IN SYRIA: DELIBERATE WILDFIRES MEANS TERRORIST ACT PUNISHED WITH EXECUTION!!!

 Reproduced from BBC NEWS

DEFORESTATION IN THE NORTH AND WATER SHORTAGE IN SOUTHEAST BRAZIL

 Brazil: A drought with roots in the Amazon jungle https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-58743367

Access this following link, for a good explanation on likely most important cause of dryness in southeast Brazil:

https://youtu.be/jT0FgvjRthY

MACHINE FOR CAPTURING ATMOSPHERIC CO2 AND INJECT IT DEEP INTO THE GROUND TO BE MINERALISED

 Reproduced from https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/sep/09/worlds-biggest-plant-to-turn-carbon-dioxide-into-rock-opens-in-iceland-orca?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

The world’s largest plant designed to suck carbon dioxide out of the air and turn it into rock has started running, the companies behind the project said on Wednesday.

The plant, named Orca after the Icelandic word “orka” meaning “energy”, consists of four units, each made up of two metal boxes that look like shipping containers.

Constructed by Switzerland’s Climeworks and Iceland’s Carbfix, when operating at capacity the plant will draw 4,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide out of the air every year, according to the companies.

According to the US Environmental Protection Agency, that equates to the emissions from about 870 cars. The plant cost between US$10 and 15m to build, Bloomberg reported.

To collect the carbon dioxide, the plant uses fans to draw air into a collector, which has a filter material inside.

Once the filter material is filled with CO2, the collector is closed and the temperature is raised to release the CO2 from the material, after which the highly concentrated gas can be collected.

The CO2 is then mixed with the water before being injected at a depth of 1,000 metres into the nearby basalt rock where it is mineralised.

Proponents of so-called carbon capture and storage believe these technologies can become a major tool in the fight against climate change.

Critics however argue that the technology is still prohibitively expensive and might take decades to operate at scale.

DESPITE GOVERNMENT’S PROMISES… CONSERVATION UNITS AND INDIGENOUS LANDS ARE OUR ULTIMATE HOPE!

 The creation of Protected Areas (Conservation Units and Indigenous Lands) has been one of the most effective strategies against deforestation in the Amazon. These areas, which occupy about 44% of the Amazon, play an essential role in the conservation of natural resources (especially biodiversity) and maintenance of environmental services, in addition to guaranteeing the rights of traditional and indigenous populations.

The challenge now is to ensure the effective protection of these territories against illegal deforestation, predatory logging and the risks of disaffection. In addition, it is necessary to advance in the process of consolidation of these areas with the elaboration and implementation of land management and regularization plans (where necessary).

The deforested area from January to June reached 4,014 km², 55% more than in the same period last year

Deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon region from January to June is already the highest in 10 years, according to Imazon. The research center that monitors the forest through satellite images published that the deforested area in this year reached 4,014 km², 55% more than in the same period in 2020.

Only in June of this year, the destruction of the forest reached 926 km². This number represents the third-highest of the decade for June. “We had already been following this increase in deforestation every month, with negative records. In March, April, and May, the deforested areas were the largest in the last ten years for each month”, explains Antonio Fonseca, Imazon’s researcher.

The June data also showed that only two of the nine states in the Brazilian Amazon registered 61% of all deforestation in the biome: Pará and Amazonas. Both added up 568 km² of deforested area in the period.

'LOCAL' ENVIRONMENT PROBLEM?!

 

NEW TRAITOR TO SUSTAINABILITY?!

 […]

But now the green body says the relationship has "become untenable" and Korindo's trademark licenses with FSC will be terminated from October.  

"We were not able to verify improvements in Korindo's social and environmental performance," Kim Carstensen, FSC international director general said.

He said the decision would "give us clarity and a breath of fresh air while Korindo continues its efforts to improve." 

Korindo groups chief sustainability officer Kwangyul Peck said in a statement that the company was "very shocked by the FSC decision." 

He insists they were following all the steps of "an agreed roadmap of improvements" and said despite their expulsion from the FSC "they remain committed to sustainability and human rights."

Reported from:

 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-57845156

PANDEMICS : MAY BE CAUSED BY DESTRUCTION OF NATURE (DIRECTLY OR NOT)

Reproduced from

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/jun/04/end-destruction-of-nature-to-stop-future-pandemics-say-scientists?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

The root cause of pandemics – the destruction of nature – is being ignored, scientists have warned. The focus of world leaders on responding to future outbreaks overlooks the far cheaper and more effective strategy of stopping the spillover of disease from animals to humans in the first place, they have said.

The razing of forests and hunting of wildlife is increasingly bringing animals and the microbes they harbour into contact with people and livestock. About 70% of new infectious diseases have come from animals, including Covid-19, Sars, bird flu, Ebola and HIV.

However, preventing this root cause of spillover is scarcely mentioned by leaders and authorities, said the scientists behind a new independent taskforce, which will report to the coalition on Preventing Pandemics at the Source. The PPS said the issue has been ignored by the World Health Assembly, and a recent report for the World Health Organization on the coronavirus pandemic.

Recent research estimated the annual cost of preventing further pandemics over the next decade to be $26bn (£18bn), just 2% of the financial damage caused by Covid-19. The measures would include protecting forests, shutting down risky trade in wildlife, better protecting farm animals from infection and rapid disease detection in wildlife markets.

[…]

“Covid-19 was a warning shot from the whole of nature to our species,” said Aaron Bernstein, a doctor at Harvard’s Center for Climate, Health and the Global Environment who is leading the taskforce. “But so far world leaders are far from acting. You hear from [them] about the actions to supposedly prevent pandemics, but the idea of preventing their root causes is scarcely even mentioned, let alone discussed.

[…]