by Chee Yoke Ling After several years of scientific and public debates it is reported that China will not commercialise genetically modified (GM) staple food crops such as rice and wheat for the next 5 to 10 years. The widely read Economic Observer, a financial weekly publication, citing a source close to the Ministry of Agriculture [...]
The following article contains two videos (Part 1 and 2) and the translation of the speech given by Dr. Tatsuhiko Kodama, Professor at the Research Centre for Advanced Science and Technology and Director, Radioisotope Centre, the University of Tokyo. He explains how the risk of radiation is long lasting, laments the inadequate response of the [...]
By Bhavani Prakash Our earlier interview “Pen Hadow: Melting Arctic Sea Ice And How It Will Affect Asia” explained at ground level how the Arctic Sea ice is melting at an alarming rate, and the worrying consequences it has for Asia and the rest of the world – through rising sea levels and increasingly erratic [...]
by Bhavani Prakash Jeremy Gratham, a top hedge fund manager at GMO has raised quite a few eyebrows. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo (GMO) is a Boston-based asset management firm with more than US $107 billion under management as at December 2009. According to Wikipedia, “Grantham is regarded as a highly knowledgeable investor in various stock, bond, and [...]
One of the most significant studies in “Evaluating the Relative Environmental Impact of Countries” has been released by the University of Adelaide’s Environment Institute in conjuction with the National University of Singapore and Princeton University. Do we need yet another indicator or study, one may ask, considering there are many alternative indices already: the City Development Index(CDI), Ecological Footprint(EF), [...]
The recent Gulf of Mexico oil spill on April 20th 2010, a result of a massive British Petroleum (BP) operated oil rig blast off the coast of Louisana, USA may prove to be the biggest oil spill disaster in history, paling the Exxon Valdez incident in Alaska twenty years ago. Oil Spills are extremely destructive to oceans and marine life. [...]
In a new study released by Stanford University in April 2010, scientists have found evidence that links ocean acidification due to volcanic eruptions 250 million years ago, with the wiping out of 90% of marine species and 75% of land species. This event called the “end-Permian” extinction has conditions parallel to the combination of ocean acidification that [...]
The World’s People’s Conference on Climate Change and the Rights of Mother Earth was held recently in Cochabamba, Bolivia, April 19-22 as an alternative to the Copenhagen Summit held in December 2009, which are widely seen to have failed in securing a concrete commitment in reducing global carbon emissions reductions. Here is a video [...]
According to a recent life cycle analysis by the Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO), the dairy industry accounts for 4% of global carbon emissions. As reported by “The Ecologist” : The vast majority of emissions, 93 per cent, take place on the farm, which includes the production and transport of all inputs used, such as [...]
