Environment: December 2004 Archives

Scientists Say Tsunami Could Hit Pacific Northwest if 680-Mile Undersea Fault Ruptures

Dec 29, 2004 — Tsunami scientists and public safety officials are closely watching an earthquake-prone nation with thousands of miles of crowded coastlines for signs of an imminent disaster. Indonesia? Japan? Try the United States. Experts say the West Coast could experience a calamity similar to the one they have been watching unfold half a world away.

Mangrove trees grow where no tree has grown before. They are able to survive inundation by salt water twice a day, and in "soil" which is unstable and poor in oxygen (anaerobic). They also have to deal with swollen rivers carrying silt during the wet season, as well as violent storms that hit the coasts.

The environment is in trouble and the religious right doesn't care. It's time to act as if the future depends on us – because it does.

By Bill Moyers

Recently the Center for Health and the Global Environment at Harvard Medical School presented its fourth annual Global Environment Citizen Award to Bill Moyers. In presenting the award, Meryl Streep, a member of the Center board, said, "Through resourceful, intrepid reportage and perceptive voices from the forward edge of the debate, Moyers has examined an environment under siege with the aim of engaging citizens." Following is the text of Bill Moyers' response to Ms. Streep's presentation of the award.

by Lila Buckley

The average global temperature for the first 11 months of 2004—14.60 degrees Celsius (58.28 degrees Fahrenheit)—makes it the fourth warmest year since recordkeeping began in 1880. February, October, and November of 2004 were the second warmest of those three months, and March and April were the third warmest on record.

PROUT Editor's note: Wangari Maathai, a 64-year-old Kenyan woman, has just been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for 2004. It is the first time in the history of the Nobel Committee that a Prize was given for environmental work. Shrii Prabhat Sarkar, founder of PROUT, gave big importance to environmental work and protection of all animals and plants. He provided humanity with what should become the fundamental principles of the future world government. Those principles are:
(1) A guarantee of complete security to all plants and animals
(2) A guarantee of purchasing power adequate to secure the minimum requirements of life to all citizens of every country. These requirements include food, clothing, housing, medical care and education.
(3)The recognition of four fundamental rights:
(i) spiritual practice
(ii) cultural legacy
(iii) education
(iv) indigenous linguistic expression
Certainly, Wangari Maathai spent her entire life attempting to guarantee the complete security of animals and plants. Below is her acceptance speech at the Nobel Awards ceremony.
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By Wangari Maathai
New York Times
December 10, 2004

NAIROBI, KENYA - When I was growing up in Nyeri in central Kenya, there was no word for desert in my mother tongue, Kikuyu. Our land was fertile and forested. But today in Nyeri, as in much of Africa and the developing world, water sources have dried up, the soil is parched and unsuitable for growing food, and conflicts over land are common. So it should come as no surprise that I was inspired to plant trees to help meet the basic needs of rural women. As a member of the National Council of Women of Kenya in the early 1970's, I listened as women related what they wanted but did not have enough of: energy, clean drinking water and nutritious food.