The Irresponsible Jean-Marcel Bouguereau suggests that trusting that current world leadership will attempt to save the human race from the depredations of unchecked industrialization would be an obvious mistake.
Birth of the International Trade Union Confederation Jean-Marcel Bouguereau celebrates the birth of the International Trade Union Confederation in Vienna this week and hopes the new organization's creation portends more effective strategies to protect workers globally.
Dishing Out Power With a Solar Engine The Infinia company is trying to prove that a 19th-century design known as the Stirling engine has a place in the emerging market for clean energy.
Our Mode of Development Not Sustainable Laetitia de Marez, Greenpeace International's official in charge of citizen mobilization projects against climate change, gives an interview on the opening of Al Gore's movie, "An Inconvenient Truth," in France.
Food, Biofuels Could Worsen Water Shortages Conquering hunger and coping with an estimated 3 billion extra people by 2050 will result in an 80 percent increase in water use for agriculture.
Agricultural Selfishness Le Monde argues that the breakdown of the Doha cycle of WTO negotiations because of agricultural considerations is a catastrophe for the poorest countries.
CO2 Is Creating Acid Seas "The oceans are inexorably becoming corrosive. Unknown to the greater public, this process - due to the increase in carbon dioxide emissions - will have considerable impact," writes Stephane Foucart. "[This] is all the more worrying in that the affected flora and fauna constitute the first links in the marine food chain."
Reinventing Globalization Present transport patterns in global trade are unsustainable, reports Stephane Lauer. He describes a few alternatives under consideration.
Global Military Spend Hits $1.12 Trillion US spending in Iraq and Afghanistan helped push up global 2005 military expenditure by 3.5 percent to $1.12 trillion, a research body said. "The USA is responsible for 48 percent of the world total, distantly followed by the UK, France, Japan and China with 4 to 5 percent each," the Swedish government-funded institute added.
Desert Cities Are Living on Borrowed Time, UN Warns The 500 million people who live in the world's desert regions can expect to find life increasingly unbearable as already high temperatures soar and the available water is used up or turns salty, according to the United Nations.
Ankelohe and Beyond: Communicating Climate Change "A new way of framing the climate change issue that makes sense in people's daily lives is needed in order to translate passive awareness into active concern," says Simon Retallack.
The Planet Can't Wait David Ignatius: The warnings are coming from frogs and beetles, from melting ice and changing ocean currents, and from scientists and responsible politicians around the world.
Flying Is Dying George Monbiot warns: There is no way to halt global warming and continue traveling long distances at high speeds. The only solution is to stop flying in airplanes.
Global Warming: Passing the 'Tipping Point' A crucial global warming "tipping point" for the Earth, highlighted by the British Government, has already been passed, with devastating consequences.