REcyCLe BIN

GIANT FLASH FLOOD SA MONTALBAN, SAN MATEO, MARIKINA AT METRO MANILA?

2010-12-15T02:14:00.000-08:00

Kopya sa Pahina ni Pinoy Politika

(Kahapon lamang ay nakapulot ako ng isang lumang at punit-punit na Pahayagan ng nagtatalakay sa Posibilidad ng matinding kalamidad na tatama sa Montalban, San Mateo, marikina, Pasig at Pateros. Ninais kong ilathala dahil sa aking pananaw ang naganap na mataas na baha noong Septemver 26, 2009 ay may malaking kaugnayan dito. Hindi tiyak ang petsa ng pahayagan pero sa caricature nito ay makikita ang 10-17-98 at isang artikulo ay makikita ang 09-11-98. ilan sa nilalaman ay ang mga sumusunod kasama ang mga larawan.)

Malaking pagbaha ang inaasahan sa mga darating na buwan pagdating ng LA NINA phenomenon ayon sa Philippines Atmospheric Geo-physical and Astronomical Service Administration (PAG-ASA).

iDINAdag ng mga Scientist ng Bureau of Soils and Water Management na ang tubig na dadaloy sa ating ilog Montalban ay aabot sa 38 Million cubic meters/hour.

Higit na kinatatakutan ang kasama nitong putik na umaabot sa 145,700 Million tons na may bilis na 120 Kilometer per hour ayon sa Flood Control Office ng Department of Public Works and Highway.

Ito ay may kinalaman sa patuloy na paggiba ng ating kabundukan sa Montalban sa pamamagitan ng mga Quarry operators.

Ang Montalban River ay nasa pagitan ng Mt. Catmon at Mt. Parawagan na may taas na 475 meters at may loosen soil sa gawin gitna na kapag umulan ng 24 oras, ito ay bibigat at babagsak (big landslide and avalanche ) sa ilog na nasa pagitan ng dalawang bundok (damming effect) at magiging artificial lake anh ilog at pagnapuno ay biglang bubulwak ang tubig baha.

Nagpapasabog ng dynamite mauuga ang lupa at maaaring gumuho ang loosen soil

Bumaba ang loosen soil dahil sa pagyanig ng lupa at tumabon sa bunganga ng M0ntalban river

Ganito ang naganap noong September 26, 2009

PANALANGIN SA KALIKASAN

2010-12-13T06:15:00.000-08:00

Banal na Espiritu ng aming Mapagmahal na Tagapagligtas,
Naririnig namin ang inyong panawagan
Sa boses, sa hinaing ng aming kapwa
Ibuhos Mo sa amin ang Inyong lakas, ang Inyong Karunungan,
Upang kaming lahat ay magkaisa sa puso't pang-unawa,
Sa pakikipagkapwa, at
Sa sama-samang Pagkilos patungo sa
Isang paghahanda sa anumang kalamidad

Na maaarung sumapit muli sa amin sa anyo ng
Bagyo, baha, lindol, na bunga at dahil
Sa mga binasag na mga Bundok
Ang mga gawain o mga binabalak namin,
Nawa, ay hindi makasira sa kagandahan
Ng Inyong Sangnilikha.
Makatunghay nawa kami ng isang MakaTao,
MakaDiyos, Maka-Kalikasang Kalutasan
Ng Pagkasira ng kalikasan ng aming bayan.
Sa tulong Mo, o Diyos, makapagtalaga nawa
Kami ng aming sarili sa pagtatangol at
Pagkalinga ng Kalikasan ng Mundong Ibabaw

Na siyang kaloob Mo sa amin ngayon
At sa mga susunod na salin-lahi. AMEN

A VOLUNTEER PAYS IF FORWARD: A love story

2010-12-05T04:35:00.000-08:00

Read more ...
By Julie M. Aurelio
Philippine Daily Inquirer

MANILA, Philippines--After he lost almost all of his belongings in the floods brought about by Tropical Storm “Ondoy” last year, this jeepney driver thought it wasn’t enough to simply thank the strangers who helped him get back on his feet.

Sonny Hernandez, 48, a resident of Barangay Nangka in Marikina City, felt it was but right to repay the generosity of his benefactors with the same acts of kindness and love he was shown when he was down and out.

“I wanted to do good because others were also kind to me. They helped me out, so why not help them in return?” he told Inquirer during an interview in his unpretentious home at Barangay Nangka’s Balubad settlement.

From being a beneficiary of the Buddhist-run Tzu Chi Foundation, which conducted relief operations in his community after the great floods, Hernandez and some of his neighbors are now volunteers themselves for the group.

Hernandez now goes on regular relief missions with the organization to other disaster-stricken areas, helping people who lost their homes to fires, floods and other calamities.

His tightly-knit community, home to many low-income families in Marikina, was one of the hardest hit in the city when Ondoy struck on Sept. 26, 2009, flooding Metro Manila and other parts of the country and leaving many dead, hurt and homeless in its wake.

To encourage the able-bodied members of the community, Tzu Chi also offered a “cash-for-work” program in which residents were paid P400 a day to help clean their neighborhood of mud and muck.

Hernandez, one of the leaders of a team in the “cash-for-work” program, was deeply touched by the selflessness, love and compassion shown him by the Filipino-Chinese aid workers.

With his team, the Marikina volunteer would work all day to wash away the mud from their houses for weeks and be paid later for the hard work.

“That’s when I thought that it must feel good to be able to help other people. Maluwag sa kalooban. Mas pangit kasi kapag ikaw lagi ang tinutulungan (It was easier on the conscience. It wouldn’t look nice if you are always on the receiving end of assistance),” said Hernandez.

Hernandez asked the Tzu Chi Foundation if he could tag along on a relief mission in November 2009 to Dreamland in Rosario, a slum community in Cavite province not much different from Hernandez’s own.

The jeepney driver initially felt a bit shy doing volunteer work, but soon became at ease as he gave away relief goods of rice and blankets to the residents.

Sharing

“Later, I joined relief missions for fire victims in Pasay City and Oroquieta in Manila,” Hernandez said. “I knew what they had to go through because of what happened to me and my family during Ondoy. I tried to cheer them up and told them: ‘We both lost our belongings, but give it just a little more time and you will be able to recover,’” Hernandez said.

Michael Siao, one of the pioneer volunteers of Tzu Chi Foundation, said he was mildly surprised when he saw the “tough-looking” Hernandez had a kind and loving heart, even as he was just recovering from his losses.

“Many were initially wary about approaching him. But each time he comes with us to help out in volunteer work, you could really see what a kind person he is and how willing he is to help,” Siao said.

Such was Hernandez’s fervor that he asked his boss to give him an extra day off from driving his jeepney just so he could tag along during the group’s relief missions.

For Haiti victims, too

At a recent street donation and fund drive in Binondo, Manila for earthquake victims in Haiti, Hernandez was beside himself as he held a box for passersby for donations.

“I enjoy volunteer work thoroughly, and I don’t ask for anything in return. I often wait for Tzu Chi to call me when the next mission comes around,” he said, adding that his 25-year-old daughter sometimes joins him in the activity.

Hernandez then pointed out to Inquirer the home of a neighbor, Boy Morarte, that was destroyed during the floods.

“Apat kami na pinagtulung-tulungang ayusin ’yung bahay niya, kasi baon sa putik. Walang bayad ’yun (Four of us worked at putting the house together again as it was buried in mud. We didn’t ask for a single centavo for the effort),” he proudly added.

Siao said there are around 1,000 Marikina City residents like Hernandez who have taken on the mission of spreading love and kindness through action, even as they are struggling to rebuild their lives.

“We are very thankful for the extra helping hands. It warms our hearts that we have volunteers like them. We didn’t have to ask. Volunteering just came naturally to them,” Siao said.

Hernandez’s neighbor, fruit vendor Robert Coner, who had worked under the “cash-for-work” program, also ended up a volunteer for Tzu Chi, cleaning houses for free in Tumana.

Piggy bank

Like the others, he keeps a piggy bank at home, provided by Tzu Chi in which Coner would drop a fixed amount every day, say P1. When it is full, the piggy bank is returned to Tzu Chi to be used for future missions.

“I just want to be able to show my gratitude in my own small way,” the 44-year-old vendor said.

Another of Hernandez’s neighbors, 29-year-old Jerwin Esquida, also volunteered to help in relief efforts for fire victims and Haiti earthquake victims as well.

“When we asked for donations, we would bow and always say thank you. We also gave out fliers to passersby. It was fun and at the same time gratifying to be able to help,” he said.

Seeing their former beneficiaries like Hernandez, Coner and Esquida turn into volunteers was an “inspiration” to Tzu Chi Foundation workers, said Siao.

“The values that have been imparted to the volunteers through the simple act of helping others have changed their way of looking at things,” he added.

“Long after we have packed up and gone, we are very sure that the spirit of giving and sharing whatever you can will always remain in their hearts,” Siao said.

2010-12-05T04:15:00.000-08:00

BOTTLES REBORN AS BLANKETSS FOR DISASTER VICTIMS

By Ralph Jennings, Reuters

TAIPEI -- A plastic bottle thrown into a Taipei recycling bin could be reincarnated as a blanket to warm disaster victims in any of 20 countries, thanks to a unique project by the world’s largest Buddhist charity.

REUTERS" A worker stacks blankets made from recycled plastic bottles at the Taiwan Buddhist Tzu Chi Foundation building, Nov. 4. REUTERS

The Taiwan Buddhist Tzu Chi Foundation has been taking plastic bottles from the waste stream of Taipei, a city of 2.6 million, for three years to convert them into about 244,000 polyester blankets intended for disaster zones.

This week, Tzu Chi expanded its one-of-a-kind recycling effort to begin making shirts, scarves and cloth shopping bags.

Based on an idea developed by a Taiwan entrepreneur, Tzu Chi sends the plastic bottles to a factory that breaks them down into a polyester fabric, which is then sent to crew of volunteers who fashion it into blankets or garments.

“They’re faster than a normal factory because they’re driven by kind-heartedness,” said lead volunteer Wu Yueh-yin, as more than 100 others cut, stitched, folded and boxed the gray polyester fabric into blankets and scarves for the next crisis.

Tzu Chi, a private group founded in 1966, has sent volunteers with relief supplies to some of the world’s biggest disasters, including Hurricane Katrina in the US in 2005 and last year’s devastating Sichuan earthquake in China.

When a typhoon flooded Taiwan this August, killing about 770 people, Lee Kui-yang and four family members found all blankets in their one-storey house soaked after they were stranded for four days on the roof.

Tzu Chi gave them a dry blanket made from recycled bottles.

“Initially every cotton blanket and even our clothes were soaked in the floodwater, so when we got Tzu Chi’s blanket, it warmed our heart,” Lee said.

Some of the new shirts, scarves and bags will go directly to disaster areas. Others will be sold locally to pay for other kinds of disaster relief.

“We don’t have a firm goal of how many items to make, as we’re not a conventional factory,” said Chen Yi-chun, a Tzu Chi publicist. “The most important thing is to make them because disaster victims need them as winter is coming.”

2010-12-05T04:10:00.000-08:00

GRATEFUL CITY SAYS THANKS FOR NEW START

Marikina residents pick up the pieces after Ondoy

By DJ Yap
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 23:10:00 12/28/2009

MANILA, Philippine – Still reeling from the devastation caused by Tropical Storm “Ondoy” three months ago, Marikina City residents gathered Sunday to give thanks to the kind souls who helped them through a long and tragic year.

Together they prayed that the new year would bring them good tidings and that disaster shall not pass their way again.

Some 20,000 residents from three different faiths — Christian, Muslim and Buddhist — assembled at the Marikina Sports Park for a thanksgiving rally, the first such gathering since Ondoy brought the city to its knees in September, killing dozens of people and destroying billions worth of property and livelihood.

“We give thanks for the compassion we received this year. It is this compassion that can help us move on from this tragedy,” Mayor Marides Fernando told the crowd. “May no disaster of this magnitude ever visit us again,” she said.

The event was organized by the Tzu Chi Foundation, a Taiwan-based nongovernmental organization built on Buddhist teachings, in cooperation with the Marikina City government.

On Sunday, the organization led the thousands in attendance in lighting candles, offering prayers to God, Allah and Buddha.

Tzu Chi Foundation-Philippines chief executive officer Alfredo Li led the Buddhist prayer “to purify the minds of the people, to harmonize society, and that there be no disaster happen not only in Marikina and the Philippines but throughout the universe.”

The organizers said that at the height of Ondoy, Tzu Chi volunteers helped repair the city, providing food and other forms of assistance to the victims, including a cash-for-work program, in which residents were paid P400 for every day of work cleaning up the streets of garbage and debris.

In all, the organization poured in some P60 million for relief and rehabilitation efforts, Li said.

The founder of Tzu Chi, Taiwan-based Master Cheng Yen, said in a video message that people must seek to live simple and frugal lives to achieve harmony with nature and so they may be spared from disasters.

“Only when people’s minds are simple can the world be free of disaster, and we can live in peace,” she said.

Global warming

2010-11-25T06:13:00.000-08:00

Global warming fix could threaten food chain

Researchers say plan could jeopardize oceans by introducing toxins into the food chain

An experimental plan to fight global warming could cause blooms of poisonous algae in seafood-rich stretches of the open ocean, say researchers at the University of South Carolina.

For more than 20 years, scientists have discussed whether adding iron to the sea could effectively keep carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere by causing the increased growth of phytoplankton, a tiny ocean plant that absorbs the greenhouse gas from air.

But recent research shows that putting more iron in the ocean also could cause an explosion in growth of toxic algae.

A recent report by researchers from USC, the University of California-Santa Cruz and LSU says they have documented the toxic algae in sections of the open Pacific Ocean, a finding believed to be the first of its kind. Previously, the toxin had been known almost exclusively along the immediate coast, near beaches and harbors.
South Carolina professor Claudia Benitez-Nelson, a member of the research team, said adding iron to the sea might help curb global warming — but not without a potentially caustic side effect.

“This study has shown that when you add nutrients to the ocean, sometimes you have organisms grow that are really bad for you,’’ Benitez-Nelson said.
While many species harvested for seafood come from near shore waters, others can be found in the deep ocean. Anchovies, for instance, are harvested well out to sea off the coast of Mexico, Central America and California.

The concept of adding iron to the ocean dates to at least 1990. The idea is that since iron stimulates plant growth, ocean plants, which use carbon dioxide, could draw it into the sea, rather than let it rise into the atmosphere. Carbon dioxide in the atmosphere helps to trap heat, which causes earth’s temperatures to rise.
The research paper, published recently in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, is one of the first to look at algae blooms far offshore. Much of the field work was done hundreds of miles out at sea, and included areas off South America and Antarctica where iron has been introduced as an experiment.

“This is one of the first studies to convincingly prove one of the detrimental impacts of marine iron addition,” Benitez-Nelson said. “It shows that one solution you think may work, in the long term, it may even be worse than your original problem.’’

Carolina researcher Emily Sekula-Wood joined Benitez-Nelson on the team of scientists. The research was headed by Santa Cruz professor Mary Silver.
Benitez-Nelson said putting iron in the ocean raises ethical questions about “tinkering with mother nature.’’ Adding iron on a large scale could prove dangerous if the neurotoxins get into the food chain, the research team said.
The algae of concern is pseudo-nitschia, which produces a toxin called domoic acid.
The toxin can make sea life sick.

In the past, the toxin has gotten into the food chain in coastal waters near shore, poisoning shellfish and other seafood. People eating seafood containing the toxin can get upset stomachs, suffer memory loss and become dizzy. In extreme cases, people have died from eating seafood that contains the toxin.
Generally, toxic algae are not only a threat to seafood, but to people who swim in areas infested with the plant material. Rashes and breathing problems can develop when people are exposed while swimming.

2010-11-22T16:20:00.001-08:00

Don't Let it Happen to Us... Let do Recycling

SAVE THE EARTH, PROTECT THE ENVIRONMENT

2010-11-16T07:54:00.001-08:00

Save the earth, save the environment

by Roger on Nov.13, 2009

How can you save the Earth ? Saving the environment is actually quite simple, when you come to think about it. It does not have to be a complex process… If you (and everyone) follow these simple tips, it will still be quite a breakthrough in helping out the Earth and the environment :

Check your hot water heater — Did you know your hot water heater accounts for about 20% of all the energy used in your home? There are a few simple things you can do to save energy and save money. Turn your water heater down to 130 degrees, which is hot enough to kill deadly bacteria, and still save energy. Also, insulate your heater with a pre-fab ‘blanket,’ but be careful not to block off air vents on gas heaters. This can save you 7-8% of your energy usage. You can also drain 2 quarts (or 2 liters) of water from your hot water heater every 2 months from the valve at the bottom of the tank. This prevents accumulation of sediment and prolongs the life of your water heater.

Stop Junk Mail : The junk mail Americans receive in just one day is not only a nuisance, but could produce enough energy to heat a quarter of a million homes! If you saved up all the unwanted junk mail for one year, you would have the equivalent to one and a half trees, which would add up to 100 million trees every year in just the United States. To help stop junk mail, write to: Mail Preference Service, Direct Marketing Association, 11 West 42nd St., PO Box 3861, New York, NY 10163-3861. By writing to them, you can reduce junk mail by up to 75%. You can recycle the rest of the junk mail you receive.

Add a Low-Flow Faucet Aerator : This is a simple device which you can attach to your water faucets at home. By attaching one of these devices, you can reduce water flow by 50%, and the water flow will seem stronger! If only 10,000 4-person households would install low-flow aerators, 33 million gallons of water would be saved yearly.

Change your Kitchen Habits : Use reusable containers for food storage instead of wrapping food in foil or plastic wrap. You can also use unbleached coffee filters, which does not produce the deadly toxin dioxin in its manufacturing. Use rags to wipe up spills instead of paper towels, and use biodegradable wax paper and bags.

Be aware of your paint you use : Use latex paint instead of oil-based paint. Oil-based paint is highly toxic, and its manufacturing produces nasty pollutants. Dispose of paint as hazardous waste, or with latex paint you can let it evaporate outside for one year. Then, you can dispose of it with the rest of your trash. Don’t clean your paintbrushes outside, because this can contaminate groundwater; clean them in a sink. Instead of trashing excess paint, you can donate it to a school or to someone else who needs to use it.

Tires – Every 2 weeks, Americans wear out nearly 50 million pounds of rubber off their tires. This is enough rubber to manufacture 3 and a quarter million new tires from scratch! To help prevent this, you can inflate your tires well. This preserves the life of the tires and saves gas, which ultimately saves money.

Home Appliances — Did you know that America’s refrigerators consume 7% of the nation’s electricity, which is the equivalent to more than 50% of the power generated by nuclear plants. To allow your fridge to run more efficiently, you should clean the condenser coils annually. By raising the temperature in your refrigerator by 10 degrees, you can save 25% of your energy. With air conditioners, you should clean or replace filters each month. This will save electricity and money.

Recharge Your Batteries — Batteries contain heavy metals, such as mercury and cadmium, which have become a major source of contamination in dump sites. They either break apart and are released into the soil or are incinerated and the deadly heavy metals are released into the air. Did you know that the average annual use of mercury in batteries is over what the government limits in dump sites by four times. Here is what you can do to help: use batteries which are rechargeable. Recycle alkaline batteries if you can. They can extract the mercury and cadmium for reuse.

Shopping Bags — Plastic bags are not biodegradable even if they say they are they do not decompose fully. Also the ink is made up of cadmium, and is highly toxic when it is released. Whereas paper bags are reusable and biodegradable. However supermarkets use paper that has never been recycled before and they always say “recyclable” not “recycled”. Here is what you can do: if your purchase is small don’t take any bag, this alone could save hundreds of millions of bags. Bring a cloth bag when you shop, or use string bags.

Clean Up Your Beach — Our oceans provide the earth with most of our oxygen, moisture, and weather patterns. To keep our oceans clean we have to start with our beaches. Every year on September 23 there is a nationwide 3 hour clean up, sponsored by the Center for Marine Conservation. In 1987 around the nation over 2 million pounds of debris was picked up off our beaches. When you go to the beach you can help by bringing a trash bag and spend a little while picking up litter, or you can join a beach clean-up crew.

Do Not Buy products from endangered animals – As little as ten years ago there were over 1.5 million elephants on the earth. Today there are only 750,000. By the year 2,000 they may become extinct. Over 80% of the ivory that is taken, is from elephants- Americans buy 30% of it. Over 6.5 million dolphins have been killed by tuna fisherman. Fisherman’s nets can reach 3/4 miles long and whatever gets trapped in them, dies. To help you can: not buy endangered animal products and substitute your purchase to; albacore and bonita. Or boycott products from endangered animals (Iceland gave up some of their whaling because consumers wouldn’t by it’s fish).

Use Low Flush Toilets – In your household, 40% of the pure water is flushed down the toilet. You can use small plastic bottles, filled with water or stones to displace the amount of water in toilets. This will cause it to be a “low-flush toilet,” or you can use a displacement bag in your tank. Both save you 1-2 gallons per flush. You can also install toilet dams which causes part of the water in your tank not to run out with the flush. If you can, 2 dams can be installed. These alterations can save you one gallon per toilet dam. With a plastic bottle you will be saving 8-16 gallons of water every day (if you flush 8 times a day), 56-112 gallons per week, and 2,900-5,800 per year. If we had 100,000 families do this simple thing, we would save 290 million to 580 million gallons a year!

Beware of Your Showers — If a four person family showers each day for 5-minutes, in one week they would use 700 gallons of water. This is enough water for a person to live off of for three years. You can buy either an aerated, or a nonaerated shower head which cuts your water output by 50%. The aerated is as if not more powerful than a regular shower head, it mixes air with the water. The nonaerated shower head pulses, but you get a good sprat and it can be called a “massage showerhead”. With a family of four taking 5-minute showers, with a low-flow showerhead you can save at least 14,000 gallons of water a year. So if 100,000 families installed low-flow shower heads we would save 1.4 billion gallons.

Recycle Your Motor Oil — In the United States we use about a billion gallons of motor oil each year, and about 350 million of it ends up in the environment. About 2.1 million tons of oil are deposited up in our rivers and streams every year. Motor Oil can seep down into our ground water supply. One quart contaminates 250,000 gallons of water. If you get your oil changed at a gas station make sure they will recycle your oil. If you change the oil yourself, take it to a gas station or oil-changing outlet which recycles oil. They will take yours, but you will have to pay anywhere from a quarter to a dollar (the cost for having it picked up).

Use Fluorescent Lighting — Lighting results in 1/5 of the electricity consumed by the U.S. By using electricity we are contributing to global problems by making power plants and industrial business generate more polluting emissions. Using a fluorescent light bulb, which doesn’t flicker or hum, is much more efficient than an incandescent bulb. They last longer and use 1/4 the amount of energy. A normal incandescent bulb lasts 750 hours but a fluorescent bulb will give off the same amount of light yet last for 7,500 to 10,000 hours with 1/3 of the wattage. Also within a fluorescent lightbulb’s life time it will stop 1,000 pounds of carbon dioxide from going into the atmosphere, if it is substituted for the traditional bulb. Even though fluorescent lights are initially more expenseive (around $15) it will take 13 traditional bulbs to last for the same amount of time (figure the savings on that!). Saving you even more money a fluorescent light will cost you $10 for electricity during its life time, whereas during the same period incandescents use up $40. However you might want to use fluorescent lights more where you are going to be using it for long periods of time. They don’t fit in some of the small lamps or covered fixtures. Here is an interesting fact. By installing a single fluorescent light bulb in 100 million households in America, you would save the energy equivalent of all of the energy that is generated by a nuclear power plant running full time, over the course of one year.

Balloon Releases — You should never release helium ballons into the air. Balloons cause the death for countless numbers of sea turtles and whales. Balloons cause them to suffocate or starve to death (by blocking stomach or air valves). Also metallic balloons can cause power outages when they get caught in power lines.

Diapers — Use cloth diapers when you put a diaper on your child. Americans trash over 18 billion disposable diapers a year, this amount can go to the moon and back seven times. Diapers take up 1% of America’s landfills and they take 500 years to decompose. Cotton diapers can be reused 100 times and decompose in 1 to 6 months. These disposable diapers consume 1,265,000 metric tons of wood pulp and 75,000 metric tons of plastic. After using disposable diapers we are supposed to wash them out, only 5% of us do. Meaning that millions of tons of dirty, possibly disease infected diapers wind up in our so called “sanitary” landfills. Infact three million tons of untreated feces and urine does not go through our sewage system but into our landfills. Over 100 different diseases are known to be excreted in human feces, and there is a chance (at least it has not happened yet) that they can seep into our groundwater. You can find cloth diapers if you look in the local Yellow Pages. Remember if you use cloth diapers you will need to use diaper covers so that the moisture can be held in. 100% wool felt seems to work as the best diaper cover.

Did you know that just in 1995 alone, recycled toner cartridges kept over 21,000 tons of trash out of landfills? Believe it or not, now you can recycle your printer’s toner cartridges! Every year, Americans throw out enough printer cartridges to stretch from Los Angeles to New York City and back again. Toner cartridges can be recycled, having just as good a performance as an unrecycled cartridge. To recycle your toner cartridges, find a local business that does printer cartridge recycling, or contact the manufacturer of your current toner cartridge and ask about a cartridge recycling program.

Not only should you recycle, but buy products that are recycled. By purchasing these products, you are helping to conserve natural resources, and to protect the environment.

Do not dump oil, grease, antifreeze, pesticides, fertilizers, paints, cleaners, and other toxic household products down the storm drain. These drains, found in the gutters on the sidewalk, are not treated by the sewage treatment plant–they go straight into rivers, lakes, and maybe even the ocean! By putting these toxic chemicals down the drain, there is a great biological threat to marine life. It’s actually quite simple. If you don’t want to swim in it, don’t let it get in your storm drain!

Use CFC free products. ChloroFluoroCarbons destroy the ozone layer, which protects us from harmful UV rays.

Boycott products from companies that produce CFCs.

Carpool or walk to reduce carbon dioxide pollution in the air.

Do not use ivory or animal furs. Animals are killed to make these!

Eat dolphin safe tuna, or don’t eat tuna at all.

Buy in bulk–this saves not only on packaging that you would eventually have to dispose of, but reduces tremendously the amount of industrial waste generated to make the packaging.

Shop for durable, long-lasting products. For example, use a metal razor instead of disposables, or a metal roasting pan instead of a disposable one.

Reuse whatever you can, including aluminum pie tins, glassware, plastic cutlery and aluminum foil.

Buy products with recycled contents.

Precycle–make an effort to buy products with recyclable packaging.

Leave the grass clippings on the lawn, and start a backyard composting bin for yard clippings.

Instead of throwing away items such as furniture, appliances and clothing, look for a place to donate them.

Make recycling easy by putting recycle bins in the rooms where you use the products. If you open the mail in your den, keep a box nearby where you can put junk mail. If you want to save vegetable and fruit clippings for a composting pile, keep them in a container under the sink.

Replace paper cups, plates and napkins with washable, reusable cups and plates and cloth napkins.

Keep used paper in a stack and use the flip side for scrap work.

Try to buy items that are less toxic to the environment when produced. For example, use vinegar and water as a replacement to glass cleaner.

Keep in mind that trash generation is not confined to the home. Remember the amount of packaging when choosing a restaurant for take-out food.

Just because your community doesn’t pick up all recyclables on the curb, it doesn’t mean there are not viable alternatives nearby. Check with dry cleaners, supermarkets, manufacturers, your local public works department and civic organizations to find out where recycled goods can be dropped off, at a location near you.

An easy way to cut the amount of paper that goes into the trash or recycle bin is to perfect all of your documents before you print them. Run grammar and spell check to eliminate careless mistakes, and then preview your document in print preview. This will reduce the amount of paper that you use, saving money and helping to save the environment!

When you are out enjoying nature, no matter how tempting it may be, DO NOT FEED THE WILD ANIMALS! Feeding wild animals makes them dependent upon human food, which will ultimately lead them to starve when humans are not around (usually during winter).

Recycle

RECYCLING FACTS

2010-11-15T07:52:00.000-08:00

GLASS

Glass never wears out -- it can be recycled forever.
We save over a ton of resources for every ton of glass recycled -- 1,330 pounds of sand, 433 pounds of soda ash, 433 pounds of limestone, and 151 pounds of feldspar.
Most bottles and jars contain at least 25% recycled glass.
Recycling one glass bottle saves enough electricity to light a 100-watt bulb for four hours.
Most bottles and jars contain at least 25% recycled glass.

METALS

In 2003, Washington residents recycled 17,608 tons of aluminum cans.
Aluminum can recycling saves 95% of the energy needed to make aluminum from bauxite ore.
Americans throw away enough steel every year to build all the new cars made in America.
Tin cans are actually 99% steel, with a thin layer of tin added to prevent rusting.

PAPER

Washington State recycled a total of 2,998,428 tons of materials in 2003. Almost 31% of that total was paper.
Seventy-five percent of a tree harvested for paper does not wind up as paper product.
One ton of paper requires the use of 98 tons of various resources.
Paper made from recycled paper instead of virgin fiber requires 70% less energy.

PLASTI C

Americans use 4 million plastic bottles every hour! – Yet only 1 bottle out of 4 is recycled.
In 1977, polyethylene terephthalate soda bottles were introduced to the market.
In 2002 the number of single-serving plastic beverage bottles on store shelves was 18 billion.

MISCELLANEOUS

Every year we dispose of 24 million tons of leaves and grass clippings, which could be composted to conserve landfill space.
Single-use bags are a waste of trees (paper) or fossil fuels (plastic). They contribute to water pollution during production and landfill overload at disposal. Re-usable cloth or paper bags reduce these problems.
Recycling is a continuous loop that works only if the collected materials are turned into products, bought and used again. Buying products made from recycled materials supports the markets for these products and keeps the cycle going.
Around 200 B.C. the Chinese used old fishing nets to make the world’s very first piece of recycled paper.
Gary Dean Anderson designed the recycling symbol in 1970.
The first municipal dump was established in 400 B.C. in ancient Athens.

MYTHS AND FACTS
Myth: We can recycle only 25 to 30% of our solid wastes.
Fact: 25% was considered a maximum level in 1985. Today it should be considered a minimum, not a maximum as Washington State already exceeded 38% in 2003.

Myth: Landfills and incinerators are most cost-effective and environmentally sound than recycling options.
Fact: Recycling programs, when designed properly, are cost-competitive with landfills and incinerators, and provide net pollution prevention benefits. Recycling materials not only avoids the pollution that would be generated through landfilling and incinerating these, but also reduces the environmental burden of virgin materials extraction and manufacturing processes.

Myth: Landfills are significant job generators for rural communities.
Fact: Recycling, where instituted, creates many more jobs for rural and urban communities than landfill and incineration disposal option

PRESS RELEASE:

2010-11-15T07:19:00.000-08:00

Philippines urged to speak out in favor of recycling at climate meet in China

4 October 2010, Quezon City. As government representatives converge in Tianjin, China for a crucial week-long climate meeting starting today, an environmental health and justice alliance urged negotiators from the Philippines and elsewhere to acknowledge the huge climate and livelihood benefits of recycling, and to recognize and respect informal recyclers. The Tianjin climate change conference is the last leg of negotiations before the final summit in Cancun, Mexico in November 2010.

“We urge the delegates to incorporate Zero Waste strategies such as waste prevention, reduction, reusing, recycling and composting into the global climate action plan to address greenhouse (GHG) gases and other toxic releases in the waste sector,” Manny Calonzo, Co-Coordinator of the Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives (GAIA).

“At the same time, we join the recyclers, including the waste pickers, in seeking recognition and support for their role in cutting GHG discharges through the retrieval of reusable and recyclable discards from the waste stream,” he added.

To raise negotiators’ awareness, GAIA will release this coming Wednesday in Tianjin a report entitled “Respect for Recyclers: Protecting the Climate through Zero Waste.”

The report written by Neil Tangri, GAIA’s US-based Waste and Climate Campaigner, warned against the promotion of “waste-to-energy” and landfill gas technologies as “climate solutions.”

Mass burn incinerators and incinerators in disguise such as gasification, plasma, pyrolysis and “refuse-derived fuel” (RDF) technologies are severe sources of GHG releases, emitting 33% more carbon dioxide than coal-fired power plants would to produce the same amount of energy, the report said.

“Yet rather than supporting [Zero Waste] efforts, climate funds such as the Clean Development Mechanism are subsidizing incinerators and landfill gas systems, which compete directly with recycling and increase emissions, unemployment, and public costs. A new, non-market, climate finance mechanism is needed to support the formalization and expansion of the informal recycling sector,” Tangri noted.

The growing alliance pushing for the recognition and respect of recyclers, estimated at 15 million worldwide, drew the support of a Catholic Church leader who took part in a recent workshop by the EcoWaste Coalition that delved on the health and safety issues facing the informal waste sector.

“We are called upon to recognize our brothers and sisters who work very hard to reclaim and recycle tons of valuable resources from the bins, trucks and dumps,” said Caloocan Bishop Deogracias S. Iñiguez, Jr. and concurrent head of the Public Affairs Committee of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines.

“As we struggle against climactic crises afflicting the planet, let us give recyclers the respect and recognition they deserve for their service to the environment and society that we often take for granted,” he added.

Taking Just A Moment

2010-11-15T07:06:00.000-08:00

Taking just a moment to put your newspaper, soda can and glass spaghetti jar in the recycling bin will save everyone years in environmental harm from production of new materials, over crowded landfills and the depletion of our natural resources.

[WASTE SEGREGATION]

2010-11-15T06:43:00.000-08:00

The mounting garbage is an eyesore. But there is an even more harmful effect of the garbage - Mother Earth is grieving. Pollution around caused by your trash, which because they are thrown haphazardly without following proper waste disposal, become toxin producers that harm the environment. How many tons of garbage do people throw every day? How many people get sick because of this garbage?

Actually proper waste management is the solution to the problem on garbage. If you would only throw the solid wastes properly - not just dump everything in the garbage bin - then we can all be healthy. Under proper waste management, the solid wastes are classified into different groups - this is the meaning of segregation. From the garbage that your throw, you have to pick those that you can reduce, reuse or recycle. We put these in one container of bin. What remains after are the real garbage that you need to throw away.

Garbage is food waste such as excess foods and ingredients - spoiled and no longer fit for human consumption. These food wastes are decomposable. These types of garbage do not really need to be thrown in the bin. If you have garden, lawn or backyard, the wastes from food can be turned into useful organic fertilizer. You can dig at your backyard, make a compost pit. The benefit is twofold. You have fertilizer and you have lessened the amount of garbage in the landfill.

The term rubbish is non-decomposable wastes. So there should be a known distinction in the two, in the same manner that there seems to be two classes of wastes - the decomposable and the non-decomposable. The second type of wastes is further classified as combustible and non-combustible. The former comprise of rubbish that can be burned like cloth, paper and wood. The latter can have ceramics, glass, metals as examples, rubbish that cannot be destroyed by fire. Non-combustible wastes can still be used by humans - transformed into another matter - so recycling can come in.

Segregation of wastes is very important. This is the gauge to proper waste disposal which when done by men can make the environment free from toxins and pollution. Your first beneficiary is your family, having a clean environment will drive away the illness-causing bacteria.

If there is one part of the house that needs frequent safeguarding for proper waste disposal, it is the kitchen. This is the place where food wastes are, where rotten foods are thrown in the kitchen bins. With improper waste handling, the bin can give off bad odor that can spread all through-out the house thus spreading the bacteria from the kitchen to the other rooms in the house. Some food wastes that are disposed through the sink, few and small in quantity as they are, will go to the plumbing system. This could lead to more problems, not only in sanitation but in the clogging of the plumbing.

Some people's reason for improper handling of garbage and rubbish is the absence of regular garbage collectors in their locality. If you really want to keep sanitized from your wastes, there are already different firms that can collect your garbage regularly - upon proper scheduling. For their very minimal fee for your garbage disposal, you can keep your environment clean and free from disease carrying bacteria.

So there is a distinction between garbage and rubbish. The garbage can still be useful through compost, its utility enhanced by its being organic in nature. Rubbish on the other hand has to be classified into the combustible and non-combustible, the latter being available to be recycled. So in effect, only the combustible needs to go to the landfill. This being so, there will be ample space in the landfills for the combustible ones.

GLOBAL WARMING

2010-11-14T08:34:00.000-08:00

Tayo ang may Kagagawan, Bawat isa AY may Pananagutan

2010-11-14T08:24:00.001-08:00

BAYANIHAN AT BOLUNTARISMO

SPREAD THE WORD

2010-11-13T07:10:00.000-08:00

Share what you know. If you notice abundant trash in your neighborhood start spreading the word and your experience with recycling and if there isn’t already one in place strive to get a city recycling pick up program started. The fact is many of our resources as well as our Earth is not renewable and we have to start taking control of our selves beginning with the world we live in.

Global warming is no longer viewed as a theory by scientists and has sadly become a fact. The change needed must be in your actions today in order to ensure a bright (not too hot) tomorrow.

[FACTS ON RECYCLING]

2010-11-12T21:10:00.000-08:00

10 facts on recycling

by Roger on Feb.10, 2010

From aluminum soda cans and glass jars to old newspapers and rolled-up magazines, the most commonly recycled materials are household products and everyday items no longer of any use. Recycling not only transforms waste into valuable resources, but also benefits the environment on both a local and global level.
The effort saves energy, prevents pollution, decreases greenhouse gases and conserves natural resources.

1. Aluminum Cans

In the United States, used aluminum beverage cans are the most recycled item, but other types of aluminum are just as worthy. Siding, gutters, car components, storm window frames and lawn furniture are often overlooked recyclable items. Recycling one aluminum can saves the equivalent of a ½ gallon of gasoline or enough energy to watch television for 3 hours. Recycling one aluminum can saves enough energy to run a TV for three hours! 350,000 aluminum cans are produced every minute! More aluminum goes into beverage cans than any other product. Once an aluminum can is recycled, it can be part of a new can within six weeks. During the time it takes you to read this sentence, 50,000 12-ounce aluminum cans are made. There is no limit to the amount of times aluminum cans can be recycled. We use over 80,000,000,000 aluminum pop cans every year. At one time, aluminum was more valuable than gold !

2. Paper

According to the EPA, recycle 1 ton of paper and save 7,000 gallons of water, 3 cubic yards of landfill space, 2 barrels of oil, 4,100 kilowatt-hours of electricity and 17 full-grown trees. Overall, recycling paper instead of using new materials produces 74 percent less air pollution and uses 50 percent less water. During World War II when raw materials were scarce, 33% of all paper was recycled. After the war, this number decreased sharply. Americans use 85,000,000 tons of paper a year: about 680 pounds per person. In 1993, U.S. paper recovery saved more than 90,000,000 cubic yards of landfill space. In 1993, nearly 36,000,000 tons of paper in the U.S.-twice as much in 1980. 27% of the newspapers produced in America are recycled.

3. Newspapers

Recycling a single run of the Sunday newspaper in a major metropolitan city saves an average of 75,000 trees. If every city in the United States recycled newspapers, the country saves about 250,000,000 trees on a yearly basis.

4. Glass Bottles

Americans toss out enough glass bottles and jars each month to fill up a towering skyscraper. Recycling one glass bottle not only saves the same amount of energy to power a 100-watt light bulb for 4 hours, but also creates 20 percent less air pollution and 50 percent less water pollution compared to producing a new bottle comprised of raw materials.

5. Trash

The United States generates the most trash in the world with an estimated 1,609 pounds per person every year. Each American is responsible for throwing out around 1,200 pounds of compostable organic garbage on a yearly basis.

6. Packaging

For every $10 spent on purchased goods, packaging makes up 10 percent (or $1). Representing around 65 percent of household trash, packaging racks up heavy disposal costs. For every ton of trash, it costs $30 to recycle, $50 to transport it to a landfill and around $70 to incinerate.

7. Hershey’s Kisses

The amount of aluminum foil (all of which is completely recyclable) used to wrap the estimated 80,000,000 Hershey’s Kisses produced each day is enough to blanket more than 50 acres of space–the equivalent of nearly 40 football fields.

8. Motor Oil

Despite getting dirty, motor oil never loses its purpose or wears out. Americans can reduce their dependence on imported oil by reusing old motor oil after it undergoes a recycling and re-refining process.

9. Typical Families

The average American family consumes 182 gallons of soda, 29 gallons of juice, 104 gallons of milk and 26 gallons of bottled water per year. All of these items are recyclable.

10. Styrofoam Cups

A common misconception of Polystyrene (#6) Styrofoam cups is that it is recyclable. Every year, Americans toss out 25,000,000,000 Styrofoam cups–enough to circle the Earth a total of 436 times.

START RECYCLING TODAY

2010-11-12T07:08:00.000-08:00

Start Today

Recycling is a very environmentally green activity; however, there are ways that you can make it greener as well as building a strong beginning if you do not currently recycle.

Many people beginning a recycling program look around and wonder what they can put in the recycling bin; there is so much information available on this site, so don't panic.

By reusing your recycled storage containers you save on the environmental impact as well. Paper and plastic bags are good for recycling storage; however, a plastic reusable bin is even better.

Be Creative

2010-11-12T07:07:00.000-08:00

Many useful items can be made from our everyday trash; the cardboard tubes left over from paper towel and toilet paper can make useful storage containers for our extra extension cords and prevents a tangled mess in the Christmas lights.

If your going to throw these out don't just throw it in the rubbish bin, put it the recycling bin.

Baby jars can become snow globes the kids can make and give as gifts, old Christmas cards can become new hand made cards and a glass or plastic bottle along with some clear oil and food coloring and a few other common household items can become a groovy lava lamp! The possibilities are endless and instructions can be found in books and on the internet.

4000 Years

2010-11-12T07:06:00.000-08:00

When we do not recycle at least our glass or aluminum we cost the earth in power usage, water and oil usage and landfill usage; glass takes up to 4000 years to decompose in a landfill yet can be recycled indefinitely.

RECYCLING FACTS AND THE BENEFITS OF RECYCLING

2010-11-12T07:05:00.000-08:00

Everyone today has heard of how important it is to recycle and most cities offer a recycling program, but what exactly is recycling and how beneficial is it really to us and the environment?

What are the recycling facts and benefits?

Recycling is the process of turning one products useful parts into a new product; this is done to conserve on the consumption of resources, energy and space used in landfills.

By recycling1 plastic bottle not only saves anywhere from 100 to 1000 years in the landfill but also saves the environment from the emissions in producing new bottles as well as the oil used to produce that bottle. For every1 ton of plastic that is recycled we save the equivalent of 2 people’s energy use for 1 year, the amount of water used by 1 person in 2 month’s time and almost 2000 pounds of oil.

Today the most common products in cities recycling programs are paper products, cardboard, plastic, glass and aluminum.

Approximately 60% of our rubbish thrown away today could be recycled.

A survey was done and 9 out of 10 people surveyed said they would recycle more if it was easier.

Odd as it seems there are many people who do not realize that plastic bottles our water comes in is made out of oil.

This is the same oil that is used to make gasoline. It's the same oil that is in such high demand and is not an unlimited resource.

Green revolution, vanishing jobs and "danger zones" in the Philippines?

2010-11-12T06:42:00.000-08:00

Episode on October 24, 2009
Saturday, 8:30 PM
Official website: kapusomojessicasoho.tv

MOST DANGEROUS PLACES TO LIVE IN THE PHILIPPINES?

Danger lurks even in our supposedly safest haven --- home. A passenger airplane suddenly crashed at a quiet residential area In Baranggay Aldana, Las Piñas. In Merville Subdivision, Parañaque, residents complain of the deafening noise coming from a nearby airstrip. Meanwhile, people in Guinobatan, Albay had to deal with the hazards of living with their most threatening neighbor. Mayon Volcano!

GREEN IS IN!

Humans constantly disrespect the environment --- and now, it is fighting back! But for some, the recent environmental catastrophes also serve as a good wake up call. For members of the Tzu Chi Foundation, instead of throwing away plastic water containers that are non-biodegradable, they transform it into blankets! In Lipa City , Batangas, smoke-belching is not a problem with their bamboo bicycles! And since Christmas is just around the corner. what is the perfect gift we can give to mother nature? Solar Christmas lights!

VANISHING JOBS

With the advent of modern technology, a lot of jobs that require manual labor are slowly being phased out. For some, the fight to keep their craft going continues: just like how history was etched by the church documents penned by the last escribiente of San Fabian, Pangasinan. While the painters of giant movie billboards look up to each work as a masterpiece fit for the celebrities they show!

MGA MAPANGANIB NA LUGAR?

Sa loob ng sarili nating pamamahay, siguradong ligtas daw tayo. Pero ang panganib, wala raw pinipiling lugar. Tulad nang nangyari sa Brgy. Aldana sa Las Piñas, ang tahimik nilang buhay, ginulantang nang pagbagsak ng isang eroplano na sumapul sa ilang kabahayan. Sa Merville Subdivision naman sa Parañaque, halos mabingi na raw ang mga residente tuwing may papalipad o papalapag na eroplano. Samantalang ang mga taga-Guinobatan sa Albay, Mayon Volcano naman daw ang nagbabanta sa kanila sa tuwing nag-aalburuto ito!

BERDE ANG IN!
Dahil sa kawalan natin ng respeto sa kalikasan, sunud-sunod na rin ang paghihiganti nito sa atin. Pero ang iba, tila natauhan na kaya nagsimula ng magmalasakit sa kalikasan. Ang Tzu Chi Foundation, sa halip na itambak sa basurahan ang mga plastic water container na non-biodegradable o hindi nabubulok, ginagawa nila itong kumot. Sa Lipa City sa Batangas, ang rumaratsada sa kalye, walang kausok-usok, bisikletang gawa sa kawayan. At dahil malapit na ang Pasko, makatitipid na sa kuryente, mapapasaya pa ang kalikasan kung ang gagamiting pangdekorasyon, solar Christmas lights!

NAGLALAHONG HANAP-BUHAY
Dahil sa makabagong teknolohiya, maraming mano-manong trabaho ang unti-unti nang nae-etsapuwera. Pero may ilang pilit pa rin itong binubuhay para ipamana sa susunod na henerasyon. Ang huling escribiente ng San Fabian, Pangasinan, parang nakatala na raw sa kasaysayan ang bawat titik na kanyang naisulat sa mga papeles ng simbahan. Ang mga pintor naman ng mga higanteng movie billboard, tuwing tinitingala raw at pinagmamasdan ang kanilang mga obra, daig pa raw nila ang mga tinitingalang bituin sa pelikula.

[GLOBAL WARMING SOLUTIONS]

2010-11-10T06:16:00.000-08:00

What Can We Do?

The evidence that humans are causing global warming is strong, but the question of what to do about it remains controversial. Economics, sociology, and politics are all important factors in planning for the future.

Even if we stopped emitting greenhouse gases (GHGs) today, the Earth would still warm by another degree Fahrenheit or so. But what we do from today forward makes a big difference. Depending on our choices, scientists predict that the Earth could eventually warm by as little as 2.5 degrees or as much as 10 degrees Fahrenheit.

Photograph by Paul Nicklen

A commonly cited goal is to stabilize GHG concentrations around 450-550 parts per million (ppm), or about twice pre-industrial levels. This is the point at which many believe the most damaging impacts of climate change can be avoided. Current concentrations are about 380 ppm, which means there isn't much time to lose. According to the IPCC, we'd have to reduce GHG emissions by 50% to 80% of what they're on track to be in the next century to reach this level.

Is this possible?

Many people and governments are already working hard to cut greenhouse gases, and everyone can help. Researchers Stephen Pacala and Robert Socolow at Princeton University have suggested one approach that they call "stabilization wedges." This means reducing GHG emissions from a variety of sources with technologies available in the next few decades, rather than relying on an enormous change in a single area. They suggest 7 wedges that could each reduce emissions, and all of them together could hold emissions at approximately current levels for the next 50 years, putting us on a potential path to stabilize around 500 ppm.

There are many possible wedges, including improvements to energy efficiency and vehicle fuel economy (so less energy has to be produced), and increases in wind and solar power, hydrogen produced from renewable sources, biofuels (produced from crops), natural gas, and nuclear power. There is also the potential to capture the carbon dioxide emitted from fossil fuels and store it underground—a process called "carbon sequestration."

In addition to reducing the gases we emit to the atmosphere, we can also increase the amount of gases we take out of the atmosphere. Plants and trees absorb CO2 as they grow, "sequestering" carbon naturally. Increasing forestlands and making changes to the way we farm could increase the amount of carbon we're storing.

Some of these technologies have drawbacks, and different communities will make different decisions about how to power their lives, but the good news is that there are a variety of options to put us on a path toward a stable climate. http://environment.nationalgeographic.com/environment/global-warming/gw-solutions.html

[THE EFFECTS OF GLOBAL WARMING]

2010-11-10T05:55:00.000-08:00

Global Warming Impacts and Effects

The effects of Global Warming can already be seen
The IPCC's Third Assessment Report finds that in the last 40 years, the global average sea level has risen, ocean heat content has increased, and snow cover and ice extent have decreased, which threatens to inundate low-lying island nations and coastal regions throughout the world.

Effects of global warming already being felt on plants and animals worldwideGlobal warming is having a significant impact on hundreds of plant and animal species around the world -- although the most dramatic effects may not be felt for decades, according to a new study in the journal Nature.

"Birds are laying eggs earlier than usual, plants are flowering earlier and mammals are breaking hibernation sooner,"

"Clearly, if such ecological changes are now being detected when the globe has warmed by an estimated average of only 1 degree F (0.6 C) over the past 100 years, then many more far-reaching effects on species and ecosystems will probably occur by 2100, when temperatures could increase as much as 11 F (6 C)."

Global Warming Effects that will happen in the future:

Global warming will have serious impacts on the environment and on society. Higher temperatures will cause a melting of ice in Greenland and Antarctica. This will accelerate the rise of sea level. The speed at which global warming is expected to occur in the 21st century is faster than most plant and animal species will be able to cope with. Some will adapt but others will suffer and may become extinct.
Global warming will affect agriculture. New crops will be able to be grown in areas that are currently too cold to support them. However, more pests and diseases may offset any benefits higher temperatures may have. Water resources will also be affected. Some reservoirs may dry up if temperature increases, especially if rainfall also decreases. Rising sea levels may pollute fresh groundwater supplies with salt water.

Global warming will also affect human health. There may be more heat-related illnesses in hotter summers, and increased breathing problems as higher temperatures increase air pollution in cities, reducing air quality. The malaria mosquito may also be able to spread to other regions of the world where it is currently too cold to survive and breed.

More extreme weather, for example storms, floods and droughts will have severe impacts on the environment and on society. The poorest people in society will unfortunately be those least able to cope with the impacts of global warming.

[FACTS ON GLOBAL WARMING]

2010-11-10T05:46:00.000-08:00

FACT: There is no debate among scientists about the basic facts of global warming.

FACT: Although water vapor traps more heat than CO2, because of the relationships among CO2, water vapor and climate, to fight global warming nations must focus on controlling CO2.

FACT: Any beneficial effects of global warming will be far outweighed by damage and disruption.

MYTH: Global warming is just part of a natural cycle. The Arctic has warmed up in the past.

FACT: The global warming we are experiencing is not natural. People are causing it.

FACT: Although humans as a whole have survived things such as drought, stretches of warmth and cold and more, entire societies have collapsed from dramatic climatic shifts.

FACT: While different pockets of different countries have experienced some cold winters here and there, the overall trend is warmer winters.

FACT: In most parts of the world, the retreat of glaciers has been dramatic. The best available scientific data indicate that Greenland's massive ice sheet is shrinking, less ice leads to more warming and feeds global warming.

FACT: Climate prediction is fundamentally different from weather prediction, just as climate is different from weather.

FACT: Global warming and the ozone hole are two different problems.

IS GLOBAL WARMING REALLY HAPPENING?

2010-11-10T05:44:00.000-08:00

Yes. The Earth is already showing many signs of worldwide climate change.

• Average temperatures have climbed 1.4 degrees Fahrenheit (0.8 degree Celsius) around the world since 1880, much of this in recent decades, according to NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies.

• The rate of warming is increasing. The 20th century's last two decades were the hottest in 400 years and possibly the warmest for several millennia, according to a number of climate studies. And the United Nations' Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) reports that 11 of the past 12 years are among the dozen warmest since 1850.

• The Arctic is feeling the effects the most. Average temperatures in Alaska, western Canada, and eastern Russia have risen at twice the global average, according to the multinational Arctic Climate Impact Assessment report compiled between 2000 and 2004.