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

History shows that sea levels can rise very quickly

An article published in the February 12 issue of Science magazine describes a study led by US geoscientist Dr. Jeffrey Dorale, in which rock samples were collected from caves off the coast of Mallorca, Spain.

In so doing, the researchers not only identified sea level changes over the past 135,000 years, they discovered that the oceans can rise as much as 2 meters in a century.

Noting that this is nearly 12 times as fast as in the past 100 years, Dr. Dorale stated, “This has major implications for future concerns with sea-level change.

The mechanisms underlying these dramatic changes need further onsideration as we look to a future of impending climate changes.”

Our thanks, Dr. Dorale and team, for your detailed work and its cautionary forecast for our future. Let us all engage in actions that restore harmony and beauty to our shared Earthly home.

Concerned for humanity, Supreme Master Ching Hai has often addressed the tolls of global warming such as rising sea levels and the need for actions to curb them, as during an interview for the September 2009 edition of The House Magazine.

Supreme Master Ching Hai: People forced from their homes and communities due to rising sea levels and a host of other natural disasters, so-called natural disasters, but in fact these are all man-made.

Sea level rise, for example, threatens half of the world's population living within 200 kilometers of a coastline. Seventeen million in Bangladesh have fled their homes already, mainly because of coastal erosion.

At least 18 islands have completely submerged around the world thus far, with more than 40 other island nations at risk from rising sea levels, and planning to relocate.

If humans switch to the vegan diet, the Earth will begin cooling immediately and many of these dilemmas can even be reversed. So please, be veg and do good, to save the planet and all the beings on it, including you and me.

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=sea-caves-reveal-rapid-rise-in-ancient-ocean-levels
http://www.usnews.com/science/articles/2010/02/12/sea-levels-erratic-during-latest-ice-age.html

The changing tides and lives in the Sundarbands.

A photography exhibit in London, England by photographer Peter Canton and field partner Cris Aoki Watanabe documents the devastation of climate change on one of the most impacted areas of the world – the low-lying Sundarbans in India’s Ganges delta.

The Sundarbans, which means “beautiful forest” in Bengali, have long been considered a region of ecological and cultural importance. However, the photographers were shocked to see the ruins that Cyclone Aila had inflicted in May 2009, as they also documented the increasingly higher water levels and more intense storms.

Families are continually displaced as they have to relocate to shelters at every coming catastrophe.

Livelihoods are at dire stakes with the encroaching salt water contaminating their rice paddies, which renders them useless for the next three years.

With the people’s lifestyles considered to leave one of the lightest carbon footprints, the photojournalists’ exhibit highlights the suffering inflicted by climate change that is wreaking havoc on the isolated and poor.

A resident grieves: “The water level is increasing and the temperature too. We cannot live here, the heat is becoming unbearable. We have received a plastic sheet and have covered our home with it. During the coming monsoon we shall wrap our bodies in the plastic to stay dry. We also have two children and we cannot manage their food either.”

Our hearts are saddened to know of our brethren suffering through the demise of their communities and our planet. May we quickly change our ways and hearts in consideration for our co-inhabitants and the environment. In an October 2009 videoconference in Formosa (Taiwan), Supreme Master Ching Hai spoke with concern for all Earth’s residents afflicted by global warming, urging citizens and world leaders to help halt these calamitous changes.

Supreme Master Ching Hai: We also do not forget all the islands and other countries who are submerging or sinking or disappearing or disappeared because of climate change. My heart is troubled every day, thinking of all these innocent people and all the defenseless animals who have to suffer in this great upheaval we call climate change.

But we still have time. We could not reverse the effect of climate change in the past. Whatever happened due to typhoons and floods and earthquakes, etc.,

we could not reverse the effect. But we could stop future disasters by returning to the compassionate vegan diet and encouraging others to do the same. The government has the power to do this. I beg all the governments of the world, please, do this before it’s too late, for the sake of your citizens and your own children as well.

http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/climate-change/the-sinking-sundarbans-
1862267.html?action=Popup
http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/climate-change/the-sinking-sundarbans-1862267.html

Echoes of storms may contribute to Antarctic ice shelf collapse

Besides global warming, a new study in the journal Geophysical Research Letters says that tsunami-like “infra-gravity waves” may be causing some of this past decade’s biggest ice collapses.

As most ice shelves are over 1,000 feet thick, they are generally not affected by ocean waves. However, infra-gravity waves occur when the energy of the waves from a storm is echoed back out to the ocean for thousands of miles.

Just before the Wilkins Shelf disintegrated in 2008, a large storm had pounded the coast of Patagonia, sending off an infra-gravity wave. Dr. Peter Bromirski of the US-based Scripps Institute of Oceanography stated, “Regular sea swells chip off little icebergs from the edges. Infra-gravity waves could be affecting a much greater part of the ice shelf.”

Dr. Bromirski and colleagues, we appreciate this new information about ice shelf disintegration. Let us hasten our steps toward lifestyles in harmony with nature to stabilize the climate and help preserve our Earth.

Ever-concerned for our planetary welfare, Supreme Master Ching Hai addressed such effects of an unbalanced ecosphere and the need for action during a January 2009 videoconference in Mongolia.

Supreme Master Ching Hai: We are already facing so many untold natural disasters on a daily basis such as earthquakes, severe storms never seen before, volcanoes, ice melting and many island nations that have sunk under the water already and many are sinking. And the climate has become very, very strange, like it became warm where it should be cold and it became cold where it should be hot. And this can only be alleviated through a return to the ancient ways of our wiser elders, one that exists in harmony with nature and respect of other beings, a true brotherhood of love with all.

We can still do that; it’s not too late.

We should remind everyone to be veg, to invoke the mercy of the Buddhas, and we will be better protected.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/34638036/ns/technology_and_science-science

The human face – and human power – in climate change

Marking the final high-level phase of the United Nations Climate Change Conference, United Nations and partner organization representatives observed Humanitarian Day at the summit locale in Copenhagen, Denmark, raising awareness of the human implications of climate change. Supreme Master Television’s correspondent in Copenhagen shares details.

Supreme Master Television Correspondent: “Nature does not negotiate.” These were the words shared by United Nations Secretary-General Ban to signal the firm decisions that must be made now to stop worsening climate catastrophes.

The human-caused decline of nature was well illustrated by UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator John Holmes.
John Holmes, United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and UN Emergency Relief Coordinator (M): Whereas 20 years ago there were perhaps 200 natural disasters a year, now we’re facing more like 400. Whereas 5 years ago, half of those disasters were related to climate, now, three-quarters of those disasters are related to climate. Climate change is not some abstract future threat. Climate change is now, climate change is affecting people now.

Supreme Master Television Correspondent: Like many others who travelled to Copenhagen to lend their own individual energy, members of the Supreme Master Ching Hai International Association continued spreading information about the power of each person to reverse global warming through a switch to the plant-based diet.

The veg solution was also discussed by the European Parliament just before the Climate Summit and specifically advocated by eminent leaders such as United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Chairman, Dr. Rajendra Pachauri.

Dr. Rajendra Pachauri – Chair, United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Vegetarian (M): I think we have to use every means to mitigate the emissions of greenhouse gases, and I’d submit to you once again that cutting down on meat consumption would be an extremely effective way of doing so.

Supreme Master Television Correspondent: This week, the Association hosted a sumptuous organic vegan banquet at the Hilton Hotel in Copenhagen, inviting 150 conference delegates and organizations to participate in a greater understanding of the dietary solution to climate change. The response was enthusiastic.

Niti Desuderai – President of Malaysian Environmental Protection Society, Vegetarian (M): I’d like to congratulate your organization for all the tremendous work you are doing for creating awareness on the importance of eating a vegetarian diet.

COP 15 Vegan dinner interview Phillipines EurporeanParliament 20091214 Ignacio T. Arroyo - Philippine Congressman (M): We would like to try your vegan food, and in fact it’s been talked of a lot by our colleagues. And also I’d like to greet your Supreme Master and thank her for all these.

Supreme Master Television Correspondent: This is Supreme Master Television reporting from Copenhagen, Denmark.

VOICE: Our gratefulness to all the dedicated conference participants, leaders and co-citizens alike, in Copenhagen. We join in thanking Supreme Master Ching Hai for her steady support of the crucial vegan change and pray that the more than 130 heads of state and government will accept this win-win deal so needed by our planet to survive.

In an October 2009 videoconference, Supreme Master Ching Hai addressed world leaders, calling for their actions in accordance with the law of harmony with nature, including our animal co-inhabitants.

Supreme Master Ching Hai: Ladies and gentlemen, all the powerful people in the world, in our society, the law only punished someone who has done something wrong to the society. The animals have never done us any wrongs.

If we want to receive the mercy of Heaven for our life here on Earth, we must first be merciful in granting the same dignity and freedom of life to the animals. Only then can we have a return of the environmental balance that I know you also seek to protect. So please everyone, plant veg, be veg and we can go green later
when we already save the planet. Save our planet. Please, I wish you the best.

Ecuador offers an innovative plan for preserving the rainforest, with the country leaving an estimated one billion barrels of oil in the ground and instead selling certificates for the unreleased carbon, with proceeds going toward continued conservation and other eco-projects.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091105143823.htm?utm_source=feedburner&
utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+sciencedaily+(ScienceDaily%3A+Latest+Science+News)

Natural disasters are on the rise

According to a report just released by the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), weather catastrophes have increased over the past decade. The average of 200 per year in the 1990s has increased to 350 per year this decade. Last year there were over 235,000 fatalities from disasters linked to weather such as Cyclone Nargis.

Speaking of the impact of global warming through these extreme events, IFRC Secretary-General Dr. Bekele Geleta said, “The disasters which climate change will trigger potentially threaten more lives and livelihoods than any before.”

Our sincere appreciation, Secretary-General Geleta and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies for this disturbing reminder of our planet’s fragile state.

Let us safeguard all lives on Earth through the loving vegan, meaning animal-free, lifestyle. In a July 2008 videoconference with our Association members in Washington, USA, Supreme Master Ching Hai conveyed her deep regard for humanity’s plight in facing global warming, as she offered a way to address its effects.

Supreme Master Ching Hai: If the planet is polluted and poisoned, then people will die slow and in agony. So many disasters happen, and people will suffer so much.

Everybody has to join to into the vegetarian diet, and stop the killing, stop the harm to other people and the animals and save energies every way possible and go green wherever possible. Then we still can save the planet.

Reference
http://www.straitstimes.com/Breaking%2BNews/Tech%2Band%2BScience/Story/STIStory_391419.html
http://www.rcstandcom.info/m-geleta.shtml