The word dymaxion makes me think of a lattice-work of struts which form triangles which form hexagons, which form a sphere. The design is intimately associated with Buckminster Fuller. A mind ahead of his time. So the idea of a dymaxion car is intriguing. And then it turned out that even the frame is built …
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Category:5 Environment
People said no to GMO, so now big agroindustry and pharma-chem businesses are engineering mutagenic food. Yum!
Mutagenesis isn’t new: Breeders have relied on it for decades to produce thousands of varieties of lettuce, oats, rice, and other crops. Pharma-chem companies sell high volumes of mutant breeds, ranging from wheat to sunflowers, in markets that reject genetically engineered seeds. It just doesn’t sound very nice and might even be a dangerous idea. …
Continue reading People said no to GMO, so now big agroindustry and pharma-chem businesses are engineering mutagenic food. Yum!
Deforestation of 100 hectares per week, in one instance alone.
Scientists monitoring satellite images noticed a swathe of tropical forest disappearing in Peru. It toook a few weeks to get accurate imagery but once done they estimated estimated a deforestation rate of roughly 100 hectares (247 acres) per week in the tract they observed. At least one thousand hectares were cleared near Tamshiyacu. An estimated …
Continue reading Deforestation of 100 hectares per week, in one instance alone.
Divest fossil fuel holdings, or die.
That’s a big picture perspective, presented starkly to attract some attention. Sadly, few people feel the pressure, but that doesn’t mean it’s not the right thing to do. Let’s have a look at some of the detail. A 2012 article in Rolling Stone , by Bill McKibben of 350.org, galvanised a fossil fuel divestment campaign …
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It’s not easy to do the right thing.
So, I must confess that for three years we let a field to a neighbour for use in conventional tillage farming. Previously, that field had been managed organically for over a decade, but we found we could not use it and the rent money would be welcome. Now, we’re regalvanised to protect the environment and …
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More climate change numbers are in, and they’re bad.
The World Meteorological Organization reports: The amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere reached a new record high in 2012, continuing an upward and accelerating trend which is driving climate change and will shape the future of our planet for hundreds and thousands of years. Between 1990 and 2012 there was a 32% increase in …
Continue reading More climate change numbers are in, and they’re bad.
Biotech is gonna eat you for lunch!
If you don’t live in America you almost certainly haven’t heard about the strong arm tactics of big biotech firms like Monsanto, Novartis and Dupont. Even if you live in the States you might think that genetically engineered food is “gonna save the world”. Well it isn’t. And 90% of Americans want to know whether …
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GMO (genetically modified food) is not good. Don’t assume it is.
Another comprehensive, scientific report on genetic engineering in the food web concludes that it is dangerous, uneconomic and counter-productive. From our perspective as consumers the worst aspect is danger to health. From the producers’ perspective the worst aspect is the prospect of being under the thumb of biotech giants. The report GMO Myths and Truths …
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Biochar: The Original Soil Amendment to Mitigate Climate Change
Below is an article from CSR Wire summarising the use of charcoal as a soil improver. It’s benefits have been known for centuries as it was a principal technique used by aboriginal American peoples. Adding charcoal to soil helps it maintain its vitality and catalyses the decomposition of plant and animal matter and its transformation …
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Have we run out of water already?
The review of China’s water supply in The Economist was presented as a sober economic review, as usual. But the information and data is frightening. If disaster isn’t here now, it is certainly here soon. Why? China, which accommodates 10% to 15% of humanity, consumes 400 m3 per person per year which is only a …
Continue reading Have we run out of water already?