The Global Sociology Blog

A Billion for A Billion

These two items are a bit older but they are related to the environmental pressures that are severely damaging marine life. both are related to human activity. First, this item: BBC NEWS | Science & Environment | Fisheries waste ‘costs billions’ via kwout Lack of regulation and inefficient fishing are indeed putting increased pressure on [...]

I have blogged before about services provided by the biosphere and how the so-called profitability of the global economic system relies heavily on disappearing the actual costs in terms of natural capital (not paying for services provided by the biosphere and not accounting for the depletion of natural capital). Here is another example. Money Grows [...]

Via the BBC, "Demand for land to grow food, fuel crops and wood is set to outstrip supply, leading to the probable destruction of forests, a report warns." The report in question was drafted by the coalition Rights and Resources Initiative focused on global forest policy. They advocate sustainable management of forestry as well as [...]

In the past months, I have blogged rather extensively on the food crisis and the relationship to the growth of biofuels (see here, here, here, here , here , here , here and here ). In the context of the G8 meeting, the correlation between biofuel growth, poverty and hunger / food scarcity is again [...]

From the Guardian, now tell me this doesn’t scare the !@#$ out of you (cue scary, ominous music): “Giant carnivorous mice threaten world’s greatest seabird colony” Yup “Whalers who visited remote Gough Island in the South Atlantic 150 years ago described a prelapsarian world where millions of birds lived without predators and where a man [...]

Via the Independent (see also the Guardian), Marina Silva, the very popular Brazilian Minister of the Environment, throws the towel over the protection of the rainforest. “Brazil has been accused of turning its back on its duty to protect the Amazon after the resignation of its award-winning Environment Minister fuelled fresh fears over the fate [...]

Anomie tore this guy a new one (and deservedly so), so, just go read. It is a good example of how to pick stupid arguments apart and how to spot sexist subtexts.

Really? “A new generation of medical treatments could be lost forever unless the current rate of biodiversity loss is reversed, conservationists have warned. They say species are being lost before researchers have had the chance to examine and understand their potential health benefits. The findings appear in Sustaining Life, a book involving more than 100 [...]

Via the Guardian, “Making love might not seem like the most obvious way to save the world’s largest tropical rainforest – and combat the threat of Aids. But according to the Brazilian government, which this week opened a £10m condom factory deep in the Amazon jungle, it could be an effective weapon in the battle [...]

Via the Independent, “A deal has been agreed that will place a financial value on rainforests – paying, for the first time, for their upkeep as “utilities” that provide vital services such as rainfall generation, carbon storage and climate regulation. The agreement, to be announced tomorrow in New York, will secure the future of one [...]

The President of the giant food company, Nestle, does not like biofuels (via Le Nouvel Observateur and Liberation): “If we want to cover 20% of the increasing need of petroleum products with biofuels, as it is scheduled, there will be nothing left to eat.“ Emphasis mine. Moreover, he considers morally reprehensible and irresponsible to subsidize [...]

Via Der Spiegel, “Glaciers across the globe are melting faster than at any point in the last century. Many could disappear within decades, and their decline could cause droughts and chaos for billions of people who depend on rivers fed by glaciers.” This is according to a report from the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP). [...]

And according to Liberation, 2.4 billion do not have access to clean water or simple toilets. These conditions are responsible for the death of 25,000 people, mostly children, every day. This means that the objective 7 (Target 10 – Halve, by 2015, the proportion of people without sustainable access to safe drinking water and basic [...]

March 22nd is World Water Day! What is World Water Day? “The United Nations General Assembly adopted resolution A/RES/47/193 of 22 December 1992 by which 22 March of each year was declared World Day for Water, to be observed starting in 1993, in conformity with the recommendations of the United Nations Conference on Environment and [...]