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The mission of this Working Group is to enhance our understanding and relationship with the environment and ecology.

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This working group is focused on issues of Environment and Ecology to ensure resilience and sustainability for all.
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admin Albert Gomez Anthony ChrisAllen Kathy Gilbeaux Maeryn Obley
mdmcdonald MDMcDonald_me_com njchapman

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Video - TIME, GOOGLE AND NASA: Timelapse of the Earth Over the Last 30 Years

world.time.com - by Jeffrey Kluger

Spacecraft and telescopes are not built by people interested in what’s going on at home. Rockets fly in one direction: up. Telescopes point in one direction: out. Of all the cosmic bodies studied in the long history of astronomy and space travel, the one that got the least attention was the one that ought to matter most to us—Earth.

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Bee Deaths: EU to Ban Neonicotinoid Pesticides

Honeybees are vital for pollinating crops - a job that would be very costly without them

bbc.co.uk - April 29, 2013

The European Commission will restrict the use of pesticides linked to bee deaths by researchers, despite a split among EU states on the issue.

There is great concern across Europe about the collapse of bee populations.

Neonicotinoid chemicals in pesticides are believed to harm bees and the European Commission says they should be restricted to crops not attractive to bees and other pollinators.

But many farmers and crop experts argue that there is insufficient data.

(READ COMPLETE ARTICLE)

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Victory! Offshore Oil Drilling Stopped in Belize

Oceana.org    April 17, 2013   Jessica Wiseman

Yesterday, Belize’s Supreme Court declared offshore drilling contracts issued by the Government of Belize (in 2004 and 2007) null and void, providing a dramatic and potentially definitive setback to The Government of Belize and the petroleum prospecting companies issued the contracts.

The ruling, handed down by Justice Oswell Legall, was in response to a case brought by Oceana, COLA, and the Belize Coalition to Save Our Natural Heritage. It effectively ends the Belizean government’s immediate effort to allow offshore oil drilling in the Meso American Reef, the second largest barrier reef in the world.

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Dennis Meadows on 'The Limits to Growth and the Future of Humanity'

Dennis MeadowsImage: Dennis Meadows

carsoncenter.uni-muenchen.de - December 4th, 2012

2012 marks the 40th anniversary of the publication of  The Limits to Growth. Not only has this book been  translated into more than 30 languages,  it has also sold more than 30 million copies, thus making it the highest selling environmental book in world history. The Limits to Growth unleashed a debate that has yet to end.

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(VIEW PDF OF PRESENTATION)

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19-Year-Old Develops Ocean Cleanup Array That Could Remove 7,250,000 Tons Of Plastic From the World's Oceans

inhabitat.com - March 26, 2013 - Timon Singh

The Ocean Cleanup Foundation, Ocean Cleanup Array, Boyan Slat, pacific garbage patch, garbage patch, plastic fibres, plastic foodchain, plastic recycling, TED, gyres

 

19-year-old Boyan Slat has unveiled plans to create an Ocean Cleanup Array that could remove 7,250,000 tons of plastic waste from the world’s oceans. The device consists of an anchored network of floating booms and processing platforms that could be dispatched to garbage patches around the world. Instead of moving through the ocean, the array would span the radius of a garbage patch, acting as a giant funnel. The angle of the booms would force plastic in the direction of the platforms, where it would be separated from plankton, filtered and stored for recycling.

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World Bank - Study - Coastal Wetlands Highly Vulnerable to Sea-Level Rise

Sea-level rise of 1 m could destroy 60% of developing world's low-lying coastal wetlands. Photo© istockphoto.com.

worldbank.org

Sea-level rise by a meter from climate change could destroy more than 60 percent of the developing world’s coastal wetlands currently found at one meter or less elevation.

An estimate of the economic value of the goods and services produced by wetlands at risk is approximately $630 million per year in 2000 U.S. dollars.

Most of the damages would be concentrated in a few countries in East Asia, the Middle East and North Africa.

WASHINGTON, Mar 1, 2013 – A rise in sea levels by a meter from climate change could destroy more than 60 percent of the developing world’s coastal wetlands currently found at one meter or less elevation, according to a World Bank study. That would lead to economic losses of around $630 million per year.

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Study Uncovers Massive Global Yawn Over Global Warming

      

A National Guard truck drives through high water on Newark Street in Hoboken, N.J. Wednesday, Oct. 31, 2012 in the wake of superstorm Sandy.  AP Photo / Craig Ruttle

nationalpost.com - by Kelly McParland - February 26, 2013

This has to be bad news for environmental activists everywhere: a massive international study, conducted in 33 countries over 17 years, shows that people just don’t care a lot about the environment.

. . . the lack of concern is itself reason for concern.

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China Admits Existence Of Cancer Villages In Report, As Pollution Concerns Mount

            

Retirees do Taichi during their morning exercise on a hazy day in Fuyang city, in central China's Anhui province, Monday, Jan. 14, 2013. Air pollution is a major problem in China due to the country's rapid pace of industrialization, reliance on coal power, explosive growth in car ownership and disregard for environmental laws. (AP Photo)

huffingtonpost.com - by Dominique Mosbergen - February 23, 2013

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BP and government lawyers prepare for battle over environmental cost of spill

The Deepwater Horizon blast led to 780m litres of oil escaping into the Gulf of Mexico, affecting wildlife such as pelicans. Photograph: Sean Gardner/Reuters

Image: The Deepwater Horizon blast led to 780m litres of oil escaping into the Gulf of Mexico, affecting wildlife such as pelicans. Photograph: Sean Gardner/Reuters

guardian.co.uk - February 22nd, 2013 - Dominic Rushe

Dolphin calving season has just begun in the Gulf of Mexico and marine biologists are reporting an alarming trend. Between 2000 and 2009, an average of 25 to 30 dolphins were found dead on the beaches of the Gulf each year. This year, 13 dead dolphins were found between 13 January and 14 February alone; 11 were aborted or newborns.

(VIEW COMPLETE ARTICLE)

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Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species, March 3-14 2013, Bangkok, Thailand

CITES (the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, also known as the Washington Convention) will celebrate its 40th anniversary on March 3.  CITES currently has 176 parties and regulates international trade in about 30.000 endangered species of wild fauna and flora.  These species are listed in three different Appendices ( Appendix I, II and III ), according to the degree of protection they need.

Every three years, CITES hosts a meeting of the Conference of the Parties (CoP) to review its implementation and, if necessary, to amend the list of species in Appendices I and II.  The 16th Conference of the Parties will take place from March 3-14, 2013 in Bangkok, Thailand.

There will be great focus on the ocean at CoP16:

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