Six factors driving global collapse.
Recently on the US news website Huffington Post, American emergency survival expert and author Matthew Stein wrote an article titled “The Perfect Storm: Six Trends Converging on Collapse.” In it, he described the six major factors facing humanity, each of which on its own could become a what he calls a “civilization buster,” but when taken as a whole, would lead to a global collapse of unimaginable proportions.

These civilization busters include reaching maximum petroleum production; deforestation beyond recovery; the global food crisis; population growth; fish and ocean collapse, and global warming.

A multitalented mechanical engineer who has designed homes and machines to withstand disasters, Mr. Stein is also an accomplished solo mountain climber and the author of the survival guide, “When Technology Falls:A Manual for Self-Reliance, Sustainability, and Surviving the Long Emergency,” In a recent interview, he explained the current threats to human survival.

Matthew Stein – Author of When Technology Fails (M): We’re consuming the natural resources of the planet faster than they can regenerate. It’s like charging US$100,000 in your credit card and paying off US$20,000 every year; it’s like you can only keep that up for so long and then you’re bankrupt.
So essentially, we’re living on borrowed time right now.

VOICE: In his summary of the six criteria, Mr. Stein referred to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s (MIT) study that even with strict greenhouse gas emissions limits, the Earth’s climate is still likely to warm by 6.3 degrees Celsius within a century.

He also cited findings that 11 out of 15 of the world’s major fisheries are on the verge of or are in collapse; that more than half the planet’s forests have disappeared; and that the food security for one-third of  the global population is threatened already due to prolonged droughts in India and China alone. The scientist emphasized with hope, however, that we can still counter these dire tendencies.

Matthew Stein (M): If we do not reverse these trends there is a 100% guarantee that each individually will cause collapse, and collectively, there’s no chance. The chance is in making change. We must change the way we do business on our planet.

VOICE: Our thanks, Mr. Stein, for helping to further identify the multiple and imminent challenges faced by humanity today. May such insights prompt us to act quickly to avert such dangers and save our planetary home.

In this October 2009 videoconference in Indonesia, Supreme Master Ching Hai reaffirmed, as she often has, the most immediate way to reverse the present crisis of our Earth, by highlighting both its human-made cause and solution.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/shannyn-moore/sarah-palins-new-low-fune_b_579801.html

Black Rhinoceroses return to their wild home.
In a US$6.8 million project funded by the Singita Grumeti Fund, six East African Black Rhinoceroses have been airlifted from South Africa to the Serengeti National Reserve in Tanzania.

The critically endangered herbivorous species is now returning to their home of origin after being evacuated 46 years ago for their protection from poachers. The project, known as the Serengeti Rhino Repatriation Project, is a collaborative effort of the South Africa-based Singita Grumeti Reserves, Germany’s Frankfurt Zoological Society and the Tanzanian National Parks Authority.

Currently there are 33 Black Rhinos living in the Serengeti ecosystem, which represents a slow but steady increase from only two in 1991. About 30 more are planned to be flown back to Tanzania.

Many thanks and our heartfelt congratulations Singita Grumeti Fund and all organizations and conservationists helping to preserve the Black Rhino population. May these beautiful animals grace our Earth in expanding numbers as they thrive in their natural homeland once more.

http://www.africagoodnews.com/environment/rare-black-rhinos-relocated-to-africas-serengeti.html
http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Africa/2010/0521/After-half-century-absence-Black-Rhinos-fly-home-
to-Serengeti  
http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Africa/2010/0520/Serengeti-homecoming-yes-Black-Rhinos-can-fly
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/7756380/Black-rhinos-released-in-Tanzania-in-most-ambitious-relocation-
of-mammals-ever.html

Extra News
A new survey from US-based Ernst & Young finds that 70% of executives from global corporations across 18 different industry sectors plan to increase climate-related investments over the next two years.
http://www.businessgreen.com/business-green/news/2263620/nearly-three-quarters-firms
http://www.greenbiz.com/news/2010/05/25/nearly-three-quarters-firms-plan-boost-climate-investments

Yemeni Undersecretary of Agriculture and Irrigation Mohammed al-Ghashm meets with the director of China’s Sun Zone Solar Power Company to discuss replacing fossil-fueled irrigation pumps with a solar-powered version as a way to provide farmers with a sustainable energy source while saving them money
at the same time.
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news215203.htm
http://www.26sep.net/news_details.php?lang=english&sid=64227

A recent United Nations report calls for a “green revolution” in Africa that would provide millions of small farmers with sustainable innovations and technologies that could be adapted to suit their needs, for better assurance of stable food supplies across the continent.
http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=34751&Cr=africa&Cr1=
http://allafrica.com/stories/201005191323.html

Stating that forest cover in all six northeastern New England states is declining, researchers at Harvard University in the USA call for conserving 70% of the region as forestland.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/05/100519112611.htm
http://www.boston.com/lifestyle/green/greenblog/2010/05/new_report_shows_forest_cover.html
http://www.wbur.org/2010/05/19/forests