James Hansen warns of human extinctions and global impoverishment. 

Dr. James Hansen, director of the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies in the US has written a letter to Japan’s prime minister. In the letter, he thanked Japan for her leadership in climate change, but warned that to protect an Earth anything like what we know today, global warming must be reversed immediately. Calling upon Japan to continue with her progressive stance, Dr. Hansen’s letter stated, “Prospects for today’s children, and especially the world’s poor, hinge upon success in stabilizing climate…Clear thinking and bold leadership of the international community are essential in the next 1-2 years to change the course of human history.”

Dr. Hansen, we extend our deepest thanks for your devoted efforts to save our planet. Our earnest prayers for the world’s global leaders to be similarly compelled toward change to preserve our beautiful Earth. 

 http://udongo.org/letter-to-minister-yasuo-fukuda-to-g8-james-hansen/ 

Study finds HD TV’s nitrogen tri-flouride gases are 17,000 times more potent than CO2.

US and Australian scientists have discovered that LCD and HD television sets, popularized in part due to their energy-efficiency, are manufactured with the use of nitrogen tri-fluoride (NF3), a gas that could potentially cause far more warming to the atmosphere than CO2. Although NF3 emissions are currently not monitored as a greenhouse gas, a United Kingdom government official has indicated their effect will be evaluated and considered in next year’s United Nations climate change treaty meeting.

We tip our hats, scientists and all whose efforts are raising our awareness of the many factors to consider for true environmental health.

http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2008/07/03/nitrogen_trifluoride_tv/, http://newpaper.asia1.com.sg/news/story/0,4136,170014,00.html


IPCC chairman issues bleak outlook and warning in advance of G8 meeting. 

As ministers of the top economies were preparing to meet this week in Japan, the head of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), Dr. Rajendra Pachauri, met with the European Union to urge its leadership and rapid action. Dr. Pachauri noted that heat waves and floods and higher temperatures were already having devastating effects on the world’s glaciers and snowfall, saying, “The very wise target that the EU had set of 2.0 [degrees Celsius, 3.6 Fahrenheit] may need to be looked at once more, because the impacts are turning out to be more serious than we had estimated earlier.” 

We solemnly appreciate your urgent warning, Dr. Pachauri, and pray all people heed your ongoing recommendations to go veg and be green for the quickest curtailment of climate change. 

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Earth/Global_Warming/7_years_left_for_climate_control/articleshow/3198258.cms 
Moth numbers are dwindling in the UK.

Moth populations have declined 50 percent in some parts of the United Kingdom, with species such as the remarkable garden tiger and the black and red Cinnabar decreasing over 80 percent in the last 30 years. Mr. Richard Fox, head of the Moths Count project at the charity Butterfly Conservation said, “The numbers we are hearing about this year are pretty poor.” Causes of the decline include an increased use of chemical pesticides, changes in farming, and tidier gardens that provide fewer areas for moth egg-laying. Global warming related weather changes such as last summer’s heavy rains have also decreased the populations of these lovely creatures.

We pray for our animal co-inhabitants’ continued survival so that more people will be able to enjoy the beauty and splendor of God’s amazing creations.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1028089/Climate-change-pesticides-tidy-gardens--reasons-Britains-vanishing-moth-population.html

World cities share ideas on shaping sustainable urban environments.
The World Cities Summit 2008 held in Singapore focused on the topics of urban planning and good governance. City leaders from around the world this year placed special emphasis on climate change and sustainability.
 
Jeremy Harris, Former Mayor of Honolulu, Hawaii, USA: Global warming is indeed an urban challenge. And we’re not going to solve it unless we fix our cities. The successful cities are going to be the ones that have offered quality of life and well-being.

VOICE: One of the main challenges raised during the summit was for cities to account for the true costs of those things that are consumed through people’s activities and lifestyles.

Mayor Kerry Prendergast of Wellington, capital of New Zealand (F): But as a major food producer, 50% of our national greenhouse gas emissions come from the agricultural sector, primarily in the form of methane.

VOICE: Participant city mayors were joined by world financial institution members, academia and well as advisory groups such as the World Resources Institute, who pointed out that a healthy environment and a healthy economy can coexist – and in fact, go hand in hand.

Robert Bradley, Director, World Resources Institute’s International Climate Policy Initiative: One of the big drivers of the rise in food prices is, as the world gets richer everyone’s switching to more meat-rich diets. We really have to ask ourselves, is that an environment that we want to see? And in fact, there’s every reason to think that it’s not necessarily the most healthiest of diets.

VOICE: We congratulate the participants of the World Cities Summit 2008 for their genuine care and use of their capacities to improve the quality of life of all urban citizens.