Fighting Water Privatization with ‘Blue Communities’
Private corporations and interests have been moving in to take control of and profit from growing water scarcity.
Read MoreSep 9, 2019 | Human Society
Private corporations and interests have been moving in to take control of and profit from growing water scarcity.
Read MoreSep 9, 2019 | Human Society
A key way to safeguard the Amazon is by placing more land under protection, including indigenous reserves, backed up by government policy that monitors illegal logging, enforces laws and respects land rights in those areas, green groups say.
Read MoreSep 9, 2019 | Personal
Catherine Ingram offers deep meditations on the terrifying possibility of near term human extinction.
Read MoreSep 9, 2019 | Personal
Rex Weyler defines “ecological trauma” as the experience of witnessing – consciously or not – the pervasive abuse and destruction of the natural world, of which we are a part, and for which we have a primal affinity.
Read MoreSep 5, 2019 | Earth
Since 1972, the Greenland Ice Sheet has lost the equivalent of trillions of tons of fresh water from its ice stores, raising global sea levels by a quarter of an inch in just eight years, and the rate of its ice loss is accelerating.
Read MoreSep 5, 2019 | Human Society
In 2018, Helena Norberg-Hodge and Wendell Berry, two giants of the local economy movement, came together for a far-reaching discussion touching on human nature, technology, experiential knowledge, agriculture policy, happiness, wildness, and local food systems
Read MoreSep 5, 2019 | Human Society
Major hurricanes are by far the world’s costliest natural weather disasters, in some cases causing well over $100 billion in damage. There’s now evidence that the unnatural effects of human-caused global warming are already making hurricanes stronger and more destructive.
Read MoreSep 5, 2019 | Human Society
A retired doctor who took part in non-violent environmental protests was visited by police at his home after his local NHS trust reported him to the government’s counter-terrorism programme.
Read MoreSep 5, 2019 | Earth
For the first time in recorded history, Alaska’s sea ice has melted completely away. That means there was no sea ice whatsoever within 150 miles of its shores, according to the National Weather Service, as the northernmost state cooked under record-breaking heat through the summer.
Read MoreSep 5, 2019 | Personal
“Shop second-hand” is a message often touted by eco-minded individuals, myself included. “It’s good for the planet! It’s good for your wallet!” we say, which is all good advice, but usually that’s where it ends. Fortunately, some professional guidance for navigating thrift stores is at hand.
Read MoreSep 5, 2019 | Human Society
Climate change requires major societal change. But how do we ensure this transformation is done in a fair and just manner? John Bellamy Foster—a renowned environmental sociologist and editor of Monthly Review—takes a look at the idea of the Just Transition, arguing that any strategy to save the planet must go beyond the strictures of capitalism.
Read MoreSep 5, 2019 | Earthlings
Fishermen in the coastal town of Taiji, Japan have begun their controversial annual dolphin hunt. These hunts run from September to April, and involve the corralling of dolphins at sea by small boats and driving them into the confines of a cove where they are slaughtered for meat or kept alive for lucrative sale to marine parks and aquaria across the globe.
Read MoreSep 5, 2019 | Earthlings
Although endangered mammals get all the headlines, a new scientific report warns that over 40 percent of the world’s insects are in danger of going extinct. If insects head toward precipitous decline and extinction, humans can’t be far behind. We need to advance our thinking about insects, their importance and what can be done to save them.
Read MoreSep 5, 2019 | Human Society
A new report by a group of investigators commissioned by the U.N. Human Rights Council says the United States, Britain and France may be culpable for war crimes in Yemen.
Read MoreSep 5, 2019 | Human Society
“As we celebrate her life and mourn her passing,” said one friend and ally, “we know that the best tribute of all is to keep on fighting.”
Read MoreSep 4, 2019 | Human Society
In words and deeds, Thunberg is the embodiment of philosopher Howard Zinn’s admonition: “We don’t have to engage in grand, heroic actions to participate in the process of change. Small acts, when multiplied by millions of people, can quietly become a power no government can suppress, a power that can transform the world.”
Read MoreSep 2, 2019 | Earth
The burning of the Amazon and the darkening of skies from Sao Paulo, Brazil, to Santa Cruz, Bolivia, have captured the world’s conscience. Much of the blame for the fires has rightly fallen on Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro for directly encouraging the burning of forests and the seizure of Indigenous Peoples’ lands. But the incentive for the destruction comes from large-scale international meat and soy animal feed companies.
Read MoreSep 2, 2019 | Earth
The Amazon has already been so degraded that even a small uptick in deforestation could send the forest hurtling toward a transition to something resembling a woodland savanna. But in addition to forever destroying huge sections of the world’s largest rainforest, that shift would release tremendous quantities of planet-warming greenhouse gases which will affect us all.
Read MoreSep 2, 2019 | Human Society
Journalist George Monbiot exposes the billionaire class
Read MoreSep 2, 2019 | Personal
Raising your children as conscious individuals is the best gift you can give to your children
Read MoreSep 2, 2019 | Personal
Things are heating up — and not just because it’s August. This past July was the hottest month in recorded history. That makes this month’s new books about climate change essential reading, along with other important new titles on pollution, wildlife, oceans and Indigenous peoples.
Read MoreSep 2, 2019 | Human Society
Thousands of goldminers (garimpeiros) have illegally invaded Yanomami Park, one of Brazil’s largest indigenous territories. An incursion of this scale has not occurred for many years, bringing back memories among indigenous elders of the terrible period in the late 1980s, when some 40,000 goldminers moved onto their land and about a fifth of the indigenous population died in just seven years due to violence, malaria, malnutrition, mercury poisoning and other causes.
Read MoreSep 2, 2019 | Personal
Whether you’re just starting out on your organic journey or you’ve been a long-standing practitioner, getting a refresher on what organic is and how to identify organic ingredients is always a good idea.
Read MoreSep 2, 2019 | Earthlings
The northern white rhinos have been brought to the edge of oblivion by relentless poaching and the widespread loss of suitable habitats. Rhinos in general are being killed off by the thousands each year for their horns. For the guards protecting the animals, the responsibility has a devotional quality to it that photographer Justin Mott captured in a series called “No Man’s Land,” being displayed at the Anastasia Photo gallery in New York.
Read MoreSep 2, 2019 | Earth
Our sun is reaching the end of it’s normal 11 year cycle and is now approaching a period of minimum solar activity. This one’s being dubbed the Grand Solar Minimum. Some say it’s the real cause of climate change and that it’s going to wreak havoc with our weather systems for years to come, possibly even tipping us into a mini ice age. But the numbers tell a very different story…
Read MoreAug 29, 2019 | Personal
How did a single person’s efforts lead to a forest spanning five acres in Bundelkhand, a region notorious for its arid geography, sparse rainfall, and decade-long droughts?
Read MoreAug 29, 2019 | Human Society
Harrison Ford gives an impassioned speech about the emergency resulting from our toxic economic and political system. He says that the way we relate to each other and to nature is destroying Earth’s capacity to sustain life.
Read MoreAug 29, 2019 | Earth
Losing the remaining Arctic sea ice and its ability to reflect incoming solar energy back to space would be equivalent to adding one trillion tons of CO2 to the atmosphere, on top of the 2.4 trillion tons emitted since the Industrial Age, according to current and former researchers from Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California San Diego.
Read MoreAug 29, 2019 | Earthlings
Increasingly acidic oceans are putting algae at risk, threatening the foundation of the entire marine food web.
Read MoreAug 29, 2019 | Human Society
Indigenous tribes whose land and livelihoods are being directly harmed by the fires ravaging the Amazon rainforest vowed Tuesday to do everything in their power to resist Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro’s “destruction of Mother Nature” and called on the rest of the world to join them.
Read MoreAug 29, 2019 | Earth
After decades of travel in the Far North, E360’s Arctic correspondent joins a voyage through the Northwest Passage and witnesses a world being transformed, with ice disappearing, balmy temperatures becoming common, and alien invaders – from plastic waste to new diseases – on the rise.
Read MoreAug 29, 2019 | Personal
By not giving ourselves the minutes — or hours — free of devices and distractions, we risk losing our ability to know who we are and what’s important to us, says physicist and writer Alan Lightman.
Read MoreAug 29, 2019 | Earthlings
Australia has announced it will ban the domestic trade of ivory and rhino horn, a decision that could help halt illegal global poaching and save the treasured animals for future generations.
Read MoreAug 29, 2019 | Human Society
The resulting backlash has focused public discourse on the Israeli occupation and brought attention to the BDS movement.
Read MoreAug 29, 2019 | Human Society
We can feed the ever-growing human population through sustainable farming and less food waste, but not without a shift towards a plant-based future.
Read MoreAug 26, 2019 | Human Society
David Koch, one of the two infamous billionaire Koch brothers, died Friday at the age of 79. He was one of the most powerful people in the world over the last three or so decades, and he did his level best to plant the seeds of the climate-change denial movement and stymie any effort to stop the biggest threat to human society
Read MoreAug 26, 2019 | Earthlings
There are more than 500 known primate species, and approximately 60 percent of themare endangered, half of them critically. And yet, less than 20 percent of research was focused on conservation.
Read MoreAug 26, 2019 | Personal
Blair realized early in life that he didn’t need a lot to live, and that money and material possessions were not important. Instead he has chosen to value happiness, creativity, and well-being. He shares those values through his public gallery, where there is the chance to be irrevocably changed.
Read MoreAug 26, 2019 | Earth
The fires burning up the world’s largest tropical rainforest have been raging for three weeks and are the fastest ever recorded in the area. Scientists have warned that the emergency could severely impact climate change efforts. Is it possible that our consumption of meat is to blame?
Read MoreAug 26, 2019 | Human Society
“We oppose the extraterritorial application of unilateral measures.” That is not Cuba, Nicaragua, Iran, Russia, or China talking about the economic blockade against Iran and Venezuela, but the European Union. Even allies who have embarrassed themselves by recognizing the phony “interim president” Juan Guaido are saying the US has gone too far.
Read MoreAug 26, 2019 | Personal
If you’re following recent health trends, then it’s probable that you’ve come across the idea of sprouted foods. While some health trends should be taken with a grain of salt, others have a bit more backbone to them. Sprouted foods happen to be one trend to take note of!
Read MoreAug 26, 2019 | Human Society
In this special episode of Going Underground, legendary journalist and film-maker John Pilger is interviewed on many of the latest issues: looming war with China, the Hong Kong protests, the escalating cold war between the U.S. and Russia, sanctions on Venezuela and Iran, and updates on Julian Assange and Wikileaks.
Read MoreAug 26, 2019 | Human Society
Global capitalism demands we pretend all is well, while climate and political realities already reveal the end game we are living in. The U.S. government, along with many others in the western world, has lurched into overt authoritarianism, while climate chaos accelerates at a breakneck pace.
Read MoreAug 22, 2019 | Earthlings
Plants are struggling to grow around the world because atmospheric water vapor levels are declining, according to a new study published in the journal Science Advances.
Read MoreAug 22, 2019 | Human Society
A recent United Nations IPCC report on climate compared a vegan diet to others. Here are the results and the response by Trevor Noah of The Daily Show and others.
Read MoreAug 22, 2019 | Earthlings
Zoos do not play a significant role in the conservation of wildlife, their claims to educate are exaggerated and their research is compromised. Leading conservationist Damian Aspinall reckons it’s time to phase them out.
Read MoreAug 22, 2019 | Human Society
On August 5, India’s Home Minister Amit Shah introduced a bill that divides the Indian State into two parts: the Union Territory of Ladakh and the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir. The people of Jammu and Kashmir are being increasingly oppressed, their situation representing that of the Palestinians more each day.
Read MoreAug 22, 2019 | Earthlings
Forests around the world are losing the vertebrate animals that help to keep them alive, according to a new report by the World Wildlife Fund and the Zoological Society of London.
Read MoreAug 22, 2019 | Human Society
Tlaib, a Michigan Democrat and the first Palestinian American woman ever elected to Congress, said in a statement Friday that accepting Israel’s demand that she refrain from expressing support for boycott activities during her trip would have been “a disservice to all who live there, including my incredibly strong and loving grandmother.”
Read MoreAug 22, 2019 | Earthlings
Craig Childs’ book, ‘The Animal Dialogues: Uncommon Encounters in the Wild’ offers compelling tales of creatures large and small, offering us a rare intimate glimpse into the lives of our fellow Earthlings.
Read MoreAug 22, 2019 | Earth
The Amazon has been in deep, deep trouble ever since far-right president Jair Bolsnaro took over running Brazil. Advocates feared his regime would commit ecological “genocide” in the Amazon and with each passing month, those fears are becoming reality.
Read MoreAug 22, 2019 | Human Society
Last month, the Trump White House put out a typically Orwellian statement, chock-filled with lies, distortions, and half-truths about Iran and the 2015 nuclear deal.
Read MoreAug 22, 2019 | Earth, Human Society
In its crucial land and climate report, the IPCC irresponsibly understates the true carbon cost of our meat and dairy habits
Read MoreAug 21, 2019 | Human Society, Personal
A recent US dietary guidelines meeting which consisted of public comment made for some interesting low carb and plant-based drama. This is 4 hours distilled into something interesting.
Read MoreAug 19, 2019 | Earth
Across nine million square miles at the top of the planet, climate change is writing a new chapter. Arctic permafrost isn’t thawing gradually, as scientists once predicted. Geologically speaking, it’s thawing almost overnight.
Read MoreAug 19, 2019 | Earth
“If we lose the Amazon rainforest, we lose everything.” Journalist George Monbiot warns us of the destruction of the Amazon rainforest, which has been greatly accelerating in recent months.
Read MoreAug 19, 2019 | Earth, Human Society
The IPCC has just issued a special report Climate Change and Land, on climate change, desertification, land degradation, sustainable land management, food security, and greenhouse gas fluxes in terrestrial ecosystems. In its new report ‘Climate Change and Land’, the IPCC finds that vegan is the best diet to reduce emissions.
Read MoreAug 19, 2019 | Human Society
While the prevailing global collective dig their heels deeper into sustaining the status quo, many others are becoming activists, enraged by the infinite list of atrocities being committed around the globe. As seemingly more people fight for change these days, notable progress continues to evade us.
Read MoreAug 19, 2019 | Earthlings
A new form of animal advocacy and outreach involves the use of virtual reality, providing people an immersive experience of what it’s like to be a farm animal on an industrialized farms.
Read MoreAug 19, 2019 | Personal
Diets higher in plant foods are associated with a substantially lower risk of cardiovascular disease and death, according to new research published in the Journal of the American Heart Association.
Read MoreAug 19, 2019 | Personal
A stunning video providing us with a truly immersive journey through the underwater world of our planet.
Read MoreAug 19, 2019 | Earth
July was officially the hottest month ever measured by humans on Earth, it has been confirmed.
Read MoreAug 15, 2019 | Earthlings
More than 100,000 species are now categorised as ‘threatened’ for the first time in history. Around 9,000 species have recently been added to the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, bringing the total of threatened species to 105,732.
Read MoreAug 15, 2019 | Human Society
The tiny house movement is an environmentalist dream’s come true — less space means you need less stuff and you consume less energy. The problem is you have to live in a cramped space and dedicate yourself to the Marie Kondo credo of only having a few objects in you home that spark joy.
Read MoreAug 15, 2019 | Human Society
Dear President Trump, In a recent Tweet, you claimed that “Iranians never won a war, but never lost a negotiation.” As a world citizen and a veteran of the 1980-1988 Iran-Iraq war, I have firsthand experience with the bitterness of war, and I have a few suggestions and responses for you.
Read MoreAug 15, 2019 | Earth
Ecuador has lost thousands of square miles of rainforest, the land converted to pasture and crop fields and cleared for oil and gas development. Today, trees cover just 35 percent of the country’s surface, down from more than 90 percent a century ago.
Read MoreAug 15, 2019 | Human Society
With operations in South Sudan and Haiti, Mercy Beyond Borders brings hope to more than 1,400 women and girls annually by providing educational, economic and empowerment opportunities where there are few options to escape extreme poverty.
Read MoreAug 15, 2019 | Human Society
One quarter of the world’s population are living in areas where the competition for water resources is extreme, according to a new report from the Washington-based global research group World Resource Institute (WRI), as The Guardian reported.
Read MoreAug 15, 2019 | Earth
The world’s youth have infused a new urgency into the global fight against climate change. Through movements like Fridays for Future and Extinction Rebellion, millions of young people have gathered in public squares and busy streets, senate chambers and assembly rooms, to call on government leaders to curb greenhouse gas emissions and enact meaningful environmental policies.
Read MoreAug 15, 2019 | Earthlings
Animals in captivity are known to exhibit certain stereotypical behaviors, such as pacing, associated with environmental stress, but how can you tell what’s normal and what isn’t? A group of researchers set out to answer this question by conducting a study of 11 polar bears at seven different zoos.
Read MoreAug 15, 2019 | Human Society
Kateryna Gandziuk’s brutal attack is just one of 164 murders of environmentalists and land and water defenders that occurred in 2018, cataloged in a new report titled “Enemies of the State? How governments and business silence land and environmental defenders.”
Read MoreAug 13, 2019 | Human Society
Written by Chris Hedges / TruthDig The old rules of politics no longer apply. The only language...
Read MoreAug 12, 2019 | Earth
July 2019 now stands as Alaska’s hottest month on record, the latest benchmark in a long-term warming trend with ominous repercussions ranging from rapidly vanishing summer sea ice and melting glaciers to raging wildfires and deadly chaos for marine life.
Read MoreAug 12, 2019 | Earth
The July 2019 temperature was on a par with, and possibly marginally higher than, that of July 2016, according to a World Meteorological Organization (WMO) news release pointing an image by the Copernicus Climate Change Programme that is used as the background for above image.
Read MoreAug 12, 2019 | Human Society
But we are living in a world where international laws don’t count, where laws are made, as we go, by the self-declared hegemon, the US of A, and her symbiotic Middle East ally, Israel. So, why not nudge the legal, moral and ethical order back into balance?
Read MoreAug 12, 2019 | Human Society
Home > News > A Young Poet Tells the Story of Darfur
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Grief and resilience live together. –Michelle Obama
A Young Poet Tells the Story of Darfur
–by ted.com, syndicated from ted.com, Aug 09, 2019
I was 10 years old when I learned what the word “genocide” meant. It was 2003, and my people were being brutally attacked because of their race — hundreds of thousands murdered, millions displaced, a nation torn apart at the hands of its own government.
Read MoreAug 12, 2019 | Earth
Germany is considering a meat tax for environmental reasons. As well as sustainability, some politicians are urging the tax for animal welfare reasons.
Read MoreAug 12, 2019 | Earthlings
Each month, our Faunalytics Index provides a round-up of data, statistics, and facts gleaned from the most recent research we’ve covered in our library. Our aim is to give you a quick overview of some of the most eye-catching and informative bits of data that could help you be more effective in your advocacy for animals.
Read MoreAug 12, 2019 | Human Society
America’s hegemonic reign has given rise to three converging crises for humanity… An expenditure representing a small fraction of the annual US military budget could virtually eliminate such deaths, yet no such effort is forthcoming.
Read MoreAug 12, 2019 | Human Society
At a time when European countries are enduring some of the highest temperatures ever recorded, and as extreme weather becomes more common, Baghdad offers a troubling glimpse into a future where only the wealthy are equipped to escape the effects of climate change.
Read MoreAug 12, 2019 | Earth
Planting more trees is one way to offset deforestation. But now, a report from the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change finds that to have a shot at combatting the climate crisis, among other efforts, we’ll need to cut down fewer trees to begin with.
Read MoreAug 12, 2019 | Earth
They outlived mammoths and saber-toothed tigers. But without dramatic action to reduce climate change, new research shows Joshua trees won’t survive much past this century.
Read MoreAug 12, 2019 | Earth
The new report on land by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) shies away from the big issues and fails to properly represent the science. As a result, it gives us few clues about how we might survive the century.
Read MoreAug 8, 2019 | Human Society
Some of the negative health effects of climate change are already upon us, but it’s not all doom and gloom. There is a huge opportunity for better health through well designed action to reduce our emissions and by adapting to the changes we are facing.
Read MoreAug 8, 2019 | Human Society
The tragedy of our times is that the gathering collapse of our life support systems has coincided with the age of public disservice. Just as we need to rise above self-interest and short-termism, governments around the world now represent the meanest and dirtiest of special interests.
Read MoreAug 8, 2019 | Earth, Earthlings
Koalas in Australia are at risk of becoming extinct. The key threat to koala survival is land clearing, both past and continuing, and the key driver for tree-clearing is the production of animal products.
Read MoreAug 8, 2019 | Earthlings
As a biologist who documents new species and behavior in remote places, from sinkholes in Venezuela to treetops in Borneo, I see abundant signs that the future is grim. A recent United Nations report confirmed the terrible truth: One million species on Earth are threatened with extinction.
Read MoreAug 8, 2019 | Earth
At the age of 26, Dr Jane Goodall pioneered new ways of researching animals including by living with them. Now, aged 85 and a UN Messenger of Peace, she travels more than 300 days a year to share the urgency of taking action on climate change on behalf of all living things and the planet we share.
Read MoreAug 8, 2019 | Earth
Ethiopia just broke a world record during its fight against the climate crisis. In a single day, the country planted more than 350 million trees. Previously, India held the record for the most trees planted in one day, planting 50 million trees within 24 hours in 2016.
Read MoreAug 5, 2019 | Human Society
When some of the world’s top scientists conclude an international summit in Geneva next week, they are expected to call for a major shift to vegetarian diets around the world in order to keep the warming of the globe under 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.
Read MoreAug 5, 2019 | Human Society
Friday, August 2, marked the 29th anniversary of Operation Desert Shield, the military action that heralded the onset of the Gulf War in Iraq. That conflict, shifting from one iteration to the next, never ended.
Read MoreAug 5, 2019 | Earth
James Cameron is teaming up with National Geographic to make a groundbreaking ocean documentary series, which may convince you to ditch plastic and seafood. Named “Mission OceanX,” the six-episode series will follow a hand-picked team of scientists, cinematographers, and filmmakers on board the maiden voyage of the Alucia2 as it sails across the Indian ocean.
Read MoreAug 5, 2019 | Earth
Wildfires are ravaging parts of the Arctic, with areas of Siberia, Alaska, Greenland and Canada engulfed in flames and smoke. Satellite images show how the plumes of smoke from the fires, many caused by dry storms in hot weather, can be seen from space.
Read MoreAug 5, 2019 | Earth
Social entrepreneur and author Paul Hawken is a leading voice in the environmental movement. His visionary ideas emphasize changing the relationship between business and the Earth. As humanity seeks to rise to the challenge of our time, Hawken provides a refreshingly positive and comprehensive approach to global warming solutions…Bioneers sat down with Paul Hawken to learn more about his work and his plan for helping build a more connected world.
Read MoreAug 5, 2019 | Earth
Do you remember the good old days when we had “12 years to save the planet”? Now it seems, there’s a growing consensus that the next 18 months will be critical in dealing with the global heating crisis, among other environmental challenges.
Read MoreAug 1, 2019 | Earth
Newly released drone footage reveals massive factory farms, each housing tens of thousands of animals, polluting Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula.
Read MoreAug 1, 2019 | Human Society
Transitioning to a plant-based diet can be an easy choice for some people, while others may either find it extremely difficult or resist it vehemently. Understanding why some people are amenable to a veg*n diet but others are not is extremely valuable, not just for animal advocates who are trying to reduce animal suffering, but also for companies that are trying to facilitate a shift toward plant-based diets by offering plant-based alternatives to animal products.
Read MoreAug 1, 2019 | Human Society
Over 900 human trafficking survivors have been rescued in Thailand so far this year, a figure set to cement 2019 as the nation’s worst for the illegal trade on record.
Read MoreAug 1, 2019 | Human Society
In essence, the postmodern age was ending, though few seemed to know it — with elites, in particular, largely oblivious to what was occurring. What would replace postmodernity in a planet heading for ruin remained to be seen.
Read MoreAug 1, 2019 | Earthlings
Widespread deaths of plankton caused by microplastic would certainly disrupt the marine food web. But their consumption is already changing the health of the oceans: Microplastic has been found in middle-ocean and deep-sea fish, which, like mackerel, are prey to ocean top predators, like seals or mahi-mahi.
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