LOGGERS AND OIL COMPANIES EXERT PRESSURE ON TRIBAL PEOPLE IN PERU

http://www.survivalinternational.org/films/redgold

CHINA IS NOT 'SO BAD' AS IPCC USED TO THINK, ABOUT POLLUTION

Reproduced from

New estimates show that for more than a decade China's greenhouse gas emissions have been overestimated by international agencies, while the country's energy consumption has been underestimated.

The research, published today in Nature, shows that from 2000 to 2013 China produced 2.9 gigatonnes less carbon than previous estimates of its culmulative emissions, meaning that its true emissions may have been around 14% lower than calculated.

Meanwhile, with a population of almost 1.4 billion, China's energy consumption grew 10% faster during 2000-12 than reported by its national statistics.

As the world's biggest greenhouse gas emitter, China's recent pledge to peak its emissions by 2030 has been praised as responsible leadership on the climate issue, but its faster-than-expected energy consumption growth means meeting this target may present an even bigger challenge.

The researchers, led by Dabo Guan, of UEA's School of International Development, used independently assessed data on the amount of fuel burned, and new measurements of emissions factors to re-evaluate emissions of two major sources of China's carbon dioxide emissions - the burning of fossil fuels and cement production - from 1950-2013.

Guan said the new estimates were compiled by considering fuel quality when establishing emissions inventories - something that had previously been overlooked by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and most international data sources.

"While China is the largest coal consumer in the world, it burns much lower-quality coal, such as brown coal, which has a lower heat value and carbon content compared to the coal burned in the US and Europe", said Guan.

Counting coal

According to the paper, "We find that total energy consumption in China was 10 per cent higher in 2000-2012 than the value reported by China's national statistics, that emission factors for Chinese coal are on average 40 per cent lower than the default values recommended by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, and that emissions from China's cement production are 45 per cent less than recent estimates.

"Altogether, our revised estimate of China's CO₂ emissions from fossil fuel combustion and cement production is 2.49 gigatonnes of carbon in 2013, which is 14 per cent lower than the emissions reported by other prominent inventories. Over the full period 2000 to 2013, our revised estimates are 2.9 gigatonnes of carbon less than previous estimates of China's cumulative carbon emissions."

Pep Canadell, Executive director of the Global Carbon Project at CSIRO, who was not involved in the study, said a lack of research resources meant that estimates of China's emissions relied on default values from global databases.

Guan's research team "visited thousands of mines and by actually exploring the coal they found there was less emissions", Canadell said.

This is a process done by many countries, but for developing nations like China the important task of compiling detailed emissions inventories has historically been too expensive.

"The default values can be quite far away from the real values", Canadell said. "In the future we would need real values for other places such as India."

Corinne Le Quéré, director of the UAE Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research, said there were a lot of uncertainties in China's data, especially given the discrepancies between national and provincial figures.

"The strong message here is that as we refine our estimates of carbon emissions we get closer to an accurate picture of what is going on and we can improve our climate projections and better inform policy on climate change."

The good news and the bad news

The new findings are a positive step towards accurately measuring emissions, but their effect on climate policy requires acknowledging the negatives - China's rapidly growing energy needs.

Frank Jotzo, director of the ANU Centre for Climate Economics and Policy, described continued work on primary data as important but said the findings that emissions were overestimated does not change the challenge China faces in moving away from coal.

"For global climate change mitigation to succeed, a shift from coal to other energy sources in China is essential." he said. "China is making good progress towards that goal."

With the Paris meeting of the UNFCCC in November this year, China's pledge to peak emissions from all activities by 2030 requires addressing its demand for electricity generation in production, transport and industrial systems.

According to Canadell, cement production accounts for about 5% of global greenhouse emissions, but because China is "building so much" it is a much bigger fraction. China produces more than half of global production of steel and cement. Yet China's cement emissions, as the study found, are 45% lower than previously estimated.

"I don't think this news is making it easier or harder" for China to meet its climate targets, said Canadell. "The most important thing is to measure the speed and trends of energy consumption."

 

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The paper: 'Reduced carbon emission estimates from fossil fuel combustion and cement production in China' is by Zhu Liu et al, and published in Nature.

Eliza Berlage is Editor at The Conversation.

This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.

HOW DO DRONES AFFECT WILDLIFE? BUT...THEY CAN SCARE REAL BIRDS IN INCONVENIENT PLACES LIKE AIRPORTS, FARMS...

Reproduced from The Independent, London

First there were electronic sheepdogs. Now flapping robotic drones disguised as birds of prey could act as another form of futuristic farming device, thanks to a Dutch inventor and his flying machine.

The two models being developed might confuse birdwatchers from a distance as they are designed to resemble a peregrine falcon and a bald eagle, but are made of a lightweight and rugged glass fibre nylon composite.

The remote-controlled, battery-powered invention, known as the Robird, has been designed as a kind of flying scarecrow to scare real birds away from places like airports, farms and landfills where they cause a nuisance.

Farmers could soon be going very hi-tech, following reports this week of an experiment involving GPS tracking of sheepdogs to discover how they herd their flocks, research which could feasibly lead to robotic replacements.

The man behind the new flying machine is 27-year-old Nico Nijenhuis, who became interested in robotic birds after asking his advisor for ideas when he was trying to come up with an topic for his master’s thesis at the Technical University of Twente in the east of Holland.

His advisor handed him a crude mechanical bird off the shelf and told him to figure out how it works and make it better. This was easier said than done.

“From a scientific point of view, we don’t truly understand flapping wing flight,” Mr Hijenhuis told Wired magazine, adding that fixed wings are simple by comparison.

“But the minute wings start moving, we really have a problem. It’s all about very complex, three-dimensional flow. What a bird actually does is so complex that it’s incredibly difficult to mimic,” he added.

The latest model of his Robird combines a basic up and down flapping motion from a single joint in each wing with a rotating movement and mixes in some on-board sensors and sophisticated stabilisation software.

For the robot bird to do its job properly it has to fool the species around it that it is for real. Two qualities are needed to trigger the other birds “flight instinct”: a silhouette and wing movement, Mr Hijenhuis said. “If it doesn’t look like a predator, they don’t care. And if it doesn’t move like a predator, they don’t care either.”

The Robirds are currently being trialled in the Netherlands. One landfill has recorded a 75 per cent decline in bird visits, while those that do return do so with a swivelling head, said Mr Hijenhuis.

Although bright lights and bangs will scare away birds in the short-term, robotic drones will provide a much longer-term deterrent, he said.

Mr Hijenhuis has set up a company called Clear Flight Solutions to develop the product and is current testing remote-controlled birds, which can only be operated by an experienced aircraft pilot. He is also working on an autopilot system which would make the bird autonomous and hopes to complete this version by the end of the year.

After that he will begin marketing the products to companies in industries such as aviation and waste management.

THE "CHAINSAW QUEEN" (THE BRAZILIAN MINISTER OF AGRICULTURE) IN NEW ATTACK

"Não a PEC 215"!  No to Brazil's plan to open indigenous lands to industrial exploitation!

15th July 2015 

Reproduced from 

http://www.theecologist.org/campaigning/2949305/no_a_pec_215_no_to_brazils_plan_to_open_indigenous_lands_to_industrial_exploitation.html

Last December Brazil's indigenous Peoples defeated the PEC 215 constitutional amendment that was meant to open up their territories for agribusiness, mining, power generation and industry, writes Chris Lang. But now, thanks to 'Chainsaw Queen' Kátia Abreu, minster of agriculture, it's back on the agenda ... and resistance is growing once again.

And from THE GUARDIAN:

Outside the political hothouse of Brasilia, there are probably few who can name the head of Brazil's powerful agricultural lobby, yet the woman in question, Kátia Abreu, is rapidly becoming the country's most interesting, important – and dangerous – politician.

Abreu said its success was partly a result of the lifestyle improvements the industry has given to Brazilian people. "Forty years ago, the average Brazilian spent 50% of his or her income on food. Now the proportion is about 18%."

The situation looked very different a decade ago, when former environment minister Marina Silva introduced a series of measures that slowed deforestation and promised more territory for indigenous groups and landless peasants.

Abreu said the tables had now turned. "For many years, environmentalism reached an extreme pitch and we in the agribusiness sector were treated like criminals," she said, but now "our agribusiness sector can influence the choice of kings and queens in Brazil. In the past, we only exercised economic influence. Now we also have political power."

In the presidential election in October, Abreu said she would back the incumbent, Dilma Rousseff, whom she described as "more interested in agriculture" than her predecessor, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

Although they are ostensibly on opposite sides of the ideological divide, Abreu said she was willing to work with Rousseff for a price: "I just want her to be willing to understand our situation, to have a grasp of the problems that the agriculture sector faces, and to help solve those problems so we can keep growing and so that Brazil can be number one for food production."

That is likely to mean further erosion of indigenous rights, weaker environmental laws and loser restrictions on genetically modified terminator seeds – all of which are currently being pushed in congress by Abreu's lobby.

"We cannot rest on our laurels. There are many things holding back progress – the environmental issue, the Indian issue and more. But even with these problems we keep producing high levels of productivity. Imagine how high it might be without those obstacles," she said.

The senator and rancher from Tocantins was an influential force in the weakening of Brazil's forest code blamed by many for the recent rise in Amazon deforestation. Her support – in parliament and in an acerbic newspaper column – for more roads through the Amazon, congressional control over demarcation of indigenous reserves, more efficient monocultures and genetically modified "terminator seeds" has earned her the wrath of environmentalists who have called her "Miss Deforestation", "chainsaw queen" and the "face of evil".

Abreu, however, is defiant, saying she is preparing to run for president one day and wants to help Brazil overtake the US as the world's biggest food producer. "Running for president is not a plan – it is fate. I'm getting ready for that, preparing in case it is my destiny," she said in an interview at her office in Brasilia. "Criticism from radical environmentalists is the best form of endorsement. It gives me satisfaction. It shows I am on the right track and playing the right role."

A psychology graduate who took over a ranch after her husband died in 1987, Abreu has become the staunchest defender of agribusiness in Brazil. She heads the Confederation of Agriculture and Livestock and leads its political lobby, which claims more than 250 senators and members of congress.

Her primary objective is to boost agricultural output, which accounts for a big (23%) and growing share of Brazil's economy. Harvests of soy and other products have surged in recent years, putting the country – according to Abreu – on course to surpass the US even without further deforestation. "We have all the essential elements: abundant water, advanced technology and plenty of land for production. Based on this, we can become number one without cutting down trees."

Her bullish business message is underpinned by flag-waving nationalism and attacks on any group accused of trying to slow the growth of Brazilian agriculture. This include environmentalists, indigenous groups and landless peasants, all of whom she alleged – without evidence – were working for foreign interests. "I don't have concrete proof of this but I get a very strong impression that this is the case," she said.

Abreu's uncompromising rhetoric and style are reminiscent of Margaret Thatcher. When I mention the comparison, the congresswoman lights up.

"Thank you! Margaret Thatcher had one of the greatest liberal political minds. She built a set of principles that changed the world. I'm only sorry that I didn't have the opportunity to meet her."

Like Thatcher in the 1980s, Abreu is engaged in a potentially world-changing struggle. While the British prime minister's battle against the miners in the 1980s ushered in a period of social division and runaway capitalism, Abreu is taking on the environmental movement with enormous potential consequences for the global climate and food supply. She appears to be winning. As the economy has become more dependent on agribusiness, the influence of its lobby in parliament has increased to the point where it can almost make or break the government agenda.

Abreu said its success was partly a result of the lifestyle improvements the industry has given to Brazilian people. "Forty years ago, the average Brazilian spent 50% of his or her income on food. Now the proportion is about 18%."

The situation looked very different a decade ago, when former environment minister Marina Silva introduced a series of measures that slowed deforestation and promised more territory for indigenous groups and landless peasants.

Abreu said the tables had now turned. "For many years, environmentalism reached an extreme pitch and we in the agribusiness sector were treated like criminals," she said, but now "our agribusiness sector can influence the choice of kings and queens in Brazil. In the past, we only exercised economic influence. Now we also have political power."

In the presidential election in October, Abreu said she would back the incumbent, Dilma Rousseff, whom she described as "more interested in agriculture" than her predecessor, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

Although they are ostensibly on opposite sides of the ideological divide, Abreu said she was willing to work with Rousseff for a price: "I just want her to be willing to understand our situation, to have a grasp of the problems that the agriculture sector faces, and to help solve those problems so we can keep growing and so that Brazil can be number one for food production."

That is likely to mean further erosion of indigenous rights, weaker environmental laws and loser restrictions on genetically modified terminator seeds – all of which are currently being pushed in congress by Abreu's lobby.

Amazon residents speak out about deforestation

From BBC News

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-33459405

Amadeus Cinta Larga (a 25-year-old Cinta Larga tribe member who studies sustainability at the Flower of the Forest village):

"We feel like we've been forgotten. The area covered by the reserve is so big that it is tough for us to police it all ourselves".

Siderlei Mason (the director of SM Timber Sawmill, the largest producer of tropical timber in Latin America):

"The forest is rich and beautiful, it benefits people here, and it is beneficial to the world. But I think it should be exploited legally".

Lauriano Umbelino Martins (the representative in Matto Grosso state of Funai, the government body responsible for policies relating to Brazil's indigenous peoples):

"We don't have enough people working in this area because of budget cuts".

"I'm in charge of 11 villages but I can't monitor them all.  

"There's a lot of wood theft, because of the high value of the wood in the indigenous areas".

The issue of illegal logging and deforestation in the Amazon is still a huge concern in Brazil, despite progress on deforestation rates in the last decade

From BBC News

Amazon deforestation: Stopping the illegal loggers

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-33449788

BUT...IF YOU EAT MEAT FROM OTHER MAMMALS...KEEP IN MIND THAT ATROCITIES JUST DIFFER FROM A COUNTRY TO ANOTHER

The day my dog was cooked for dinner 

Watch this video (quite strong scenes!) and think about: why to kill mammals for food!?

http://youtu.be/rJsTwm0EEQg