Enthusiasm runs high in Formosan (Taiwanese) school for reduced-meat program.
Following an initiative launched by the Student Council, Yangtze High School in Yunlin County, Formosa (Taiwan) began to adopt meals without beef, pork, chicken, and fish, to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
The program is starting with one day, and eventually will extend to all days of the week. With students who were inspired by a recent presentation on the climate impact of meat given by the Yunlin County Government, Supreme Master Television’s correspondent reports on the program’s success from Yangtze High School, Formosa.

Formosan (Taiwanese) Correspondent (F): Earth-loving viewers, I am here at the Yangtze High School of Yunlin County, Formosa. In this school, a group of students realized how desperate the warming is now faced by the planet.
On their own accord, they asked their principal to offer the whole school a “Healthy Less-Carbon Diet” to help save our precious Earth.

Alex Wu – Student Council chair (M): We thought it will impact the planet a lot if we continue to eat meat.
Therefore at first, I promoted this measure in our class.

Eric Hong – Student (M): We held a class meeting and decided to extend this activity to the whole school in the future. Then hopefully in the future it can be extended to our families.

Peng-Chou Wei – Principal, Yangtze High School (M): After the media reported the fact, I received many calls and many internet messages, commending us.
They also look forward to our students inspiring other schools – all of us together to save the planet!

Correspondent (F): The Student Council chair represented all students in the pledge: “Cherish animals, respect lives and eat vegetables to stop global warming” and save the Earth.

The decision has brought about enthusiastic responses from the students. Many conveyed their messages in the school newspaper to show how much they support this wise, loving decision.

“Only after having this lunch do I feel that I have made a contribution to the Earth…” – Yang Kai-Hsiang

(female) “… I realize how valuable each life is. I also understand how I can change the world through small actions.”
–  Wang Sheng-Wen

Correspondent (F): Let’s take a look at these young, healthy and active friends.
Correspondent (F): What is your vision of Earth’s future?
Eric Hong – Student (M): So we hope that in the future, through the vegetarian activities we promote, we can gradually curb climate anomalies.
Janny Yang – Student (F): I think it’s a very great measure. We let ourselves be healthier and even protect our environment. Classroom of students: Be veg,  go green, save the planet! Yeah!

VOICE: Bravo and many thanks, Yangtze High School Student Council, fellow students and faculty, and the Yunlin County Government of Formosa for your leadership in reducing meat to stop climate change.
May this be the start of the most ideal organic vegan trend benefiting schools throughout Formosa and the world!

Greenhouse gas methane on the rise.
According to New Zealand’s National Institute of Water & Atmospheric Research (NIWA), readings taken from a station on the southern tip of North Island found that, after remaining stable for several years, the southern hemisphere’s atmospheric methane increased significantly in both 2007 and 2008.

Principal Scientist, Dr Keith Lassey stated, “The evidence we have shows that methane in the atmosphere is now more than double what it ever was during the 800,000 years before 1700AD.”
Related research has found livestock to be the largest human-caused source of the potent methane, which is known to trap around 100 times more heat over 20 years than carbon dioxide.

Not only do the animals themselves but also their unregulated waste matter, often stored in stagnant areas known as lagoons, account for further methane generation.

With the recent atmospheric increases being much higher than explained by any known sources, the New Zealand scientists stated that a cycle may be evolving where existing global warming is now causing even more methane to be released.

Dr. Lassey, New Zealand National Institute of Water & Atmospheric Research and all researchers involved, we are grateful for your detailed observations of this disturbing change.

May we act now in harmony with the planet and assure our own well-being as a species. During an August 2009 videoconference with Supreme Master Television staff in California, USA, Supreme Master Ching Hai spoke, as on previous occasions, of this alarming cycle of methane accumulation and the only way to stop it.


http://www.scribd.com/doc/14151398/Livestocks-Long-Shadow-UN
http://www.worldwatch.org/node/1626
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/SC0912/S00052.htm
http://www.niwa.co.nz/news-and-publications/news/all/2009/methane
http://www.esrl.noaa.gov/gmd/co2conference/pdfs/baring_head_abstract.pdf

Extra News
Philippine Mayor Dixon Yasay of Opol municipality in Misamis Oriental province promotes organic farming for its health and eco-protective benefits, along with a system he developed that now converts much of the town’s waste to 100 bags of organic fertilizer per day.
http://businessmirror.com.ph/component/content/article/53-agri-commodities/19066-misamis-oriental-mayor-
promotes-organic-farming-.html


A recent study by US and Chinese scientists confirms previous UK research that today’s levels of atmospheric CO2 are associated with significantly higher temperatures than previously thought.
http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/a/-/world/6608609/global-warming-hike-may-be-steeper/

Fourteen major cities across the globe partner to support the growth in electric cars by developing solutions such as conveniently located charging stations in parking lots and residential areas.  
http://www.cbc.ca/technology/story/2009/12/22/electric-cars.html?ref=rss