Tag: Ecosystems

Transferring Costs of island Maintenance to Human Hands

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Tuvalu is about to test the resilience of its islands in a way that has never been seen before. In the next year or two there will be 4 new projects that will in one way or another alter the natural flows of sand and water that are part of the island’s natural defence and…


Borrow Pits Rehabilitation in Tuvalu

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The Tuvalu Borrow Pits Rehabilitation Project, funded by New Zealand, aims to improve the living standards of communities living in Funafuti by filling in up to 10 borrow pits located on Funafuti Atoll and improving water and sanitation services. The project also aims to improve the Island’s resilience to the impacts of climate change such…


Video: Funafuti Masterplan

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This is an 18 minute video designed to introduce the idea of building core resilience for heavily urbanised atoll islands in general, and for Funafuti in particular. [vimeo id=”128706396″]


No Way to Stop Human Population Growth?

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The planet’s large, growing, and over-consuming human population, especially the increasing affluent component, is rapidly eroding many of the Earth’s natural ecosystems. However, society’s only real policy lever to reduce the human population humanely is to encourage lower per capita fertility. How long might fertility reduction take to make a meaningful impact? We examined various…


Lessons in Village Design

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I live in a new Village called Earthaven. Part art project, part social experiment, part bridge to an unknown future, this place is an endlessly challenging, paradoxical exercise of the imagination. It is also quite real and solid, home to 60 people and a locus of much hope and creativity. Ten years ago, a dozen…


Emergency Shut Down Of West Coast Fisheries: “Populations Have Crashed 91%”

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Earlier this week Michael Snyder warned that the bottom of our food chain is going through a catastrophic collapse with sea creatures dying in absolutely massive numbers. The cause of the problem is a mystery to scientists who claim that they can’t pinpoint how or why it’s happening. What’s worse, the collapse of sea life…


Borrow Pits Rehabilitation in Tuvalu

IMG_1451a

The Tuvalu Borrow Pits Rehabilitation Project, funded by New Zealand, aims to improve the living standards of communities living in Funafuti by filling in up to 10 borrow pits located on Funafuti Atoll and improving water and sanitation services. The project also aims to improve the Island’s resilience to the impacts of climate change such…


GMO Lies: Study Shows How Pesticide Use Soars with More GMO Crops

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Remember those flagrant claims that Big Biotech made, that genetically modified foods were a big reason why the world was enjoying food with less pesticide residues? Well, it turns out, those promises were like all the other biotech claims – baseless. What has really happened is one class of harmful pesticides has simply been replaced…


The orange-jelly ponds of Kiritimati

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Kiritimati (Christmas Island) has the greatest land area of any coral atoll in the world: about 388 square kilometres (150 sq mi). The atoll comprises over 70% of the total land area of Kiribati, a country encompassing 33 Pacific atolls and islands in three widely separated island groups: the Gilbert Group in the west, the…


Establishing Living Fences

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The use of living fences in the Central American region is prolific. Although installation techniques and application style of living fences varies across borders and climates, in Costa Rica the fences generally serve to delineate property and keep livestock within a boundary. Aside from their obvious uses, living fences generate far more benefits, both ecological…


World’s Largest Single Marine Reserve Created in Pacific

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British Prime Minister David Cameron’s government announced the creation of the world’s largest contiguous ocean reserve on Wednesday, setting aside 322,000 square miles (830,000 square kilometres) around the remote Pitcairn Islands in the South Pacific for special protection. The new reserve is nearly three and a half times bigger than the landmass of the United…


The CO2 Crisis: The Social Costs Of Capitalism Are Destroying Earth’s Ability To Support Life

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I admire David Ray Griffin for his wide-ranging intelligence, his research skills, and for his courage.  Dr. Griffin is not afraid to take on the controversial topics.  He gave us ten books on 9/11, and anyone who has read half of one of them knows that the official story is a lie. Now Griffin has…


Will Pacific Islands Disappear as Seas Rise? Maybe Not

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“If you were faced with the threat of the disappearance of your nation, what would you do?” That’s the question Enele Sopoaga, the prime minister of the tiny Pacific Island nation of Tuvalu, asked fellow world leaders at the United Nations climate summit in Lima, Peru, in December. It’s a question that leaders of Pacific…


Japan to Build Giant 250-Mile-Long Seawall

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The enormous four-storey high structure has been designed to protect the coast against tsunamis. Having seen more than its fair share of devastating tsunamis in recent years, Japan is now set to become home to one of the most ambitious tidal defence projects the world has ever seen. With an estimated cost of $6.8 billion,…