Quality & Quantity

Photo credit: AP

World Water Week kicked off this past Sunday as 2500 experts from 130 countries gathered at the Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI) in Sweden to discuss the future of water.
The main focus: Pollution & Change.
Every day approximately 2 million tons of human waste is poured into rivers, lakes and the sea, all around the world. It is reported that in developing countries as much as 70% of industrial waste is put into the water system directly without first being treated.
"There is really no physical shortage of water in the world," states World Water Week director Jens Bergren, "there is actually lots of water. It is how the water is managed that is the big problem."
Getting everyone to work together to solve this issue before it becomes a crisis is also a big problem. Raising awareness about how interconnected global water systems are is the reason World Water Week just reached its 20th year.
SIWI: "There is often a disconnect for people that pollute and the effects of that pollution on people and ecosystems downstream or in other parts of shared lakes and aquifers. Water pollution is on the rise globally." Water World
For more information on WWW go to WorldWaterWeek.org.
Please let me know what you are doing for World Water Week this year!

U.N. Should Have Worded It : N.KOREA'S NOT PERMITTED TO FIRE ANYTHING INTO THE SKY

The World is holding its breath this week as global enemy, North Korea plans to send a satellite into orbit.
Under a 1967 UN international space treaty stating that outer space, "..shall be free for exploration and use by all states without discrimination of any kind."
North Korea says it has the right to put a satellite into orbit under this treaty despite the fact that the U.S. and other countries are suspicious that the planned launch is really a test for long range military missiles.
The suspicion does come from somewhere; the Security Council censured North Korea twice in 2006, first for carrying out a ballistic missile test that July and then for conveniently conducting a nuclear test explosion three months later.
Lee Keun-gwan, an expert on international law at Seoul National University, agreed, "I think it is a matter of great concern for the peace and security of the region. International society is justified in urging North Korea to respect the spirit as well as the letter of the relevant U.N. Security Council resolutions."

G's Attend The G20

Barack Obama will make his debut at the annual G20 Summit tomorrow in London and if you haven't already heard all eyes are on America. Do we have the answers to correct a global recession?
Already today protesters, furious at the current state of the world, display their anger through the windows of local business's while exasperating the tolerance of the police force. Many feel that the United States is responsible for the economic downside and expecting this 8 hour meeting to overcome the major financial problems by coming up with a global stimulus plan.

Also expected to come out of the 2009 G20 Summit, nuclear talks between the U.S. and Russia with a planned meeting this summer and a possible regulation on world poverty. China is bringing up the idea of a global currency but do not expect this to be a major issue to address seeing that mostly everyone advises against it as the result could be a global government.

Hopefully the Summit meeting will be more then just talk and media coverage.

Earth Hour (Unseen) Around The World

Satellite Images of Earth: In High Definition

Earth’s land cover has been charted from space before, but this map, which will be made available to the public upon its completion in July, has a resolution 10 times sharper than any of its predecessors.
Scientists hope to use the new GlobCover project by ESA, in partnership with the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation, to manage ecosystems, model climate change impacts, and monitor land-cover trends.
"The GlobCover system is a great step forward in our capacities to automatically produce new global land cover products with a finer resolution and a more detailed thematic content than ever achieved in the past," Frédéric Achard of the European Commission's Joint Research Centre (JRC) said.
Head over to the ESA Portal site to check it out.

What The United States Doesn't Understand

The UN Climate Change Conference concluded last week after a 13th unscheduled day of talks and set the bar for participating countries to cut their greenhouse gas emissions for what is now called 'Kyoto II'. But the United States still remains the only major industrialised nation to reject the Kyoto treaty and will not comply to mention figures as it feels developing countries, like China, needs to make tougher emission commitments.
The senior US negotiator, Paula Dobriansky, said she had heard "many strong statements from many major developing country leaders on a greater role in helping to address urgently this global problem." But "doesn't seem it's going to be reflected in our outcome here in the declaration."
Dobriansky was loudly booed by other negotiators, and a US environmental activist representing New Guinea said to thrilling applauds:
"If you're not willing to lead, please get out of the way."
Fighting climate change will require commitments not only from developing countries but also from larger developed nations.
As a citizen of the United States, I feel that I am not in an agreement with my government over this issue. The United States is taking a back seat to a global initiative to halt a crisis that will eventually affect billions of people, especially those in third world countries all because we fear that China is not setting a high enough goal for itself.. See that's how much America believes in you, World. Aim higher then you believe you can achieve, if not we will not join any of your clubs.

To fully understand the concept of my photo above go to MySpace.com/TheChardonairs and listen to the song Captain America!

UPDATE: It is now being reported that the United States has joined in the global emissions pledge to now take part in the negotiations. The two main debatable questions to be answered are how to reduce gas emissions for developed/developing nations and what sort of commitment poor and emerging economies should take on in the future.
Yesterday, I was very upset with my country (if you couldn't tell with that last bit of sarcasm) and now I am very proud. We decided to quit dragging our feet and step up to join the world in solving our crisis.
Other commitments for change include sending the necessary technology to aid the rising economies to grow, to deal with the severe issue of deforestation (which is responsible for one-fifth of the world's greenhouse gases) and to create a U.N. fund to help poor countries adapt to the effects of climate change, such as droughts and flooding.

The World Bank Pays Countries To Not Cut Down Forests

A World Bank led plan was announced today that puts a price tag on remaining forests in developing countries whose citizens use deforestation as a means of income. A $160 million dollar donation from wealthy countries and a U.S. environment group, The Nature Conservancy aims to assist 20 countries that complete a first step under the new Forest Carbon Partnership Facility (FCPF). They then would be eligible to a "Carbon Finance Fund" under which they would be financially compensated for the carbon emissions saved by preserving their forests.
"We must not lose another day when it comes to climate and forest protection. Forest protection must be a central element in a future agreement on climate change." said German Development Minister Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zeul in a statement.
Germany leads the front with the highest donation of $59 million dollars with Britain providing $30 million, the Netherlands contributing $22 million, Australia and Japan giving $10 million dollars each, France and Switzerland with $7 million dollars.
While the U.S. did not officially take part with the meetings in Bali, The Nature Conservancy did participate and donate, along with Denmark and Finland, a generous $5 million dollars. Source.

Forget The Glaciers, We're Going To Starve To Death

The Worlds food supply is dwindling and the most likely culprit is that damned Global Warming.

In a report by the International Food Policy Research Institute, titled "The World Food Situation", farm experts warn that the increase in global temperatures will cause a decrease in the entire worlds agriculture production with sub-Sahara Africa to be affected the most.
Released in Beijing, the report states: "World agricultural output is projected to decrease significantly due to global warming, and the impact on developing countries will be much more severe than industrialised nations. Africa is particularly vulnerable to climate change because of its high proportion of low-input, rain-fed agriculture, compared with Asia or Latin America."
The group urges representatives to take food issues into consideration when developing national and international climate change policies.

Are UN for the Climate Change Conference?

The United Nations is scheduled to hold their annual Climate Change Conference in Bali today. This conference is focusing on devising a plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions after the present Kyoto Protocol objectives expire in 2012.
The two week seminar will also discuss how to help fund poor countries manage with warmer weather since they are the regions that will be mostly effected with climate change.
"..The near-term vulnerabilities are not concentrated in lower Manhattan and London, but in flood-prone areas of Bangladesh and drought-prone parts of sub-Saharan Africa," said lead author Kevin Watkins of the UN Development Programme's annual Human Development Report.
However, there lies one difficulty that may set the conference back from developing a Kyoto II plan.
US President George Bush favors voluntary rather than mandatory emission goals. While the European Union is for the latter stating that the 27-nation bloc has already committed itself to cut emissions 20% by 2020. The disagreement between the economically-dominating countries is said to keep the conference from focusing on its main objectives.
Rachmat Witoelar, the Indonesian environment minister was named president of the conference, states, "Climate protection must form an integral part of sustainable economic development, and it is critical that we act and we act now."
I am hoping that the conflict surrounding this issue about whether or not there should be a fixed global emissions standard, (that I am all for), does not prevent this conference from coming up with a basic plan to aid the countries most affected by climate change.
I guess we'll all know by the end of the week. Source.

Today Everyone Has AIDS

Today, December 1st., is World AIDS Day. A day that should be spent recognizing the epidemic that AIDS is all around this world and how much more funding is needed to combat it.
"We have made tangible and remarkable progress on all these fronts. But we must do more," United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said in a message for World AIDS Day.
Check out how AIDS awareness is supported in our backyards:

In Albania, candles were lit in the shape of the AIDS ribbon after an AIDS awareness march:

According to the UN, there is currently an eight-billion-dollar shortfall in resources to fight AIDS.

Cuban physicians give out free medical advice on how to avoid transmitting AIDS:

US President George W. Bush marked the day by repeating his call on US lawmakers to double support for anti-AIDS programs to 30 billion dollars over five years.

A Bosnian activist paints a billboard promoting AIDS awareness in Sarajevo:

In Australia, campaigners warned that smugness after earlier success in fighting AIDS, risked giving rise to a new wave of infections.

Indian nursing students hold a candle to mark World AIDS Day in Amritsar:

Indonesia, which the UN says has Asia's fastest growing HIV epidemic, marked the day with the launch of its first national campaign to promote the use of condoms.
Rome was also handing out condoms.
And in Stockholm, bishops of the Protestant Church of Sweden called on religious leaders around the world to promote the use of them.

Chinese President Hu Jintao shakes hands with a female HIV carrier when visiting a local center for disease control and prevention in Chaoyang District in Beijing:

Elsewhere in China, UNAIDS and the China Red Cross Foundation have organised a "Great AIDS Walk" on the Great Wall for Sunday to raise awareness.

AIDS campaigners march in Abidjan:
There are now 33.2 million people living with HIV worldwide while one in three people with HIV are undiagnosed. Today not only demonstrated that everyone is well aware of the global crisis of AIDS but that we are all ready and willing to work together to overcome it. To read more about World AIDS Day and to see what you can do help fight AIDS any day of the year visit WorldAIDSDay.org. Source.

Where Does Your Power Plant Rank?

For the first time in the history of power plants, the CO2 emissions of 50,000 power plants worldwide have been compiled into a massive new data base called Carbon Monitoring for Action or CARMA. The Center for Global Development (CGD) completed the arduous task of carrying out CARMA. CGD lays out exactly where the CO2 emitters are and how much of the greenhouse gas they are casting into the atmosphere. The database and its website, www.CARMA.org, rank individual power plants and plot each of their locations by latitude and longitude. The data for total power-related emissions can be displayed by cities, states or provinces, and countries.
"CARMA makes information about power-related CO2 emissions transparent to people throughout the world," says Dr. Wheeler, an expert in the use of public information disclosure to reduce pollution. "Information leads to action. We know that this works for other forms of pollution and we believe it can work for greenhouse gas emissions, too."
The website is very informative of each individual plant. I wasn't very shocked to find a power plant close to my home. -I live in New Jersey, Yeah.- But I was surprised to see how many tons of carbon it releases into the atmosphere and compare that number to others in the world. Check out the site, post your thoughts, see where your power plant ranks. Source.

The Quest for The Poles

The North Pole is dealing with more conflict and drama then the Spederline custody battle.

.First and last time time I will drop that name, promise.

It seems that the World is beginning a race to stake claims at the North Pole's natural resources since the United States' maritime strategy, A Cooperative Strategy for 21st Century Seapower, was proposed on October 17th.
So far Canada is planning on constructing a deep-water seaport and a military training center. Along with, the mapping of the seabed, patrolling the high latitudes by warplanes and combat aircraft and increasing the number of rangers at their northern bases. Denmark and Sweden joined hands to send the Swedish Arctic-class icebreaker, Oden, to the area north of Greenland on an expedition named LOMROG (Lomonosov Ridge off Greenland), the ridge over which the Arctic countries are fighting. And the U.S. Coast Guard icebreaker, Healy, led Germany's Polarstern and French Tara Schooner to the northern latitudes.

Looks like WW3 will be held in the frigid north and the United Kingdom won't be involved.
As mostly everyone else looks north, the British look to the south to the world's least explored continent, Antarctica. They are planning on claiming 386,000 sq miles of seabed where vast oil, gas and other mineral resources lay out of technical reach.
But what drove these countries to abruptly begin the quest for the poles? For that answer we look to Russia. Russia's expedition, in August, to plant a flag under the North Pole brought a new importance to the debate over the The 1959 Antarctic treaty. A treaty that up until now froze all territorial claims and the 1991 protocol to it prohibited the production of mineral resources in the Antarctic.

So far, every country has been acting within the guidelines of international law. But some of them now seem ready to rewrite it. Source.