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Articles in: Uncategorized
Uncategorized, Sep 28th, 2011,
Being an enthusiastic science fiction fan, when I saw there was a new post-apocalyptic/dystopian series on the way I was typically stoked. The involvement of Steven Spielberg and a couple of guys from the Star Trek franchise gave me moderately high hopes. However, Spielberg’s recent alien invasion series, Falling Skies, didn’t. I was weaned on low-budget sci-fi films and TV from the 80s, which in hindsight usually weren’t very good (see Cherry 2000 or Spacehunter: Adventures in the Forbidden Zone for evidence). Still, these grim, if silly, visions of the future fed my imagination and dominated playtime: I’d be a…
Tags: future, sci-fi, Spielberg, Star Trek, Terra Nova
Uncategorized, Sep 26th, 2011,
Throat cancer has claimed the life of one of Africa’s and indeed the world’s luminaries of environmental and human rights activism. Wangari Maathai, Kenya’s founder of the Green Belt Movement, has died from throat cancer at the age of 71. The Green Belt Movement combined ecological causes with social justice issues and planted 20-30 million trees on the African continent. In 2004 Maathai became the first African woman to receive the Nobel Peace Prize for her activism on behalf of the environment, women’s rights and political transparency. She also served as a government minister and Member of Parliament in her…
Tags: activist, Africa, Kenya, Wangari Maathai
Uncategorized, Mar 4th, 2011,
Philip K. Dick’s 1968 novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? describes a darkened, post apocalyptic future where the majority of mankind has left Earth to settle colonies on other planets. Animals are either endangered or extinct, giving way to a burgeoning industry in artificial life. Both android animals and humans have become so life-like that it is next to impossible to differentiate them from the natural life forms they mimic. For a novel written as early as 1968, Dick seems to have envisioned, with much social commentary and metaphor, many developments that resemble what has already come to…
Tags: Blade Runner, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, environmental, film, Harrison Ford, new, Philip K. Dick, Ridley Scott
Uncategorized, Oct 20th, 2010,
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' src='http://gf2.statico.be/wp-content/themes/greenfudge/thumbnails/2240.jpg' alt='its-raining-bloody-bears-%e2%80%93-plane-stupids-polarizing-anti-flying-ads' class='art-teaser' width='95' height='95' /> Cute, furry and vulnerable despite being the largest land dwelling carnivore species on the planet, polar bears have become icons for climate change. Now they are being used in a controversial new anti flying campaign by the environmental activist group Plane Stupid. If it’s attention they want, it seems to be working. According to Plane Stupid, ‘It’s really not about polar bears anymore’, but the depiction of giant CGI bears plummeting to a grizzly end on the streets of New York City certainly makes an impression: CGI has certainly come a long way. It also makes me feel bit guilty…
Tags: ad, controversial, flying, Plane Stupid, polar bear
Uncategorized, Sep 17th, 2010,
The Right Livelihood Award is a prize to honor, fund and promote those working against environmental damage, human rights violations and underdevelopment throughout the world. It is not a prize you would expect a head of state from a large country, which is currently at war, to win. The award began 30 years ago after founder, German-Swedish publicist Jacob von Uexkull, attempted to get another category for environmental protection added to the Nobel Prize. After being turned down by the Nobel Committee, von Uexkull founded the Right Livelihood Award Foundation, which gives out three prizes per year of €50,000 each….
Tags: alternative, environmental, German, Nobel, prize, Right Livelihood Award, Swedish, von Uexkull
green living, Recycling, Uncategorized, Sep 15th, 2010,
The City of Cleveland is spending $2.5M to equip recycling bins with microchips in an attempt to become more green. The municipality is going to give each household two different garbage cans: one for rubbish, one for recyclables. Each will have a micro-chip inside. This is all part of a new automated trash collection system. Micro-chips will be placed in both your recycling bin and your waste bin. Each chip generates a report that tells the city how efficient their waste collection services are. But it will also tell them if you’re using your recycling bin. Click here to read more about…
Tags: bins, Cleveland, environment, Green, Recycling
sustainable living, Uncategorized, Sep 9th, 2010,
Stories of dogs and cats being abandoned due to tough economic times – or cruel indifference because they’ve simply become inconvenient – are unfortunate, but familiar scenarios. The abandonment of pets has even transformed the local ecology in parts of the world: an estimated 150,000 Burmese pythons live in the Florida Everglades and several London parks are chock full of exotic parakeets which originate in Africa and India. Ireland has its fair share of invasive species, but horses are not considered one of them. However, thousands of unwanted horses are some of the latest casualties in the global economic downturn…
Tags: abandoned, abandonment, animal, cruelty, downturn, Dublin, economic, horses, Ireland, Irish, neglected
Business, Politics, Pollution, Uncategorized, Sep 7th, 2010,
The European Union (EU) established the REACH system (Registration, Evaluation, Authorization and Restriction of Chemicals) and the Restriction of Hazardous Substances (RoHS) an integrated system for Registration, Evaluation and Authorisation of Chemicals and establishing a European agency for these products. This system requires companies that manufacture and import chemicals to assess the risks arising from their use and take the necessary measures to manage any risk to be identified. The burden of proof with regard to the safety of chemicals manufactured or sold is on the industry. The regulation aims to ensure a high level of protection of human health…
Tags: alogen, bfr, environment, Europe, government, Pollution, research, TOXIC
Nature, Uncategorized, Wildlife & Flora, Aug 30th, 2010,
Environmental and animal-welfare groups are urging the International Whaling Commission (IWC) to persuade the World Health Organization (WHO) to act against the eating of whale meat. These groups say that whale meat is highly contaminated with mercury and should not be eaten. But whaling nations say they already have health guidelines in place. For the past weeks, anti-whaling activists have been trying to draw attention on the issue of consuming meat of smaller whales and dolphins, known as small cetaceans. Small cetaceans, like tooth whales and pilot whales, are among those mostly contaminated and therefore a lot more toxic compounds…
Tags: environment, Europe, water, Wildlife & Flora
Uncategorized, Jul 18th, 2010,
A False Killer Whale – a member of the dolphin family – leapt out of its tank during a performance at an aquarium in Okinawa, Japan. Video, taken by an American visitor at the aquarium, shows the dolphin first attempting to leap over the barrier and then falling back into the tank. It then successfully jumps out onto the concrete surrounding the tank, where trainers rush to roll it onto padding and keep it wet by spraying it with hoses. Dolphin activist and former trainer Rick O’Barry – who claims in the documentary film The Cove that he witnessed one…
Tags: aquarium, dolphin, False, japan, jump, Killer, O’Barry, tank, whale
Climate & Change, Nature, Uncategorized, Videos & Documentaries, Jun 23rd, 2010,
Flooding and mudslides in the northeast of Brazil have resulted in the deaths of at least 44 people, with as many as 1,000 more missing. Torrents following heavy rains over the past three days have swept away some 40,000 homes in the region, displacing 180,000 people. From an Al Jazeera English report: Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, the president, has called a crisis cabinet meeting on Tuesday and said the government would make federal funds available to help the homeless. The death toll is feared to rise in the Brazil’s northeastern states of Alagoas and Pernambuco, where the flooding is most severe….
Tags: Alagoas, Brazil, death, displace, flooding, floods, northeast, report
Uncategorized, May 17th, 2010,
A recent study claims that 20% of lizard species could be extinct by the year 2080, due to the effects of climate change. The research shows a correlation between rising temperatures and lizard extinctions since 1975. As more species become extinct, entire eco-systems will be thrown out of balance. From an article in the Telegraph: The drop in the lizard population could cause an explosion in the numbers of insect they normally feed on as well as devastating creatures higher up the food chain which rely on them for food. The international study is clear that climate change is at…
Tags: climate change, extinct, lizard, lizards, species, study, temperature
climate change, Uncategorized, Weird & Wonderful, Apr 25th, 2010,
Now that the Iceland volcano event has died down, lava has cooled and ash has blown far away enough allow Europeans to fly more or less wherever the hell they want, we can only sit back and feel nostalgic for that bygone week when the skies were quiet and sort of tinged with brown. ‘Those were the hazy halcyon days of the spring of 2010,’ we might say one day with a wistful look in our eyes. ‘Sure there was more soot, but there was less pollution‘. In the meantime we can look back by searching through countless images on…
Tags: Eyjafjallajokull, Iceland, images, Northern Lights, photos, volcano
Uncategorized, Apr 14th, 2010,
A series of earthquakes – the largest having a magnitude of 6.9 – struck a Tibetan region of western China today, killing at least 400 people according to an AP report. A further 10,000 were injured as houses collapsed and many remained trapped under fallen buildings – particularly schools – in Qinghai province. From a Wall Street Journal report: The quake hit shortly before 8 a.m. local time Wednesday, jolting Yushu prefecture, part of the Chinese province of Qinghai near the edge of the Tibetan plateau. About 97% of the population in Yushu is ethnically Tibetan. Many earn their living…
Tags: 400, China, dead, earthquake, earthquakes, Qinghai, Tibetan, Western
Uncategorized, Feb 27th, 2010,
A British government adviser has warned that major changes in land management are necessary to deal with the effects of climate change and a growing population over the next 50 years. Professor John Beddington, who is chief scientific adviser to the UK government, warned of ‘competing issues’ that without proper management – including an integration of policies – could cause problems such as water shortages and a decrease in biodiversity. Principal issues named in terms of quality of life for Britons were the preservation of urban green spaces and the availability of affordable housing. Other pressures on land use include…
Tags: British, climate change, government, green spaces, Guardian, land management, population, pressure, UK, water
Business, sustainable living, Uncategorized, Weird & Wonderful, Jan 22nd, 2010,
Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle. We all know of the 3-R mantra by now. Some people live by it almost religiously. Most of us, however, will reduce and recycle, but we seem to skip that reuse step quite often. We see items as trash or junk and usually treat them as such. Instead of being reincarnated into some useful second life, things end up occupying landfills instead. If you want to take a stab at the reuse step—or if you already take that step and simply need inspiration—I suggest you check out Recyclart.org. This site is absolutely awesome! There are tons…
Tags: art and craft projects, creative ways to recycle, finding new uses for old junk, Recyclart, recycle, reduce, reuse
sustainable living, Uncategorized, Jan 20th, 2010,
Earthquakes seem to be all the rage in Haiti this month. Little over a week ago, a 7.0 earthquake killed 200,000, wounded at least 250,000, and left 1.5 million without homes. Now, after more than 40 aftershocks, another quake attacks the small island—and this time it’s a 6.1. The previous earthquake wreaked most of its havoc throughout Port-au-Prince. This latest one, which occurred in the early dawn hours of today, was centered approximately 35 miles (60 km) northwest of the city. The extent of damage, death or injuries from today’s earthquake is still unknown. Click here for more information. By…
Tags: aftershocks, breaking news, Haiti earthquake, natural disaster, second earthquake
Science & Technology, Uncategorized, Wildlife & Flora, Jan 19th, 2010,
Fish are, without a doubt, some of the stranger creatures among us. They can glow. They can shock. They can change their gender. They can change color or mimic other species. Some fish can even climb trees. They are also extremely devoted parents. Take the female octopus, for example. She will stay with her eggs for six weeks—up to 50,000 eggs, to be exact—and by the time they hatch, she is either dead for starvation or too weak to fight predators, so she ends up being killed anyway; all for the sake of bringing her children to life. The little…
Tags: alarm substance, death throes, embryos, molecules, offspring, parents, study, zebrafish
Uncategorized, Wildlife & Flora, ,
Buyers beware: the goods you are purchasing could be illegal. The illegal selling and trading of animals—or their parts—has been known of for a long time. Sometimes, governments permit temporary sales or trades. In most cases, you will find these things on the black market. However, traders are willing to do whatever it takes to reach a wider customer base and evade authorities. Their chosen method of gaining higher sales may surprise you: the internet. Grace Ge, IFAW’s Asian regional director, suspects foul play. At a recent animal rights conference held in Singapore, she claimed that traders are able to…
Tags: ACRES, Animal Concerns Research and Education Society, endangered species, IFAW, illegal wildlife trade, International Fund for Animal Welfare, poaching, sales, study, TCM, traditional Chinese medicine
climate change, Science & Technology, Uncategorized, Jan 18th, 2010,
As the years roll by, the Earth’s waterways become more and more polluted. Sometimes, it may be due to litter or the illegal dumping of waste. In other cases, oil spills or pipe bursts happen. Over the past year alone, we saw quite a few incidents, including spills in the Timor Sea and San Francisco Bay, plus the more recent pipe burst in China that caused thousands of gallons of oil to be swept away; some clear to the Yellow River. There is, however, one oil spill incident that still stands out when compared to all the rest: the 1989…
Tags: 11 million gallons, 1989, Alaska, biodegrade, contamination, Exxon Valdez, gravel beaches, oil spill, Pollution, Prince William Sound, research, study
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