email to friend  E-mail this to a Friend    Print

Renowned British naturalist Sir David Attenborough writes of our ecological peril.
Best known as the wildlife presenter for BBC natural programs, Sir David Attenborough has written the foreword for the book “Silent Summer: The State of Wildlife in Britain and Ireland,” which depicts the endangered future of many plant and animal species due to human activities.

Published 50 years after the acclaimed environmental volume “Silent Spring” by Rachel Carson,this new book contains contributions from 40 eminent British ecologists, warns of further dangers of pesticides, population growth, farming, and other factors that have led to the demise of many butterflies, bees, flies, snails, and moths.

Sir David Attenborough writes: “… Small creatures like these are the basis of our entire ecosystems and they are disappearing faster than ever. That loss is transforming our wildlife and countryside.”
The wildlife presenter had just returned from his first trip to the North and South Poles, fulfilling a lifelong dream at age 73. While there, he witnessed firsthand and recorded for a seven-part BBC nature series “Frozen Planet” the devastation of climate change on both people and animals.

Thank you, Sir David Attenborough and contributors of “Silent Summer” for your work in bringing to light the impact of human activities on the fragile balance of our ecosystems.

May your findings and expertise awaken actions around the world to help sustain flora, fauna and ultimately, human survival. Addressing the significant implications of our actions, Supreme Master Ching Hai again called on humanity to tread more gently on Earth during a July 2008 videoconference in Formosa (Taiwan).

Supreme Master Ching Hai : Everyone knows by now that protecting the environment, protecting the animals, are actually protecting ourselves. So we must protect the environment.

We should have more rules, more guidelines, to protect natural habitats. Because sometimes we overlook the long run effect. Then the consequence is very, very detrimental to ourselves and to the planet, just like what we are facing right now.

Supreme Master Ching Hai : People must be more aware of our dire situation and that everyone’s responsible action does help to minimize or stop global warming. We should act fast.Be veg. Go green.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/wildlife/7631314/David-Attenborough-warns-of-ecological-disaster.html
http://www.france24.com/en/20100417-veteran-british-broadcaster-reaches-north-pole
http://uk.news.yahoo.com/21/20100417/tuk-polar-joy-for-david-attenborough-6323e80.html

South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation summit focuses on climate change.
Leaders from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, who represent a quarter of the global population, convened for their 16th summit in Bhutan with a theme “Towards a Green and Happy South Asia.”

They concluded on April 29 with several agreements, including a consensus about the importance of global warming impacts in their regions as leaders and delegates alike pledged such actions as planting ten million trees over five years and setting up an inter-governmental group of climatology experts to create policy and guide regional cooperation.

Commenting on the summit, Bhutanese Prime Minister Jigmi Thinley affirmed his sense of commitment among the member states. Earlier in the week, a forum held in Algeria with attendance by delegates from the African nations of Algeria, Libya, Morocco, Mauritania and Tunisia, as well as European partners France, Italy, Malta, Portugal, and Spain, reached a similar accord through the “Oran Declaration,” which prioritizes
adaptation to climate change through the collaborative efforts of the participating countries.

Our respectful congratulations, Your Excellencies one and all, for your productive meetings and unified green goals. May you continue to build on such constructive endeavors that surely motivate us all in restoring the stability and beauty of our shared planetary home.

http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/newsbriefs/general/2010/04
/27/newsbrief-04
http://www.ennaharonline.com/en/news/3768.html
http://www.france24.com/en/20100427-west-mediterranean-countries-unite-climate-change
http://beta.thehindu.com/news/article418124.ece
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/opinion/comments--analysis/Saarc-Exploding-trade-myths/articleshow
/5879079.cms

Extra News
Malaysian Natural Resources and Environment Minister Douglas Uggah Embas reports that rain patterns and increased temperatures altered by climate change have resulted in vector-borne diseases like dysentery, malaria and dengue fever becoming more common in Malaysia.  
http://www.asiaone.com/Health/News/Story/A1Story20100428-212887.html

Germany launches her first offshore wind farm, the Alpha Ventus, with 12 turbines that are expected to produce enough energy annually to power 50,000 households.
http://www.france24.com/en/20100427-germanys-first-offshore-wind-farm-begins-turning
http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,691699,00.html

A United Nations non-fishing treaty is joined most recently by Australia, Gabon, New Zealand, Peru and Russia, with only nine more nations needed for full ratification of the accord, whose goal is to stop illegal fishing by denying port docking rights to ships involved in the practice.
http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=34533&Cr=fao&Cr1=

Dr. Zhen He, engineering professor at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee in the USA develops a prototype for a device that can purify water while producing electricity, in addition to desalinating a separate source of seawater at the same time.
http://www.physorg.com/news191828242.html
http://www.watertechonline.com/news.asp?N_ID=73891