Hawaiian culture is steeped in a delicate harmony with nature. The islands boast consistently strong wind densities, great insolation characteristics, enormous reservoirs of geothermal energy, plant life that is perfect for the production of ethanol, and an incredible oceanic wave resource, all of which could be exploited by renewable technologies without damaging the environment. As... Read More...
We’re big fans of do-it-yourself projects… from outdoor ovens to solar air heaters to, well, houses. But a DIY internet network made from reused materials in the developing world? That’s really cool! We’ll let our friends at sister site Insteading tell the story…
We’ve been reporting on statistics from the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization that illustrate a dire global problem: We squander nearly one third of our food through food waste (on the consumption side) and food losses (on the production side). In developed countries, over 40% of losses come from companies and consumers throwing out [...]
It’s been another year of citations and now the latest list of ISI Impact Factors (2010) has come out. Regardless of how much stock you put in these (see here for a damning review), you cannot ignore their influence on publishing trends and author journal choices. As I’ve done for 2008 and 2009, I’ve taken the [...]
I was on the road for several days earlier this month, and used bars of soap in the hotels in which I stayed. Of course, I didn’t use the whole bars… and left the remainder for the housekeeping staff. I assume that soap ended up in the trash. Seem like a huge sustainability challenge? I... Read More...
The Coalition of Financially Challenged Countries with Lots of Trees, known as ‘CoFCCLoT’, representing most of the world’s remaining tropical forests, is asking wealthy nations to share global responsibilities and reforest their land for the common good of stabilizing climate and protecting biodiversity. “We are willing to play our part, but we require a level [...]
By Lester R. Brown During the years when governments and the media were focused on preparations for the 2009 Copenhagen climate negotiations, a powerful climate movement was emerging in the United States: the movement opposing the construction of new coal-fired power plants. Environmental groups, both national and local, are opposing coal plants because they are... Read More...
Google, a leader of innovation in the digital economy, says that without a private and public focus on innovation in renewables, storage and electric vehicles, the cost of delaying the clean energy economy could be in the trillions of dollars to the U.S. Google released an analysis of the economic impact of clean energy innovation [...]
Thanks to Andrew Ferguson for this paper. “ZERO CARBON BRITAIN 2030″ from the Centre for Alternative Technology. Chapter 8, Renewables, reviewed by Andrew Ferguson Abstract. The plan set out by the Centre for Alternative Technology (CAT), aiming at a goal of Britain achieving no net emissions of carbon dioxide by 2030, is, unfortunately, not based [...]
“Dear Participants of the Moscow Demographic Summit: We welcome you with all our hearts, we wish success to the work of the Moscow Demographic Summit: Family and the Future of Humankind..." Read more...
I tend to be a “glass half full” sort of person, particularly about the prospects of successfully feeding the 9-10 billion people we expect by 2050. My optimism is based on daily contact with the innovative public and private entities who develop technology for agriculture. It is also based on the track record of small... Read More...
Are too many old people in Italy causing discrimination against young people? It seems the young can't even get a foot in the door to a life of crime in the Italian mafia... Read more...
Yesterday, as I was putting together the week’s green tech finds post over at SUNfiltered, I came across the Solar Fire, another open source solar concentrator concept. That was cool enough in itself, but I also saw that this idea was connected to another that a friend had recently introduced to me: Open Source Ecology’s... Read More...
Two tales of population decline in Europe. Read more...
Despite the title, Dive! is not a movie about graceful Olympic divers. Nothing could be further from that image. Instead, it’s a new film about the massive food waste in America, and those who choose to dive into dumpsters to save food from going to the landfill. In his film, Jeremy Siefert takes on Trader... Read More...
The UK’s Glastonbury Festival isn’t just one of the biggest music events in world… it’s also become a launch pad for innovative consumer renewable energy technology. Last year, mobile communications company Orange tested out its Power Wellies (which harvested foot heat for charging phones, etc.)… I gave them some love over at SUNfiltered. This year,... Read More...
After the earth was created, soil formed slowly over geological time from the weathering of rocks. It began to support early plant life, which protected and enriched it until it became the topsoil that sustains the diversity of plants and animals we know today. Now the world’s ever-growing herds of cattle, sheep, and goats are... Read More...
My friend and colleague at the Centre National de Recherche Scientfique (CNRS), Laboratoire d’Ecologie Systématique & Evolution based at the Université Paris-Sud in France, Dr. Franck ‘Allee Effect‘ Courchamp, has asked me to help him out finding a suitable candidate for what sounds like a very cool job. If you’re in the market for a very interesting and [...]
When talking about the impacts of climate change, we mostly hear about changes to land and the planet’s surface or atmosphere. However, most of the warming is going into the oceans where a lot of ecosystem changes are also occurring.
This update includes a couple of info graphics and charts as well as a video from an ocean and climate scientist that explains this further.
Read full article: Climate Change Affects Biodiversity
New Research shows that healthier women are more likely to have twins naturally. But what does this mean for increasing numbers of unnatural births? Read more...
The World Bank and the World Health Organisation have released a “World Report on Disability”. Read more...
Patriach Kirill, head of the Russian Orthodox Church, has sent an official message of greeting to those attending the Moscow Demographic Summit. Read more...
: Global Issues Social , Political , Economic and Environmental Issues That Affect Us All Search this site Get free updates via Email Web RSS Feed Facebook Twitter Main : menu Home About Issues World News Site Updates Support Contact You are : here Home Issues Articles Foreign Aid for Development Assistance Official global foreign aid shortfall : 4 trillion Official global foreign aid shortfall : 4 trillion Author and Page information by Anup Shah This Page Last Updated Sunday , June 05, 2011 This page : http : www.globalissues.org article 593 official-global-foreign-aid-shortfall-over-4-trillion To print all information e.g . expanded side notes , shows alternative links , use the print : version http : www.globalissues.org print article 593 This article serves as a side note to the main
As I retweeted ABC Environment‘s sentiment for a Happy Environment Day, I added that we have little to be happy about. However, I am happy about one thing – we’ve recently received a large ARC Linkage Grant to look at best-practice forest regeneration techniques. The Environment Institute just put out a post on it, so [...]
Reasons for optimism about the US economy. Read more...
Earlier this week Australian Senator Kim Carr (Minister for Innovation, Industry, Science and Research) announced the removal of the somewhat controversial ERA rankings for scientific journals. Early last year I posted about the Excellence in Research for Australia (ERA) journal rankings for ecology and conservation journals. To remind you, the ERA has ranked > 20,000 [...]