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World population to reach 7billion in few days (increased 1billion in 12yrs), world resources under more strain than ever before
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Room for one more? World population to reach 7 BILLION in next few days
Children most likely to be born in Asia-Pacific region
Fears over pressure on food supply and medical care
The world's population looks set to smash through the seven billion barrier in the next few days, according to the United Nations.
It comes just 12 years since the total reached six billion - with official estimates saying the figure will top eight billion in 2025 and 10 billion before the end of the century. read more »
October is Non-GMO Awareness Month. 89% Americans want clear labels for genetically modified foods..thousands march fr NYC to DC
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Protesters Demand Honest GMO Labels at Right 2 Know March
The Right to Know Where Food Comes From
[October 1, 2011] Starting today, thousands of Americans will march in protest from New York City all the way to Washington D.C. to demand clear, honest labeling of foods with genetically modified ingredients.
Genetically modified foods are subject to disclosure and labeling requirements in many countries, but currently, United States law does not require food producers to label genetically modified foods sold to consumers as genetically modified. The only way for consumers who prefer not to eat genetically modified foods to avoid GMOs is to buy produce only from farmers they know, carefully research the origins of the food they purchase, or limit themselves to buying only food that either been certified by the USDA as organic or has been voluntarily labeled by its manufacturer and certified by a third party as non-GMO. read more »
Defunct UARS is the largest NASA satellite to make uncontrolled fall back to earth in years; dangers of orbital space debris...
The junk in low Earth orbit: space pollution and rising hazard from debris
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NASA: 'We May Never Know' Whereabouts of Satellite Debris
NASA scientists are still not sure exactly where pieces of a huge, defunct satellite landed after re-entering Earth's atmosphere this morning, but early evidence suggests that the debris landed somewhere in the Pacific Ocean, which could complicate recovery efforts.
During a Saturday afternoon conference call with reporters, Nicholas Johnson, chief orbital debris scientist for NASA, acknowledged that "we may never know" the whereabouts of the Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite (UARS).
Data from the Department of Defense's Joint Space Operations Center (JSOC) indicate that UARS fell to the Earth sometime between 11:23pm Eastern Friday night and 1:09am Saturday morning. At that point, the satellite passed over Canada, the African continent, and the Pacific, Atlantic, and Indian Oceans. The mid-point of that path, and likely point of entry, according to those calculations, is off the West Coast of the U.S., as indicated by the green circle on a map published by NASA. read more »
"..what the planet's telling us": Blizzards,tornadoes,floods,record heat,drought,wildfires. Disasters cost US 36+billion this yr
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Weather disasters keep costing U.S. billions this year - Blizzards. Tornadoes. Floods. Record heat and drought, followed by wildfires.
The first eight months of 2011 have brought strange and destructive weather to the United States. From the blizzard that dumped almost two feet of snow on Chicago, to killer tornadoes and heat waves in the south, to record flooding, to wildfires that have burned more than 1,000 homes in Texas in the last few days, Mother Nature has been in a vile and costly mood.
Climate experts point to global warming, meteorologists cite the influence of the La Nina weather phenomenon or natural variability and, in the case of tornadoes hitting populated areas, many simply call the death and destruction bad luck.
But given the variety and violence of both short-term weather events and longer-term effects like a Southwestern drought that has lasted years, more scientists say climate itself seems to be shifting and weather extremes will become more common.
"A warmer atmosphere has more energy to power storms. We've loaded the dice," said Jeff Masters, co-founder and director of meteorology for Weather Underground, Inc, speaking on Wednesday at a news conference on climate. "Years like 2011 may become the new normal in the United States in coming decades." read more »
Hungary destroys GM corn; African Biodiversity Network:"GMO no solution to food shortages..";11 EU states want right to ban GMOs
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Hungary Destroys Genetically Modified Corn Crops
Hungary has destroyed almost 1,000 acres of corn found to have been grown with genetically modified seeds, which are illegal in the country, International Business Times reports. The corn was plowed under so that pollen would not contaminate other crops.
The action came in response to a new regulation introduced in March that stipulates that seeds are supposed to be checked for GMO before they can be sold to farmers. But some of the GMO seeds, manufactured by U.S. seed giants Monsanto and Pioneer, made it onto the market anyway. The Hungarian government said it will continue to test seeds despite the fact that seed sellers are obliged to make sure their products are GMO-free.
Last week the Hungarian unit of Monsanto, the largest producer of GMO seeds, appealed to the Budapest Municipal Court to suspend the resolution by the Hungarian Agriculture Office to destroy the corn, but they were turned down, according to the Budapest Times. With the growing season already underway, it's too late to sow new seeds, so this year's harvest is a total loss.
Monsanto released a statement saying it "respects Hungary's efforts to prevent the production of genetically manipulated plants on Hungarian farms. Monsanto sells only traditional, not GMO seeds to Hungary. Our seeds can only enter Hungarian markets after they were tested for GMO and found clean, in accordance with national and international laws." read more »
"We're what we eat"- 1 burger 20 yrs ago: 333 calories; today: 590 calories. Av. weight(M) in 1960-62: 166.3 lb; 1990-02: 191 lb
Obesity rates rise at least 90% in 17 states since ’95, study says. One-third of children are overweight or obese.
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Nine of the 10 states with the highest obesity rates are in the South, led by Mississippi at 34.4 percent, followed by Alabama and West Virginia, according to the report by the Trust for America’s Health and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Those states also lead the nation in diabetes and high blood pressure, the report found. Michigan was listed as 10th at 30.5 percent. Massachusetts ranked fourth best at 22.3 percent.
Medicare and Medicaid, the public health plans, each spend more than 20 percent of their budget to treat illnesses related to obesity and smoking, which are avoidable medical risks.
The survey’s authors dubbed a swath of 644 counties in 15 mostly southern states the “diabetes belt,’’ as reported in the Journal of Preventive Diseases. Colorado, the slimmest state with a 19.8 percent obesity rate, had the second-smallest rise since 1995, though its rate is still higher than Mississippi’s was at that time, according to the study. read more »
SOS Ocean from nuclear leak - European Committee on radiation risk: "nuclear explosion" "situation at Fukushima out of control"
Professor Christopher Busby (video): "As a matter of fact, right from the beginning, real situation is far worse. Lots of indicators: there have been nuclear explosions.. we now know from the data.. serious matter.. massive radiation coming out. It is still going on - by no means it is over…"
Japan declares nuclear emergency - fire broke out..11 nuclear reactors shut down... nuclear crisis since March 11: nuclear reactors react to 9.0 earthquake. Repeated human errors - 1979: Three Mile Island, 1986: Chernobyl (video "25 years later: Food for Thought"), 2011: Fukushima (nuclear fallout map and video from Japanese journalist, the first to enter the radiation evacuation zone)
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May 26, 2011 - Greenpeace: High radiation levels detected in Japanese seafood: Tokyo - High levels of radioactive substances were found in seaweed and other seafood products near a damaged nuclear power station in north-eastern Japan, environmentalists.
Greenpeace Japan said it found radioactive substances above the legal limits for consumption in 14 of 21 samples of products that included seaweed, shellfish and fish caught 22 to 60 kilometres from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station. read more »
