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Post by warriorwitch on Apr 28, 2007 7:48:11 GMT
~~ « Thread Started Yesterday at 11:39am »
From todays witches
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Iv just watched this film and there were times when i could have wept, but while watching it i thought that we should ALL do our bit no matter how small... So..... I want EVERYONE and i mean EVERYONE, that includes all the guests that like to have a roam around, to do ONE thing that will benefit the earth and her habitates...
Now this could be as simple as changing your light bulbs to more extreme methods of reducing your carbon footprint, by either refusing to get on another plane, or getting rid of your car....
I mean it guys, ONE THING.... If you are not already recycling, DO IT!, If you are still throwing away plastic/cardboards but are recycling tins and glass, make a point of collecting the cardboard/plastic once a week and taking it to a recycling bin, and that does mean that you walk there rather than taking the car
If you and your partner take separate baths, either have one together, or share your water, and don't give me that look, you cant be that dirty...
If you can, rather than using washing powder, buy some Eco balls, I'm actually in the process of doing this myself... Stop using your dryer, and use the wind in your garden and if its winter or its raining, invest in a clothes horse, not only will you do your bit, you'll save some money....
I'm sick of hearing people say, ''oh but what can i do?, I'm doing my bit'', get on with it, theres still so much you can do... If you have the money, invest in solar panels and maybe a small wind turbine, heat your water the natural way, if your lucky enough to have a stream on your property, use it, if you don't know how, then do some research....
Shop once a week at your local farmers market and get local foods, rather than eating food that has come thousands of miles, reducing the carbon footprint and the pesticides used to help keep your food looking fresh... If you can, source your meat rather than buying from the supermarket... Take your own bags to the shops and reuse them again, and again....
Show your children how to recycle no matter how young they are, they will thank you when they are older...
Stop making excuses, and i don't want replies about the bullnuts conspiracy theories on Global Warming, i know its happening and so do you.... ONE SMALL THING PLEASE.... Together WE WILL MAKE A DIFFERENCE!!!...
Once last thought, think off all those Polar Bears that are being found drowned each day, why? because the ice sheets are slowly disappearing and so they find themselves in a sea that goes on forever and ever, they get tired and drown, imagine that, imagine yourself hungry, in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean looking for food, and some land to rest, but its all gone!!!!!!!!!! We are causing that... You and me....
Oh yeah, one last thing- Watch the film! « Last Edit: Yesterday at 11:39am by Pippin »
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Post by celticwitch on Apr 29, 2007 8:28:49 GMT
We do need to act on this and I support all reasonable efforts to improve out environment and protect the Eco systems.
There are so many people out there who bury their heads in the sand saying that global warming is a con but in truth are just using the argument as an excuse for continuing with their wasteful lifestyles.
Get real guys its here now and your kids will pay the price.
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Post by cerridwen on Apr 29, 2007 16:14:45 GMT
As I said on Today's Witches, It's my grandkids future I'm worried about..
Why are some people so ignorant?
Cat
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Post by luisa on Apr 29, 2007 20:04:19 GMT
yes and for me my children and grandchilden so on and so on what will we leav them ground they cant use cos it contaminated by nucular wast. nucular wast dumping grounds. and a bearly existant ozone lare
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Post by warriorwitch on Apr 29, 2007 22:20:16 GMT
As I said on Today's Witches, It's my grandkids future I'm worried about.. Why are some people so ignorant? Cat Ignorance is bliss to some I work with a guy who says it won't effect me I don't care
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Post by cerridwen on Apr 30, 2007 17:46:15 GMT
Is this guy married? Does he have children?
He sounds a little selfish to me.. Maybe what he needs is a look into the future, and to see the devastation..
Cat
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Post by warriorwitch on Apr 30, 2007 18:36:11 GMT
Is this guy married? Does he have children? He sounds a little selfish to me.. Maybe what he needs is a look into the future, and to see the devastation.. Cat He lives alone Cat and has no children that he will admit to he says he will be dead before it happens so he just doesn't care.
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Post by warriorwitch on Apr 30, 2007 21:18:37 GMT
This may be a step in the right direction EU-U.S. summit to call for "urgent" climate action By Noah Barkin Reuters - Monday, April 30WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The European Union and United States will agree at a summit on Monday that climate change is a central challenge that requires "urgent, sustained global action," according to a draft statement seen by Reuters.
(Advertisement) German Chancellor Angela Merkel, on her first trip to Washington since assuming the presidency of the EU, is seeking to convince the Bush administration take concrete steps to curb the greenhouse gases blamed for climate change.
Merkel hopes the joint statement will lay the groundwork for a broader deal on combating global warming at a June G8 summit she will host in the Baltic resort of Heiligendamm.
"I think on climate and energy efficiency, we've taken a step forward," she told reporters in Washington before her meeting with U.S. President George W. Bush. "We want to use this as a foundation for a broader agreement at the summit between the G8 countries, and perhaps also India and China.
The statement on energy security, efficiency and climate change will be presented alongside a broader "Transatlantic Economic Partnership" designed to cut costly non-tariff barriers to trade between the EU and United States.
Under that agreement, the partners will agree to harmonise regulatory standards and cooperate in areas like intellectual property, trade security, investment and financial markets.
A council led by EU Industry Commissioner Guenter Verheugen and White House economic adviser Allan Hubbard will be set up to monitor progress in aligning regulations and present annual reports to EU and U.S. leaders.
In addition to the fixed agenda, Merkel and Bush will hold talks on an array of international issues from Iran's nuclear program to Middle East peace.
RUSSIA TENSIONS
Russian relations have also been thrust to the forefront after a hawkish speech by President Vladimir Putin last week in which he denounced U.S. plans to put a missile shield in central Europe and froze Moscow's commitments under a key arms treaty.
Washington says the shield would counter threats from "rogue states" like Iran and North Korea, but Moscow sees it as a threat and encroachment on its former sphere of influence.
"I will reiterate the need to talk with Russia about this and the NATO-Russia council is a good forum," Merkel said, denying that it would be the focus of her talks with Bush.
German officials have painted the joint declaration on climate change as a rhetorical leap forward for the Bush administration, but the statement does not contain any concrete pledges to take action.
The draft says the EU and U.S. are committed to stabilising greenhouse gases and acknowledges work of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, or IPCC, which released a report this month that said rising temperatures were changing the globe and could lead to more hunger, water shortages and extinctions.
The draft urges the development and commercialisation of advanced technologies to "slow, stabilise and significantly cut" global emissions and promises a joint effort to deliver results at Heiligendamm and work constructively in the run-up to a key U.N. meeting on climate change in Bali, Indonesia in December.
On her fourth visit to Washington, Merkel has developed a close relationship with Bush, repairing ties which became badly strained when her predecessor Gerhard Schroeder clashed with the U.S. president over the Iraq war.
But with less than six weeks to go until Heiligendamm, she faces a daunting task in persuading Bush to agree to broader, binding international steps to fight climate change.
German officials have also expressed concern the escalating Cold War-type showdown between Washington and Moscow over the missile shield and another looming battle over Kosovo independence could overshadow the June 6-8 summit.
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Post by warriorwitch on Jun 5, 2007 13:15:43 GMT
This was sent to me today by a worried friend.
Worse than Worst Case Climate Change Scenario A user pointed out this popular media account of a recent Science journal article that finds "the world is now on track to experience more catastrophic damages from climate change than in the worst-case scenario forecast by international experts". The research found that between 2000 and 2004 global carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuels increased by three times greater than in the 1990s. The person that forwarded this to me pointed out that "we are beyond A1F1 which with carbon feedbacks [search] means we on track for over +8 degrees C in warming... Over 5.5 degrees C, at this rate of global change, would by best guess be limit of survival for humanity... Coupled with the recent news on the Antarctic Ocean means that IPCC 4 is hopelessly out dated now." The accumulation of recent science beyond the pondering, politicalized IPCC process would seem to indicate that we have entered a period of abrupt, perhaps run-away climate change that will have severe consequences for the Earth's future habitability. Most scientists are too cautious to make such predictions -- indeed the traditional scientific method seems ill-prepared to counter a once off planetary emergency that threatens the survival of existence. It is well past time for drastic measures if we are to have any chance of fighting global heating and winning. I am dismayed by the helter-skelter of schemes and projects that seek to profit from the situation without offering a vision of what must be done to survive. UPDATE: Here is more information [more2] on the finding that CO2 has been found to be rising three times faster than expected -- this is an indicator that climate change is on track to be abrupt [search] and perhaps runaway
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Post by warriorwitch on Jun 6, 2007 19:04:09 GMT
Here is a bit more to add to the debate.
U.S. opposes fixing greenhouse gas cuts at G8 By Caren Bohan and Tabassum Zakaria Reuters - 42 minutes agoHEILIGENDAMM, Germany (Reuters) - The United States said on Wednesday it opposed setting firm targets for greenhouse gas cuts at a G8 summit but offered reassurance that its plan for fighting climate change would not undermine U.N. efforts.
ADVERTISEMENT U.S President George W. Bush's stance is likely to lead to hard bargaining at a meeting where German Chancellor Angela Merkel hopes to win a commitment from major powers to halve greenhouse gas emissions by the middle of the century.
Police and protesters clashed near the summit venue on the Baltic coast as world leaders gathered for talks also likely to tackle missile defence and aid for Africa.
Bush told reporters that Russia did not pose a threat to Europe despite a vow by Moscow to target the continent if the U.S. deploys a missile shield in central Europe.
"Russia is not going to attack Europe," Bush said.
Summit host Merkel has been pushing for cuts of 50 percent in greenhouse gases by 2050 to curb a rise in temperatures that scientists say could cause more droughts, heat waves, floods and rising seas.
But Washington said it was not ready to sign up to such fixed goals in Heiligendamm where Bush will meet leaders of Japan, Russia, Germany, Britain, France, Italy and Canada.
"At this point in time we are not prepared to adopt that proposal," said James Connaughton, a senior White House adviser, when asked about Merkel's emissions target.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy suggested Europeans would press Washington until the very end on the divisive issue.
"We need quantifiable targets in the final text," Sarkozy told reporters. "It is an extremely important point and I intend to talk to the president of the United States about it as early as this evening," he added.
FOSSIL FUELS
Bush said his plan announced last week for talks among the top 15 emitters of greenhouse gases with the aim of agreeing long-term reductions by the end of 2008 would "fold into the U.N. framework" on tackling climate change.
Many European nations had expressed concerns that Bush's plan might undermine U.N. talks on a global deal to replace the Kyoto Protocol, the main U.N. plan until 2012 for curbing greenhouse gases released mainly by burning fossil fuels.
The United States is the only G8 nation outside Kyoto.
"I also come with a strong desire to work with you on a post-Kyoto agreement about how we can achieve major objectives" including cuts in greenhouse gases, Bush told Merkel after a lunch of veal schnitzel and asparagus.
Merkel, who brokered an EU deal in March which includes binding cuts in emissions, has also been pushing for a G8 pledge to limit warming of global temperatures to 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 Fahrenheit), seen as a threshold for dangerous changes.
But she may have to settle for an expression of U.S. support for United Nations efforts to combat climate change and an agreement to tackle emissions at a later date.
"I think we all know that the goals agreed by the European Union cannot be accepted by the entire world," she said.
Officials are also involved in last-minute wrangling over commitments to fighting poverty in Africa, another of Merkel's G8 priorities. Leaders will refer to pledges made at the Gleneagles summit in 2005 to double development aid by 2010.
But Italy and Canada are resisting concrete language in the communique on a pledge to lift overall annual aid by $50 billion by 2010 and also, with Japan, blocking country-specific figures.
Near the venue, police used water cannons to disperse groups of protesters and clear roads, detaining some 160 activists. Eight police officers were injured in the clashes.
Some marchers damaged a rail track used to shuttle officials in and out of the summit site. Others blocked roads, temporarily cutting off all ground access to the venue.
"We had a super plan and we surprised the police, who didn't know how to stop us," said Gunar Finke, a student from the southern German city of Freiburg.
(Additional reporting by Erik Kirschbaum, Christian Lowe, Madeline Chambers, David Ljunggren and Crispian Balmer)
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Post by celticwitch on Jun 7, 2007 10:57:29 GMT
This is better than ether me or WW expected so lets hope they actualy do what they say.
G8 near deal on "substantial" cuts in emissions By Katherine Baldwin Reuters - 44 minutes agoHEILIGENDAMM, Germany (Reuters) - Leaders of the Group of Eight were close on Thursday to agreeing a need for "substantial" cuts in world greenhouse gas emissions, falling short of European calls to halve emissions by 2050.
"I think it's possible that we leave this summit with a commitment on the part of everyone to a substantial reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 as a global target," British Prime Minister Tony Blair told reporters after a meeting with U.S. President George W. Bush.
Bush, who unveiled his own plan for cutting emissions beyond 2012 last week, says it is too early to set numerical targets at the June 6-8 summit of the G8 in Heiligendamm, Germany.
Standing alongside Blair, Bush said: "We are deadly earnest about getting something done.
"The U.S. will be actively involved if not taking the lead in a post-Kyoto framework." The United States is the only G8 nation outside the U.N.'s Kyoto Protocol, which sets cuts in greenhouse gases running to 2012.
Bush plans to call together the leading 15 greenhouse emitters -- led by the United States, China, Russia and India -- to agree on cuts beyond 2012 by the end of 2008.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel has pushed hard to include a goal in the G8 text that global emissions of greenhouse gases, mainly from burning fossil fuels, have to be cut by 50 percent below 1990 levels by 2050.
She says such cuts are needed to ensure that global temperatures do not rise more than 2 Celsius (3.6 Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial levels, a threshold the European Union says will trigger "dangerous" changes in the climate system.
"You need to keep the 50 percent target or otherwise world temperatures will rise more than 2C," said Tobias Muenchmeyer of environmental group Greenpeace.
Blair said it had been unrealistic to expect a deal on a 50 percent cut by G8 industrial countries and five major developing nations in a group known as the G8+5, due to meet in Germany on Friday.
"What you won't get, and there was never any question of this, here and now, amongst the G8+5, is the 50 percent," he said. "What's important is to get an agreement that there should be such a target and that's the sort of ballpark that we are talking about."
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Post by warriorwitch on Jun 8, 2007 6:53:48 GMT
G8 leaders set to end summit with Africa pledge By Madeline Chambers and Gernot Heller Reuters - Friday, June 8 12:46 amHEILIGENDAMM, Germany (Reuters) - Leaders of the world's major powers will turn their attention to Africa on Friday and are widely expected to announce a $60 billion (30 billion pounds) pledge to fight AIDS and other killer diseases.
The heads of six African nations will press the needs of the poorest continent when they join G8 leaders on the final day of their summit, which produced an agreement on Thursday to pursue "substantial" cuts in greenhouse gases to combat global warming.
"G8 leaders have just over 24 hours to restore faith in a promise that represents life or death for millions of people across the world," said Stop AIDS Campaign coordinator Steve thingyburn.
The G8 countries wrangled late into Thursday night about specifics on aid for Africa but were expected to broadly recommit themselves to pledges made at a 2005 summit in Scotland when they said they would double development funding by 2010.
Two sources in the Group of Eight leading industrialised nations said officials at the summit venue in the German Baltic resort of Heiligendamm were close to agreeing on a $60 billion pledge to combat AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis.
But campaigners for Africa said a $60 billion pledge would fall short of U.N. targets.
Two leading campaigners, rock stars Bono and Bob Geldof, put pressure on G8 summit host, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, and her fellow leaders from the United States, Britain, Canada, France, Italy, Japan and Russia.
"The chancellor has asked us to trust her and we are tempted, but we cannot risk being let down by the G8 again," said Bono.
Officials were also tackling an impasse over Kosovo's future late on Thursday, with France pushing a plan to delay a U.N. vote on the majority ethnic Albanian province's independence in exchange for Russia agreeing not to veto the outcome.
Russia backs Serbia's insistence it should retain sovereignty over the province, which rebelled against Belgrade's rule in 1998-9. The West regards independence as inevitable and fears delay will stoke violence in the southern Serbian region.
IRAN
Officials were also discussing Iran and were likely to confirm plans to back "further measures" -- in other words more U.N. sanctions -- against Tehran if it continues to reject U.N. demands to halt uranium enrichment in its nuclear programme.
The United States has accused Iran of having secret plans to build nuclear weapons. Tehran says its nuclear programme is solely for power to benefit its economy.
On Thursday, G8 leaders agreed to pursue substantial but unspecified cuts in greenhouse gases and work with the United Nations to clinch a new deal to fight global warming by 2009.
The agreement binds the world's largest polluter, the United States, more closely into international efforts to curb the gases scientists say are causing dangerous changes to world weather patterns.
But it does not commit the G8 nations to the firm emissions reduction targets that Merkel had wanted.
U.S. President George W. Bush has refused to sign up to numerical targets before rising economic powers like China and India make similar pledges. Convincing them to join the U.N. process will be crucial to halting global warming.
Russian President Vladimir Putin turned the tables on Bush by suggesting the United States use a Russian-controlled radar instead of U.S. anti-missile hardware in central Europe.
At a meeting with Bush, Putin proposed the United States and Russia should jointly use a radar in Azerbaijan as part of an anti-missile shield that would protect all of Europe.
In his comments to reporters, Bush did not directly mention the radar plan which may have taken the White House by surprise.
"He made some interesting suggestions," said Bush.
Washington has said it wants to deploy 10 interceptor missiles in Poland and a radar in the Czech Republic as defence against projectiles launched by what it calls "rogue" states like Iran.
Putin vowed last week to target Europe if Washington pressed ahead with its central European missile shield plan. Washington has accused Russia of being uncooperative but Putin's plan would seem to undermine that criticism, analysts said.
We will just have to see if they keep any of the agreements that they make today.
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Post by warriorwitch on Jun 8, 2007 13:01:58 GMT
G8's AIDS and Africa pledge criticised By Madeline Chambers and Gernot Heller Reuters - 36 minutes agoHEILIGENDAMM, Germany (Reuters) - World powers on Friday pledged $60 billion (30 billion pounds) to fight AIDS and other killer diseases ravaging Africa but development campaigners complained the Group of Eight had pledged little fresh cash for the poor.
(Advertisement) German Chancellor Angela Merkel, hosting G8 leaders and leaders of five African states, trumpeted the agreement as a showpiece outcome of the three-day summit, along with Thursday's deal to push for greenhouse gas emissions cuts.
"We are conscious of our obligations and want to fulfil the promises we made. And we will do that," said Merkel.
Campaigners complain that rich nations have fallen behind on commitments made to double development aid at a summit in 2005 in Gleneagles, Scotland and were unimpressed with Friday's deal, which restated the pledges made two years ago.
Leaders said they would provide at least $60 billion to fight AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis, global diseases that have devastated African countries and their economies.
But the declaration set out no specific timetable, saying the money would flow "over the coming years". Neither did it break down individual countries' contributions or spell out how much of the sum had been previously promised.
"I am exasperated," Irish rock star and anti-poverty campaigner Bono told Reuters. "I think it is deliberately the language of obfuscation. It is deliberately misleading."
U.S. President George W. Bush last week announced plans to double Washington's financial commitment to the anti-AIDS fight to $30 billion over five years, which was included in the G8's headline figure of $60 billion.
Bush missed some of the morning sessions at the summit because of a stomach ailment but rejoined the leaders later.
FALLING SHORT
British aid agency Oxfam said the G8 will fall far short of its Gleneagles pledges.
"We must not be distracted by big numbers. What the $60 billion headline means at best is just $3 billion extra in aid by 2010," said an Oxfam policy adviser.
"Before this summit, Oxfam showed the G8 were set to miss their 2010 target by a massive $30 billion. Today's announcement may only close that gap to $27 billion," he added.
Steve Cockburn of the Stop Aids Campaign said the pledge fell short of U.N. targets obliging G8 nations to spend $15 billion per year to combat AIDS alone through to 2010.
In comparison, the deal looks like committing them to about $12 billion per year for all three diseases.
Leaders also reiterated an overall pledge made in 2005 to raise annual aid levels by $50 billion by 2010, $25 billion of which is for Africa.
"The important thing is that we have recommitted ourselves to all the commitments we made a couple of years ago," said Prime Minister Tony Blair who hosted the 2005 meeting.
Campaigners were not convinced.
"Despite last-minute face saving measures, the G8 has failed its credibility test on Africa," said Collins Magalasi, ActionAids's country director for South Africa.
KOSOVO DEADLOCK
Major powers were deadlocked on a compromise on the breakaway Serbian province of Kosovo with Russia resisting a French plan to delay a U.N. vote on its independence in exchange for recognising that Belgrade must give up its claim eventually.
Russia backs Belgrade's refusal to give up sovereignty and has threatened to veto a Security Council vote. The West thinks Kosovo's independence is inevitable and says delays may stoke violence in the Albanian-dominated province.
Officials also discussed Iran and confirmed plans to back "further measures" -- in other words more U.N. sanctions -- against Tehran if it continues to reject U.N. demands to halt uranium enrichment in its nuclear programme.
G8 leaders at the summit agreed on Thursday to pursue "substantial" cuts in greenhouse gases to combat global warming.
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Post by warriorwitch on Jun 14, 2007 10:48:54 GMT
I have just been reading a report in the Independent that suggests the the world oil reserves will start to run out in as little as four years. This is at odds with the predictions of the major oil companies and world governments who claim that the oil reserves are good for around 40 years. I should however point out that the 40 year prediction is made by the same companies and governments that said that global warming was nothing to do with mans activity. I don't know if this is true but there are a few things we need to look at. All of the equipment needed to produce renewable energy is manufactured by the use of oil as energy and many of the materials come from oil based materials such as plastic. Most agricultural equipment is built with and runs on oil. It would take about 40 barrels of oil to build a combine harvester for example. How much do you think it would take to build an Nuclear power plant. This may sound good for global warming but the reality is that it would be a disaster for most individuals who could end up starving in the street as the local, national and global economies collapsed. If demand outstrips supply even by a very small amount this would trigger a massive increase in the price of oil which in turn would hit the price of essentials such as food then the poor would starve. What needs to happen is the world governments manage the remaining oil so that alternative energy especially renewables can be brought on line smoothly and effectively; thus resolving the issues of global warming and economic collapse all at the same time. But will they? ?
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Post by luisa on Jun 16, 2007 0:31:24 GMT
unfortunitly i would not belive these in goverment or any kind of power untill i actualy see it with my own eyes
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