Climate change

Climate change is among the greatest threats to biodiversity today. As Earth's temperature rises, wildlife moves to more suitable habitat northward or perhaps to higher elevations. Some coral reef species cannot move, other species are not suited to new ecosystems, and some are simply running out of room to live. Meanwhile, glaciers are melting, ocean chemistry is changing, and entire populations of species are disappearing. If left unchecked, climate change could prompt the extinction of tens of thousands of species in as few as 50 years.

It is well known that human activity, especially the burning of fossil fuels, causes global warming. However, few people realize that deforestation and land-use changes – such as slash-and-burn farming, soil degradation and loss, road building, and urban sprawl – account for as much as 20 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions.

Some 35.1 million acres of tropical forests are destroyed each year, releasing millions of tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) into the atmosphere. Not to mention the significant loss of biodiversity and habitat in each converted acre, or the cumulative loss of ecosystem services for local communities, including storm protection, non-timber forest products, ecotourism potential, and water purification.

Conservation International (CI) is working with partners in all sectors to better understand the impact of climate change on global biodiversity and to promote conservation as a strategy for mitigating global warming. By incorporating the science of climate change into conservation strategies, CI is demonstrating that CO2 emissions can be reduced not only by protecting and restoring forests that absorb the gas, but also by preventing release of the greenhouse gases when forests are cleared or burned.

Through its Center for Environmental Leadership in Business (CELB), CI engages industry in this effort and offers cost-effective options for businesses to offset their emissions. Conservation Carbon projects are unique in that they are designed to deliver multiple benefits: mitigating climate change, conserving biodiversity, and promoting human welfare. Thus, a donation for offsetting carbon also prevents species extinctions, restores ecosystem services for communities, and fosters economic growth.

For example, CI has partnered with the Wildlife Conservation Society and Madagascar’s Ministry of the Environment, Water, and Forests to protect one of the largest remaining patches of rain forest on the island nation and thus prevent the release of tons of CO2 there. Madagascar is home to a wide array of species found nowhere else on Earth, but poverty, rapid population growth, and a lack of agricultural alternatives have resulted in extensive deforestation on the island.

With offset donations of various companies, however, CI and its partners are supporting Malagasy communities in managing a protected area and transforming slash-and-burn farming into sustainable agriculture across some 864,900 acres of land.

Sir Richard Branson is to invest $3bn (£1.6bn) to fight global warming.

Sir Richard Branson, who has graced these pages before (for aviation ethanol -- twice -- and for his idea that MG should make hybrids), has lots of big ideas, but we think this one is right on. He's decided to invest $3 billion dollars over the next decade to fight global warming. He will invest all profits from his travel-related companies (like airline Virgin Atlantic and Virgin Trains) in initiatives to develop new renewable energy technologies, both run by Virgin companies and external businesses. "We must rapidly wean ourselves off our dependence on coal and fossil fuels," said Sir Richard. We agree, and $3 billion is definitely a step or two in the right direction.

The Virgin boss said he would commit all profits from his travel firms, such as airline Virgin Atlantic and Virgin Trains, over the next 10 years.

"We must rapidly wean ourselves off our dependence on coal and fossil fuels," Sir Richard said.

The funds will be invested in schemes to develop new renewable energy technologies, through an investment unit called Virgin Fuels.

One of the UK's best known entrepreneurs, Sir Richard made the announcement in New York on the second day of the Clinton Global Initiative, an annual conference hosted by former US President Bill Clinton.

Sir Richard, 56, said that transport and energy companies "must be at the forefront of developing environmentally friendly business strategies".

Planes and trains

Virgin Trains operates two UK rail franchises

Sir Richard recently launched a new Virgin Fuels business, which will invest up to $400m in green energy projects.

It has already announced its backing for a California firm, Cilion which plans to make bio ethanol from corn.

Friends of the Earth broadly welcomed Sir Richard's announcement, but the environmental pressure group warned that the continued fast growth in air travel could not be maintained "without causing climatic disaster".

Worth an estimated £3bn, Sir Richard started his career in the record industry before moving into everything from mobile phones to credit cards.

He established his main airline Virgin Atlantic in 1984, starting services between London and New York.

He also owns two low-cost airlines, Virgin Express in Europe and Virgin Blue in Australia.

His Virgin Group owns a 51% stake in UK train company Virgin Trains.

This firm operates the UK's West Coast Main Line franchise between London and the west of Scotland, and the cross country franchise between the south west of England and Scotland.

Major donations

Mr Branson's investment pledge comes after US billionaire investor Warren Buffett announced in June that he was donating $37bn to charity.

Mr Buffett gave the money to the charitable foundation run by Microsoft founder Bill Gates, which works to reduce global poverty and improve health and access to education.

Mr Gates himself said in July that the charity, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, was pledging $287m in a bid to speed-up the development of a vaccine for the HIV/Aids virus.

Sir Richard has previously given money to educational charities in Africa.

Sir Richard Branson, who has graced these pages before (for aviation ethanol -- twice -- and for his idea that MG should make hybrids), has lots of big ideas, but we think this one is right on. He's decided to invest $3 billion dollars over the next decade to fight global warming. He will invest all profits from his travel-related companies (like airline Virgin Atlantic and Virgin Trains) in initiatives to develop new renewable energy technologies, both run by Virgin companies and external businesses. "We must rapidly wean ourselves off our dependence on coal and fossil fuels," said Sir Richard. We agree, and $3 billion is definitely a step or two in the right direction.

The Virgin boss said he would commit all profits from his travel firms, such as airline Virgin Atlantic and Virgin Trains, over the next 10 years.

"We must rapidly wean ourselves off our dependence on coal and fossil fuels," Sir Richard said.

The funds will be invested in schemes to develop new renewable energy technologies, through an investment unit called Virgin Fuels.

One of the UK's best known entrepreneurs, Sir Richard made the announcement in New York on the second day of the Clinton Global Initiative, an annual conference hosted by former US President Bill Clinton.

Sir Richard, 56, said that transport and energy companies "must be at the forefront of developing environmentally friendly business strategies".

Planes and trains

Virgin Trains operates two UK rail franchises

Sir Richard recently launched a new Virgin Fuels business, which will invest up to $400m in green energy projects.

It has already announced its backing for a California firm, Cilion which plans to make bio ethanol from corn.

Friends of the Earth broadly welcomed Sir Richard's announcement, but the environmental pressure group warned that the continued fast growth in air travel could not be maintained "without causing climatic disaster".

Worth an estimated £3bn, Sir Richard started his career in the record industry before moving into everything from mobile phones to credit cards.

He established his main airline Virgin Atlantic in 1984, starting services between London and New York.

He also owns two low-cost airlines, Virgin Express in Europe and Virgin Blue in Australia.

His Virgin Group owns a 51% stake in UK train company Virgin Trains.

This firm operates the UK's West Coast Main Line franchise between London and the west of Scotland, and the cross country franchise between the south west of England and Scotland.

Major donations

Mr Branson's investment pledge comes after US billionaire investor Warren Buffett announced in June that he was donating $37bn to charity.

Mr Buffett gave the money to the charitable foundation run by Microsoft founder Bill Gates, which works to reduce global poverty and improve health and access to education.

Mr Gates himself said in July that the charity, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, was pledging $287m in a bid to speed-up the development of a vaccine for the HIV/Aids virus.

Sir Richard has previously given money to educational charities in Africa.

banjir di sulawesi dan sumatera

Metrotvnews.com, Morowali: Sedikitnya 57 korban tewas dan 23 lainnya dinyatakan hilang dalam musibah banjir dan longsor di Morowali, Sulawesi Tengah. Jumlah korban tersebut tercatat di Posko Satkorlak Penanggulangan Bencana di Palu, Sulawesi Tengah. Petugas Satkorlak Frets Abas menyatakan, timnya sudah bergerak menuju dua kecamatan, yakni Kecamatan Bungku Utara dan Mamosalato.

Namun, Selasa (24/7) ini petugas baru bisa menembus Kecamatan Mamosalato untuk mengirim bantuan bagi korban. Sementara itu, sampai tadi malam petugas gabungan dari petugas medis dan petugas keamanan masih sulit menebus lokasi di Desa Baturube, Kecamatan Bungku Utara, melalui jalur laut akibat tingginya ombak yang mencapai hingga tiga meter.

Petugas diperkirakan baru bisa tiba di lokasi siang ini pada pukul 14.00 WITA melalui jalur darat. Menurut warga setempat, korban yang telah ditemukan sudah dimakamkan semua.

Badan Kordinasi Nasional (Bakornas) Penangulangan Bencana, Selasa pagi, mengirimkan bantuan ke lokasi banjir. Bantuan logistik dikirim dengan satu unit pesawat Hercules milik TNI Angkatan Udara dari Bandara Halim Perdana Kusuma, Jakarta. Bantuan yang dikirim sebanyak 10,87 ton.

Bantuan dari Bakornas Penanggulangan Bencana ini selanjutnya akan disalurkan ke beberapa desa dengan jalan darat dan laut. Sebab, lokasi bencana sulit dijangkau dan cuaca masih buruk, sehingga bantuan tidak dapat dikirim melalui udara.

Syamsul Ma'arif, Pelaksana Harian Bakornas Penaggulangan Bencana, mengatakan, jika cuaca membaik, dua helikopter milik TNI Angkatan Udara juga akan beroperasi untuk memperlancar distribusi bantuan.

Metrotvnews.com, Agam: Hujan lebat yang mengguyur Sumatra Barat mengakibatkan sejumlah nagari atau desa di Kabupaten Agam terendam banjir. Wilayah terparah adalah Kenagarian Manggopoh, Tiku Barat, Tiku Timur dan Tiku Lima Jorong. Selain curah hujan, banjir kali ini kian parah akibat meluapnya Sungai Tiku dan terjadinya gelombang pasang.

Akibatnya, warga tidak bisa beraktivitas karena hujan masih terus mengguyur wilayah ini. Banjir setengah hingga satu meter ini mengakibatkan sekitar 600 jiwa diungsikan ke wilayah yang aman.

Pemerintah Kabupaten Agam telah mendirikan posko korban banjir di Kantor Kecamatan Tiku. Wakil Bupati Agam Ardinal Hasan juga telah melihat langsung kondisi korban banjir dan memberikan bantuan berupa bahan makanan.

Metrotvnews.com, Serdang Bedagai: Tingginya curah hujan selama empat hari mengakibatkan banjir di Serdang Bedagai, Sumatra Utara. Banjir terletak di Desa Suka Beras, Desa Lidah Tanah, Desa Pematang Sijonam, Desa Lubuk Rotan dan Kelurahan Tualang. Ketinggian air yang mencapai setengah meter juga merendam kantor desa dan membuat aktivitas warga terhenti.

Selain itu, banjir juga merusak sekitar 50-an hektare tanaman padi yang diperkirakan akan di panen dalam dua minggu lagi. Hasnah, warga korban banjir, menyatakan, banjir kali ini yang paling parah. Warga berharap pemerintah setempat secepatnya mendirikan posko kesehatan bagi korban banjir. Posko dinilai penting untuk mengantisipasi serangan penyakit selama dan pasca banjir.

Live Earth (Global Warming act)

The plans for the Live Earth concerts were announced at a media event in Los Angeles on February 15,^[3] 2007 by Al Gore and other celebrities. The inspiration for promoting the cause using benefit concerts comes from many similar events over the past 25 years including the 1985 Live Aid concerts and the 2005 Live 8 concerts and it was to be the longest show ever to be recorded in the world records. The event was claimed to be carbon neutral, and organizers said they would purchase carbon credits to offset the environmental impact of the flights associated with the events.^[4]

NIMBY (Not in my backyard) is a new phenomena, that show about how much we care about our environment,as long as not in my backyard, people of this world, didn't know, that they world, would be in the serious ill damaged, SOS (save Our Self) were the word from Mr.Gore himself.

In addition to raising awareness of global warming,^[5] on June 28 2007, it was revealed that Live Earth is to be the launch event for the Live Earth Call to Action.^[6] During the concerts people were asked to support the following 7-point pledge:^[6]

1. To demand that my country join an international treaty within the next 2 years that cuts global warming pollution by 90% in developed countries and by more than half worldwide in time for the next generation to inherit a healthy earth;
2. To take personal action to help solve the climate crisis by reducing my own CO₂ pollution as much as I can and offsetting the rest to become 'carbon neutral;'
3. To fight for a moratorium on the construction of any new generating facility that burns coal without the capacity to safely trap and store the CO₂;
4. To work for a dramatic increase in the energy efficiency of my home, workplace, school, place of worship, and means of transportation;
5. To fight for laws and policies that expand the use of renewable energy sources and reduce dependence on oil and coal;
6. To plant new trees and to join with others in preserving and protecting forests; and,
7. To buy from businesses and support leaders who share my commitment to solving the climate crisis and building a sustainable, just, and prosperous world for the 21st century.

In subsequent interviews Al Gore indicated that the concerts would mark 'the beginning of a three-year campaign worldwide to deliver information about how we solve the climate crisis'^[7][8] and that 'the prospects for every future generation depend on us understanding, hearing and acting upon this information.'^[7][9]

Armies of workers at the nine concert sites in seven different continents ensured that Live Earth practised what it had preached during 24 hours of live music.

An array of environmentally-friendly measures had failed to save the concerts from criticism.

Some environmental groups condemned Live Earth for staging rock concerts and actually increasing carbon emissions - the very thing it had demanded its 2 billion global audience should cut.

Others said people would not be lectured to by rock stars who had used private jets to get to the venues. There was also surprise about some of the sponsors including the US car manufacturers Chevrolet in London and Daimler-Chrysler in Hamburg.

Madonna, who closed the nine-hour Wembley Stadium concert, attended by 70,000 people, came in for particular criticism and was forced to release a statement saying she was committed to reducing her own carbon footprint. The move came after the Fox News network obtained a tax return which showed she had more than £1 million invested in a company heavily criticised for environmental pollution.

In response organisers said the concerts had reached more than 10 million visitors online alone.

They also claimed that more than 10,000 "Friends of Live Earth" events were registered in 130 countries which would help build a community committed to tackling climate change.

All 150 artists who took part in the concerts in New York, Rio de Janeiro, Sydney, Tokyo, Shanghai, Johannesburg, Hamburg, London and Washington waived their appearance fees and signed up to a carbon pledge.

There was also surprise about some of the sponsors including the US car manufacturers Chevrolet in London and Daimler-Chrysler in Hamburg.

Madonna, who closed the nine-hour Wembley Stadium concert, attended by 65,000 people, and was forced to release a statement saying she was committed to reducing her own carbon footprint.

The move came after the Fox News network obtained a tax return which showed she had more than £1m invested in a company heavily criticised for environmental pollution. In response organisers said the concerts had reached more than 10 million visitors online alone – the highest number of simultaneous viewers of any online concert and had inspired change in viewers on a global scale.

They also claimed that more than 10,000 'Friends of Live Earth’ events had now been registered in 130 countries which would help build a community committed to tackling climate change.

By early today, 150,000 people had signed up to an online pledge to cut their use of fossil fuels. "The concerts were only the springboard and we now face three years of hard work to try and find a global solution," said a spokesman.

All 150 artists who took part in the concerts in New York, Rio de Janeiro, Sydney, Tokyo, Shanghai, Johannesburg, Hamburg, London and Washington waived their appearance fees and signed up to the pledge to cut their own CO2 emissions.

Former US Vice President Al Gore, who was the main figurehead of Live Earth urged audiences around the world to sign up to the pledge and to urge their governments to take action to help stop global warming.

Mr Gore called the event an "historic day" when he spoke from the Washington concert, calling for the developed world to reduce carbon emissions.

On a video link, he said: "Not many years from now, our children and grandchildren will ask one of two questions, looking back at us in 2007.

"Either they will ask 'What were they thinking, didn’t they hear the scientists, see the evidence, didn’t they care, or were they too busy?'

"Or they will ask the second question, which I prefer. I want them to ask of us: 'How did they get their act together to successfully solve the climate crisis?'"

The actor Leonardo DiCaprio said as he introduced Mr Gore: "Our actions from this day forward will help determine just what sort of future we pass on to our children and to their children. As we all face this together, we cannot afford to fail those future generations, or to fail ourselves. What once seemed like science-fiction is now an inconvenient, if undeniable, truth."

Reactions to the concerts were mixed. Newspapers in London and New York were much more cynical claiming the underlying serious message about climate change had been diluted by the use of rock concerts.

But in Germany, where Snoop Dogg was among the acts at the Hamburg concert, Live Earth dominated the headlines. "The bottom line is that if nothing else, the issue of climate protection was a lot of fun for two billion people for one day," wrote Bild am Sonntag, Germany’s best-selling Sunday newspaper.

more performers : wikipedia.org

warnign

Kamu sadar??
- jakarta kebanjiran
- Padang air pasang merusak rumah warga
- hujan terus menerus, di kalimantan, sampe banjir
- seluruh pantai dari aceh, sampe bali, bakal kena pasang tgl 27 juni nanti.
- amerika, kena tornado, di beberapa tempat, dan kebakaran hutan dimana-mana
- china kebanjiran, dari awal bulan juni, dah ambil korban ratusan orang
- di turki, dan athena, yunani suhu sampe 42 derajat celcius, dan beberapa org mati kepanasan.
- di kutub utara, es mulai mencair, sebuah bongkahan es, sebesar inggris, mulai berpisah, beruang kutub, mulai kehilangan habitatnya.
- dan lain2nya

itu gejala global warming...
dan 15 thn, lagi, entah bagaimana iklim, mulai jadi pembunuh kita..

interview for Volta

On Friday, Björk opened her music box and revealed its latest treasure: Volta, the Icelandic powerhouse's forthcoming album, due out May 7 on One Little Indian/Atlantic.

The record was produced by Björk herself, and features a globe-trotting all-star cast of contributors, including Timbaland, Antony, Lightning Bolt's Brian Chippendale, percussionist Chris Corsano, African collective Konono N°1, kora virtuoso Toumani Diabaté, Chinese pipa player Min Xiao-Fen, and a ten-piece Icelandic brass section.

Last week in New York City, Pitchfork's Brandon Stosuy sat down with Björk for her first interview about the new album. (Full disclosure: Stosuy is a friend of Matthew Barney, Björk's partner.) During their lengthy chat, Björk opened up about the politics and sonics of Volta, her relationships with her collaborators, and her plans for the future.

In the first part of a series that will continue over the course of the coming weeks, Björk talks about the rhythms of Volta: how they're different from the rhythms of her previous work, and how a trip to tsunami-stricken Indonesia inspired the life-force behind the beats.

Pitchfork: On your last album, Medulla, you focused on the human voice. This album has more of a percussive feel. Were you consciously trying to focus on percussion on this album?

Björk: I guess it was really different from how I usually work. Because at least with Homogenic, Vespertine, and Medulla, if there was a starting point, it was rhythms. I don't know why, maybe because it's the thing that I don't do. With Homogenic, I would start with a programmer, just to do distorted rock beats. And we did, I think, 100 just one bar things. And by the time I had written enough songs, I would just sit down, and then I could just sort of call it, 'okay, for the chorus of this song, like beat 73, and for the verse, number two' or whatever. And for Vespertine, I had just gotten my first laptop, and it was very much about the static universe of the internet, and all the beats clicking and everything whispered. So that would be the starting point. And obviously, Medulla was a vocal album.

But with this one, it was different because I knew more emotionally what I wanted. And because I'd done two or three projects in a row that were quite serious, maybe I just needed to get that out of my system or something. So all I wanted to do for this album was just to have fun and do something that was full-bodied and really up.

I actually did the whole album, and it wasn't until the last two or three months where the only jigsaw that hadn't been solved was the rhythms. We had done a lot of experiments with rhythms but I just threw them all away because it was like every time we did something really clever with drum programming beats, it was just too pretentious for this album, it just didn't stick.

For some reason, for me it was maybe a little bit nostalgic going back to 1992, where you had really simple 808 and 909 really lo-fi drum machines, not doing anything fancy but really basic, almost like rave stuff or trance stuff, and then really, really acoustic drums. So there are a couple of tracks on this album which are actually programs, with many programming hours spent, and you listen to it, and it sounds like kettle drums or something.

Pitchfork: Marching--both the rhythm of feet and the concept of marching itself--seems to play a big part in this record. What's the significance of marching?

Björk: I just wanted to get rhythmic again. Medulla was my way of pulling out of that, refusing to be categorized as 'Oh what rhythm is she going to do next?' Just feeling the pressure of all these young drum programmers or producers or whatever you call them contacting me, like, who was going to be the flavor of the month. It had become this kind of fashion statement, it just wasn't right.

I mean, I do love one-upmanship sometimes, like when you see kids breakdancing and who can do the best tricks. It's common, it's in our nature as animals, like the birds of paradise who've got the best feathers and that sort of stuff. But it's fun when it's impulsive and it's about fun. When it becomes clever, when it becomes more of a left-brain, who can mathematically out-do the other, it's not so fun anymore. And maybe I just sort of pulled out and did a whole vocal album.

But I definitely missed my rhythms. I mean, I love rhythms. I started an all-girl punk band when I was 14 and I was the drummer, not the singer. I'm very, very, very picky when it comes to rhythms. So it was fun to approach it from another angle on this one.

And I'd be lying if I didn't say it was some sort of reaction to the state of the world today. I mean, I went in January over a year ago to Indonesia, to the area where the tsunami hit the worst. Just seeing a village of 300,000 people and 180,000 died, and people were still there digging people out and the smell of corpses and bone. The tsunami kind of scraped houses away, you could still see the floor, and the people I was with found their mom's favorite dress kind of in the mud and it was just like, outrageous.

I mean, the human race, we are a tribe, let's face it, and let's stop all this religious bullshit. I think everybody, or at least a lot of my friends, are just so exhausted with this whole self-importance of religious people. Just drop it. We're all fucking animals, so let's just make some universal tribal beat. We're pagan. Let's just march.
www.pitchforkmedia.com