Posted by edro on September 5, 2008
The most highly sought after technology in the next 12 – 24 months could be VLS accelerated hydroponics. That is the know-how to produce large amounts of food in confined (or semi-confined) environments within a short time cycle and without the need for soil.
VLS: Very Large Scale
Posted in atmosphere, climate change, economy, energy, environment, future, lifestyle, pollution, soil, war | Tagged: Environmental Chaos, food production, hydroponics, topsoil, VLS accelerated hydroponics | Leave a Comment »
Posted by edro on September 5, 2008
Haiti’s second city, Gonaives, was deluged by Hurricane Hanna. Image: Matthew Marek/American Red Cross. Source:BBC. Image may be subject to copyright.
Haiti – Two hurricanes, Gustav and Hanna, struck the Caribbean’s poorest nation in little over 4 days, just two weeks after tropical storm Fay had already drenched the country. the hurricanes left at least 200 people dead. The death toll could still climb substantially as thousands of people who escaped to rooftops to avoid rising floodwaters continue to starve. See: Hungry Haitian Flood Victims Stranded on Rooftops.
In 2004, after Hurricane Jeanne struck the city of Gonaïves causing widespread floods and mudslides, more than than 3000 people died.
People seek refuge from flood waters in east Nepal August 24, 2008. Twenty-four bodies have been discovered washed away by Koshi River at the Nepal-India border according to local media. More than 20,000 thousand people have been displaced due to a flooding after a dam burst. REUTERS/Nepal Army 11 Brigade/Handout (NEPAL). FOR EDITORIAL USE ONLY. NOT FOR SALE FOR MARKETING OR ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS.
Nepal – An appeal for assistance for Koshi flood affected people in eastern Nepal has been made by: WFP, FAO, UNICEF, WHO, OCHA, and OXFAM for a total of US$10,102,485.
[Note: The more experienced agencies never publish the required aid money in figures that are rounded to nearest thousands—,000.]
India – The flooding in the Bihar state of India has affected an estimated three million people. Without clean water, food, medicines and shelter many of them will perish.
A flood-affected man takes a nap outside a flood relief camp in Jankinagar village of Purniya district in the eastern Indian state of Bihar, September 3, 2008. REUTERS/Rupak De Chowdhuri. Image may be subject to copyright.
People walk past a destroyed car as Hurricane Gustav passes in Los Palacios, 100 km (62 miles) west of Havana August 30, 2008. The Category 4 storm swept across Cuba in a matter of hours and now poses a threat to Gulf oil fields on a projected path that could take it ashore near New Orleans, still recovering from Hurricane Katrina in August 2005. REUTERS/Claudia Daut (CUBA)
Cuba – Hurricane Gustav destroyed or damaged about 100,000 homes in Cuba. Pinar del Río province was the hardest hit with its share of 70,000, and a total of about 500 damaged schools. In the municipality of Isla de la Juventud about half of the houses were damaged. In the municipality of Los Palacios 80 percent of the 13,000 homes were damaged, some 6,000 were completely destroyed.
A man rows a boat in a flooded street of Puerto Saavedra town in southern Chile September 3, 2008. Hundreds of people were forced to leave their homes during the storms that hit parts of Chile, according to local media. REUTERS/Victor Ruiz Caballero. Image may be subject to copyright.
Chile – About 100,000 people have been affected by torrential rains in Chile, the worst in living memory; four people drowned.
In Araucania region, 700 km south of Santiago, rain has damaged about 10,000 homes, flooded rivers and canals, blocked roadways, destroyed bridges and inundated more than 200,000 hectares of farmland.
President Michelle Bachelet designated the region as a “catastrophe zone” on Wednesday.
Two hurricanes, Gustav and Hanna, struck the Caribbean’s poorest nation in little over 4 days, about two weeks after tropical storm Fay had already drenched the country.
Posted in atmosphere, climate change, economy, energy, environment, future, lifestyle, soil, war | Tagged: Araucania, Chile, Cuba, FAO, floodwaters, haiti, India Bihar state, Isla de la Juventud, natural disasters, Nepal, OCHA, OXFAM, UNICEF, WFP, WHO | Leave a Comment »
Posted by edro on September 4, 2008
No Food, No Freshwater, No Shelter!
[A flooded road outside Gonaives, Haiti, September 3, 2008. REUTERS/Stringer. Image may be subject to copyright.]
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Posted in atmosphere, future, lifestyle, pollution, soil, war | Tagged: climate change, economy, energy, environment, flooding | 7 Comments »
Posted by edro on August 21, 2008
Yet, our top scientists want to preserve the economic system, instead of sustaining life on Earth!
Instead of urging an immediate end to the exponential growth economy and demanding a zero-growth, low carbon, waste-free oikonomia for managing the environment, welfare of humans and other living species, and a system of ‘housekeeping’ for the planet’s natural resources to sustain life on Earth, the country’s top scientists are looking for ways of serving the economic Titanic.
Read Original Entry: Protect Economy from Climate??!
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Posted in atmosphere, climate change, economy, energy, environment, future, lifestyle, pollution, soil, war | Tagged: carbon dioxide emissions, carbon footprint only, Environmental Cost of US Economy, exponential growth economy, failing ecosystems, low carbon, Mass Extinction, okonomia, US GDP, Virtual CO2 content of US dollar, waste-free, water, zero-growth | Leave a Comment »
Posted by msrb on August 18, 2008
Irrigating urban agricultural land with untreated wastewater!
A new 53-city study conducted by the International Water Management Institute (IWMI) reveals that about 80 percent of the cities studied use untreated or partially diluted wastewater for agriculture. At least 50 percent of the urban agricultural land in those cities is irrigated with raw or diluted wastewater.
“Irrigating with wastewater isn’t a rare practice limited to a few of the poorest countries. It’s a widespread phenomenon, occurring on 20 million hectares across the developing world, especially in Asian countries, like China, India and Vietnam, but also around nearly every city of sub-Saharan Africa and in many Latin American cities as well,” said IWMI researcher Liqa Raschid-Sally.
“It’s a widespread phenomenon, occurring on 20 million hectares (50 million acres) across the developing world, especially in Asian countries, like China, India and Vietnam, but also around nearly every city of sub-Saharan Africa and in many Latin American cities as well.”
Wastewater is most commonly used to produce vegetables and cereals, especially rice, pose a health threat to the farmers as well as the consumers.
“The negative and positive implications of wastewater agriculture have only recently received attention. This study offers the first comprehensive, cross-country analysis of the conditions that account for the practice and the difficult tradeoffs that arise from it,” said Colin Chartres, director general of IWMI.
About 200,000 people in Accra, 10 percent of the urban population of Ghana’s capital city, consume vegetables produced on just 100 hectares of urban agricultural land, which is irrigated with wastewater, according to the IWMI report. “That gives you an idea of the large potential of wastewater agriculture for both helping and hurting great numbers of urban consumers.” Raschid-Sally said.
“And it isn’t just affluent consumers of exotic vegetables whose welfare is at stake. Poor consumers of inexpensive street food also depend on urban agriculture.” She reported.
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Posted in 286W, Accra, climate change, economy, energy, environment, future, ghana, lifestyle, pollution, soil | Tagged: cereals, china, Cities Collapse Engine, collapsing cities, First Wave of Collapse, India, IWMI, Japan, large scale collapse, Latin America, Liqa Raschid-Sally, Quick Fix, raw vegetables, rice, Spread of pandemic diseases, sub-Saharan Africa, untreated wastewater, urban agriculture, urban population, Vietnam, Water Cycle, water scarcity | 1 Comment »
Posted by edro on August 13, 2008
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Posted in atmosphere, climate change, economy, energy, future, lifestyle, pollution, soil, war | Tagged: air pollution, CO2, food scarcity, freshwater, GHG, Global Warming, health, rising sea level, shelter, Tuvalu | Leave a Comment »
Posted by edro on July 2, 2008
“A goat walks along the sun-baked bed of Cyprus’s largest reservoir at Kouris, March 20, 2008. Cyprus announced on Monday emergency water cuts to deal with a crippling drought.” REUTERS/Stringer [Image may be subject to copyright. See EDRO Fair Use Notice!]
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Posted in atmosphere, climate change, economy, energy, environment, future, lifestyle, pollution, soil, war | Tagged: agriculture, Collapse of ecosystems, cropland, deforestation, desertification, Drying Aquifers, failing ecosystems, First Wave of World’s Collapsing Cities, food, food security, GHG, grassland, health, land degradation, land erosion, Mojavefication, politics, rangeland, Root Cause Matrix, Severe soil erosion, Sinking Cities, State of the World, The Economy, topsoil | Leave a Comment »
Posted by edro on July 2, 2008
Posted in atmosphere, climate change, energy, environment, future, lifestyle, pollution, soil, war | Tagged: attack against nature, depletion, drought, economy, elephant in the room, exponential growth economy, flood, food scarcity, natural disasters, natural resources, Water Emergency, water war | Leave a Comment »
Posted by edro on June 27, 2008
1. Extremity. They exceed the normal parameters creating significant differences in the events outcome.
2. Selective Targeting. This phenomenon could probably be explained as reflex action.
3. Change of Rhythms. Changes in the established cyles, patterns, tempo and behavioral modes of natural events may offset positive feedback systems.
4. Other Mechanisms.
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Posted in atmosphere, climate change, economy, energy, environment, future, lifestyle, pollution, soil, war | Tagged: air pollution, central, china, climate change, climate science, CO2, drought, energy, environment, EU, Extreme Precipitation, extreme precipitation events, Extreme Rain Events, extreme weather events, fengshen, flooding, floods, food, Global Warming, government, hail, health, hurricane, Hydrokong, Iowa, katrina, Midwest, Mississippi river, mitch, Natural Defense Mechanisms, Nature's Defense, NOAA, Ocean Warming, Pohuk Pride, politics, Rain, resonance, storms, Tornado, tornadoes, Tropical storm, twister, typhoon, USA, Warming World, Water Cycle, Water Pollution, weather, western Iowa, wind | 40 Comments »
Posted by edro on June 24, 2008
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Posted in atmosphere, economy, energy, environment, future, health, human migration, Human-induced climate change, ice dynamics, lifestyle, soil, war, water | Tagged: 350ppm, air pollution, Antarctic ice, Atmospheric carbon dioxide, climate change, CO2, energy, environment, food, GHG, Global Warming, health, politics, positive feedback, Tourism, Travel, Water Pollution | 2 Comments »
Posted by edro on June 22, 2008
Wouldn’t it be more sensible if NASA’s budget for discovering life on Mars
was reallocated to securing life on Earth?
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Posted in atmosphere, climate change, economy, energy, environment, future, lifestyle, pollution, soil, war | Tagged: Biosphere 2, ecosystems collapse, life on Mars, mars, Mars Exploration Rovers, Mars Global Surveyor, Mars Odyssey, Mars Orbiter, Mars Pathfinder, marsification of earth, NASA, Populating Mars, Viking | 2 Comments »
Posted by edro on June 15, 2008
The time has come for humanity, you, to consider a fundamental issue about your place within the cosmos. Can you answer the following questions?
Dusty Eye of the Helix Nebula [NGC 7293] Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/K. Su (Univ. of Ariz.)
An infrared image of the Helix nebula, a cosmic starlet known for its vivid colors and eerie resemblance to a giant eye. The nebula, located about 700 light-years away in the constellation Aquarius, belongs to a class of objects called planetary nebulae—the carcasses of deceased sun-like stars.
When sun-like stars die, they blow out their outer gaseous layers. The layers are heated by the hot core of the dead star, called a white dwarf, and shine with infrared and visible colors. (Source: Spitzer Space Telescope )
N90 is one of the star-forming regions in the Small Magellanic Cloud. The rich populations of infant stars found here are formed in an environment that is very different from the Milky Way Galaxy. Image taken buy the Hubble Space Telescope. (ESA/NASA)
Posted in air polluttion, atmosphere, climate change, economy, energy, environment, failing ecosystems, future, lifestyle, natural disasters, pollution, soil, topsoil, war, water | Tagged: cosmic starlet, dead star, Dusty Eye of the Helix Nebula, Helix nebula, Hubble Space Telescope, human-enhanced catastrophes, humanity, Magellanic Cloud, N90, Nature, NEW Stars Are Born, NGC 7293, the cosmos, white dwarf | Leave a Comment »
Posted by edro on June 13, 2008
As most of the croplands in the Central U.S. is submerged under floodwater, the heart of California’s farming area is feeling the heat. Gov. Schwarzenegger who proclaimed last week a drought in California, declared yesterday a state of emergency in nine counties in Central Valley.
Coyote Dry Lake, Mojave Desert. Image: AnimAlu via Wikimedia. This file is licensed under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation license, Version 1.2 or any later version published by the Free Software Foundation.
Coyote Dry Lake is a dry lake bed in the Mojave Desert located about 24 km northeast of Barstow, and north of Interstate 15 in southern California. The lake measures about 10 km long and about 6 km wide at its widest section.
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Posted in atmosphere, climate change, economy, energy, environment, future, lifestyle, pollution, soil, war | Tagged: Barstow, california, Collapse, collapsing cities, collapsing ecosystems, Coyote Dry Lake, drought, Drying Aquifers, ecological footprint, Effective World Population, exponential growth economy, famine, mechnisms of collapse, Mojave desert, Mojavefied, political economy, Sinking Cities, snow, socal, Tipping Point, Water Cycle, Water Emergency, water scarcity, water shortages | 20 Comments »
Posted by edro on June 2, 2008
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Posted in atmosphere, climate change, economy, energy, environment, future, lifestyle, pollution, soil, war | Tagged: agriculture, americas, Asia, Bangladesh, basic needs, biocapacity, Bolivia, Buffett the Poor, Cameroon, china, climate change, Collapse, demonstrations, ecosystems, egypt, El Salvador, Emerging Food Crisis, energy, environment, food, food riots, food shortages, Fueling Food Shortages, garment workers, Global Warming, government, haiti, health, India, indonesia, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Malaysia, Mauritania, money, Mozambique, Oil Chaos, Pakistan, Philippines Senegal, politics, Poverty Index, protests, Singapore, Somalia, staple diet, strikes, Tourism, Travel, Uzbekistan, Vietnam, War Africa, Yemen | | Leave a Comment »
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