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What are you doing to protect the oceans? Share your views on the TakingITGlobal - Waves of Change discussion board
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Image Source: NOAA
Imagine losing coastlines, entire islands, and substantial parts of Asia, Northern Europe and the Arctic from erosion, floods and glacial melting. Imagine the consequences of a year that breaks record heat. Can you envision a world constantly hit with hurricanes and tsunamis, afflicted with drowning seals and disappearing polar bears, and impoverished by lost marine environments and arctic livelihoods?
Now, imagine a world where you could make a difference. Imagine that you could renew depleted ecosystems, repair damaged marine environments and replenish the ocean's resources. Can you imagine rebuilding the world's oceans and seas, valuable resources upon which so much of our existence depends?
As one of our most precious assets, the Ocean is indispensable to life itself. It is the largest habitat for living things in our solar system and sustains our lives with over 50 percent of the Earth's oxygen. Without our Oceans, we wouldn't be able to breathe; we wouldn't be able to eat; we wouldn't be able to live.
The Ocean and coastal resources supply us with:
Increasing economic activity and climate change, however, have put our marine environments, and our own existence, in great peril. Marine ecosystems are at risk of being lost forever; fisheries are facing declining catches; and island states are threatened by rising sea levels. The specter of global terrorism and nuclear activity in the oceans also pose a great danger to our lives.
Protection of the oceans is a necessity - the world and our overall quality of life depend on it.
Join us in preserving our ocean heritage and be part of The Waves of Change. A five year (2008-2012) global campaign initiated by International Ocean Institute, The Waves of Change aims to empower youth to become more actively engaged in promoting ocean sustainability. Through collaboration with the non-governmental, scientific, education, media and entertainment communities, The Waves of Change will provide youth with innovative programs to explore as well as develop their awareness about ocean issues.
We are also calling on companies concerned about the future of our Oceans to join us in our efforts. The Waves of Change will provide platforms for collaboration between the public sector, non-governmental groups and business to develop innovative approaches and solutions to ocean stewardship issues as well as opportunities for business to engage in international processes regarding the oceans.
Take a chance to effect change and share renewed interest in our common heritage. Become involved in a global ocean campaign and start the ripples that will create Waves of Change.
Global warming could eliminate glaciers by 2050
Glaciers in the European Alps are melting so fast that the snow-capped vistas and stylish ski towns of the region may be nothing more than faded postcards by 2050, a new global warming study warns. The current findings update a 2006 report that predicted ice-free Alps by the end of the century. The loss would change the supply of drinking and irrigation water, lead to more falling rocks and landslides, and cripple the European ski industry.
On average about 3 percent of Alpine glacial ice is lost each year, according to Roland Psenner, a fresh water scientist at the University of Innsbruck in Austria. At the 2007 annual conference on the Alps in the Austrian mountain resort of Alpbach, Psenner explained that 10 percent of glacial ice was lost in the record-breaking heat of 2003; 7 percent was lost in 2006.
March 2008
Kerala is an outlier in India's social development profile. While its gross income does not rank high compared to other States, it social indicators (life expectancy, and literacy) are as high as those of developed countries. I visited farmers in the Pattanakkad Block, in Alappuzha District to hear their experiences with farming and to witness some of the success stories with intensive integrated farming systems.
Art and science can work beautifully, as evidenced by the Polar Artists Group (P.A.G), an international group of artists from all mediums working together to bring awareness of the polar regions. The P.A.G. is a not-for-profit society of polar artists who believe "Scientists Discover, Artists Interpret, and Together We Can Open the Eyes of the World."
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