“ Fishing, climate change and pollution have left an indelible mark on virtually all of the world's oceans, according to a huge study that has mapped the total human impact on the seas for the first time. Scientists found that almost no areas have been left pristine and that more than 40% of the world's oceans have been heavily affected.”

Total human impact on oceans mapped for the first time

“ Drifting icebergs are ecological hotspots that enable the surrounding waters to absorb an increased volume of carbon dioxide, a study suggests. US scientists found that minerals released from the melting ice triggered blooms of CO2-absorbing phytoplankton. ”

Icebergs are ecological hotspot

“ Scientists believe they have discovered the biggest migration of wild animals on Earth, with an aerial survey revealing vast herds of gazelle and antelope on the move in southern Sudan in a region which had been assumed to have been denuded of its wildlife by years of civil war.”

Sudan's breathtaking migration

“ Carbon dioxide emissions from shipping are double those of aviation and increasing at an alarming rate which will have a serious impact on global warming, according to research by the industry and European academics.”

And you thought air travel was bad for the climate . . .

“ In 1999 the Government started a series of “farm-scale trials” of GM herbicide-tolerant crops. Each of these GM crop trials covers ten hectares (25 acres) and it is planned to have at least 25 sites for each GM crop involved - winter and spring oilseed rape, maize and sugar beet. These trials are meant to examine the environmental effects of GM crops, but they have not been designed to prevent pollen escaping from the test sites or to protect nearby beekeepers from contamination of their honey.”

Bees, Honey and Genetically Modified Crops

Too much time spent inside labs and not nearly enough outside, learning from nature. Agriculture and the production of food in general are basic to the survival of the human species, but , instead of creating herbicide-tolerant crops, why don't they try to use different ways to supply for raising demand? I don't think the real problem is lack of food, even if it's necessary to bear in mind the population growth, rather it's the distribution that needs to be addressed. We need to understand that farming has to be organized better then it is now, in a more environmental friendly way, with attention to local necessities. Forcing higher production through manipulation finalized only to commercial ends, short lived, is not going to solve the long run problem of feeding a growing population. I may be naive, but I'd expect more intelligence from people spending so much time studying..

“ The Buddha once told a story about a king who ordered a group of blind men to be presented with an elephant. Each man touched a different part of the animal. The king then asked them what an elephant is like. The blind men who touched the elephant's head replied, “An elephant, your majesty, is just like a water jar.” The blind men who touched its ear said, “An elephant, your majesty, is just like a winnowing basket.” The blind men who touched its tusk declared, “An elephant, your majesty, is just like a plowshare.” The ones who touched the trunk replied, “An elephant, your majesty, is just like a plow pole.” The blind men who touched the body replied, “An elephant, your majesty, is just like a storeroom.” The blind men who touched the foot replied, “An elephant, your majesty, is just like a post.” The blind men who touched the hindquarters replied, “An elephant, your majesty, is just like a mortar.” The blind men who touched the tail replied, “An elephant, your majesty, is just like a pestle.” And the blind men who touched the tuft at the end of the tail replied, “An elephant, your majesty, is just like a broom.” The blind men fell into a fistfight, shouting, “An elephant is like this, an elephant is not like that! An elephant is not like this, an elephant is like that!” ”

The Genome: An Outsider's View

So, maybe, lab people should find the time to live on a farm..

“ Hippos falling victim to a poaching spree in a national park could die out in the area by Christmas unless the culling stops, Zoological Society of London conservationists are warning. A Congolese militia group is already thought to have killed half the hippo population in Virunga National Park since setting up a base there two weeks ago. Lake Edward, in the centre of the park in the Democratic Republic of the Congo was once central to Africa's greatest concentration of these magnificent beasts.”

Hippos slaughtered by rebel group in national park

War is always bad for everything: humans, animals and environment. We all know it but it still goes on in so many places on Earth. It's easier to destroy then to create.

“ Analysis of the human footprint map indicates that 83% of the land's surface is influenced by one or more of the following factors: human population density greater than 1 person per square kilometer, within 15 km of a road or major river, occupied by urban or agricultural land uses, within 2 km of a settlement or a railway, and/or producing enough light to be visible regularly to a satellite at night. 98% of the areas where it is possible to grow rice, wheat or maize (according to FAO estimates) are similarly influenced.”

“ The last of the wild represent the largest, least influenced areas (defined as above) in all the biomes of the world in all the world's regions. They represent a practical starting place for long-term conservation, places where the full range of nature may still exist with a minimum of conflict with existing human structures.”

Wildlife Conservation Society

CIESIN

“ It is the biggest contributor to climate change. Now chemists are hoping to convert carbon dioxide into a useful fuel, with a little help from the sun. If they succeed, it will be possible to recycle the greenhouse gas produced by burning fossil fuels.”

Solar alchemy turns fumes back into fuels

“ The very thing that makes plastic items useful to consumers, their durability and stability, also makes them a problem in marine environments. Around 100 million tonnes of plastic are produced each year of which about 10 percent ends up in the sea. About 20 percent of this is from ships and platforms, the rest from land.”

• Trashing the Oceans
• North Pacific Gyre
• The trash vortex
• Trashed

Via Kottke.org: carbon dioxide glass

"..the work could even lead to new, less environmentally harmful ways to dispose of CO2"

On the BBC: Arctic's tropical past

"The international observance of World Water Day is an initiative that grew out of the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) in Rio de Janeiro"
World Water Day

On the New York Times: Climate Expert

• U.S. delegation walks out of climate talks
• US isolated after climate talks walkout
• Climate change theory barks up wrong tree

An interesting initiative from the The Guardian, The Observer and Guardian Unlimited that joined forces with Climate Care to offset air travel pollution:

• Offset your air travel pollution
• Calculate the cost to offset a flight