Primary Physical Symptoms
- Depletion of resources
- Increased costs of extraction
- Accumulation of wastes
- Ever more expensive waste handling systems
More
soy, less forest - and no water
(Inter Press Service Agency, Buenos Aires, Argentina, 03/17/05)
According to the National Directorate of Forests, Argentina is experiencing
the most intense deforestation in its history due to the replacement of
forests with soy plantations, and Córdoba is the province where
the most devastating environmental damage has occurred. Over the past
decade, as the output of soy rose steadily, the province lost an average
of three percent of its native forests annually. Of the 10 million hectares
of forests found in Córdoba a century ago, only 12 percent are
left."Mountains are like sponges that absorb water and release it
gradually throughout the year," Raúl Montenegro with the Córdoba-based
Foundation for the Defence of the Environment (FUNAM), told IPS. "But
by clear-cutting the forests on a large-scale, the rainwater rapidly runs
off, as if it were sliding down a freeway." In the mountainous region
known as the Sierras Chicas, where several large towns and small cities
are located, water shortages have led to water cuts in the last few months.
China's
timber use ravages forests
(Detroit Free Press, Nanxun, China, 03/07/05)
China's voracious appetite for timber threatens exotic forests as far
away as Brazil, West Africa, Indonesia and Russia's far east. China's
timber imports were relatively modest in 1998, when devastating floods
along the Yangtze River killed some 2,500 people. Experts blamed the floods
on deforestation. As a result, China banned logging in natural forests.
It turned to foreign timber, removing tariffs and promoting wood-processing
industries. Since then, Chinese imports of logs, semi-processed wood and
forest products have nearly tripled, turning small cities such as Nanxun
in coastal Zhejiang province into export hubs with a global reach.
Wild
fish restoration a global challenge, UN report warns
(Environment News Service, Rome, Italy, 03/07/05)
Seven of the top 10 marine fish species, accounting for about 30 percent
of all capture fisheries production, are fully exploited or overexploited,
says the newest edition of a United Nations biennial report, "The
State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture," released today. According
to FAO, there has been a consistent downward trend since the 1950s in
the proportion of marine fish stocks with potential for expanded production,
coupled with an increase in the proportion classified as overexploited
or depleted.
Crews
dig tunnel to capture raw sewage now spilled into bay
(Boston Globe, Providence, R.I. US, 12/12/04)
The $318 million Combined Sewer Overflow Abatement project is Rhode Island's
effort to stem discharge of sewer water into local waterways. Currently
a half-inch of rain is enough to overwhelm the aged combined sewer and
stormwater system. To relieve the backup, the contaminated water is released
into local rivers, fouling the water with fecal coliform bacteria and
forcing the closure of shellfish beds that are a lifeblood of the commercial
fishing industry.
Finding no fish, Ghanaians turn to bushmeat
(Reuters, Ghana, 11/15/04
)
A study in the journal Science shows that overfishing by
subsidized European fleets off the coast of West Africa is hurting local
fisheries and forcing people to hunt wildlife to get enough to eat.
Humanity now exceeds the planet's capacity to sustain us
(World Wide Fund for Naure and
The Footprint Network, October 2004)
The Living Planet Report 2004 says humans currently consume 20 percent more natural resources than the earth can produce and populations
of terrestrial, freshwater and marine species fell on average by 40 per
cent between 1970 and 2000.
Southern
Africa faces food, water crises
(Reuters, Johannesburg South Africa
09/24/04)
The Southern African Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (SAMA) is the first
in a series of regional checkups of the planet's health launched by the
United Nations in June, 2001. The assessment finds that a large fraction
of the population in rural areas is totally dependent on ground water that is, almost without exception, being used unsustainably.
China's
energy crisis blankets Hong Kong in smog
(Reuters, Hong-Kong, China
09/24/04)
Hong Kong's air pollution hit a record high on September 14. Doctors advised
asthma sufferers and those with heart disease to stay indoors. Most of
the pollution cloaking Hong Kong is generated by coal-fired power plants
and smokestacks from China's industrial south, as well as traffic fumes
from the city's own congested streets.
Sea's
only hope for world water supply, says Spain
(Reuters, Madrid, Spain,
09/07/04)
The world's fast-growing thirst for water can only be met by purifying
sea water as rivers and reservoirs become unable to meet demand, Spain
said last week unveiling a major program to fight its own chronic shortages.
Spain, which suffers annual water shortages, has been using the technology
for 30 years and has 700 such facilities.
Shell world record wells pump gas from 2 miles deep
(Reuters, 07/01/04)
As untapped fossil fuel stocks are drained, the remaining resource becomes
more difficult and expensive to extract. Now a new
pair of offshore wells are pumping gas from record-breaking depths more than
two miles (3.2 km) below the ocean. The wells will eventually produce
more than 100 million cubic feet of gas a day to help feed the United
States' daily diet of 61 billion cubic feet.
Fish
populations decline in Massachusetts rivers
(Boston Globe, Boston,
MA, United States 07/08/04)
Annual fish surveys show declines in five local rivers.
Resulting Physical Symptoms
- Increasing frequency and severity of “natural” disasters
- Deferred maintenance of physical capital
Mercury
pollution, autism link found - U.S. study
(Reuters, San Antonio, Texaxs, 03/16/05)
A study to be published on Thursday in the journal "Health and Place"
found that autism, a developmental disorder marked by communication and
social interaction problems, increased in Texas counties as mercury emissions
rose, said Claudia Miller, a family and community medicine professor at
the University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio.
"The main finding is that for every thousand pounds of environmentally
released mercury, we saw a 17 percent increase in autism rates,"
she said in an interview.
Nation's
infrastructure crumbling
(AP, Washington D. C. 03/09/05)
A report by the American Society of Civil Engineers released Wednesday
assessed the four-year trend in the condition of 12 categories of infrastructure,
including roadways, bridges, drinking water systems, public parks, railroads
and the power grid.
The overall grade slipped from the D-plus given to the infrastructure
in 2001 and 2003.
Climate
change blamed for shift in lake life
(New Scientist, London/UK, 03/05/05)
John Smol of Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario, Canada, analysed
fossilised communities of microscopic organisms in sediment cores from
45 lakes across the Arctic - including Finnish Lapland, Siberia, Svalbard,
northern Labrador and northern Quebec. While sediments laid down over
the millennia before around 1850 show little change in the abundance of
different species, after this date two-thirds of the lakes experienced
striking "regime shifts", Smol says. Temperature indicators
such as the ratio of oxygen isotopes in ice cores show that warming began
at about the same time
New
diseases arise as environments destroyed, says UN
(Independent/UK, London/UK, 02/22/05)
Loss of forests; the building of roads and dams; urban growth; the clearing
of natural habitats for agriculture; mining; and pollution of coastal
waters are promoting conditions under which new and old pathogens can
thrive, according to research published today in UNEP's Global Environment
Outlook Year Book for 2004/2005.
Warning
of the toad: Climate change to accelerate extinction threat
(Tribune de Genève, Paris, France, 02/13/05)
The golden toad (Bufo periglenes) has the tragic honour to be the first
identified species to go the way of the dodo because of, in all probability,
greenhouse gases. The colourful amphibian made its home in a tiny area,
measuring only four square kilometers (a third of square mile), in the
Monteverde cloud forest, a pristine nature reserve in Costa Rica.
The secretive species, discovered only in 1964, had only a narrow window
of opportunity to reproduce, during brief storms during the April-June
rainy season that create temporary puddles, allowing male and female toads
to congregate. But warmer weather and a couple of seasons without rainstorms
caused the toad population to crash in 1987. Not a single specimen has
been seen in more than 15 years.
Sinking
islands cling to Kyoto lifebuoy
(Reuters, Sydney, Australia, 02/14/05)
Islanders on tiny Tuvalu in the South Pacific last week saw the future
of global warming and rising sea levels, as extreme high tides caused
waves to crash over crumbling sea-walls and flood their homes."Our
island is sinking together with our hearts," wrote Silafaga Lalua
in Tuvalu News.
Male
fish growing eggs found in Potomac
(AP, Sharpsburg, MD 12/21/04)
Nine male smallmouth bass taken from the Potomac near Sharpsburg, about
60 miles upstream from Washington, were found to have developed eggs inside
their sex organs according to scientist for the U.S. Geological Survey.
Authorities say the problems are likely related to a class of pollutants
called endocrine disruptors, which short-circuit animals' natural systems
of hormone chemical messages. Officials are awaiting the results of water-quality
testing that might point to a specific chemical behind the fish problems.
Sea
levels to rise faster - NASA
(InterPress Services, Brooklin, Canda 12/16/04)
New and updated satellite data from Greenland, the Canadian Arctic and
Antarctica show parts of these regions are rapidly melting and contributing
three times as much than previously believed to sea level rise.The melting
appears to be in direct response to the surface air temperature warming
in these regions. What is alarming is how quickly these massive ice sheets
are responding to temperature increases of around 2C, said the scientists.
"We're seeing a response in months rather than in centuries as previously
believed," Abdalati told IPS.
Climate
change hits bottom line
(BBC, Buenos Aires, Argentina, 12/15/04)
The World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) has announced that 2004 is
expected to be the fourth warmest year worldwide since records began.And
the insurance industry says this year will face unprecedented claims for
damage from weather-related disasters
A
quarter of bird species in danger of extinction, study warns
(Independent/UK, 12/14/04)
By the end of the century one in 10 species of birds in the world will
be extinct and a further 15 per cent will be on the brink of extinction
according to one of the largest studies of avian biodiversity.The dire
state of birds is documented in an American university study which shows
their decline will accelerate rapidly in a world of habitat loss, disease,
climate change and over-exploitation. It is estimated that just over 1
per cent of bird species have become extinct in the past 500 years but
this is set to increase tenfold over the next 100 years, according to
a study led by Cagan Sekercioglu of Stanford University in California
Melting
Swiss glaciers threaten Alps
(Reuters, Zurich, Switzerland, 11/16/04)
Switzerland's glaciers are melting faster than expected, shrinking by
as much as one-fifth of their size over the 1985-2000 period alone, according
to scientists at Zurich University.
Mussels
found near North Pole in global warming sign
(Reuters, Oslo, Norway,
09/21/04)
Blue mussels, which normally favour warmer waters like those off France or the
eastern United States, were discovered off Norway's Svalbard archipelago
in waters that are covered with ice most of the year. Such shellfish have
not been recorded off the islands since Viking times 1,000 years ago during
another warm period.
Topsoil
erosion lessens water retention in "wet dessert"
(Reuters,
Cherrapunjee, India, 11/12/04)
Cherrapunjee, in the northeastern state of Meghalaya is a "wet desert."
Although 12 metres of rain (more than 470 inches) falls in an average
year, locals say they have scarcely enough water to drink or wash for
six months of the year. "The ground cannot retain water. With the
high intensity of rain, more and more of the topsoil is eroded,"
said local schoolteacher and community worker Mark West. "Whatever
water comes in, it just flows down (to Bangladesh)."
Death
toll in Haiti floods rises to 1,650
(Reuters,Port-Au-Prance, Haiti
09/28/04)
Haiti is prone to deadly floods because 98 percent of its forests have
been chopped down, largely to make charcoal for cooking. In May, about
2,000 people died in flooding in the south of the country. Now new flooding
in Haiti has killed some 1,650 people with about 800 people still missing,
a government official says.
Alarm as
global study finds one-third of amphibians face extinction.
(Independent/UK, 10/15/04)
A global study revealed yesterday that almost a third of amphibians face
extinction - and pollution is cited as the biggest cause. The three-year
survey, involving 500 scientists from more than 60 countries, has found
that a third of the 5,743 known species are threatened with being wiped
out and at least 427 are so critically endangered that they could disappear
tomorrow.
Death
toll from dirty air rising in Toronto
(Globe and Mail, Toronto, Canada,
07/09/04)
Regional air pollution declines resulting from improved car emissions
are overwhelmed by local increases in pollution due to growth in car use.
Resulting Social Symptoms
- Rising military and security costs
- Increasing debt
- Fewer resources for education, health care, and shelter
- Eroding goals for health and environment
- Shift from "desired" to "affordable,"
- Declining respect for collective problem solving & self-government
Australia
powerless against remote toothfish raiders
(Reuters, Canaberra, Australia (03/07/05)
Illegal fishing for the rare Patagonian toothfish has been on the rise
in recent years with demand for its white, flaky flesh rising in Asia
and the United States. One shipload of the fish, dubbed "white gold",
is worth up to A$5 million ($3.9 million). Australia is powerless to act
against six vessels fishing for rare Patagonian toothfish in the remote
Southern Ocean because the boats are flagged to countries that are not
part of an international deal to protect the fish. Fisheries Minister
Ian Macdonald said Australia's Oceanic Viking discovered three vessels
registered with the African nation of Togo and three registered to Georgia
when it ventured into international territory after patrolling Australian
waters.The Oceanic Viking, armed with a deck-mounted machine gun, is on
the frontline of Australia's crackdown on illegal fishing, spurred by
a 21-day chase through treacherous icy seas in 2003 to catch a Uruguayan
vessel seen fishing in the country's waters.
Rush
for natural resources still fuels war in Congo
(Reuters,Walikale, Congo 08/11/04)
A five-year war in the Democratic Republic of Congo was supposed to have
wound down after successive peace deals forged an interim government last
year. But fighting continues for control of valuable mineral resources.
The same area where wartime rebels mined coltan, a mineral used in mobile
phones, computer games and stealth bombers, is now in the flush of a new
mining boom for cassiterite, the base element of tin. A global shortage
of tin ramped world prices to near 15 year highs of $9,600 a ton in May,
up from $6,500 a ton in January. And, as with coltan during the war, the
sudden price rise has fueled power struggles in the bush, where gold and
diamonds are also mined by peasants in rags who dig by hand using hammers.