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Archive - May 2010


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Tokyo. Who's on trial, face jail? Whalers - hunting quota cut in half - cut antiwhaling Ady Gil (Earthrace) in half

Top L: Pete Bethune, skipper of Earthrace, the world record holder for circumnavigation. Middle: Earthrace, renamed Ady Gil, on new mission to defend ocean life but sunk by Japanese whaler. Bottom: Japanese 750+ tons iron&steel whaling ship running over 17 tons carbon-fibre (fibreglass) Ady Gil (Earthrace), space-age, only-one-of-its-kind trimaran with 6 crew on board including Captain Pete Bethune
In Tokyo court on trial today stands a New Zealander detained in Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary waters when delivering a citizen’s arrest. An international case all about whales. Who is guilty: whalers who killed 507 whales? Or anti-whaler who risked his life and lost his boat to have helped save 528 whales? The 1000-ton whaling vessel Shonan Maru 2 who cut 17-ton-fibreglass anti-whaling boat in half? Key witnesses are missing: the slaughtered whales packaged for the meat market and the saved whales [some are being hunted to extinction] who are free and happily enjoying the blue oceans and nursing their offspring. Remember, oceans and sea life do not only belong to all of us regardless of cultural background, but more so to our children, and children’s children. If the anti-whaler is guilty, who is not? The Ocean is dying...

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UN Conference on saving world's fish stocks: migratory species & high seas fish stocks fully exploited or over-exploited

A total of almost 80% of the world's fisheries are fully- to over-exploited, depleted, or in a state of collapse. Worldwide about 90% of the stocks of large predatory fish stocks are already gone.

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UN News Centre: Conference on saving world’s fish stocks opens at UN Headquarters
24 May 2010 – A five-day conference on fish conservation opened at United Nations Headquarters in New York today amid warnings that three quarters of the world’s fish stocks are in distress and nearing depletion while marine ecosystems continue to deteriorate.

graph illustrating overfishing; habitat destruction, bycatch, incidental mortality

The conference chairman David Balton, United States Deputy Assistant Secretary for Oceans and Fisheries in the Bureau of Oceans, cited over-fishing, the effect of fishing on the marine environment and the need for further assistance to developing countries as among the forum’s main issues.

overfishing in the Mediterranean Sea has led to the targetting of smaller and smaller fish

The conference is reviewing implementation of the 1995 UN Fish Stocks Agreement that established a legal regime for long-term conservation and sustainable use of straddling and highly migratory fish stocks. It will provide an opportunity for countries to consider new measures to tighten implementation of the legal regime.  read more »

Glaciers not just ice but lifeline. Lewis Gordon Pugh to swim in half-frozen Mt Everest lake at breathtaking altitude of 5300m

Lewis Gordon Pugh is preparing for a 1km swim below summit of Mt Everest
Fearless journey to awaken conscience, to unite efforts, to rescue our planet. Lewis, with warmest heart we wish you success!

"This is not just about protecting a pristine environment," Pugh says, "it's about saving ourselves." Lewis’s Pick n Pay/SAP Everest Challenge on May 22 is all about spreading awareness of climate change and its effects. He will become the first person to attempt to swim 1km across an almost-frozen lake two-thirds of the way up Mount Everest, next to the Khumbu Glacier – at the breathtaking altitude of 5,300 metres.

Pugh is attempting a 1km swim in a glacial lake just under the summit of Mount Everest to draw attention to the melting Himalayan glaciers.

’This is not just about protecting a pristine environment, ‘ Lewis says. ‘It's about saving ourselves.’

Pugh once said “it’s a tragedy that it’s possible to swim at the North Pole.” He put himself through intense physical strain to raise awareness about climate change; he’s an ardent environmentalist who wants the world to know about the decrease in ice in the Arctic.  read more »

Top 5 arms exporters: who feels secure? Weapons piling up, enough to blow up Earth many times over rather than defend it

Top L: US President Barack Obama and South Korea's President Lee Myung-bak; Bottom R: U.S. Air Force C-17A Globemaster III
The United States of America remains the largest exporter of conventional weapons in the world, according to the latest study by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI). The U.S account for 30% of global arms sales, or about $7 billion per year, for the period 2005-2009, SIPRI statement says. From 2005 to 2009, the U.S. sold one-third of its arm exports to South Korea (15%), Israel (13%) and the United Arab Emirates (11%). The top U.S. military equipments included JDAM guided bombs and RGM-84L Harpoon-2 anti-ship missiles, delivered to South Korea, in 2008.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev holds a Kalashnikov gun
Russia remains the second largest supplier, with 23% of the global arms exports, or about $4.5 billion per year, the SIPRI data indicates. Russia’s main clients are China (40%) and India (20%), which belong to the top five of the largest conventional weapons importers from 2005 to 2009, SIPRI says. Russian exports of fighter planes included 82 Sukhoi fighters for India and 24 MI-17 helicopters for China.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel
Germany, whose exports doubled over the past five years, has become the world’s third-largest arms dealer, SIPRI reports. Germany now makes up 10% of the global volume. Most of Germany’s arms are sold to other European countries, such as Turkey (15%) and Greece (13%). German Leopard 2A4 tanks delivered to Turkey cost over 365 million Euros.  read more »

At sea, I ask ocean waves: "What do you expect when wisdom is locked by ignorance, law by politics, vision by greed?" - LuCxeed

At sea, I ask ocean waves: "What do you expect when wisdom is locked by ignorance, law by politics, vision by greed?"

— LuCxeed

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