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Fighting global water scarcity
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Maude Barlow, the author of a new book “Blue Covenant”, and the leader of an international water justice movement has drawn attention to the half-hearted efforts to protect water. Waste and abuse of water could lead to serious consequences that could be at par with those of greenhouse emissions. It is depleting underground water tables, aggravating desertification, and even interrupting the circulation of water around the world.
Barlow has argued that people are mining underground water way faster than it can be replenished. Where farmers are using technology to pull water from deep underground, they fail to realize that water took thousands of years to fill aquifers.
Barlow is at loggerheads with the point of view shared by financial players, politicians and non-profit workers which suggests that virtual water trade and trading credits generated by not polluting water could be the best bet. According to her, tougher laws placing harsh penalties on polluters and increasing the amount of the world’s urban greenery such as green roofs or forest and meadow zones may be a better approach. In a world increasingly given to urbanizing mores, we are fast losing many of the meadows and green spaces that absorb water, while in coastal megacities, much of the rain water flowing straight into the ocean is evaporating and reaching the atmosphere.
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The green show-stealer
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The International Motor Show in Geneva this month stood out for showcasing two small electric cars from the stables of Norway electric carmaker, Think Global. General Electric has invested a sum of $4 million investment from GE for the development of the carmaker’s longer-range models.
Think has introduced Think Ox, a futuristic five-seat crossover concept, which will sport a translucent roof with a solar panel. The other model is Think City, a tiny two-door that offers a 120-mile range with a top speed of 65 mph. Think City will be priced around $30,000.
Think’s “connect car” technology makes the Think City and Ox Internet-connected, and helps to calculate the cheapest and most environmentally beneficial times to recharge. GE Energy Financial Services (GE) also has invested $20 million in Massachusetts lithium-ion battery maker A123Systems, which will supply batteries to Think. GE’s scientists will work to improve battery technology for electric cars.
The New York International Auto Show is expected to launch several alternative fuel cars.
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EARTH HOUR - Take a stand and make an impact
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Earth Hour started in Sydney, Australia in 2007, and in one year has acquired the might of a global movement. Today millions of people, businesses, governments and civic organizations in various cities around the globe will turn out for Earth Hour. We invite everyone in the U.K. around the world to turn off the lights for an hour starting at 8 p.m. (your own local time). whether at home or at work, with friends and family or solo, in a big city or a small town.
Make a definitive statement today and help to spread the message. Play your part in helping to fight climate change.
Throw in ideas for what you would do during Earth Hour!
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A case for the green lifestyle
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A common habit mostly seen in children and youth in today’s society is a tendency to waste food. However much we despise it, children these days are spoilt for choices and allowed to be picky with their food. They promptly discard fresh vegetables and snack on greasy stuff to glory. Much of the edible food that constitutes healthy eating find their way in trash bins and ultimately into the land fills.
The 'value meals' restaurants advertise, also leads to food getting thrown away as nobody eats it all - causing harm to the world as well as to the body. In the throw-away-society we have created, impulsive buying, lousy food planning, a busy lifestyle and callousness adds to the woes of an already stressed out planet.
Healthy eating affords a range of choices in grains, veggies and fruits, including the organic versions and increases energy and strengthens the immune system in a way no junk or processed food can.
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Israel’s green streak strikes a chord abroad
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Israel has been developing water technologies for decades now, and is now exporting its products abroad where it is finding eager buyers. Israeli companies are harnessing everything from bacteria to ultraviolet light technology, to treat, purify and reuse water. They have developed a unique recycling system using millions of small, plastic rings to breed bacteria and break down organic waste.
Netafim, a company that familiarized the world with a water-sparing process known as drip irrigation was founded by Simcha Blass, an engineer and a kibbutz farming collective in the Negev desert. Today, Netafim nets more than $450 million in annual sales, mostly exports. It also aims to double its exports in the sector to $2 billion by 2010. One of its newest products, a wireless crop monitoring system, uses the concept of underground sensors and radios to ensure the right amount of water reaches each section of a field.
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