Features
World growth spurs faster climate change, says report
SYDNEY—Global warming is occurring faster than predicted because rapid economic growth has resulted in higher than expected greenhouse gas emissions since 2000, said an Australian report on Tuesday.
Natural lighting
MANILA, Philippines — The amount of lighting in a building will definitely affect the occupants. Dark interiors tend to suggest a gloomy atmosphere, while brighter spaces help make occupants more energetic.
The natural wonders of Ticao
Being in the news for intense political rivalries and armed conflicts, one would think Masbate is nothing but a land of chaos. But who would think that it has a serene side waiting to be discovered?
‘Emergency’ 55 million years ago was global warming–study
WASHINGTON–Cataclysmic volcanic eruptions in Greenland and the British Isles brought on a destructive bout of global warming 55 million years ago, an international study revealed Thursday.
Lack of incentives makes solar energy unattractive
Solar energy could very well answer the power supply problems in major urban centers of the country, but the absence of tax and duty incentives renders unviable any investment effort to commercialize solar energy in the Philippines.
Eco-tip #5: Guidelines on zero-waste celebrations
THE PHILIPPINES IS TRULY THE “FIESTA ISLANDS.” Across the length and breadth of our 42,000 barangays, countless festivals are celebrated yearly, often in honor of a community’s patron saint.
Simple living slows global warming
So many news articles are sounding the alarm over the worsening state of the environment, the depletion of natural resources and global warming. DENR Secretary Angelo Reyes, during Earth Day celebrations held recently, pointed to the precarious state of the environment and called for unity in preserving the ecosystem. Furthermore, he said the country’s air quality, especially in urban areas, falls short of the appropriate standards for health while water quality is in a terrible state.
World-class coco-biodiesel
Several years from now, we may very well recall Earth Day 2007 as a milestone in the Philippines’ commitment to its future, if only for the near frenzy by which various sectors tried to contribute their share, big or small, toward protecting the environment.
World environmental group airs warning on state of coral reefs
Nearly half the world’s coral reefs may be lost in the next 40 years unless urgent measures are taken to protect them against the threat of climate change, according to a new report released by the World Conservation Union and disseminated locally by its attached agency, the Ecological Society of the Philippines (ESP).
World Earth Day
Nearly three decades after a special day was dedicated to the protection of the Earth, people are more than ever aware of the hazards faced by the planet. Horrific natural disasters such as Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans, massive flooding and mudslides have been blamed on factors with man-made causes such as global warming and indiscriminate logging. Irresponsible mining operations have led to some of the worst environmental disasters.
A brief history of pinch technology
In 2005, a colleague from Malaysia gave me an odd Christmas gift — a photocopy of an obscure doctoral thesis on industrial energy conservation using heat exchange networks by Charles Hohmann dating back to 1971. This document, with its typewritten text and painstakingly hand-drawn figures, was a treasure of sorts, a lost document in the field of pinch analysis and process integration.
Eco-tip #4: Cool tips to fight global warming
MANILA, Philippines — Whether you drive a gas-guzzling Hummer or take a jeepney to school or office, you let carbon dioxide loose into the atmosphere and contribute to global warming.
Cultural communications to confront climate change crisis
Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto Romulo opens a round-table cum exhibit with scientists, artists interfacing with different disciplines, media, business, church and education leaders in a focused discussion to forge a comprehensive creative cultural communications educational plan for Climate Change adaptation.
Climate change now conceded
As oracles of global disaster, Al Gore and the UN Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change should be natural allies. Both were in fact very busy the past two weeks with their common advocacy. The former, billed as America’s ex-future president, spent hours convincing a US Senate panel that industries and individuals do litter the air with greenhouse gases. The latter was reviewing the final version of its report on how climate change will annihilate countries and species.
Eco-tip #3: Simple things you can do to save Earth from global warming
MANILA, Philippines — Whether you drive a gas-guzzling Hummer or take a jeepney to school or office, you emit carbon dioxide into the atmosphere and contribute to global warming. But low carbon footprint or not, you can actually help offset this.
Mother Earth and eco-platform
Only when US Vice President Al Gore came out recently with his documentary film An Inconvenient Truth, and won an Oscar for it, people around the world suddenly took notice of a creeping problem that encompasses race, religion, culture and geographical boundaries.
Clean technology needed to save earth – ESP
A breakthrough on clean energy technology without sacrificing economic growth is a must for the planet to preserve itself, according to the Ecological Society of the Philippines (ESP), the country’s leading environmental non-government organization.
Experts warn on climate impact of global warming
BRUSSELS — The world’s top cli-mate scientists were gathering here Monday to hammer out the summary of a massive report that predicts dire consequences from global warming, especially for poor nations and spe-cies diversity.
Protecting a national treasure
There are some undeniable sources of Philippine pride. One is being the world’s center of marine biodiversity, as determined by about 100 scientists from around the globe. In a joint study, the US Smithsonian Institute also declared Verde Island Passage, between Mindoro and the main island of Luzon, as the “center of the center” of the world’s marine biodiversity, hosting close to 60 percent of the world’s species of shore fish.
Biodiversity loss and public health
THE case of the outbreak of the hantavirus respiratory syndrome in the United States serves as a valuable model illustrating the effects of such alterations in ecosystem balances and the relative lack of knowledge about infectious agents in the environment and the processes that uncover them. Six years of drought in the American Southwest, where Utah, Colorado, Arizona, and New Mexico meet, ended in the late winter and spring of 1993 with unusually heavy snow and rains. These resulted in a superabundance of piñon nuts and grasshoppers, food for the native deer mouse. At the same time, the drought led to a reduction in the predators of the deer mouse, namely foxes, snakes, and owls, and as a result the deer mouse population exploded. It was subsequently learned that deer mice carry a hantavirus that they shed through their saliva and excreta. As a consequence of greatly increased exposure of people in the area to the huge mouse population, an epidemic of rapidly fatal respiratory syndrome developed.
The causes and effects of deforestation
When the first humans arrived in the Philippines from adjacent Asia many thousands of years ago, they found an archipelago that was remarkably rich in natural resources.
Rainforest Conservation Convergence (RCC)
Eco-Life Foundation is dedicated to its mission of preserving the Philippine ecosystem through its Rainforest Conservation Convergence (RCC) strategy.
Eco-tip #2
Energy Saving Tips provided by Department of Energy (www.doe.gov.ph).
Eco-tip #1
Earth Saving Tips from Earth Share (www.earthshare.org).
