You are currently browsing the category archive for the ‘HEALTH’ category.
Protecting The Environment is Everybody’s Duty
For the well-being and survival of our planet and the human race
ABC Environment Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Protecting the environment is a global problem, which needs a global solution (For without nature we do not exist. pdjmoo)
If we want to manage the world for future generations, we need to define what kind of world that should be. Credit: NASA
ACHIEVING A MORE SUSTAINABLE world presupposes a worldview that considers well-being not only in terms of income, but also in terms of human security and opportunities for every person to thrive. It is worth considering what the world would look like from such a perspective.
For starters, it would be a world in which people live free from conflict over land, water, and space; and that ensures food security for the 739 million people who are hungry or malnourished today. Such a world would preserve the 20,000 species of animals and plants that face extinction, understanding their power to heal us physically and spiritually. It would draw us back from the brink of unstoppable global warming and its consequences for coastal communities, weather patterns, and, in some regions, habitability. It would protect sites of extraordinary natural beauty and inspiration. And, for future generations, it would be a world that is more sustainable than ours…. Think globally, act globally – Opinion – ABC Environment Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
The Impact of Vanishing Biodiversity on Human Health (VIDEO LINK)
Your Health has it’s own ecosystem, dependent on the greater ecosystem
- by Claudia Rowe — YES! Magazine
Our Health is Ecosystem Health: Dr. Ted Schettler, a Harvard-educated physician, frustrated by the limitations of science in combating disease, believes that finding answers to the most persistent medical challenges of our time—conditions that now threaten to overwhelm our health care system—depends on understanding the human body as a system nested within a series of other, larger systems: one’s family and community, environment, culture, and socioeconomic class, all of which affect each other. He has researched connections between poverty, iron deficiency, and lead poisoning; insecticide use, Parkinson’s, and Alzheimer’s disease; income disparities and asthma.
He calls this new approach to medicine “the ecological paradigm of health.”
Our Health and Ecosystem Health
“Can there be any doubt that human health is enormously dependent on ecological systems that we are having a major influence on?” Schettler says. “It’s all one world. Our tendency to describe the natural world as something without humans is part of the problem.”
“It’s accepting up front that humans do not stand apart from the environment. We’re a major species, along with the mosquitoes and fish and trees and bacteria. And there are all of these wonderful interrelationships.” … continued …
Returning to a Holistic Approach to Life: Breast Cancer and Chemicals, Fresh Fruits and Vegetables vs Industrial Processed Food, Epidemic of obesity, diabetes and cancer; public health system; income inequality are all factors discussed in this article.
via Why Your Health Is Bigger Than Your Body by Claudia Rowe — YES! Magazine.
A four percent increase in Amazon deforestation has led to a 50 percent increase in malaria because mosquitoes, which transmit the disease, thrive in the cleared areas.
By David Suzuki with contributions from David Suzuki Foundation Editorial and Communications Specialist Ian Hanington.
We’ve long known that environmental factors contribute to disease, especially contamination of air, water, and soil. Scientists are now learning the connection is stronger than we realized.
Preventing illness is the best way to get health care costs down. So why aren’t governments doing more to protect the environment? We’ve long known that environmental factors contribute to disease, especially contamination of air, water and soil. Scientists are now learning the connection is stronger than we realized…. more
One World
One Humanity
One Environment
September, 2009, Rev. December 2010
The Common denominator among all living things
IS NATURE
Finding A Way For The Greater Good
An Urgent Task
January 10, 2012 Climate News Network: Humanity faces a possible collapse of global civilisation, according to two Californian scientists. Paul Ehrlich and Anne Ehrlich, of Stanford University, US, argue in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B, published by the UK’s national academy of science, that civilisation is faced with a menacing array of environmental problems…. http://www.climatenewsnetwork.net/2013/01/are-we-doomed-it-all-depends/
OUR HOME: We Live on a Wondrously Diverse Planet and We are a vital, integral species within the Magnificent Web of Life not separate from it. Nature needs us. Let us Honor and Respect That
THE GREAT AWAKENING
In just over 250 years we have consumed or destroyed what took millions and millions of years to evolve…
We now understand that the majority of life on Earth has never been – and will never be – known to us. In a staggering forecast Edward O Wilson, eminent Harvard biologist, predicts that our present course will lead to the extinction of half of all plant and animal species by 2100…. – “Animal Extinction – The greatest threat to mankind”
Over the last 60 odd years we have become preoccupied with, and fixated on ourselves, our man-made lives of production, indiscriminate consumption and lust for profit. self-gratification and status. In this process we have increasingly excluded from our daily decisions and equations the well-being of others and Nature’s life supporting eco-systems. We can now see how this myopia has wreaked havoc upon both our environment and all species with in it –our societies, our communities and ourselves.
While we were flying high our natural world (and us) began to get sick, really sick . Greed took over from compassion, and wealth negotiated itself more wealth at the expense of the average man, woman and child setting the stage for a global uprising and reawakening.
We forgot our deep and profound responsibility to care for and nurture the greater whole. We forgot that we abide in Mother Nature’s womb, dependent on Her every second of every day. Just as we depended on our mother for nurturing and sustenance while in her womb, we depend on Mother Nature’s health, abundance and generosity for our daily nurturing and sustenance and FOR SURVIVAL as a species. This amnesia has resulted in us almost consuming ourselves out of existence and, in the process, we have lost our connection to community, to each other and to the essential natural processes of life.
Without Nature We Do Not Exist. Period
It is an illusion to expect healthy, balanced lives without a healthy, balanced natural world. Her health is our health
While we were flying high our natural world (and us) began to get sick, really sick . Greed took over from compassion, and wealth negotiated itself more wealth at the expense of the average man, woman and child setting the stage for a global uprising and reawakening.
A Perfect Storm is approaching – a combined environmental, economic and social collapse UNLESS we change our attitudes and priorities in life NOW, and even then, we may well have passed the tipping point of what our biosphere can handle.
The major difference this time, than the Great Depression or any other time in human history, is the environment – its massive degradation and depletion by man – the degree of which has never before been seen on this planet – and the cumulative effect is the cause of Climate Change.
We depend upon a healthy, balanced natural world for our very existence – as does all life. Our eco-systems have been plundered, pillaged and polluted to a point, in some cases, of no return; species are disappearing at an alarming rate totally destroying the biological and crucial biodiversity balance of the planet. Our common life’s values and the dignity of cultures have been dismantled as we gave ourselves over to the Age of Consumerism. When Drilling for Oil has become a greater priority than clean water and healthy food, we have no choice but to revisit our values in life. What we do and choose now will set the destiny of humankind for centuries to come.
Read the rest of this entry »
Get Ready for the Ride of Your Life
Given that it takes hundreds of thousands to millions of years for evolution to build diversity back up to pre-crash levels after major extinction episodes, increased rates of extinction are of particular concern, especially because global and regional diversity today is generally lower than it was 20,000 years ago as a result of the last planetary state shift. … Possible too are substantial losses of ecosystem services required to sustain the human population. … Although the ultimate effects of changing biodiversity and species compositions are still unknown, if critical thresholds of diminishing returns in ecosystem services were reached over large areas and at the same time global demands increased … widespread social unrest, economic instability and loss of human life could result
Whee!
How close are we to such a global state shift? One way to conceptualize it is to visualize the percentage of the Earth’s terrestrial ecosystems that have seen local state shifts:
…READ COMPLETE ARTICLE…
via We’re about to push the Earth over the brink, new study finds | Grist.
The United States healthcare industry is the world’s biggest – with $300 billion a year spent on prescription drugs alone, and rising. But recent months have seen health scandal after health scandal, with some of the world’s biggest pharmaceutical companies fined billions of dollars.
These cases are beginning to reveal vast corruption in the drug industry, with revelations of fraud, of cover-ups of fatal side effects and huge kickbacks paid to doctors. Our investigation reveals the story of how healthcare became unhealthy profit. via The Bureau of Investigative Journalism
CAN LIFE BE OWNED?
Rachael Carson was Right in her classic novel “Silent Spring”. This Canadian documentary is one of THE Best explanations of what is happening to the state of our planet with the biotech juggernaut racing across our environment, leaving an irreversible destruction in its wake. Our ecosystems, environment and human health and the future of our planet is at stake and I strongly urge you to take the time to listen and watch the entire Canadian expose. It is both educational and global in its reach.
Video: Silent Forest canada tv EN – Cineversity.TV.
At One With Nature
Healing Themselves By Returning to Natural Law and Reconnection to the Land and Natural Laws
This video depicts how a group of First Nations People in Saskatchewan Canada are reclaiming their Indigenous agricultural heritage, reconnecting with Nature, learning and observing her natural laws, and getting back on the road to self-reliance. Many thanks to Director Noah Erenberg for making this great documentary, presented here courtesy of Muskoday Organic Growers Co-op Ltd. via http://Indigenouspeoplesissues.com/
And they come in more than 200,000 shapes and sizes.
FULL STORY: NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC
http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2011/03/pollinators/holland-text?source=email_gg
Mt. Shasta, a small northern California town of 3,500 residents nestled in the foothills of magnificent Mount Shasta, is taking on corporate power through an unusual process—democracy.
The citizens of Mt. Shasta have developed an extraordinary ordinance, set to be voted on in the next special or general election, that would prohibit corporations such as Nestle and Coca-Cola from extracting water from the local aquifer. But this is only the beginning. The ordinance would also ban energy giant PG&E, and any other corporation, from regional cloud seeding, a process that disrupts weather patterns through the use of toxic chemicals such as silver iodide. More generally, it would refuse to recognize corporate personhood, explicitly place the rights of community and local government above the economic interests of multinational corporations, and recognize the rights of nature to exist, flourish, and evolve.
Mt. Shasta is not alone. Rather, it is part of a (so far) quiet municipal movement making its way across the United States in which communities are directly defying corporate rule and affirming the sovereignty of local government.
Read Rest of Article: Corporate Control? Not in These Communities by Allen D. Kanner http://www.yesmagazine.org/
TRAILER
See full film here:
http://www.cultureunplugged.com/play/696/Life-Running-Out-of-Control Running Time: 59:50
Director: Bertram Verhaag | Producer: Bertram Verhaag Genre: Documentary | Produced In: 2004 | Country: Germany
THE FORERUNNER TO “FOOD INC.”
“Life Running Out of Control” by Bertram Verhaag is an absolute MUST WATCH documentary Movie. Produced in 2004 it explains in depth how, even back then, genetic engineering was quietly taking over our global food and animal supply and had been for decades, reducing the gene pools, to a point where it may be irreversible.
The human, animal and environmental health risks are addressed here as well as the dangers and ethics of altering the genes of our food and animals — and thus us. Everything is interconnected and altering the genes of nature has a ripple affect on all of nature, our environment and us as we are clearly witnessing and experiencing today. (See “Urgent Memo To The World” on this blog here)
If you want to know why the environmental and food activists are protesting…this will fill you in. Let’s hope it is not too late.
The collective duty of humanity is to seek a balance with nature.
Everyone has to do their part; be more with less. The problem is not money, says Brazilian Leonardo Boff in this exclusive Tierramérica interview.
“The market is not going to resolve the environmental crisis,” says Boff, professor at Brazil’s State University of Rio de Janeiro. The solution, he says, lies in ethics and in changing our relationship with nature. READ ON: Tierramérica.
Mangrove Restoration
Ecosystem services provide the link between nature and economic development. How can this approach guide more sustainable decisions?
Investing in Nature, for People’s Sake | World Resources Institute.
Photo by David Manning/Athens Banner-Herald, via Associated Press - The role of the opossum in suppressing populations of ticks that carry Lyme disease is highlighted in a new study on the ways biodiversity discourages the spread of disease.
Biodiversity in ecosystems, the scientists report in the Thursday’s issue of the journal Nature, dampens a pathogen’s ability to spread among humans. A study by a group of biologists, ecologists and medical researchers casts new light on a phenomenon farmers have known for years: the less genetic variety in a crop or a herd, the greater the risk that disease will decimate it…(more) The Less Biodiversity, the More Disease – NYTimes.com.
Relationships among organisms, or mutualisms, might be more important to global ecosystem health than previously thought, argues a research team involving UA professor Judith Bronstein
 |
||||
|
 |
|
 |
|
|
|
  IMAGE: By harassing bees and other flower visitors, invasive Argentine ants prevent insects from pollinating the flowers of this Californian cactus (Ferocactus viridescens), which is now endangered.
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 |
|
|
||||
The authors present evidence that human impacts may be forcing these mutualist systems down unprecedented evolutionary paths.
“With global climate change, evolutionary change can happen very rapidly, over a few years,” said Judith Bronstein, a professor of ecology and evolutionary biology at the UA’s College of Science and senior author on the paper. “That can be a good thing or a bad thing, we don’t know, but people need to start looking at those effects.” … more
via From bees to coral reefs: How humans impact partnerships in the natural world.
We are a nation disengaging ourselves from one of our greatest assets – the great outdoors. Time to reconnect.
Britain’s Natural Trust reaches out through their Outdoor Nation project
to explore with people whether we are really losing touch with the outdoors and whether it matters.
With nearly $800 billion in drugs sold worldwide, pharmaceuticals are increasingly being released into the environment
The “green pharmacy” movement seeks to reduce the ecological impact of these drugs, which have caused mass bird die-offs and spawned antibiotic-resistant pathogens. by sonia shah As Pharmaceutical Use Soars, Drugs Taint Water and Wildlife by Sonia Shah: Yale Environment 360.
In recent years, whenever natural disasters have struck, in what is increasingly becoming a globally interconnected and interdependent world, human beings have come together as an extended family in an outpouring of compassion and concern. For these brief moments of time, we leave behind the many differences that divide us to act as a species. We become Homo empathicus.
Yet, when faced with similar tragedies that are a result of human-induced behavior, rather than precipitated by natural disasters, we are often unable to muster the same collective empathic response. (read on)
Despite promising the world in 2009, biotech corporations have increasingly raised the hackles of scientists and citizens worldwide
2009 was a year in which the biotech industry, Gates and their US Administration allies did everything in their power to drive the world down the GM road, but it was also a year marked by remarkable global resistance.
It was a year too in which the truth emerged more clearly than ever about not just the severe limitations and risks of GM crops, but the viability of the many positive alternatives to GMOs alternatives from which the profit-driven GM-fixation diverts much needed attention and resources. (more…)
Was 2009 the year the world turned against GM? – The Ecologist.
SEE ALSO MY BLOG: URGENT MEMO TO THE WORLD
“THE age of melancholy” is how psychologist Daniel Goleman describes our era. People today experience more depression than previous generations, despite the technological wonders that help us every day. It might be because of them.
Our lifestyles are increasingly driven by technology. Phones, computers and the internet pervade our days. There is a constant, nagging need to check for texts and email, to update Facebook, MySpace and LinkedIn profiles, to acquire the latest notebook or 3G cellphone.
Free yourself from oppression by technology – opinion – 27 December 2009 – New Scientist.
Even as it bombards the airwaves and magazine ad pages to tout its commitment to “sustainable agriculture,” GMO seed giant Monsanto has been having a rough go on the PR front of late.
Seed behemoth Monsanto stumbles into antitrust trouble | Grist.
Office in the middle of the forest | Pictures.
Talk about environment friendly place for firms and offices. On the other hand imagine all the fresh air and peace you can get while working, no traffic, no air pollution, etc. You can surely expand your mind, creativity and motivation while working in these circumstances.
How do we convince our inner caveman to be greener? By the time we wake up to the threat posed by climate change, it could well be too late. And if we’re not going to make rational decisions about the future, others may have to help us to do so. London Times, United Kingdom
Climate change may be real, but its still not easy being green – Times Online.
Switching from Short-Term Profits through Exploitation
to Long-Term Stewardship of Natural Resources
PARIS (AFP) – Investing billions today to protect threatened ecosystems and dwindling biodiversity would reap trillions in savings over the long haul, according to a UN-backed report issued Friday.
More than a billion of Earth’s poorest denizens depend directly on coral reefs, forests, mangroves, aquifers and other forms of “natural capital” to eke out a living. Invest in nature now, save trillions later: study – Yahoo! News.
“Dreaming the future can create the future. We stand at the threshold of a singular opportunity in the human experiment: To re-imagine how to live on Earth in ways that honor the web of life, each other and future generations. It’s a revolution from the heart of nature — and the human heart.
“We also stand at the brink of worldwide ecological and civilizational collapse. We face a reckoning from the treacherous breach in our relationship with nature. We’ve been acting like a rock star trashing a hotel room, and it’s the morning after. But this hotel is planet Earth. The guest rules are non-negotiable. If we don’t change our ways fast, management may vote us off the island. (More.,..)
Water is Now seen as a Commodity rather than a Basic Right
While some may assume that technologies often make women’s lives easier, it is rare they there are panacea for poverty, especially since water is increasingly scarce and expensive..
6.7 billion people along with wildlife, ecosystems, agriculture and industries share the less than 1% of the world’s freshwater that is potable and accessible for use. And this small amount is rapidly depleting due to climate change; increased contamination; and escalating need by people, farms and industries for daily use.
The increasing scarcity and privatization of water means a number of things for women. First, as private companies gain ownership rights to freshwater sources, women who could previously walk to them to obtain water are now being restricted from or even charged money for doing so. [3] Second, companies who purchase sources bottle the water to be sold rather than allowing local access to it, as it’s more profitable to do so. Even when companies build and make available taps to local municipalities, they sell it at costs that are prohibitively expensive, especially for poor women. [4] And since there is no substitute for water and water is absolutely necessary, without regulations, corporations can charge what they want for it, and people have no choice but to pay, if they can. (more)
via Women Need Water Rights, Not Just Technologies / Library / Issues and Analysis / Home – AWID.
It’s not only what vehicle we drive or how we heat our homes that determines our carbon footprint.
via Eat responsibly | David Suzuki Foundation.
The great bee die-off is not such a mystery after all:
Industrial agriculture has stressed our pollinators to the breaking point.
iStockphoto
“The nation’s great bee die-off has provoked a furious debate: What has caused a third of all commercial honeybee colonies to perish each year since 2006? Although widespread bee deaths have occurred before, the current sharp decline is different. This time some bees have simply vanished, abandoning their hives. The phenomenon, known as colony collapse disorder (CCD), has been attributed in part to the same viral and bacterial infections, pesticide poisonings, and mite infestations that devastated bees in the past.” pdjmoo Who Killed All Those Honeybees? We Did | Agriculture | DISCOVER Magazine http://ow.ly/vjli
And …
Are Cell Phone Towers Honey Bees’ Next Big Threat?
New Study says “Yes”
CAN WE SURVIVE WITHOUT OUR POLLINATING HONEY BEES? As if honey bees don’t have enough to worry about right now, it seems that cell phone towers may be problematic for the insects. According to a new study, a rapid drop in the bee population in Kerala, India is the result of recently installed cell phone towers, and could cause a complete collapse of bee populations within 10 years.
Are Cell Phone Towers Honey Bees’ Next Big Threat? New Study Says Yes. : TreeHugger.
