Jeff's Blog

World’s megacities ripe for ‘megadisaster’: UN

backpackman — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 20:18:55 +0000

Der er udsigt til en “megakatastrofe”, der vil påvirke millioner af mennesker i verdens allerstørste byer, hvis ikke den globale opvarmning afværges, siger FN.

Some of the world’s biggest cities are at growing risk of “megadisasters”, the UN’s humanitarian chief said Tuesday, warning that climate change was behind a rising number of natural catastrophes.

“We are going to see more disasters and more intense disasters as a result of climate change,” said UN Under Secretary General for Humanitarian Affairs John Holmes.

Read full story here

Urbanization

backpackman — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 07:42:48 +0000

Its somehow strange why human race is making everything more complicated the more “developed” they become. more and more average families move away from the city to claim fresh air and quiet life, depending on two cars just to be able to go to work or do the daily shopping, drive the kids to school etc etc etc. Urbanization makes the society so uneffective and yet less energy saving than anything else in this world. you need much more transport, more roads and surburban settlements occupies more land for roads, parking areas etc per person than a crowded city would do.

Mind that its the same people who claim for more freeways who are also the ones who wanted to escape the traffic by moving away from the city. They cause the traffic jams themselves by adding more cars to the crowd. Any car lover would come up with a lot of reasons why they prefer the car to any sort of public transport. But its a fact that most car drivers are much more stressed than people taking the bus or the bicycle. Some people would call me a fanatic, but I dont see anything fanatic about looking at the crazy traffic all over the world and see what kind of world the car industry has created. Do we need more freeways? Well, if you have a car you will say yes, but would like to have a freeway in your garden? I guess no. That is the kind of double standard that everybody should be aware of.

There are many alternatives to urbanization. Why is it that people dont want to live and work in the same area? Is it that complicated to face the simple solution of a huge problem? Do they really like to spend 4 hours every day in a traffic jam? I doubt.

Crazy traffic

backpackman — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 14:39:05 +0000

No words needed here

No fish in 40 years?

backpackman — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 13:53:03 +0000

According to researchers, there will be no seaf ood left to catch by 2048, except for jellyfish, which will thrive in the new, collapsed ecosystem. Luckily, they say th at jellyfish have the same nutritional content as shrimp, which is pretty darn good.

ou can’t make the claim that all fish species will collapse — “collapse” meaning the species has fallen to 10 percent of its highest known numbers — by 2048 without a lot of people raising an eyebrow.

Read all here!

A world of plastic

backpackman — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 12:37:00 +0000

Nothing new about this, but still more and more horrifying. The oceans are full of plastic

Ikke noget nyt, men statig mere og mere skræmmende. Verdenshavene flyder med plastik.

Global Ocean

The great Pacific Plastic Patch

Ocean flotsam

Youtube film ” The world biggest Garbage Dump”

følge ny dokumentarfilm kan verdenshavene være tomme for fisk inden år 2048.

backpackman — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 13:27:56 +0000

Fiskene dør, hvis mennesket bliver ved med at plyndre havene. Sådan lyder den hårde melding i dokumentarfilmen “The End of the Line.” Filmen, der blev lanceret i forbindelse med Verdens Havdag den 8. juni, skitserer et dystert scenario for menneskets fremtid, idet den hævder, at verden, hvis overfiskeriet fortsætter, vil være tom for fisk inden 40 år.

http://kpn.dk/article1720682.ece

backpackman — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 13:00:39 +0000

I følge Statistisk Årbog som nu ligger til gratis download kan man læse følgende:

I løbet af det 20. århundrede blev jordens befolkning næsten fire gange større. I
1900 boede 1,65 mia. mennesker på jorden, mens dette tal er estimeret til omkring
6,8 mia. i 2009. Udviklingen tog særlig til fra 1960’erne frem til 1990’erne med en
vækst på omkring 20 pct. hvert årti. I 2050 forventes jordens befolkning at runde
9,2 mia.

Skræmmende udvikling

http://www.dst.dk/HomeDK/Statistik/ags/Statistisk_aarbog.aspx

Environment Networking in a globalized world

backpackman — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 14:01:32 +0000

Everytime you make a journey to a new destination, you notice that the world has become more and more poluted, and more crowded too, but not many think they can do anything about it. I have been thinking alot about the fact, that we all are able to do something, to take part in the process of spreading knowledge and ideas in how we make a better world. And we can all change our lifestyle.

There is no big difference in the needs and daily routines you have as someone at the other side of the world would have too. The main difference is the culture and the structures of the societies. We can all make a difference, especially in the socalled “developed” world. But in all countries, and even the poorest village in the world there are forces and great people who can take action too. All we have to do is to interact with people. Spread the message and believe that we can do something. Nobody will have faith in big changes if he think he is alone with his great visions.

It is time to stop closing the eyes for the problems just because they are not in your backyard. We all breath the same air and take advantage of the same agriculture and marine life in a globalized world. So we better watch out for the whole planet. Stand together and make some networking. I start from the scratch and I will concentrate on linking to those great people out there that are already doing a good job. Let me be your inspiration if I can.

More to come later

netværk om miljø i en globaliseret verden

backpackman — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 13:08:48 +0000

Når man rejser rundt i verden ser man både godt og skidt, men de færreste gør noget ved det. Jeg har gjort mig en del tanker om at vi alle kan tage del i processen med at oplyse og netværke om at gøre verden et bedre sted at være. Ikke mindst når det gælder den måde vi indretter os på. Der er ikke store forskelle mellem de behov folk har på den anden side af jorden som dem du selv går og har. Forskellen ligger kun i kulturen og de samfundsmæssige strukturer. Her kan vi gøre en forskel i Danmark. Vi har overskudet og resourcerne til at hjælpe lokale ildsjæle igang i den mindste landsby hvor som helst i verden. Det eneste det kræver er adgang til internettet, lidt positiv indstilling og så en masse tid til at snakke med folk. Det er for let bare at lukke øjnene og sige at det er ikke vores problem hvad der foregår i andres baghave. Men det bliver det når hele jorden er ødelagt af forurening og rovdrift. Derfor siger jeg velkommen til alle ildsjæle. Jeg vil skiftevis blogge på engelsk og dansk. Den primære vinkel til denne blog vil være at linke til informative sites og gode initiativer overalt i verden.