ENV / The Bonn Climate Change Conference Daily Coverage for Wednesday, 17 May 2017, Bonn Germany

On Tuesday and Wednesday, 16-17 May 2017, the local communities and indigenous peoples platform met to discuss the structure and functions of the platform. This platform, established by the Paris Agreement, aims at strengthening the exchange of experiences and sharing of best practices on mitigation and adaptation. The platform will also bridge the gap between science and policy by ensuring transitional knowledge systems are taken into account.

Produced by Dorothy Wanja Nyingi PhD and filmed/edited by Nemo Allen.

Climate Change Has Changed the Geography of Honduras’ Caribbean Coast | Inter Press Service

By Thelma Mejía Reprint |

The sea is encroaching fast in the coastal area of Balfate, along Honduras’ Caribbean Coast, where natural barriers are disappearing and the sea is advancing many metres inland. Credit: Courtesy of Hugo Galeano to IPS

BALFATE, Honduras, May 15 2017 (IPS) – In Balfate, a rural municipality that includes fishing villages and small farms along Honduras’ Caribbean coast, the effects of climate change are already felt on its famous scenery and beaches. The sea is relentlessly approaching the houses, while the ecosystem is deteriorating.

“What was it like before? There used to be a coconut palm plantation before the beach, and a forest with howler monkeys. Today there are no palm trees and the howler monkeys have left,” environmental activist Hugo Galeano, who has been working in the area for over three decades, told IPS.

“Where the beach is now, which used to be 200 metres inland, there used to be a thick palm tree plantation and a beautiful forest. Today the geography has changed, the sea has swallowed up much of the vegetation and is getting closer and closer to the houses. The effects of climate change are palpable,” he said.

Galeano coordinates the Global Environment Facility’s Small Grants Programme (SGP) in Honduras, and is one of the top experts on climate change in the country. He also promotes climate change mitigation and reforestation projects, as well as community integration with environmentally friendly practices, in low-income areas.

…(read more).

Ocean oxygen falling two to three times faster than predicted

Climate State

Published on May 11, 2017

The trend of oxygen falling is about two to three times faster than what we predicted from the decrease of solubility associated with the ocean warming.

References

Ocean oxygen decline greater than predicted (2017) http://climatenewsnetwork.net/ocean-o…

Ocean Deoxygenation: Our Ocean’s Oxygen Supply & Demand Issue (2015) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hrHGw…

Low Oxygen Hypoxia in Marine Waters (2016) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b6RJi…

Image https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releas…

Video material from http://Pixabay.com

NASA Operation IceBridge Zig Zag East (Svalbard – Thule Air Base)

Climate State

Published on May 17, 2017

Operation IceBridge just completed 40 research flights over ten weeks, including three based out of the remote and beautiful islands of Svalbard, Norway. Here is the story of one of its most distinctive missions, called Zig Zag East. This flight started in the rugged fjords of Svalbard, passed over hundreds of miles of sea ice en route to the North Pole, flew through the narrow Nares Strait, and finally returned the team back to Thule Air Base in Greenland.

The video was narrated in flight on Apr. 7, 2017 by IceBridge Mission Scientist John Sonntag. IceBridge, an airborne mission that monitors changes at the Earth’s poles, concluded its 2017 spring Arctic campaign on May 12. This field campaign has been the most ambitious in IceBridge’s nine years of operations in the Arctic, greatly expanding the survey’s reach across the Arctic Basin.

CIA Whistleblower John Kiriakou: We Should Be Considering Impeachment If Trump Obstructed FBI Probe

Democracy Now!

Published on May 17, 2017

http://democracynow.org – President Trump is facing yet another major scandal. The New York Times is reporting Trump personally asked FBI Director James Comey to end the agency’s investigation into Trump’s former national security adviser, Michael Flynn. The New York Times reports President Trump made the extraordinary request to James Comey during an Oval Office meeting on February 14—one day after Trump fired Flynn for lying both publicly and privately about his contacts with Russian officials. Trump reportedly asked Vice President Mike Pence and Attorney General Jeff Sessions to leave the room before making the request to Comey. After the meeting, Comey wrote a memo quoting the president saying, “I hope you can see your way clear to letting this go, to letting Flynn go. He is a good guy. I hope you can let this go.” We speak to John Kiriakou, who spent 14 years at the CIA as an analyst and case officer. He was jailed for 23 months after he became the first CIA official to confirm publicly the Bush administration’s use of waterboarding.

John Kiriakou on Blowing the Whistle on CIA Torture & Why Trump’s Presidency Worries Him

Democracy Now!

Published on May 17, 2017

http://democracynow.org – The report on President Trump urging FBI Director James Comey to end the agency’s investigation into Trump’s former national security adviser, Michael Flynn, came just a day after The Washington Post revealed President Trump had disclosed highly classified intelligence to Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak at the White House. We talk to CIA whistleblower John Kiriakou about his own case and the significance of Trump divulging classified secrets to Russia.

Activists Sue to Block Plans to Bury 3.6 Million Pounds of Nuclear Waste Near California Beach

Democracy Now!

Published on May 17, 2017

http://democracynow.org – Environmental activists in California are fighting plans to store 3.6 million pounds of highly radioactive nuclear waste on a popular beach in San Diego County. In 2012, a radioactive leak at the San Onofre nuclear power plant forced an emergency shutdown. The plant was fully closed by June 2013. Now residents are fighting the permit issued by the California Coastal Commission to store the millions of pounds of nuclear waste in thin, stainless steel canisters, within 100 feet of the ocean. We speak to Ray Lutz, founder of Citizens’ Oversight, which has filed a lawsuit challenging the expansion of the nuclear waste storage facility.

Nuclear

Marketing food to children | Anna Lappe | TEDxManhattan

TEDx Talks

Published on Mar 11, 2013

Author, activist, and Project Director of the Food MythBusters, Anna Lappe takes on the billion-dollar business of marketing junk food, soda, and fast food to children and teens. With diet-related related illnesses alarmingly on the rise, pervasive marketing of junk food to kids is downright dangerous. The food industry says its up to parents to raise healthy kids. Lappe agrees, that’s why she says leave parenting to her–and the millions of moms and dads trying to raise healthy kids. Learn about the dubious marketing tactics of the junk food giants and the ways you can fight back to promote kids’ health.

Anna Lappe is a national bestselling author and a founding principal of the Small Planet Institute and Small Planet Fund. Anna’s most recent book is Diet for a Hot Planet: The Climate Crisis at the End of Your Fork and What You Can Do About It, named by Booklist and Kirkus as one of the best environmental book’s of the year. She is the co-author of Hope’s Edge, which chronicles social movements fighting hunger around the world, and Grub: Ideas for an Urban Organic Kitchen, with seasonal menus by chef Bryant Terry. A popular educator about sustainable food and farming, Anna has participated in hundreds of events, from hosting community dinners to delivering university keynotes to emceeing a food-focused fundraiser at Sotheby’s. She is currently the director of the Real Food Media Project, a new series of myth-busting videos about the real story of our food. Watch her new movie at foodmyths.org.

In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. At a TEDx event, TEDTalks video and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connection in a small group. These local, self-organized events are branded TEDx, where x = independently organized TED event. The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events are self-organized.* (*Subject to certain rules and regulations)

Food-Matters

A Theory You’ve Never Heard Of | Michael Robinson | TEDxUniversityofHartford

TEDx Talks

Published on Nov 9, 2015

The Hamitic Hypothesis was a 19th century anthropological theory that claimed that humans originated in Asia and then migrated to other regions of the world. The theory was used to explain the discovery of so-called “white races” in Africa in the late 1800s. The Hamitic Hypothesis was not simply a curiosity of anthropological science. It was an idea that changed lives: from those European colonists who relied upon it to justify their presence in Africa, to the scientists who used it to explain away the accomplishments of African civilizations as a result of “white” influence. Ultimately, the Hamitic Hypothesis anchored a global theory of human origins and migration that, when combined with the Aryan race theory, shaped anthropology, colonial policy, and even the attitudes of Africans themselves for a hundred years.

Michael Robinson is a historian of science and exploration at the University of Hartford. He is the author of “The Coldest Crucible: Arctic Exploration and American Culture.” His new book The Lost White Tribe: Explorers, Scientists, and the Theory that Changed a Continent” comes out with Oxford University Press in December.

The empathy of food | Anna Lappé | TEDxBerkeley

TEDx Talks

Published on May 8, 2017

Anna Lappe speaks about being more conscientious in the food choices we make and making sure that farmers providing food at our tables have good conditions for themselves. We can express our compassion for others through the active choices we make.

Anna Lappé is a sustainable food advocate and a bestselling author of three books, including Diet for a Hot Planet, and a contributing author to fifteen more. An internationally recognized expert on food systems, Anna is the co-founder of the Small Planet Institute and Fund and currently directs Real Food Media. Anna also works with philanthropists nationwide to help fund the grassroots change we need to foster health, justice and sustainability across the food chain.

This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at http://ted.com/tedx

Food-Matters