Year: 2008

Climate Changes Creating Green And Flowering Mountains

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“The changes are so rapid that plants like 

fireweed (rose bay) and rowan have even taken 

root in the gravel upon melting glaciers. Even 

wood anemones are appearing higher up the 

mountain,” says Leif Kullman.

 

“More and more plants are migrating to the high 

mountains since the warmer climate is conducive 

to them, including contorta pine and cembra pine, 

which are not native to Scandinavia.”

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<http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080516121650.htm>

Climate Changes Creating Green And Flowering Mountains

 

ScienceDaily (May 16, 2008) – Our mountains are 

growing greener. At the border between woods and 

bare mountain, trees that require warm 

temperatures, such as oak, elm, maple, and black 

alder, have become established for the first time 

in 8,000 years. This is shown in current studies 

led by Leif Kullman, professor of physical 

geography at Umeå University in Sweden.

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Earth First! blocks I-69 construction in Indiana

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i-69, otherwise known as the NAFTA superhighway, is a proposed interstate that would link Canada, the US, and Mexico. The road is being built to facilitate the movement of goods out of Mexico to the markets of the US and Canada. This will only lead to the further destruction of ecosystems and poor indigenous and campesino coummunities in Mexcio. Meanwhile thousands of acres of farmland, forests, and wetlands will be lost to pavement in the US while continuing the ceaseless expansion of car culture.

In the Wee hours of May 18th, fading into the early morning of May 19th, a small group of activists braved the pre-dawn chill (and the threat of arrest and imprisonment!) and slipped into the trees alongside a country road about 25 miles north of Evansville, Indiana. They went in loaded with ropes, tarps, platforms, and guts. By the time the sun had risen full up in the sky, two brave Earth First!ers–Grant Reynolds and Harriet Ray–were gently swaying thirty-five feet above the ground. Below them, banners reading “I-69 and NAFTA: Destroying Communities Here Through Mexico,” “Resist Construction,” and “Defend Farms” announced this act of physical defense to the Monday morning commuters along State Road 68. Continue reading

RTNA Statement: Indigenous Peoples Critical of Position on Carbon Trading Protest at UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues

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So it has recently come to RTNA’s attention that-once again-the United Nations has turned a deaf ear to serious issues and concerns formally raised in recent weeks by many of the world’s Indigenous Peoples. True to a 60-plus year-long pattern of denial, high-handedness, and self-serving conflicts of interest-the UN consciously acted to invalidate the legitimate concerns raised by many Indigenous groups when it presented its new adopted position regarding international carbon trading schemes at the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (UNPFII).

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Boreal Forests Shift North, Exacerbate Warming

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Science News
May 15th, 2008
<http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/32207/title/Boreal_forests_shift_north>

Boreal forests shift north
By Janet Raloff

Advancing greenery could further heat the already warming climate

For the Arctic, green is the new black.

People frequently say “green” to mean
“environmentally friendly.” But conifer forests –
really big greens – encroaching on Arctic tundra
threaten to further accelerate warming in the far
North.

Temperatures at these high latitudes already are
climbing “at about twice the global average,”
notes F. Stuart Chapin of the University of
Alaska in Fairbanks.

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