Drought strikes across global continents

In Latin America, Bolivian authorities in seven municipalities have declared states of emergency due to dry conditions damaging 80% of crops. Municipalities like Lagunillas that rarely ever experienced droughts in the past now have lost all their crops.

Honduras also declared a state of emergency on March 23 due to drought and famine, and across the world the Philippines has also witnessed crop failure from drought that impacted 23 provinces.

In China, prolonged lack of rain has stricken at least five the southwestern provinces, with the nation’s State Forestry Administration reporting that the persistent drought has damaged young saplings and animal habitats, as well as increasing the risk of forest fires.

To help counter these effects, the Chinese government allocated US$586 million for emergency relief to supply water to over 19 million affected people.

Meanwhile, in South Sudan, drought and conflict has caused sudden alarming increased rates of malnutrition.

Aid agencies warn of a food shortage crisis, where nearly half of the children under five are malnourished.

Finally, in the United States, California’s director of the Department of Water Resources, Mark Cowin expressed concern of this year’s expected water shortages.

However, in a brief respite from such conditions, California welcomed the blessing of rains over the Easter weekend in early April that have helped replenish some main water reservoirs.

And in central Âu Lạc (Vietnam), several months of hot dry weather have been relieved by a rain that has provided much-needed moisture for thousands of hectares of coffee and other crops.

We thank all the governments for their efforts to relieve the suffering from these acute drought conditions as we pray that the dry spells being endured by many countries is alleviated with our better care for the planet and each other.

In an October 2009 videoconference in Formosa (Taiwan), Supreme Master Ching Hai once again expressed her deep concern and sympathy for the drought-afflicted, urging for actions to curb its impact.

Supreme Master Ching Hai: People are dying from droughts, people are leaving their villages, their hometowns because they don’t have any more water to drink.

Some die on the road because of starvation; some die on the road looking for water. This is very, very tragic. I hope we all wake up and wake up quick to save our people, to save our home.

Because many of our world co-citizens are not aware that many of our other co-citizens are dying because of lack of water, and lack of water means lack of food, lack of security.

Water means everything to our existence. We must conserve the water; we must do everything we can. And the first step to begin is to be vegan. Because animal industry uses 70 more percent of the clean water of our planet!

http://www.monre.gov.vn/monreNet/default.aspx?tabid=258&ItemID=82431
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Cholera deaths in Kenya linked to climate change

Severe droughts and intense flooding are among the climate change-induced water woes that Kenya and other Eastern African countries have experienced in recent years.

Along with tolls from these disasters, many people have at times been forced to drink unclean water and thus become exposed to the water-borne pathogen, cholera.

At least 13 people have perished from the disease, with hundreds of cases confirmed, many requiring hospitalization. The government has also shut down schools as a preventive measure.

Cholera causes severe diarrhea and vomiting and can be fatal within 24 hours if left untreated. Kenyan health officials have been working to distribute clean drinking water door-to-door in the affected areas to stop the spread of the disease, and the United Nations Environment Program is calling for such measures as wetlands and coastal mangrove preservation to restore these natural water purification systems.

Our appreciation, health officials and United Nations Environment Program for your caring assistance in bringing relief to the people of Kenya.

Let us all become part of the solution to climate change through sustainable daily actions on our shared planetary home. During a May 2009 videoconference in the African country of Togo, Supreme Master Ching Hai expressed her concern for the global warming effects already threatening the lives of the African people, also highlighting what could be done to halt them.

Supreme Master Ching Hai: Sadly, global warming is affecting African countries in all the severest and some of the most visible ways. Increased temperatures mean erratic rainfall – either too little or too much at a time – so we have ravaging floods that drown the crops and fires that burn the forest.

There are more frequent droughts, heat waves, floods, storms, frosts, freezes, and locusts than before. These impacts of climate change increase food insecurity and the food crisis in Africa. There is also increased risk of diseases. The United Nations is afraid that hundreds of millions of people in Africa are at risk.

This is just a handful of all the news reports coming out about global warming in your land. I’m sure there are more.

So let us try our best to help remind and encourage our leaders to do something. If the world becomes vegan as a group, we can remedy the disasters that affect us globally.

http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=121392§ionid=351020506
http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/289412
http://www.clubofmozambique.com/solutions1/sectionnews.php?secao=social...
http://www.nation.co.ke/News/regional/-/1070/885016/-/8rc5bn/-/

Past natural disasters the result of human activities

The Nasca culture that flourished in South America is famous for its mysterious lines, best viewed from the air, that depict animals and other shapes across the deserts in Peru.

While being aware that the Nasca civilization ended suddenly between the 6th and 7th centuries, scientists at the University of Cambridge in the UK have recently revealed that the Nasca demise was related to deforestation.

This was due to their clearing of huarango trees, whose deep roots played a key role in regulating moisture and soil richness. Thus, removing so many trees eventually caused a tipping point to be reached, after which the ecosystem was irreversibly damaged and the climate became more and more dry.

The study's authors say that these findings are highly relevant in view of parallels with humanity’s situation today.

Meanwhile, experts from the Leibniz Oceanography Institute in Kiel, Germany announced their discovery of signs that a severe natural disaster occurred in the Atlantic Ocean two millennia ago.

According to the scientists, the edge of an African continental shelf broke off, scattering debris over 150,000 square kilometers across the deep Atlantic off the coast of Morocco, south of the Canary Islands.

This event could have set off a massive tsunami that some say impacted the lost city of Atlantis, believed to have existed in the Atlantic basin before being engulfed by the sea.

What intriguing findings! Thank you University of Cambridge and Leibniz Oceanography Institute scientists for your reports that offer insights into past civilizations.

Let us strive to prevent the repeating of such devastations through our increased stewardship of the environment. During a videoconference in Togo in May 2009, Supreme Master Ching Hai gave a spiritual perspective on such cases in history as well as ways for humanity to choose a safer course today.

Supreme Master Ching Hai: At least 2 major times, our planet has undergone major destruction due to detrimental human activities. It may be that past civilizations on Earth did not last also because their moral standard did not develop along with their technical power.

Spiritual development and compassion are what ensures the safety and balance of every other endeavor. I pray that our civilization will be different, will be wiser, and more advanced in many beneficial ways.

So, let us not neglect to cultivate our virtues. If we want good things then we have to do good. If we want life, we have to spare lives. Because that means we spare life, we want life, we want constructive energy, we don’t want destruction. So vegan is the answer.

http://www.reuters.com/article/scienceNews/idUSTRE5A100O20091102
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http://en.mercopress.com/2010/03/27/german-scientists-find-evidence-of-major...

Climate change is real and now

A report by Australia's top science bodies, the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO) and the Bureau of Meteorology sounds the alarm about the imminent dangers of climate change.

Saying that temperatures have risen about 0.7 degrees Celsius in the last 50 years, the report also states that both CO2 and methane are at their highest levels in perhaps 20 million years.

As a result, every region of the country is warming during every season, and each decade surpasses the previous decades’ temperature records. Sea levels rising by 9 cm between 1993 and 2009 along with changes in precipitation represent other marked consequences of climate change, with rainfall in the north and central parts of the country increasing substantially while decreases in the south and east have led to severe droughts.

Scientists at Australia's Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization and the Bureau of Meteorology, we are grateful for this report which is also a call to action.

May we all unite in restoring harmony and balance to our Earth. In an October 2009 videoconference in Indonesia, Supreme Master Ching Hai referred to the experts’ increasingly serious reports on climate change, and reiterated the most urgently needed countermeasures.

Supreme Master Ching Hai: Now, according to expert scientists, the atmospheric temperatures are rising so steeply that we do not have much time left to change. And that is just what they have predicted up to date.

The effects of climate change can be seen in so many ways, with increased flooding, droughts, fires and even earthquakes everywhere in the world.

How do we stop these alarming changes The greenhouse gases released from the animals, from their waste, agricultural runoff, and the activities related to these massive operations have been identified as the primary, the number one cause of global warming.

We have to halt the meat consumption and the livestock raising Instead, we should choose to buy organic vegetable and fruit products to save our lives and those of our families, save the animals and the planet.

http://www.sciencealert.com.au/news/20101603-20714-2.html?...
http://www.france24.com/en/20100315-australia-07-degrees-warmer-over-past-50-years
http://www.gdacs.org/reports.asp?...

Western Australia receives wake up call on dwindling water supply.

A report from Australia’s Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) forecasts that the capital city of Perth in Western Australia state could see water supplies reduced by 50% in two decades.

This is due in part to less groundwater availability, including the Gnangara Aquifer that supplies Perth's drinking water, which is expected to decline 33% by 2030.

Perth and surrounding areas have already experienced a 50% reduction in water supplies since the mid-1970s, which has been attributed to global warming.

Climate Change Minister Penny Wong stated that the recent CSIRO report and its forecast of further reduced resources brings significant concern for the region.

Your Excellency, Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization researchers and Australia, we appreciate your work and cautionary concern.

Let us swiftly adopt lifestyles to reverse these adverse effects and restore our planet for future generations.

In an August 2009 videoconference in Thailand, Supreme Master Ching Hai urged as she has in previous times for immediate action to counter the world’s fast dwindling water supplies.

Supreme Master Ching Hai: We have over six billion people in this world and the sources of groundwater for wells, which supports half of our world population, are dying, drying up. And the top ten global river systems, drying or ebbing away.

And three billion people are short of water. How many more, I don’t know, how many more of suffering people are we waiting before we take action? Please do it now! Just be veg. Stop the meat, dairy, fish industry. Be benevolent.

Create a merciful energy that will envelop our world, that will emit mercy, love, protection for us and our children on this planet. Please take action now. Very simple. Just be veg.

http://www.perthnow.com.au/news/western-australia/water-supplies-could-halve-in-two...
http://www.conservationwa.asn.au/

Climate change taking a toll in Âu Lạc (Vietnam)

With no rainfall since September 2009 in the northern part of the country, forest fires have ignited in the provinces of Lào Cai and Lai Châu. Moreoever, the Red River is at its lowest in more than 100 years, with passage by boat currently impossible while regional rice farmers are in need of water for newly planted seedlings.

Alarmingly, the southern Mekong Delta is also experiencing water shortages. Worsening global warming effects have not only reduced Mekong River water levels to record lows, ocean salt water has encroached an unprecedented 60 kilometers inland this year, threatening 100,000 hectares of rice.

Central Âu Lạc has also been affected, enduring high temperatures that have caused hundreds of people to seek medical treatment at local hospitals for conditions of heatstroke, severe dehydration and other respiratory illnesses.

We are saddened to know of this suffering caused by the increasingly dire state of our planet.

Let us act now to bring relief through sustainable choices that help restore harmony to our Earth’s cycles. As on previous occasions, Supreme Master Ching Hai spoke during an August 2009 conference in Thailand about global warming’s critical tolls and the need to curb them.

Supreme Master Ching Hai: In Âu Lạc (Vietnam), you probably know of global warming related problems such as the untimely flooding and encroachment of the sea of the Mekong Delta region – both of which have caused havoc and further threat to the region’s vital rice and fruit crops.

This is due to a combination of sea levels rising, along with the effect of melting glaciers, which are now causing excessive floods but eventually will cause drought and vastly diminished water supplies as well.

So we must work quickly to avoid such unwanted outcomes.

And the most effective way is the organic vegan diet, organic vegetable farming. This is also the fastest way to reverse the increased warming climate to prevent further damage and disaster.

If everyone does this – be veg – the Earth will begin to cool and we will have more time to implement the measures to eliminate all the carbon emissions. So please, be veg,and tell everyone else of these benefits.

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The Philippines drastically impacted by drought

The Department of Agriculture’s Central Action Center (DACAC) has reported that El Niño-induced drought has caused the loss of more than 144,000 tons of corn and 56,000 tons of rice across 14 affected provinces.

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has ordered water conservation measures as well as infrastructure improvements, while the Department of Agriculture is setting aside an aid package of US$19.1 million to assist farmers.

Moreover, due to low water levels of some hydroelectric dams, power shortages are also a concern. Our heartfelt thoughts and prayers go to all in the Philippines affected by these extreme conditions.

We pray for sustaining rains and a restored climate through humanity’s soon adoption of eco-friendly and compassionate lifestyles. As on many occasions, in a September 2009 climate change videoconference in Peru, Supreme Master Ching Hai reminded of the most effective way to return even dangerous conditions as these to balance.

Supreme Master Ching Hai: Some countries and communities have to cope with worsened drought situations. There is not enough water to raise crops or even to drink. So how can we handle the mass migration of tens of millions of people all at once due to desertification, the rising sea levels or the permanent loss of crop fields?

The smartest way would be to stop the worsening of global warming by being vegan. It sounds very simple but it is the best solution, the most effective and the effect of it will be felt almost immediately.

The warming atmosphere, water shortage, food scarcity, desertification - we can quickly eliminate by stopping meat production. Stop it now, no further!

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/nation/view/20100219-254002/Isabela-farms-worst-hit-of-14-provinces
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US scientist assesses regional impact of climate change

Professor Steve Running of the University of Montana, former member of the Nobel laureate UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), recently published results of a study assessing the impact of global warming to the Rocky Mountains in the western USA. His findings include a forecast that climate change in the region was likely to significantly affect wildlife as well as ecosystems and the economy.

The report specifically warned of temperature increases having dramatic impact on forests in the coming decades, with a corresponding worsening of droughts that would incur epidemics of insect infestations and catastrophic wildfires throughout the states of Montana, Wyoming and Idaho.

Professor Running, we appreciate this informative report, despite its disturbing implications for the iconic Rocky Mountain range. Let us join in concerted care and act now to bring a sustainable future for our planet.

In speaking of her concern about the consequences of global warming, Supreme Master Ching Hai has also offered a solution to alleviate its effects, as during an August 2008 videoconference with our Association members

Supreme Master Ching Hai: Even if we plant more trees, there will be something else happening, maybe wildfire, or the beetle will be more in abundance, and then they will also begin to eat away all the forest.

So this is a really terrible situation. The only thing is we have to be morally fit. And have to be virtuous. Otherwise, there’s no getting away from the bad karma, meaning the retribution, for whatever we do.

http://www.newwest.net/topic/article/long_drought_ahead_from_global_warming_study_says/C41/L41/
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Climate change already jeopardizing food security

During the recent three-day United Nations World Food Summit from November 17 to 19, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization announced that over 1.2 billion people, or one-sixth of the global human population, are starving due to regional conflict, global financial crisis, rising energy prices and food costs.

Addressing the assembly, UN Secretary General Ban ki-Moon emphasized that food security depends on reversing global warming, and that water shortages are already becoming one of its earliest and most visible consequences. Along with Africa, Asia, and Latin America, which are expected to see agricultural declines of up to 40% as temperatures rise above 2 degrees Celsius, the Yangtze River Basin, which supports a third of China’s total population, is also likely to experience more extreme weather.

In addition, it is estimated that over 20 million East Africans are already in desperate need of emergency food following conflict and droughts. Secretary General Ban warned, “In many parts of the world, water supplies are declining, agricultural land is drying out. We must make significant changes to feed ourselves, and most especially to safeguard the poorest and most vulnerable.”
Ban Ki-Moon: There can be no food security without climate security. That is why next month in Copenhagen we need a comprehensive agreement that will provide a firm foundation for a legally binding treaty on climate change.

Pope Benedict XVI: The preservation of the environment is a modern challenge to guarantee a harmonious development that respects the plan of God the Creator and hence can preserve the planet.
If all of humankind is called to be conscious of its own responsibilities towards future generations, it's also true that the duty to protect the environment is the responsibility of states and international organizations.

Secretary General Ban, United Nations and all participating leaders, we are thankful for your concern for the welfare of people around the world. Indeed, may all of humanity quickly adopt the most sustainable solution to world hunger and climate change alike: the organic vegan diet. Supreme Master Ching Hai has frequently
highlighted meat production as the aggravating factor behind both resource scarcity and global warming, as in a July 2008 videoconference with climate and other experts in California, USA.

Supreme Master Ching Hai: For the grain that we use for livestock, we can feed 2 billion people.
what kind of world we are living in and what kind of policy we are following and what kind of kindness we are doing to ourselves and our fellow beings, not to talk about animals yet.

God has created enough water for us, enough food for us to last even forever, if we but know how to stop abusing the Earth’s resources and her sustenance. We should not kill our fellow beings to satisfy our greed. This is the main point of planetary problems right now – our over spending of our moral merit and world resources. And stop meat eating is the main solution to save the planet.

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Water resources imperiled in New Zealand.

Based on a review of the government’s recently proposed National Policy Statement for Freshwater Management, New Zealand author Elizabeth Chambers notes that quality freshwater sources across the nation are becoming scarcer due to unsustainable water management, increasing climate change-related droughts, pollution from the widespread use of fertilizers and, most significantly, the large dairy industry which not only requires immense amounts of fresh water but causes waterway pollution from farm runoff. The New Zealand government is developing a number of regulations to ensure a continuous and reliable supply of safe freshwater across the nation. At the same time it is recognizing that dairy production is a major part of the problem, with one cow requiring between 2000 and 4000 liters of water for every liter of milk, according to British journalist Fred Pearce.

Ms. Chambers, we appreciate this candid report describing the imminent scarcity of fresh water across the nation. May the wise government of New Zealand recommend such practices such as the vegan diet to secure the future abundance of this precious resource.

In an interview with James Bean of Spiritual Awakening Radio in the United States in July 2008, Supreme Master Ching Hai pointed out that rampant water shortages and waterway pollution worldwide are both largely the result of using animal products.

Supreme Master Ching Hai: Now concerning water: one serving of beef is 1200 gallons; one serving of chicken, 330 gallons and one complete vegan meal including tofu, rice, vegetables etc. is only 98 gallons. Now everybody was talking a lot about food shortage and water shortage, the main cause is again, livestock raising. That is not including the contamination of most world bodies of water and related usages.

We cannot afford it forever like this. We have to stop the meat consumption. We have to stop the meat, in order to even survive.