Category Archives: WOUNDS IN OUR EARTH

JAPAN SCHLACHTET ZEHNTAUSENDE DELFINE – trotz Welt weiter Proteste

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Location of Taiji in Wakayama

Location of Taiji in Wakayama (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Japan schlachtet Zehntausende Delfine abhttp://www.welt.de/politik/article2568403/Japan-schlachtet-Zehntausende-Delfine-ab.html

              In Japan hat die alljährliche Delfin-Treibjagd begonnen. Bis zu 20.000 Tiere sollen getötet werden. Tierschützer protestieren und warnen davor, das Fleisch zu verzehren. Denn die Säugetiere seien hochgradig verseucht. Die Tiere werden auch nach Deutschland exportiert.

del_DW_Vermischtes_BARCELONA.jpg

Foto: REUTERSBild teilen        

        Bild teilen

Ungeachtet von Protesten internationaler Umweltschutzorganisationen schlachten japanische Fischer mit Billigung der Regierung vor ihrer Küste derzeit Tausende von Delfinen ab. Der alljährlichen Treibjagd fallen zwischen 16.000 und mehr als 20.000 Tiere zum Opfer. Ein Teil des Fleisches der mit Lanzen, Haken und Messern abgestochenen Kleinwale gelangt in den Handel. Tierschützer schlagen jetzt Alarm: “Das Delfinfleisch ist hochgradig quecksilberverseucht”, warnte der Delfinschützer Richard O’Barry am Montag in Tokio. Es sei ein “Skandal”, dass die japanische Regierung der Bevölkerung das Gemetzel und die extreme Vergiftung verheimliche.

In der Walfangstadt Taiji, rund 700 Kilometer südlich von Tokio, werden unter Mithilfe von Delfintrainern in einer Lagune einzelne besonders schöne Delfine im Auftrag von Aquarien und Delfinarien aus aller Welt ausgesucht und für viel Geld verkauft. Der Rest wird in einer abgeschirmten Nachbarbucht abgestochen. Die boomende Delfinariums-Industrie biete erst den finanziellen Anreiz, um die brutale Treibjagd in Taiji in Gang zu halten, beklagte O’Barry im Gespräch mit der Deutschen Presse-Agentur dpa. Der Amerikaner war in den 60er Jahren Trainer der Delfine für die Fernsehserie “Flipper”, seit 1970 kämpft er weltweit aktiv für den Schutz der Meeressäuger.

Für bis zu 200.000 Dollar (150.000 Euro) werden die Delfine nach Angaben von O’Barry gehandelt. Er habe gehört, dass die nächste Lieferung an Delfinen nach Deutschland gehen soll, sagte der Delfinschützer am Tag vor seiner Abreise nach Taiji. Er forderte den Weltverband der Zoos und Aquarien (Waza) mit Sitz im schweizerischen Bern auf, die Mitgliedsorganisationen zu beaufsichtigen und daran zu hindern, sich an dem Handel mit den bei der grausamen Treibjagd in Taiji gefangenen Tiere zu beteiligen. Ohne diese Nachfrage käme die Jagd zum Erliegen.

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Tornado Tracks: 56 Years Of America´s Most Terrifying Tornadoes Visualized

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Scooped by Dr. Stefan Gruenwald onto  Amazing Science
From         www.fastcodesign.com                – Today, 6:31 AM
Tornadoes form under a certain set of weather conditions in which three very different types of air come together in a certain way. Near the ground lies a layer of warm and humid air, along with strong south winds. Colder air and strong west or southwest winds lie in the upper atmosphere. Temperature and moisture differences between the surface and the upper levels create what we call instability. A necessary ingredient for tornado formation. The change in wind speed and direction with height is known as wind shear. This wind shear is linked to the eventual development of rotation from which a tornado may form.
A third layer of hot dry air becomes established between the warm moist air at low levels and the cool dry air aloft. This hot layer acts as a cap and allows the warm air underneath to warm further…making the air even more unstable. Things start to happen when a storm system aloft moves east and begins to lift the various layers. Through this lifting process the cap is removed, thereby setting the stage for explosive thunderstorm development as strong updrafts develop. Complex interactions between the updraft and the surrounding winds may cause the updraft to begin rotating-and a tornado is born.
The Great Plains of the Central United States are uniquely suited to bring all of these ingredients together, and so have become known as “Tornado Alley.” The main factors are the Rocky Mountains to the west, the Gulf of Mexico to the south, and a terrain that slopes downward from west to east.
During the spring and summer months southerly winds prevail across the plains. At the origin of those south winds lie the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico, which provide plenty of warm, humid air needed to fuel severe thunderstorm development. Hot dry air forms over the higher elevations to the west, and becomes the cap as it spreads eastward over the moist Gulf air. Where the dry air and the Gulf air meet near the ground, a boundary known as a dry line forms to the west of Oklahoma. A storm system moving out of the southern Rockies may push the dry line eastward, with severe thunderstorms and tornadoes forming along the dry line or in the moist air just ahead of it. What is the Fujita Tornado Damage Scale? Dr. T. Theodore Fujita, a pioneer in the study of tornadoes and severe thunderstorm phenomena, developed the Fujita Tornado Damage Scale (F-Scale) to provide estimates of tornado strength based on damage surveys. Since it is extremely difficult to make direct measurements of tornado winds, an estimate of the winds based on damage is the best way to classify them. The new Enhanced Fujita Scale (EF-Scale) addresses some of the limitations identified by meteorologists and engineers since the introduction of the Fujita Scale in 1971. Variability in the quality of construction and different local building codes made classifying tornadoes in a uniform manner difficult. In many cases, these inconsistencies led to overestimates in the strength of tornadoes. The new scale identifies 28 different free standing structures most affected by tornadoes taking into account construction quality and maintenance. The range of tornado intensities remains as before, zero to five, with ‘EF0′ being the weakest, associated with very little damage and ‘EF5′ representing complete destruction, which was the case in Greensburg, Kansas on May 4th, 2007, the first tornado classified as ‘EF5′. The EF scale was adopted on February 1, 2007.

Japanese Ministry of Environment: Petition: Stop Killing Animals at Cruel Gas Chamber

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http://www.change.org/petitions/japanese-ministry-of-the-environment-stop-killing-animals-at-cruel-gas-chamber

The puppies are desperately dying inside the gas chamber. PLEASE SIGN http://www.change.org/petitions/japanese-ministry-of-the-environment-stop-killing-animals-at-cruel-gas-chamber

The puppies are     desperately dying inside the gas chamber. PLEASE SIGN http://www.change.org/petitions/japanese-ministry-of-the-environment-stop-killing-animals-at-cruel-gas-chamber

–     

 

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BIKE COMMUTING SKYROCKETING, esp. in “Bike Friendly Communities”

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Bicycle parking lot in Amsterdam.

Bicycle parking lot in Amsterdam. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Foreign Correspondent trailer 1

Foreign Correspondent trailer 1 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Bike Commuting Skyrocketing, Especially In “Bike Friendly Communities”

Posted: 25 May 2013 09:17 AM PDT

Here are a couple reposts from Bikocity. The first documents the rise of bike commuting in the US, especially in “Bicycle Friendly Communities” and 10 key cities. The second repost is about how Bicycle Friendly Communities are evaluated. Check them out:

Where Bike Commuting Grows Fastest (Infographics)

The League of American Bicyclists recently created some cool infographics about bicycle commuter growth across the country.

In general, bike commuting has skyrocketed, doubling from 1.7 billion in 2001 to 4 billion in 2009. However, the growth has occurred to a much greater degree in cities and towns that have been designated as Bicycle-Friendly Communities by the League.

bike commuting growth

“From 2000 to 2011, the bicycle commuting rate has risen 80% in the largest Bicycle Friendly Communities — far above the average growth of 47% nationwide and more than double the rate of 32% in the cities not designated as bicycle-friendly,” Carolyn Szczepanski the League writes.

Several cities have even seen growth of 100% to 450% [PDF]!

growth of bicycle commuting top cities

Want more data? Carolyn’s rounded some up for you:

Looking for bike commute data for your area?

  • Click here to download 2010 bicycle commuting data for all 375 citiesincluded in the American Community Survey
  • Click here to download bicycle commute data from 1990 to 2011 for the 70 largest U.S. cities, including percentage of bicycle commuters and percent change
  • Click here for 2011 state commute rates, including bicycle commuting by gender

 

How Bicycle Friendly Communities Are Evaluated (Infographic)

Several years ago, I was the director of an organization in the Charlottesville, Virginia region that got Charlottesville designated as a Bicycle Friendly Community (BFA). There were great guiding documents that the League of American Bicyclists supplied as part of the application process, but it certainly would have been nice to have this infographic* below that the League just created to delineate the differences between Bronze, Silver, Gold, and Platinum awardees. Check it out. You can also download a PDF version here.

I think you're going to gonna have to click this one to see the details.I think you’re going to gonna have to click this one to see the details.

To make it clear that this isn’t a strict tool for measuring which category a community falls into, the League’s Carolyn Szczepanski adds:

“Now, the beauty of the BFA program is the fact that it’s not one-size-fits-all. We’re able to take into account the unique characteristics of each community — so it’s not a rigid rubric. But we love the way this distills some of the key benchmarks and metrics in an interesting and engaging way.”

*Note: the infographic was developed in coordination with the Language Dept for the League of American Bicyclists.

Bike Commuting Skyrocketing, Especially In “Bike Friendly Communities” was originally posted on: PlanetSave.  To read more from Planetsave, join thousands of others and subscribe to our free RSS feed, follow us on Facebook (also free), follow us on Twitter, or just visit our homepage.

Holland — The Original Cool (& Green)

Posted: 25 May 2013 08:55 AM PDT

Holland — one of my favorite places in the world. More info in this Bikocity repost below.

Below is a fun (& funny) video about Holland. Of course, biking is highlighted a bit. Biking makes life so much cooler, easier, more relaxed and carefree. It is used in (non-car) advertisements of all kinds simply to stick a cooler and more positive image on the product being sold. With bicycling at the center of one’s transportation system, the quality of life rises tremendously.

At one point in the video, the narrator jokes, “They still drive cars. Haha.”

I actually lived in the Netherlands (Groningen) for 5 months. I’ve never been to a country or city with a higher quality of life. It’s a full level above anyplace I’ve been in the US. (Notably, I’ve lived in several “best cities” in the US — Charlottesville (VA), Chapel Hill (NC), Sarasota (FL), Sunnyvale (CA), Ithaca (NY).)

Frankly, the video really does nail the exceptional “original cool” of Holland (which, to be specific, is only a region of the Netherlands).

 

One note: the narrator highlights the country’s green energy. Sadly, the Netherlands is no longer a leader in green energy. Hopefully that will change sometime soon.

h/t Grist
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Satelites see storm system that created Oklahoma Tornado

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Typhoon Cimaron October 31 (2006)

Typhoon Cimaron October 31 (2006) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

may-20-2013-supercell-thunderstorm-central-oklahoma-tornado-lgSatellites See Storm System that Created Oklahoma Tornado
by Rob Gutro for Goddard Space Flight Center
Greenbelt MD (SPX) May 24, 2013

On May 20, 2013, a supercell thunderstorm in central Oklahoma spawned a destructive tornado that passed just south of Oklahoma City. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Aqua satellite acquired this image of the storm at 2:40 p.m. local time (19:40 UTC). The red line depicts the tornado’s track. The twister touched down west of Newcastle at 2:56 p.m. and moved northeast toward Moore, where it caused dozens of deaths and widespread destruction. The tornado had dissipated by 3:36 p.m., after traveling approximately 20 miles (32 kilometers). Credit: NASA/Jeff Schmaltz, LANCE/EOSDIS MODIS Rapid Response Team at NASA Goddard; caption by Adam Voiland. For a larger version of this image please go here.
On May 20, 2013, NASA and NOAA satellites observed the system that generated severe weather in the south central United States and spawned the Moore, Okla., tornado.

The tornado that struck Moore on the afternoon of Monday, May 20, was an F-4 tornado on the enhanced Fujita scale, according to the National Weather Service. F-4 tornadoes have sustained winds from 166 to 200 mph. This tornado was about twice as wide as the tornado that struck Moore on May 3, 1999. Moore is located 10 miles south of Oklahoma City.

Before, during and after the tornado, satellites provided imagery and data to forecasters. The first tornado warning was issued around 2:40 p.m. CDT (local time). By 3:01 p.m. CDT a tornado emergency was issued for Moore, and 35 minutes later at 3:36 p.m. CDT, the tornado spun down and dissipated.

NASA’s Aqua satellite captured a visible-light image that provided a detailed look at the supercell thunderstorm. NOAA’s GOES-13 satellite provided continuously updated satellite imagery depicting the storm’s movement. After the tornado, the NASA-NOAA Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership satellite’s lightning observations showed that the thunderstorm complex was still active after nightfall.

NOAA’s GOES-13 satellite provided forecasters with images of the storm system every 15 minutes. One GOES-13 satellite image was captured at 19:55 UTC (2:55 p.m. CDT) as the tornado began its deadly swath. The tornado was generated near the bottom of a line of clouds resembling an exclamation mark. The GOES-13 satellite imagery from the entire day was assembled into an animation by the NASA GOES Project at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md.

Four minutes after the tornado dissipated (19:40 UTC / 3:40 p.m. EDT), the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) instrument aboard NASA’s Aqua satellite captured a visible image of the supercell thunderstorm that spawned the Moore tornado. That image was created by the NASA Goddard MODIS Rapid Response Team and Adam Voiland, NASA Earth Observatory.

Later as the storm system continued through the region, another satellite captured an image of the storm at night that showed it was still powerful. The Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite aboard Suomi NPP observed lightning in a nighttime image on May 21 at 07:27 UTC (3:27 a.m. EDT). Lightning appeared as rectangular shapes in the image. The VIIRS imagery showed the city lights in the Oklahoma City area, but there was reduced light output in Moore as a result of tornado damage.

The Suomi NPP satellite carries an instrument so sensitive to low light levels that it can detect lightning in the middle of the night. The Day/Night band on Suomi NPP produces nighttime visible imagery using illumination from natural (the moon, forest fires) and man-made sources (city lights). The data were captured by the direct broadcast antenna at University of Wisconsin.

Over 800 world scientists agree: GM crops are nothing short of a bio-war on our food

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th6Over 800 world scientists agree: GM crops are nothing short of a bio-war on our food  copied by www.aworldchaos.wordpress.com/

You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to understand why genetically modified foods are dangerous, but if you look closely, you may just find the name of one listed among the names of more than 800 scientists from around the globe who have joined forces in an open letter to all world governments, outlining their detailed concerns over the alarming potential threat of biotech’s unauthorized, worldwide GM foods experiment.

Read More…

Sources for this article include:
http://www.i-sis.org.uk/list.php
http://www.the-scientist.com
http://www.grain.org
http://www.naturalnews.com/037289_Monsanto_corporations_ethics.html

Russia plans urgent evacuation of arctic post as ice melts: RAWSTORY

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English: Arctic Ocean, submarine features Fran...

English: Arctic Ocean, submarine features Français : Bathymétrie de l’océan arctique (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/05/23/russia-plans-urgent-evacuation-of-arctic-post-as-ice-melts/

 

Russia has ordered the urgent evacuation of the 16-strong crew of a drifting Arctic research station after the ice floe that hosts the floating laboratory began to disintegrate, officials said Thursday.

Natural Resources and Ecology Minister Sergei Donskoi set a three-day deadline to draft a plan to evacuate the North Pole-40 floating research station.

“The destruction of the ice has put at risk the station’s further work and life of its staff,” the ministry said in a statement.

The station is currently home to 16 personnel including oceanologists, meteorologists, engineers and a doctor.

It conducts meteorological research, monitors environmental pollution and conducts a number of tests.

If the situation is not addressed, it may also result in the loss of equipment and contaminate the environment near Canada’s economic zone where the station is currently located, the ministry added.

The floating research laboratory will be relocated to Bolshevik Island in the Russian Arctic with the help of an ice-breaker.

“The ice floe has crumbled into six pieces,” said Arkady Soshnikov, spokesman for the Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute.

“The people are not at risk but it is not possible to work in these conditions. The ice may disintegrate so a decision has been taken to evacuate” the station, he told AFP.

The station was located at 81 degrees North and 135 degrees West as of early morning Wednesday.

Scientists point to increasing signs of global warming in the Arctic, which is being significantly affected by climate change.

The UN weather agency said this month that the Arctic’s sea ice melted at a record pace in 2012, the ninth-hottest year on record.

Vladimir Sokolov, who oversees the floating station at the Saint Petersburg-based Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute, said the ice was disintegrating due to climate change.

“This has made the Arctic research significantly harder — the ice has become thinner and the weather conditions more difficult,” he told AFP.

He said it was important to continue studying the Arctic.

“The Arctic Ocean, just like the Antarctic, is the ‘refrigerator’ of the Earth. It significantly affects the climate of our planet.”

“If this ‘refrigerator’ has a glitch and we do not know about it, it leads to mistakes in forecasts and affects the quality of decision-making on entire territories.”

Russia, which has always prided itself on its exploration of the energy-rich region, established the first floating station, the North Pole-1, in 1937.

Funding for floating stations dried up after the collapse of the Soviet Union but resumed under strongman Vladimir Putin who has said Russia intends to expand its presence in the Arctic.

The first floating Arctic station of post-Soviet Russia, the North Pole-32, was put together in 2003. The crew of that station had to be rescued when the ice floe beneath it broke up in 2004.

At a meeting with the crew of the rescued North Pole-32 station, President Putin stressed the importance of the Arctic research.

“For us, for such a northern country like Russia communications in the North are very important both economically and militarily,” Putin said in 2004.

Russia alarmed its Arctic neighbours, including Canada and Norway, when it planted a flag on the ocean floor under the North Pole in 2007 in a symbolic staking of its claim over the region.

The five Arctic nations that also include Denmark and the United States are locked in a tight race to gather evidence to support their claims amid reports that global warming could leave the region ice-free by 2030.

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Petition for Horses, against Cruelty

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cropped-lifeflapper19221.jpg

Liebe TierschutzKollegInnen,                                        

ich lege Euch heute meine Petition vor,
die ich für Pferde erstellt habe.
Bitte, signiert die Petition und gebt
sie weiter.
Ich habe mein ganzes Herz in diese
Petition gelegt, weil ich es nicht
aushalten will, was brutale Tierquäler
- theoretisch und praktisch – unseren
Pferden antun.
Die Täter warten nur darauf, dass wir
müde werden und aufgeben.
Das dürfen wir nicht!
LG Annamaria

Every Year the Town of Villanueva in Extremadura, Spain, …

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Every year, February 24, the town of Villanueva in Extremadura, Spain is guilty of an appalling crime that no one has yet succeeded in stopping. A donkey is being systematically abused by a physical and psychological point of view: it is dragged through the crowded streets of the village and brutally beaten by drunk men (see the photo at the beginning?). They fired shots at his head, exploding firecrackers between his legs. The result is that, because of the shock, the donkey passes out and collapses several times during the day. 
 
 
petition

 

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