Accelerated glacial melt causing water sources to dwindle

As home to 70% of the Earth’s tropical glaciers, Peru has witnessed a 30% loss of glacial mass in the last 30 years due to climate change. Catholic University Research Center Director Bernex Nicol expressed his concern about the matter in a talk given on the radio station Radio Programs of Peru.

With shortages already threatening cities like Lima, where 1.5 million people are currently without water, further reductions are anticipated from factors such as the disappearance of freshwater springs in the northern Andes, where over 50% have dried due to deforestation.

Moreover, Peru’s National University of Engineering Director Julio Kuroiwa has stated that further shortages are expected in Lima, where water supplies could decrease by another 25% over the next decade.

Meanwhile, demands on this fragile resource are further complicated by metal contamination coming from mines in the country’s highlands.

Our appreciation Directors Nicol, Kuroiwa and colleagues for your evaluation and voiced concern about the vanishing Peruvian glaciers and their effect on people’s lives.

Let us act in unison now to stabilize the security and survival of the Peruvian people and all inhabitants of our shared Earthly home. As on previous occasions, Supreme Master Ching Hai spoke during a September 2009 conference in Peru about the country’s water crisis and how to bring relief to this global problem.

Supreme Master Ching Hai: In Peru, the loss to glaciers is equivalent to 10 whole years of water supply for Lima city.

With 8 of the country’s water basins already noted as being insufficient to meet people’s needs, Peru’s President Garcia announced in 2008 the construction of two desalination plants to try to address the water scarcity. It’s that urgent already in Peru.

Dwindling water supplies have caused escalating tensions and even conflicts to erupt as many people, including disadvantaged farmers, don’t have enough water, or are struggling for their share.

So please, before the situation gets any more out of hand – let’s choose the vegan diet. The future effects will be greatly eased. Only then will we have a manageable situation.

Be veg, go green, so we can all save the planet.

http://www.peruviantimes.com/limas-water-supply-to-decrease-by-25-percent-over-next...
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/sci/2010-03/28/c_13227756.htm
http://www.peruviantimes.com/brack-limas-water-supply-secure-over-next-years/285418

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
http://www.prensa-latina.cu/index.php?option=com_content...
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/china/2010-03/25/c_13224950.htm
http://www.theepochtimes.com/n2/content/view/32075/
http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/90001/90776/90882/6939401.html
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2011514738_aporklamathdrought...
http://www.china.org.cn/environment/2010-04/02/content_19736019.htm
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2010-04/02/content_9683395.htm
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2010-04/03/content_9684946.htm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/8589136.stm
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2010/apr/01/extra-snowpack-wont-douse-sd-drought..
http://www.pe.com/localnews/stories/PE_News_Local_W_survey02.48d1ca2.html
http://english.people.com.cn/90001/90780/91345/6932017.html
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jbziD...
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http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/04/06/BAAP1CQ3IR.DTL

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/-/

Stop eating fish to help the planet

In India, the animal rights group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) is urging the public to go vegan and especially stop eating fish to help animals and the planet.

Senior coordinator for the campaign, Mr. Nikunj Sharma explained the results of a year-long study confirming that the practice of bottom trawling is one of the most ecologically damaging and unsustainable ever as it involves dragging huge, heavy nets along the sea floor, which in turn empty the waters of all life.

Mr. Sharma also highlighted fish as a health risk, being a major source of mercury and other damaging chemicals. Our sincere thanks Mr. Sharma and People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals in sharing the message of the connecting our dietary choices to the health of our planet.

Let us step together in choosing the vital plant-based fare to save the lives of marine and all fellow co-inhabitants.

In an October 2009 videoconference in Indonesia, Supreme Master Ching Hai once again emphasized the importance of not consuming any animal products, including fish, if we wish to sustain ourselves and the planet.

Supreme Master Ching Hai: “Meat production” also means fishing. After billions of these underwater animals have been snatched from their homes and killed en masse, our oceans are now gravely imbalanced.

Stopping meat and dairy consumption and fishing, all the animal products – is the fastest and most effective way to cool our planet and halt these dangerous changes.

And now that we also understand the immeasurable benefits for the organic vegan diet, which offers not only better personal health, but literally can save the entire planet, the entire world.

So, please join us, and become part of the trend to save our world.

http://sify.com/news/stop-eating-fish-to-help-planet-says-peta-news-national...
http://orissadiary.com/CurrentNews.asp?id=17493

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
http://www.kew.org/science/anniversary-conference/Kew-250thConferenceProgramme.pdf
http://www.abc.net.au/rn/scienceshow/stories/2008/2432894.htm
http://www.naturalnews.com/028358_deforestation_human_civilization.html
http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/315771,oceanographers-find-signs-of-at...
http://www.monstersandcritics.com/news/europe/news/article_1543702.php/Oceano...
http://en.mercopress.com/2010/03/27/german-scientists-find-evidence-of-major...

Climate change and development seminar held in Mexico

In preparation for the United Nations Climate Change Conference to be held in Mexico City, Mexico this coming November, the Inter-American Development Bank hosted a seminar on climate change and development. Supreme Master Television’s correspondent is in Cancun on location.

Mexican Correspondent (F): We are reporting from the Convention Center of the City of Cancun, Mexico where the Annual Reunion Assemblies of Governors is being held under the organization of the Inter-American Development Bank.

Juan Rafael Elvira Quesada – Secretary of Environment and Natural Resources, Mexico (M): We need to give all the support to the Mexican negotiations, to bring something useful to humanity at the end of the year.

VOICE: Invited speakers to the forum included Chair of the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Dr. Rajendra Pachauri; renowned Nobel Prize winning Mexican scientist Dr. José Mario Molina-Pasquel Henríquez; Executive Secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change Yvo de Boer; former Irish President and United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Mary Robinson; and Mexican Environment Secretary, Juan Rafael Elvira Quesada.

Panelists’ discussions included consideration for such topics as climate justice, in that the populations most affected by global warming are often the least equipped and protected.

Dr. Rajendra Pachauri (M): There are some countries in the world, some communities, that are going to suffer the impacts of climate change much more than other countries.

Mary Robinson (F): We need to make progress, because the poorest are suffering very much from climate change.

VOICE: During an interactive session with the audience, Supreme Master Television’s correspondent asked about the dietary solution to climate change.

Mexican Correspondent (F): The vegan diet is an effective solution to mitigate global warming, and it doesn’t require thousands of dollars of investments. What do you think about this?

Mary Robinson – 7th President of Ireland, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (F): I’m glad you asked that question. I feel very strongly that we need to have an awareness that this is both an intellectual and an educational tool for every family – for every mother, every father, every grandmother like me, and in our schools, we need to have a wholly different approach now.

Dr. Rajendra Pachauri – Chair, United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, 2007 Nobel Peace Prize (M): When people ask me what lifestyle changes, one of the things that I say is to reduce meat consumption.

And I want to give an example. About two years ago, I addressed a group in the city of Ghent in Belgium, and that started a movement, as a result of which they have now declared one day a week as a meatless day.

It’s healthy for individuals; it’s also healthy for the planet.

Mexican Correspondent (F): Broadcasting for Supreme Master Television from Cancun, Quintana Roo in Mexico.

VOICE: Our appreciation all esteemed seminar participants for your concerted efforts to pave the way toward solutions on climate change. Let us act on measures in all world citizens’ best interest, including global adoption of the planet-saving meat-free diet.

In an August 2009 videoconference in Thailand, Supreme Master Ching Hai once again urged government leaders toward bold actions at this crucial time to halt global warming.

Supreme Master Ching Hai: To sum up, to all the leaders, I call on them once more to put their love first for their countrymen and women, and for all the children to accept with courage the deed that must be done, to use the mighty power in their hands entrusted by people to save the world.

The global livestock industry is now contributing almost about as much to global warming as the energy sector, or even more. And I know it contributes at least 80% of it. Just be vegan. And please, be quick. Our days are numbered.

British eco-organization Natural England calls for protection of peat lands from damaging practices such as plowing and burning, which is causing the release of CO2 emissions equivalent to 350,000 households per year.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/environment/climatechange/7465370/Damage-to-peat...
http://www.edp24.co.uk/content/edp24/news/story.aspx?brand=EDPOnline...

Honeybee crisis deepens

This past winter on Vancouver Island, Canada, the British Columbia Ministry of Agriculture and Lands noted a staggering 90% loss of the vital winged insects. A longer summer season due to climate change is thought to have weakened the bees’ immunity as they worked overtime collecting pollen to further the species of both flowers and foods consumed by humans.

As scientists raise concerns about the Vancouver Island decline spreading further inland, a recently published study in the USA, where bees continue to perish from the malady known as Colony Collapse Disorder, found unprecedented levels of chemical pesticides in their North American beehive homes.

The nation’s federal courts have issued a ruling in support of more stringent regulations. Canadian and US researchers, we appreciate this message of alert to the dying honeybees, and are also grateful to all scientists and officials working to protect them.

Our prayers that humans everywhere turn to the organic, vegan diet as the best way to spare resources and protect all life. As during an August 2008 international gathering, Supreme Master Ching Hai has long indicated that troubled species such as the bees show the need for urgent, necessary lifestyle changes to stabilize the Earth’s ecosystems.

Supreme Master Ching Hai: My God, now the continued decline of bees has affected the food now. This is nothing new, but they keep reporting it’s getting worse all the time.

Because if there are no bees, there is no pollination. And then some food, some fruits and some vegetables depend on the pollination to bear fruits. And now a lot of bees have died We might have no food because of no pollination. So you guys maybe just start planting something at home. Some things that don’t need the bees.

But this is terrible, this is such a disaster The people don’t take care of the environment, and let all beings keep dying like this.

Just to be vegan, how difficult can it be? Is it difficult? Even if it is, this is the only choice we have to survive, then why not?

Why not just change to the vegan diet?

http://www.examiner.com/x-40360-Vancouver-Environmental-News-Examiner~y2010m3d9-Climate-change-linked-to-death-of-90-of-Vancouver-Island-honeybee-population
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/british-columbia/story/2010/03/09/bc-vancouver-island-bees-die.html
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100324/ap_on_sc/us_food_and_farm_disappearing_bees
http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/57474/title
/Bees_face_unprecedented_pesticide_exposures_at_home_and_afield
http://news.discovery.com/animals/honey-bees-disappearing-still-a-problem.html

Antarctic Peninsula ice sheets melting at worrying rate

US Geological Survey (USGS) researchers who have been conducting a first ever survey of Antarctica’s entire coastline coasts are now reporting that the southern portion of the Antarctic Peninsula, which is its coldest, has been retreating for sixty years, with the biggest changes occurring since 1990.

The scientists report that this condition is likely suggestive of the situation across all of Antarctica, whose ice sheet contains 91% of the world’s glacial water and could cause a 60 to 73 meter sea level rise if all the land-based ice were to melt.

As noted by environmental experts, even one meter of sea level rise would jeopardize food supplies across the world. USGS scientist Jane Ferrigno stated, “The loss of ice shelves is evidence of the effects of global warming.

We need to be alert and continually understand and observe how our climate system is changing." We thank Dr. Ferrigno and associate scientists at the US Geological Survey for your careful monitoring of the Antarctic.

Let us act now to restore the planet-cooling balance of our world’s ice caps by choosing lifestyles in greater harmony with nature.

As mentioned on previous occasions, Supreme Master Ching Hai spoke again during a November 2009 videoconference in Washington, DC, USA of the most direct way to avert the potentially catastrophic consequences of global warming.

Supreme Master Ching Hai: Greenland is shedding 85 million tons of icebergs each day due to warming, and at a rate that is increasing by 7 percent each year. The West Antarctic Ice Shelf is also melting, with 3.3 meter sea level rises forecast that would threaten cities like New York, Washington, D.C., and San Francisco.

And if all of Antarctica and Greenland were to melt – meaning the ice – then the sea levels could rise to as much as 70 meters, which would be deadly or disastrous to most lives on Earth.

You may ask, what is the main cause of this damage and destruction to the environment?

It’s methane, which is produced primarily by the livestock industry.

NASA announced that methane actually contributes much more to global warming than previously understood and it traps 100 times the atmospheric heat over 20 years. And the largest source of methane is? You know - livestock.

So, to solve this, we do need to move quickly, and of course we know what to do, right?

Yes? Be vegan.

http://news.mongabay.com/2010/0223-hance_antpen.html
http://www.thaindian.com/newsportal/enviornment/ice-shelves-on-antarctic-peninsula...
http://www.earth-policy.org/index.php?/books/pb4
http://www.springerlink.com/content/h28l707685463333/
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/may/31/cattle-trade-brazil-greenpeace...

Government and schools rally for meat-free meals

On March 4, all 151 elementary and middle schools in the Formosa’s (Taiwan) Chiayi County pledged that Friday meals would be without any beef, pork, chicken, lamb or fish.

This health- and environment-promoting measure was led by Chiayi County Magistrate Zhang Hua-guan.

Zhang Hua-guan – Chiayi County Magistrate (F): From now on, every Friday, we shall have healthy veg lunches. What does it mean to have healthy veg meals?

It means that there is no meat, no beef, no chicken, no pork, no lamb. With this kind of meal, our students will be much healthier and livelier.

Children assembled (M,F): Okay!

VOICE: At the official starting event, County Magistrate Zhang and students enjoyed a nutritious vegan lunch with soy protein and pumpkin-cabbage soup. Also attending in support were the heads of Chiayi County universities, high schools, and elementary schools.

Dr. Lin Jin-chao – Dean, Toko University (F): After this activity, I will make a report to our president to have the school join together with County Magistrate Zhang.

VOICE: With the Formosan(Taiwanese) Environmental Protection Department finding that eliminating meat is a simple, effective, and practical way to reduce

greenhouse gas emissions, the central government is now recommending that schools across the island make meat-free meals available one day each week.

Dr. Lin Tsong-Ming – Deputy Minister of Education, Formosa (Taiwan), VEGAN (M): Global warming is becoming worse. As to the vegetarian diet, I think we can encourage it.

VOICE: The Chiayi plan, like other recently introduced reduced-meat programs in Yunlin, Hsinchu, and Changhua Counties, emphasizes healthy eating habits and especially the halting of global warming by avoiding animal products.

Tseng Nan-shun – Principal, Song-May Elementary School (M): Being veg is the way for us to reduce the danger of global warming, and I totally agree with it.

Chen Yun-ru – Student, Jhu-Tsun Elementary School (F): With the serious situation of global warming, meat eating is causing a lot of bad effects.

VOICE: Another aspect of this county-wide initiative is its encouragement of respect for life and care for the animals.

Dr. Huang Gui-nan – Professor, Tatung Institute of Commerce and Technology (M): The first consequence of being veg is less killing, and this is a kind of ethical education.

Zhuang Ming-xun – Student, Jhu-Tsun Elementary School (M): We have to do something to protect the animals.

VOICE: Our respectful accolades, Magistrate Zhang, Chiayi County and other Formosan governments and schools! May this be the start of even greater meat-eliminating actions to curb climate change, save the animals and ensure a safe and healthful future for all children!

Group of students (M,F): Be veg! Go green! Save the planet! Yeah!

British government agency Natural England reports that nearly 500 species of flora and fauna became extinct in the past two centuries alone, with 1,000 more now on the brink of vanishing forever due to hunting, pollution and climate change.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/mar/11/extinct-species-england

Oscar-winning film director speaks out for dolphin and ocean protection.

The documentary film, “The Cove,” describing the cruelty of an annual dolphin hunt that takes place in a small bay in Japan, recently won the 2010 Academy Award for Best Documentary.

For the filmmakers, the efforts to end marine mammal killing and to protect the animals’ environment has been ongoing. Just before the Oscars award ceremony, they teamed with vegan eco-activists to go undercover into a restaurant suspected of selling whale meat, which is illegal in the United States according to the Marine
Mammal Protection Act.

After a DNA test confirmed that the flesh being served was from the endangered Sei whale, the violation was reported to officials. The film’s director, Louie Psihoyos, who had participated in the activity, said that the exposure of whale hunting, like his film, is about saving the animals as well as the biosphere that supports their lives.

Louie Psihoyos – Director of Oscar winning film The Cove (M): We’re trying to solve the problem in one little cove, but it’s really a microcosm of what’s going on in the oceans. With all the fertilizers and run-offs and pesticides, it’s killing the oceans.

VOICE: “The Cove” also exposes the fact that the dolphins being hunted are already contaminated with mercury from the polluted ocean waters.

Those hunting them use underwater sonar waves, which drive the panicked dolphins into a small cove that soon turns bloody red as they are brutally speared or knifed to death.

As it turns out, this dolphin meat has some of the highest levels of mercury known in Japan, with the potential to cause neurological damage, especially in children. In addition, the dolphins that are not killed outright are captured and sold into lives of captivity and isolation to entertain humans in zoos and aquariums.
The film’s message is thus to raise awareness about these practices, which wreak harm to so many beings.

Louie Psihoyos (M): The only way that we can save the life of a dolphin now is to prove that we made his environment so toxic, that we can no longer eat them.

It shows you the amount of respect that we lost for the animal and the amount of respect that we lost for ourselves. We’re doing what no wild animal will do; we’re fouling our own nest.

VOICE: We congratulate and thank Mr. Psihoyos and co-creators of “The Cove” for working to preserve our precious oceans and their beautiful inhabitants.

May we treat more kindly our marine friends and the vital seas that we both share and depend upon.

Louie Psihoyos (M): Be veg, go green, save the planet.

VOICE: In a November 2008 interview with Ireland’s East Coast Radio FM, Supreme Master Ching Hai addressed the issue of tainted dolphin meat and once more encouraged the protection of all marine life for our planetary survival.

Supreme Master Ching Hai: Some Japanese scientists stated that these products should be taken off the shelves immediately. And Dr. Palombi of Harvard University gave the same advice to the Japanese government - that they should ban dolphin fishing and they should ban dolphin meat selling in the market.

To stop this destructive practice of fishing, the solution is the vegan diet, no fishy stuff in our meals. Choose the life- and Earth-saving vegan diet. Protect animals and the environment.

And pray that all will heed the scientists’ wise counsel and turn to benevolent life courses which will in turn offer a benevolent life on Earth.

http://www.aolnews.com/nation/article/in-sushi-sting-oscar-winners-nab-restaurant-selling-whale/19389362
http://www.france24.com/en/20100308-oscar-winning-film-makers-deny-japan-bashing
http://eii.org/saveJapanDolphins/coveEmail11a.htmlI
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http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/01/30/world/main3772997.shtml

Pamela Anderson speaks for seals and the environment

The Canadian-born actress, a vegetarian spokesperson for the organization People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), recently organized a media event in Vancouver, Canada calling for the cancellation of the Canadian seal hunt this year.

Prior to the event, the actress had written a letter of appeal to Prime Minister Stephen Harper, asking him to spare the seal pups, whose survival is already threatened by habitat loss due to global warming.

Pamela Anderson - Vegetarian (F): This is another reason to stop the seal hunt - the environmental information that the Canadian government has now found is that the ice caps are the lowest in the last 30 years.

We are even asking this year to stop it, so we could actually have a bigger population, because their population is going to be nonexistent pretty soon.

VOICE: With petition signatures that have reached the prime minister numbering half a million thus far, members of the Supreme Master Ching Hai International Association also showed support, and had a chance to present Pamela Anderson with an SOS bag on the vegan solution to climate change.

Accepting the gift, Ms. Anderson shared her encouragement for the actions people can engage in to stop animal cruelty as well as protect the environment.

Pamela Anderson (F): I have loved animals since I was little, so I was an animal activist since I was little. There’s just so much difference we could make. I think it’s just really important to do whatever you can.

Supreme Master TV (M): Is our diet part of that solution?

Pamela Anderson (F): Yes! Being vegetarian is a great way to a healthy environment. It is better than driving a hybrid car. Factory farming is one of the leading causes of global warming as well.

So, there are lots of conscious things we can do. The more I find out, the more I change my life. I just think that’s what we all need to do.

VOICE: A grateful salute, Pamela Anderson for your valiant and compassionate shining star to protect the seals and the planet. Indeed, may all of humanity foster the conscientious and life-saving vegan lifestyle for the wholesome future of our fellow co-inhabitants and the Earth.

As often mentioned in her wish to safeguard all beings, Supreme Master Ching Hai highlighted the connection between our treatment of animals and the planet’s climate crisis during a November 2009 videoconference in Washington, DC, USA.

Supreme Master Ching Hai: The whales and the seals are some of the many animals who literally radiate love to balance our planet. They were born here to help us to fill in the void of love that we lost through our inconsiderate actions.

But sadly, we kill them. If we kill these beings, we’re really killing ourselves. We take out the balance that is greatly needed at this time, in our dire situation.

Please inform yourself of the unimaginable, utterly cruel and utmost inhumane treatment involved in the meat and dairy production, or fishing even, as well as lab experiments or the animal fur industry.

How can we degrade ourselves into such a heartless state of being, by supporting these cruel, heart-wrenching practices? I hope it is clear that the best, and really the only way, is to be vegan.

http://www.theprovince.com/news/Pamela+Anderson+calls+cancellation+seal+hunt... +Vancouver+media+event/2622875/story.html

Dislodged Antarctic iceberg causes scientists concern.

An iceberg the size of the country Luxembourg was recently knocked loose from the Antarctic continent by an older iceberg known as B9B, which had split off in 1987. The new iceberg contains approximately one-fifth the total water used worldwide.

Climate experts are now concerned for the ice-free area that used to be protected by the now-displaced ice. As this area provides 25% of the Antarctic’s bottom water, changes in its environment could impact ocean currents that distribute heat and oxygen to waters around the globe.

Such disruption could be devastating, as noted by German oceanographer Dr. Mario Hoppema, who said, “There may be regions of the world’s oceans that lose oxygen, and then of course most of the life there will die.”

We are grateful Dr. Hoppema and all scientists for your comprehensive assessment of these unsettling and large-scale changes in the Antarctic.

May we all foster lifestyles that restore harmony to our shared ecosphere. In a July 2008 videoconference with Supreme Master Television staff in California, USA, Supreme Master Ching Hai emphasized once more our need to act in ways that enhance the survival of all life on Earth.

Supreme Master Ching Hai: If people change to a more benevolent lifestyle that is respecting all lives, then we will beget life and our lives be spared. And nature will restore the balance and repair all damages.

I wish to see that day soon, in my lifetime. It’s still repairable. But people have to realize this, and they have to know it’s urgent and they have to cooperate. The more vegan people join the circle, the more chance we have to save the planet.

http://www.france24.com/en/20100225-mammoth-iceberg-could-alter-ocean-circulation-study
http://www.hindu.com/2010/02/27/stories/2010022757422000.htm
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=124105970

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
http://www.mb.com.ph/articles/244192/save-water-gma-orders
http://www.tribune.net.ph/nation/20100219nat1.html
http://www.silobreaker.com/northwest-farmers-feel-the-drought-5_2263241930831822884

UN recommends tax on livestock

A report issued by the United Nation’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) recommends levying fees for livestock as a way to reduce this sector’s emission of greenhouse gases, currently estimated at 7,000 billion tons of CO2 equivalent annually.

Moreover, livestock raising is known to impact not only human health but also causes enormous damage to ecosystems, biodiversity, land, forests and water quality.

“The State of Food and Agriculture” report thus calls for market-based policies such as taxes and subsidy reductions that would cause producers to minimize environmental damage by being required to absorb its costs.

FAO Director-general Jacques Diouf stated that the rapid growth of the livestock sector has unfortunately thus far had little oversight, with current estimates forecasting that without a change in course, the number of livestock cattle alone will increase 70% to 2.6 billion by mid-century.

Director-general Diouf and United Nation’s Food and Agriculture Organization, we laud your recommendations for such planet-protecting policies. May governments across the globe be motivated to implement measures as these for the benefit of all the Earth’s inhabitants. During an August 2009 videoconference in Thailand, Supreme Master Ching Hai spoke of this very subject, calling on world leaders to forego livestock raising as a way to save the planet.

Supreme Master Ching Hai: I hope the governments would please make it into law to forbid the killing of animals, to forbid any more animal livestock raising. If they are truly the leaders that pledge to protect their people, to improve their country in many aspects, then this is the first step we have to do. Stop the meat industry, stop the fish industry, stop the dairy industry, then our planet will be the way it was and even better.

There are only two ways to do things in our world - the correct way and the incorrect way. And right now, to save the planet, there is only one way to stop the cause - that is, the animal industry, by all means, in all aspects. We have to do it.

Supreme Master Ching Hai: Spread information, encourage everyone, inform everyone to be vegan.

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/38154ea0-1cb2-11df-8d8e-00144feab49a.html?nclick_check=1
http://www.agrimoney.com/news/un-green-crusade-plans-tax-on-livestock-wind--1368.html

Rising levels of fish contaminants linked to climate change

Scientists studying aquatic life in Canada’s Mackenzie River have found that levels of toxic substances such as mercury, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and the damaging insecticide DDT have risen dramatically in recent years.

Over just the past decade, the mercury levels of certain fish have increased by 160%, while PCBs have jumped to being six times higher and DDT has tripled.

Their rise is attributed to Arctic melt, with air-borne pollutant particles that were deposited over time in the pristine environment now being released as temperatures warm and the ice continues to melt.

The researchers believe that this has also led to a growth in the algae, zooplankton and other life forms that absorb the pollutants from the water and are in turn consumed by the fish.

Canadian scientists, our appreciation for your work that again highlights the delicate interconnections of life on our planet.

May we show our deep respect for environmental balance by adopting the organic, vegan diet. Supreme Master Ching Hai, who has frequently addressed the importance of every being’s existence on Earth, spoke once more of our need to be good environmental stewards during a May 2009 videoconference in Togo.

Supreme Master Ching Hai: The marine ecosystem is in big trouble right now from global warming already. Further fishing will only make matters worse. Also, mercury poisoning causes problems to aquatic life even before it gets to the humans. These are things we need to address in trying to save our planet, not to talk about our health also. Eating fish will definitely not help this.

The coastal ecosystems will also be affected greatly by diseases and algae blooms that release toxins. The ocean is a wonderful recycler that normally can purify the water and create nutrients and turn carbon dioxide into oxygen, etc. The ocean is a miracle. But if we ruin the ecosystems , this will spell disaster for us.

Supreme Master Ching Hai: It’s better for our body, for our conscience, for our mind, and for the planet to stay away from fish. We should be vegan.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/mackenzie-rivers-fish-contaminated-with-dangerous-toxins-scientists/article1462248/

Galapagos fur seals migrate to Peruvian waters

The Peru-based Organization of Research and Conservation of Aquatic Animals (Orca) recently reported that a colony of 30 fur seals had traveled some 1500 kilometers from their original Galapagos Islands home to settle in the waters of northern Peru.

This first-ever instance of the fur seals moving to an area remote to the Galapagos is being attributed to warmer Peruvian waters due to global warming.

The Peruvian Geophysics Institute indicated that the average sea surface temperature in northern Peru has risen 6 degrees Celsius over the past 10 years and thus now closely matches the sea temperature of the fur seals’ original native habitat.

More fur seals and other marine species are thus expected to act similarly in migrating to Peruvian waters.

Our appreciation, scientists at the Organization of Research and Conservation of Aquatic Animals and Peruvian Geophysics Institute, for these observations of marine animal response to global warming effects.

May such disrupting signs accelerate our actions toward lifestyles that support a restoration of balance to our planetary home.

As on previous occasions, Supreme Master Ching Hai spoke again with concern for the Earth’s fragile balance as she offered ways to encourage both awareness and hope in young people during a May 2009 videoconference in Togo.

Supreme Master Ching Hai: You can show how the migrating birds have to fly farther and farther to find a place to nest, and the polar bears swim longer and longer now because there is no more ice until sometimes they drown of exhaustion, or why the neighboring country has so many floods in recent years, so many disasters, etc.

Tell them how climate change is affecting real lives, real animals, real people, and their own lives as well.

But it’s also important to show the young people that there is still hope; we can still save the planet.

It’s a chance to be true heroes, by being vegan and spread the news of this solution.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/wildlife/7193082/Sea-lions-abandon-Galapagos-Islands-for-warm-Peruvian-waters.html
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8503397.stm

Mid-east countries unite to find water solutions

At a recent conference held in Amman, Jordan, experts gathered to discuss the growing water crisis due to climate change. Organized by Jordan’s Ministry of Agriculture along with the International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA) and other partners, participants spoke of how to counteract the alarming decrease in water supply to the region.

More than 150 villages were abandoned during 2007 and 2008 in Syria alone due to climate-related drought, and the United Nations just announced the nation’s worst dry spell in four decades, affecting some 1.3 million people.

In an effort to address the situation, the Water and Livelihoods Initiative has been launched, a ten-year collaborative project involving Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine, Syria and Yemen.

With an initial US$1 million in funding from the US Agency for International Development (USAID), each country is contributing plans for sustainable land and water management.

Nations such as Morocco and Jordan have already shown promise in implementing practices such as harvesting water from rainfall runoff as well as supplemental irrigation.

Jordan’s Ministry of Agriculture, International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas, all other participating partners and countries, we laud your resource-sustaining goals.

Wishing you every success as we pray that all governments awaken to the ultimate water savings found in the plant-based lifestyle. Concerned for the Earth's urgent state, Supreme Master Ching Hai has often addressed the actions needed to replenish our currently dwindling resources, as during a video message for a June 2009
climate change conference in Mexico.

Supreme Master Ching Hai: We can stop water shortage. While droughts are plaguing more populations, we cannot afford to waste water. Meat production uses massive amounts of water, as you know. It takes up to 1,200 gallons of fresh and good clean water to produce just one serving of beef. In contrast, a full vegan meal costs only 98 gallons of water. That is 90 plus percent less. So, if we want to stop water shortage and to preserve precious water we have to stop animal products.

Adopting a plant-based diet can halt as much as 80% of global warming, eradicate world hunger, stop war, promote peace, and it will free up the Earth’s water as well as many other precious resources, offering a lifeline for the planet and for humanity. In short, it will very quickly halt many of the global problems facing us right now.

Therefore, it is vital that we do our part to bring to the public’s attention the urgent climate change issues and its solutions; the foremost being the vegan diet, to safeguard our precious planet.

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=87991
http://www.firstscience.com/home/news/agriculture/scientists-unite-to-combat-water-scarcity-solutions-yield-more-crop-per-drop-in-drylands_78493.html
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/9714c514-10e3-11df-9a9e-00144feab49a,s01=1.html
http://www.speedy-fit.co.uk/Climate-Change/Drought-Drives-Residents-from-160-Syrian-Villages.html

Reducing meat consumption a sure way to alleviate climate change

Speaking of the United Kingdom’s already established emission goals during a February 3 conference, Soil Association Policy Director Lord Peter Melchett said that these will be met only if consumers reduce their intake of pork and poultry alone by at least 75%.

Lord Melchett stated, “It's ludicrous … not to talk about consumption when we're talking about environmental sustainability.” Meanwhile, he also highlighted the benefits of organic farming, saying that a recently conducted study found that if all the farmland in the nation went organic, the soil could absorb 3.2 million tons of carbon, or the equivalent of removing nearly 1 million cars from the road.

Our appreciation, Lord Melchett and Soil Association, for your encouragement of the transition to meat-free, organic living. May we soon herald a vegan world for the vibrant stability of our precious Earth.

Supreme Master Ching Hai has frequently advocated organic vegan farming and adoption of the same planet-cooling diet, as highlighted in an October 2009 climate change conference in Formosa (Taiwan).

Supreme Master Ching Hai: Without the needless animal industry, not only will we gain forests, we can also have organic vegan farmlands to grow real, decent food for humans, and like the forests, these farmlands can also absorb a lot of heat from the atmosphere.

And a global shift to organic vegan practices could mean 40% of all greenhouse gases absorbed as well, apart from the 50 plus percent that we eliminate through the terminating of the animals raising practice.

World governments could save tens of trillions of US dollars, tens of trillions of US dollars if everyone be veg and plant organic. So you see, 50% less from no more animal industry, 40% less carbon dioxide from organic farming, then we will be singing, our world will be saved.

http://www.fwi.co.uk/Articles/2010/02/03/119820/Consumers-need-to-eat-less-meat-says-Soil-Association.htm
http://www.meatinfo.co.uk/...../Soil_Association_calls_for_UK_consumers_to_eat_less_meat.html
http://www.soilassociation.org/Whyorganic/Climatefriendlyfoodandfarming/tabid/215/Default.aspx

“Global Warming and Health” Summit held in Formosa (Taiwan)

Findings on climate change presented by Dr. Liu Shaw-Chen, Director of the Environmental Change Research Center of Academia Sinica in Formosa showed that the duration and intensity of typhoons and rainstorms on the island have doubled within 45 years, while the rate of sea level rise in Formosa is higher than the world’s average.

In response to the urgency of these and other global warming effects, the National Taiwan University Hospital Yunlin Branch and the Yunlin County government held their first climate change forum in Yunlin.

Participants called on the government and medical professionals to act decisively in reducing meat consumption to halt global warming, while also averting a human health crisis.

Ming-Been Lee, President of Taiwan Medical Association, Formosa (M): From the medical field, we already found out that meat-eating is one of the factors that affects global warming. So as we talk specifically about health issues,of course we should emphasize vegan, plant-based food.

Dr. Rui-Yun Xu – Attending physician, Hua-Lian Tzu Chi Hospital , Formosa (F): Vegetarians have a purer and healthier body. We see that from many of our past surveys and many medical reports.

VOICE: Initiatives to encourage the veg trend, such as that already launched by the Yunlin County government, were also discussed.

Zhi-Fen Su, Yunlin County Magistrate, Formosa (F): We encourage all schools to go meatless at least one day a week. From Meatless Mondays, we gradually promote and extend to two days a week. We hope this would allow all of us humans to focus on our own health as well as the harmonious relationship with natural resources, and begin to take this kind of issue seriously.

VOICE: National Taiwan University Hospital, Yunlin County government, and all summit dignitaries and participants, many thanks for your efforts to encourage society toward the manifold benefits of the plant-based diet.

May everyone swiftly turn to this nutritious fare to halt climate change in time and ensure the health of all. As mentioned on previous occasions in addressing the urgent state of our Earth, Supreme Master Ching Hai spoke during an October 2009 videoconference in Hong Kong of the personal and planet- saving benefits of the
organic vegan lifestyle.

Supreme Master Ching Hai: Everybody knows organic vegetables are very healthy. You see, if you eat organic vegetables, you will hardly have to go to the hospital and all the money we can save to better education for the children, better care for the elderly, and building more beautiful roads, more equipment, inventions, and use it more for sustainable energies, for free for everybody. The benefit has no ends.

It’s high time we turn away from the harmful, unsustainable meat business and go toward a more civilized, more efficient, more sustainable, more humane means, namely organic vegan. And it will save the planet.

In a letter to the United Nations, US climate envoy Todd Stern confirms the United States’ goal of reducing emissions 17% from 2005 levels by 2020.

http://www.france24.com/en/20100128-us-affirms-climate-goals-un

Antarctic glaciers’ tipping points could be looming closer

A new study from a team of British scientists collaborating from Oxford and Cambridge Universities has found that global warming related changes to aspects of Antarctic glaciers known as grounding lines are speeding ice sheet disintegration, which in is forecast to bring significant global sea level rise.

Noting that in 2004, Antarctica’s Pine Island Glacier was already melting 25% faster than 30 years previously, the researchers state that this glacier likely passed a tipping point in 1996. If the same happens to neighboring Thwaite’s Glacier, the world could easily be facing increased sea levels of 52 centimeters.

Lead author Dr. Richard Katz of Oxford University's Department of Earth Sciences cautioned of a further disintegration, that of the entire Western Antarctic shelf, as he stated, “The volume of ice locked up in the West Antarctic Ice Sheet is equivalent to a sea level rise of around 3.3 meters.

Our model shows how instability in the grounding line, caused by gradual climatic changes, has the potential to reach a 'tipping point' where disintegration of the ice sheet could occur.

He concluded by saying, “We should be concerned about tipping points in West Antarctica and we should do a lot more work to investigate.”

Dr. Katz and all collaborating scientists at Oxford and Cambridge Universities, we appreciate your insights into the impact of global warming on the ice sheets of the Antarctic. May humanity realize now the growing urgency of our situation and adopt lifestyles that save our planet. Concerned for the welfare of all beings,
Supreme Master Ching Hai once again spoke of the the crisis of our warming Earth as well as the way to avert it during an August 2008 videoconference with our Association members in Canada.

Supreme Master Ching Hai: The time of disappearing of the ice means also the spelling of trouble for our planet. Of course it would be better if we already saved the planet before the ice melted.

But as it is, we can only do the best we can and trying to inform everybody to save themselves by being vegan. If the ice melts quicker, then, of course, we have shorter time to save the planet.

But nevertheless because people are joining the vegan diet, we still can manage to save the world.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/01/100116103350.htm
http://news.mongabay.com/2010/0114-hance_antglacier.html

International media, CCTV reports on “Eating for a low-carbon world”

On China Central Television (CCTV-9), news journalist Wang Mangmang is host of a program series called “My Low Carbon Life” and reported recently how being veg is catching on in China as a way to curb climate change.

She went on to say that this trend is actually being set by the younger generation. Dong Ziyang, manager of the organic vegetarian Jintai Catering Club said, “The average age of our customers is under 33 years old...

Young people are more environmentally aware and more open to new ideas.” The journalist also cited the United Nations report on animal agriculture generating more greenhouse gases than all the transportation in the world combined, and concerns about livestock being the cause of environmental desertification and deforestation.

She stated, “As more and more people strive for a low-carbon lifestyle, the climate-diet equation is becoming more prominent.”

Our appreciation and applause, journalist Wang Mangmang and CCTV for sharing the eco-statement being made by the low-carbon diet.

Blessed be such programs as yours in benefiting many viewers as well as the animals and our Earth. Speaking during a May 2009 videoconference in Togo, Supreme Master Ching Hai highlighted the key role of the younger generation in being good stewards for the environment.

Supreme Master Ching Hai: I’m happy to see young people especially involved in endeavors like this, which contributes to human health and also the planet.

Supreme Master Ching Hai: They are also often the most open-minded people. They are intelligent, they are easy, they are an impressionable and honest group of people.

Once they make a connection of global warming to their lives, they may really decide to do something.

Especially if they understand that what they do can truly make a difference, they may be the first ones to take action.

They can be true heroes, by being vegan and spread the news of this solution. They can save lives, including their own, but also of people all over the world, and countless animal lives around the world.

The young people are oftentimes the most ready to change their lifestyle if they see a reason for it. Their age group is also, in many cases, the first one to see that veganism is good, it is correct.

http://english.cctv.com/program/newshour/20100121/103665.shtml

New York Times reports on being veg to save the planet

Since the December 2009 international climate change summit in Copenhagen, Denmark, discussions continue to address the evermore pressing matter of halting global warming. In an article published in the New York Times on January 24 entitled, “Stop Eating Meat and Save the Planet” author James Kanter acknowledged the growing number of people raising awareness of the vegan diet as a solution to global warming, including members of the Supreme Master Ching Hai International Association.

He wrote: “Delegates arriving at the gates of the climate conference in Copenhagen last month were met by women in furry animal suits holding placards showing pictures of lambs, cows and pigs, warning, “Don’t Eat Me.” The women were representatives of [Supreme Master] Ching Hai, the leader of a group that advocates adherence to… precepts, including following vegan… diets.

As they lined up for hours in freezing conditions, many of the delegates seemed grateful for the neatly wrapped snacks — meat-free sandwiches — that the women were handing out free[ly]. Followers of [Supreme Master] Ching Hai say that one of her principal goals is to fight environmental disasters, and her representatives in Copenhagen … spread the message that methane, which is belched in large quantities by cows and other livestock raised for the meat and dairy industries, is among the most potent planet-warming gases.”

VOICE: Mr. Kanter went on to state that being veg to halt climate change goes beyond being a spiritual matter as he cited others who have also identified the livestock industry as a primary cause of global warming.

These include former Beatles member Sir Paul McCartney and chairman of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Dr. Rajendra Pachauri, along with international campaigns like Meat Free Mondays as well as a recent World Watch Institute report showing that over half of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions arise from the meat industry.

We thank James Kanter and the New York Times for helping inform society about this urgent matter of our times. With such awareness being brought to the attention of the public, surely we all can swiftly and conscientiously transition to the Earth-saving vegan lifestyle.

Speaking at a September 2009 videoconference in South Korea, Supreme Master Ching Hai spoke of the media’s potential to engage in such noble endeavors as bringing more awareness of issues like global warming.

Supreme Master Ching Hai: This is exactly the role the media should have, like that of a true, honest friend to human society: warning everyone of any harmful situation; bringing new connections and data to light, like the urgent link between meat and global warming; giving chances for people to choose a better way of life; and being a brave voice, a heroic voice especially for the voiceless, including animals who suffer so much, so much, because we are all related and affected.

The world needs the media’s noble service and leadership. So please, again, once more I ask all the courageous journalists to do what you do best, tell the truth about how we are to save the planet.

Please, tell as many people as you can through your profession and otherwise to be veg, to do good, and be good, and save our planet. Be the fine example for the world.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/25/business/energy-environment/25iht-green25.html

Pakistan adversely affected by climate change

A new report by the UK-based charity Oxfam has found that although Pakistan emits only a small fraction of the world’s total greenhouse gases, it is being significantly impacted by global warming.

Noting more frequent and intense extreme weather events along with hotter summers and warmer winters, the report stated that some 40% of residents have become increasingly vulnerable to coastal rainfall, increased cyclones, flooding in some areas and drought in others.

Besides the property devastation caused by extreme weather events, farmers report that many crops are also destroyed by floods or diminished by shortened agricultural cycles overall. The resulting losses are causing poverty levels to rise.

We are deeply saddened to learn of the suffering of Pakistan’s gracious people. Let us unite in protecting our planet for the sake of all cherished inhabitants.

In these urgent times, Supreme Master Ching Hai has often reminded of the actions that we can take to alleviate the tolls of global warming, as during a June 2008 videoconference with our Association members in London, England.

Supreme Master Ching Hai: It's just getting worse nowadays, more obvious. You just have to tune in to any TV channels, any radio, read any newspapers; they are full of reports, almost daily, about world hunger, and the shortage of food, unaffordable food prices, unaffordable daily necessities, basic necessities.

And unprecedented frequent disasters. And crop failures due to bad weathers. And the non-stoppable sea rising levels, high priced fuels, shortages, incurable or strange new diseases... all of these are happening now!

Supreme Master Ching Hai: Veganism is the only solution. It's the best, the fastest solution.

Supreme Master Ching Hai: I pray that people in the world wake up on time and just forsake that piece of meat; then everything will be just fine. Everything will be beautiful, nice, peaceful.

http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/the-newspaper/front-page/13+climate-change-affecting-crop-output,-says-oxfam-610-za-04

Kuwait’s natural desert being damaged by excessive livestock grazing

The chairman of the Ornithological Society of Kuwait, Abdel Rahman Al-Serhan, has issued a statement saying that the non-human-inhabited regions of Kuwait are being destroyed by deforestation and livestock.

He warned that if people continue to exploit the unregulated lands with animal grazing, the diverse wildlife and plants of Kuwait will suffer more and face extinction.

Calling for the media to help raise public awareness, the chairman stated that laws should be implemented to protect habitats so that the flora and fauna can be restored. Studies conducted by the United Nations Security Council, Kuwait University and others have also highlighted livestock grazing as one of the main causes of Kuwait’s damaged lands and depleted desert vegetation. Our sincere appreciation, Chairman Al-Serhan, the Ornithological Society and all other organizations and scientists for your concerned voice on behalf of the animals and plants that are in danger.

May we heed such calls to action so that the natural beauty of Kuwait and all lands still exist for future generations to appreciate. Supreme Master Ching Hai has often cautioned of the livestock industry’s costs to both humanity and the planet, as in an October 2009 videoconference in Formosa (Taiwan).

Supreme Master Ching Hai: Right now, one-third of the entire Earth’s land surface is used either for grazing animals or growing feed for the animals, not for humans. We humans use very little of this agriculture section. This is a devastating way to make a cheap profit at the cost of our planet’s and our people’s survival.
We are eating our planet by consuming meat.

So, without the needless animal industry, not only will we gain forests, we can also have organic vegan farmlands to grow real, decent food for humans, and like the forests, these farmlands can also absorb a lot of heat, a lot of heat from the atmosphere.

http://www.kuna.net.kw/NewsAgenciesPublicSite/ArticleDetails.aspx?Language=en&id=2053167
http://www.kuwaittimes.net/read_news.php?newsid=MjIwMTc3OTc5
http://docs.google.com/viewer
http://www.kuna.net.kw/NewsAgenciesPublicSite/ArticleDetails.aspx?Language=en&id=2053167
http://www.kuwaittimes.net/read_news.php?newsid=MjIwMTc3OTc5
http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/110431937/abstract?CRETRY=1&SRETRY=0 http://countrystudies.us/persian-gulf-states/23.htm http://cat.inist.fr/?aModele=afficheN&cpsidt=14970675 http://www.infibeam.com/Books/info/James-A-Young/Cattle-in-the-Cold-Desert/0874175038.html

Thailand’s capital sinking due to climate change

The nation’s scientists have expressed growing concern at the 2 to 5 cm per year that Bangkok has been sinking, saying that this coupled with rising sea levels will soon force regions of the city to be abandoned unless drastic and quick action is taken.

Over the years, hundreds of pumping devices and an extensive canal network have been returning floodwaters back to the Chao Praya River, with levees that prevent the water from surging back into the city.

However, estimates by the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change forecast nearly 60 centimeter sea level rises by 2050, meaning that Bangkok could face regular flood waters of up to 2 meters high.

The current system could not withstand this kind of increase. Saying that climate change must be prioritized as a current and real threat, Tara Buakamsri, campaign manager for Greenpeace Southeast Asia said, “Bangkok has been identified as one of the climate change hot spots – it will be one of the most affected cities in the world.”

Our thanks, Greenpeace Manager Buakamsri and all Thai researchers who are urging for fast climate action. May world leaders and individual citizens heed your call to avoid climate disaster and save our coastal cities.

In many discussions, including an October 2008 climate change conference with Thai dignitaries and the public, Supreme Master Ching Hai has called for the only sure solution to all climate change effects, in Thailand and across the globe.

Supreme Master Ching Hai: We should not emphasize the worst effect of global warming but we should begin to focus on how to prevent this. We have to turn to the opposite direction, which is in the best interest of Thai people and the world.

That is, to live a compassionate lifestyle, to be a vegetarian, better even, vegan, meaning no animal products whatsoever so that the benevolent atmosphere will envelope our planet and of course Thailand.

With protection and blessing from Heaven, we create a shield around us, around our planet by a very compassionate, powerful, benevolent atmosphere. That is the only protection that is safe and everlasting.

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=87715
http://www.alertnet.org/db/an_art/52132/2010/00/8-120659-1.htm

Siberian Arctic temperatures and methane emissions sharply increased

Scientists from the University of Alaska at Fairbanks in the USA have reported that the shallow undersea permafrost in Siberia, which until recent years was stable, is now noted as releasing significant amounts of methane, even more than the record highs from Summer 2008.

According to lead scientist Professor Igor Semiletov, who is also head of the International Siberian Shelf Study (ISSS), the region is experiencing the fastest temperature rise of the planet.

Springtime air is currently measured at an average of 4 degrees Celsius higher than in the last three decades of the 20th century. Sudden releases of methane gas are linked to runaway global warming and are considered a factor in the past mass extinction of species.

The Alaskan researchers state that if the current warming conditions continue, the melting of underwater Siberian permafrost would release catastrophic amounts of methane.

Dr. Sergey Kirpotin – Tomsk University (Quote in Russian): As more permafrost melts, more greenhouse gases are released into the atmosphere. It is absolutely evident. We could be uncertain in quantitative terms, but the fact that this process has a global character, global importance and global scale is absolutely evident.

Vladimir Chuprov – Greenpeace Russia Representative (Quote in Russian): It is essential to come up with a new international agreement that could guarantee the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions – the causes of the global climate change.

Only then could we slow down these negative processes that take place also in the Russian Arctic. Professor Semiletov and University of Alaska colleagues, we appreciate this clarion call about the dire signals being conveyed by our Earth.

May we all deeply realize the grave nature of climate change and act now to protect our shared planetary home. As on many occasions, Supreme Master Ching Hai explained during an October 2009 videoconference in Hong Kong the urgent situation of methane gas release, while offering the surest solution.

Supreme Master Ching Hai: There are massive quantities of gases, poisonous and explosive, such as under the permafrost. The gas released then causes more warming, which causes even more gas to be released. This is like a vicious circle. They even call this vicious feedback cycle a so-called “climate time bomb.” We are running out of time, we must wake up soon; we must make a small sacrifice and changes.

I am hopeful. I’m having a positive feeling that it won’t happen to Earth, but we all must work; we cannot sit there and wait for a miracle to happen. God needs us to represent Hirm in compassion, in merciful heart, in the way we live a godly life, befitting God’s children. If we all become vegan and live a virtuous, compassionate life, it won’t happen.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8437703.stm

Venice, Italy among the first cities sinking due to global warming

In the city famed for its lagoons and canals, the renowned St. Mark’s Square now floods more than 100 times a year compared to 7 times annually a century ago. Some experts have expressed concern that Venice may completely disappear in the next century as global warming causes more polar ice melts and sea level rises. Elena Zombardi of the Consorzio Venezia Nuova, the committee appointed by the Italian government to protect the city, affirmed that Venice had long been experiencing the effects of climate change, years before many other cities.

As recently as November 2009, residents and visitors alike were seen donning boots as they had to walk on raised wooden pathways to avoid the high waters.

We are saddened to hear that the beautiful city of Venice may be lost to the effects of climate change.

Our prayers such treasured sites of civilization may be preserved through our united efforts of greater kindness towards Mother Earth. Speaking during a December 2008 videoconference in California, USA, Supreme Master Ching Hai spoke of global warming’s threat to human survival, while at the same time reminding of the one sure way to reverse its dangerous impacts.

Supreme Master Ching Hai: So many islands have sunk under water already. Many coastal cities’ land has been eroded. The cost of not doing anything is immense. I do not want to elaborate on this. I do not want to imagine it.

I WANT TO PLEAD WITH ALL THE PLANET PEOPLE.
PLEASE STOP KILLING ANIMALS.
PLEASE HAVE COMPASSION.
PLEASE TURN TO VEGETARIAN DIET.
PLEASE BE VEGAN.
THAT IS TO SAVE YOURSELVES AND YOUR CHILDREN.
SO, ORGANIC VEGAN DIET IS THE ANSWER.

http://www.chinapost.com.tw/life/environment/2010/01/04/239239/Italians-trying.htm

Fish-based oil and animal feed from dwindling species.

Menhaden, a fish that plays a vital role in maintaining Atlantic Coast ecosystems, is suffering from decades of depletion through overfishing and global warming. Hundreds of millions of pounds of menhaden are ground into feed for hogs, chickens, pets and salmon, while also being used in omega-3 oils and in lipstick, paint, and other items.

As described by New York Times journalist Paul Greenberg and US author H. Bruce Franklin, the menhaden is an herbivorous fish whose algae consumption actually purifies tremendous amounts of water.
However, due to population losses, places such as Chesapeake Bay in the USA are now muddy-brown and contain a growing number of dead zones. In addition, the waste of commercial pig and chicken operations flowing into the Neuse River of North Carolina, USA, has caused vast algal blooms. As millions of menhaden try at once to consume the massive amounts of algae, the insufficient oxygen in the warm water has caused them to suffocate en masse. In the summer of 2009 alone, up to 50 million menhaden were killed and washed ashore along the Neuse River.

Of note is the fact that according to nutritional experts at the US-based Mayo Clinic, substitutes for oil obtained from menhaden readily exist in the form of plant-based oils such as flax seed.

Our appreciation Mr. Greenberg, Mr. Franklin, and Mayo Clinic scientists. We pray that humans quickly cease to consume fish and meat, which are at the root of climate change and environmental imbalance. May all of us strive to develop compassion and live in harmony with our animal co-inhabitants. At a March 2009 climate change conference in Xalapa City, Mexico, joined by Mexican dignitaries and the public, honored guest Supreme Master Ching Hai spoke, as in other occasions, about the preciousness of every species to all life on the planet.

Supreme Master Ching Hai: It’s not only oil but other of our actions as well, such as overfishing and chemical run-off from farms and factories. These all cause harm, because they do not consider the impact of our actions on other beings.

Every being on Earth and in the sea has value, no matter how small they might look, and something unique to do on this planet. It is our ignoring of this balance and the preciousness of all lives that has contributed to our global danger right now.

The way to solve this problem is through greater consideration for all lives. This means we should respect all lives, and in action. If everyone is vegan, having an animal-free diet, then there is a different outlook, different conception for development of all kinds. In our case, it will proceed with compassion and care, which is what we need to restore the wonders of our marine life.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/16/opinion/16greenberg.html?_r=1
http://www.indyweek.com/gyrobase/Content?oid=oid%3A407465
http://www.ethicurean.com/2009/03/23/menhaden/
http://www.newbernsj.com/news/top-54224-economy-journal.html
http://www.findingdulcinea.com/news/environment/2009/dec/Dwindling-Population-of-Crucial-Fish-Could-Require-Federal-Attention.html

Climate change put flora and fauna “on the run” for survival

According to a collaborative study by a team of US scientists from the Carnegie Institution, Stanford University, the California Academy of Sciences, and University of California, Berkely, global warming is causing climate belts to move towards the poles as well as to higher altitudes, which means ecosystems will be forced to shift if species are to survive.

Those that can tolerate only a narrow range of temperatures will need to migrate more quickly than the average rate of quarter of a mile a year researchers forecast as being necessary to keep up with global warming.

Due to the general immobility of plants, those residing in one-third of the habitats studied are expected to perish. In addition, human development has blocked many migration paths, leaving species with nowhere to go.

US scientists, we are grateful for your cooperative work highlighting how our fellow species are already running for their lives due to climate change. Let us all come together in meaningful action to reclaim our responsibility as good stewards of Mother Earth and all her inhabitants. Through her frequent efforts to raise awareness of our planet’s urgency, Supreme Master Ching Hai described how to explain global warming to young people, who are key in ensuring the wholesome future of our planet.

Supreme Master Ching Hai: You can show how the migrating birds have to fly farther and farther to find a place to nest, and the polar bears swim longer and longer now because there is no more ice until sometimes they drown of exhaustion, or why the neighboring country has so many floods in recent years, so many disasters, etc. Tell them how climate change is affecting real lives, real animals, real people, and their own lives as well.

But it’s also important to show the young people that there is still hope; we can still save the planet. It’s a chance to be true heroes, by being vegan and spread the news of this solution.

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-12/24/content_12697931.htm
http://news.scotsman.com/uk/Move-fast-or-die-is.5936720.jp
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/earthnews/6874398/Animals-on-the-run-from-climate-change.html
http://www.redorbit.com/news/science/1803094/scientists_chart_velocity_of_climate_change/
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/dec/23/global-warming-spreading-quarter-mile-year

Stranded whales returned to sea

After 105 pilot whales were found stranded and perished on southern New Zealand’s Colville Beach, another 64 were found and 43 saved on Coromandel Beach, thanks to the help of about 300 volunteers, rescuers and visitors who kept the mammals wet until the tide came in and they could safely swim back to the ocean.

The 21 who perished were buried on the sacred Maori land.

Although the reason for these strandings is unknown, such events have been observed to be increasing along with the human-caused effects of global warming.

Our appreciation all volunteers and rescuers whose tireless efforts helped keep the whales alive during this heart-wrenching incident. May God continue to bless the loving whales as we work to protect all marine species and their beautiful ocean homes. During an international gathering in August 2008, Supreme Master Ching Hai spoke with sorrow about stranded ocean mammals, and how humans both cause and can help with their predicament.

Supreme Master Ching Hai: So many whales and dolphins, they wash up ashore and die. There are so many dead zones in the ocean. It’s suffocating them, so they have to swim out of the water where it’s full of the poisonous gas that has been released! They cannot bear it, they cannot breathe. So they have to get out of it.

For them, life is in the water, but if water is full of poison, of course they come out. But when they come out, they die, too. Because they have no water. They stay in the ocean, they die; they came out, they die. There is no choice for them. This is the worst of all cruelty, that the people don’t take care of the environment. And let all beings keep dying like this.

Just to be vegan, how difficult can it be?

Even the dolphins have to swim out of the ocean; because they think like that they can survive, even risking their lives. So why not we can just can change to vegan diet?

http://www.3news.co.nz/60-whales-stranded-on-northern-Coromandel-beach/tabid
/423/articleID/135482/Default.aspx#top
http://www.stuff.co.nz/waikato-times/news/3196490/Hundreds-in-whale-rescue
http://tvnz.co.nz/national-news/stranded-pilot-whales-buried-in-coromandel-3319223
http://www.ndtv.com/news/world/new_zealand_125_pilot_whales_die_on_beaches.php