Our children will accuse us
Wed, 02/03/2010 - 13:43 green
You can see the trailer of the film "Nos enfants nous accuseront" with english subtitles at http://nosenfantsnousaccuseront-lefilm.com/bande-annonce.html. It is the first time in history that a generation is in worse health than the previous one...
Some facts about de-forestation of the Rain Forest
Sun, 01/03/2010 - 23:05 green
- 70 to 80% of deforestation results from cattle ranches
- 10 to 15% results from small-scale subsistence agriculture
- 10 to 15% results from large-scale farming (i.e. soybeans) only, since these farms are mostly not settled in the Rain Forest
Even if not having a direct impact the Large-Scale Soybean farms have a quite significant indirect impact in the Amazon, displacing small landholders who then clear virgin forest areas and providing "...key economic and political impetus for new highways and infrastructure projects, which accelerate deforestation by other actors..." according to Philip Fearnside. Read more at Mongabay : http://news.mongabay.com/2008/0801-amazon.html
These 3 satellite images show a portion of the state of Rondônia in Brazil with corresponding years. (http://earthshots.usgs.gov/Rondonia/Rondonia)
Approximately 30% of the world's tropical forests are in Brazil. Deforestation starts along roads and then fans out to create "fish-bones".
Loss of trees in the world’s largest rain forest could increase the amount of atmospheric carbon dioxide by roughly 200 tons each year, raising the threat of global warming. But a recent study in the Amazon rain forest shows that some types of logging may not negatively impact the carbon cycle as originally thought. Read more at : http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Features/recovery/
This gives some hope on Amazon future since it could give tools to the Brazilian government in order to mitigate the disaster and why not reverse the trend...
About Biofuel, this article from Nature.org gives a positive note about Brazil stepping in biofuel production : "While Brazil is well on its way to becoming an agricultural superpower, it can also become an environmental model," says Cleary. The report argues that Brazil should channel its agricultural expansion into lands that have already been cleared for cattle ranching, and that the country should move to conciliate agriculture and more intensive ranching." The report, coauthored by the Conservancy and LMC International, a respected U.K. agricultural commodities consultancy and market intelligence group, says that between 29 and 133 million acres of land will be required to meet the global demand for biofuels up to 2014.
read More at : http://www.nature.org/wherewework/southamerica/brazil/work/art26530.html
Journalism and freedom of speech
Fri, 01/01/2010 - 21:38 — green
 Reporters Without Borders (RFS-Reporters Sans Frontières) publish statistics about journalism threats and evolutions in 2008/2009. Read more at Rsf.org. Rfs.org say that the most dangerous situations are wars and disputed elections, making reference to Philippines and Iran. The evolution 2008/2009 shows negative trend.
Cattle - with beautiful eyes and big stomachs
Thu, 12/17/2009 - 16:26 green
Read more at : http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=49643
"Cattle farming in Brazil is the leading cause of greenhouse gas emissions, as it is responsible for four-fifths of the deforestation of the Amazon rainforest and three-fourths of the burning of forests and vegetation throughout the country, besides emitting most of the country's methane, an important greenhouse gas produced in the digestive system of cattle. "
When it comes to private matters ; e.g. changing our diet to save the world, the first reaction is "we are lost !". It means that our future is in the hand of the omnivorous crowd and no government will be there to prevent this to happen. The mass and its media are queen sisters. However if you consider what happened in the seventies, the hippies were looked as irresponsible dreamers and now we see that their claims have deeply impacted our culture. Could it be the same with vegetarians ? They are the new hippies of now times, they are considered dreamers without stamina and they make people uncomfortable. But what if tomorrow we say "they were right" ?
The solution ?
Reduce the number of Kg of meat you eat every month and you will be absolved.
If you are afraid of anemia and have no cooking science to make balanced meal then eat Spirulina...
Electric car of the future
Wed, 12/16/2009 - 22:06 green
 Read more at : http://www.designboom.com/weblog/cat/16/view/83 92/william-j-mitchell-and...
"integrating (1) smart battery-electric vehicles, (2) recharging infrastructure, (3) smart electric grids, and (4) mobility-on-demand through (5) urban-scale electronic nervous systems provides the foundation for creating smart sustainable cities. these cities achieve high levels of operational efficiency – and, in particular, energy efficiency and carbon minimization." - William j. Mitchell.
It is true that the main challenge in new ways of locomotion is the setup of an adequate infrastructure. Since a large proportion of the population owns more than one car in developed countries we can imagine that family budget is not the real problem. The main breakthrough seems to be related to recharging infrastructure and battery efficiency. The former will certainly find a development in cities where traffic density allow, together with govs subsidies, a rapid ROI. The latter is under high focus, in term of technology, pollution it can, or not, generate, and comfort of use, solutions.
If you have a look at the design picture in the linked page you'll appreciate the ingenious way the proposed electric car can reduce its volume.
Propolis - The medecine from Olympus
Sun, 12/13/2009 - 06:38 bwebb
http://propolisforum.wordpress.com/
The principle of propolis is to provide our immune system with complex molecules it will use as a material (and/or fuel) to increase its immune capabilities. This specificity is difficult to assess by current science still in its infancy when it comes to study synergies and complex systems.
This blog aims to gather comments from Propolis "connaisseurs”
GoodGuide iPhone - for smart green shopping
Fri, 12/11/2009 - 05:28 green
GoodGuide iPhone application allow you to find safe, healthy, and sustainable products while you shop.
By scanning the barcode of the product with your camera you see ratings of the product in term of health, environment and social responsibility.
The database includes at the moment more than 50,000 products and companies.
http://www.goodguide.com/about/mobile
Even if 50,000 products is not yet a lot, worldwide, we can guess that it is just a beginning and that this feature will grow , grow, grow !!!!
Less paper - Online collaboration
Sun, 12/06/2009 - 23:19 bwebb
In the section "Less Paper":
Welcome to FlockDraw !
FlockDraw gives the "simple" possibility to share online a basic whiteboard for understanding each other when words are not sufficient.
Go there: http://flockdraw.com/
It will allocate you a webpage, which address you can give to your correspondent to start writing and sharing white board. When a quick sketch is better than a long speech....
Wahooooo , a concurrent to GoogleWave ,
namely 12sprints, from SAP, is emerging in Beta these days. Developed by the Business Object division, which focus on Business Intelligence SW, the tool nickname is called virtual war room. A bit dramatic, is it because war is declared between the 2 giants ?
Cradle to Cradle or how to integrate Economy in the global Eco-System
Sun, 12/06/2009 - 20:48 green
Find the book at Amazon.com
Emilia Hazelip
Fri, 12/04/2009 - 19:45 green
This is a text we have been gathering from Emilia in order to publish under Afrojazz.com pages for her ONG Las Encantadas in 1999.
Afrojazz.com will no longer publish this information reason I migrate the contents here. The texts are in French and German.
French section
Théorie
" Soigner la Terre en soignant le sol pour se soigner soi-même "
L’ Agriculture Synergétique utilise l’autofertilité d’un sol maintenu sauvage en évitant les traumatismes des labours, binages, etc. considérés nécessaires pour la production végétale depuis que l’agriculture a été inventé.
Lorsque le sol a son propre dynamisme, l’apport de fertilisants compensateurs: compost, fumier ou autres engrais, ne sont plus nécessaires.
Depuis 1937 le microbiologiste et agriculteur japonais, Masanobu Fukuoka a travaillé pour le développement d’une agriculture profondément écologique qu’il a nommé Agriculture Naturelle.
Emilia Hazelip est une agricultrice qui depuis le début des années 60 pratique l’agriculture biologique; elle s’intéressa au travail de Fukuoka en 1978 lors de la parution de son livre: La Révolution d’un seul brin de paille.
Les adaptations culturelles et climatiques que Emilia Hazelip a développé au fil des années de recherche pour une agriculture du non-labour, et a laquelle elle a donné le nom d’agriculture synergétique car cette technique utilise la loi de la synergie pour la production végétale.
Dans une cassette vidéo le système est expliqué et les images montrent sur le terrain les pas à suivre pour l’application de cette méthode.
Video et Documentation
Culture de la Terre en Synergie
Depuis 1937 le microbiologiste et agriculteur japonais Masanobu Fukuoka a travaillé pour le développement d’une agriculture profondément écologique.
Emilia Hazelip est une agricultrice qui depuis le début des années 60 pratique l’agriculture biologique. Elle s’intéressa au travail de Fukuoka en 1978 lors de la parution de son livre : “ La Révolution d’un seul brin de paille ”
Cette vidéo montre les adaptations culturelles et climatiques que Madame Hazelip au fil des années de recherche pour une agriculture du non-labour a développé et qu’elle nomme “ Agriculture Synergétique ”
Le système est expliqué et les images montrent sur le terrain les pas à suivre pour l’application de cette méthode.
Reportages Vidéo : Bérengère Tack, tél : 04 93 42 84 94
Copyright : Avril 1995. Clin d’œil vidéo
German section
Marc Bonfils ist ein unabhängiger, französischer Pflanzenbau-Forscher, der sich mit der Produktion von Kulturpflanzen beschäftigt und dabei die Selbstfruchtbarkeit des Bodens zur Ernährung der Pflanzen nutzt. Seine Forschungen beziehen alle Aspekte der Landwirtschaft mit ein.
Die Association Las Encantadas hat seit 1985 einige seiner Werke in Fotokopien verteilt und den Bericht über Marc's Seminar zu Getreide und Bienenzucht ins Englische übersetzt und seine Forschungen (v.a. Emilia Hazelip) fortgeführt.
Masanobu Fukuoka, japanischer Autor der Bücher:
* Der Große Weg hat kein Tor
* Die Suche nach dem verlorenen Paradies
* In Harmonie mit der Natur
... großer Befürworter eine neuen "natürlichen Landwirtschaft" im Einklang mit der Natur. Hat sich insbesondere mit dem vereinfachten Anbau von Reis in Japan beschäftigt. Sein jetziges großes Ziel ist die Begrünung der Wüsten dieser Erde. Dazu reiste er auch im hohen Alter um die Welt um für seine Pläne zu werben.
Fukuoka-Bonfils-Methode Die Fukuoka-Bonfils-Methode zur Aussaat von Winterweizen in Nordeuropa ist auf die Sommer- und Wintersonnenwende abgestimmt. Die Weizensamen werden um den Johannistag (21.Juni) in einen Teppich von mehrjährigem Klee eingesät. Dank der frühen Ausaat nützt das Getreide die Bedingungen, die eine lange Tageszeit (starke Sonneneinstrahlung und maximale Photosynthese) bietet, zu seinem größtmöglichen Vorteil aus. Diese Photosynthese erlaubt die Entwicklung eines robusten Wurzelsystems, bevor sie den Winter erleben. Im Winter ruhen sie, nachdem sie intensiv Mineralien und Spurenelemente assimiliert haben, begünstigt durch die Aktivität der Bakterien im Boden. Wenn der Winter vorbei ist, ist der Weizen gut auf die Blüte und die ungehinderte Entwicklung des Korns vorbereitet und kann so im Hochsommer seine schweren Ähren anbieten. Wenn die Pflanzen 60 cm in jeder Richtung voneinander entfernt angebaut werden, verbrauchen sie sich nicht durch gegenseitige Konkurrenz und entwickeln sich so gesund, dass mehrere Jahre hintereinander Weizen angebaut werden kann. Im immer reifer werdenden Acker wird jedesmal am Johannistag die neue Saat eingebracht. Dieses ausgewogene System kann mehr als 10t/ha jedes Jahr bringen. Das Potential, welches in dem Zyklus der Umwandlungen enthalten ist, wird bestmöglichst genutzt, von der Aufnahme von Mineralstoffen bis zu ihrer Verfügbarkeit für alle Lebewesen.
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