Saturday, 25 July 2009
Whale-watching 'worth billions' Tuesday, 23 June
Whale watching generates far more money than whale hunting, according to a report released at the International Whaling Commission (IWC) meeting here.
Worldwide, the industry now generates about $2.1bn per year, it says.
The group commissioning the report, the International Fund for Animal Welfare (Ifaw), says whaling countries would gain from a switch to whale watching.
However, Iceland's delegate here said the two industries were compatible and could grow together.
Iceland recently announced a major expansion of its fin whale hunt and plans to take 150 of the animals this year, along with up to 100 minke whales.
"As governments sit here [at the IWC] debating what to do about whaling, their people are showing the way," said Patrick Ramage, director of Ifaw's whale programme.
"Whale watching is clearly more environmentally sustainable and economically beneficial than hunting, and whales are worth far more alive than dead," he told BBC News.
The report follows on the heels of an analysis commissioned by another organisation opposed to whaling, WWF, which suggested that the Japanese and Norwegian hunts were a net cost to their governments.
Double digit
The Ifaw-commissioned report, compiled by the Australian organisation Economists at Large, found that income from whale watching had doubled over the last decade, with the fastest growth seen in Asia.
Read more at ….http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8114353.stm
Sunday, 19 July 2009
Himalayan glaciers have shrunk by 38% in 40 years
19 Jul 2009, 1130 hrs IST, Nitin Sethi, TNN
Himalayan glaciers have shrunk by 38% in 40 years
NEW DELHI: Himalayan glaciers are going through a phase of retreat, with some glaciers in specific basins having shrunk by up to an alarming 38%
in 40 years while at the same time satellite mapping has not shown any accleration of the process even as the rate of Gangotri's shrinkage has slowed.
The overall process of shrinking is leading glaciers to fragment and, therefore, paradoxically enough, the total number of glaciers in the Himalayas is increasing. These were some of the conclusions ISRO scientists drew up during a presentation at a meeting, organised by the ministry of environment, of all institutions and experts in glaciology.
The ministry has decided to support ISRO and the department of science and technology to undertake long-term and extensive glacial surveys across the eastern and western Himalayas. Environment and forests minister Jairam Ramesh told TOI, "We will institutionalize scientific studies of not only glaciers but also studies on terrestrial hydrology and agriculture as well as measurement of green house gases along with the department of science and technology and ISRO."
Scientists at the meeting recorded there is no evidence yet to claim the rate of retreat of glaciers, ranging from a few cms to couple of metres a year, has accelerated in the recent past. Scientists from the Geological Survey of India noted that the rate of recession of the Gangotri glacier has actually reduced in recent years.
The scientific community also observed that the process of retreat and advance of the glaciers was a natural process and that at present there was no evidence to prove that the current glacial recession phase is a consequence of climate change.
But scientists did express concern about the health of the glaciers pointing to the evidence of debris accumulation at the snouts in some glaciers. At present, the worst impact is seen in the Suru basin, with glaciers recorded a 38% shrinkage between 1969 and 2004. The Chandra, Bhaga, Parbati and Warwan basins are the other four recording the worst recessionary trends over the same period.
The meeting also noted that currently most of the automated weather stations are located in Jammu and Kashmir and serve the Army. These should be extended to Arunachal Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand in order to record data across the Himalayas.
Himalayan glaciers have shrunk by 38% in 40 years
NEW DELHI: Himalayan glaciers are going through a phase of retreat, with some glaciers in specific basins having shrunk by up to an alarming 38%
in 40 years while at the same time satellite mapping has not shown any accleration of the process even as the rate of Gangotri's shrinkage has slowed.
The overall process of shrinking is leading glaciers to fragment and, therefore, paradoxically enough, the total number of glaciers in the Himalayas is increasing. These were some of the conclusions ISRO scientists drew up during a presentation at a meeting, organised by the ministry of environment, of all institutions and experts in glaciology.
The ministry has decided to support ISRO and the department of science and technology to undertake long-term and extensive glacial surveys across the eastern and western Himalayas. Environment and forests minister Jairam Ramesh told TOI, "We will institutionalize scientific studies of not only glaciers but also studies on terrestrial hydrology and agriculture as well as measurement of green house gases along with the department of science and technology and ISRO."
Scientists at the meeting recorded there is no evidence yet to claim the rate of retreat of glaciers, ranging from a few cms to couple of metres a year, has accelerated in the recent past. Scientists from the Geological Survey of India noted that the rate of recession of the Gangotri glacier has actually reduced in recent years.
The scientific community also observed that the process of retreat and advance of the glaciers was a natural process and that at present there was no evidence to prove that the current glacial recession phase is a consequence of climate change.
But scientists did express concern about the health of the glaciers pointing to the evidence of debris accumulation at the snouts in some glaciers. At present, the worst impact is seen in the Suru basin, with glaciers recorded a 38% shrinkage between 1969 and 2004. The Chandra, Bhaga, Parbati and Warwan basins are the other four recording the worst recessionary trends over the same period.
The meeting also noted that currently most of the automated weather stations are located in Jammu and Kashmir and serve the Army. These should be extended to Arunachal Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand in order to record data across the Himalayas.
Thursday, 16 July 2009
Important petition! 重要請願書!
中文版本請到本網頁下方點選
Dear friends,
I have just received this very important petition, please take the time to read it and send it on to everyone you know. The more people that sign it, the more persuasive it will be.
The goal of the petition is to encourage the Taiwan government to adopt a "meat free Monday" across the nation, in attempt to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and prevent further climate change.
Even if you're not Taiwanese it is still important as climate change is a global problem and another country adopting a meat free monday may encourage other countries to do the same.
Click on the link below to find out more details and sign the petition.
http://www.gopetition.com/petitions/meat-free-monday-taiwan.html
Yours sincerely,
Society for the Advancement of Animal Wellbeing
親愛的朋友们,
我剛收到這封非常重要的請願書。 請花一點時間閱讀並轉寄給每一個您認識的人,
越多的人簽署越有說服力。
此請願書的目的是要鼓勵政府在全台灣推行星期一無肉日, 以降低溫室氣體排放量及避免進一步氣候變遷。
欲知詳情請點擊下列連結, 並於請願書簽名。
http://www.gopetition.com/petitions/meat-free-monday-taiwan.html
你誠摯的
Society for the Advancement of Animal Wellbeing
Dear friends,
I have just received this very important petition, please take the time to read it and send it on to everyone you know. The more people that sign it, the more persuasive it will be.
The goal of the petition is to encourage the Taiwan government to adopt a "meat free Monday" across the nation, in attempt to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and prevent further climate change.
Even if you're not Taiwanese it is still important as climate change is a global problem and another country adopting a meat free monday may encourage other countries to do the same.
Click on the link below to find out more details and sign the petition.
http://www.gopetition.com/petitions/meat-free-monday-taiwan.html
Yours sincerely,
Society for the Advancement of Animal Wellbeing
親愛的朋友们,
我剛收到這封非常重要的請願書。 請花一點時間閱讀並轉寄給每一個您認識的人,
越多的人簽署越有說服力。
此請願書的目的是要鼓勵政府在全台灣推行星期一無肉日, 以降低溫室氣體排放量及避免進一步氣候變遷。
欲知詳情請點擊下列連結, 並於請願書簽名。
http://www.gopetition.com/petitions/meat-free-monday-taiwan.html
你誠摯的
Society for the Advancement of Animal Wellbeing
Friday, 10 July 2009
Portsmouth MP signs animal rights petition
Published Date: 08 July 2009
A Portsmouth MP has signed up to what is thought to be the biggest animal rights petition of all time.
Portsmouth South MP Mike Hancock took the petition directly to the prime minister at 10 Downing Street, along with other animal-loving politicians of all parties.
It calls on the government to end experiments on animals.
Animal welfare group Uncaged, which is behind the petition, collected 1.5m signatures in towns and cities across the UK. It comes as the European Union is due to revise European law on animal experiments.
Mr Hancock said: 'It is clear that the British public is very concerned about experiments on animals.
'Increasingly, there are better ways to develop and test the efficacy and safety of medicines.
'Yet we see the opposite – the number of experiments in the UK has been increasing recently to over three million a year. I believe the vast majority of these are unnecessary. The number of experiments on animals and particularly on mammals and primates should be kept to an absolute minimum.
'I hope that this petition and the vast number of signatures that it has attracted will impress on the British government the need to take a strong position in Europe and also towards an end to animal experiments wherever possible.'
Wednesday, 1 July 2009
Turkey plant worker sentenced for animal cruelty
Turkey plant worker sentenced for animal cruelty
6/29/2009, 3:26 p.m. EDT
The Associated Press
(AP) — LEWISBURG, W.Va. - A worker at a West Virginia turkey plant has been sentenced to a year of home confinement for stomping on a bird's head and slamming another to the ground in abuse caught on video.
Edward Eric Gwinn was also fined $1,000 and ordered to have no contact with domestic animals by a judge in Greenbrier County.
Gwinn and Scott Alvin White were indicted on felony charges in February, but each pleaded guilty to two animal cruelty misdemeanors in April. White was sentenced June 8 to a year in jail but can petition for home confinement. A third man's criminal case is pending.
The men were videotaped last fall by an undercover operative of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals at an Aviagen Turkeys Inc. plant in Lewisburg.
The three men have been fired.
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