submitted by Samuel Bendett

Homeland Security News Wire - February 23, 2012

The heat wave that struck western Russia in summer 2010 killed 55,000 people and caused $15 billion in damage; a new study concludes that soaring temperatures were within the natural range for a Russian summer, but that due to human-induced climate change, the chance of such an extreme heat wave has tripled over the past several decades

The heat wave that struck western Russia in summer 2010, killing 55,000 people, broke July temperatures records and caused $15 billion in damage. Searching for a culprit for the soaring temperatures, research teams have identified either natural or manmade causes. A new study concludes, however, that the devastating heat wave had both. Soaring temperatures were within the natural range for a Russian summer, the researchers found, but due to human-induced climate change, the chance of such an extreme heat wave has tripled over the past several decades.

submitted by Mike Kraft

stefanomele.it

In its seventh edition, the World Economic Forum´s Global Risks Report features more refined risk descriptions and rigorous data analysis covering 50 global risks. It aims to improve public and private sector efforts to map, monitor, manage and mitigate global risks. It is also a “call to action” for the international community to improve current efforts at coordination and collaboration, as none of the global risks highlighted respects national boundaries.

(READ COMPLETE ARTICLE)

World Economic Forum - Global Risks 2012 - Seventh Edition (64 page .PDF file)

http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_GlobalRisks_Report_2012.pdf

submitted by Gigi Pomerantz

 by gbastinwsup - Sanitation Updates - February 20, 2012

Financing water and sanitation improvements for the very poor remains a major challenge over large areas of the globe.

In the lead-up to World Water Forum 2012, sector specialists throughout the world have been asked to report specific solutions for addressing this challenge. Based on these concrete examples, IRC and WSUP today propose six key solutions for pro-poor WASH finance.

(READ COMPLETE ARTICLE)

Image / FlyingSinger/CC BY 2.0/Flickr

stockholmresilience.org

Tipping towards the unknown

submitted by Samuel Bendett

by Zack Whittaker - zdnet.com - February 13, 2012

Summary: A new Forrester research report sees over 1 billion smartphones being used by 2016, while app store spending increases and ‘bring your own’ device becomes the norm.

In a world where already you cannot travel on the subway without someone flipping out their cellphone, or stand at a Starbucks without someone yapping away on their iPhone, imagine what’ll happen with 1 billion smartphones out there?

Forrester seems to think so. Analysts at Forrester believe that by 2016 — only four years away, and in time for the following Olympics — there could be as many as 1 billion smartphones on the planet. This isn’t to say that everyone will have two or more smartphones, that is.

(READ COMPLETE ARTICLE)

Revolutionaries, anti -government activist  are tearing down signs and renaming "streets, bridges and boulevards" and replacing them with their heroes.
It seems it began from Social Media using Facebook to gain support, and now they are electronically renaming the same in Google maps.

(ARTICLE FOUND HERE) by Colum Lynch, The Washington Post with Foreign Policy,WORLD,National Security February 14,2012

Gabon at the Congo Basin, the second largest tropical forest in Africa

Loango Lodge at Gabon,Loango National Park.

Tourism needed to save Gabon,the park, the land, the animals and to utilize its natural resources.
Political issues cause setbacks for Gabon and its Eco-Tourism vision ,new President new outlook.

(ARTICLE FOUND HERE) BBC NEWS, by David Baron,PRI's The World, February 7,2012

The Washington Post - February 2, 2012

Jack Guez/AFP/Getty Images - Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak, right, walks with U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta in Tel Aviv last October. Barak said that time is running out for stopping Iran’s nuclear advance, as the country’s uranium facilities disappear into newly constructed mountain bunkers.

submitted by Albert Gomez

un.org - January 30, 2012

Report

The High-level Panel on Global Sustainability presents its report to the Secretary-General on 30 January 2012 in Addis Ababa.

The 22-member Panel, established by the Secretary-General in August 2010 to formulate a new blueprint for sustainable development and low-carbon prosperity, was co-chaired by Finnish President Tarja Halonen and South African President Jacob Zuma. The Panel's final report, "Resilient People, Resilient Planet: A Future Worth Choosing", contains 56 recommendations to put sustainable development into practice and to mainstream it into economic policy as quickly as possible.

submitted by Janine Rees

Image Gallery - REUTERS / Mohamed Nureldin Abdallah

by Terry J. Allen, from In These Times - utne.com - January-February 2012

A 21st-century land rush is on. Driven by fear and lured by promises of high profits, foreign investors are scooping up vast tracts of farmland in some of the world’s hungriest countries to grow crops for export.

As the climate changes and populations shift and grow, billions of people around the globe face shortages of land and water, rising food prices, and increasing hunger. Alarm over a future without affordable food and water is sparking unrest in a world already tinder-dried by repression and recession, corruption and mismanagement, boundary disputes and ancient feuds, ethnic tension and religious fundamentalism.

(READ COMPLETE ARTICLE)

     A major international conference focusing on solutions to the global sustainability challenge.

Planet under Pressure Registration deadline extension

The Planet Under Pressure management team is extending the oral presenters registration deadline to Friday 9 December and poster author registration deadline to 20 January 2012. This is in response to feedback from some delegates who require more time to identify funding opportunities.

Registration Fees

£275 + UK VAT @ 20% = £330.00 Earlybird Delegates
(delegates registering up to and including 20 January 2012)

£375 + UK VAT @ 20% = £450.00 Standard Delegates
(delegates registering after 20 January 2012)

£250 + UK VAT @ 20% = £300.00 Students

All above fees are subject to a £35 per person carbon offset contribution. This additional fee will be included on registration.

Argil carries water to her family who are fleeing after fighting broke out, near the Blue Nile state capital al-Damazin (Mohamed Nureldin Abdallah Reuters, REUTERS / September 5, 2011)

dailypress.com - Andrew Quinn - Reuters -  January 24, 2012

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States fears a large-scale famine in Sudan's restive border states of Southern Kordofan and Blue Nile and is boosting pressure in Khartoum to accept aid or face a unilateral assistance operation, a senior U.S. official said on Tuesday.

"We are feeling a lot of pressure, if there's no international access, to look at ways in which assistance would be carried across the border without their approval," Princeton Lyman, the Obama administration's special envoy for Sudan, told reporters.