http://luigimaurier.livejournal.com/1249.html
We lament about killing the planet and wax poetic about saving it. We talk about making big changes and taking small actions. We warn and caution and threaten that our actions today are ruining the planet for future generations. It hasn’t done much good, but maybe that’s because we’re visual learners, and it’s hard to actually see the impact of our choices.
In just a few seconds, Engine Earth, a new offering from Google, will change that. The tool brings together the world’s satellite imagery — trillions of scientific measurements dating back almost 40 years — and speeds it up. Suddenly, changes that were undetectable before become visible in real time. And it isn’t pretty.
“We started working with the USGS in 2009 to make this historic archive of earth imagery available online,” writes Rebecca Moore, Engineering Manager, Google Earth Engine & Earth Outreach, on the company’s official blog. “Using Google Earth Engine technology, we sifted through 2,068,467 images—a total of 909 terabytes of data—to find the highest-quality pixels (e.g., those without clouds), for every year since 1984 and for every spot on Earth. We then compiled these into enormous planetary images, 1.78 terapixels each, one for each year.”
Using Landsat images from 1984 until 2012, Google Engine was created as an online with tools for scientists, independent researchers, and nations to detect changes, map trends and quantify differences on the Earth’s surface. But there’s no denying that, even for the layperson, it’s a powerful visual representation of what our rampant consumption and development has done to the planet.
In the time-lapse images, we see glaciers retreat, reservoirs dry up, cities expand out into the ocean, and forests disappear. Such dramatic changes in what is a relatively tiny chunk of time are almost sickening.
At the same time, it’s possible to imagine these images moving in reverse, if only we are willing and able to halt the destruction and move in a different direction. Think of a time lapse of solar panels being installed, or wind turbines being erected. Trees being planted or wetlands being restored. This too is possible, in just as short of a period of time, but only if we’re willing to alter our course and invest in the future.
Wednesday, June 26, 2013
Wednesday, June 5, 2013
Jakarta Crown Eco Management Brazil's Forests Profit From Destruction
http://www.socialistalternative.org/news/article19.php?id=2131
The murder in 2011 of José Cláudio Ribeiro da Silva and Maria do Espírito Santo hit international headlines. Both were environmental activists in the northern Brazilian state of Pará. Their deaths drew comparisons with other prominent campaigners who were killed in the Amazon basin, including Dorothy Stagg in 2005 and Brazilian trade unionist and environmental campaigner Chico Mendes (Francisco Alves Mendes Filho) in 1988.
Da Silva and Santo had been supporting three families occupying primary forest that had been bought by José Rodrigues Moreira with the intention of turning it into cattle pastures. The two hired killers recently received sentences of more than 40 years each. Moreira, standing trial for ordering the killings, was released.
Da Silva had been cited by human rights groups as at risk of assassination since 2008, and predicted his death six months before the event. Despite repeated death threats made to da Silva, no police protection was granted.
In 2011, 32 environmentalists were killed in Brazil, according to the Guardian. In Pará, predominantly comprised of Amazonian forest, 231 were killed between 1996 and 2010, according to Brazilian NGO, the Pastoral Land Commission (CPT). “Violence is the instrument of local capitalism. They [landowners] are proud to kill and they’re seen by some as local heroes for defending their property with blood”, said Brazilian commentator Filipe Milanez.
The Brazilian government has taken no real action to stop the ‘wild west’ agricultural capitalists in Pará. The Guardian reports that many of these, alongside speculators, are moving in to different states, such as Amazonas. According to the CPT, 918 environmentalists have been killed between 1985 and April 2011, but trials were only held in 27 instances. Chico Mendes’s killer had sent him death threats, and another state had an arrest warrant out on him for murder. Mendes informed the police of this. They took no action.
The Amazon ecological system, or biome, covers 6.7 million square kilometres, and plays an immensely important role. It makes up half the planet’s remaining rainforests, and 10% of the world’s known species, many of which are not found elsewhere. There is an estimated population of 2.7 million indigenous people, making up around 350 ethnic groups. The biome is spread over nine countries. However, 60% is in Brazil.
The Amazon basin is a large part of the carbon cycle. From the 1980s to 2004, it absorbed 1.5-2 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2 – a major greenhouse gas) a year, making it an important carbon sink. In contrast, roughly three quarters of Brazil’s greenhouse gas emissions come from deforestation through burning and rotting. The biome has a key effect on regional and global weather systems and is, in turn, impacted by changes elsewhere.
The murder in 2011 of José Cláudio Ribeiro da Silva and Maria do Espírito Santo hit international headlines. Both were environmental activists in the northern Brazilian state of Pará. Their deaths drew comparisons with other prominent campaigners who were killed in the Amazon basin, including Dorothy Stagg in 2005 and Brazilian trade unionist and environmental campaigner Chico Mendes (Francisco Alves Mendes Filho) in 1988.
Da Silva and Santo had been supporting three families occupying primary forest that had been bought by José Rodrigues Moreira with the intention of turning it into cattle pastures. The two hired killers recently received sentences of more than 40 years each. Moreira, standing trial for ordering the killings, was released.
Da Silva had been cited by human rights groups as at risk of assassination since 2008, and predicted his death six months before the event. Despite repeated death threats made to da Silva, no police protection was granted.
In 2011, 32 environmentalists were killed in Brazil, according to the Guardian. In Pará, predominantly comprised of Amazonian forest, 231 were killed between 1996 and 2010, according to Brazilian NGO, the Pastoral Land Commission (CPT). “Violence is the instrument of local capitalism. They [landowners] are proud to kill and they’re seen by some as local heroes for defending their property with blood”, said Brazilian commentator Filipe Milanez.
The Brazilian government has taken no real action to stop the ‘wild west’ agricultural capitalists in Pará. The Guardian reports that many of these, alongside speculators, are moving in to different states, such as Amazonas. According to the CPT, 918 environmentalists have been killed between 1985 and April 2011, but trials were only held in 27 instances. Chico Mendes’s killer had sent him death threats, and another state had an arrest warrant out on him for murder. Mendes informed the police of this. They took no action.
The Amazon ecological system, or biome, covers 6.7 million square kilometres, and plays an immensely important role. It makes up half the planet’s remaining rainforests, and 10% of the world’s known species, many of which are not found elsewhere. There is an estimated population of 2.7 million indigenous people, making up around 350 ethnic groups. The biome is spread over nine countries. However, 60% is in Brazil.
The Amazon basin is a large part of the carbon cycle. From the 1980s to 2004, it absorbed 1.5-2 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2 – a major greenhouse gas) a year, making it an important carbon sink. In contrast, roughly three quarters of Brazil’s greenhouse gas emissions come from deforestation through burning and rotting. The biome has a key effect on regional and global weather systems and is, in turn, impacted by changes elsewhere.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)