Earth Hour 2014- Impact Beyond The Hour

Earth Hour 2015: SATURDAY 28TH MARCH, 8:30 PM

Together we are on track for the biggest Earth Hour yet.

It's Not All Doom and Gloom: What We Can Do Now for the Arctic by Richard Branson

Last week I was in New York, where policy makers and the public alike spoke out about climate change. None of us are strangers to the realities of climate change -- steadily climbing temperatures and carbon dioxide (CO2) levels, melting ice and rising sea levels. However, fewer people are aware of how they can help to tackle the problem.

While we often think about the effect of climate change on our lives and on the land we inhabit, it's also important to focus on the blue spaces that make up so much of the Earth.

The ocean covers two thirds of the planet, produces almost half of all the oxygen we breathe and sequesters more than a quarter of the CO2 we emit into the atmosphere. It is, in essence, the kidneys of our planet, keeping systems healthy, giving life -- and there is no way to put it on dialysis. 

The ability of this life system to continue to provide these essential ecosystem services is being compromised. As rising temperatures reduce the oxygen carrying capacity of the ocean and the amount of CO2 being absorbed causes acidification , marine organisms and ecosystems are suffering. Habitats are being destroyed, fish stocks are over exploited and marine predators are becoming extinct at an alarming rate.

In the Arctic, the problem is particularly clear: it's melting. Beyond the four million people living there who are affected every day by rising temperatures, we all face the consequences of the changes in the Arctic. Extreme weather, rising sea levels and food insecurity, particularly in the most impoverished parts of the world, are all growing problems. As the ice is melting, a new ocean is being born -- one that some may try to exploit through fishing and oil and gas drilling, which is fraught with uncertainty and has the potential for devastating harm.

So where do we go from here? There is an extraordinary opportunity to rescue this new ocean, 'refreeze' what we can by establishing structures to protect this beautiful place before it's even fully born and understood. Just as a healthy body is more resilient to disease, a healthy ocean is more resilient to harmful change.

The International Declaration on the Future of the Arctic is a charter for Arctic protection being spearheaded by our friends at Greenpeace. I have signed the declaration and look forward to working with the leaders of the Arctic States and representatives from the United Nations to ensure that the Arctic is fully protected before it's too late.

In this time where we feel paralyzed by messages of doom and gloom, let's remember that we can change things. We can make a difference and we have a responsibility to future generations to ensure that our actions today don't destroy their future.

Millions have already declared their support for protecting the Arctic. Join us - sign the pledge here.

Leonardo Di Caprio , UN Climate Summit Speech

Thank you, Mr. Secretary-General, your excellencies, ladies and gentleman, and distinguished guests. I’m honored to be here today, I stand before you not as an expert but as a concerned citizen, one of the 400,000 people who marched in the streets of New York on Sunday, and the billions of others around the world who want to solve our climate crisis. As an actor I pretend for a living. I play fictitious characters often solving fictitious problems. I believe humankind has looked at Climate Change in that same way: as if it were a fiction, happening to someone else’s planet, as if pretending that Climate Change wasn’t real would somehow make it go away. But I think we know better than that. Every week
, we’re seeing new and undeniable Climate Events, evidence that accelerated Climate Change is here now. We know that droughts are intensifying, our oceans are warming and acidifying, with methane plumes rising up from beneath the ocean floor. We are seeing extreme weather events, increased temperatures, and the West Antarctic and Greenland ice-sheets melting at unprecedented rates, decades ahead of scientific projections. None of this is rhetoric, and none of it is hysteria. It is fact. The scientific community knows it, Industry and Governments know it, even the United States military knows it. The Chief of the U.S. Navy’s Pacific Command, Admiral Samuel Locklear, recently said that Climate Change is our single greatest security threat. My Friends, this body - perhaps more than any other gathering in human history - now faces that difficult task. You can make history...or be vilified by it. To be clear, this is not about just telling people to change their light bulbs or to buy a hybrid car. This disaster has grown BEYOND the choices that individuals make. This is now about our industries, and governments around the world taking decisive, large-scale action. I am not a scientist, but I don't need to be. Because the world’s scientific community has spoken, and they have given us our prognosis, if we do not act together, we will surely perish. Now is our moment for action We need to put a price tag on carbon emissions, and eliminate government subsidies for coal, gas, and oil companies. We need to end the free ride that industrial polluters have been given in the name of a free-market economy, they don't deserve our tax dollars, they deserve our scrutiny. For the economy itself will die if our eco-systems collapse. The good news is that renewable energy is not only achievable but good economic policy. New research shows that by 2050 clean, renewable energy could supply 100% of the world’s energy needs using EXISTING TECHNOLOGIES, and it would create millions of jobs. This is not a partisan debate; it is a human one. Clean air and water, and a livable climate are inalienable human rights. And solving this crisis is not a question of politics. It is our moral obligation - if, admittedly, a daunting one… We only get one planet. Humankind must become accountable on a massive scale for the wanton destruction of our collective home. Protecting our future on this planet depends on the conscious evolution of our species. This is the most urgent of times, and the most urgent of messages. Honored delegates, leaders of the world, I pretend for a living. But you do not. The people made their voices heard on Sunday around the world and the momentum will not stop. And now it’s YOUR turn, the time to answer the greatest challenge of our existence on this planet... is now. I beg you to face it with courage. And honesty.
Thank you.

Overfishing

   Currently, one of the biggest issues on earth is overfishing. Most people on earth rely on the ocean for their daily live hoods. It is also a primary source of our protein. So marine creatures provide us protein and food to live our lives everyday. However, people overfish due to the lack of management and carelessness.
 
   First of all, overfishing is the act of fishing too much that the fish cannot sustain their population. The thing that is causing over fishing is that our fishing fleets are two or three times bigger than it should be. Reason that overfishing is such a big threat to us is because we are losing  species as well as our whole ecosystem. In addition, we are losing our precious food source.
 
   Overfishing is also a huge problem because there is a huge imbalance in the marine life. There will not be enough breeds, which will decrease the amount of fish in the ocean. Overfishing doesn’t only kill the fish that are targeted for food but also other sea animals as well. For example, dolphins or sea birds have been caught in the fishing gear and got killed. Most of them are when they are catching shrimp. So for every one kilogram of shrimp, up to nine kilograms of other marine animals are caught. In the last 60 years, the fish stocks as fallen by 90% due to overfishing. The scientist says that we are facing the collapse of all types of fish. In 2008, fishing limits where defined for the highly prized blue fin tuna. The scientists recommended a fishing limit of 10,000 tons. However, they ended up catching 60,000 tons of tuna, which is 6 times more than the scientists’ limit. So the amount of fish in the ocean is decreasing at a very fast rate due to overfishing.

   We should try our best to prevent it from happening. How we can do this is that our politicians have the responsibility to make the decisions. We citizens have the rights to persuade them to make these decisions happen.

The video below descriptively tells us why overfishing is such a big problem and how it is affecting our lives today. 
  

       Video: Ending Overfishing from OCEAN2012 on Vimeo

In the past few days, heavy rain has caused flash flooding and structural damage here in the North-Eastern corner of the United States. The storm system, that has also been responsible for the unusually destructive weather in the Mid-West, has both wreaked havoc and confused inhabitants. Heavy rains aren’t usually supposed to come in the early fall when the air is dry. The 14-year long drought of the Colorado River Basin has likely amplified the effects of the storm.

Why do such weather abnormalities occur with increasing frequency? One article from National Geographic blames greenhouse gases and aerosol emissions. Most notably, the study, carried out by various research groups in the US and China, pointed out that aerosol emissions from rapidly growing economies in Asia are a major factor that contribute to the worsening severity of storms. Sulfate, for example, is released into the air from burning coal and, once in the air, allows more water droplets to form within clouds by increasing the surface area droplets can form on. As a result, we see larger storm clouds and heavier rains. Realizing that the economic activities of a developing nation can affect countries around the world may be key to reducing air emissions.

Hawaii, the Green Island

I have talked about the green efforts of Jeju Island, the biggest island of S.Korea, in E-gen couple of times. Today, I would like to introduce the biggest island of the U.S., Hawaii's green efforts to reduce the carbon foot prints. Hawaii has proclaimed that the islands will reach 40 percent renewable power by 2030. Not just that, the islands have tripled renewable energy capacity since 2005, while leading in creating renewable jobs. Most new homes in Hawaii have solar water heaters as well. The Hawaii's renewable energy sources are from Sun, Wind, Sea and Land.  The Sun's plentiful heat and light provide great source of energy. The most applicable sun related technologies adopted in the Hawaiian islands are photovoltaic systems, solar hot water and passive solar design and daylighting. These technologies have applied to homes and commercial buildings which result in huge savings in operation cost. Wind plays an important role in reaching the goal of 70% clean energy in Hawaii. Hawaiians say they have endless wind supply. Lanai and Molokai islands have the best wind levels in the country, and wind is available 40% of time there. Among the many benefits the wind energy can give, a lower impact of wind turbines on birds and other wildlife sets importance in the islands. Geothermal energy excavation had not started until 1960's. However, since its first drilling, geothermal energy makes up 20% of Hawaii's big island energy consumption.  Hawaii also explores the use of biomass energy from variety of sources. H-Power(Honolulu Project of Waste Energy Recovery), the city and county of Honolulu's "garbage to energy" plant burns refuse-derived fuel to provide electricity. Kaunai and Maui islands' sugar plantations produce biomass fuel for automobiles which is made from ethanol by sugarcane molasses mixing with gasoline. Today, the state Public utilities commission announced four rulings which push Hawaiian electric companies to reduce electricity costs and generate vast amount of renewable energy. While the states in mainland are struggling and fighting to reduce carbon foot prints, Hawaii moves ahead in executing green bills and applying green systems. Image: Google image Source: Hawaii govt. projects, U.S. Department of Energy, etc.

"Do we have a good plan to fight climate change that's as good as the plan we had for HIV?"

Jim Yong Kim, the former president of Dartmouth college and current leader of the World bank had an interview with the Guardian.  In the interview, he said that battles over water and food will erupt within the next five to ten years as a result of climate change.  He urged scientists to join together to come up with a solution to fight the climate change as activists and scientists did for 15 years to develop a treatment for HIV. He threw a question to the climate change community, " Do we have a plan that's as good as the plan we had for HIV? " The answer is no at current unfortunately. President Kim mentioned that there was not enough basic science research going into renewable energy. There have not been ways of taking discoveries made in universities and quickly moving them into industry. There have not been ways to test innovative ideas. He added that the climate change community kept saying what he meant by a plan. His answer was a plan that is equal to the challenge and will convince anyone that climate change community are really serious about the issue. President kim said that there were four fields that the World bank could help specifically regarding the fight against the global warming: Finding a stable price for carbon, removing fuel subsidies, investing in cleaner cities and developing climate-smart agriculture.  He also predicted that since the water issue was critically related to climate change and carbon is the currency of climate change, fights over water and food would be the most significant direct impacts of climate change in the next five to ten years. His interview with the Guardian reflects general people's disappointment over the climate change community's results over treating the issue. Though people are really committed on the issue, the slow change and the cooperation among the scientists overall lead the kind of interview the World bank president gave to the british paper. I hope his challenge and urge to the climate change community will refresh people's commitment over the issue and also remind ordinary people how the danger is close and imminent. Image: Google image Source: the Guardian, the climate change project, youtube etc.

Jim Yong Kim: You can't lift people out of poverty without growth, Interview with the Guardian

Jim Yong Kim, the World Bank president, talks to Guardian economics editor Larry Elliott about Kim's days as a demonstrator against the bank. Kim shares the bank's priorities on climate change and clean growth, and gender equality, and discusses the prospect of a Brics (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa) bank to help meet massive infrastructure needs in middle-income countries.

Dolphin Deaths in Marine Parks and Aquariums

    Marine-mammal facilities are one of the most successful part of a industry built on the suffering of intelligent animals that are being extremely mistreated. In the wide ocean, social groups of dolphins swim up to 100 miles a day. However, in marines and aquariums, the dolphins only get to swim in small circles which make them unable to engage their natural behaviour. In marines, the dolphins are forced to perform tricks just to get food and they are usually torn apart from their family which gives them a lot of stress. The unbearable stress weakens the dolphin's immune system which causes them to die a lot earlier.

    First of all, the dolphins being torn apart from their families is a very stressful thing for them and can be unresistable. Hundreds of wild dolphins have been taken from the U.S. waters and have been placed in aquariums or marine parks. Even though the U.S. parks or zoos haven't taken the dolphins from the oceans since 1993, it is still allowed. Other countries have been consistently taking the animals from the wild and placing them in aquariums or parks which causes them to be torn up with their families pretty often. Capturing or taking even one of the dolphins can hugely affect the entire pod because in the wild, the female dolphins spend their whole lives with their mothers and sisters. If they get torn apart from the ones that they spent their whole life together with, that would be extremely difficult for them to bear. These days, they surround the dolphins with nets to track pods just so they can obtain a female dolphin of breeding age. The net pulls them up and unwanted dolphins are just thrown back into the water which can cause the families to separate very easily. Some of the dolphins die due to stress and some of them get pneumonia when water enter their lungs through their blowholes. So separating the dolphins from their families can cause a lot of stress and can often lead to death as well.

    In addition to the cruelty of taking wild dolphins from their natural habitats and separating them from their family, they keep dolphins in captivity. This dooms them to living their life as attractions at aquariums or theme parks around the world. They are forced to perform tricks in front of huge crowds and screaming people which gives the dolphins a big amount of stress. They are also forced to swim with tourists and are often hand fed or petted by the tourists. The biggest problem is that they are forced to swim in tiny, barren concrete tanks. The dolphins navigate by echolocation but in the tanks, the reverberations bounces of the walls which drives some of them insane. For the dolphins, keeping them in tanks are basically keeping a blindfolded person in a jail cell. The trainers for the dolphins often force them to perform tricks by taking away their food or isolating animals that don't perform tricks. A marine-mammal behavioural biologist in Seattle says that captive dolphins demonstrated a lot of stress related behaviours such as self-inflicted trauma, induced vomiting, and aggressiveness. Some captive dolphins took their own lives by banging their heads against the walls or by refusing to come out of the water. This is because of their stress and frustration being captive.

Image : Google Image

Whaling in Japan (the final ruling from ICJ)

On 31 March 2014, ICJ ruled that Japan's Whaling directly violates the "International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling" whihch was initially raised by Australian government in June, 2013.
And ICJ ordered the accused group to stop Whaling.  In the process, ICJ also identified that Japan's Whaling was carried out for commercial rather scientific research purpose. As a result, a large amount of Whales were killed for wrong reason.
Japanese government was very disappointed about the ruling, but they have decided to comply with the results.

Source : Yonhap News, Media Pen, Google etc.
Image : Google Image

WWF, one of the world's largest and most respected independent conservation organization with 6 million supporters and a network of more than 100 offices on five continents, opens its office in Korea finally. WWF has a huge success with 'Earth Hour' campaign in Korea over the years.

On March 28, 2014, WWF officially celebrated its presence in Korea with a launching party, where Eco-save club had an opportunity to observe. 

The party main event had started with the congratulatory message from the UN Director General, Mr. Ban, Ki-moon, then the Director General of WWF, Dr. Marco Lambertini gave a speech over the WWF's mission in Korea. Over 300 people were there to celebrate WWF's presence in Korea.

WWF-Korea will focus on addressing ecological footprint issues, engaging on key policy discussions, and creating awareness about biodiversity.  WWF-Korea will have a special role in leading the WWF network in the Asia-Pacific region-building on Korea's strong engagement on climate and energy issues, its leadership in various corporate and industrial sectors and its innovatory prowess, as well as its critical role in sustainable fisheries, particularly tuna.

Dr. Lambertini told me that he started his eco career as a reporter to an eco-magazine when he was 12 years old. He emphasized a little attention and step on environment would make a huge difference in the future. He wished all his best to all the youth who have dedicated their time in eco-work.

It was an inspiring night for Eco-save club to reflect our work so far, and reconfirm our commitment to save the planet.

UN Secretary General Mr.Ban, Ki-moon's congratulatory message on WWF-Korea

UN Secretary General Mr.Ban, Ki-moon's message:

I am pleased to send congratulations to the opening of WWF-Korea after a decade of fruitful engagement.

I commend your work on the Yellow Sea Ecoregion and look forward to your continued contribution to biodiversity conservation on the Korean Peninsula and beyond.

The United Nations is proud to collaborate with WWF in promoting sustainable development and a world where society lives in harmony with nature.

Since 2009, WWF has been raising international awareness about climate change and renewable energy with the Earth Hour campaign.

You join with the Green Climate Fund, also based here in Korea, in making the case for a profound transformation of the global economy.

I look forward to joining you on March 29th as we switch off our lights for one hour — and switch on to a cleaner, greener future.

Please accept my best wishes for today?s celebration and the valuable work you will do in the months and years to come.  Thank you.

WWF-Korea opens in Seoul

Seoul, Korea – WWF, the leading global conservation organization, has established an institutional presence in the Republic of Korea, marked by official ceremonies in the capital Seoul this week.

Following its work since 2000 to preserve the Yellow Sea Ecoregion, WWF has had phenomenal success across Korea with Earth Hour, WWF's global grassroots movement for the planet. To build on these successes, WWF has decided to open an office in the country.

"WWF is very excited to establish a presence in Korea, a country at the vanguard of digital and technological innovation, which has shown itself to be a regional and global leader in creating smart solutions for sustainable lifestyles," said Dr Marco Lambertini, WWF International's Director General Designate, attending the launch events in Seoul.

"This is a proud moment for Korea to welcome WWF on its shores. Korean people want to live well and sustainably, and be a part of the solution. Choosing cleaner energies, greener transport options, and consuming eco-friendly products like certified sustainable seafood, are all ways Korean people can and will make a difference," said Mr Yang In-Mo, Co-Chairperson of the WWF-Korea Board of Trustees.

WWF works globally to encourage sustainable consumption, to cut pollution and waste, to save biological diversity, and reduce people’s impact on the natural world.

"The way Koreans have energetically and creatively embraced Earth Hour shows something of the potential for ideas, action and positive change here," said Mr Yang.

"WWF is grateful to the Korean government, the Seoul Metropolitan Government, Yulchon Attorneys at Law, Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, the global advertising company Cheil, and all our supporters and volunteers who have made this moment possible by believing in our mission and dreams. We look forward to working with you all in creating a future where people live in harmony with nature," said Dr Lambertini.

Participating in the Earth Hour in Seoul

EARTH HOUR 2014 8:30-9:30 PM on 3/29/14

It was very cool to participate in the Earth Hour where we could save energy by turning off all our lights and using a candle instead. I realized that using a candle for light is very difficult because we are used to technology which wastes a lot of energy. However, it was a great experience and I felt proud that I could join a campaign like this. 

Doing my part in Earth Hour

Participating in the Earth Hour at Home. It was cool to use the candle light instead of electric light. 

Earth Hour in Seoul

Earth Hour 2014 Video 60 sec

For the past few years, Earth Hour has made a massive impact around the world thanks to the power of the crowd. But for 2014, we want to make an even greater one.

Soon we'll be unleashing something different, bigger and bolder than before. We'll be unleashing Earth Hour Blue. We'll be unleashing your power. This Earth Hour, use your power athttp://earthhour.org 

Japanese ship accused of killing protected minke whales

Source: from Youtube

Sea Shepherd accuses Japanese whalers of 'aggressive', 'ruthless' confrontation

The Conservation group, 'Sea Shepherd' announced their ships were collided with Japanese whaling ship yesterday.  Early January, 'Sea Shepherd' air craft spotted dead mink whales on Japanese vessels and had driven away Japanese ships from the hunting ground.

Related Articles:

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-02-02/sea-shepherd-ship-collides-with-whaling-vessel/5233068
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/japan/10614098/Sea-Shepherd-in-Southern-Ocean-collision-with-Japanese-whaling-ship.html
http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2014/feb/02/sea-shepherd-accuses-japanese-confrontation-whaling

Images: Google images

Boat collision footage: Sea Shepherd ship rammed by Japanese whaling vessel

Whaling in Japan

Whaling might seem like an activity the happened in the past, but it is a very contentious activity that is still occurring today in Japan. In one year, Japan kill approximately 1300 whales from 1986. A majority of them are Minke whales but some of them are humpback and fin whales too. A colossal amount of whales has suffered because of that activity. Australia, New Zealand, and environmental groups argue that Japan exploits a loophole by continuing to hunt whales. Despite the ban of commercial whaling, the loophole is found in the treaty of the International Whaling Commission(IWC). In addition, Japan accuses the country of practicing commercial whaling under the guise of scientific research. There are a lot of countries that really want to stop the hunting of whales in Japan.
In June, 2013, The Australian government urged to lodge a formal protest with Japan at ICJ(International Court of Justice) for attempting to force it to stop whaling. People are still waiting for the final decision in ICJ. In addition, a 12 year old New Zealand child got a 5000 people petition saying that they should ban whaling in Japan and urges we should protect the nature and sea creatures in December 2013.

Source: http://uk.whales.org/issues/whaling-in-japan, Yonhap News, the Gurdian, etc.

Image: google image