Environment News – “There’s No Doubt Left” | Yes, We CAN Change! |Â Shooting Stars
Some bite-sized pieces of news from the environment this week.
7 August, 2019
News snippets
It’s a risky business, being an environmental defender. People wanting to protect their land, water or local wildlife often “offend” powerful people with vested interests in deforestation or oil extraction. So many defenders and environmental journalists have been murdered that the numbers are similar to the number of deaths in war zones –Â that’s shocking.
Try to protect the Amazon rainforest, for example, and you come up against  the highest ranks of financial and political power.. But many of the biggest environmental violators are western companies, often listed on stock exchanges and headquartered far from where their destructive strategies play out.. Supposedly ethical businesses make top-level decisions to source their raw materials in countries where there is little press freedom, little transparency, and even less law enforcement. Many western financial institutions, including the World Bank, help to finance companies’ expansion into developing countries – they know what will happen, but they go ahead and finance it anyway. It’s just appalling.
Climate “deniers” often say that climate change has happened before. (It has, but not like this). Now, new reports tell us “there’s no doubt left” – there has never been a period in the last 2,000 years when temperature changes have been as fast and extensive as in recent decades. There was, for example, a “little ice age” but it was localized, not global the way climate change is now. We have changed the whole planet.
more below……
more snippets
Yes, we CAN change. Since a small charge was levied on plastic bags in shops in England, sales have dropped by a massive 90% (and yes, people ARE remembering to bring their reusable bags with them!). We can change bad habits when there are incentives!
There’s a lot of talk about how our oceans are warming. But what does it actually mean? Yes, that kills off coral, so Australia loses a tourist attraction. But coral is the “nursery” for many fish. Depleted fish stocks mean we have less to eat. But there’s more. Warmer water melts polar ice, so the sea level rises, drowning coastal cities. Melting sea ice also increases wave height which means even more coastal erosion.There’s more extreme weather all over the world, because there’s more heat energy available for storms, and record-breaking heatwaves. A new report shows the oceans are warming even faster than scientists thought. We are in the emergency phase of climate change. We have to stop using fossil fuels. Now.
Want to see lots of shooting stars? The Perseid meteor shower is happening now, but peaks on the evening of Aug. 12 when you should see a great show,. The best times should be around midnight and before dawn on the 13th August. More details here.Â
There will be a full moon on Aug 15th (Sturgeon Moon) and a New Moon on Aug 30th.
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Warm regards,
P.S.  Don’t forget to download your free green living handbook “Live Well, Live Green” here.