Why does hunger exist?

 

Reason_Hunger.swf (application/x-shockwave-flash Object)

How China overtook the US in renewable energy | News | guardian.co.uk

 

China renewable energy: An employee displays a solar panel at a workshop in a factory in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province. Photograph: LANG LANG/REUTERS

China has overtaken the US for the first time in a league table of investments in low-carbon energy among the G-20, according to a new report by not for profit group the Pew Charitable Trusts published this week.

How China overtook the US in renewable energy | News | guardian.co.uk

Beijing to sweeten stench of rubbish crisis with giant deodorant guns

High-pressure fragrance sprays will be installed at Asuwei dump, one of several hundred overflowing landfill sites that are the focus of growing public concern
In pictures: zooming in on Beijing's rubbish

Beijing to sweeten stench of rubbish crisis with giant deodorant guns | Environment | guardian.co.uk

Cap and trade climate solution

Story of bottled water

BBC News - Cliff-edge house hosts last party

The owner of a house on a Scarborough cliff edge has hosted a special dinner as a farewell gesture to the property. Teetering on the edge of Knipe Point in Scarborough, the property is at risk of falling off the cliff as it crumbles. Owner Kane Cunningham invited twelve guests to the bungalow's "last supper" to highlight the perils of climate change.

BBC News - Cliff-edge house hosts last party

Cumbria floods

Local newspaper links

News & Star | News | Cumbria floods

Volcano erupts near Eyjafjallajoekull in south Iceland

  An Icelandic volcano, dormant for 200 years, has erupted, ripping a 1km-long fissure in a field of ice.The volcano near Eyjafjallajoekull glacier began to erupt just after midnight, sending lava a hundred metres high. Icelandic airspace has been closed, flights diverted and roads closed. The eruption was about 120km (75 miles) east of the capital, Reykjavik. About 500 people were moved from the area,

BBC News - Volcano erupts near Eyjafjallajoekull in south Iceland

BBC News - Online in Brazil's shanty towns

The internet has created many new opportunities for people to get richer around the world.But are the benefits of access to the net filtering down to the very poorest in society? A shanty town in Brazil is a good place to find out. Babilonia is a favela, a slum district, of about 80,000 inhabitants, most of them very poor. It's located in Brazil's second city Rio de Janeiro, close to the world famous Copacabana beach.

BBC News - Online in Brazil's shanty towns

Film trailer: Dirty Oil | Film | guardian.co.uk

A film illustrating the devastating impact that tar sands developments in Alberta, Canada are having on the environment and native First Nation communities

Film trailer: Dirty Oil | Film | guardian.co.uk

UK import emissions are the highest in Europe, figures show

Britain's demand for imported goods is responsible for more greenhouse gas emissions abroad than any other European country, according to a new study published today.

The report shows that 253m tonnes of carbon dioxide are released overseas each year in the manufacture of products bound for UK shores, the equivalent of 4.3 tonnes per person. The average Briton's carbon footprint is 9.7 tonnes, not including emissions from goods.

UK import emissions are the highest in Europe, figures show | Environment | guardian.co.uk

Google Street View - Simon Haughton's Blog

comparing settlements (village/town/city);

looking for safe places to cross the road (e.g. zebra/pelican crossings);

online treasure hunts (e.g. challenge children to find a particular building);

observing architecture on buildings (e.g. cathedrals);

identifying naturally-occuring features in the landscape (e.g. meanders, beaches etc.);

spotting shapes in the local environment (e.g. road markings/railings/signs etc.);

using panoramas as stimuli for story writing.

Google Street View - Simon Haughton's Blog

A Disastrous Year: 2010 Death Toll Already Abnormally High | LiveScience

In comparison to previous years, the number of casualties from natural disasters in 2010, which is already well above 200,000, is outside the norm. Yet as in other disastrous years, the high toll this year is due largely to a single event.

Over the decade from 2000 to the end of 2009, the yearly average was 78,000, according to the United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (ISDR). For the 1990s, the average was 43,000, and the 1980s was 75,000. Disaster experts say the rise in tragedy is at least partly due to increases in urban populations.

A Disastrous Year: 2010 Death Toll Already Abnormally High | LiveScience

How to feed the world

How to feed the world ? from Denis van Waerebeke on Vimeo.

NOAA Center for Tsunami Research - Tsunami Event - February 27, 2010 Chile

The Chile tsunami was generated by a Mw 8.8 earthquake (35.846°S, 72.719°W ), at 06:34 UTC, 115 km (60 miles) NNE of Concepcion, Chile (according to the USGS). In approximately 3 hours, the tsunami was first recorded at DART® buoy 32412. Forecast results shown below were created with the NOAA forecast method using MOST model with the tsunami source inferred from DART® data. The tsunami waves first arrived at Valparaiso, Chile (approximately 330 km northeast from earthquake epicenter ), at 0708UTC, about 34 minutes after the earthquake.

NOAA Center for Tsunami Research - Tsunami Event - February 27, 2010 Chile

Google - public data

 

Google - public data

Deals can be good news when not made behind closed doors | Environment | The Observer

 

Land is life for millions of people across the developing world, central to their livelihoods, culture and identity. But there is growing concern that people's connection to their land is being undermined, and especially in Africa, where land is cheapest and where people's rights to land are weakest.Arab, east Asian, European, American and Indian investors are all leasing more and more large tracts of farmland in Africa, which some commentators have dubbed "land grabs" and say herald a new colonialism. However, blanket statements are misleading. Agricultural investments could be good news for Africa, bringing jobs, capital, know-how, access to markets and infrastructure – but only if they are done right.

Deals can be good news when not made behind closed doors | Environment | The Observer

The beauty of wind power

 

In pictures: The beauty of wind power | Environment | guardian.co.uk

Know your flood risk: Welcome

Know Your Flood Risk is a campaign with a mission to help raise awareness of the issue of flood and encourage practical guidance and support to help protect homeowners and property professionals against the risks.

Why join the campaign?
By signing up to the campaign you will join a community of organisations whose goal is to raise awareness of flood information and the potential risks. As a collective voice, Know Your Flood Risk and its members aim to raise the profile of flooding and ensure consumers are not only aware of the risks they face, but also how to mitigate them.

Know your flood risk: Welcome

BBC News - Mapping the growth of the internet

Growth of the INTERNET with interactive map from the BBC

BBC News - Mapping the growth of the internet