While climate change dominates the news, Jean-Marcel Bouguereau suggests that it's not just business leaders at Davos, but also French citizens who are not yet prepared to do anything concrete about it. Meanwhile, on the other side of the Atlantic, although "Conservative" Canadian prime minister Stephen Harper has begun to make green noises, a recently publicized letter he wrote in 2002 describing Kyoto as a "Socialist plot" undermines his environmental credibility.
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/020107H.shtml
The caribou population in Canada's vast Northwest Territories is falling rapidly, and the increasingly warm climate could slow the animals' chances of recovery, a wildlife specialist said Friday. Herds of barren-ground caribou have dropped by between 40 and 86 percent over the last 10 years. The largest single herd fell from 472,000 animals in 1986 to 128,000 in 2006 and is still declining.
http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/013107EC.shtml
Scientists gathered from around the world will deliver the verdict on Friday morning in Paris on what the damage is - how we've already permanently altered the planet. The news will be heavy - hard to take. The exact wording of the report won't be final until the 9:30 a.m. press conference, but the basic science is in. The world's scientists have produced these consensus reports every five years since 1991, but the biggest change since the last report in 2001 is clearly not in the science. It's in the audience.
http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/013107EA.shtml
More and more people are waking up to the fact that the world is in a period of great crisis and opportunity around the issue of energy generation and use. The fossil fuels we rely on for power are poisoning the atmosphere and threatening the stability of the earth's climate. We've known about this problem since the 1970s, but vested economic interests have retarded our progress in developing alternatives. Today, peak oil and global warming are beginning to change the economics of power generation and the world is looking to pioneers like Randy Tinkerman for solutions.
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/013107S.shtml
Indonesia could lose about 2,000 islands by 2030 due to climate change, the country's environment minister said on Monday.
http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/013007ED.shtml
Billions of people will suffer water shortages and the number of hungry will grow by hundreds of millions by 2080 as global temperatures rise, scientists warn in a new report.
http://www.ichblog.eu/content/view/203/52/
Participate in the biggest mobilization of Citizens Against Global Warming! The Alliance for the Planet [a group of environmental associations] is calling on all citizens to create 5 minutes of electrical rest for the planet.
People all over the world should turn off their lights and electrical appliances on the first of February 2007, between 1.55 pm and 2.00 pm in New York, 18.55 for London, and 19.55 for Paris, Bruxelles, and Italy. 1.55 pm in Ottawa, 10.55 am on the Pacific Coast of North America.
This is not just about saving 5 minutes worth of electricity; this is about getting the attention of the media, politicians, and ourselves. Five minutes of electrical down time for the planet: this does not take long, and costs nothing, and will show all political leaders that global warming is an issue that needs to come first and foremost in political debate.
Why February 1? This is the day when the new UN report on global climate change will come out in Paris. This event affects us all, involves us all, and provides an occasion to show how important an issue global warming is to us. If we all participate, this action can have real media and political weight.
Please circulate this message to everybody you know who might participate.
And thank you for doing so!
Repeating the times:
10:55 a.m. USA Pacific
11:55 a.m. USA Mountain
12:55 a.m. USA Central
01:55 p.m. USA East
19:55 p.m. Western Europe
Informant: Bob Banner
