Sulfur dioxide pollution highlights methane as key to global warming

With countries such as China and India now reducing pollutants containing sulfur dioxide, Dr. Frank Raes, head of the Climate Change Unit of the European Commission Joint Research Center in Italy reports that the planet is likely to heat more quickly in response.

Sulfur dioxide, which is emitted in the processing of coal, oil and other industrial processes, has already been significantly reduced in many developed nations.

Although it is harmful to health, sulfur aerosols create an atmospheric cooling effect that offsets the heat emitted by the CO2 released in these same processes.

This suggests that the heat from coal, oil and industry in developing nations has played a smaller role in global warming than previously thought. Such a finding corresponds with the conclusions of Dr. Drew Shindell from the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration, who estimated that because of sulfur dioxide’s cooling effect, methane, which is generated primarily by activities related to meat production, is heating the atmosphere much more than previously thought.

Our appreciation Dr. Raes and European Commission Joint Research Center fellow scientists, for this insightful finding. Let us choose the fastest way to return to health and cool the planet, namely, through the safe and Earth-friendly vegan diet.

As mentioned on previous occasions, Supreme Master Ching Hai reminded once again during a September 2009 videoconference in South Korea that the most urgent global warming threat lies in sources other than carbon dioxide.

Supreme Master Ching Hai: If the goal is to be a truly carbon-free society, we should consider all the major sources of greenhouse gases emissions. You see, we are emitting greenhouse gases not just through the fumes from factories, houses, and cars, but also through the products that we choose to consume. Besides, CO2 is cancelled out by aerosols, which are released at the same time from burning fossil fuels.

Even though aerosols are very detrimental to our health, they actually have a cooling effect that cancels out the CO2 heat in the atmosphere.

So the warming climate problem is not from CO2 I repeat, it’s not from carbon dioxide. It is from other sources, mainly methane.

Supreme Master Ching Hai: First and foremost, eliminate the single largest source of human-caused methane, namely, livestock. Stop animal products, then we stop global warming.

http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20527481.400-smoke-bomb-the-other-climate-culprits.html
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/science/earth-environment/article6895907.ece

Global warming to necessitate land use changes

According to a new report by Britain’s Government Office for Science, increasingly hotter, drier summers could cause extreme water shortages as river flows are reduced by 80% even as a rise in population of 9 million people is expected by 2031.

Scenarios in the report, written by 300 contributing scientists, economists and planners, include a future in which greenhouse gas emissions would be controlled by carbon rationing and state-mandated reductions in the space allocated to livestock as well as forced migration of citizens from places like the crowded southeast to more northern towns.

Chief UK scientific adviser and director of the research, Professor John Beddington warned, “Over the next 50 years we cannot manage land in the way we’ve done…

The effects of climate change and new pressures… could escalate, seriously eroding quality of life.” Professor Beddington, Government Office for Science and all report contributors, we are thankful for your objective report informing of outcomes we would wish to avoid. Let us join in making choices today that allow a harmonious and plentiful future for all on our planet.

During an August 2008 interview by Ireland’s East Coast FM Radio, Supreme Master Ching Hai highlighted as she has on previous occasions our need to act upon the factual information provided by scientific experts.

Supreme Master Ching Hai: According to the scientists, whatever they have predicted or prescribed about our critical situation is accurate up to 99%. They want us to change the way we live our lives, to protect our fragile ecosystem, by cutting down CO2 emissions. And the fastest way that individuals can do, without a lot of protocol and ado, is to be veg.

It’s truly critical now, as we have witnessed increasing disaster worldwide, due to climate change.

We still have time, we still have a little time to change the course of destiny, thanks to the vegetarian population, old and new members that reduce the most karmic retribution in the shortest span of time.

But it’s not much. We must change fast to avoid much more damage to the Earth as well as loss of more lives and resources.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/environment/article7041857.ece
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/feb/26/uk-land-management
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/earthnews/7317864/Land-management-in-UK-must-change-to-cope-with-climate-change.html

Mars ice map reveals past climate change

Using laser technology from the Italian Space Agency, a map constructed from data gathered by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s (NASA) Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter has revealed the remnants of a formerly vast ice sheet located between the Martian equator and its North Pole.

What remains of the ice is now scattered below rocky debris on the planet’s surface, with portions that extend to a kilometer in depth.

Scientists estimate that the intact ice sheet existed some tens to hundreds of millions of years ago, and Dr. Jeffrey Plaut of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory stated, “It's definitely a record of a different climate period.”

While land contours have indicated for decades that Mars contained water and ice, this first-ever confirmation through laser technology also supports the likelihood of previous periods of climate change.

Our appreciation, Dr. Plaut and scientists at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and Italian Space Agency for sharing these intriguing findings. May such valuable information continue to expand our understanding of our planetary neighbor and indeed our Earth.

Speaking during an August 2009 videoconference in Thailand, Supreme Master Ching Hai reminded that past events on Mars are an opportunity for us to act in protecting our own fragile climate.

Supreme Master Ching Hai: We only need to look at our own neighboring planets, Mars and Venus, to see that the vision is bleak, is disastrous, if we don’t make the right choice,the right change now.

Any planetary scientist knows that Mars and Venus went through dramatic atmospheric changes in the past, similar to what we have begun to experience right now.

Long ago, Mars and Venus were once a lot like our planet - they had water, life, and people similar to us. But the inhabitants of Mars and Venus destroyed their respective planetary homes because they raised too much livestock, and the gases released triggered an irreversible greenhouse gas effect, plus poisonous hydrogen sulfide in the case of Mars.

So let’s not end up like either Mars or Venus, our neighboring planets. Humanity must uphold a gentler, higher standard for the Earth to continue supporting life.

http://news.discovery.com/space/mars-ice-sheet-map-climate.html

Pamela Anderson speaks for seals and the environment

The Canadian-born actress, a vegetarian spokesperson for the organization People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), recently organized a media event in Vancouver, Canada calling for the cancellation of the Canadian seal hunt this year.

Prior to the event, the actress had written a letter of appeal to Prime Minister Stephen Harper, asking him to spare the seal pups, whose survival is already threatened by habitat loss due to global warming.

Pamela Anderson - Vegetarian (F): This is another reason to stop the seal hunt - the environmental information that the Canadian government has now found is that the ice caps are the lowest in the last 30 years.

We are even asking this year to stop it, so we could actually have a bigger population, because their population is going to be nonexistent pretty soon.

VOICE: With petition signatures that have reached the prime minister numbering half a million thus far, members of the Supreme Master Ching Hai International Association also showed support, and had a chance to present Pamela Anderson with an SOS bag on the vegan solution to climate change.

Accepting the gift, Ms. Anderson shared her encouragement for the actions people can engage in to stop animal cruelty as well as protect the environment.

Pamela Anderson (F): I have loved animals since I was little, so I was an animal activist since I was little. There’s just so much difference we could make. I think it’s just really important to do whatever you can.

Supreme Master TV (M): Is our diet part of that solution?

Pamela Anderson (F): Yes! Being vegetarian is a great way to a healthy environment. It is better than driving a hybrid car. Factory farming is one of the leading causes of global warming as well.

So, there are lots of conscious things we can do. The more I find out, the more I change my life. I just think that’s what we all need to do.

VOICE: A grateful salute, Pamela Anderson for your valiant and compassionate shining star to protect the seals and the planet. Indeed, may all of humanity foster the conscientious and life-saving vegan lifestyle for the wholesome future of our fellow co-inhabitants and the Earth.

As often mentioned in her wish to safeguard all beings, Supreme Master Ching Hai highlighted the connection between our treatment of animals and the planet’s climate crisis during a November 2009 videoconference in Washington, DC, USA.

Supreme Master Ching Hai: The whales and the seals are some of the many animals who literally radiate love to balance our planet. They were born here to help us to fill in the void of love that we lost through our inconsiderate actions.

But sadly, we kill them. If we kill these beings, we’re really killing ourselves. We take out the balance that is greatly needed at this time, in our dire situation.

Please inform yourself of the unimaginable, utterly cruel and utmost inhumane treatment involved in the meat and dairy production, or fishing even, as well as lab experiments or the animal fur industry.

How can we degrade ourselves into such a heartless state of being, by supporting these cruel, heart-wrenching practices? I hope it is clear that the best, and really the only way, is to be vegan.

http://www.theprovince.com/news/Pamela+Anderson+calls+cancellation+seal+hunt... +Vancouver+media+event/2622875/story.html

Captive dolphins suffer mistreatment and death in confinement

A recent report by the US-based Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society tracking 43 dolphins exported from Russia, Georgia and the Ukraine found that half had perished in captivity and 9 had to be returned to Russia.

Indeed, other research has shown that this 50% fatality rate of dolphins in captivity is typical. In February 2010, Ukrainian officials announced that two dolphinariums would be shut down owing to massive violations.

The marine mammals were being kept in 16-meter pools where they became highly susceptible to bacterial pneumonia and septicemia, the most frequent cause of death for confined dolphins.

In Turkey, four dolphinarium deaths within just one week of in the Mediterranean resort town of Alanya caused an international tour operator to cancel visits to the site.

While there is no exact count of total dolphins in captivity, they number in the thousands, with return to the wild rarely possible. Supreme Master Television spoke with Dr. Naomi Rose, marine mammal scientist for The Humane Society of the United States, who explained the horrendous methods used to capture dolphins and other cetaceans.

Dr. Rose (f): There is another method of collecting dolphins from the wild, it is to hunt, and the dolphins that are not selected to be sold alive are killed.

VOICE: Moreover, being held in captivity inflicts many psychological harms upon the marine animals.

Dr. Rose (f): It’s the same four walls, and there is nothing new in, inside them, day after day after day so it must be terribly, terribly boring for them, and boredom is stressful; it can in fact kill you, it’s so stressful. It can lead to depression, it can lead to high blood pressure, it can lead to all sorts of physiological changes.

Dr. Rose (f): Proponents of captivity try to portray that they feed their whales, you know, great food 3 times a day, whatever it is, as a benefit of captivity.

But they become unhealthy, they become lethargic, some of them become depressed. They have their groceries delivered at the door, and they get ill, and they die young.

Yes, all of these things are provided for them, but it takes away their reason for living. It takes away their purpose.

VOICE: Dr. Rose, we thank you for your valuable insights and send our gratitude to the Humane Society of the United States as well as all organizations, individuals and governments working to safeguard the dolphins and other marine mammals. Let us cherish these divine creations in their natural state of freedom so that we can continue to receive their gifts of love, grace and beauty.

As part of her frequent efforts to safeguard the welfare of all beings, Supreme Master Ching Hai spoke of the need to respect our animal co-inhabitants during an October 2008 videoconference in Thailand.

Supreme Master Ching Hai: We should not allow any more of this cruel practice. Buddha would never allow this. Jesus would never allow this. None of the Master of the Buddhas would allow this. So, they belong to nature, the elephants or the wild animals. They should stay there.

We should not continue forcing more free beings into cramped and suffocated environment. That is not correct. That is not natural to them. That is not intended from Heaven.

We have to act like a human. We must be noble and kind and we take care of the wild as much as we can

Supreme Master Ching Hai: No meat, no animals product, then you can see. Everything will return to a more peaceful, abundance because Heaven is merciful. And we have to start to be merciful like Heaven, then we can experience Heaven.

http://library.thinkquest.org/17963/captivity.html
http://www.inkokomo.com/dolphin/captivity.html
http://www.oceansentry.org/lang-en/menu-news/menu-marine-mammals/2603-dolphin-deaths-in-turkey.html
http://www.wdcs.org/submissions_bin/captivitybnd.pdf
http://www.cites.org/eng/cop/11/prop/14.pdf
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/02/22/AR2010022203637.html?hpid=sec-health
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/n.php?n=international-tour-operator-cancels-dolphinarium-trips-to-turkey-2010-02-25
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/n.php?n=-2010-02-18
http://bsanna-news.ukrinform.ua/newsitem.php?id=12378&lang=en

Climate change to bring more intense tropical storms

A study by the United Nation’s World Meteorological Organization (WMO) has analyzed four years of peer-reviewed research on the ocean storms that are known as hurricanes in the Atlantic and typhoons in Asia.

Using a mid-range forecast of 2.8-degrees Celsius temperature rise for global warming, the WMO research forecast future storms with more powerful winds and higher amounts of rainfall.

Moreover, some areas would likely see big jumps in the number of severe weather patterns.

The WMO also reported that these findings were consistent with ones published in 2007 by the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, noting the likelihood of more intense cyclones, with additional rainfall and higher wind speeds.

United Nations World Meteorological Organization scientists, we sincerely appreciate your careful work that alerts the public to the likelihood of such perilous extreme weather.

Let us join in wholehearted efforts toward planet-protecting lifestyles to ensure a stable home for future generations. Expressing her concern as she has on many occasions for humanity’s plight, Supreme Master Ching Hai spoke of such intensifying weather extremities during an August 2009 videoconference in Thailand.

Supreme Master Ching Hai: If we look around, we can see the growing frequencies and strength of disasters everywhere. Flood events worldwide are now three times higher than in the 1980s. In 2008, there were 40 category 5 storms, the most ever recorded including in the Atlantic, India and Bangladesh, and in the Philippines.

It takes just one category 4 or 5 storm to destroy a major city, just one.
These are truly almost always the consequences of humans’ violent actions. The number 1 action is meat eating. We can stop the disasters, make them go away for good, forever, if all of us switch to the organic vegan diet. Pray it be so.

http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-world/tropical-storms-to-be-more-intense-20100222-oo8z.html

Dislodged Antarctic iceberg causes scientists concern.

An iceberg the size of the country Luxembourg was recently knocked loose from the Antarctic continent by an older iceberg known as B9B, which had split off in 1987. The new iceberg contains approximately one-fifth the total water used worldwide.

Climate experts are now concerned for the ice-free area that used to be protected by the now-displaced ice. As this area provides 25% of the Antarctic’s bottom water, changes in its environment could impact ocean currents that distribute heat and oxygen to waters around the globe.

Such disruption could be devastating, as noted by German oceanographer Dr. Mario Hoppema, who said, “There may be regions of the world’s oceans that lose oxygen, and then of course most of the life there will die.”

We are grateful Dr. Hoppema and all scientists for your comprehensive assessment of these unsettling and large-scale changes in the Antarctic.

May we all foster lifestyles that restore harmony to our shared ecosphere. In a July 2008 videoconference with Supreme Master Television staff in California, USA, Supreme Master Ching Hai emphasized once more our need to act in ways that enhance the survival of all life on Earth.

Supreme Master Ching Hai: If people change to a more benevolent lifestyle that is respecting all lives, then we will beget life and our lives be spared. And nature will restore the balance and repair all damages.

I wish to see that day soon, in my lifetime. It’s still repairable. But people have to realize this, and they have to know it’s urgent and they have to cooperate. The more vegan people join the circle, the more chance we have to save the planet.

http://www.france24.com/en/20100225-mammoth-iceberg-could-alter-ocean-circulation-study
http://www.hindu.com/2010/02/27/stories/2010022757422000.htm
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=124105970