened the natural environment with such pollution that the earth's temperature is rising and many of nature's balancing acts are now unstable, with all that this implies.

The enormous amount of energy that is consumed for the purposes of the modem day machine, as well as the prodigality of modem life that far exceeds the reasonable human needs of today, comprise two distinct sectors, in which the responsibilities of leaders and simple citizen are woven together in such a way that each has the capability of taking action for the betterment of the general condition.

Beloved children and brethren in the Lord, let us act, each one from his own position and setting, giving every effort to an amelioration of senseless consumption.

Let us work toward a restoration of a harmonious working of the planet on which we live, so that in tranquility our children may enjoy all the blessings of the creation of our loving God, the blessing He offers to all people. So be it!

Your beloved brother in Christ
and fervent supplicant before God,
+ BARTHOLOMEW of Constantinople ----------------------------------------------------

The Sixth Mass Extinction

Dying Frogs Sign Of A Biodiversity Crisis

ScienceDaily (Aug. 16, 2008)

Devastating declines of amphibian species around the world are a sign of a biodiversity disaster larger than just frogs, according to researchers from the University of California, Berkeley.

In a new article published online in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the researchers argue that substantial die-offs of amphibians and other plant and animal species add up to a new mass extinction facing the planet.

"There's no question that we are in a mass extinction spasm right now," said David Wake, professor of integrative biology at UC Berkeley. "Amphibians have been around for about 250 million years. They made it through when the dinosaurs didn't. The fact that they're dying out now should be a lesson for us." Read it all here

Sustainable Energy Alternatives

Sustainable Energy Alternatives

There are many alternative energy sources that are sustainable and do not pose the accident risks inherent in nuclear energy production. These sources include:

1.

Bioenergy: biomass, such as plant matter and animal waste, can yield power, heat, steam, and fuel.
2.

Geothermal: renewable heat energy can be harnessed from deep within the earth.
3.

Wind: turbines turning in the air convert kinetic energy in the wind into electricity.
4.

Solar: the sun's energy can be captured and used to produce heat and electricity.
5.

Hydrogen: if produced by renewable sources, it can power fuel cells to convert chemical energy directly into electricity, with useful heat and water as the only byproducts.
6.

Tidal: using the movement of the ocean to power turbines and generate electricity.

Read it all from Kaleidoscope

Jerry Achen on Global Warming Awareness Day 08.08.08

Fr. Jerry Kurian, currently doing doctoral studies in Communication in Gurukul suggested ten ways to beat the global warming locally. He was talking to the Gurukul Community on the August 8th 2008 at 8 pm when the Gurukul lights were switched off to show its solidarity with those who are concerned with global warming. Chennai has followed Sydney and Mumbai, in this exercise of solidarity. Jerry Achen who belongs to the Syrian Orthodox Church has been a member of the faculty of the Orthodox Seminary at Mulanthuruthy, Kerala. To enter into his thought world go to his blog, Jerry achens world.

Here is the full text of the speech:

Switching off for 8 minutes and 8 seconds

It is indeed an honour to share some insights with you as we have assembled here to be part of an activity aimed at creating awareness about global warming. As the name suggests, human kind have through their actions made a negative impact on the earth. Global warming in effect is the increase in the temperature of the earth due to the increase of green house gases, which trap the heat from the sun and lead to warming up of the earth’s surface.

How are these gases formed and who is responsible? The gases are a direct result of the burning of fossil fuels and other combustible matter. The release thereby of the poisonous CO2 leads to the fearful situation that was mentioned above. Humans are involved in this activity of putting an unfair amount of burden upon mother earth.

The motor bikes, scooters and cars we ride and drive emit gases into the atmosphere that pollute the air we breathe. Public transport systems which include buses, trains and aeroplanes also emit poisonous gases, the only difference being that the ratio of people transported and the emissions are much more positive than smaller transport.

Clubbed with this, we use appliances which run on electricity and emit green house gases and lead to the pollution of the environment. We could ask ourselves the question, “What can we do?” “We have to live and therefore we cannot stop using any of the things we are using now.”

Before we close the argument on this it is worth while to look at some of the things we could suggest in tackling this problem.

1. Create and maintain a green cover of forests both within and without city limits. Cutting of trees, if done should be done so in a sustainable fashion.
2. Apart from parks, and other sources of green cover, cities, towns and villages should be brought under a scheme whereby planned planting of trees is undertaken.
3. Educate children and adults alike about the need for being concerned about one’s environment. Reward those who are involved in programmes to save the environment.
4. Make friendship groups in living spaces and work places, whereby resources are shared. Car sharing and eating together can be tried out which will lead to saving fuel and money. This will also be an initiative which helps in bringing about a community feeling once again instead of an individual consumerist culture.
5. Using our bodies as modes of transport. Walk and cycle more. This helps to keep ourselves in shape and also cuts heavily on fuel.
6. Trying to be creative with the way we use our resources and make our purchases. Think before we purchase something, be it a bulb, an appliance. Think whether it is of use to us, how long we will use it and how much energy it will use.
7. Do not force others to do this but try to be a silent example oneself.
8. Adopt trees and take care of them. If you don’t have the time to plant a sapling, try helping someone you know will do so.
9. Show solidarity with people who fight to bring down global warming.
10. Spare a minute for our children and what world they are going to live in. Think about what we got and what they are going to have.

- Older adults contributing to healthier environment

Manorama Online English News - Older adults contributing to healthier environment

Older adults contributing to healthier environment
-
Washington: Elderly people who volunteer for environmental protection are likely to find the activity physically and mentally stimulating, according to a recent study.

Post retirement volunteerism provides opportunities for social integration among different generations, through the initiative of environmental organisations. Many of these involve healthy physical activity, such as the testing of rivers or clean up of natural areas.

"Citizen involvement on a large scale is needed to address pressing issues of environmental conservation and sustainability," stated the study's co-authors Karl Pillemer and Linda P. Wagenet of Cornell University.

In one of four articles, they examined the prospects and promise for what the two call "environmental volunteerism and civic engagement" (EVCE) among older persons and point to some directions for encouraging this movement.

The ongoing increase in the number of older citizens, coupled with a senior population seeking meaningful participation in society, can greatly serve environmental protection efforts.

Even the US government has begun to tap this resource. For over five years, the Environmental Protection Agency's Ageing Initiative has provided opportunities for older adults to become environmental stewards in their own communities.

This group is particularly vulnerable to the adverse effects of air pollution, temperature extremes and major weather events.

These articles have been published in Public Policy & Ageing Report brought out by National Academy on an Ageing Society.

Gmail - [GSC] YOU THOUGHT JONAH HAD BAD NEWS ?! - jacobthanni@gmail.com

Gmail - [GSC] YOU THOUGHT JONAH HAD BAD NEWS ?! - jacobthanni@gmail.com

environment

American crisis in food, economy environment

tag: environment

[GSC] YOU THOUGHT JONAH HAD BAD NEWS ?!

maria_heisch
to GregorianStudy.

show details 10:20 AM (9 hours ago)


Reply

TAKE A LOOK AT THIS

The frightening thing about what you are now reading is..not..the
fact that America is facing the worst food shortage in our history:
with all out famine very likely - when you consider that half our
crops are dying from drought, while the other half are dying from
excessive moisture in the form of floods; with much of our food
causing serious health problems that no one has yet been able to
explain: Such as our problems with Lettuce, Spinach, Hamburger,
Pork, Celery, Chicken, Packaged Chili, Peanut Butter, Tomatoes,
and a host of other food products, even Dog Food: Not to mention
that all these things combined are pushing food prices so high that
many will simply not be able to afford to buy it anyway. And as
stated by the news media, there is a "Silent Famine" already on
American soil. ...In New York City, for just one example.

The frightening part is not even the fact that every aspect of what
we are now seeing with our food supply was prophesied in the
early
1990's, to specifically take place this year. To include the above
mentioned famine. (To occur in the year 2008.)

What part of this "word for word" prophecy has not come to
pass
??
"A prophetic drought is now being directed at America's waters;
They will be dried up, and her crops will fail for lack of water. .In
instances where her waters are not dried up, America's crops will
rot in the ground from excessive moisture. .And, in cases where she
does manage to get her food stuffs to market, most of them will not
be fit for human consumption; and much of it will cause serious
health risks..." (Vince Diehl - in 1990, for the year 2008 - as
taken from Yahoo archive 1521, the link to which is provided
below)

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/parousia/message/1521.html

Nor is the frightening part, the fact that every detail regarding our
present day war with Iraq, including how it will end, what it's
actually about, the conduct of George Herbert Walker Bush, and of
George W. Bush, was prophesied in the year 1990, at a time when
Iraq was our most staunch allie in the Middle East. See link below
titled "OUR IRAQ WARS"

All of which was stated in public, in writing, .at a time when we
had
all the seventeen dollar a barrel oil, and seventy cent a gallon
gasoline we could use,. had no problems with our food chain,..no
floods,. droughts,.no Iraq war,. had a national trade surplus,. a
healthy banking system,..and, .at a time when as a nation, America
enjoyed one of the greatest reputations in all recorded history.

Therefore, neither can anyone claim that Diehl was just lucky, and
saw that all these things were coming, because at the time he issued
these Plagues, the future looked nothing but great for all aspects of
America.

The genuinely frightening part of the above is the fact that Vince
Diehl has accurately prophesied so many things that have come to
pass, to include all of the above. Therefore, if you consider the rest
of his prophecies, THAT is when things get truly frightening.

The fact that eighteen years ago he accurately prophesied over 150
events that were to occur in the year 2008, which are now showing
up in our nightly news, MAKES his prophecies something that we
as Americans need to take seriously.

Whereas, a full eighteen years in advance, he not only prophesied
the fifty percent drought, fifty percent floods America is now
seeing: .He as well prophesied the crop failures, the two wars with
Iraq, the total collapse of our economy, and as well, the upcoming
famine: But he ALSO prophesied that America would be literally
burned off the map, and that everything we've mentioned above
would take place before George W. Bush leaves office. He even
described in detail, exactly HOW this unimaginable fire would take
place, and precisely where. Having declared in open court after
America had literally tried to torture him into submission as
described in the link titled TORTURE (see below), that if America
continued to violate his rights as a prophet to prophesy, that, "God
will tear America limb from limb".

Anyone been watching the weather events in the news since
Katrina lately ???

The problem is: .It's no longer just Vince Diehl's prophecy saying
this will happen: In fact, the utter destruction of America, by the fire
Diehl described in his prophecy, has now, not only been proven to
be SCIENTIFICALLY possible, but scientifically inevitable!!

Whereas, due to a process called "Water Replacement" that is being
used by our energy companies to force natural gas up out of the
earth, .the ENTIRE North American Continent is now literally
sitting on top of the largest.BOMB.mankind has ever even
imagined.

Now, the fact that this unimaginably huge fire is scientifically
inevitable:

...THAT, is the frightening part of it all.

Want details as to what is being called "The Great Abyss" ? ..We
dare you to read it.

http://www.theamericannightmare.org/THE_GREAT_ABYSS.html

You might also want to read his 1990 prophecy re: our present day
war with Iraq.

http://www.theamericannightmare.org/162_OUR_IRAQ_WARS_A-D.html

If you're at all concerned with America's new weather patterns you
might also want to read the link called TORTURE below, then
perhaps you might understand the "why" behind it.

http://www.theamericannightmare.org/162_TORTURE.html

As for America's economy, Diehl prophesied as follows:
"A Plague is against America's economy, against everything that
America considers to be luxurious, powerful, pleasurable and/or
important. It will cause America's treasures, her stock markets, and
her every asset to be plundered."

Gee, America's fifth largest investment bank was just sold for
two cents on the dollar; .Her largest commercial bank has now
hemorrhaged well over fifteen Billion dollars in the last six months
alone; .One out of every ten American home owners are now either
in forclosure or they are seriously behind in their house payments;
.Exactly HALF of all American workers now live in fear of losing
their jobs; .Most home owners now have no hopes of ever selling
their house for enough money to pay off the loan they presently
have against them;. America is now losing almost 100,000 of its
best paying jobs every month;. In order to make things not appear
to be as bad as they obviously are, flipping hamburgers for minimim
wage at a fast food restaraunt has now been classified by our
government to be a "manufacturing" or otherwise "assembly line"
job;. And we are beseiged by such outrageous lies by our
government on a daily basis, in order to conceal the truth as to how.
bad. things really are.

Moreover, most of the people who went in debt within the last
few years to purchase their $40,000.00 plus SUV or giant pick up
truck,. can now NOT afford to buy fuel to drive them,. they can't
even GIVE them away,. muchless sell them,. because no one else
can either !!. .Therefore, the foreclosures on THOSE loans will be
America's NEXT banking disaster !!

Sure looks like. this. part of Vince Diehl's Plague is also in full
force. Read details from the news media, at:

http://www.theamericannightmare.org/200_ECONOMY.html

Maria

ABC News: Dead Sea Walking? Man-Made Crisis Feared

ABC News: Dead Sea Walking? Man-Made Crisis Feared


$5B Plan: Canal From Red Sea to Dead Sea
As Dead Sea's Coastline Recedes, 10-Year-Long Project Is in the Works.
By SIMON MCGREGOR-WOOD
July 12, 2008



The Dead Sea is lowest place on Earth and it keeps getting lower.
dead sea
Salt crystals are seen on the coast of the Dead Sea, in March 2007, showing its receding water... Expand
Salt crystals are seen on the coast of the Dead Sea, in March 2007, showing its receding water level. The Dead Sea is a popular tourist site, and its waters and low atmospheric conditions (at minus 440 meters below sea level) have been used since at least the times of the Romans for their healing powers. The Israeli government recently approved the "economic peace corridor" project, which is due to build a 160 km channel to bring water from the Red Sea, through the Arava desert valley, into the Dead Sea in order to prevent the Dead Sea from drying up.

Jordan's Prime Minister Nader Dahabi is concerned about the sea. In fact, he announced Saturday that finding additional water resources for his citizens and the Dead Sea are top priority.

This year the rate of decline in the sea's level is expected to be over 4 feet; the cause is man-made. People are using 90 percent of the Dead Sea's main source, the Jordan River, for farming and drinking.

As the Dead Sea's water recedes, hundreds of sink holes have appeared making the coastline dangerously unstable, which is not good for tourism. The sea is one the region's biggest attractions and has one of the world's most unique environments.

Zabu Levin has lived at the Ein Gedi Health Spa for 45 years, which was once close to the sea but today is 1,000 yards away. The spa has struggled as the water has receded, but Levin has been responsible for designing elaborate ways for tourists to reach the sea.


"We are chasing the water," Levin says.

But now, there is a bold new plan to save the sea, a $5 billion canal. It will pump water from the Red Sea to boost the Dead Sea.

It is a joint Israeli, Jordanian and Palestinian venture that seems to have all the answers, but not everyone thinks it's a good idea.

Itai Gavrieli, who works for Israeli's Geological Institute, is skeptical. "We are playing with the environment. The Dead Sea has not seen sea water in two million years," he says. Scientists fear mixing the waters could produce huge amounts of algae turning the Dead Sea red.

"We think that there would be more problems created than problems solved. We would like to see the Jordan River rehabilitated," says Mira Edelstrein, an environmentalist from Friends of the Earth.

Even if the plan is approved, it will take 10 years to build. And every day the Dead Sea keeps slipping away.

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After Applause Dies Down, Global Warming Talks Leave Few Concrete Goals
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The leaders of developed and developing countries, including President Bush, and international officials on Wednesday in Toyako, Japan, on the last day of talks on climate change and other issues.

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By ANDREW C. REVKIN
Published: July 10, 2008

Nearly everyone had something to cheer about on Wednesday after the major industrial powers and a big group of emerging nations pledged to pursue “deep cuts” in emissions of heat-trapping gases in coming decades.
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President Bush, who had insisted that any commitment to combat global warming must involve growing economies as well as the rich nations, recruited China and India to the table and received rare accolades from some environmentalists for doing so.

The developing countries received a promise that the rich countries would take the lead in curbing emissions. And environmentalists said the agreements renewed chances of reviving two ailing climate pacts, the 1992 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and the 1997 Kyoto Protocol.

But behind the congratulatory speeches on Wednesday, some experts said, was a more sobering reality. The documents issued by the participating countries had very few of the concrete goals needed to keep greenhouse gases from growing at their torrid pace, they said.

The statement issued by the industrialized Group of 8 pledged to “move toward a carbon-free society” by seeking to cut worldwide emissions of heat-trapping gases in half by 2050. But the statement did not say whether that baseline would be emissions at 1990 levels, or the less ambitious baseline of current levels, already 25 percent higher.

Mentions of mandatory restrictions on emissions were carefully framed. Caps or taxes were endorsed where “national circumstances” made those acceptable. The statement urged nations to set “midterm, aspirational goals for energy efficiency.”

There were new commitments to demonstrate that carbon dioxide from coal combustion could be captured, compressed, and stashed permanently underground. But experts have said that process would have to work at the scale of billions of tons of carbon dioxide a year within a decade or two to avert a huge rise in carbon dioxide concentrations, while proposed projects are all measured in millions of tons.

The Group of 8 statement also pledged to increase aid to help developing countries improve energy efficiency or cut their vulnerability to climate risk. But developing countries have noted that in the past those pledges have gone unfilled.

“I would characterize this outcome as ‘talking the talk’ rather then ‘walking the walk’ on climate change policy,” said Michael E. Schlesinger, a climatologist at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, who has co-written many papers on climate policy.

Dr. Schlesinger and others said that neither this week’s statements nor the two previous climate treaties seemed likely to significantly slow the rise over decades of heat-trapping gases, most notably carbon dioxide — an unavoidable byproduct of burning fossil fuels and forests.

Beyond any vagueness in this week’s statements is the challenge that climate policy must compete with other pressing global problems, particularly rising prices for energy.

This reality was on display in Japan in the days leading up to the leaders’ formal sessions. Gwyn Prins, an expert on climate policy at the London School of Economics and Political Science, was there for discussions preceding the formal talks and noted that current concerns about energy security were already clearly interfering with discussions aimed at climate stability.

One day, in particular, he said, was “gloriously incoherent.” At a meeting in the morning, participants focused on finding ways to reduce gas prices, he said, while a session that afternoon focused on raising them through caps or taxes on fossil fuels.

The most discouraging aspect of the statements out of Japan, for many experts, was seeing the persistent gap between what science is saying about global warming and what countries are doing.

The United States appeared to regain some credibility at the meetings, but some environmentalists still found an opportunity to criticize President Bush. David G. Victor, an expert on climate policy at Stanford University, said that the power of any American president was limited, and that another barrier to cutting emissions was Congress.

“Nearly every government is looking beyond Bush, and while they are hopeful that the next president will surely be more constructive on this issue, they don’t know what the president can really bring to the table,” he said. “It is hard for the U.S. president to negotiate with strength when his ability to offer commitments hinges on national legislation that he does not control.”

Cutting emissions in half is just the first step in curtailing warming, climate experts have long said, because the main greenhouse gas generated by human activities, carbon dioxide, can persist for a century or more in the atmosphere, once it is released. That means that later in the century, emissions must drop nearly to zero, or large-scale techniques must be developed to pull carbon dioxide directly from the atmosphere.

Making a bit of lemonade from lemons, Dr. Victor saw a bright spot in the disagreements at the meetings. “Inability to agree is a sign that governments are actually getting serious,” he said.

He concluded: “People are working hard and pursuing many avenues; in time, they will find routes that work. This is quite unlike the Kyoto process, which was marked by very rapid negotiations that produced agreements that looked good on paper, but didn’t really reflect what important governments, such as the U.S., could actually deliver.”

It’s G8 vs G5 on climate change issue

Indian Express - Indian Newspapers in English Language from five editions

It’s G8 vs G5 on climate change issue
Express News Service
Posted online: Wednesday, July 09, 2008 at 2312 hrs Print Email

Sapporo, July 8: While the G8 countries on Tuesday underlined their resolve to halve global greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, the developing countries represented largely by the Group of Five countries (G5)— India, China, Brazil, South Africa and Mexico— are not ready to accept any timeline-driven targets on cutting emissions given that it may slow progress on the development front.



“It is for those responsible to have generated greenhouse gas emissions historically to apply cuts and avert a bad situation. Countries like our make a miniscule contribution. India contributes less than a tonne in per capita terms,” said Foreign Secretary Shiv Shankar Menon ahead of the G8 and G5 interaction on Wednesday, where this issue will figure prominently.

India has been clear that it will not allow its per capita emission of greenhouse gases to exceed that of the average of developed countries. “If the developed countries bring down their emissions, it can act as an incentive for us,” Menon added.

Though the G8 countries have reaffirmed their commitment to help facilitate developing countries with financial assistance by providing access to alternate technologies, the G5 is of the view that the developed countries must first take definite steps, as they are the primary polluters.

Key to the objection by countries like India is the unwilling attitude among developed countries to go by the base year of 1990 as agreed to in the Kyoto Protocol for determining the percentage of emission cuts. India, sources said, will try and drive home the point that a restrictive trade control regime should not be built around the climate change issue. New Delhi continues to back the UN process and will make it clear that such crucial climate change decisions with long-term impact on technology and trade need to be determined in a UN forum and not in a G8 summit.

One of the spin-offs from the climate change debate, which could benefit India, is the stress being laid on reviving nuclear power. The G8 in its political declaration today welcomed the rights of states to peaceful use of nuclear energy but at the same time endorsed tighter control, stronger safeguards system and stricter conditions on transfer of reprocessing and enrichment technology.

With the nuclear deal now getting fresh momentum, India may be a benefactor but that would not be an incentive to accept emission cuts. India has already launched a National Climate Change Action Plan, which Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has been handing out to world leaders on the sidelines of the summit.

On the issue of oil prices, the G8 in its economic resolution did call for a summit of major oil producers and consumers.

Similarly, India along with other G 5 members will emphasise the need to stop incentivising change of land use for the purpose of biofuels.

G8 leaders agree to cut emissions of greenhouse gases by 2050

The Tribune - Indian Newspapers in English Language from two editions.

G8 leaders agree on halving emissions by 2050



Sapporo (Japan), July 8
The group of eight powerful nations (G8) today agreed to halve the global emissions of greenhouse gases by 2050 even as five developing countries, including India, appealed to the grouping to do more to combat climate change.

The G8 countries - the United States, Japan, Russia, Germany, France, Britain, Canada and Italy - also called on all major countries such as China and India to take steps to stem the potentially dangerous rise in world temperatures.

“This global challenge can only be met by a global response, in particular by the contributions from all major economies,” the G8 said in a joint statement on climate change.

However, developing countries like South Africa quickly dismissed the G8 agreement as an “empty slogan” that would not save the planet from global warming.

“While the statement may appear as a movement forward, we are concerned that it may, in effect, be a regression from what is required to make a meaningful contribution to meeting the challenges of the climate change,” South Africa’s environment minister Marthinus van Schalkwyk said.

The G8 last year at a summit in Germany pledged to seriously consider the same target, and this year Japan had hoped to solidify that commitment at the ongoing summit. The communique, however, addressed world emissions rather than just those produced by wealthy countries.

Deeply concerned about the soaring food prices, the G8 also called on nations with sufficient food stocks to release some of their reserves to countries in need to help cope up with the situation.

Huddled in talks amid tight security in this spa resort, the G8 leaders said they were “deeply concerned” about soaring food prices and supply shortages in some developing countries.

“We also call for countries with sufficient food stocks to make available a part of their surplus for countries in need, in times of significantly increasing prices and in a way not to distort trade,” they added.

According to World Bank estimates, rising food prices have pushed 100 million people below the poverty line across the world.

Earlier, G8 today backed Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s proposal for a forum to set up a dialogue between producers and consumers to stablise soaring oil prices which posed a “serious challenge” to world economic growth.

As the threat from spiralling inflation became the top economic concern for the G8, their leaders voiced “strong concern” over sizzling oil prices and an increase in crude production and refining capacity to dampen the crude market.

“We express our strong concern about elevated commodity prices, especially of oil and food, since they pose a serious challenge to stable growth worldwide, have serious implications for the most vulnerable, and increase global inflationary pressure,” the G8 leaders said. As a way to enhance energy security, the leaders proposed an energy forum focused on energy efficiency and new technology to help a dialogue between producers and consumers.

According to a Japanese official, some of the G8 leaders also blamed speculation behind the doubling of oil prices to $140 a barrel, a point flagged by India at the recent emergency meeting of oil ministers in Jeddah.

The communiqué said on the supply side, production and refinery capacities should be increased in the short term. — PTI

ABC News: Greenland's Ice Set for a Recovery?

ABC News: Greenland's Ice Set for a Recovery?

Greenland Ice Sheet Slams the Brakes On
By MICHAEL REILLY
July 5, 2008



Much noise has been made about how water lubricates the base of Greenland's ice sheet, accelerating its slide into the oceans. In a rare "good news" announcement, climatologists now say the ice may not be in such a hurry to throw itself into the water after all. Mother Nature, it seems, has given it brakes.

Unchecked global warming will devastate the world economy on the scale of the world wars and the Great Depression, a British government report said Monday Oct 30 2006, as the country launched a bid to convince doubters that environmentalism and economic growth can coincide. Sir Nicholas Stern, the senior government economist who wrote the report, said that acting now to cut greenhouse gas emissions would cost about 1 percent of global GDP each year. Collapse



Since 1991, the western edge of Greenland's ice sheet has actually slowed its ocean-bound progress by 10%, say the team, who have studied the longest available record of ice and water flow in the region.

Greenland's mighty ice sheet has enough water locked away to raise global sea level 6.5 metres were it to melt. Each summer, vast lakes of meltwater form on its surface. The water seeps through cracks in the kilometer-thick ice to bedrock, where it acts as a lubricant. The sheet can move up to twice as fast in the summer, when meltwater is flowing, as when it is not.

Many fear a positive feedback loop, whereby the accelerating flow will bring more ice down out of the mountains and toward warmer temperatures near sea level. Roderik Van De Waal and colleagues at Utrecht University in the Netherlands now say there is no evidence this will happen.

Daily Changes

They looked at how meltwater has correlated with the speed of ice flow at the western edge of the sheet, just north of the Arctic Circle, since 1991. They found that meltwater pouring down holes in the ice – called "moulins" – did indeed cause ice velocities to skyrocket, from their typical 100m per year to up to 400m per year, within days or weeks.

But the acceleration was short-lived, and ice velocities usually returned to normal within a week after the waters began draining. Over the course of the 17 years, the flow of the ice sheet actually decreased slightly, in some parts by as much as 10%.

"For some time, glaciologists believed that more meltwater equaled higher ice speeds," Van de Waal says. "This would be kind of disastrous, but apparently it is not happening."

Van de Waal believes that the channels that carry the meltwater out to sea freeze up during the winter months. In summer, pulses of water rushing down the moulins to the bedrock overwhelm the narrowed channels, and the increased pressure lifts the ice sheet off the rock, enabling it to move faster.