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An Indonesian city battling the effects of deforestation has come up with a novel way of tackling the problem. Would-be families must plant a tree.

“Everyone who wants to get married or apply for a birth certificate must plant a tree,” Syahrum Syah Setia, the head of Balikpapan city’s Environmental Impact Management Agency, said.

“The city’s condition is already worrying, and we must act to tackle global warming.”

The areas around Balikpapan city in East Kalimantan province have lost some of their forest cover to deforestation from the mining and timber sectors.

East Kalimantan loses 350,000-500,000 ha (865,000-1.24 million acres) of forest land a year and the government can only replant 30,000 ha (74,000 acres) of that, local environmental group Walhi said.

Indonesia has lost an estimated 70 percent of its original forest land, although it still has a total forest area of more than 91 million ha (225 million acres).

Wal-Mart stores in Canada will look to go greener next year, with new outlets opened in 2009 designed to save 30 percent in energy use, the head of the retail giant’s Canadian unit said on Tuesday.“We call them Wal-Mart HE — a high-efficiency prototype,” Wal-Mart Canada Chief Executive David Cheesewright said in the text of a speech to a meeting of Ontario cities.

Cheesewright told Reuters later that the new, greener stores would result in savings of C$25 million ($24 million) over five years.

The company will achieve the energy savings, compared with traditional outlets in 2005, by using waste energy from refrigerators to help heat stores, cutting lighting costs, covering roofs with white membranes to reflect sunlight and lower summer cooling costs, and reducing the size of the buildings.

Cheesewright said Wal-Mart continued to pursue three long-term sustainability goals globally: to produce zero waste, to operate with 100 percent renewable energy, and to make environmentally preferable products available.

($1=$1.04 Canadian)

Where do cookie cutter sharks live?

Habitat and distribution
Worldwide in deep water. The cookiecutter shark has been found at depths of about 1,000 m (3,300 ft) below the surface of the ocean.

if u have time take a look at this video !!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=11iCmzGnO…

Its disturbing knowing the worlds gonna end in 4 yrs Many people dont believe it But its definitely coming whether you believe it or not So i would suggest you enjoy life before its too late Be kind to those who need comfort Feed human and animals alike that are hungry Donate whatever you can to those who cant afford anything And basically showing kindness and love to beast and human alike so everyone can enjoy the rest of their life as short as it may be

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“The world will complete its 26,000 wobble?” ELL OH ELL.

If you believe that, your credibility is completely down the drain. All of the issues so plainly listed in that video are an issue now. Stop worrying about a meaningless day in the future and start making amends now.

I live in the rural suburbs on Pennsylvania. I am here to tell you that we have fox, coyote, wolves, porcupines, bears, raccoons etc!

Edit: not to mention deer, wild turkey,bald eagles or were you refering to the wild night life? LOL

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Whether you live in a city or a rural part of the country, wild animals are your neighbours. Most wild animals will not bother you. They naturally fear humans and keep their distance, as long as they remain fully wild, plus wild animal populations (such as pigeons) are often controlled in cities.

A common animal to be found is the raccoon. It prefers to live in woodland near to water. But it’s often found in towns and cities, going through rubbish bins to look for food.

The City of Long Beach California has just announced the raising of water prices by 20% beginning this fall. Reason given the conservation efforts in saving water by the citizens of the city have so drastically reduced their income from the sale of water they now need to raise prices to restore the cities income to previous levels. The same thing happened a couple of years ago with natural gas. So if we get charged more for conserving why should people conserve. Also our mayor was one of the three energy company leaders that helped set up deregulation in California and allowed the Enron scam to happen.

Because the utilities have a huge fixed cost infrastructure that needs to be maintained. This take a certain amount of funds. when conservation methods are used, the utilities revenues are decreased, but they still have this enormous outlay of cash they have to make to keep the utilities flowing.

Another way to look it is from a supply and demand perspective. some people will say, well demand has decreased, so therefore price should decrease, but that isn’t really the case.

What in fact has happened is demand has increased and increasing demand caused the conservation initiatives in the first place. If measures were not taken, then demand would have exceeded supply. This is why conservation was required. Everyone needs utilities, but the amount they need varies, and there is certainly a lot of waste.

The utility companies have been rather stupid from a Public Relations perspective. They should have raised prices to control demand initially, and then implemented a conservation strategy in order to reduce households’ monthly bill to previous levels. Then everyone would have been happier.

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THis is not a scam.. or anything else.. and you are generalizing the facts.

The City is raising water prices because 1) Utilities have a very large fixed cost structure that they have to spread across lower water uses and 2) as water becomes scarcer their cost of alternate sources of water is more expensive. I would bet that your cost of water would gone up a lot more if the City’s residents did not conserve as much.

California has had years of drought.. if you do not think that has affected prices and the need for conservation .. think again. We cannot continue to use resources indiscriminately.

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The higher prices remind people of the worth of the resource, and because it affects them in such a direct manner they are encouraged to take measures to conserve and reduce their bill. It’s been effective before, and will have the desired results to some degree this time, too.

It is one tool to help ensure that a growing state population and limited resources will be available to all who need it. Rainfall, snowpack, underground aquifers, SWP, CWP — it’s a complicated situation complicated further by drought and concerns over providing for a reliable longterm water supply for new development. Agriculture in the Central Valley has received cutbacks which will entail a switch to less water-intensive crops.

A few sites from the Metropolitan Water District to help give you some background. I don’t know if they still do water tours, but I took a few about 10 years ago and they were very informative, and I can’t look at an aquaduct or pumping station the same since.

http://www.mwdh2o.com/mwdh2o/pages/yourw…
http://www.mwdh2o.com/index.htm

i was wondering since throwing away lint after taking it out of the dryer, and since theres all this talk about “going Green” i was wondering if lint can be used in any other way instead of just nothing at all

Well you already recieved the fire starter answers. There’s just about nothing that beats lint as a fire starter.

It can be put out for birds in early spring, to line their nests with. However it is possible this is not a good idea. Wet a handful of lint some time, and watch how it clumps in your hand. Now imagine a baby bird trying to stay warm in that mess after it’s nest got rained on. I prefer to put out fleece and hair from my livestock…that really IS good for baby birds and nests.

People do a number of craft things with lint. From mixing it with plasters, to mixing it with paper pulp. It’s often used to make some really gorgeous, but light weight masks (costume).

Some people use dryer lint as mulch in their gardens. I personally do not like this…the synthetic fibers never rot.

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Yeah you need to get a paper box and put all the lint in there. Let it build up over a few weeks and then when it is full take it into the garden. Invite some people over and stand in a circle around it and chant ” YA YA YA” then all drop to the floor. The lint monster will then step out of the paper box and then be just plain annoying. So you could do that but it’s so much easier to just bin in…

I am making the third list on how to prevent/stop global warming, so pls answer, enjoy the points!

Okay Im not expert on the subject but here are some tips that you can do to go green!

1. Turn down your thermostat
2. Use florcent light bulbs
3. Wash clothing in cold water
4. Save as much water as possible
i. Turn off water when brushing teeth
ii. Take shorter showers
5. Use less gas. Bike when possible or walk?
6. DONT DRINK BOTTLED WATER!
7. Buy in Bulk to not waste packaging.
8. Obviously recycle and use less in general

These are some home tips

But if you were talking about in general

Our country needs to:

1. Research more alternative fuels and get them mainstream ASAP!
2. We need our government to give bonuses or tax breaks to companies that go green.
3. We need to make enviroment a number one prioty

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You can’t stop but can reduce it’s effect by :-
1. afforestation
2. avoiding use of separate cars for going offices
3. avoiding perfumes
4.. Recycle, reuse, or reduce
5. Cut down on heating and air conditioning
6. Change your light bulbs - Replace incandescent light bulbs with new compact fluorescent light bulbs.
7. Tell others to conserve
8. Energy-efficient products are the way to go

How serious do you think this problem is and what should we do to get the word out?

Yahoo! Answers Staff: This is the real Al Gore! Take a look: http://blog.360.yahoo.com/blog-d8pH0dcoR…

Yahoo! Answers Team Update: We’ve created a group for you to discuss this important issue in more detail. Find out more at:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ClimateCon…

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ActionGree…
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/environmen…

The problem of global warming is the most serious threat this country - and the world at large - has ever faced. This problem goes beyond petty differences, problems of economy, social issues, even beyond international conflicts and the war on terrorism. We are talking about the survival of multiple species on Earth, including the human race.

Action must be taken now in order to reverse the effects of global climate change, both by direct action and by informing others of the problem and its seriousness. This needs to be accomplished on four levels. First, on the personal/family level; second on the local & regional level; third, on the national political level; and finally, internationally. All four of these levels must occur simultaneously.

The first level - personal & family:

Each of us must make energy saving changes in our lives, and convince our family and friends to do the same, so each of us takes personal responsibility for reducing our own CO2 footprint on the planet. How can we expect others to change, if we don’t follow our own advice. We have an opportunity to lead by example. First, we must educate ourselves on the problem, and the steps we, personally, can take to solve it.

Simple steps, like lowering our thermostats in winter, and raising them in summer; replacing regular light bulbs with compact florescent bulbs; using less hot water; insulating your home; turning off (and unplugging) electric devices not in use; walking, biking, carpooling or taking public transportation when possible; buying products that use less packaging material; buy locally grown foods and shop at your local farmer’s market; buy organic foods; keeping the air in your automobile’s tires inflated and the engine well maintained; and, of course, recycling, can make a significant difference.

We can go even further than that. When we need to replace an appliance - choose one with an energy star label. When it comes time to buy a new car, look at buying a hybrid (or one that runs on alternative fuels, like E85). If it’s available in your area, switch to green power, that uses renewable resources like solar and wind to provide electricity to your home - or if you can afford it, install your own solar panels on your home. Whenever you get a chance - plant a tree.

The second level - Local & regional:

We need to take what we do at home out into our community. Take these same energy saving tools to work or school. Not only inform and educate your coworkers about the climate crisis, and the things they can do o help, but encourage change in the workplace or school itself.

Attend city council meeting, and write to the mayor and council members voicing your concerns and encouraging the switch to renewable energy. Work to break down the regulatory barriers that are preventing a wider transition to energy sources like solar, wind and biomass.

Make your voice heard wherever you go. Bring it up in any clubs, groups and organizations you may belong to. If you lead any children’s groups (scouts, ymca, etc.) incorporate what you have learned in your activities and lessons. make sure the next generation will carry on with this fight.

On a personal level, we can direct our monetary investments to companies that are environmental friendly and/or into companies, programs and products that are trying to address environmental/climate issues.

The third level - National-political:

Now we get to making big changes. To do this, we all have to become politically active. I don’t mean just vote. I’m talking about contacting your state and national representatives (assemblyman, congressman, senator and president) on every issue that relates to the environment and has an effect on climate change. Call them. Do it so much that they will remember your name. This can’t be done by just a handful of people, it needs to be done by everyone. You may feel that it takes up too much time, that you don’t have the time to spare, but you need to find it if you really want to make a difference. Democracy is not easy.

Keep yourself informed and educated about the issues and bills/resolutions that are being voted on so that you can speak or write intelligently about the subject. When you write or cal, be concise. Convey all the information you need to in a clear, short message. A long rambling email (kind of like this one) would probably be largely ignored. For this to be effective, we must become louder and harder to ignore that the oil and auto lobbies.

We must draw their attention away from the myth and distraction of hydrogen technology, which will not be available, cost-effective or viable for decades, and point out the technology that is available, and cost effective, now: hybrid engines, solar, wind, etc.

We must convince those congressmen and senators who work for us to pass broad, sweeping legislation. The kind that would make a significant difference. For example, have all cars, from all automakers selling in the US, be hybrids by 2011. The technology is already there to put a hybrid in any size vehicle (Toyota has small, and mid-size cars as well as SUVs an Mini-vans that operate with hybrid technology - even if all of them are not currently being sold in the U.S.).

We have to get our politicians to lead the oil industry into redefining itself. To help it move from “The Oil Industry” to “The Energy Industry”. Our politicians have to guide them to develop alternatives to oil. We must guide our politicians to lead the oil industry into the future.

The fourth level - International:

This one will be the hardest. Writing to our representatives will not have as strong an effect on the problems occurring in other countries, because the voices of our Congressmen and Senators carry about as much weight on the international stage as our individual voices carry in our own country.

This is the fight we can only begin to win by changing our own country first. America must become a leader in the struggle to reverse global warming, not just a half-hearted follower as we are now. We must get our politicians to recognize the problem and its significant consequences, work to change them, and then put pressure on the rest of the world to do the same.

http://www.climatecrisis.net/
http://www.eere.energy.gov/greenpower/

The world may be changing from civilization to planetization. Civilization focuses on material production and consumption. Planetization is a world order whose priorities are contemplation, consciousness and ecological balance.
The process would take generations. But do you believe that this process is underway?

If you are referring to a new paradigm under which most people would live, no, the common paradigm is still best summed up a as Survival. People are struggling to grow enough food to eat, and having inadequate education and a lack of family planning ensures that their next generation has the same problem, only worse.

If there’s anything new about paradigms on this planet, it’s that residents developed nations may soon join the rest of the planet’s citizensa dn species in a fight for survival