Extreme weather affects Namibia.

Unusually heavy rains that are being attributed to climate change have caused severe flooding in northern regions of the country, with water levels in the Zambesi River reaching over 8 meters. More than 700,000 people have been affected, with 40,000 homeless and in urgent need of assistance. Most homes, which are made of clay, have suffered damage or destruction, with more than 200 schools as well as health clinics closed and crops that have been devastated.

Humanitarian organization Caritas Namibia has identified primary needs and is offering the distribution of aid. We pray for the protection of brethren in Namibia and their resiliency in recovering the normalcy of their daily lives. Let us strive ever for greater benevolence in our stewardship of the Earth to help ease calamitous events such as these.

http://www.energypublisher.com/article.asp?id=19467

Beef industry continues to take down the Amazon rainforest.

A latest report from Netherlands-based environmental group Greenpeace highlights illegal beef production in Brazil, saying that the meat products often come from ranches created on new and illegally deforested land.

Eighty percent of Brazil’s Amazon deforested land is currently being converted to cattle grazing. Although Brazilian law requires cattle farms in the Amazon to keep 80% of the original forest on their land, Greenpeace found on some farms that only 20 to 30 percent
was forested. The organization is thus calling for a boycott of farms involved in deforestation and is asking wholesale buyers of Brazil’s beef products for support.

We are deeply thankful for this important report, Greenpeace, which furtherhighlights the need for immediate action to save the lungs of our Earth. May everyone soon be veg, realizing that this is the food choice to protect all life on our shared planetary home.Supreme Master Ching Hai has long been aware and has even cautioned previously about the global warming crisis with its link to meat production, as on one such occasion in a 1994 discussion in Hawaii, USA.

Reference:
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N14290980.htm, http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/may/31/cattle-trade-brazil-greenpeace-amazon-deforestation, http://www.greenpeace.org/usa/about/history