Occupy  for  Animals!
  • Welcome!
    • 99% >
      • Corporate Ecocide. It’s much more than Monsanto
      • Nature is the 99%, too
      • who Is really occupying your plate?
      • Why Occupy?
      • quotes & thoughts >
        • Quotations
      • we are all one
      • changing times >
        • Awakening ~ let the great revolution begin!
        • The Riot Dog
    • about us >
      • who we are and why we do what we do
      • get in touch with us!
      • Our other websites
      • support us
      • the gratitude page
      • find us on Facebook
      • follow us on Twitter
      • for Amber, with love...
      • blocked from our pages?
      • copyright infringement notification
    • wake up call >
      • animal kill counter
      • Holocaust on a Conveyor Belt - Assembly Line of Death
      • Don't do to others what you would not want others to do to you! >
        • what are factory farms hiding? See for yourself!
      • Earth ~ our only HOME!
      • Earthlings
      • The Superior Human?
    • consider >
      • animal kill counter >
        • the vegan revolution has started in Israel
        • 'Italian & Vegan' ~ vegan alternatives to Italian food
      • animals ~ be a guardian not an owner
      • animals and the catholic church
      • Bill & Lou
      • forgotten lessons of human-animal system
      • Scientists declare: nonhuman animals are conscious ~ Cambridge Declaration on Consciousness from July 7, 2011
      • Gandhi was vegetarian, whether you like it or not
      • selective compassion >
        • speciesism >
          • Are speciesists stupid?
        • The immorality and hypocrisy of our present diet
      • let compassion be your guide
      • Vegan: more than a diet, more than a lifestyle
      • animals' natural rights >
        • animal rights - by Dr Tom Regan
        • the theory of animal rights - by Professor Gary L. Francione >
          • the abolitionist approach
      • universal declaration of animal rights
    • Our petitions to the EU (European Union)
    • Europe's homeless animals >
      • Stray domestic animals are NOT 'wild animals'!
      • Europe's homeless animals - campaign
      • EU, when do you think it is time to act?
      • Tom Animalpastor in Brussels ~ Quo Vadis Europa?
      • EU: make spaying and neutering compulsory!
      • European tourist countries ~ the ugly truth
      • Italy ~ the Mafia involved in shelter activities
      • Sofia ~ Corruption and shady practices hinder the management of stray animals population
      • Turkey intends to kill all stray animals
    • the EU on animal welfare >
      • The European Institutions and the power of inaction
      • We demand that the EU create a Directorate-General for Animal Welfare
      • The spotlights have been switched on and they are shining brightly into the bedrooms of the EU and our EU-Sleeping Beauty has already opened her eyes. But when will she get up, at last?
      • On the press conference given on 12th of February, 2014 by MEP Andrea Zanoni and MEP Janusz WOJCIECHOWSKI regarding their visits in Romania and the mistreatment of Romanian dogs
      • Our observations to IREC's 'Right to Reply' from 7th of March, 2014 concerning the article called 'Neglect of Stray Dogs - MEPs Deliver Damning Indictment of Romania's Mismanagement' published by Dr Rita Pal on Huffington Post
      • animal cloning for food production in the EU
      • EU Animal Health Law
      • Cosmetics: the final ban will come into force in March 2013 and no cosmetic products or ingredients will be allowed to be sold in the EU if tested on animals
      • REACH ~ we have until 2018 to save up to 54 million animals from being poisoned and killed
      • John Dalli denis his commitments regarding animal transports made publicly on June 7, 2012 after one week!
      • MEPs demand an end to hotch-potch laws, with EU-wide measures to protect all animals
      • MEP Tiziano Motti: "Europe should apply non-bloody solutions for strays" (Press Release)
      • New EU-strategy fails to highlight benefits of animal welfare for animals and people
      • Proposed animal tests for GM food and feed ignore science and are totally unnecessary
      • Thousands of dogs and other animals spared cruel chemical tests in Europe
      • European convention for the protection of pet animals
      • written declaration on dog population management in the European Union
      • News from Eurogroup for Animals >
        • ritual slaughter exemptions cause animal suffering and put consumers at risks
        • Serious animal welfare failures revealed in Spanish slaughterhouses
    • Tom Animalpastor will be at St Peter's Square on 4th of October 2013
    • this & that >
      • ACTA: The new threat to the net
      • Stop PIPA & SOPA
      • Carole Raphaelle Davis - a soap-opera actress is on collision course
      • a message received and our answer concerning the 'traditional funeral ceremony' in Sumba Island, Indonesia
      • Is there Racism in the Animal Rights movement?
      • 80-year-old lady faces charges for feeding birds
      • For the producers and management of 7 stars TV
    • famous activists >
      • Animal Liberation Front ~ Modern Day Heroes >
        • Britches ~ the story
      • Captain Paul Watson and the real reason for his arrest
      • Gary Yourofsky on animal rights and veganism
      • Jill Phipps - tribute to a heroine
      • Wild Time Radio with Thomas Janak
    • inspirational stories... >
      • Act as if what you do makes a difference
      • "Animals are our friends, not our food,” says Lo Hung-hsien (駱鴻賢), a former pork raiser
      • Bella & Tara ~ real love and friendship knows no differences!
      • Canelo ~ 12 years waiting for his friend
      • Change comes with the children
      • Gülümser, the miracle cat
      • a homeless man, a dog, a cat... and a rat!
      • Lucky's incredible fight for life
      • Masrya's story
      • Rats - the APOPO HeroRATS detect landmines and Tuberculosis
      • The Witness
      • The worlds' bravest mouse
    • how children from Khalsa Montessori School in Arizona have helped dogs in Bosnia Herzegovina
    • Masrya's story
    • OFA's selection of newsletter written by Dr Carmen Arsene, FNPA
  • all connected
    • do you want to become extinct? >
      • Study predicts imminent irreversible planetary collapse
      • Arctic oil drilling
      • Climate change rate could be faster than thought, study suggests >
        • Global warming ~ not only is it real, it is accelerating, scientists say
        • Global warming's terrifying new math
        • How the climate will change ~ The role of latent heat of fusion in global warming
        • the methane time bomb
      • the global water crisis >
        • Tapped - is water a human right? Or a commodity?
        • "Water is a human right" - the first ECI to collect one million signatures
        • All the Water on Planet Earth
      • Dead oceans, dead planet >
        • 75% of world's coral reefs under threat, new analysis finds
        • Ocean acidification ~ the other carbon dioxide problem
        • Little has been done to protect marine life since the 1992 Rio Earth Summit
        • All the Water on Planet Earth
      • Earth's lung ~ deforestation and the construction of the Belo Monte dam are destroying the Amazon
      • Earth tipping point study in Nature Journal predicts disturbing and unpredictable changes
      • in the era of Ecocide...
      • Fukushima ~ the fate of Japan and the whole world depends on reactor No.4
      • Oil sands, tar sands or, more technically, bituminous sands, are a GLOBAL threat
      • UN urges global move to meat and dairy-free diet
      • UN issues 'final wake-up call' on population and environment
    • meat, the truth >
      • are humans designed to eat meat?
      • human starvation
      • killing fields ~ the battle to feed factory farms
      • Raising Resistance explores Latin American farmers’ struggle against the expanding production of genetically modified soy in South America
      • meat consumption and the destruction of our planet >
        • UN urges global move to meat and dairy-free diet
        • Livestock's long shadow
        • Livestock and Climate Change
      • meat demand and deforestation
      • meat production and water shortage >
        • Unsustainable water use depleting the world's major aquifers
      • meat is murder? more like suicide! >
        • Mad cow disease has hit the U.S. (April 25, 2012)
      • factory farms >
        • Rivers of Waste: The hazardous truth about factory farms
        • what are factory farms hiding? See for yourself!
      • making the connection
    • dangerous food >
      • the Monsanto Monster >
        • Study reveals that "safe" levels of Monsanto's GM corn and the chemical herbicide Roundup (glyphosate) are directly linked to causing cancerous tumors
        • How GMO foods alter organ function and pose a very real health threat to humans
        • Monsanto & The Genetic Conspiracy
        • Huge victory against GMOs as Monsanto driven out of the UK by consumer protests
      • animal cloning for food production in the EU
      • A quarter of all burgers tainted with drug-resistant bacteria
      • FDA admits chicken meat contains cancer-causing arsenic
      • Food Inc.
      • MRSA found in British milk: Superbug strain can cause serious infections in humans and is resistant to antibiotics
      • pesticide in agriculture ~ the slow poisoning of India
      • GMO pig development gets $500,000 from USDA
      • Enviropig - mouse and e coli genes injected into a Yorkshire pig embryo
      • Rendering... the grotesque and disrespectful way we continue to exploit animals, objectify them and commodify them even in death
      • You and your cat and Mad Cow Disease
    • organic ~ the green revolution
    • palm oil
    • Romania – the systemic evil of corruption, ignorance and indifference
    • hurt an animal, hurt a child! >
      • 'Making The Link' - A time for change...
      • Europe watches as a nation's psychological health erodes on a hitherto unimaginable scale
      • Peasenhall Primary School children rear pigs to send to butcher
    • Mexico's historic Oil Reform could plunge the country in even more poverty and misery, and protected natural areas would lose that status
    • articles of interest >
      • genetically modified cows produce 'human' milk
      • genetically modified rice created to produce human blood
    • The Benefits of Being Kind
    • SAMSARA - a documentary about Culture, Nature & Wildlife
  • fashion
    • alpaca
    • angora
    • cashmere
    • down
    • fur ~ general >
      • fur ~ fur farms
      • fur ~ fur traders & manufacturers
      • fur ~ Karakul lambs don't live older than three days
      • fur ~ fur is NOT green
      • fur ~ fur free
      • ban fur farms in the European Union
      • ban fur farms in Sweden
      • Kopenhagen Fur partnerships with Tivoli - Boycott them both!
      • black bears – the source of fur for Britain's Royal Guards' caps
      • seal hunt in Canada
      • seal slaughter in Namibia >
        • CITES must now protect cape fur seals in Namibia from extinction - Here is HOW
    • leather ~ general >
      • leather ~ India is one of the largest leather manufacturers in the world
      • leather ~ Millions of kangaroos are killed each year for their skin
      • leather ~ Pythons are the latest victims of fashion's new obsession
    • shahtoosh
    • shearling
    • silk
    • vicuña
    • wool
  • food
    • ALL about meat (including petition)
    • animal kill counter >
      • Holocaust on a Conveyor Belt - Assembly Line of Death (Samsara)
      • are humans designed to eat meat?
      • killing plants
    • from farm to fridge >
      • factory farms - definition
      • factory farming
      • livestock auctions
      • transportation >
        • Australia ~ shocking new evidence of live export breaches >
          • Indonesia - cattle being lifted by a crane from ropes tied to their heads
        • John Dalli denies his commitments regarding animal transports made publicly on June 7, 2012 after one week!
        • Truck with 31 bulls stranded at the Bulgaria/Turkey border
        • EU: report on animal transport successfully adopted in plenary
        • Jill Phipps - tribute to a heroine
      • Killing for a living
      • slaughter
      • Ritual slaughter for halal and kosher meat - all you need to know >
        • Denmark - Halal and kosher slaughter banned, as minister says 'animal rights come before religion'
        • Egregious brutality exposed at Israel’s leading kosher meat processor, Tnuva in Beit Shean, Israel
      • Ban religious slaughter throughout Europe >
        • ritual slaughter exemptions cause animal suffering and put consumers at risks
        • Top UK vet slams "unacceptable" slaughter of animals without prior stunning
      • The last moments of their life ~ an investigation by Elige Veganismo
      • Rendering... the grotesque and disrespectful way we continue to exploit animals, objectify them and commodify them even in death
      • You and your cat and Mad Cow Disease
    • bushmeat
    • cattle and cows >
      • Belgian Blue
      • milk is cruel >
        • Mothers against Dairy (external link)
      • veal
      • India ~ cow slaughter and the illegal cattle mafia
      • India is the world's biggest milk producer and all set to become the world's leading beef exporter in 2012
      • Mercy For Animals investigation exposes sadistic animal abuse at Burger King dairy supplier
    • dog meat >
      • Dog meat trade in Bali
      • dog meat trade in China
      • Thousands of dogs massacred for instant noodles in Jilin Province, China
      • Yulin Dog Meat Festival in China
      • the truth about 'pressed dog' actually known as 'waxed meat' in Mandarin
      • dog meat consumption in Nigeria
      • dog meat trade in South Korea
      • Dog meat trafficking
    • elephant meat
    • fish >
      • Bluefin tunas brutally slaughtered in Italy
      • dolphin slaughter in Taiji >
        • The Cove ~ full documentary
      • shark fin
      • whale hunt >
        • Whale hunt - Faeroe Islands' cruel, shameful tradition
        • Japan using tsunami funds for whaling hunt
        • South Korea vows 'scientific' whaling
      • over-fishing
      • Lance Armstrong's Livestrong website gives tips about how to cook various shark meats
    • goat milk
    • horse >
      • horse-meat scandal in Europe ~ organised criminal gangs operating internationally are suspected of playing a major role
    • Kopi luwak or civet coffee
    • lambs & sheep >
      • lambs ~ born to die for Easter
    • live sushi
    • pigs >
      • pig business >
        • Canada: Pig abuse exposed at pork supplier to major Canadian grocery stores
        • Canada - about 1,300 weanlings were shot dead at Manitoba hog farm
        • Thousands of dead pigs found in Shanghai river, China
        • Shocking brutality at East Anglian Pig Co. revealed by Animal Equality
        • Pigs brutally stabbed with swords on Spanish pig farm to supply leading UK Supermarket Morrisons
        • Shocking cruelty inside Harling Farm (AJ Edwards & son) UK >
          • Pigs suffer greatly despite concerns for the welfare
        • Sickening scenes at Freedom Food Pig Farm
        • Walmart's pork supplier exposed
    • poultry >
      • chickens >
        • American egg industry bill would keep hens in cages forever
      • turkeys
      • foie gras
    • Rabbits
    • reindeer
    • green turtles are considered a delicacy in Bali and are being smuggled and slaughtered under the disguise of ritual and religious purposes
    • Killing for a living
    • Why vegan? (external link)
    • animals should be off the menu!
    • The Emotional World of Farm Animals ~ a documentary
    • articles of interest >
      • Will the amendment to the Farm Bill introduced by Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) nullify laws against animal cruelty?
      • Ag Gag Bill dead in Florida
      • Five states now have 'Ag-Gag' laws on the books
      • California's slaughterhouse law overturned by Supreme Court
      • Farmers on red alert over outbreaks of new livestock disease
    • more about food... >
      • animal cloning for food production in the EU
      • bugs as food?
      • grow your own food
      • mad cow disease has hit the U.S. (April 25, 2012)
      • meat is murder? more like suicide!
      • why meat is addictive?
      • why are you addicted to cheese?
      • Swedish agricultural authorities are recommending a tax to reduce meat consumption and say such a levy should be adopted across the European Union
      • The Incredible Vegan Health Report (by Viva! Health)
      • U.S. vegan population doubles in only two years
      • 'Italian & Vegan' ~ vegan alternatives to Italian food
  • fun
    • exploitation of Asian elephants
    • camel races *
    • circus >
      • travelling Dolphin circus
    • dancing bears
    • diving horse
    • Dog races ~ Greyhounds are running for their life!
    • dolphinarium >
      • Lolita ~ slave to entertainment
      • Animal suffering at 'Marineland'
    • hunting >
      • hunting dogs ~ Galgo and Podencos
      • Fox hunting >
        • UK government: Leave fox hunting where it belongs - in the history books!
      • Salburun, which means "Hunter's Zest" in Kyrgyz language, has been held annually since 1997
      • trophy hunting >
        • Canned Hunting - Born to be killed - Lion hunting in South Africa
    • horse dressage
    • horse races >
      • Omak suicide horse race
    • Mutton Busting: both child abuse and animal abuse
    • rodeo ~ a legalized abuse of animals for COWARDS!
    • Romania tourist information
    • sled dog races *
    • sport fishing *
    • Tourist attraction - baby bear torn away from her mother to be used as tourist attraction in Ukraine
    • zoo >
      • Egypt's zoos ~ hell holes for animals! >
        • Egypt ~ the animals at Giza Zoo are in grave danger during unrest in Cairo
        • Egypt ~ The "mysterious" death of three American black bears at Giza Zoo
        • Egyptian zoos ~ the elephants, Karema and Naeema, are short-chained at Giza zoo
        • Masrya's story
  • greed
    • Earth's lung ~ deforestation and the construction of the Belo Monte dam are destroying the Amazon
    • 'Art' ~ animals killed/used in the name of 'art' >
      • Adel Abdessemed
      • Damien Hirst
      • Guillermo Habacuc Vargas
      • 'Die Guillotine' ~ Perversity from Germany
      • Hermann Nitsch
      • Katinka Simons, aka TINKEBELL
      • Nathalia Edenmont
      • Ondrej Brody and Kristofer Paetau
    • bear baiting >
      • bear baiting in Pakistan
      • bear baiting in South Carolina
    • bear bile farming *
    • breeding * >
      • puppy mills, puppy farms, pet shops *
      • teacup puppies *
    • corruption >
      • Prihvatilište KS Prača, commonly known as ‘Praca’, is a dog concentration camp in Sarajevo (B&H)
      • Sofia ~ Corruption and shady practices hinder the management of stray animals population
      • India ~ cow slaughter and the illegal cattle mafia
      • Italy ~ the Mafia involved in shelter activities
      • Romania - what you should know before visiting
      • The Romanian 'extermination enterprise'
      • Romania - THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE UGLY
      • Romania ~ organized crime & stray dog business >
        • the mayor of Botosani wants to send the city's stray dogs to Constanta, on a dubious 'pilot project'
        • Romania ~ a country cries out for revenge after the tragic death of a four-year-old boy who had been attacked by dogs
        • Oradea-dog-shelter, once Romania's privately funded pilot project par excellence, has become a living hell for the animals since the municipality has taken it over
        • Timisoara - the municipality pays huge sums of taxpayer's money to Danyflor to care for the stray dogs, but they receive not even a drop of water in their shelter. So where does the money go?
    • cock fighting *
    • dog fighting >
      • Rep. Steve King defends the right to watch dog fighting
      • Dog fighting in Pakistan
      • Dog Fighting in South Korea
    • horse fighting *
    • horse races in Italy
    • Italian Mafia making millions from brutal horse races
    • ivory trade >
      • Ivory fuels wars and profits
    • rhinoceros (Rhino) horn
    • Romania's homeless animals... no-one ever wanted them. Except PROTAN!
    • Romania ~ Roșia Montană, Europe's largest gold mine: a lot of gold, a lot of money and a lot of cyanide
    • SCAMMERS - How to recognize them, using the example of Jamie Hunt & Col Bayes
    • China reopens trade in tiger and leopard skins (2011)
    • wildlife trafficking
    • wombat Forest and its waters under threat of gold mining contamination
  • labour
    • horse carriage *
    • working animals >
      • Nepal ~ Brick kiln donkeys face the most extreme working conditions, excruciating injuries and disease
  • research
    • animal experimentation ~ hidden crimes >
      • Britches ~ the story
      • Rabbit test 1927
      • The 'smoking Beagles'
    • animal experimentation & vivisection >
      • Botox
      • Fetal Bovine Serum or Fetal Calf Serum
      • Iams / Eukanuba pet food
      • Premarin
      • Xenotransplantation - trading in spare parts
    • inside laboratories >
      • AstraZeneca: please set the Beagles free!
      • Donetsk Medical University, Ukraine ~ appalling living conditions and barbaric experiments conducted on dogs and other animals
      • Europe's biggest vivarium in Azambuja, Portugal
      • Green Hill, Montichiari, Italy
      • Mansoura University ~ merciless killing of donkeys as a mean of education
      • Animal testing and monkey business at Monash University, Australia
      • Monkeys killed for being of the 'wrong size'
      • University of Texas
      • University of Wisconsin–Madison conducts horrific experiments on cats
      • Wayne State University’s Inhumane Dog Experiments: Queenie’s Story
    • animal cloning for food production in the EU
    • animal experimentation - good science versus bad science
    • 1,000 doctors (and many more) against vivisection
    • animal experiments - safer medicines >
      • Cancer - The forbidden cures
    • Beagles are the dog breed most often used in animal testing, due to their size and passive nature
    • Cosmetics: the final ban will come into force in March 2013 and no cosmetic products or ingredients will be allowed to be sold in the EU if tested on animals
    • India, Government bans use of live animals for education and research
    • Iran plans to send monkey into space
    • Italy ~ 86% of Italians want to abolish vivisection >
      • News from 'Occupy Green Hill' >
        • Green Hill seized by police
        • Green Hill, Montichiari, Italy
        • 8th of May, 2012 International Day of Action against Green Hill and Vivisection
      • Italy: Make vivisection history (campaign)
    • List of animal derived ingredients and additives
    • Make vivisection history!
    • NIH Decision signals the beginning of the end for medical research on chimps
    • REACH ~ we have until 2018 to save up to 54 million animals from being poisoned and killed
    • UK - Government opens laboratory gates to lost pets, protects secrecy, poisoning and electrocution
    • Western beauty giants selling their brands to China's fast-growing middle classes are threatening to reverse years of progress in reducing animal testing
  • society
    • animal abuse >
      • animal abusers - named & shamed! >
        • Staff of the Faculty Of Veterinary Medicine Cairo University (FOVMCU) threw dogs off the third floor after experimenting on them
        • Alabama, "Purple Hearted Puppies" charged in an extreme case of animal neglect and abuse
        • Brazil, Camilla Corrêa Alves de Moura Araújo - a practicing nurse killed a little Yorkshire in front of her child
        • Bulgaria ~ Lynch mob enters private property and beats defenseless crippled doggy while TV-reporters film the scene and the police does nothing
        • Bulgaria, Raycho Ivanov, from Topolovo, tied his dog to the drawbar of his car and dragged him for many kilometers ~ 'Making The Link' initiator, Malcolm Plant, writes to the prosecutors
        • Cyprus - stray puppy thrown into cardboard crushing machine on the orders of the manager of 'Anastasia Beach Hotel' in Protaras
        • Greece, priest shot dog for trespassing the convent yard in Patra
        • Greece, a so-called shepherd systematically neglected his dog, brutally beat it and gouged out its eyes
        • Greece, Salamina ~ a man shot in cold blood a stray for trespassing his garden
        • Greece, a man of Albanian nationality tried to kill three dogs with a sledgehammer
        • Animals being mistreated at the University of Guadalajara, Mexico
        • UK, Robert Payne, ex-councillor for Keighley West, killed four kittens in barbaric attack
        • three Vietnamese soldiers tortured and skinning alive before eviscerating and barbecuing two rare monkeys
      • Bulgaria - Mrs Zinaida Zlatanova, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Justice, confirmed that the penalties for cruelties for animals will NOT be lessened
      • cruelty to animals and connections (incl. petition to the EU)
      • animal abuse - how to report
      • never be silent!
    • animal crush videos
    • bestiality zoophilia >
      • animal rape and animal brothel
    • BSL (Breed Specific Legislation) fails to target the problem: bad dog owners
    • Egypt ~ when migrating birds collide with wind turbines
    • British Government euthanizes 800 war dogs!
    • Camel cull in Australia
    • capitivity >
      • Help to save the Bosnian bears from euthanasia
    • Chernobyl - life in the dead zone
    • China ~ live animal key-rings for sale on street markets
    • companion animals ~ pets >
      • black cat superstitions & black dog syndrome
      • companion animal overpopulation
      • So you’re thinking about giving up your pet? You might want to reconsider!
      • gas chambers >
        • Daniel's Law ~ please help to make it pass!
        • Dogs being burned alive at Ohio shelter
        • Japan's radical response to abandoned dog problem
      • Helping Animals in Gaza
      • portraits taken on the very day in which the animal depicted is about to be put down or mercifully killed
      • Puppy mills (puppy farms) - prisoners for profit
      • the economic benefits of no kill animal control
      • a NO KILL NATION for just one day!
      • We want justice for Buddy
    • Coyotes - California city council of Seal Beach had decided that trapping and gassing coyotes in mobile gas chambers was good enough - until a public backlash caused them to abandon this misguided plan. But there are no laws to actually prevent it.
    • Democracy - The Romanian Way
    • dogs ~ man's best friends >
      • the sad of case of Lennox, the dog >
        • Lennox ''humanely put to sleep' , Belfast City Council confirmed on July 11, 2012
        • World declares war on Belfast!
        • One last push of urgent e-mails needed for a Lennox miracle
        • First Minister Peter Robinson has made a last-minute intervention to try and save the life of Lennox
      • China, a new policy proclaimed in Harbin Province prohibits large dogs
      • Denmark - 13 dog breeds are now banned, 12 more are lined up!
      • The Riot Dog
      • lost dogs
    • stray dogs - the anonymous >
      • Stray animals are NOT 'wild animals'
      • Bosnia & Herzegovina: on 3rd of October, 2013 the parliament will vote on whether to implement the "Romanian model" or not - if they, too, will kill all homeless dogs 2 weeks after capture
      • Bosnia & Herzegovina: if the law from 2009 gets suspended, the killing of stray animals would resume! >
        • Horror dog shelter in Bihać, Bosnia & Herzegovina
        • Prihvatilište KS Prača, commonly known as ‘Praca’, is a dog concentration camp in Sarajevo (B&H)
      • Bulgaria, the stray dogs of Sofia are in eminent danger! >
        • Sofia ~ Corruption and shady practices hinder the management of stray animals population
        • No mercy for stray dogs in Sofia
      • Egypt has organized intensive campaigns against stray animals. The animals are being poisoned with strychnine and/or shot dead with rifles
      • EU, when do you think it is time to act?
      • Humane dog population management guidance
      • India ~ Send stray dogs to China, Mizoram or Nagaland, for “whatever they do to them”
      • Italy ~ the Mafia involved in shelter activities
      • The history of Romania's homeless dogs
      • Romania - Laws regarding the management of stray dogs
      • Romania ~ a country cries out for revenge after the tragic death of a four-year-old boy who had been attacked by dogs
      • Romania - on the greatest animal genocide in European history, government initiated anarchy, violations of human rights and children rights
      • The Romanian 'extermination enterprise'
      • Romania - ​The city of Ploiesti sets a precedent, two years since the introduction of the 'Slaughter Law', as the first and only town in the entire country to deal in a humane and effective manner with their surplus dog population by implementing
      • How IREC tried to manipulate Prefect Rodica Paraschiv to destroy Ploiesti's newly adopted C-N-R program according to HCL 502/2015, with a ​manipulative letter containing erroneous, misleading and false information
      • Ploiesti Part III - Dr Carmen Arsene v. IREC - The Battle for Justice
      • on the press conference given on 12th of February, 2014 by MEP Andrea Zanoni and MEP Janusz WOJCIECHOWSKI regarding their visits in Romania and the mistreatment of Romanian dogs
      • Romania – the nazification of social relations
      • Romania – Our tacit approval of the evil will make us the evil’s accomplices
      • Romania – the systemic evil of corruption, ignorance and indifference
      • Romania - On the Seminar "Stray dogs: present and future" to be held on 3rd of June, 2015 in Iasi, Romania
      • The Romanian Extermination Enterprise >
        • The Romanian 'extermination enterprise'
        • The Romanian Extermination Enterprise - Who is going to pay the price?
        • The Romanian Extermination Enterprise - Fueled by EU-taxpayers' money?
        • The Romanian Extermination Enterprise
      • Romania's Animal Police, ANSVSA's market stunt to counter their image loss
      • Romania - ASPA raided a private shelter and the adjucent clinic of Vier Pfoten in Bucharest on 21st of March, 2014
      • Romania - ASPA's illegal 'blacklist'
      • Exposing ASPA - From Animal Protection to Animal Extermination
      • EXPOSING ASPA & IREC
      • Romania tourism
      • The Invisible Rape of Europe
      • The invisible rape of Romania and psychology of violence
      • The Eleventh Commandment of Romania: 'Thou Shalt Not Love!'
      • Romania - PROTAN and where the Romanian stray dogs "go"
      • Romania - Daciana Sarbu: 'A Head with Two Faces' - One face smiling at the death-bringers, the other face smiling at the protectors!
      • The life of an animal rescuer >
        • My name is Alexandra Sarau, I am an animal rescuer in Romania
        • A Thousand Tears fall for Luana... a Life taken too soon!
      • MEP Daciana Sarbu, aka Daciana Ponta, makes an impressive election "pledge" to help animals
      • Our observations to IREC's 'Right to Reply' from 7th of March, 2014 concerning the article called 'Neglect of Stray Dogs - MEPs Deliver Damning Indictment of Romania's Mismanagement' published by Dr Rita Pal on Huffington Post
      • Romania's public shelters - Come in, and die!
      • Romania - FPAM takes legal actions against the Romanian government and ANVSA
      • I am a citizen of Romania - Sunt un cetatean al Romaniei
      • Romania ~ organized crime & stray dog business
      • the mayor of Botosani wants to send the city's stray dogs to Constanta, on a dubious 'pilot project'
      • Romania - Craoiva lets the dogs to starve to death in the municipal shelter and wants to become a 'European Capital of Culture' .
      • Romania - what really happened in Craiova during the night from 3rd to 4th of February, 2014.
      • Oradea-dog-shelter, once Romania's privately funded pilot project par excellence, has become a living hell for the animals since the municipality has taken it over
      • Timisoara - the municipality pays huge sums of taxpayer's money to Danyflor to care for the stray dogs, but they receive not even a drop of water in their shelter. So where does the money go?
      • the mayor of Valcea considers killing all stray dogs after 7 days if not adopted
      • Romania - the mayor of Drobeta-Turnu Severin, Gheorghe Constantin, will apply the 'Slaughter Law' and kill all 577 dogs that are currently in the public shelter because he rather prefers spending the money that is needed for their 'maintenance' on the eld
      • OFA's selection of FNPA-newsletters written by Dr Carmen Arsene
      • Russia's homeless animals
      • Serbia - dogs eating each other at the horror-shelter in Leskovac is 'normal' says official
      • Turkey intends to kill all stray animals!
      • For a rabies-free future
      • Trap-Neuter-Release
    • Stray cats are starving to death in Belarus basements that authorities have sealed to control rats
    • deforestation and the construction of the Belo Monte dam is killing the Amazon
    • Over 1,000 dolphins killed by villagers of a remote Solomon island in conservation dispute
    • electrocution of wild animals *
    • electronic waste ~ the truth
    • European tourist countries ~ the ugly truth
    • event preparations >
      • Azerbaijan kills its stray animals in preparation of Eurovision Song Contest 2012
      • Ukraine, the European Football Championship and the mass murders of stray animals
    • extinction >
      • Tigers are spiraling to extinction in the wild >
        • China reopens trade in tiger and leopard skins (2011)
        • India ~ tiger poachers to be shot on sight
    • famous animals *
    • fireworks and animals
    • Fukushima ~ animals left behind >
      • Free the Fukushima animal rescuers Hiroshi Hoshi and Leo Hoshi
    • Kerala - tourist information
    • Killer whales trapped by ice near Inukjuak, in northern Quebec
    • loss of habitat *
    • military training exercises
    • Please help to rebuild 'Norma's Universe'
    • over-population control *
    • politics >
      • grey seal cull in Canada is politically motivated and not supported by science
      • Ukraine ~ a new law intends to legalize unlimited shooting of wolves, foxes and even cats and dogs
    • pollution >
      • Dead oceans, dead planet >
        • 75% of world's coral reefs under threat, new analysis finds
      • in the age of plastic
      • plastic bags threaten wildlife: mammals, birds, fish - no animal can escape!
      • the plastic cow
      • electronic waste ~ the truth
      • the garbage patch
      • Trashed - No place for waste!
      • tsunami debris
    • Puppy farms (campaign) >
      • Puppy mills in Lebanon
    • religion >
      • religion ~ animals and the catholic church
      • religion ~ Islamic legal tradition holds that dogs are "unclean" animals
      • religion ~ ritual slaughter for halal and kosher meat
    • Romania - The Shameful Chronology of Abandonment
    • Scammers - how to recognize them, taking the case of Jamie Hunt and Col Bayes
    • THANK YOU, UKRAINE!
    • U.S. Congressmen compare undercover investigators to arsonists and terrorists
    • zoophilia - bestiality >
      • animal rape and animal brothel
  • tradition
    • animal sacrifice >
      • Aid al-kabir or Eid al-Adha
      • Eid animal slaughter funds Pakistan terror groups
      • Dashain festival, Nepal
      • Gadhimai festival in Nepal
      • Animal sacrifice at Halavatha Munneswaram Kovil, Sri Lanka
      • Animal sacrifice in India
      • India ~ Owl sacrifice during Diwali, the Festival of Lights
      • traditional funeral ceremony and sacrifice, island of Sumba, Indonesia
      • Kapparot
      • the goats of Khokana
      • During the Lomisoba celebration in Georgia, hundreds of sheep, calves and chickens are sacrificed
      • Malaysia - ritual slaughter of cattle during Hari Raya Aidiladha in schools
      • The brutal festival at Nem Thuong village, Vietnam
      • Ukweshwana, the festival of fresh fruits
    • bullfighting - corridas >
      • The Mental Illness called the Corrida, by Captain Paul Watson
      • Will the EU-Commission respond in favor of the EU-Parliament's vote to end EU-subsidies for bullfighting?
      • Mexico City considers ban on bullfighting
      • Jallikattu
      • the story of Álvaro Múnera Builes
    • Dog spinning or “trichane” is a ritual celebrated in Brodilovo, a village in Bulgaria
    • Horse races in Italy
    • Salburun, which means "Hunter's Zest" in Kyrgyz language, has been held annually since 1997
    • Spanish fiestas >
      • Boar hunting 'Lanceo al Jabalí' set for comeback in Spain
      • Fiesta del Pero Palo, Villaneuva de la Vera (Spain)
      • El Toro Jubilo, or 'bull on fire'
      • Toro de la Vega ~ Tordesillas' sadistic fiesta
      • A Rapa das Bestas
    • Thanksgiving, Christmas & Easter >
      • turkeys
      • reindeer
    • Traditional Chinese Medicine TCM >
      • Open letter to China ~ 'Dear China'
      • bear bile farming >
        • Bear bile harmful to human health, according to research released at major Beijing event
        • rescued from Vietnamese bear bile farms
      • Pangolins are being hunted to the edge of extinction
      • Rhinoceros (Rhino) horn
      • Traditional Chinese Medicine could extinct the tigers within the next decade!
      • Vietnam proposes legalising use of tiger parts in traditional medicines (2012)



Global Warming
Not only is it real, it is accelerating, scientists say
New evidence shows changing speed of climate change


Global warming tied to risk of weather extremes


By MALCOLM RITTER - AP Science Writer

NEW YORK July 10, 2012 (AP)

Last year brought a record heat wave to Texas, massive floods in Bangkok and an unusually warm November in England. How much has global warming boosted the chances of events like that?

Quite a lot in Texas and England, but apparently not at all in Bangkok, say new analyses released Tuesday.

Scientists can't blame any single weather event on global warming, but they can assess how climate change has altered the odds of such events happening, Tom Peterson of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration told reporters in a briefing. He's an editor of a report that includes the analyses published by the Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society.

In the Texas analysis, researchers at Oregon State University and in England noted that the state suffered through record heat last year. It happened during a La Nina weather pattern, the flip side of El Nino. Caused by the cooling of the central Pacific Ocean, La Nina generally cools global temperatures but would be expected to make the southern United States warmer and drier than usual. But beyond that, the scientists wondered, would global warming affect the chances of such an event happening?

To find out, they studied computer climate simulations for La Nina years, focusing on Texas. They compared the outcome of three such years in the 1960s with that of 2008. They used 2008 because their deadline for the study didn't allow enough time to generate thousands of new simulations with fresh data from 2011. The two years were similar in having a La Nina and in amounts of greenhouse gases in the air.

The idea of the study, they said, was to check the likelihood of such a heat wave both before and after there was a lot of man-made climate change, which is primarily from burning fossil fuels like coal and oil.

Their conclusion: Global warming has made such a Texas heat wave about 20 times more likely to happen during a La Nina year.

Using a similar approach, scientists from Oxford University and the British government looked at temperatures in central England. Last November was the second warmest in that region in more than 300 years. And December 2010 was the second coldest in that time.

Their analysis concluded that global warming has made such a warm November about 62 times more likely, and such a cold December just half as likely.

Kevin Trenberth, of the National Center for Atmospheric Research's climate analysis section, said that he found the Britain study to be reasonable, given what he called a flawed climate model. As for the Texas result, he said that given how the study was done, the calculated increase in likelihood "could well be an underestimate."

A third analysis considered unusually severe river flooding last year in central and southern Thailand, including neighborhoods in Bangkok. It found no sign that climate change played a role in that event, noting that the amount of rainfall was not very unusual. The scale of the flooding was influenced more by factors like reservoir operation policies, researchers wrote.

Also at the briefing, NOAA released its report on the climate for 2011, which included several statistics similar to what it had announced earlier.

Last year was the coolest since 2008 in terms of global average temperature, which was about 57.9 degrees Fahrenheit (14.4 degrees Celsius.). But it still remained among the 15 warmest years since records began in the late 1800s, the agency said. It was also above average for the period 1980-2010.

See also: NOAA: http://www.climate.gov 

Global warming facts
Basic facts are well-understood and accepted by the scientific community

Despite overwhelming scientific evidence, popular myths and misinformation abound. 
Here are some of the facts of what we know about global warming. 
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1) Scientific consensus on global warming 


Science community concurs warming is happening — and people are the cause

The most respected scientific bodies have stated unequivocally that global warming is occurring, and people are causing it by burning fossil fuels and cutting down forests.

This conclusion is shared by the national science academies of developed and developing countries (read the statement [PDF]), plus many other organizations, including the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which was established by the United Nations and the World Meteorological Organization to provide the world with "a clear scientific view" on climate change.

The only real debate is about how fast warming will occur, and how much damage will be done, as a result of human activities that produce heat-trapping CO2 and other greenhouse-gas emissions.

Climate scientists, like all scientists, are professional skeptics. They welcome — in fact, rely upon — rigorous challenges to their work from colleagues. Through this process of peer review and independent verification, scientists critique and double- (and triple- and quadruple-) check each others work.

This can lead to debate and controversy, but over time, solid research is validated, errors are discarded, and a body of reliable facts is created. In addition, science advances by focusing on what is not yet known. In the case of climate change, for example, there is an extremely good general understanding of the phenomenon, but many details are not yet understood. These gaps in the research, as they come to light, are systematically tackled by the scientific community.

In this context, the kind of material used by climate-change skeptics to cast doubt on global warming — whether it be a handful of emails stolen from an East Anglian research facility or a few errors in an IPCC report — are meaningless. The mountain of climate data assembled over decades by the scientific community as a whole is irrefutable. The records collected and analyzed by independent scientists from many disciplines and thousands of locations, paint a consistent, verifiable picture of a rapidly warming world.

Make no mistake: Science has given us unequivocal warning that global warming is real. The time to start working on solutions is now.

Source: Environmental Defense Fund 



2) How we know the Earth is warming

Scientists are certain the Earth has been warming for 100 years. Here's how they know.

As far back as the 1850s, a small number of weather stations around the world were compiling temperature records. These numbers grew during the 20th century and today there are thousands of land-based weather stations and ocean buoys in every corner of the world monitoring temperatures.

Temperature records since 1850

These temperature records clearly show a warming of the Earth over the past century, with particularly rapid heating over the past few decades.

Global temperature data
Each of the four agencies that report global temperature trends--NOAA, NASA, HADCRU, and JMA—show the warming trend. 
View graph Source: NYT 

Average U.S. temperatures
Annual average temperatures in the United States since 1880 also show the warming trend. 
View graph. Source NASA

Satellite measurements since 1979

Atmospheric temperature measurements taken from orbiting satellites also show warming. Weather satellites have been monitoring global atmospheric temperatures since 1979.

Atmospheric temperatures
Trend in tropospheric temperatures (the lowest part of Earth's atmosphere) from 1979 to 2005 shows warming.
View graph Source: IPCC 

Sea level rise in the 20th century
During the 20th century, sea level rose an average of 7 inches after 2,000 years of relatively little change.

Global sea level rise
Satellite altimeter and coastal tide gauge data show rising sea levels since 1870.

Before 1850: proxy records


Proxy records are sophisticated ways of inferring surface temperatures over previous centuries and millennia. Taken together, these independent records show widespread warming over the 20th century, with a particularly sharp uptick in temperature over the last few decades.

Temperature reconstructions
Surface temperature reconstructions of the past 2,000 years from proxy records show a warming trend.

While proxy records are, by definition, not as accurate or precise as direct measurements, they provide a robust picture of thousands of years of the Earth's history. Three main types of proxy records used to create this picture are:

  • Ice cores - One proxy method is to drill into glaciers and ice sheets to extract ice samples. Since the ice was formed from snow that fell over the centuries, the deeper you drill, the farther back in time you are looking.

    The chemical composition of the ice correlates very strongly with temperature. Scientists have constructed temperature records from ice cores taken from Tibetan and Andean glaciers, an ice cap in the Canadian Arctic, and the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets. These records show that, at low latitudes, 20th century climate was unusually warm compared to the previous 2,000 years.

    In the Canadian Arctic, warming over the past 150 years is unprecedented compared to the previous millennium. In Greenland and coastal Antarctica, there is clear evidence of warming over the past century. Ice cores from Antarctica's interior do not show warming over the past century.

  • Tree rings - In temperate regions, trees generally produce one ring a year, and some tree species are extremely long-lived. (A bristlecone pine, for example, can live more than 4,000 years.) Patterns in the width and density of tree rings provide year-by-year temperature information.

    Scientists have tree ring records from more than 2,000 sites on all inhabited continents, though most of the records are from temperate areas of the Northern Hemisphere. These records show that 20th centurywarming was unusual compared to at least the past 500 years.

  • Coral reefs - Corals build their hard skeletons with annual bands of calcium carbonate. The geochemical composition of each annual band varies depending on the temperature of the water at the time the band was formed. Scientists have coral proxy records from the Atlantic, Indian, and Pacific oceans, with most of these going back 400 years. Coral proxy records indicate sea surface warming in most tropical locations over the past century.


Source: Environmental Defense Fund
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3) How we know human activity is causing warming
We know the planet is warming — scientists have a clear understanding why

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Svante Arrhenius
The theory of global warming is nothing new. The Nobel Prize-winning chemist Svante Arrhenius first proposed the idea of global warming in 1896. Carbon dioxide, he knew, traps heat in the Earth's atmosphere. He also knew that burning coal and oil releases carbon dioxide (CO2).

Arrhenius speculated that continued burning of coal and oil would increase concentrations of CO2 in the Earth's atmosphere, making the planet warmer. It's called thegreenhouse effect.

What warms the Earth?To determine what is causing today's rapid global warming, scientists have examined all the factors that can affect the Earth's temperature. There are essentially three factors that could be responsible for recent rapid global warming:

  1. The sun
  2. Earth's reflectivity
  3. Greenhouse gases
Which of these is causing our current global warming?

It's not the sun: cause of little warming since 1750, none since 1980sUltimately, the climate system is powered by the sun: all else being equal, if you turn up the sun, you'll warm up the Earth. According to IPCC estimates, the sun has accounted for just a small portion of warming since 1750. A study of more recent solar activity has demonstrated that since about 1985 the sun has changed in ways that, if anything, should have cooled the planet—even as global temperatures have been rising. So the sun is not causing global warming.

It's not reflectivity: changes point to cooling, not warmingAround 30% of the sun's energy that reaches the Earth is reflected back into space. Changes in how much sunlight is absorbed, and how much is reflected, can affect global temperatures. Using satellite and land-based observations and computer models, scientists have calculated how Earth's reflectivity has changed over time.

These calculations suggest that human-produced particulate pollution, especially reflective sulfur-containing particles, have had a cooling effect on the climate, masking some of the warming effect of greenhouse gases. In fact, the slight decrease in global temperature between 1945 and 1975 was likely caused by a combination of rising particulate pollution and natural factors. Warming resumed after 1975 when industrialized countries began to clean up their particulate pollution while continuing to increase their greenhouse gas emissions.

As for human land use changes (primarily forest clearing for agriculture), they have on balance brightened the planet since 1750. This would have a cooling effect, yet we've seen warming. Changes in the frequency of volcanic eruptions, which can send reflective particles up into the stratosphere, also cannot explain the observed warming trend. So reflectivity is not causing global warming.

All the evidence points to greenhouse gases

That leaves the greenhouse effect as the only remaining scientific explanation for the rise in global temperatures in recent decades. We have direct measurements of CO2concentrations in the atmosphere going back more than 50 years, and indirect measurements (from ice cores) going back hundreds of thousands of years. These measurements confirm that concentrations are rising rapidly.

Historic CO2 levels 

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The amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is higher than at any time in measurable history, and predicted to increase dramatically this century. Source: GlobalChange.gov

Though natural amounts of CO2 have varied from 180 to 300 parts per million (ppm), today's CO2 levels are around 390 ppm. That's 30% more than the highest natural levels over the past 800,000 years. Increased CO2 levels have contributed to periods of higher average temperatures throughout that long record. (Boden, Carbon Dioxide Information Analysis Center)

We also know the additional CO2 in the atmosphere comes mainly from coal and oil, because the chemical composition of the CO2 contains a unique "fingerprint."

As far as scientists are concerned, it's case closed: human activity is causing the Earth to get warmer, primarily through the burning of fossil fuels, with a smaller contribution from deforestation. All other scientific explanations for why the Earth is getting warmer have been eliminated.

World view of human impact on temperature since 1900 

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Continental and global temperatures modeled with and without human influence show the impact of human activity on global warming. 
View full-size. Source:IPCC 2007: WG1 AR4 Figure SPM.4 
Source: Environmental Defense Fund 


4) Climate change impacts
The effects of warming on our world can be seen today


The Earth could warm another 2 to 11.5°F this century if we fail to reduce emissions from burning fossil fuels and deforestation—devastating our livelihoods and the natural world we cherish.

Impacts on the world around usBiodiversity lossThousands of species risk extinction from disappearing habitat, changing ecosystems and acidifying oceans. According to the IPCC, climate change will put some 20% to 30% of species globally at increasingly high risk of extinction, possibly by 2100.

  • Decline in polar bears - Arctic sea ice is the polar bear's feeding habitat. As sea ice disappears, bear mortality rises. In 2008, the polar bear became the first animal to be added to the Endangered Species Act list of threatened species because of global warming.

    The U.S. Geological Survey has warned that two-thirds of the world's polar bear populations could be lost by mid-century as sea ice continues to retreat.

  • Acidifying oceans - About one-third of the CO2 pollution from smokestacks and tailpipes is absorbed by the world's oceans, where it forms carbonic acid. A 2010 study published in Nature Geoscience warns that unchecked greenhouse gas emissions could cause oceans to acidify at a rate unprecedented in at least the last 65 million years.

  • Coral bleaching - Coral reefs are highly sensitive to small changes in water temperature. Heat triggers corals to shed the algae that nourish them—a bleaching event that leaves coral white.

    In 1998, the world's coral suffered its worst year on record, which left 16% bleached or dead. (ISRS statement [PDF]) Continued warming could cause mass bleachings to become an annual event within the next few decades, wiping out many reef ecosystems.

  • Shifting habitat - As the mercury rises, plants and animals are shifting their ranges toward the poles and to higher altitudes, and migration patterns for animals as diverse as whales and butterflies are being disrupted.

  • Threats to Western forests - The U.S. Geological Survey reports that slight changes in the climate may trigger abrupt ecosystem changes that may be irreversible.

    All told, the Rocky Mountains in Canada and the U.S. have seen nearly 70,000 square miles of forest die – an area the size of Washington state – since 2000 due to outbreaks of tree-killing insects.

Thinning ice, rising seas 

Rising seas are one of the most certain effects of global warming as warming ocean waters expand and melting glaciers, ice caps and ice sheets add more water to the oceans. The IPCC estimates that melting ice caps and glaciers—which are some of our most visible indicators of climate change—accounted for about 25% of sea level rise from 1993 to 2003.

  • Arctic sea ice is shrinking - Satellite images show that the extent of Arctic summer sea ice has decreased by almost 9% per decade since 1979. The Arctic summer could be ice-free by mid-century, according to a study by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

    The three lowest minimum extents of Arctic sea ice were reached in 2007, 2008 and 2010. Source: NOAAVisualizations

  • Sea level rise - During the 20th century, sea level rose an average of 7 inches after 2,000 years of relatively little change. The 2007 IPCC report conservatively predicts that sea levels could rise 10 to 23 inches by 2100 if current warming patterns continue.

    In the U.S., roughly 100 million people live in coastal areas within 3 feet of mean sea level. Low-lying cities such as Boston, Miami and New York are vulnerable.

    The U.S. Geological Survey, EPA and NOAA issued a joint report in 2009 warning that most mid-Atlantic coastal wetlands from New York to North Carolina will be lost with a sea level rise of 3 feet or more. North Carolina's barrier islands would be significantly breached and flooding would destroy the Florida Everglades.

  • Melting glaciers - A 2005 survey of 442 glaciers from the World Glacier Monitoring Service found that 90% of the world's glaciers are shrinking as the planet warms.

    Glacier National Park now has only 25 glaciers, versus 150 in 1910. At the current rate of retreat, the glaciers in Glacier National Park could be gone in a matter of decades, according to some scientists.
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Photos from 1938, 1981, 1998 and 2009 show the disappearance of Grinnell Glacier. Credit: 1938 T.J. Hileman photo, Courtesy of GNP Archives; 1981 Carl Key photo, USGS; 1998 D. Fagre photo, USGS; 2009 Lindsey Bengtson photo, USGS. Source: USGS


Threats to people around the globe

Extreme weather will become more frequent—and more dangerous.The World Meteorological Organization reported that 2000-2009 was the hottest decade on record, with eight of the hottest 10 years having occurred since 2000.

It's not just the heat that poses threats. Scientists say global warming is speeding up the cycling of water between the ocean, atmosphere and land, resulting in more intense rainfall and droughts at the same time across the globe.

  • A surge in wildfiresHot, dry conditions create a tinderbox ideal for wildfires. This could have a devastating impact on America's Southwest.
  • Increased floodingThe 2007 IPCC report concludes that intense rain events have increased in frequency during the last 50 years and that human-induced global warming has been a factor.
  • Increased droughtThere have also been increased periods of drought, particularly in famine-stricken areas of Africa and Asia. According to the National Center for Atmospheric Research, the percentage of Earth's surface suffering drought has more than doubled since the 1970s. In Africa alone, the IPCC projects that between 75 and 250 million people will be exposed to increased water stress due to climate change.
  • More intense hurricanesAs the oceans warm, scientists predict that hurricane intensity could increase. The associated storm surge poses particular risk to low-lying coastal cities like Miami, Charleston (SC) and Wilmington (NC).

Threats to human health

A warming planet threatens people worldwide, causing deaths, spreading insect-borne diseases and exacerbating respiratory illnesses. Extreme weather will also put more people in harm's way.

The World Health Organization believes that even the modest increases in average temperature that have occurred since the 1970s are responsible for at least 150,000 extra deaths a year—a figure that will double by 2030, according to WHO's conservative estimate.

  • Devastating heat waves - Recent studies show extreme heat events that now occur once every 20 years will occur about every other year in much of the country, if current trends continue.

    In 1995, Chicago suffered a heat wave that killed more than 700 people. Chicagoans could experience that kind ofrelentless heat up to three times a year by 2100.

  • Spread of disease - Diseases such as malaria and dengue fever could become more difficult to control in areas where it's currently too cold for them to spread year-round. The malaria parasite itself is generally limited to certain areas by cooler winter temperatures since it is not able to grow below 16°C. As temperatures rise, diseases can grow and disease vectors (the carriers that transmit disease, such as mosquitoes) will mature more rapidly and have longer active seasons.

  • Worsening air quality - More hot days mean ripe conditions for ground-level ozone, or smog, which forms when pollutants from tailpipes and smokestacks mix in sunny, stagnant conditions. Higher temperatures cause higher emissions of one type of pollutant, namely hydrocarbons and other volatile organic compounds, as well as speeding up the chemical reactions that form ozone smog.

    Smog triggers asthma attacks and worsens other breathing problems. The number of Americans with asthma has more than doubled over the past two decades to 20 million. Continued warming will only worsen the problem.


Source: Environmental Defense Fund


Satellites see unprecedented Greenland ice sheet surface melt


July 24, 2012: The Greenland ice sheet melted at a faster rate this month than at any other time in recorded history, with virtually the entire ice sheet showing signs of thaw.

The rapid melting over just four days was captured by three satellites. It has stunned and alarmed scientists, and deepened fears about the pace and future consequences of climate change .

In a statement posted on Nasa 's website on Tuesday, scientists admitted the satellite data was so striking  they thought at first there had to be a mistake.

"This was so extraordinary that at first I questioned the result: was this real or was it due to a data error?" Son Nghiem of Nasa's jet propulsion laboratory in Pasadena said in the release. 
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He consulted with several colleagues, who confirmed his findings. Dorothy Hall, who studies the surface temperature of Greenland at Nasa's space flight centre in Greenbelt, Maryland, confirmed that the area experienced unusually high temperatures in mid-July, and that there was widespread melting over the surface of the ice sheet.

Climatologists Thomas Mote, at the University of Georgia, and Marco Tedesco, of the City University of New York, also confirmed the melt recorded by the satellites.

However, scientists were still coming to grips with the shocking images on Tuesday. "I think it's fair to say that this is unprecedented," Jay Zwally, a glaciologist at Nasa's Goddard Space Flight Center, told the Guardian.

The set of images released by Nasa on Tuesday show a rapid thaw between 8 July and 12 July. Within that four-day period, measurements from three satellites showed a swift expansion of the area of melting ice, from about 40% of the ice sheet surface to 97%.

Zwally, who has made almost yearly trips to the Greenland ice sheet for more than three decades, said he had never seen such a rapid melt.

About half of Greenland's surface ice sheet melts during a typical summer, but Zwally said he and other scientists had been recording an acceleration of that melting process over the last few decades. This year his team had to rebuild their camp, at Swiss Station, when the snow and ice supports melted.

He said he was most surprised to see indications in the images of melting even around the area of Summit Station, which is about two miles above sea level.

It was the second unusual event in Greenland in a matter of days, after an iceberg the size of Manhattan broke off from the Petermann Glacier. But the rapid melt was viewed as more serious.

"If you look at the 8 July image that might be the maximum extent of warming you would see in the summer," Zwally noted. "There have been periods when melting might have occurred at higher elevations briefly – maybe for a day or so – but to have it cover the whole of Greenland like this is unknown, certainly in the time of satellite records." Lora Koenig, another Goddard glaciologist, told Nasa similar rapid melting occurs about every 150 years. But she warned there were wide-ranging potential implications from this year's thaw.

"If we continue to observe melting events like this in upcoming years, it will be worrisome." she told Nasa.

The most immediate consequences are sea level rise and a further warming of the Arctic. In the centre of Greenland, the ice remains up to 3,000 metres deep. On the edges, however, the ice is much, much thinner and has been melting into the sea.

The melting ice sheet is a significant factor in sea level rise. Scientists attribute about one-fifth of the annual sea level rise, which is about 3mm every year, to the melting of the Greenland ice sheet.

In this instance of this month's extreme melting, Mote said there was evidence of a heat dome over Greenland: or an unusually strong ridge of warm air.

The dome is believed to have moved over Greenland on 8 July, lingering until 16 July.

Source

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A word from Anthony Marr

Referring to the Huffington article [World Nearing Tipping Point For Disastrous Breakdown, Study Finds], someone asked me, "If the world is on the brink, why don't I feel it?"

The answer is three-fold:

  • Earth's atmosphere and hydrosphere are both immense. Any cause-input will take 2-3 decades to produce the effect-output. This said, the cause-input began becoming significant as of about mid-last-century, and it has been continuous and increasing. So, in spite of the time lag, we've had measurable results, chief amongst which is the 0.9C mean global temperature rise from the baseline of 1880 when the Industrial Revolution began. Also more than obvious are the melting glaciers around the world, including those in the Himalayas, Greenland and the Antarctic, and the Arctic sea ice. Of course none of these is in anyone's backyard, so, for those with no or little awareness beyond their own physical or event horizons, "nothing is happening".

  • Carbon dioxide is a stable gas and is therefore cumulative in the atmosphere to continue warming the planet for centuries to come. Even if we stopped burning fossil fuels yesterday, what we have already pumped into the atmosphere will be enough to trigger the deadly Methane Time Bomb. But, for now, nothing seems to be happening, and we carry on business as usual.

  • Least known is the mechanism of latent (hidden) heat. Anyone who does not know what Latent Heat is will have a false sense of security. It is not hard to understand if I do not use physics jargon. Place on a hot stove a pot of cold water containing 1 kg of ice cubes. Stir the ice water with a long thermometer and take temperature readings. My question is: When will the thermometer begin to show a rise in temperature? Answer: After all the ice has melted. In other words, all the heat from the stove would first all go into melting the ice, without raising the water temperature. The amount of heat entering a system without raising the temperature of the system is called Latent Heat. It takes 80 calories of heat to melt one gram of ice. So in this case, the first 80,000 calories of heat from the stove went into melting the 1 kg of ice first. Only when the ice is all gone will the water temperature rise, and it will do so until it reaches 100C, when the water will begin to boil. Once again, Latent Heat comes into play, and the water temperature will stabilize at the boiling point - until all the water have changed from liquid to vapour, at which point the temperature of the dry pot will rise to the temperature of the flame itself. So how does this apply to Earth's climate? Consider the Arctic Ocean to be a gigantic pot of ice water, and the sun as the stove. For as long as there is still sea ice to melt, the Arctic Ocean will remain relatively cool, in spite of the ever increasing solar heat entering the Arctic ocean due to ever decreasing ice cover. When the sea ice is gone in the summer, as early as the latter part of this decade, the Arctic Ocean's temperature will steeply rise, and when it does, so will the global mean temperature, and all hell will break lose.

So, enjoy the "Arctic Air Conditioner" while it lasts, and be prepared to sweat after it quits. And when it happens, believe me, you will feel the heat!

Source 

Anthony Marr, founder and president
Heal Our Planet Earth (HOPE) 
www.HOPE-CARE.org   
www.MySpace.com/AnthonyMarr   
www.YouTube.com/AnthonyMarr  
www.HomoSapiensSaveYourEarth.blogspot.com  
www.ARConference.org  



What to do:

If we all wanted to fix the global warming, it wouldn't be a problem. Trouble is, not everybody believes it is a problem.

So, if there's one thing to be done, first and foremost, it is this:
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CHANGE SOMEBODY'S MIND!

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Climate change is the greatest threat facing our world today - and we are almost out of time to stop it. The world's foremost climate science body has concluded, that humankind has the technology to stop a climate catastrophe - but only with bold government action. Governments must tackle this problem now, decisively and together. And it's up to the world's people to demand that their leaders listen to the scientists. 

Write to politicians, write to businesses; tell them your concerns. Click to find your elected representative in the USA, UK, Canada, Australia, and at the EU.

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