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This powerful image of two vulnerable children living on what seems like the very edge of survival has won Chan Kwok Hung from Hong Kong the title of Environmental Photographer of the Year 2011.

The photographer says: "The photo was taken in Kathmandu, the capital of Nepal and is of two children who lived nearby to the junkyard with their grandmother. Every day they searched the junkyard for something useful that they can resell for money so they can buy food. If they don't find anything their grandmother blamed them seriously. Unfortunately, they had found nothing for a few days, the little boy felt very hungry. I gave them some money and a biscuit after taking this photo. But who knows who will help them afterwards."

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Photo Gallery: CIWEM Environmental Photographer of the Year 2011 award winners

Photos courtesy Chan Kwok Hung / EPOTY.ORG / Barcroft Media

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Protesters Demand Honest GMO Labels at Right 2 Know March
The Right to Know Where Food Comes From

[October 1, 2011] Starting today, thousands of Americans will march in protest from New York City all the way to Washington D.C. to demand clear, honest labeling of foods with genetically modified ingredients.

Genetically modified foods are subject to disclosure and labeling requirements in many countries, but currently, United States law does not require food producers to label genetically modified foods sold to consumers as genetically modified. The only way for consumers who prefer not to eat genetically modified foods to avoid GMOs is to buy produce only from farmers they know, carefully research the origins of the food they purchase, or limit themselves to buying only food that either been certified by the USDA as organic or has been voluntarily labeled by its manufacturer and certified by a third party as non-GMO.  read more »

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N.Y. Police Can’t Use Bus Drivers in Protest Arrests, Union Says  read more »

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According to the UN, unsanitary water kills more people worldwide than war. As the precious water supply dwindles, it may prove to be more than just a crisis for developing countries.

Everyone is aware of the dangers of peak oil, but peak water is just as, if not more, devastating. The planet's fresh water supply is a precious resource and the rate at which the industrialised world consumes it is always increasing. As such, there is a fear, as with oil, that eventually extraction rates hit a peak and it's only downhill from thereon-in. Staff at the Pacific Institute however have made a disturbing discovery - that the US hit 'peak water' in 1970... and nobody noticed.

The Facts About The Global Drinking Water Crisis

• 1.1 billion people in the world do not have access to safe drinking water, roughly one-sixth of the world's population.

Consumption

• The average American uses 100 to 175 gallons of water per day.

• The average African Family uses 5 gallons per day.

• It takes 5 liters of water to make 1 liter of bottled water.

• Almost 70 percent of the available fresh water gets used for irrigation in agriculture.

• More than half of the water used for irrigation leaks, evaporates or runs off.

• It takes 2,900 gallons of water to produce one quarter pound hamburger (just the meat)

Our Planet  read more »

Obesity rates rise at least 90% in 17 states since ’95, study says. One-third of children are overweight or obese.

Obesity rates climbed at least 90 percent in 17 states from 1995 to last year, gains that have a direct bearing on US health spending, according to a report released yesterday.

Nine of the 10 states with the highest obesity rates are in the South, led by Mississippi at 34.4 percent, followed by Alabama and West Virginia, according to the report by the Trust for America’s Health and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Those states also lead the nation in diabetes and high blood pressure, the report found. Michigan was listed as 10th at 30.5 percent. Massachusetts ranked fourth best at 22.3 percent.

Medicare and Medicaid, the public health plans, each spend more than 20 percent of their budget to treat illnesses related to obesity and smoking, which are avoidable medical risks.

The survey’s authors dubbed a swath of 644 counties in 15 mostly southern states the “diabetes belt,’’ as reported in the Journal of Preventive Diseases. Colorado, the slimmest state with a 19.8 percent obesity rate, had the second-smallest rise since 1995, though its rate is still higher than Mississippi’s was at that time, according to the study.

Obesity is defined as having a body mass index above 30. A 6-foot-tall adult man weighing 221 pounds or more is considered obese, as is an adult woman standing 5 feet, 6 inches tall weighing 186 pounds or more, according to the National Institutes of Health. People with obesity are at higher risk for diabetes and hypertension, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.  read more »

Kids, the climate-crisis-affected generation, refuse to inherit a damaged planet from us, from parent and grandparent generations. They demand the atmosphere protected for their future. They will have iMatter climate march on Mother's Day, May 7-14; they are taking legal action to claim "the atmosphere belongs to us all". Youth to preserve the planet in all 50 states and the District of Columbia announced today that they're suing the government in order to create an "atmospheric trust," arguing that public trust law should protect the atmosphere for future generations. The plaintiffs and petitioners on all the cases are young people. Kids deserve a healthy Earth to live, to survive, to call it home. Shall we, parent / grandparent generations, leave behind at least a reasonably sustainable (if not better) place behind us for our kids, for children’s children? Regardless, now kids are standing up for their future.

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Video from Japanese journalist entering the Fukushima radiation zone - see original, full video here.

Fukushima nuclear fallout map

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Chernobyl Anniversary - Greenpeace USA: It has been 25 years since the name Chernobyl became the infamous nuclear accident that devastated the lives of millions of people in Western Russia, Belarus and the Ukraine. 25 years on, and the nightmare for thousands of people is still frightening.

The Chernobyl catastrophe released 100 times more radiation than the atom bombs dropped over Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Yet many seem to just dismiss the accident as a part of history and forget what large doses of radiation actually do to human lives. Sadly, focussing solely on the disputed statistics of Chernobyl has dehumanized what happened. The effects of Chernobyl touched millions of people and thousands still endure very visible and painful effects.  read more »

Choice for mankind sharing one planet - where to spend big? To make our only Earth greener, or grayer?

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Upper left: Germany Launched "5M" wind turbine, which is designed and built by Germany's REpower Company.
Center left: Germany has considerably increased the number of windfarms on off-shore locations.
Lower left: For the first time in the Solar Decathlon, a home that has produced twice the amount of energy as it used, won the first prize. And it did so in a very unusual way.
Upper right: French fighter jets soared over Libya.
Center right: French Mirage 2000 jet fighters are lined up awaiting a mission to Libya, at Solenzara 126 Air Base, Corsica island, France.
Lower right: Smoke billows as seven explosions rocked the Libyan capital Tripoli earlier this week. New air strikes have reportedly claimed at least 40 civilians.

Renewable Energy is a Reality and not a Vision. Germany gains more energy from solar technology than Japan gains from all its nuclear reactors. Development in this area occurred much faster in the last years than many expected. Ten years ago no one would have believed we could gain 17 percent of our electricity supply from renewable energy.

“RENEWABLE ENERGY IS A REALITY AND NOT A VISION”  read more »