A food recession is under way. Biofuels are a crime against humanity, but - take it from a flesh eater - flesh eating is worse
George Monbiot The Guardian,
Tuesday April 15 2008
Never mind the economic crisis. Focus for a moment on a more urgent threat: the great food recession that is sweeping the world faster than the credit crunch. You have probably seen the figures by now: the price of rice has risen by three-quarters over the past year, that of wheat by 130%. There are food crises in 37 countries. One hundred million people, according to the World Bank, could be pushed into deeper poverty by the high prices.
But I bet that you have missed the most telling statistic. At 2.1bn tonnes, the global grain harvest broke all records last year - it beat the previous year's by almost 5%. The crisis, in other words, has begun before world food supplies are hit by climate change. If hunger can strike now, what will happen if harvests decline?
There is plenty of food. It is just not reaching human stomachs. Of the 2.13bn tonnes likely to be consumed this year, only 1.01bn, according to the United Nation's Food and Agriculture Organisation, will feed people.
I am sorely tempted to write another column about biofuels. From this morning all sellers of transport fuel in the United Kingdom will be obliged to mix it with ethanol or biodiesel made from crops. The World Bank points out that "the grain required to fill the tank of a sports utility vehicle with ethanol ... could feed one person for a year". This year global stockpiles of cereals will decline by around 53m tonnes; this gives you a rough idea of the size of the hunger gap. The production of biofuels will consume almost 100m tonnes, which suggests that they are directly responsible for the current crisis. Read On
Showing posts with label environment. Show all posts
Showing posts with label environment. Show all posts
Saturday, April 19, 2008
Monday, February 18, 2008
Crisis in the Deep Blue: The State of Earth's Largest Natural Resource
Soon, Nemo won't be the only fish we can't find
By Ridwan Hossain
A crisis is slowly looming deep underneath more than 139 million square miles of the Earth's surface, a crisis so serious that it could affect food supplies around the globe and lead to the extinction of many of the world's species. However, it is not a crisis that most people would even notice, as it takes place in the great vastness of the ocean. Despite consumers' unfettered access to Fish-o-Filet sandwiches and sushi restaurants, many fish species are in danger of extinction due to excessive harvesting, threatening the biodiversity of the ocean environment. Entire underwater ecological systems are at risk because of dangerous human activities in the oceans, including the destruction of coral reefs in many parts of the world.
read on
By Ridwan Hossain
A crisis is slowly looming deep underneath more than 139 million square miles of the Earth's surface, a crisis so serious that it could affect food supplies around the globe and lead to the extinction of many of the world's species. However, it is not a crisis that most people would even notice, as it takes place in the great vastness of the ocean. Despite consumers' unfettered access to Fish-o-Filet sandwiches and sushi restaurants, many fish species are in danger of extinction due to excessive harvesting, threatening the biodiversity of the ocean environment. Entire underwater ecological systems are at risk because of dangerous human activities in the oceans, including the destruction of coral reefs in many parts of the world.
read on
California salmon collapse roils West Coast fishing industry
By TERENCE CHEA Associated Press Writer
Article Launched: 02/02/2008 08:52:19 AM PST
SAN FRANCISCO—Humboldt County fisherman Dave Bitts is bracing for another lean year after the sudden collapse of California's most important salmon run.
Like many West Coast fisherman, Bitts depends on wild "king" salmon for up to two-thirds of his income. Now, he doesn't know how he's going to pay his bills.
"We've never been in this situation before," said the 59-year-old Bitts. "It's my bread-and-butter, as it is for all my pals. And this year, it appears our bread-and-butter is not there."
Federal fishery regulators said this past week that the number of chinook salmon returning to the Sacramento River and its tributaries last fall was astonishingly low. That could trigger severe fishing restrictions and economic hardship for fishermen and related businesses from Central California to the Canadian border.
Restaurants and consumers will have to pay high prices or do without the prized wild salmon, and the crash could force the state to change the way it manages its increasingly precious water.
"This is an economic rumbling that will go right through every coastal community," said Rep. Mike Thompson of California's North Coast. "It's not just the commercial fishermen that are economically harmed; there are all kinds of businesses that depend on the fishery."
Experts are unclear about what caused the collapse, but many fishermen are blaming an increase in the amount of water being pumped from the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta
to drought-stricken farms and cities to the south.
read on
Article Launched: 02/02/2008 08:52:19 AM PST
SAN FRANCISCO—Humboldt County fisherman Dave Bitts is bracing for another lean year after the sudden collapse of California's most important salmon run.
Like many West Coast fisherman, Bitts depends on wild "king" salmon for up to two-thirds of his income. Now, he doesn't know how he's going to pay his bills.
"We've never been in this situation before," said the 59-year-old Bitts. "It's my bread-and-butter, as it is for all my pals. And this year, it appears our bread-and-butter is not there."
Federal fishery regulators said this past week that the number of chinook salmon returning to the Sacramento River and its tributaries last fall was astonishingly low. That could trigger severe fishing restrictions and economic hardship for fishermen and related businesses from Central California to the Canadian border.
Restaurants and consumers will have to pay high prices or do without the prized wild salmon, and the crash could force the state to change the way it manages its increasingly precious water.
"This is an economic rumbling that will go right through every coastal community," said Rep. Mike Thompson of California's North Coast. "It's not just the commercial fishermen that are economically harmed; there are all kinds of businesses that depend on the fishery."
Experts are unclear about what caused the collapse, but many fishermen are blaming an increase in the amount of water being pumped from the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta
to drought-stricken farms and cities to the south.
read on
Sunday, February 17, 2008
Bluefin Tuna: Going, Going, Gone
By Jim Motavalli
“High fishing pressure preceded the species’ virtual disappearance from the area, and that apparently played a key role,” says Dr. MacKenzie, who also cites the targeting of juvenile tuna, and the introduction of many foreign fishing fleets. “We hope our work will inspire a more precautionary approach to the management of bluefin tuna in the Atlantic,” he says.
Atlantic Bluefin tuna, rigorously pursued because of the high prices they command as sushi on the Japanese market, are being pushed to near-extinction from Holland to northern Norway, according to a new report in the journal Fisheries Research (see “Saving the Seas,” feature, July/August 2005).
The research, conducted by Dr. Brian MacKenzie of the Technical University of Denmark and the late Dr. Ransom Myers of Canada’s Dalhousie University, found that the waters of northern Europe teemed with bluefin tuna in the summer season from at least 1912 until 1950. But increases in the number of fishing boats and more technologically sophisticated fishing gear led to a crash in the 1960s. There has been no recovery in the 40 years since.
“High fishing pressure preceded the species’ virtual disappearance from the area, and that apparently played a key role,” says Dr. MacKenzie, who also cites the targeting of juvenile tuna, and the introduction of many foreign fishing fleets. “We hope our work will inspire a more precautionary approach to the management of bluefin tuna in the Atlantic,” he says.
Sharks disappearing as fin chopping rises
Sun Feb 17, 2008 11:54am EST
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Populations of tiger, bull, dusky and other sea sharks have plummeted by more than 95 percent since the 1970s as fisherman kill the animals for their fins or when they scoop other fish from the ocean, according to an expert from the World Conservation Union, or IUCN.
At particular risk is the scalloped hammerhead shark, whose young swim mostly in shallow waters along shores all over the world to avoid predators.
The scalloped hammerhead will be listed on the 2008 IUCN Red List as globally "endangered" due to overfishing and high demand for its valuable fins in the shark fin trade, said Julia Baum, a member of the IUCN's shark specialist group.
"As a result of high and mostly unrestricted fishing pressure, many sharks are now considered to be at risk of extinction," Baum said in a statement.
read on
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Populations of tiger, bull, dusky and other sea sharks have plummeted by more than 95 percent since the 1970s as fisherman kill the animals for their fins or when they scoop other fish from the ocean, according to an expert from the World Conservation Union, or IUCN.At particular risk is the scalloped hammerhead shark, whose young swim mostly in shallow waters along shores all over the world to avoid predators.
The scalloped hammerhead will be listed on the 2008 IUCN Red List as globally "endangered" due to overfishing and high demand for its valuable fins in the shark fin trade, said Julia Baum, a member of the IUCN's shark specialist group.
"As a result of high and mostly unrestricted fishing pressure, many sharks are now considered to be at risk of extinction," Baum said in a statement.
read on
Sunday, February 10, 2008
Great Lakes Danger Zones?
By Sheila Kaplan
For more than seven months, the nation’s top public health agency has blocked the publication of an exhaustive federal study of environmental hazards in the eight Great Lakes states, reportedly because it contains such potentially “alarming information” as evidence of elevated infant mortality and cancer rates.
The 400-plus-page study, Public Health Implications of Hazardous Substances in the Twenty-Six U.S. Great Lakes Areas of Concern, was undertaken by a division of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention at the request of the International Joint Commission, an independent bilateral organization that advises the U.S. and Canadian governments on the use and quality of boundary waters between the two countries. The study was originally scheduled for release in July 2007 by the IJC and the CDC’s Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR).
The Center for Public Integrity has obtained the study, which warns that more than nine million people who live in the more than two dozen “areas of concern”—including such major metropolitan areas as Chicago, Cleveland, Detroit, and Milwaukee—may face elevated health risks from being exposed to dioxin, PCBs, pesticides, lead, mercury, or six other hazardous pollutants.
read on http://www.publicintegrity.org/GreatLakes/index.htm
For more than seven months, the nation’s top public health agency has blocked the publication of an exhaustive federal study of environmental hazards in the eight Great Lakes states, reportedly because it contains such potentially “alarming information” as evidence of elevated infant mortality and cancer rates.
The 400-plus-page study, Public Health Implications of Hazardous Substances in the Twenty-Six U.S. Great Lakes Areas of Concern, was undertaken by a division of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention at the request of the International Joint Commission, an independent bilateral organization that advises the U.S. and Canadian governments on the use and quality of boundary waters between the two countries. The study was originally scheduled for release in July 2007 by the IJC and the CDC’s Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR).
The Center for Public Integrity has obtained the study, which warns that more than nine million people who live in the more than two dozen “areas of concern”—including such major metropolitan areas as Chicago, Cleveland, Detroit, and Milwaukee—may face elevated health risks from being exposed to dioxin, PCBs, pesticides, lead, mercury, or six other hazardous pollutants.
read on http://www.publicintegrity.org/GreatLakes/index.htm
Polar Bears and First Amendment: Two Endangered Species on Thin Ice
Day 6 of "Polar Bear 7" Trial Continues Monday Feb 11,12:00 Noon in Room 211 at Washington DC Superior Court, 500 Indiana Avenue
WASHINGTON, DC – It is not looking good for polar bears. The ice is disappearing in the Arctic. In Washington, DC, the US Congress just delayed designating polar bears an endangered species. Now people dressed as polar bears who lobbied Congress are battling in court for their first amendment rights.
On Monday Oct. 22, 2007, during the "No War, No Warming" demonstration, people dressed up as polar bears sang and danced their way on sidewalks outside of the Cannon House Office building to remind Congress of the connection between war and global warming. Instead of being greeted with open ears, the US Capitol police insisted they disperse, but members of the group that has come to be known as the "Polar Bear 7" were seized as they attempted to leave, less than 30 seconds after the first warning to disperse.
“Our right of lawful assembly is at stake when citizens who do not engage in acts of civil disobedience are held liable to the same penalties as those who do,” said “Polar Bear 7” co-defendant Paul “zool” Zulkowitz (who was not dressed in a polar bear costume).
Mr. Zulkowitz is being tried with co-defendants Alexis Baden-Mayer, Adam Eidinger, Robert Levitt and Cesar Maxit. Journalist William Jordan and fellow global warming activist Anna Duncun had their charges dropped at the being of the trial. Ann Wilcox is an attorney in the case. Adam Eidinger and Robert Levitt are pro-se defendants.
“The assault on our constitutional rights is snowballing,” said "Polar Bear 7" arrestee Ariel Vegosen (whose charges were dropped ahead of trial). “We did not do anything illegal and I spent a night in jail. We have a right to attest what is happening in the Arctic to polar bears dressed as polar bears. All we were trying to do is make it clear that Congress needs to stop this war and take action on global warming.”
Adding insult to injury, the prosecuting attorney for the government, Jeffrey Shapiro, is also a conservative, pro-war journalist. He has a history of prosecuting peaceful protesters and organizers. In his most recent case, on January 17, Shapiro prosecuted 31 peace activists who were found guilty of unlawful assembly. Mr. Shapiro pushed for lengthy prison sentences. Co-defendants asked the Court to recuse Mr. Shapiro, however, the self proclaimed “Protestor Prosecutor” was allowed to proceed.
Fellow activists, alarmed by the threat to their right of lawful assembly in the nation’s capital, are expected to attend the trial on Monday, February 11 at 12:00 Noon, in Room 211 at Washington DC Superior Court before Judge Raphael Diaz, in support of the "Polar Bear 7".
A verdict could come as early as Monday afternoon.
###
http://www.nowarnowarming.org/
WASHINGTON, DC – It is not looking good for polar bears. The ice is disappearing in the Arctic. In Washington, DC, the US Congress just delayed designating polar bears an endangered species. Now people dressed as polar bears who lobbied Congress are battling in court for their first amendment rights.
On Monday Oct. 22, 2007, during the "No War, No Warming" demonstration, people dressed up as polar bears sang and danced their way on sidewalks outside of the Cannon House Office building to remind Congress of the connection between war and global warming. Instead of being greeted with open ears, the US Capitol police insisted they disperse, but members of the group that has come to be known as the "Polar Bear 7" were seized as they attempted to leave, less than 30 seconds after the first warning to disperse.
“Our right of lawful assembly is at stake when citizens who do not engage in acts of civil disobedience are held liable to the same penalties as those who do,” said “Polar Bear 7” co-defendant Paul “zool” Zulkowitz (who was not dressed in a polar bear costume).
Mr. Zulkowitz is being tried with co-defendants Alexis Baden-Mayer, Adam Eidinger, Robert Levitt and Cesar Maxit. Journalist William Jordan and fellow global warming activist Anna Duncun had their charges dropped at the being of the trial. Ann Wilcox is an attorney in the case. Adam Eidinger and Robert Levitt are pro-se defendants.
“The assault on our constitutional rights is snowballing,” said "Polar Bear 7" arrestee Ariel Vegosen (whose charges were dropped ahead of trial). “We did not do anything illegal and I spent a night in jail. We have a right to attest what is happening in the Arctic to polar bears dressed as polar bears. All we were trying to do is make it clear that Congress needs to stop this war and take action on global warming.”
Adding insult to injury, the prosecuting attorney for the government, Jeffrey Shapiro, is also a conservative, pro-war journalist. He has a history of prosecuting peaceful protesters and organizers. In his most recent case, on January 17, Shapiro prosecuted 31 peace activists who were found guilty of unlawful assembly. Mr. Shapiro pushed for lengthy prison sentences. Co-defendants asked the Court to recuse Mr. Shapiro, however, the self proclaimed “Protestor Prosecutor” was allowed to proceed.
Fellow activists, alarmed by the threat to their right of lawful assembly in the nation’s capital, are expected to attend the trial on Monday, February 11 at 12:00 Noon, in Room 211 at Washington DC Superior Court before Judge Raphael Diaz, in support of the "Polar Bear 7".
A verdict could come as early as Monday afternoon.
###
http://www.nowarnowarming.org/
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