Seattle, Washington’s climate change videoconference with Supreme Master Ching Hai.

The worldwide effects of global warming are expected to result in worsened urban smog due to increased ozone levels near the ground, which cause respiratory problems, heart disease, allergies and asthma in children. Already, coastal and island nations are coping with higher sea levels and floods. Countries at higher latitudes are reporting warmer springs, leading to more cases of insect-borne infections. According to public health experts, there is no question that climate change will have increasingly adverse effects on public health.

In response to these uncertainties and concerns, Supreme Master Ching Hai has been providing valuable insights as well as clear advice to effectively halt global warming. This past Sunday, Supreme Master Ching Hai International Association members in Seattle, Washington, on the western US coast, invited Supreme Master Ching Hai to a videoconference, to discuss their particular climate change concerns.

Supreme Master Ching Hai :  So the gas that release into the atmosphere might affect you, being that the Seattle is surrounded by water. And you see if it is cold then even all the permafrost, which is the cold hard mud layers, will be melted also, and then the gas from the permafrost also will be released. And that’s the reason maybe you feel more tired. And some places may have more mental illness, and all kind of other illnesses, and diseases go where they have not been before even. Like mosquitoes, they migrate into different areas where they have not been before because the climate is warmer. You understand me? 

Yes, Master.

Supreme Master Ching Hai : So within two years and some months, it depends on how many people join the vegetarian diet. The more vegetarian people, the less killing of the animals, the more time we have to rescue the planet and the lives on the planet.

VOICE: We thank Supreme Master Ching Hai for patiently taking the time to address the foremost concerns on what we can do to secure a brighter future. May more and more people adopt the peaceful, animal-free lifestyle for the sake of everyone’s survival and well-being.

Please tune in to Supreme Master Television at a later date for the broadcast of the videoconference with Supreme Master Ching Hai, with multi-language subtitles.

Leading climate scientist Dr. James Hansen calls for dramatic climate action.

“The greenhouse effect has been detected, and it is changing our climate now.” This statement by the top US climatologist, made 20 years ago, is considered to have been the first wake-up call to the threat of global warming. It helped launch the first legislations and eventually international measures such as the Kyoto Protocol. Today Dr. Hansen is calling attention to various tipping points we have passed and those we must avoid passing if we are to maintain the Earth as we know it. For his dedicated work that continues today, Dr. Hansen received the Shining World Hero Award from Supreme Master Ching Hai.

Supreme Master Television recently spoke with Dr. Hansen.

CAPTION: Dr. James Hansen: Director of NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies, USA
Dr. James Hansen: You know, the truth is, we are going to have to reduce carbon emissions by approximately 100%, because the carbon dioxide that we put in the atmosphere will stay there for, much of it, for more than a thousand years. So we just simply cannot burn all these fossil fuels and put the CO2 in the atmosphere. Governments don’t yet realize that. They think they can make small changes and maybe that will be good enough but it won’t. It has become very clear that we’re going to have to have dramatic changes.

Dr. James Hansen:  I said 2 years ago that we had 10 years, but I meant 10 years to get on a different path. That means we have to start changing direction – now, and in practice. It really means in the next year, year and a half, we really need to get on a different path.

VOICE: Dr. Hansen believes that what is essential at this moment is strong government leadership. Making it clear to leaders that climate is the priority for policies is thus also a duty for citizens, among other things the public can do.

Dr. James Hansen: The things that individuals can do are helpful. And one of the most helpful is actually the vegetarian diet, produces much less greenhouse gases than a meat diet.

VOICE: Finally, Dr. Hansen shares a message that he hopes both governments and people will remember.

Dr. James Hansen:  I think we should not only emphasize the problem, but the fact that the solution has many great characteristics: clean atmosphere and preserving creation, the planet that we have had for the last several thousand years.

VOICE: We thank Dr. James Hansen for your noble endeavors in research and in speaking out for bold and widespread change, as a true hero of our urgent times. We join you in the prayer for our world’s leaders to begin walking a new path, from this moment on, to a brighter destiny.

Australia to suffer more intense heat and drought due to climate change.

 A new report by Australia’s top scientists forecasts that the country will need to brace for a doubling of droughts and a 10-fold increase in heat waves due to climate change. The report shows that the nation’s rainfall has been declining since the 1950s and that regions of the country affected by heat waves could climb from 5 percent each year to 95 percent. These findings are echoed by those of Professor Ross Garnaut, who has warned that Australia needs to urgently implement policies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 2010 or witness the destruction of the Great Barrier Reef, the wetlands of Kakadu and Murray-Darling, the nation’s agricultural basin.

Our gratitude all esteemed scientists for this information about climate change impacts to our Australian brethren. May we all join together to quickly halt the devastating effects of warming around our globe.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/jul/07/climatechange.drought