Western Antarctic ice shelf found to be disintegrating.
In just the past several years, estimates of Antarctica’s melt rate, translating to sea level rise, have gone from nearly zero to becoming more significant and growing. Scientists most recently have found that Western Antarctica is contributing approximately 10% to observed global sea level rise, with one of Antarctica’s largest glaciers being a significant source. In an effort to identify the causes and risks, a team led by the British
Antarctic Survey sent an unmanned submarine beneath Western Antarctica’s Pine Island Glacier to measure ice melt in terms of the ocean water’s salinity, temperature and oxygen concentrations.

The submarine unexpectedly found that the glacier was no longer connected to an underwater ridge that had been slowing the flow of ice into the sea. Instead, warm sea water has been entering the cavity created over the ridge and eroding the glacier from below. The Pine Island Glacier is thus one of the continent’s fastest melting and is thinning four times more quickly than it was 10 years ago.

These findings confirmed concerns that this glacier is actually a weak point in the region’s integrity, and that a real collapse of the Western Antarctic Ice Sheet could add five meters to sea level rise.

Our thanks, British Antarctic Survey and scientists, for these factual though alarming observations of West Antarctica. Let us all awaken to the importance of taking urgent steps to address our vulnerable environment and restore the Earth’s balance.  Ever concerned for humanity’s welfare, Supreme Master Ching Hai has often spoken of global warming’s threat to our survival while at the same time reminding of how to avoid calamity, as during a November 2009 videoconference in Washington, DC, USA.  

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science_and_environment/10354118.stm  
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/LDE65H1C5.htm
http://www.physorg.com/news196255601.html

Extra News
The US state of Indiana is working to save the endangered Allegheny wood rat through a five-year, US$500,000 program funded in part by citizens who gave back a portion of their tax refund to benefit wild animals.
http://www.upi.com/Science_News/2010/06/28/Indiana-ponies-up-to-save-woodrats/UPI-60501277778022/
http://www.indy.com/posts/joining-a-500-000-rat-race

Parts of Asia continue to swelter through extreme heat, with temperatures above 38 degrees Celsius in Mongolia’s 1300-meter-high capital of Ulaanbaatar, and over 40 degrees in nearby Russia and northeast China, where crops have also been adversely affected.  
http://www.accuweather.com/blogs/andrews/story/33265/severe_east_asia_heat_update.asp
http://news.sohu.com/20100626/n273096059.shtml

The European Photovoltaic Industry Association (EPIA) reports that 40% of all building roofs and 15% of all facades throughout the European Union are suitable for solar panel installations and could generate about 1,400 Terawatt-hours of electricity a year.
http://www.energyefficiencynews.com/building-and-design/i/3168/
http://www.businessgreen.com/business-green/news/2265318/solar-industry-roofs-generate

In an effort to cope with the drying Indus River delta, now reduced to 10% of its original 600,000 hectares, along with intruding sea water, the village of Jat Mohammad in southeastern Pakistan installs a solar desalination plant to help supply fresh water.
http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=51970
http://news.yahoo.com/s/oneworld/20100628/wl_oneworld/world3694001277723299