Author: Neville

Losing Wetlands to Grow Crops

Mar. 25, 2013 — Getting enough to eat is a basic human need — but at what cost to the environment? Research published in BioMed Central’s journal Agriculture & Food Security demonstrates that as their crops on higher ground fail due to unreliable rainfall, people in countries like Uganda are increasingly relocating to wetland areas. Unless the needs of these people are addressed in a more sustainable way, overuse of wetland resources through farming, fishing, and hunting will continue.
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In 2009 it was estimated that about a third of Uganda’s wetlands had been lost to growing crops and grazing. While the environmental significance of wetland loss is important, so are National Food Security targets and the Millennium Development Goal of halving the number of people who suffer from hunger by 2015. In order to evaluate how people are using the wetlands researchers from Makerere University, Uganda, with financial support from IDRC surveyed residents living in either Lake Victoria crescent, Kyoga plains, and South Western farmlands.

The survey revealed that more than 80% of people in these areas use wetland resources including collecting water, catching fish, hunting bush meat (Sitatunga, a type of antelope, and wild rat), and harvesting wild fruits and vegetables. Some of these they consume but others they sell in order to be able to buy food. Over half admitted to growing crops in the nutrient rich soil wetlands with its ready water supply. The families who were most likely to use the wetlands in this way were the ones who had the least access to other sources of food.

The locals blame their bad harvests on global warming, and as global weather systems change this can only get worse. Dr Nelson Turyahabwe explained, “Food insecurity is a real problem across the world. In Uganda the families most at risk tended to have younger or female household heads, or were less educated. Large families were also at high risk of not having enough to eat. In these cases use of wetlands allows families to survive. In designing sustainable use policies for wetlands the needs of humans also needs to be considered.”
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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by BioMed Central Limited, via AlphaGalileo.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.

Journal Reference:

Nelson Turyahabwe, Willy Kakuru, Manson Tweheyo and David Mwesigye Tumusiime. Contribution of wetland resources to household food security in Uganda. Agriculture & Food Security, 2013; DOI: 10.1186/2048-7010-2-5

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BioMed Central Limited (2013, March 25). Losing wetlands to grow crops. ScienceDaily. Retrieved March 25, 2013, from http://www.sciencedaily.com­ /releases/2013/03/130324201817.htm#.UVAgWiTNYr4.twitter

Labor climate position weakens: Greens

DateMarch 25, 2013 – 3:55PM
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Australian Greens leader Christine Milne believes the federal Labor government is shifting closer to the coalition’s position on tackling climate change.

Prime Minister Julia Gillard on Monday announced the merger of the climate change department into an industry and innovation mega-department, and the appointment of former resources executive Gary Gray to cabinet as mines and energy minister.

“The worry with today is that the Gillard government has moved closer to Tony Abbott by abolishing a stand-alone climate department, merging it with another department and putting a fossil fuel advocate into the energy department,” Senator Milne told reporters in Hobart.

She said the energy minister needed to “act in the same policy framework” as Climate Change Minister Greg Combet.

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Senator Milne said the reshuffle was the result of a “complete internal implosion” of the Labor Party last week.

It was crucial the government got its act together as there were big decisions to be made before the election on education funding and boosting benefits for the unemployed, she said.

© 2013 AAP
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Embattled MP suspended from LNP

Date March 25, 2013 – 3:47PM 28 reading now

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Marissa Calligeros

brisbanetimes.com.au reporter

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LNP member for Redcliffe Scott Driscoll. Photo: Glenn Hunt

Controversial Redcliffe MP Scott Driscoll has been suspended from the LNP upon the request of Premier Campbell Newman.

The Premier called a snap press conference in Brisbane on Monday afternoon where he revealed he had contacted LNP president Bruce McIver to request that Mr Driscoll be suspended from the party.

“There has been a fair lot of controversy surrounding the Member for Redclifffe,” Mr Newman said.

He said the controversies surrounding Mr Driscoll were a distraction for the government, which he could no longer tolerate.

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‘‘I’ve have been the instigator of this [suspension],’’ Mr Newman said.

‘‘He will not be attending LNP party room meetings. He will not be accountable to the party whips.’’

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Read more: http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/queensland/embattled-mp-suspended-from-lnp-20130325-2gpul.html#ixzz2OWqFJhhJ

Full list of changes to the Gillard ministry

Date March 25, 2013 – 1:04PM 205 reading now

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Gary Gray joins the cabinet as Minister for Resources and Energy, Minister for Tourism and Minister for Small Business;
Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus also takes on roles of Special Minister of State and Minister for the Public Service and Integrity;
Jason Clare retains role of Minister for Home Affairs and Justice and joins cabinet as a full member;
Anthony Albanese continues as Minister for Infrastructure and Transport, and takes on Minister for Regional Development and Local Government;
Catherine King joins outer Ministry as Minister for Regional Services, Local Communities and Territories, and as Minister for Road Safety.
Tony Burke adds Arts to his roles of Minister for Sustainable Population, Communities Environment and Water;
Michael Danby is promoted to Parliamentary Secretary for Arts;
Craig Emerson continues as Minister for Trade and Competiveness and Minister Assisting the Prime Minister on Asian Century Policy, and takes on Minister for Tertiary Education, Skills, Science and Research.
Don Farrell becomes Minister for Science and Research, and Minister Assisting on Tourism;
Sharon Bird takes on role of Minister for Higher Education and Skills;
Greg Combet is now the Minister for Climate Change, Industry and Innovation after the Department of Climate Change was merged with the Industry Department;
Jan McLucas is promoted to Minister for Human Services;
Bernie Ripoll becomes Parliamentary Secretary for Small Business;
Andrew Leigh will be Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister;
Matt Thistlethwaite becomes Parliamentary Secretary for Pacific Island Affairs and Parliamentary Secretary for Multicultural Affairs;
Amanda Rishworth becomes Parliamentary Secretary for Sustainability and Urban Water, and Parliamentary Secretary for Disabilities and Carers;
Shayne Neumann will be Parliamentary Secretary to the Attorney-General and Parliamentary Secretary for Health and Ageing.

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/political-news/full-list-of-changes-to-the-gillard-ministry-20130325-2gp93.html#ixzz2OW1UQgfq

Prime Minister Julia Gillard’s team in disarray as senior mininsters plead with Anthony Albanese not to resign

SIMON BENSON National Political Editor
The Daily Telegraph
March 25, 201312:00AM

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Prime Minister Julia Gillard welcomed 2Day FM crew Kyle Sandalands and Jackie O to Kirribilli House with kids from the Bear Cottage charity. Picture: Sam Mooy Source: The Daily Telegraph

Source: The Daily Telegraph

SENIOR Gillard ministers pleaded with Anthony Albanese not to resign over his support for Kevin Rudd, fearing the government would fall with the loss of his skills as its leader in parliament.

Key cabinet members and supporters of Prime Minister Julia Gillard last night confirmed they begged Rudd loyalist Mr Albanese to stay in his job – even as colleagues who had also backed the former PM in last week’s failed coup resigned en masse.

Mr Rudd was given a rockstar reception at a black tie charity event in Queensland, while Ms Gillard hosted an egg hunt with radio shock jock Kyle Sandilands – a man who has fended off accusations of misogyny – as the Easter Bunny.

Infrastructure Minister and leader of the house Mr Albanese was said to have privately expressed dismay to colleagues at the events of last Thursday, when Mr Rudd declined to stand against Ms Gillard.

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Mr Albanese was under pressure to follow the lead of fellow Rudd supporters Chris Bowen, Martin Ferguson and Kim Carr who all resigned from cabinet on Friday claiming it was the honourable thing to do, and the price they paid for backing Mr Rudd.

But fearing that Mr Albanese may also resign, several of the PM’s key cabinet backers called the Sydney MP to prevent what was considered a potentially fatal blow to the government.

“We could not afford to lose him,” one cabinet minister confirmed yesterday. “I spoke to him and said, ‘you can’t go’.”

Mr Albanese is regarded as instrumental to keeping the minority government in power as a key negotiator with the independents and maintaining stability in the lower house where Labor’s hold on power is on a constant knife-edge.

Yesterday he said he would not be resigning. “Why should I?” he said. “There is no doubt that these are big losses … and you asked me why I was staying on as a minister. I think it’s important we have the best team possible going forward.”

The Prime Minister has yet to give any clue as to how she will fill the vacuum left in the wake of the aborted spill, which also claimed the scalps of cabinet minister Simon Crean – sacked for sparking Thursday’s challenge – and parliamentary secretary Richard Marles, who resigned after publicly supporting Mr Rudd.

Sources last night said it was likely Gillard loyalists to be rewarded in the new ministry would include Environment Minister Tony Burke (NSW), Border Protection Minister Jason Clare (NSW) and Special Minister of State Gary Gray (WA).

Mr Gray – a former Woodside Petroleum executive – is likely to take the Resources and Energy portfolios from Mr Ferguson, while keeping his existing one.

And Jason Clare, who despite being cabinet secretary does not hold a vote in cabinet, is expected to fill one of the other cabinet vacancies.

It is expected that Ms Gillard may be content with reducing the size of the already bloated cabinet from 22 to 21 to minimise changes and resist recriminations being urged by some of her supporters.

Western Sydney MP and Assistant Treasurer David Bradbury is also tipped to be rewarded for his loyalty and elevated further up the ministry.

Ms Gillard is expected to plug other holes with Victorian MP Michael Danby, an outspoken supporter of Israel, Queensland MP Shayne Nuemann and NSW MP Sharon Bird.

Fallout from the failed coup continued with senior MPs now rounding on members of the Gillard camp who have reportedly embarked on a new campaign to intimidate Mr Rudd and hound him out of parliament.

“So they want to lose the seat of Griffith too?” asked one MP. “We will be lucky to keep any seats in Queensland. If he pulled the pin we would have zero.

“They orchestrated a coup to remove him as leader in 2010 and now they want a coup to remove him from parliament. They need to pull their heads in.”

Fears of Climate Change as CO2 Emissions Rise

Posted March 13th, 2013 by Eco Climate Solutions & filed under News.

imgres-3As fears of climate change continue to escalate in tandem with co2 figures, hopes to never reach what scientists term ”the safe world holding temperatures to limit climate change”, are fast fading if current reports are to be observed. Carbon Dioxide is considered to be the primary greenhouse gas omitted through human activities, adding more co2 to what is naturally present within the atmosphere, and so altering the earth’s natural cycle of the gas causing detrimental effects to weather patterns, which can clearly be observed in recent temperature readings across the world.

Within the earths natural cycle, co2 is used by plants and recycled into oxygen, the rate at which carbon dioxide is now being emitted due to burning fossil fuels has increased. With the continuation of forest destruction to make way for human industrialisation, there are less natural sinks to tackle the problem, creating a downward spiral within the cycle. As humans extensively burn coal, oil and gas to generate electricity and power transportation, industry and consumer demand for the easy source of energy has steadily increased despite protests to choose renewable alternatives, which long term would have less negative environmental impact and are far more cost effective. Trends in emissions across the world have seen an average increase of around 10% with the main culprits of excessive use coming from mainland China, the United States of America and India. As their economy grows so too does the expressed measurement of metric tons of carbon emitted, consequently driving climate change into a fast paced reality rather than a concern.

The obvious and most effective way to reduce emissions is to abstain from the use of fossil fuels, the reality is however the percentage of renewable energy generated globally is significant lower than what is needed. Despite propaganda like showmanship from political bodies lobbying with green activists by presenting wonderfully eco sounding alternative to fossil fuel generated electricity for commercial and residential use, such as the green deal, it offers little more than a payment plan rather than a tax break or incentive to really get people driven to use less co2 emitting forms of energy. As scientist frustration continues to grown among climate change denial by the masses, perhaps climate literacy to tackle the lack of understanding of the implications of global warming is a necessity from political organisations, but becoming a pool of knowledge is less likely to entice the average electricity addicts than cash and money saving incentive, which need to come from world organisations and governments.

The root cause of climate change and co2 levels are human activities, and so much can be done to lower emissions on an every day basis. Simple energy efficiency adaptations and changes such as updating or maintaining old heating and cooling equipment is key to driving down residential and commercial costs of maintaining a comfortable indoor climate from home air conditioning . For those who want to reduce their bills and the more eco-conscious among us want to reduce our impact on the environment…new efficient heating air conditioning and solar thermal heating heating solutions make maximum use of the renewable energy all around us, converting free heat from the air and the sun to deliver completely reliable and controllable heating and hot water even when temperatures outside are below zero. Improving the insulation of buildings, traveling in more fuel-efficient vehicles, and using more efficient electrical appliances are all ways to reduce energy consumption, and thus CO2 emissions. Reducing personal energy use by turning off lights and electronics when not in use reduces electricity demand. Reducing distance traveled in vehicles reduces petroleum consumption. All are ways to reduce energy CO2 emissions through conservation.

As preliminary data for February 2013 show CO2 levels last month standing at their highest ever recorded at Manua Loa, a remote volcano in the Pacific, the disturbing pattern for increased co2 emissions means extreme weather patterns will continue to increase, with the Met Office warning this week that the “extreme” patterns of flood and drought experienced by Britain in 2012 were likely to become more frequent thanks to the higher frequencies of co2 recorded in the atmosphere.
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