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Solutions and Sustainability
Ecofarming and Agroforesry for Self-Reliance:
Small-scale, Sustainable Growing Practices in Russia (45KB PDF)
Leonid Sharashkin, Proceedings of the The 9th North American Agroforestry Conference
Agroforestry concepts are applicable to both small-scale (family farm) and microscale (e.g., home garden) cultivation. However, there is little research on the relevance of gardening practices in temperate zones to agroforestry and vice versa. In Russia, microscale ecofarming is an extremely widespread, time-tested practice. Despite the minuscule size (600 m2) of individual plots and absence of machinery, cultivators have demonstrated exceptional productivity, producing more potatoes, vegetables, berries, fruit, milk, and meat than commercial agriculture’s output of these products. Currently, with 35 million families (70% of Russia’s population) working 8 million ha of land and producing more than 40% of Russia’s agricultural output, this is in all likelihood the most extensive microscale food production practice in any industrially developed nation. [EB’s emphasis]
(12-15 June 2005)
One of many papers given (and available online) at the The 9th North American Agroforestry Conference: Moving Agroforestry into the Mainstream June 12-15, 2005. Recommended by Steve Diver of ATTRA. -BA
High oil prices motivate studies for renewable energy sources
Betsy Blaney, AP via canada.com
LUBBOCK, Tex. (AP) – As oil prices soar, cow manure is getting more attention as an alternative fuel source, particularly in Texas, the biggest U.S. producer of cow patties.
For years, researchers have studied manure as a fertilizer. But at a time when state and federal energy bills have called for increasing renewable energy sources, there is more focus on developing cow dung as an alternative to coal or natural gas.
(22 August 2005)
Environment
Toxic legacy of e-waste revealed
Greenpeace via Green Consumers Guide
Scrap yards that recycle ‘e-waste’ in China and India are exposing workers and the surrounding environment to a host of highly dangerous chemicals, according to a new report published by Greenpeace this week. Coming just days after the scheduled launch of the WEEE Directive (Waste from Electrical and Electronic Equipment) – which is yet to be implemented in various member states – the ‘Toxic Tech’ report highlights the ongoing black market for sending dangerous and sensitive waste to developing countries.
The study focused on dust found in the scrap yard workshops along with wastewater, soil and sediment from nearby rivers, all of which showed evidence of toxic content. Concentrations of lead in dust found in dust samples from locations in China registered a lead content hundreds of times higher than that of typical household dust. Tests carried out in the homes of two e-waste workers in China showed higher levels of heavy metals than neighbouring homes with no connection to the industry.
“The report provides a compelling case for immediate action in both countries to address workplace health and safety issues, as well as waste management practices,” said Dr. Kevin Brigden, a scientist at Greenpeace International, who worked on the investigation. “The data reinforces the need for the electronics industry to eliminate the use of harmful substances in their products at the design stage and take responsibility for their products at the end of their lifecycle.”
A 12pg pdf summary of the Greenpeace report is available here.
(19 August 2005)
UK birds ‘hit by climate change’
Climate change is affecting both bird numbers in the UK and where they live, according to a new report.
Staff, BBC
Experts say new figures – like those which show wading birds are moving eastwards – reveal the true impact of changes such as milder winters. Ornithologists predict warmer weather could threaten some species, while also attracting new ones to Britain. The study is by a range of groups including the RSPB, English Nature and the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust.
The State of UK Birds 2004 study found there has been a 6% rise in the combined populations of 111 widespread bird species since 1970. But for every 10 pairs of birds living in farmland in 1970, less than six remain today.
The report highlighted a rapid decline in numbers of farm birds, like the corn bunting, whereas a number of “generalist” species, such as the wood pigeon, were increasing. The survey said 2004 was the worst seabird breeding season on record.
(19 August 2005)
UK Greens back Friends of the Earth ‘Big Ask’ on emissions reduction
Green Conssumer Guide
The Green Party of England and Wales has lent its support to environmental group Friends of the Earth’s ‘Big Ask’ campaign for a structured emission reduction programme, and slammed the financial demands of nuclear energy.
Nuclear is seen by some as a carbon free solution to the climate change problem, but environmentalists have voiced significant concerns over the safety, stability and cost effectiveness of the source. …
(19 August 2005)
Visitors rush to glimpse vanishing glaciers
Attention turns to Alaska where climate change is transforming the landscape
Dan Glaister, The Guardian
The four distinguished visitors looked on in awe at the sight before them. Exit Glacier in Alaska’s Kenai Fjords national park is one of continental America’s most imposing monuments, and last week it was at its most impressive – a hulk of ice and snow imperceptibly making its way toward the sea.
But lately that movement has quickened, a fact that will not have been lost on visitors. One of the most popular tourist attractions in Alaska, Exit Glacier has receded 300 metres (1,000ft) in the past 10 years. The movement means that the viewing platform from which the group of dignitaries surveyed the glacier would have been under several feet of ice just a few years ago. Today it is on dry land.
The four VIPs included an unlikely couple, both probable presidential candidates in 2008, both plausible winners, and from opposite ends of the political spectrum.
One was John McCain, Vietnam veteran and republican senator from Arizona. The other was Hillary Rodham Clinton, White House veteran and New York senator. That they should choose to visit Alaska together in order to investigate climate change raised a few eyebrows. Rupert Murdoch’s Fox News even hinted, in jest, that the two were having an affair.
…Melting glaciers is only one of Alaska’s problems. As Kate Troll, an environmentalist writing in the Anchorage Daily News, put it earlier this month: “Besides retreating glaciers, insect infestations and more intense forest fires, Alaska is experiencing melting permafrost, flooded villages, warming oceans, coastal erosion, shifts in bird and wildlife populations, and shorter seasons for ice roads. And there is more to come, as Alaska is heating up at twice the rate of the rest of the world.”
Last year was the warmest summer on record for much of Alaska. An Arctic Climate Impact Assessment report published in November 2004 said Alaska’s average annual temperature rose 3.3C between 1949 and 2003. Some areas have risen twice that much.
(22 August 2005)
The irony of people feeding climate change by flying off to look at the effects of climate change proves god has a sense of humour.-LJ
Climate change marks dawn of man
Olivia Johnson, BBC News
Complex variation of the East African climate may have played a key role in the development of our human ancestors. Scientists have identified extensive lake systems which formed and disappeared in East Africa between one and three million years ago.
The lakes could be evidence that global climate changes occured throughout this pivotal period in human evolution. The findings, reported in the journal Science, suggest that humans evolved in response to a variable climate. …
The Science paper states that if the lakes were temporary features related to the global climate, as the data suggest, they provide strong support for theories in which early human species evolved and spread out in response to a rapidly changing environment. …
“What this is showing is that there are fluctuations of the climatic belts moving up and down,” he said. “But if early humans are able to move around, the effect of varying environment is reduced. The key issue now is how mobile are these people?” [Chris Stringer, London’s Natural History Museum].
(19 August 2005)
