Developers to demolish Asia's biggest shantytown

The largest slum in Asia, a sprawling shantytown in the centre of Mumbai, will be demolished and replaced with free homes for the city's poor under a $2.3bn (£1.2bn) scheme to transform one of India's most obvious eyesores.

The state government of Maharashtra placed advertisements yesterday inviting Indian and foreign developers to raze the tin shanties and maze of open drains that make up Dharavi slum and replace it with a new township in India's financial hub. For the government the redevelopment is a demonstration that developers can help the poor and free land in one of the world's most densely populated spots.Dharavi stands on just a square mile of land - reckoned to be worth more than $10bn - and houses about 600,000 people in ramshackle buildings. The government will sell land below market prices and, as an incentive to create properties for the poor, says that for every square foot of accommodation created for slum dwellers, developers will get 1.3 square feet for commercial use. The argument is that while slum dwellers will get flats in high-rise blocks the rest of the land can be used for malls, middle-class apartment blocks and business parks.

The scheme has outraged local activists who say the poor are being ignored in favour of the rich. Jockin Arputham, president of the National Slum Dwellers Association, told news agencies that it was not clear where ordinary people would live in the new developed areas.

He said Dharavi's residents lived next to the small businesses - such as tanneries and potteries - where they worked. "Their businesses will be shut once the construction starts," said Mr Arputham. "[The government] is forcing us to get on to the street," he said. "We will tell bidders from Europe to China not to touch this project because it damages the country."

India, Asia's fourth-largest economy, is facing a crisis of "slumification" according to experts, with numerous people leaving the countryside in search of jobs in the booming cities. The Indian government's own figures show the number of people living in its slums has more than doubled in the past 20 years to more than 60m.

Food miles: The true cost of putting imported food on your plate

Some examples given in the article.

Gobbling up the planet: Your guide to food miles

APPLES (FUJI)

Seventy-six per cent of apples consumed in the UK come from overseas. Washington, home of the Red Delicious and grower of half of America's apples, produces 135,000 tons of Fuji apples a year. They also come from China and Japan, and have a long shelf-life. With refrigeration, Fuji apples can last five or six months.

Typical exporter: US
Food miles to UK: 3,700
C02 (kg per pack of four): by sea 0.06; by air 1.68
Price: £1.99/500g, £2.98/kg

BEEF

The United States, Brazil, the European Union, Japan and the People's Republic of China are the world's largest consumers of beef, while the world's largest exporters of beef are Australia, Brazil, Argentina and Canada respectively. While British beef is clearly labelled in UK supermarkets, Argentinian beef is still a best seller here.

Typical exporter: Argentina
Food miles to UK: 6,900
CO2 (kg/kg): by sea 0.22; by air 6.33
Price: approx £6/kg

PINEAPPLE

South-east Asia dominates world production of pineapples. Total world production in 2001 was 14.220 million tons. The primary exporters of fresh pineapples in 2001 were Costa Rica, 322,000 tons; Ivory Coast, 188,000 tons; and the Philippines, 135,000 tons. In the UK we get most of our pineapples from Ghana.

Typical exporter: Ghana
Food miles to UK: 3,100
CO2 (kg/pineapple): by sea 0.22; by air 6.26
Price: approx £2/kg

Link to Food miles: The true cost of putting imported food on your plate - Independent Online Edition > Lifestyle

Stansted expansion inquiry starts

Protesters on the opening day of the public inquiry

A public inquiry has begun into airport company BAA's plans to expand the capacity of Stansted Airport in Essex.BAA wants to increase passenger numbers from 25 million to 35 million each year. Plans were rejected by Uttlesford District Council so a final decision will now be made at the inquiry.

The Stop Stansted Expansion campaign group, which opposes the plans, staged a protest opposite Endeavour House where the inquiry is taking place. BAA also wants permission to increase the number of air traffic movements permitted from the airport from 241,000 to 264,000 a year.

Link to BBC NEWS | England | Essex | Stansted expansion inquiry starts

For and against AIRPORT EXPANSION

There are a number of groups that have views on the merits or pitfalls of airport expansion:

Many anti-expansion campaign groups have emerged including: HACAN ClearSkies, a campaign group that aims to reduce noise and air pollution from aircraft around Heathrow airport;

Stop Stansted Expansion; Stop Luton Airport Plan (SLAP) Stop Bristol Airport Expansion consists of a coalition of groups; Birmingham Airport Anti-Noise Group (BANG) which wants to see the reduction of aircraft noise, night flights and pollution; Swansea Airport No Expansion (SANE) opposes the increase in flights.

AirportWatch opposes airport expansion and wants to promote an aviation policy that is in line with sustainable development.

Aviation Environment Federation is a UK-based association that campaigns exclusively on the environmental impacts of aviation.

Campaign to Protect Rural England fears the government’s proposals will badly affect the countryside.

Friends of the Earth wants to protect the environment and is lobbying for airlines to pay tax on fuel.

Plane Stupid says it aims are to stop the destruction of the environment and communities caused by airport expansion and aviation.

Transport 2000 is concerned about how the environment will be affected by more aircraft flying in our skies.

BAA is an airport operator that runs several airports in the UK. It thinks expansion is key to the UK’s economic future.

Confederation of British Industry says expansion is important to Britain’s economic growth.

Department of Transport details the case for expansion in its progress report.

Future Heathrow is a group derived from trade unions, business groups, and airlines that believes Heathrow airport must modernise to secure its internationally competitive future.

London Chamber of Commerce supports expansion as seen in, “The Business Case for Airport Expansion” report.

Airlines believe expansion will create thousands of jobs and billions of pounds for the UK.

The Future of Air Transport - White Paper and the Civil Aviation Bill

The White Paper 'The Future of Air Transport', published on 16 December 2003, sets out a strategic framework for the development of airport capacity in the United Kingdom over the next 30 years, against the wider context of the air transport sector.

Link to Department for Transport - The Future of Air Transport - White Paper and the Civil Aviation Bill

Airport Expansion: an Action Network briefing

Flying has become so important that nearly half of the British population fly at least once a year. In 2005, 229 million passengers passed through UK airports. By 2030 passenger numbers are estimated to rise to 490 million.

Many airports face expansion To meet the rising demand, the government’s 2003 White Paper on The Future of Air Transport published a strategic framework for the development of air travel over the next 30 years, which includes major expansion plans of 30 airports in the UK.

What are the arguments?

Link to BBC - Action Network - Airport Expansion: an Action Network briefing

Initiation of Rainy Season in Southern Amazon

Despite its name, much of the Amazon Rainforest is not actually rainy year round. Many areas experience a monsoon climate, with a season of heavy rains followed by a dry season that can last anywhere from one to seven months. North of the equator, the rainy season occurs from June-August. South of the equator, it runs from October or November through March, April, or May. The processes that initiate the switch in where the rain falls are something of a mystery. In 2007, scientists discovered evidence that the forest itself triggers the switch. Increasing leaf area throughout the dry season may set off a chain of events that leads to a reversal in the north-south winds that carry moisture into one hemisphere or another.

This trio of photo-like images illustrates steps in the initiation of the wet season in the southern Amazon in 2006.

Link to EO Newsroom: New Images - Initiation of Rainy Season in Southern Amazon

Best of the net | Travel | The Guardian

LINK Tripadvisor.com User reviews, candid snaps and video and basic price comparison. Best feature Its sheer wealth of five million user-generated reviews.

LINK lonelyplanet Lonely Planet publishes a raft of websites, many of them at the cutting-edge of internet travel. The Thorn Tree forums - which pioneered user-generated content a decade ago - remain second to none

LINK Boo The people behind hostelworld.com - one of the biggest backpacking accommodation sites - have repackaged themselves as all-encompassing accommodation brokers comparing a range of prices from different hotel and hostel sites. Most useful because Boo's price comparison service is also linked to over one million user generated reviews

LINK Kayak.co.uk The people behind hostelworld.com - one of the biggest backpacking accommodation sites - have repackaged themselves as all-encompassing accommodation brokers comparing a range of prices from different hotel and hostel sites. Most useful because Boo's price comparison service is also linked to over one million user generated reviews (second only to Tripadvisor).

LINK Travelsupermarket Travel Supermaket provides an increasing amount of interaction on its website. But rather than give everything over to random users, it has left its experts to marshal the user-generated content by its lively community forums, almost guaranteeing qualified advice.

LINK Where are you now "Where are you now?" is the simple question at the heart of one the most popular travellers' networking sites in Britain. WAYN has grown from nothing to 1.5m members in the UK (and 8m globally) in just four years. The site lets users let each other know where in the world they are and keep in touch - and make new travel buddies - via a handy world map.

Link to Best of the net | Travel | The Guardian

Trees v travel: campaigners take on industry over airport expansion

Environmental campaigners yesterday revealed how they are preparing to lobby a public inquiry starting tomorrow into plans to expand Stansted airport; its owner, BAA, is seeking permission to increase the number of passengers flying in and out from 25 million to 35 million a year.

Both sides recognise that the public inquiry decision could have consequences throughout Britain. Air passenger numbers are predicted to more than double in the next 20 years to 465 million and at least 20 other British airports, including Gatwick, Heathrow, Bristol and Norwich, are planning to expand.

Campaigners say the government's 2010 target to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 20% is contradicted by its aviation policy, which is committed to new runways at Heathrow and Stansted if environmental standards are met. "At the heart of this issue is the contradiction between the government's aviation policy and its climate change policy," said Brian Ross, of the Stop Stansted Expansion campaign.

Link to Trees v travel: campaigners take on industry over airport expansion | The Guardian | Guardian Unlimited

Communities and Climate change

Communities on the frontline of climate change

In the Canadian Arctic, western Inuit are having trouble reaching their traditional hunting grounds as warmer springs have brought an earlier thaw. Inuit campaigners say their human rights are being violated by human-induced climate change

In Norway, Sami reindeer hunters have recorded severe changes in weather patterns that are affecting breeding cycles and destroying grazing areas. The Sami are having to alter their travel routes because of changes to prevailing winds previously used for navigation

Residents of the Pacific island nation of Tuvalu claim to be the first climate change refugees, as many have been forced to flee to neighbouring New Zealand to escape rising seas. The islands, only three feet above sea level, are expected to disappear below the waves

Indigenous communities in Puerto Rico have seen plants they gather for traditional medicines disappear, making it impossible to continue healing practices

Severe droughts are forcing the nomadic Turkana people of north-west Kenya into towns and relief camps as entire herds of camels, cows and goats are being wiped out. Although they are accustomed to months of dry weather and resulting food shortages, droughts are becoming more intense and more frequent

Read the article from the Guardian about "Central American indigenous people are among first to suffer from climate change but least equipped to adapt" The Rio Coco, deep in the Nicaraguan rainforest.

Link to Hope dries up for Nicaragua's Miskito | Climate change | Guardian Unlimited Environment

Eat the seasons

There are a number of good reasons to eat more local, seasonal food:

• to reduce the energy (and associated CO2 emissions) needed to grow and transport the food we eat

• to avoid paying a premium for food that is scarcer or has travelled a long way

• to support the local economy

• to reconnect with nature's cycles and the passing of time

The majority of the UK population grow up in urban areas, with little or no awareness of when and where various foods are produced. Imports from around the world ensure that supermarket shelves look the same week in week out. Eat the seasons aims to promote an understanding of food seasons. Each week we focus on one food, which is currently in season, and share enlightening facts, useful tips and enticing recipe ideas picked from the web and our favourite books.

Link to eat the seasons | seasonal food

The Longbridge revival

MG Rover was sold in July 2005 to another Chinese car firm, Nanjing Automotive, which paid around £50m.In July 2006 Nanjing reaffirmed its commitment to produce cars at Longbridge when it purchased a 33-year lease for one third of the land at Longbridge. The company also said it would be investing around £10m in the plant, but there would be far fewer jobs than in previous years. By March this year, as the company unveiled its first China-built cars to the world's media at its factory in Nanjing, plans were well advanced in Longbridge too.

Several pre-production models of the MGTF had been completed and the old production line was being brought back into use. It is thought that around 250 people are already employed at the factory. Staff numbers are expected to rise over time as production ramps up. Nanjing has said it aims is to make 3,000 cars in the first year, rising to 12,000 by 2009. It will ultimately have the capacity to make 15,000 cars a year. The company also says it has had a good response from dealers who want to sell the new cars.

Link to BBC NEWS | England | West Midlands | The Longbridge revival

LINK Car production to resume at Longbridge The Guardian 29th May

VIDIPEDIA

This isVIDIPEDIA. Video UPLOADS are available. Good video on ANTARTICA

LINK: Antartica Video.

Go to GEOGRAPHY PORTAL for full list of Videos available.

Can Shanghai turn green and grow?

Shanghai has been transformed into a global city - but its rapid growth has produced pollution, traffic jams and overcrowding.In becoming one of the centres of the world economy, Shanghai has grown faster than almost any other global city in the past 15 years. The population increased from 13.5 million to 21.5 million as migrant labourers flooded in from the surrounding countryside, and the standard of living rose even faster, with per capita income now at $7,000, the highest in China.

The physical size of the city increased sixfold, from just 100 sq km to 680 sq km, as people sought more space and the city government rushed to develop nearby areas, such as Pudong. Rapid growth of car ownership has led to congestion and pollutionThree ring roads and six motorways now criss-cross the city, and gridlock grips the bridges and tunnels across the Huangpu river during rush hours.

The city has also seen an explosion in car ownership, with over 1 million car owners in 2006, and private car ownership has doubled in two years. The increased traffic levels contributed to rising levels of atmospheric pollution. Now the city of Shanghai has begun to tackle some of the environmental problems that could threaten its future growth.

The goes on to discuss; new towns, discouraging car ownership; Investment and public transport; and Bicycles.

Link to BBC NEWS | Business | Can Shanghai turn green and grow?

Millions who risk death for a better life

Across Africa, millions are dreaming of fleeing to Europe. Families scrimp and save to find the money needed to secure a seat on a boat. Young men, often fathers, squeeze on to overcrowded, rickety fishing boats that leave Senegal, Libya or Somalia in the dead of night. They take with them nothing more than the hope that a better life lies across the sea.

Some leave because of conflict, most because of poverty. All hope to find enough money in Europe to be able to send some back home to their families. The money earned by a migrant on a construction site in Spain or hawking sunglasses on the streets of Italy can be several times more than he would have made back in Mali, Nigeria or Eritrea. African migrants' remittances are growing at a faster rate than official aid from foreign governments.

Source: Millions who risk death for a better life - Independent Online Edition > Africa

Make Trade Fair - Oxfam International

More than a year ago, the Ethiopian government approached Starbucks global HQ in Seattle and asked the company to recognise Ethiopia’s legal ownership of the names of its coffees.
Ethiopia's ownership of its coffee names could bring substantial benefits to the 15 million poor Ethiopians who depend on coffee for their livelihood. By owning the rights to its fine coffee names- Harar, Sidamo, and Yirgacheffe- Ethiopia can help its farmers negotiate a better price, potentially increasing income for the country’s coffee industry by an estimated $88 million a year. This would help lift millions of farmers and their families out of poverty, helping them to send their children to school and access healthcare.
After initially dismissing Ethiopia 's plan to trademark its specialty coffees, Starbucks, which came under international pressure from campaigners, has now said it is ready to recognize Ethiopia 's right to pursue this path. So far, more than 90,000 people across the globe have called on Starbucks to sign such an agreement. This support has pushed Starbucks to hold meetings with the Ethiopian government to discuss the issue. Despite its much-publicised commitments to Ethiopia’s farmers, Starbucks has not taken the Ethiopian request seriously. It’s time for Starbucks to recognise Ethiopia’s right to the legal ownership of its own coffee names.

Link to Make Trade Fair - Oxfam International

LINK Starbucks case study

LINK Interactive diagrams on the ISSUES

PlayPump water system example of Intermediate Technology

While children have fun spinning on the PlayPump merry-go-round (1), clean water is pumped (2) from underground (3) into a 2,500-liter tank (4), standing seven meters above the ground. A simple tap (5) makes it easy for women and children to draw water. Excess water is diverted from the storage tank back down into the borehole (6). The water storage tank (7) provides a rare opportunity to advertise in outlaying communities. All four sides of the tank are leased as billboards, with two sides for consumer advertising and the other two sides for health and educational messages. The revenue generated by this unique model pays for pump maintenance.
The design of the PlayPump water system makes it highly effective, easy to operate and very economical, keeping costs and maintenance to an absolute minimum. Capable of producing up to 1,400 liters of water per hour at 16 rpm from a depth of 40 meters, it is effective up to a depth of 100 meters.

Film can be seen at http://www.green.tv/one_water

Link to Playpumps International and the PlayPump water system. Kids play. Water Pumps! :: PlayPumps International

Driving Ban Lowers Beijing Pollution

In an effort to control smog during the 2008 Olympics, Beijing officials planned to institute a number of pollution-curbing measures. One such measure is to limit the number of vehicles on the roads. The Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, held in Beijing on November 4-5, 2006, gave officials the opportunity to see just how much pollution would be reduced if traffic were restricted. Between November 4 and November 6, officials banned government and commercial vehicles, restricted the use of private vehicles, and limited access to certain roads. Buses ran more frequently to provide transport within the city. News reports estimated that approximately 30 percent of the city’s vehicles were taken off the road during the three-day restriction period.

Orbiting overhead once a day, the Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI) on NASA’s Aura satellite recorded nitrogen dioxide levels. Looking through the column of air that sat between the satellite and the city, the instrument summed up the average number of nitrogen dioxide molecules per square centimeter. The data it sent back to Earth showed a drop in nitrogen dioxide levels over Beijing between November 4 and November 6, as illustrated by these images. High concentrations of nitrogen dioxide are represented by bright yellow squares over China’s major cities. The cities, and their corresponding pollution “hotspots” stretch across the North China Plain from north to south, with Beijing reigning in the north. On November 5, center, nitrogen dioxide levels dropped over the entire country, but the decrease is most dramatic over Beijing which went from turquoise-yellow (high) to dark blue (low) back to yellow before, during, and after the restriction period.

The graph illustrates the drop in nitrogen dioxide over Beijing in greater detail. Though concentrations jumped from day to day between October 25 and November 19, sometimes to concentrations as low as levels seen during the summit, the only time nitrogen dioxide levels remained below 20x10¹⁵ molecules per square centimeter for more than a single day was during the summit when traffic was restricted. The graph is from a paper by Yuxuan Wang and colleagues from Harvard University and the Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute, published in Geophysical Research Letters on April 28, 2007. The scientists estimated that nitrogen oxide emissions were reduced by 40 percent during the restriction period.

Link to EO Newsroom: New Images - Driving Ban Lowers Beijing Pollution

EARTH GUIDE

This is a great interactive site that provides answers to the following questions:

1. Where is the earth located in the Milky way Galaxy?

2. How is the earth different from other planets?

3. Where does the sky become space?

4. Where does sunlight that hits the earth go?

5. How do water and carbon circulate.

6. What type of substances is the earth made of?

7. What kind of land areas exists on the face of the earth ?

8. How big are the oceans of the world?

Link to EARTH GUIDE

What Is GeoSquishing?

the basic idea is, you find a famous or infamous location which you believe to have some relevance and GeoSquish it. For example Bodie Island Lighthouse being GeoSquished.

Link to What Is GeoSquishing?

There will be a summer competition with prizes, look out for it in Kingdown News.

The village that was swallowed by the sea

Just an hour's drive south of the Thai capital Bangkok , the small coastal village of Khun Samutchine is facing a daily battle with the sea. The sea is coming in at an alarming rate

The village is suffering from the effects of severe coastal erosion: the sea comes in at a rate of approximately 25 metres a year. Environmentalists say the erosion experienced in the area is probably some of the worst in the world. Dr Thanawat Jarupongsakul, a scientist from Bangkok's Chulalongkorn University says that climate change has helped cause the loss of nearly 600 km of Thailand's coastline. "Climate change has resulted in more intense waves and rougher seas during the monsoon period," he said. "The average height of waves used to be between one and 1.5 metres, but now it has increased to between two and four metres high." Go to SOURCE for rest of article..

Source: BBC NEWS | World | Asia-Pacific | The village that was swallowed by the sea

Flying addicts take dim view of air taxes in poll

Britain has become a nation addicted to flying, according to a Guardian/ICM poll out today. It shows that more than two-thirds of people have travelled by plane in the last five years and reveals widespread opposition to government action aimed at cutting the number of people who fly in order to limit climate change.

The poll does reveal a growing level of concern about the impact of air travel. Almost half of air travellers claim they have changed their behaviour in response to fears about the impact on the environment.

But these fears are not being translated into backing for official action. Voters remain strongly opposed to government action to control the rapid growth of the airline industry, such as raising tax levels on air tickets to restrict low-cost airlines. More travellers want taxes on air travel cut than want to see them increased: 30% want a reduction and only 20% higher taxes. Many people (46%) think that tax levels should remain the same, although environmental groups, the Conservative party and the Liberal Democrats all support some form of increase.

At present, airlines do not pay tax on the fuel they use. Air passenger duty, doubled by the chancellor in February to between £10 and £80 a ticket, is regarded as too low by many campaigners. But only 18% of Tory voters back a rise despite their party's policy on reforming air taxes, launched earlier this year. Labour voters are equally hostile, with only Liberal Democrat supporters more in favour of increases than tax cuts.The poll shows that 68% of respondents have travelled at least once by plane in the last five years. Cheap flights have boosted the number of people travelling by air, with airlines such as Ryanair currently offering "10m seats at £10".

But flying remains a middle-class habit: 83% of people in the top AB economic group have flown recently, against 52% of DEs at the bottom of the scale.

Air travel is also weighted towards the south of the country, with 72% of southerners flying in the last five years against 66% in Scotland and the north.

Only 13% of passengers say that they have given up flying as a result of climate change. But 34% of people who fly say that they have cut down on the short-haul trips they take as a result of climate change. A similar proportion, 31%, say that they have reduced long-haul flying.The growing number of air travellers suggests that the reality may differ. People at the top of the economic scale are the least likely to claim they have taken action to help the environment.

Many air passengers also say that they have tried carbon offset schemes to neutralise the impact of their journeys: 29% of all passengers say that they have used such a scheme.Again, that claim may be running ahead of what is actually happening. A recent Financial Times investigation suggested the industry was still in its infancy, with a lack of clarity about how off-setting and carbon trading schemes should work.· ICM interviewed a random sample of 1,003 adults aged 18+ between May 18 and 20. Interviews were conducted across the country and the results have been weighted to the profile of all adults.

Link to Flying addicts take dim view of air taxes in poll | Climate change | Guardian Unlimited Environment

Chinese challenge one-child policy

Link to BBC NEWS | World | Asia-Pacific | Chinese challenge one-child policy .

LINK Fertility drug use boom

Black Gold : The Official Site

Multinational coffee companies now rule our shopping malls and supermarkets and dominate the industry worth over $80 billion, making coffee the most valuable trading commodity in the world after oil.

But while we continue to pay for our lattes and cappuccinos, the price paid to coffee farmers remains so low that many have been forced to abandon their coffee fields.

Nowhere is this paradox more evident than in Ethiopia, the birthplace of coffee. Tadesse Meskela is one man on a mission to save his 74,000 struggling coffee farmers from bankruptcy. As his farmers strive to harvest some of the highest quality coffee beans on the international market, Tadesse travels the world in an attempt to find buyers willing to pay a fair price.

Against the backdrop of Tadesse's journey to London and Seattle, the enormous power of the multinational players that dominate the world's coffee trade becomes apparent. New York commodity traders, the international coffee exchanges, and the double dealings of trade ministers at the World Trade Organisation reveal the many challenges Tadesse faces in his quest for a long term solution for his farmers.

Link to Black Gold : The Official Site

American Food Aid to Malawi

US government deal, announced in April, to ship $19.5 million of American corn and soya to Malawi as food aid.

School-feeding programmes run by the Malawian government and various aid agencies have resulted in incraeses in stuents attending school. Children come to the school because of the meal - class numbers are up by about 7 per cent in every age group since the feeding programme began in January.In a country where only 70 per cent of the children attend primary school, that's an achievement. At another nearby primary, where an Oxfam partner supplies milk to mix into the free porridge, the head teacher, Annie Jana, told me that she now had 800 eight-year-olds, compared to 500 when the programme started a year ago. 'Absenteeism has fallen, and even children who dropped out are coming back, especially girls.' And in Malawi, getting girls into school has always been difficult - which is why half of all women are illiterate.

In April the US Government announced that it wanted to join in. It would give WFP nearly $20 million over three years to help fund an expansion of the programme so, from 2008, 650,000 Malawian children get a daily mug of porridge at school. At the same time it announced similar schemes for Kenya, Cambodia, Guinea and Pakistan - a total spend of $85.9 million.

The problem is - though WFP left this detail out of their press release - that the US grant came with a condition: it had to be spent on American CSB to be bought from American farmers and put in American ships to be transported to Malawi. According to WFP, the cost of buying, transporting and packing the annual 8,000 tonnes of US CSB will be $812 a tonne. SIR, which will buy about 3,600 tonnes of Malawian CSB - likuni phala - this year, expects to pay around $320 a tonne (distribution costs add another 5 per cent). Simply, if the American money was spent in Malawi, it could feed nearly two-and-a-half times as many schoolchildren.

Link to How America is betraying the hungry children of Africa | Food monthly | The Observer

Stop Disasters

Interactive site on disasters. PLAY stop the disaster

Link to Stop Disasters

AIRPORT WATCH

Link to Airport Watch

AirportWatch is an umbrella organisation, formed in 2000. AirportWatch campaigns for a demand management approach to aviation. Demand for air travel could be dampened down by government removing the considerable tax breaks the aviation industry receives. AirportWatch believes that government policies to expand aviation can and should be resisted.

Optimum Population Trust

A radical form of “offsetting” carbon dioxide emissions to prevent climate change is proposed today – having fewer children.

Each new UK citizen less means a lifetime carbon dioxide saving of nearly 750 tonnes, a climate impact equivalent to 620 return flights between London and New York*, the Optimum Population Trust says in a new report.

Based on a “social cost” of carbon dioxide of $85 a tonne**, the report estimates the climate cost of each new Briton over their lifetime at roughly £30,000. The lifetime emission costs of the extra 10 million people projected for the UK by 2074 would therefore be over £300 billion.

Link to Optimum Population Trust

Should I Really Give Up Flying?

Link to BBC NEWS | Programmes | Should I Really Give Up Flying?

British Airport Authority: 2006

Link to BAA: 2006

There are detailed statistics for 2006, you need to click on the link of your choice. These links will all launch PDF's in new windows on the following topics.1. Busiest Month and Day 2. Origin and Destination 3. Top Airlines 4. Top Airports 5. Top Routes

Glacial Retreat

Link to EO Newsroom: New Images - Glacial Retreat

In North America, the most visited glacier is the Athabasca Glacier, one of six glaciers that spill down the Canadian Rockies from the Columbia Icefield in western Canada. Visitors who return to the glacier a few years after their first visit will notice the change wrought by warming temperatures. In the past 125 years, the Athabasca Glacier has lost half of its volume and receded more than 1.5 kilometers (0.93 miles), leaving hills of rock in its place. Its retreat is visible in this photo, where the glacier’s front edge looms several meters behind the tombstone-like marker that indicates the edge of the ice in 1992.

Destination UK

Immigration has contributed half of Britain's population growth in 10 years, according to new research.

Link to BBC NEWS | In Depth | Destination UK

Castlemilk demolition

Urban Regeneration Glasgow.

Organisers to give Olympic clouds a silver lining

Three defensive perimeters, dozens of cannon, hundreds of rockets and - on standby at a nearby airport - a fleet of five planes laden with thousands of silver-iodine pellets. No, it is not a new frontline in the war on terror. This is the cloudbusting arsenal that is being put at the disposal of Beijing's weathermen as they fight to ensure blue skies for the 2008 Olympics.

Chinese metereologists are preparing one of mankind's greatest ever assaults on the heavens next August, which the organisers belatedly acknowledge as the month when the capital gets almost half its annual rainfall.

Source: Organisers to give Olympic clouds a silver lining | Special reports | Guardian Unlimited

Good related article on USA TODAY. (Thanks Val)

DME 2007 Year 13

End Water Poverty

Link to End Water Poverty

There is a global crisis in water and sanitation. Billions of people live in the kind of squalor and disease that was eradicated long ago in the rich world.

Without sanitation and water there can be no sustainable development in health, education and livelihoods, locking people into a cycle of poverty and disease.

This crisis is one of inequality and poverty. If it is not tackled decisively, it will prevent and undermine progress made in reducing poverty, in achieving universal primary education, and improving people's basic health.

ALSO

http://www.wateraid.org/

Britain starts eating the planet on Sunday 15 April

Latest figures reveal Britain’s rising global interdependence as the nation goes into ecological debt on 15 AprilResearch from nef (the new economics foundation) reveals that on Sunday 15 April this year, the UK in effect stops relying on its own natural resources to support itself and starts to ‘live off’ the rest of the world.

At current UK levels of consumption our ‘ecological debt day’ – the day we begin living beyond our environmental means – falls only a third of the way through the year and has crept ever earlier over the last four decades. These latest findings build on a report, released by nef last year which exposed, for the first time, the sharp rise in how the UK depends on the rest of world, and how the burden of the Britain’s high-consuming lifestyle is exported internationally.

Source: Britain starts eating the planet on Sunday 15 April

United Kingdom Quiz

How well will you score on the UK test

Link to Oxford Education: Atlases - United Kingdom Quiz

The Sea Shore

A site to help interpret and understand the seashore and its organisms

Salt Marshes A marsh is somewhere damp with vegetation on it. A salt marsh is a muddy seashore with plants on it.

Sand Dunes and Shingle Communities Sand dunes are accumulations of sand stabilised by vegetation.

Link to The Sea Shore

China warns of population growth

China's top family planning body has warned of a "population rebound" as couples flout one child policy rules.

The widening wealth gap could lead to a rise in birth rates, Zhang Weiqing, from the National Population and Family Planning Commission, told state media.

Link to BBC NEWS | World | Asia-Pacific | China warns of population growth

Worlds Worst polluted places

Top 10

• Chernobyl, Ukraine
• Dzerzhinsk, Russia
• Haina, Dominican Republic
• Kabwe, Zambia
• La Oroya, Peru
• Linfen, China
• Maiuu Suu, Kyrgyzstan
• Norilsk, Russia
• Ranipet, India
• Rudnaya Pristan/Dalnegorsk, Russia

Source: The Blacksmith Institute

Google Maps

Many thanks to Noel Jenkins who enabled me to do this. The link is to his site, and the instructions can be found at "Embedding Google My Maps"
Click on the map and investigate

Danger! Lightening

This great!! Create your own lightening

Link to Light on Lightning! Danger!

Earth From The Air

Excellent photographs

Link to Our Online Photo Gallery for Earth From The Air

Bryophytes et al

Bryophytes Link to BBS > Home

Lichens LINK

Rotifers LINK

Tardigrades (water bears) LINK

Nematodes (round worms) LINK

Mites and Springtails LINK

Antarctic Bestiary Terrestrial Animals Living on the ground of the Antarctic Peninsula presents some extreme challenges to organisms, including:

• Highly variable, extreme temperatures, from -30°F to 50°F air temperature, with summer surface temperatures of rocks and moss reaching 70°F.
• Extremely high winds.
• A very short growing season (period when temperatures allow plant growth).
• Wide swings in pH, from 3 (very acidic) to 12 (very basic), partly caused by...
• Immersion in penguin guano (waste) from nesting Adélie penguin colonies in the summer.
• Immersion in both freshwater (from melting glaciers and snow and rain) and saltwater (from waves splashing on the land).
• Dehydration from exposure to very dry air in the winter.
• Exposure to intense UV rays. The protective ozone layer is naturally thinner here, and there is a hole in it (probably caused by human pollution) that opens up in the winter.
• Lack of oxygen, due to being encased in ice for long periods, as well as being immersed in penguin guano filled with oxygen-using microbes.

Antarctic Treaty meeting moves to protect frozen continent from non-native species

Important new measures to protect Antarctica * the world's last great wilderness * from invasive non-native species have been agreed at a meeting of Antarctic experts in Edinburgh.
Scientists and policy makers at the Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting, which finished at Edinburgh International Conference Centre on Friday 23 June, agreed new measures that will reduce the risk of non-native species being introduced into both marine and terrestrial ecosystems in Antarctica.
To protect the marine environment, the meeting adopted new practical guidelines for ballast water exchange by ships operating in the Southern Ocean around Antarctica. Under the new guidelines drawn up by the UK, vessels will need to exchange any ballast water before arriving in Antarctic waters, and plan for and keep records of all ballast water operations.
According to Dr John Shears of British Antarctic Survey, "In the past, Antarctica was isolated with a very harsh and cold environment, which made it very difficult for non-native species to establish. However, more and more people are travelling to the continent, most of them on ships. Evidence from other parts of the world has shown that there is a direct link between numbers of people visiting a remote area and the numbers of non-native species that survive. Once established, they can be very difficult to eradicate. Prevention is better than cure."
Concerned that a rapidly changing and warming climate on the Antarctic Peninsula could increase the risk of non-native species establishing themselves on the continent itself, the meeting also backed a series of recommendations made by New Zealand. These include development of a code of conduct for land-based activities - a set of minimum standards that all visitors, including tourists and scientists, would have to follow. Scientists called for more research into the issue. Dr Shears said that scientists need to identify which areas of Antarctica are most vulnerable and better understand the potential implications of climate change on the spread of non-native species.
Dr Shears says, "Antarctica's remoteness and isolation offer science a unique opportunity to understand our world. Part of Antarctica's value as a natural laboratory lies in the fact that its communities of animals and plants consist of only a few species living in simple relationships. This makes the Antarctic a perfect place to study how ecosystems work. The inadvertent introduction of non-native species into Antarctica could put this in jeopardy, and has the potential to change the continent's biodiversity forever."

Link to Antarctic Treaty meeting moves to protect frozen continent from non-native species Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting

Power station harnesses Sun's rays

There is a scene in one of the Austin Powers films where Dr Evil unleashes a giant "tractor beam" of energy at Earth in order to extract a massive payment.

Well, the memory of it kept me chuckling as I toured the extraordinary scene of the new solar thermal power plant outside Seville in southern Spain.

Link to BBC NEWS | Science/Nature | Power station harnesses Sun's rays

YouTube - Antarctica Time lapse: A Year on Ice

Thermohaline Circulation

Link to Thermohaline Circulation

Southern Ocean Water

Schematic depth-latitude diagram showing the major circulation and water masses of the Southern Ocean. The following water masses are highlighted: (1) Antarctic Bottom Water flowing along the abyssal ocean, (2) Circumpolar Deep Water upwelling into the Antarctic Divergence Zone, (3) Antarctic Intermediate Water in the temperature range 4-6°C, and (4) Subantarctic Mode Water in the upper ocean north of the Subantarctic Front (SAF).

Source: Matthew England - Recent projects

Antartic waters

Link to GLACIER: Oceans- -- Antsurfwater

Antarctic Ocean

The Antarctic Ocean, sometimes called the Southern Ocean, is the watery belt surrounding Antarctica. It includes the great polar embayments of the Weddell Sea and Ross Sea, and the deep circumpolar belt of ocean between 50 and 60°S and the southern fringes of the warmer oceans to the north. Its northern boundary is often taken as 30°S (see illustration). The Antarctic is a cold ocean, covered by sea ice during the winter from Antarctica's coast northward to approximately 60°S.

Source: Antarctic Ocean: Definition and Much More from Answers.com

Katabatic Winds

Link to Local Winds