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Archive for October 20th, 2013
Canada: Frackas in Elsipogtog
Posted by Rabble: None Given on October 20th, 2013
Rabble: Since the violent confrontations between RCMP and protestors at Elsipogtog, New Brunswick on October 17, 2013, there has been an explosion of concern across Canada. Many solidarity rallies have been held across the country (including one in Halifax, Nova Scotia, that I attended on October 18, pictured in the photographs accompanying this article) and almost 23,000 people have already signed a petition calling on the RCMP to refrain from using violence against these peaceful protests by First Nations...
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Canada: Seize the moment, stand with Elsipogtog
Posted by Straight: None Given on October 20th, 2013
Straight: “He who controls the past controls the future. He who controls the present controls the past.”
- 1984 by George Orwell
Canada’s colonial past is present, however much Prime Minister Stephen Harper seeks to obfuscate the reality of the history of this land.
This week has served as a prime example of how denial of past colonialism helps to perpetuate ongoing colonial relationships.
The current flashpoint is the small town of Rexton, New Brunswick. There the Elsipogtog First Nation and their...
Australia: Pricing carbon must be a Labor article of faith
Posted by Guardian: Alexander White on October 20th, 2013
Guardian: With this week starting with headlines about the bushfires burning in New South Wales, and reports that the federal Labor opposition is debating its response to demands by climate change denying prime minister Tony Abbott to "repent" on carbon pricing, it is timely to post this guest blog by Felicity Wade.
Felicity is the national co-convenor of the Labor Environment Action Network, a group of Labor members working for strong, science-based climate change policies.
Pricing carbon must be a...
Australia: Drier weather will only fuel larger, more frequent fire
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on October 20th, 2013
Australian Broadcasting Corporation: With New South Wales facing its worst bushfires in nearly half a century, experts say more needs to be done to protect communities at risk. Christine Milne has told RN Breakfast that that means taking action on climate change, a response that Environment Minister Greg Hunt called "˜opportunistic'.
The bushfire emergency in New South Wales is expected to escalate in coming days as temperatures soar, with Wednesday's forecast shaping up as potentially catastrophic.
Federal Environment Minister...
ESSAY: Ecology Is the Meaning of Life
Posted by Water Conservation Blog on October 20th, 2013
Naturally evolved ecosystems are marvels that make Earth habitable, yet sadly they and all life are threatened
By Dr. Glen Barry, Ecological Internet
Earth Meanders come from Earth's Newsdesk
Miraculous Nature
Ultimately, all humanity and all life have is the biosphere, the thin layer of life just above and below Earths surface, composed of ancient, miraculously evolved natural ecosystems. The natural Earth is a marvel a complex coupling of species within ecosystems, whereby life begets life.
Ecology is far more than the study of life and its environment. The word is used here as a synonym for ecosystems the vibrant connections that emerge between species across scales, which cumulatively make life on Earth possible.
Nature is far, far more than pretty plants and animals. Ecosystems make Earth habitable, providing water, food, air, shelter, and more everything that we need and desire to live well. In naturally evolved ecosystems, from genes to individual organisms and species, to ecosystems and everything else in between, each living being present fulfills a niche which sustains itself, its neighbors, and the whole.
All species uniquely express evolutionary brilliance and have a purpose, a reason for being, a right to exist, and are necessary to maintain lifes full ...
East Himalayan forests turning brown: Study
Posted by Times of India: Jayashree Nandi on October 20th, 2013
Times of India: In what appears to be another grim outcome of climate change, a study has found that forests in eastern Himalayas are gradually 'browning', with trees withering and foliage declining even during productive seasons. Similar changes were noted in tropical mountain forests across the world. Among the 47 protected areas across five biodiversity hotspots selected for the study, were Kangchendzonga national park in Sikkim and Namdapha national park in Arunachal Pradesh. It used satellite images from 1982...
First Nation community and protesters meet in New Brunswick over protest
Posted by Canadian Press: Kevin Bissett on October 20th, 2013
Canadian Press: Hundreds of people gathered at a community hall in New Brunswick on Sunday to discuss their opposition of the development of a shale gas sector in the province as their protest garnered support from a Manitoba grand chief.
Elsipogtog Chief Arren Sock said the meeting at New Brunswick's Elsipogtog First Nation was a chance for people in his community to tell their stories.
"It's just part of the healing process and I wanted that to begin," said Sock after the meeting, which drew about 300 community...
8 tribes that are way ahead of climate-adaptation curve
Posted by Indian Country Today: None Given on October 20th, 2013
Indian Country Today: Much has been made of the need to develop climate-change-adaptation plans, especially in light of increasingly alarming findings about how swiftly the environment that sustains life as we know it is deteriorating, and how the changes compound one another to quicken the pace overall. Studies, and numerous climate models, and the re-analysis of said studies and climate models, all point to humankind as the main driver of these changes. In all these dire pronouncements and warnings there is one bright...
Australian fires continue burning as conditions deteriorate
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on October 20th, 2013
Australian Broadcasting Corporation: The New South Wales Rural Fire Service says conditions are deteriorating across the state, with dry north-westerly winds forecast to return.
More than 37,000 hectares have now been burnt as 60 fires continue to burn across the state, 15 of them uncontained, and there is an active fire edge more than 300 kilometres long.
RFS commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons says new information from the Bureau of Meteorology this morning has firmed up concerns about the next few days.
"We are likely to see...
Poor bear brunt of extreme weather
Posted by Al Jazeera: Richard Angwin on October 20th, 2013
Al Jazeera: An increase in extreme weather events caused by rising temperatures could undermine international attempts, through the United Nations, to alleviate poverty by 2030.
The report by the UK's Overseas Development Institute, concludes that 'without concerted action, up to 325 million extremely poor people could be living in the 49 countries most exposed to the full range of natural hazards and climate extremes in 2030.'
Drought, extreme rainfall and flooding have a disproportionate effect upon...