Stories about Environment from November, 2009
Global Health: World Toilet Day Raises a Stink
While it may sound like a bad joke, today's World Toilet Day focuses on a not-so-funny issue impacting almost half the world's population -- a lack of toilets and sanitation.
Barbados: Mini Monaco?
Barbados Free Press and Barbados Underground question the vision of the island being transformed into another Monaco.
Papua New Guinea: Ursula Rakova Leads Relocation Efforts
Activist Ursula Rakova has been leading efforts to relocate the residents from the Cataret Islands in Papua New Guinea, where it is estimated that by 2015 all of the islands will be completely submerged because of climate change.
Bangladesh: Brahmaputra River Is Threatened
RealTime Bangladesh blog reports that a dam in Yarlung Tsangpo (Brahmaputra) in China will divert 200 billion cubic meters of waters to the Yellow River. This will spell disaster for the Tibetan plateau and the lower riparian countries, India’s North East and Bangladesh as Brahmaputra river and its branches like...
India: Much Ado about Copenhagen Meet On Climate Change
Roger Alexander opines that “in the course of his current trip to Asia, US President Barack Obama has ensured that the upcoming United Nations Climate Conference, due to take place in Copenhagen December 7-18, will be nothing more than a talk shop.”
Denmark: The Climate Debt Agents are Coming
The Climate Debt Agents are group of men and women from Denmark and Africa who are taking on the challenge of getting developed countries to pay their climate debt to the developing world.
Nicaragua: Farmers express thoughts on Rural Development through video
The Alzar las Voces (Raise the Voices) project in Nicaragua brings farmers in rural communities the possibility to speak out through video telling of their concerns, their projects, their wishes and ideas.
Bahrain: Three Kingfishers
From Bahrain, bird watcher Howard King shares his find: three kingfishers.
Suriname: Welcome to the Jungle
For Paramaribo SPAN, Christopher Cozier visits artist Daniel Djojoatmo, whose work “discuss[es] the predicament of certain narratives of development which are, at their inception, ill-fated and at the disposal of the jungle.”
Dominica: Billboards Galore
“There are rules. Unfortunately the guardians of those rules are afraid of their paymasters, and the other service providers have no respect for them”: Caribbean Man takes issue with illegal billboards in Dominica.
Guyana: Vampire Snacks
Guyana-Gyal comes up with an innovative marketing plan to sell mosquitoes…
CEE: Recycling & Bicycles, Energy Consumption, and More
At Th!nk About It, a climate change blogging competition, Adela reports on the construction of a highway in Romania, which will go through a national park, endangering “the only virgin forest on our good old continent”, and also writes about the Recicleta project in Bucharest, and one Romanian man's roof...
Japan as a Recycling Society in the Edo Period
Ed Jacob posted an English translation of an article “about how there was pretty much no garbage in Japan’s Edo Period because almost everything got recycled“.
Brazil: Was the blackout caused by hackers or UFOs?
See the many conspiracy theories about the 2009 blackout in Brazil: everything from the president, his possible successor, UFOs and hackers have been blamed from one blog to another.
Dominican Republic: Energy Crisis Continues
The problems of electric power outages in the Dominican Republic continue, and many are growing restless with the leadership which has been unable to resolve the situation.
Trinidad & Tobago: Art or Ego?
“One thing that seems to me to distinguish good governance from bad is an understanding that cities and countries are built on communities, not on buildings”: Club Soda and Salt comments on Trinidad and Tobago's “latest white elephant”.
China: Interview with Lu Guang, the photographer of “Pollution in China”
China Hush has translated local online media Netease's interview with Lu Guang, who won this year W. Eugene Smith Grant in Humanistic Photography with a set of photos featuring “Pollution in China”.
Paraguay: Indigenous Group Sprayed Aerially with Pesticides
In eastern Paraguay, 217 members of the Ava Guaraní indigenous community came down with health symptoms, believed to be caused by intentional aerial spraying with pesticide, after refusal to vacate their ancestral lands.
Trinidad & Tobago: Will The Performing Arts Centre Perform?
The construction of Trinidad and Tobago's new National Academy for the Performing Arts has been controversial, but despite the obstacles, the academy was opened earlier this week, soliciting reactions from local bloggers...
India: Climate Change And The Role Of Government
Voluntary Service Overseas (VSO) volunteer Nicola Macnaughton opines that the Indian government’s lack of involvement in tackling climate changes “raises serious concerns about equity, justice, and human rights in a country which is widely acknowledged as the world’s ‘largest democracy’.”
Guyana: Must Get Mosquito
Guyana-Gyal has it out with a mosquito.
