Heal Earth Now

We know that carbon emissions are affecting climate change. A change in our environment is bound to affect the plants, animals and humans. Researchers are putting a number of live saved if we can reduce the amount of carbon emissions.

The calculations of lives saved were based on computer models that looked at pollution-caused illnesses in certain cities. The figures are also based on the world making dramatic changes in daily life that may at first seem too hard and costly to do, researchers conceded.

Some possible benefits seemed highly speculative, the researchers conceded, based on people driving less and walking and cycling more. Other proposals studied were more concrete and achievable, such as eliminating cook stoves that burn dung, charcoal and other polluting fuels in the developing world.

And cutting carbon dioxide emissions also makes the air cleaner, reducing lung damage for millions of people, doctors said.

“Here are ways you can attack major health problems at the same time as dealing with climate change,” said lead author Dr. Paul Wilkinson, an environmental epidemiologist at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.

The calculations are based on proposals that would cut global greenhouse gas emissions by 50 percent by 2050. To accomplish that, industrialized countries have to cut emissions by 83 percent. Obama’s proposal, also unveiled Wednesday with his Copenhagen announcement, is in sync with that.

Source: Associated Press

The Dalai Lama on Wednesday appealed to China to take action to stop Tibet’s glaciers melting, saying the environmental crisis was more urgent than a political solution over Tibet’s future.

Attending a U.N. summit on global hunger in Rome, the exiled Buddhist leader warned rivers from Tibet’s glaciers and snow-covered mountains may dry up in 15 to 20 years and asked China to study the problem together with Tibetan experts.

There have been several talk be between the Dalai Lama and Chinese officials about the melting glaciers. No word on what steps, if any, will be taken to remedy the problem.

Source: Rueters

Biogas produced from cow manure is warming many homes in the Netherlands. Biogas is produced by the fermentation of cow manure and other biological material. Biogas is a biofuel that can be used as power. The Netherlands and many other European countries have been using biogas as a power source for some homes.

A new plant opened in the Netherlands this past Friday.

Manure from cows at a nearby dairy farm will be fermented along with grass and food industry residues, and the biogas released during the process will be used as fuel for the thermal plant’s gas turbines.

The heat generated will be distributed to around 1,100 homes in the area around Leeuwarden in the north of the Netherlands, the plant’s operator Essent said in a statement.

Source: Reuters.com

The Kyoto Protocol is an international environmental treaty with the goal of combating global warming due to greenhouse gases. The protocol gets its name from Kyoto, Japan where the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) convened on December 11, 1997. The plan is to stabilize greenhouse gas levels by reducing emissions, particularly by developed countries, and to create new techniques to manage the current damage on the environment.

The Kyoto Protocol’s goal is to reduce collective greenhouse emissions to 5% below the levels from 1990. The time frame is five years, from 2008 to 2012. Each country that ratifies the accord is primarily responsible for adjusting its emissions nationally by their own measures. These greenhouse gases include carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and sulfur dioxide as well as hydrofluorocarbons and perfluorocarbons. In order to accomplish the national goal, a country has additional options through flexible mechanisms. These include a credit system which allows countries to buy emission reduction credits from other countries, who have lower greenhouse emissions, or through emission reducing projects.

Many nations have signed and ratified the Kyoto protocol; for example, Russia ratified it in February of 2005. Each country has committed to its own specific emission reduction goal and must nominate a national authority. This official will oversee the regulation of greenhouse emissions, monitor the emissions with precise records, as well as keep track of trades and credits, and provide an annual report. The United States has not signed the Kyoto Accord, but individual cities in the USA have signed climate change agreements.

CNN wants you to go a vote for the 2009 Hero of the Year. It is a difficult choice because all these individuals have made significant contributions to world around them. Each person has sacrificed time, and money to help improve the lives of others. You can read all their stories on cnn.com. One woman, Betty Makoni, started an organization in Zimbabwe to help women and girls that have been victims of sexual abuse. Another man is a veteran that provides help to other veterans that are homeless and battling addiction. You can vote for the 2009 hero at cnn.com. On Thanksgiving night CNN will air a special from the Kodak Theater in Hollywood to honor the top 10 heroes of the year.