My Weekly Reading Progress Report

Discovery Channel continues to work with nearly two dozen of the world’s most respected marine biologists and science institutions to bring brand-new, innovative shark research technology and compelling insight on some of the most unique shark species in the world.
This year, Oceana and Discovery are teaming up to help protect sharks, which are threatened by a global shark fin trade that includes fins from as many as 73 million sharks each year.

SHARK WEEK 2019 MAKES A HUGE SPLASH WITH OVER 20 HOURS OF SHARK PROGRAMMING, PREMIERING SUNDAY, JULY 28 ON DISCOVERY – Discovery, Inc.

2 annotations

movies and tv

corporate.discovery.com

2712

Red-lipped Batfish
Found on the Galapagos Islands, this fish is actually a pretty bad swimmer, and uses its pectoral fins to walk on the bottom of the ocean
Goblin sharks inhabit around the world at depths greater than 100 m (330 ft), with adults found deeper than juveniles. Given the depths at which it lives, the goblin shark poses no danger to humans
Found in Chile, they are known for their extremely painful stings, hence the common name cow killer or cow ant. Black and white specimens are sometimes known as panda ants due to their hair coloration resembling that of the Chinese giant panda
It is a large, presumably aquatic, caecilian amphibian with a broad, flat head and a fleshy dorsal fin on the body.
Their strange appearance still poses many questions to scientists.
this small tenrec is the only mammal known to use stridulation for generating sound – something that’s usually associated with snakes and insects
As this hawk-moth feeds on flowers and makes a similar humming sound, it looks a lot like a hummingbird
You could find it in warm waters of the oceans, as it floats on the surface because of a gas-filled sac in its stomach
The local fishermen were really worried about the safety of their testicles when they had to get in the water
spends 80% of its time searching for food.

21 More Weird Animals You Didn’t Know Exist | Bored Panda

11 annotations

large animals

www.boredpanda.com

4393

The intelligence of elephants is comparable to primates (and in some instances, elephants give humans a run for the money). Meanwhile, their dexterous trunks allow them to use tools to draw on paper. The distinction, however, lies in whether the elephant is painting on a whim or has been trained to do so. As you probably have guessed, the latter is most often the case.
elephants can undergo extreme discomfort in the training process, and that it detracts from their quality of life as they are forced to paint the same picture repeatedly.
But not all elephants are taught to paint to entertain tourists or for monetary gain
According to the project's website, the training process is stimulating and based on positive reinforcement, and part of the group's mission is to educate elephant trainers about how to safely and carefully train domesticated elephants

Can elephants really paint? | MNN - Mother Nature Network

4 annotations

large animals

www.mnn.com

4292

Destruction of the ozone, global warming conditions and the infringement on habitat from solid-waste facilities all impact animals.
The most common are synthetic chemicals, oil, toxic metals and acid rain.
DDT, a pesticide that was widely applied between the 1940s and 1960s, mainly for mosquito abatement, is one example of a synthetic chemical known to be highly destructive to animal
Oil spills affect wildlife in oceans instantly, with a very large death toll.
The affects of these metals vary. Neurological damage, liver damage, muscle atrophy and failure to reproduce are just a few of the physical affects of metals. These toxic metals also affect plant life, which affects the animals' food and habitat.

Pollution's Effects on Animals

5 annotations

ecology

sciencing.com

3953

Penguins are threatened by pollution, bycatch and climate change. Introduced species, such as dogs, carry diseases that can spread to penguins as well, and cats pose a threat as predators
Penguins are threatened by pollution, bycatch and climate change. Introduced species, such as dogs, carry diseases that can spread to penguins as well, and cats pose a threat as predators
This is the only penguin species found north of the equator and in the Galápagos.
Endangered

Galápagos Penguin | Species | WWF

4 annotations

large animals

www.worldwildlife.org

4381

Pipes are now being replaced and officials say the water is safe, but residents still worry, drink bottled water and doubt their elected leaders.
Lead from the city’s old pipes leached into the water, causing alarmingly high lead levels in the blood of many residents
As the state of Michigan tells it, the water in Flint now meets federal standards. Levels of lead and copper are down.
By now, 15 people who worked in state and local government roles have been charged with crimes in Flint’s crisis.

Flint’s Water Crisis Started 5 Years Ago. It’s Not Over. - The New York Times

4 annotations

law, govt and politics

www.nytimes.com

4119

In September 2016, almost 50 years of constant breeding and conservation, the giant panda was removed from the endangered species list
once upon a time, the humble alligator was on the verge of extinction, thanks to the popularity of its skin as material for shoes, jackets, and bags.
South Africa’s white rhino went from discovery to near-extinction in just 75 years.
But in 1885, 20 remaining white rhinos were discovered in a remote location in Kwazulu-Natal. They were protected and bred for more than a hundred years, and there are now a robust 20,000 white rhinos in the wild.
In the 1970s, however, when it was discovered that there were only about 140 left, the grizzly was placed on the Endangered Species List in 1975
Now, there are around 1200 wandering around Yellowstone and the Rocky Mountain West—and about 50,000 in the world
The Siberian tiger—the biggest cat in the world, native to Russia, China and Korea—was heavily hunted until the mid-1940s, when Russia finally banned killing tigers
The island fox, which is endemic to California's Channel Islands, suffered a 90 percent population decrease in the 1990s, when pesticide use wiped out bald eagles on the islands
the monkeys' numbers dwindled to around 200 after 93 percent of the rainforest was cut and cleared.
the wood stork’s population has dropped by 90 percent since the 1930s, landing it on the endangered species list in.
There is only one true kind of wild horse left on the entire planet—and that’s Przewalski’s horse.
Today there are about 50 animals. With such small numbers, they're still considered endangered.

8 Animals That Are No Longer Endangered | Mental Floss

12 annotations

large animals

mentalfloss.com

4630

Centuries of domestication have unintentionally yet radically reshaped dogs' eyebrow anatomy, making their faces easily readable to people.
When meeting a person’s gaze, dogs often raise their inner eyebrow muscle to make their eyes look larger and more appealing.
There’s no evidence that dogs move this [eyebrow] muscle intentionally, but it creates an exaggerated movement that for us means ‘dog,’”

‘Puppy dog eyes’ evolved so dogs could communicate with us

3 annotations

4264

Tent cities are now so common that advocates are campaigning to make them semi-permanent settlements of micro-housing. But is this a genuine solution or merely a quick fix?
In December 2014, the city of San Jose shut down what was then America’s largest homeless camp — a shantytown that stretched for sixty-eight acres along Coyote Creek where a few hundred men and women were living in tents, shacks, treehouses, and adobe dugouts.
Indeed, mass encampments, with fifty or more residents, have become increasingly common across America. Since the turn of the millennium, more than three dozen cities have accommodated camps of this scale for a year or more. 1
Little wonder that homeless people in New York have sometimes sought shelter underground. Some of the most tenacious — and out of sight — homeless colonies in New York are located in the rail and subway tunnels that crisscross the metropolis. Journalist Jennifer Toth’s account of the “mole people,” first published in the mid ‘90s, remains relevant

Tent City, America

4 annotations

law, govt and politics

placesjournal.org

4253

Globally, 844 million people lack access to clean water
Women and children are worst affected — children because they are more vulnerable to diseases of dirty water and women and girls because they often bear the burden of carrying water for their families for an estimated 200 million hours each day.
2018: Worldwide, 2.1 billion people still live without safe drinking water in their homes and more than 892 million people still have no choice but to defecate outside.
Every day, more than 800 children under age 5 die from diarrhea attributed to poor water and sanitation.
Our average cost for World Vision to bring clean water to one person in Africa is $50.
World Vision’s goal is that by 2030 all communities located within our development areas worldwide will have access to clean water, adequate sanitation, hand-washing facilities, and menstrual hygiene facilities, as well as hygiene promotion and behavior change.
2017: World Vision now reaches one new person every 10 seconds with clean water. In June, World Vision drills its 1,500th borehole well since 2003 in Mali.
2030: 50 million people — everyone, everywhere we work — have access to clean water and sanitation.

Global water crisis: Facts, FAQs, and how to help | World Vision

8 annotations

children

www.worldvision.org

4467

Botswana, long considered a safe haven for elephants in Africa, has "a significant elephant-poaching problem," according to a conservationist group that carried out an aerial wildlife survey in the country.
Elephants Without Borders said it witnessed a spike in the number of elephant carcasses found in northern Botswana which show "obvious signs" of poaching, according to the final results of the survey, which has been seen by CNN
But Chase, the lead author of the report, told CNN that Elephants Without Borders confirmed 94 freshly poached carcasses using helicopters and found 157 in total.
But the country is expected to lift the ban and allow the canning of elephant meat as pet food, after a recommendation from Cabinet ministers.
"I don't -- for one second -- think that President Masisi or the government of Botswana will allow elephant culling in Botswana and to can elephant meat for pet's food," Chase said of last week's proposal by Cabinet ministers.
"Our communities must begin to benefit directly from our rich wildlife heritage -- sustainable hunting, some argue, is the solution to fostering an ethos of long-term conservation among communities who live with these intimidating five-ton animals."

Botswana elephant poaching a significant problem, conservation group says - CNN

6 annotations

large animals

www.cnn.com

4340

Populations are in decline as the demands of nearby Mexico City have led to the draining and contamination of much of the waters of the Xochimilco Lake complex. They are also popular in the aquarium trade, and roasted axolotl is considered a delicacy in Mexico, further shrinking their numbers. They are considered a critically endangered species.
has the rare trait of retaining its larval features throughout its adult life.
axolotls differ from most other salamanders in that they live permanently in water
reaching up to a foot in length, although the average size is closer to half that.
surviving up to 15 years on a diet of mollusks, worms, insect larvae, crustaceans, and some fish.

Axolotl | National Geographic

5 annotations

4781

commercial activities like mining and soy production were also involved.
forests are also a critical tool to fight climate change.
cutting—removing large patches of forest indiscriminately—caused the highest loss of forest cover overall.
But without wildfires, forest loss was up by roughly 13 percent. That has implications for climate change as well as other environmental concerns,
four million acres of primary forest was lost in Brazil alone
helping
according to data compiled by research group Global Forest Watch and analysts at the University of Maryland.
forests are also a critical tool to fight climate change. Large swaths of forest like the Amazon rainforest are carbon sinks

Map shows the millions of acres of Brazilian Amazon rain forest lost last year

8 annotations

6156

In a swift, abrupt change of policy that month, Beijing announced it would ban 24 types of imported waste by the end of the year.
The waste plastic industry will bear most of the brunt as it will have to sort scrap plastics and turn them into clean pellets that can be exported to China as industrial raw material.
Questions are being raised as to what the future holds for the city’s embattled and fragmented recycling industry, hit in recent years by falling prices, high costs and a lack of space and capacity.
The problem is not about money, but deep-rooted issues such as the lack of incentives for the public to recycle
There is no economic incentive for frontline recyclers to collect any more,”
Hong Kong becomes a dumping ground for US e-waste, research finds
In 2015 the mainland imported 46 million tonnes of waste – including roughly half of the world’s imports of scrap paper, plastics and copper – for reprocessing. In the first eight months of 2016, Hong Kong was the largest exporter of used plastic to the mainland, accounting for 26.7 per cent of the total.

Shift in mainland policy could spell disaster for Hong Kong recycling | South China Morning Post

7 annotations

ecology

www.scmp.com

6733

more than 6,000 cases of cholera have been reported since early January.
the plight of the Somali people has been "neglected" amid an impending famine.
chronic situations tend to be neglected,"
Somalia's Prime Minister Hassan Ali Khaire announced that 110 people had died from starvation and drought-related illness.

UN chief: World is neglecting risk of famine in Somalia - CNN.com

4 annotations

news

edition.cnn.com

11284

first zero-emissions hydrogen train
The train operates using a hydrogen fuel tank, stored on the roof of the vehicle, that in turn powers a fuel cell to produce electrical energy
provides an alternative to the country’s 4,000 diesel cars currently in circulation in Germany.

World's first zero-emissions hydrogen train to go into service in Germany

3 annotations

energy

www.telegraph.co.uk

6349

create mutant enzyme that eats plastic bottles
The structure of the enzyme looked very similar to one evolved by many bacteria to break down cutin, a natural polymer used as a protective coating by plants. But when the team manipulated the enzyme to explore this connection, they accidentally improved its ability to eat PET.
The mutant enzyme takes a few days to start breaking down the plastic – far faster than the centuries it takes in the oceans
new research was spurred by the discovery in 2016 of the first bacterium that had naturally evolved to eat plastic, at a waste dump in Japan.
there is strong potential to use enzyme technology to help with society’s growing waste problem,” said Oliver Jones, a chemist at RMIT University in Melbourne,
Industrial enzymes are widely used in, for example, washing powders and biofuel production, They have been made to work up to 1,000 times faster in a few years,
Enzymes are non-toxic, biodegradable

Scientists accidentally create mutant enzyme that eats plastic bottles | Environment | The Guardian

7 annotations

ecology

7391

If you head over to the Union Square station in Manhattan, you’ll encounter a wall of post-its, which serve as love notes addressed to the United States of America.
According to BuzzFeed, more than 1,500 notes were placed on a subway station wall.
Subway Therapy” project has existed for a while, the post-its and notes are a new addition providing New Yorkers and anyone with something to say an outlet to get their message out.
While the “Subway Therapy” project has existed for a while, the post-its and notes are a new addition providing New Yorkers and anyone with something to say an outlet to get their message out.

People Cope With Election By Posting Love Notes To America

4 annotations

politics

elitedaily.com

5271

On today’s factory farms, animals are crammed by the thousands into filthy, windowless sheds and stuffed into wire cages, metal crates, and other torturous devices
Most won’t even feel the warmth of the sun on their backs or breathe fresh air until the day they’re loaded onto trucks headed for slaughterhouses.
Antibiotics are used to make animals grow faster and to keep them alive in the unsanitary conditions
t factory farms’ widespread use of antibiotics can lead to antibiotic-resistant bacteria that threaten human health.

Factory Farming: The Industry Behind Meat and Dairy | PETA

4 annotations

pets

www.peta.org

7228

. Deposits on plastic drinks bottles and a levy on takeaway cups are a start. They tackle the problem at the sharp end, and make us more aware of the costs of our habits.
ake-out coffee and bottled water symbolise both the luxury and the waste of the early 21st century.
Greenpeace estimates that as much as half of the plastics Britain sends to China will be unacceptable.
Friday, MPs on the environmental audit committee – which last month called for a deposit scheme for plastic bottles – produced another shocking report about the impact of take-out coffee cups. They want a 25p levy applied to the 2.5bn cups used each year to pay for the recycling, which is possible but complex. And if that fails, then the MPs suggest throwaway cups should be banned altogether.

The Guardian view on recycling: throwaway economy is not cost-free | Editorial | Opinion | The Guardian

4 annotations

ecology

7037

Get the recipe: Cacio e Pepe Chips
Get the recipe: Relish Tray with D.I.Y. Eggs
2. Everyone Needs a Back-Pocket Appetizer
appetizers are the place to get creative. Here are my guidelines to ensure that the annual eating marathon starts out on the right

Here Are 7 Easy Steps To Thanksgiving Appetizer Greatness | Huffington Post

4 annotations

desserts and baking

5417

Using data from the birds, DuBay and Fuldner were able to see how black carbon levels corresponded to historical data on U.S. environmental regulations or fuel consumption
Black carbon is a type particulate matter emitted largely by gas and diesel engines and coal-fired power plants. The particles effectively absorb sunlight and prevent it from being reflected into the atmosphere
Looking at more than 1,300 birds from five species that flew over the Rust Belt and were contained in natural history collections, two graduate students—Shane DuBay and Carl Fuldner from the University of Chicago—were able to tell how much black carbon, also known as soot, accumulated in bird feathers during the year it was collected

U.S. Air Pollution Was Once So Bad, Birds Turned Black

3 annotations

ecology

7331

Shop less, mend more
Water is a significant part of the problem. Textile manufacturing uses huge amounts of water, much of which gets flushed into waterways laden with contaminants such as bleaches, acids, inks and dyes
Technology can help to make smarter choices. The free Good On You app rates mainstream brands based on publicly available info, while Baptist World Aid Australia’s annual Ethical Fashion Report grades companies on labour rights and the possibility of exploitation in their supply chain
The solution lies in buying less and choosing better quality items that are made as ethically as possible. But how to tell good brands from bad? Our guide to ethical fashion navigates the conundrum.
Extend your wardrobe’s lifespan by mending
But a word of caution when it comes to donating clothes. The ABC’s War on Waste survey of 36,700 people found 82% of respondents had donated clothes, yet only 53% had ever purchased secondhand clothing. With supply outstripping demand, and charities overwhelmed by mountains of crappy fast fashion items that can never be on-sold, non-profits have essentially become our dumping ground. Yet another reason to support secondhand stores while winding back our fast fashion addiction.

Shop less, mend more: making more sustainable fashion choices | Life and style | The Guardian

6 annotations

clothing

6994

World's plastic waste will exceed 12 billion tons by 2050
, the volume increased from 1.5 million tons of plastic in 1950, up to 300 millions tons of plastic in 2016.
large volume of the plastic produced is single-use, used for products such as carrier bags, drinking straws and food packaging
UK studio Studio Swine used the material to create furniture and decorative objects, while Australian designer Brodie Neill worked with it create what he calls "ocean terrazzo".
many types of plastic are easy to recycle and, if processed correctly, can offer just as many possibilities as virgin plastic.
A new generation of sustainably minded designers is pioneering ways of using recycled plastic as a raw material,
Huge quantities of it are either in landfill or in the oceans, in clusters the size of countries, such as the Great Pacific Garbage Patch.

Recycled plastic "will soon be the only choice" say designers

7 annotations

chemicals industry

www.dezeen.com

7289

felt really small and powerless after the results of the election,” Elderkin said. “I wanted to remind my daughter
Elderkin’s latest napkin art features inspiring women past and present ― from Susan B. Anthony to Lucille Ball to Michelle Obama.
A Rhode Island mom is empowering her 9-year-old daughter with some awesome napkin art.

Mom’s Napkin Art Empowers Her Daughter Every Day At Lunch | The Huffington Post

3 annotations

movies and tv

m.huffpost.com

6505

The health authority of opposition-held parts of Hama blamed the attack on Syrian government warplanes.
a bomb dropped from a helicopter hit the entrance of a hospital supported by the medical aid group in the rebel-held town of Latamneh in Hama province on Saturday.
The attack killed an orthopedic surgeon, leaving nearly 120,000 people with only two such doctors, it added.
A joint inquiry for the United Nations and the global chemical weapons watchdog has previously accused government forces of toxic gas attacks. The Syrian government has repeatedly denied using such weapons during the six-year-old war.

Air strikes hit hospital in Syria's Hama last week: MSF | Reuters

4 annotations

welfare

www.reuters.com

6166

The film follows the members of Raqqa Is Being Slaughtered Silently (RBSS), journalists who have spent the last few years trying to document the repression and brutality in their home country.
the act of reporting has put their lives in danger, with ISIS calling for the murder of reporters
City of Ghosts” is focused not on the news, but on the people who risk everything to spread it.
Heineman finds a fascinating perspective on the unfolding tragedy, and finds heroes in an unexpected place
City of Ghosts” and “Cries From Syria,” both of which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival this weekend,
Last Men in Aleppo” premieres on Monday, and its subjects, the White Helmets or Syrian Defense League, are mentioned in both “City of Ghosts” and “Cries From Syria”

Reviews: 'City of Ghosts' and 'Cries From Syria' Showcase Heroes, Victims

6 annotations

movies and tv

www.thewrap.com

7627

The stress of war has led to increased bedwetting, self-harm, suicide attempts and aggressive behaviour among many children,
71% of interviewees said that children were increasingly suffering from frequent bedwetting and "involuntary urination" - symptoms of toxic stress and post-traumatic stress disorder
48% of adults said they had seen children who had lost their ability to speak or begun to suffer from speech impediments
Toxic stress can disrupt the development of the brain and other organs and increasing the risk of addiction

Syrian children in state of 'toxic stress', Save the Children says - BBC News

4 annotations

children

6761

In one photograph taken near Roatan, an island off the coast of Honduras, a diver grimaces as he prepares to enter the water
plastic gets broken down into microscopic particles that enter the food chain when plankton and fish eat them.
‘It is thought that 90 per cent of sea birds have ingested some sort of plastic, and there are many examples of turtles and whales mistaking plastic for food.
A sea of plastic

Caribbean oceans are choked by plastic bottles and rubbish | Daily Mail Online

4 annotations

ecology

www.dailymail.co.uk

7528

whale and dolphin hunts
The group Sea Shepherd, which campaigns against fishing practices it considers barbaric, recorded the images over a period of months.
They documented a series of so-called whale drives, in which the Faroese government says around 1,200 whales and 500 dolphins were killed
Large numbers of locals get involved with the process, and can each claim a portion of the meat afterwards. These are pilot whales
This year's hunting season was a big one. Some 1,700 animals were killed, in 2017, compared to around 800 on an average year.
Sea Shepherd has opposed the hunts for years and has previously tried to physically stop the process with its own ships.
At the end the meat was packaged up. Most of it is shared out in the Faroese community, but some can be bought in stores as well.
volunteers went to the Faroe Islands and posed as tourists to take photographs of the hunts with the hope of securing adverse media coverage. One wrote this about what he saw:
"As the pilot whales were driven to the shoreline by the small boats the intensity of the thrashing bodies grew. Hooks were sunk into the blowholes and the whales were dragged onto the shore in a sadistic game of tug of war.

Whale and dolphin hunts in Faroe Islands photographed by campaigners - Business Insider

9 annotations

large animals

6972

什剎海皮影主題酒店位於恭王府旁的松樹街，徒步至什剎海景區僅需5分鐘。酒店由台灣文化創意設計公司The One設計而成
煙袋斜街是北京最老的斜街之一
酒店客房共25間，並按照中國傳統皮影戲的角色分為生、旦、醜、淨四種房型。
煙袋斜街里滿是些特色的店鋪，售賣一些老北京的物件兒，繡花鞋、刺繡衣等
廣福觀，修建於明代天順三年（1459年）。明代管理天下道教的“道錄司”曾設於此觀。 2008年開放參觀
銀錠橋雖小，卻有著鼎鼎大名。此橋修建於明代，已有500多年曆史
後花園名為“朗潤園”或“萃錦園”，徜徉於園中猶如漫步在山水之間。
最好的遊覽時節是秋高氣爽的9、10月份
起點：地鐵8號線什剎海站原因：緊鄰鐘鼓樓，地處老北京城中軸線

漫步什剎海，尋味老北京

9 annotations

www.wanderbee.com

5111

Those in the 90th percentile now enjoy 54 percent more wealth than they did in 1989
Trump supporters tend to be men who lack college degrees, a group that has been on the losing end of the economy. The CBO report backs that up.
Those at the median have just 4 percent more wealth than in 1989, while the poorest have 6 percent less
the richest families have average wealth of about $4 million. The poorest now have debts that far outweigh their assets:
About 8 out of 10 registered voters who support Trump say life for people like them has gotten worse during the past 50 years, according to a new Pew Research Center poll.
While total wealth in the U.S. doubled between 1989 to 2013, only the richest Americans saw their fortunes rise

27 years of economic pain for most Americans - CBS News

6 annotations

family and parenting

www.cbsnews.com

6089

Lebanon is heavily affected by the protracted civil war in next-door Syria. One quarter of Lebanon’s population is now made up of refugees from Syria, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)
selling flowers is the reality of a poverty they were born into: a method of generating an income for their families while also being exploited by middlemen and traffickers they may or may not be related to.
Some 1,500 children are reportedly working the streets in Beirut alone according to the International Labor Organization (ILO), a number that, in reality, is thought to be at least twice as much

The Harsh Reality Of Young Syrians Vending For Their Livelihood

3 annotations

legal issues

www.buzzfeed.com

5912

Grandview is home to hundreds of other animals, including Arctic foxes, wolves, walruses, belugas — who do notoriously poorly in captivity
Once you enter the area of the beluga whales it all changes much more drastically," Foster said. "I physically took a step back at the pitiful sight of beluga in a tank so small they were almost physically longer than it was tall."
most of them are in equally depressing conditions.
Dubbed "the saddest bear in the world," Pizza was trapped in a gaudily painted blue concrete cell in a shopping mall, with few toys, no sunlight and only a tiny pool to swim in.
But while his story's a sad one, he's far from the only inmate at the shopping-mall-slash-zoo.
David Foster, a supporter of Humane Society International, which is one of the many groups working to help Pizza, traveled to China and decided to visit the zoo for himself. What he saw left him shocked, he said
The whales have only a few feet to swim on either side
The first sign of inadequate animal husbandry is that of a Myna bird in a cage so small it cannot even stretch its wings, let alone fly,
Their miniscule and dirty tank is only 2.5 times their body length and not even wide enough to stretch fully.

'Saddest' Polar Bear Isn't Only Animal Going Crazy At Nightmare Zoo

9 annotations

zoo

www.thedodo.com

4158

"I asked him what size foot he was and he said 'nine why?' I told him I was the same size and took my trainers off and gave them to him.
Craig Wells, 36, was in a restaurant with his wife and three children when he spotted the man walking past the window with just socks on his feet.
Pictures of Craig and the man, called Mark, embracing each other in Nottingham city centre on October 14, have gone viral with more than 500,000 people viewing and sharing it across the world.
He couldn't quite believe it but he burst into tears and said 'thank you'. A few people in the restaurant saw what had happened and came out and took pictures of us.
What I do want is people to recognise that Love is the greatest gift we have been given. It was given to us freely and freely we should give it away.

Barefoot homeless man breaks down in tears when Good Samaritan gives him £120 trainers - Mirror Online

5 annotations

footwear

www.mirror.co.uk

7533

f discarded electronics in East and Southeast Asia jumped almost two-thirds between 2010 and 2015,
End users do not know that they should dispose of their obsolete EEE separately or how or where to dispose of their e-waste. Additionally, informal e-waste recyclers often lack the knowledge about the hazards of unsound practices;
spontaneous combustion sometimes occurs at open dumping sites when components such as batteries trigger fires due to short circuits.
the average increase in e-waste across all 12 countries and areas analyzed—Cambodia, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam—was 63% in the five years
new UN research shows.
Consumers, dismantlers and recyclers are often guilty of illegal dumping, particularly of "open dumping", where non- functional parts and residues from dismantling and treatment operations are released into the environmen
There were large differences between nations on the per capita scales, with Cambodia (1.10 kg), Vietnam (1.34 kg) and the Philippines (1.35 kg) the lowest e-waste generators per capita in 2015.
The average e-waste generation per capita in the region was approximately 10 kg in 2015, with the highest generation found in Hong Kong (21.7 kg), followed by Singapore (19.95 kg) and Taiwan, Province of China (19.13 kg).
Asia as a whole accounts for the majority of EEE sales and generates the highest volume of e-waste, estimated at 16 million tonnes in 2014. However, on a per-capita basis, this amounts to only to 3.7 kg per inhabitant, as compared to Europe and the Americas, which generate nearly four times as much per capita—15.6 kg per inhabitant.
These processes are not only hazardous for the recyclers, their communities and the environment, but they are also inefficient, as they are unable to extract the full value of the processed products.
According to the report, Japan, South Korea and Taiwan have a head-start in the region in establishing e-waste collection and recycling systems
"Open burning and acid bath recycling in the informal sector have serious negative impacts on processers'
Hong Kong and Singapore, meanwhile, do not have specific e-waste legislation. Instead, the governments collaborate with producers to manage e-waste through a public-private partnership

E-waste in East and Southeast Asia jumps 63 percent in five years

13 annotations

ecology

phys.org

12531

In September Sea Shepherd caught 15 vessels filled with thousands of sharks, using gill nets to land-internationally protected endangered species
Recent shark hunts by China-based Pingtan Marine Enterprise have highlighted the need for independent monitoring by NGOs, said Sea Shepherd

Sea Shepherd accuses China’s Pingtan of illegal shark hunts | Undercurrent News

2 annotations

large animals

www.undercurrentnews.com

10877

People begin to step out of their so-called defining boxes.
Danish TV Ad
If we look below the surface, we can find common ground with those we perceive as most different to ourselves.
As TV2’s video “All That We Share“ opens, Danes file quietly onto a soundstage, stepping into outlined areas on the floor — areas meant to define them.
However, a man begins to ask questions

This Danish TV Ad Is What The World Needs To Remember Now More Than Ever | The Huffington Post

5 annotations

movies and tv

m.huffpost.com

4031

A rare goose-beaked whale that repeatedly beached on a Norwegian shore was so ill that it had to be euthanized — and experts soon found out why.
30 plastic bags and other garbage packed in its stomach.
The plastic — as well as candy wrappers, smaller bread bags and other garbage— was discovered during the necropsy,
Lislevand said he believes the animal was in serious pain for a long time.

Beached Whale Found With 30 Plastic Bags Crammed In Its Belly | The Huffington Post

4 annotations

large animals

m.huffpost.com

11324

Smith decided to at least make it to the new year. When he went on ksl.com to look for jobs, he saw a story KSL did on a Utah company giving suits to homeless people to help them feel confident during job interviews.
Almost a year and a 180 résumés later, and nothing. "Rejection after rejection," Smith said. A man can only take so much. "These last 10 months, I've lost my faith in humanity, in God, in life,” Smith said. "There were many times when shotguns looked very tempting."
"I didn't think it would happen to me, and it did, and I owe them so much," Smith said. It's the first success story for this project.

Homeless man lands job after receiving donated new suit for interview | KSL.com

3 annotations

job search

www.ksl.com

7715

Puerto Rico
Locals arrive at a water-collection point a day after the impact of Hurricane Maria, in Yabucoa, Puerto Rico, September 21, 2017.
There's a long wait for fuel, which many use to power their generators.
.
People wait in line to withdraw cash at a bank in San Juan, Puerto Rico, September 27, 2017.
People line up to get on a Royal Caribbean International relief boat that sails to Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, with evacuees from San Juan, Puerto Rico, September 28, 2017.

15 images show the humanitarian crisis unfolding in Puerto Rico - Business Insider

6 annotations

weather

8177

中国公民有越来越大的意愿动员起来走上街头。
中国每年需要投资约2万亿元人民币，来让河水达到可用的标准、减轻在政治上不受欢迎的空气污染、并缓解土壤污染这一潜伏的问题。
这些专家担心，这座工厂会污染大庆的空气和水供应。大庆市位于黑龙江省，是中国首座大型油田的所在地，中国最大的石油生产商中国石油天然气集团公司(CNPC)在该市居主导地位。
大规模的抗议活动在中国是不同寻常的，尽管城市中产阶级居民日益反对可能有损当地房地产价值以及污染附近社区的工业项目。

大庆民众抗议上马铝加工厂项目 - FT中文网

4 annotations

www.ftchinese.com

3579

Alice in the Wonderland》，這幅畫可以與觀眾互動，更在美術室展出了一星期讓其它同學參觀。
香港01》訪問表示，今次這幅畫作主要由她和另一名女生Kelly共同繪畫，她們特意在假期向校方申請使用課室，特意回校一共花了6小時才完成大作
除了香港和日本，原來台灣也有老師在黑板上「還原」《你的名字。》中的場景。
Vivian和Kelly都是就讀協恩中學的中五生，年僅16歲，共同設立了facebook專頁「Illusdreamer」上載美術作品

【多圖有片】協恩16歲女學生畫《你的名字。》黑板畫網民勁like｜香港01｜熱話｜

4 annotations

www.hk01.com

3962

The Bahamas are famous for sun, sand—and swimming pigs.
The swimming pigs have populated the island for decades, but their actual origin is somewhat of a mystery.
Veterinarians who visited the site found large quantities of sand in the deceased animals’ stomachs, which Bethune says may have been caused by a recent influx of visitors throwing small amounts of food on the beach.
The pigs have been on the island so long, they are used to foraging for natural food,” Bethune says. The pigs would only go the beach for an occasional treat.
with the increase in tourism, the pigs are relying on humans more than ever.
According to that ranking, dolphin tourism and shark cage diving, both popular in the Bahamas, have negative impacts on wildlife.
We found their natural source of water had dried up, so there wasn’t much fresh water on their island to drink,
We believe it’s a combination of factors that lead to the death of the pigs.”

This Is What Really Killed The Famous Swimming Pigs

8 annotations

swimming

6588

Eyewitness video released by PETA Asia shows that the two “stars” of the show—a chimpanzee named Miya and a dog named Dongdong—were beaten into performing
This is just another example of animals being exploited and abused in China and Thailand
A new reality TV show called We Are Friends
a common sign of distress and anxiety in animals who are held captive and forced to perform.
Animals don’t choose to become actors.

'We Are Friends' Reality Show on Blast for Beating Animals | PETA

5 annotations

pets

www.peta.org

6874

共有 3x 位網友報名，當天早上現場有 17 位熱心的朋友到場參與
每年施放天燈，媒體就會熱烈報導天燈垃圾佔據山頭、當地都沒做好環保，但實際上真的是這樣嗎
媒體敘述的並不相符。而且遊客帶來的垃圾更是不容小覷，絕對不下於天燈帶來的汙染
里長無奈的說：「你覺得觀光客來到十分鐵道支線遊玩，吃的、喝的、買的，所創造出來的垃圾，跟那些燈座回收後，殘留的油宣紙比起來。哪個對環境的影響更大？
一時氣憤，發起去平溪十分淨山撿天燈的活動
17 個人，100 分鐘，7 袋垃圾，6 個天燈。
當地的居民老奢，每天凌晨 5am 就會起床，展開他們「回收」天燈的工作
問題不在天燈上，而是在亂丟垃圾的問題上
過年時所施放的大量天燈，當地居民大約在 3 天後，就完成了天燈的回收。但這部分並沒有被媒體報導
到底是天燈問題嚴重，還是垃圾問題嚴重，我想我們會非常堅定的告訴你，「垃圾」
這些不實事求是的後果，很可能一輩子不會發現我自以為事的在做對的事情，而其實根本是跟風起舞，一起扭曲事實

「天燈重創環境」的報導對還錯？他親自上山拍照追蹤才發現輕信了媒體 | BuzzOrange

11 annotations

buzzorange.com

8855

“Two out of five of Shanghai’s landfills are already filled today. The other three would definitely be full by now if it wasn’t for them.
A 2015 report found that China was responsible for one-third of all plastic waste polluting the world’s oceans.
An informal recycler pushes his tricycle in Shanghai, China.
Shanghai Daily reported in 2015 that the city’s residents were generating some 22,000 tons of garbage per day, at least 40 percent of which was being incinerated. Experts say the waste problem in China is getting worse every year.
The World Bank has estimated that China’s solid waste production will more than double to 500 million tons annually by 2025.
Chinese authorities have begun to make domestic waste management a priority. Last year, China told the World Trade Organization that it would no longer be accepting 24 categories of imported waste from other nations, sending shockwaves across Europe and North America,
“For years, there have been no government recycling trucks or recycling bins in the city. There are no trash sorting sites either ― so everything gets dumped into one truck and incinerated or brought to a landfill,” said Huang, who rode in garbage collection trucks managed by the city government as part of her research
What’s known about the informal recycling sector in Shanghai is that individual collectors like Mr. Wang bring their items either to a recycling market, where they’ll be further sorted, or to an industrial recycling plant, where the recycling of the materials actually takes place. What is not transparent is who runs these recycling plants and whether these facilities and their owners are following legal practices that are sound for human health and the environment.

What Happens When One Of The World's Biggest Cities Doesn't Recycle | HuffPost

8 annotations

ecology

7191

out of every 10 people on the planet live in areas where air pollution breaches official safety limits
Heart attacks, strokes and lung cancer can all be caused by the particles, known as PM2.5 and PM10,
The worst countries in the world for air pollution deaths
Ambient air pollution alone kills around 3 million people each year
Only one person in 10 lives in a city that complies with the WHO air quality guidelines.
The worst countries in the world for air pollution deaths
The worst countries in the world for air pollution deaths

Health of more than 90% of world’s population affected by air pollution ‘emergency’, WHO says | The Independent

7 annotations

ecology

www.independent.co.uk

6251

in the world’s most polluted capital city
the country’s capital was suffering a health emergency
called PM2.5 – can include carcinogenic chemicals such as lead, arsenic, cadmium and mercury. Levels of PM2.5 in Delhi on Tuesday reached 710 micrograms per cubic metre
Delhi as the world’s most polluted capital, with air quality levels worse than Beijing.
Levels of airborne pollutants are off the scale in parts of India’s capital
concentrations of fine pollutants smaller than 2.5 micro-metres – tiny enough to evade the body’s natural filters and permeate the blood-brain barrier.
Delhi’s air quality is extremely poor for most of the year due to road dust, open fires, vehicle exhaust fumes, industrial emissions and the burning of crop residues
about 2.5 million Indians die each year from pollution, the highest number in the world

Delhi doctors declare pollution emergency as smog chokes city | World news | The Guardian

8 annotations

ecology

7124

, both of which highlighted plastic global pollution as the most urgent problem facing our planet
Only 9% of all plastic waste ever produced has been recycled.
Birds search for plastic delicacies at a landfill site in Aceh, Indonesia.
An officer at the Uganda Wildlife Education Centre displays a tortoise whose shell was deformed after it was rescued from some plastic string
The week in plastic - in pictures

The week in plastic - in pictures | Environment | The Guardian

5 annotations

ecology

7079

They can call it sport, charity or even conservation but it’s just another cruel circus with animals controlled by bullhooks for human entertainment.
Bangkok hosted the annual King’s Cup, an elephant polo competition with the publicly stated aim of raising money for conservation.
The elephants forced to play polo each year are still controlled with bullhooks – a sharpened metal hook jabbed into the skin. No matter how gently the bullhook may be used with an animal in the arena, at some point it had to be established as a negative reinforcer to be effective.
we must never lose sight of the fact that these animals were not born to perform

Elephants playing polo at “conservation” event sends all the wrong messages

4 annotations

large animals

www.animalsasia.org

6570

Australia’s poor recycling track record has an upside
the nation’s largest garbage company, has the potential to extract enough gas from rotting rubbish to produce electricity for as many as 80,000 homes,
A report last year by the Australian Council of Recycling showed the nation recycled just 41 percent of that waste, compared with Germany on 65 percent.
Melbourne-based Cleanaway sold 145,000 megawatt-hours of electricity to the grid from 120 million cubic meters of captured landfill gas last financial year,
Bioenergy includes gas extracted from landfill, and forestry and agricultural waste that can be burned in power stations.
But if Australia gets better at recycling, and cuts down on rubbish as it becomes a “circular economy,” gas extracted from landfill would play an even more limited role, he said.
There are quite a lot of examples from Europe where there was a waste-to-energy strategy 20 years ago, and some of those power plants simply have not enough waste anymore to burn, so they actually import waste from other countries,
Nobody can achieve sustainability without managing waste. You’ve got to manage your waste because that is a massive carbon footprint.”

Rotting Garbage Will Light 80,000 Aussie Homes - Bloomberg

8 annotations

ecology

www.bloomberg.com

8110

according to the Grapevine, the imported ice can be up to 40 percent cheaper than ice cubes made in Iceland
biologist Rannveig Magnúsdóttir, who works for the Icelandic Environment Association, told the Iceland Review Online. “I think our cousins in Norway and Scotland laugh at the fact that they can sell Icelanders ice.”
while the imported ice may look cheaper on your grocery bill, there are hidden costs to the environment
Iceland Imports Ice
the ships emit green house gases,” she said.

Iceland Imports Ice; and It's Cheaper Than 'Homegrown' | The Weather Channel

5 annotations

weather.com

6345

an entire home in Webster, New York now resembles a block of ice.
Last week’s snow storm was so bad that some 200,000 individuals lost power due to hurricane-force winds.
an entire home in We
John Kucko posted photos and video of the home that’s located on the shore of Lake Ontario. The images have since gone viral, racking up hundreds of views, shares and comments.

What 5 Days Of Wind And Freezing Temps Along Lake Ontario Can Do | The Huffington Post

4 annotations

fishing

3549

Mumbai produces the fifth most waste of any megacity, and last year Bloomberg reported it was “being buried under a mountain of its own trash”. The city of over 18 million people produces 11,000 metric tonnes of trash per day
how can Tokyo be rated the third most wasteful city? This is the tricky thing about measuring wastefulness
Mumbai produces 11,000 tonnes of trash per day, Cairo feeds garbage to pigs and China’s waste is growing twice as fast as its population
In 2011, Mexico City closed its largest dump, causing trash to pile up at illegal dumping sites and be left out on the street,
the regions have similar population sizes of just over 20 million and 21 million people respectively, but GDP per capita is three times higher in the US.
Among global megacities, Mexico City generates the most trash after the New York region
Japan is very densely populated, and so it lacks the space that the US and China have to throw their garbage in landfills. Instead, they have adopted hyper-aggressive recycling programmes to cut down on waste. Tokyo, which strives to be a zero-waste city, is no exception.
The third biggest waste producer among megacities is Tokyo
as income rises, people just cycle through more consumption patterns in general
Chinese cities don’t recycle, meaning that their waste output could be cut in half, as it has been in neighbouring Taiwan.
. Jakarta, for example, is one of the world’s fastest growing cities and many of its residents are in the habit of dumping their household items in the nearest waterway
The US is the world’s biggest producer of trash in absolute terms, generating 624,700 metric tonnes per day, which is 2.58kg/capita. That’s considerably more than many other rich countries
US’s 25 largest cities are Houston, Cleveland, Atlanta, Tampa and Indianapolis, in that order.

Which is the world’s most wasteful city? | Cities | The Guardian

13 annotations

agriculture and forestry

3906

One of the biggest problems remains lax gun storage which is difficult to address because it is hard to quantify and hard to enforce.
For the first 10 months of this year, 804 children, aged 0-11 were killed or injured, as were 750 teenagers, aged 12-17, according to the data.
A child is killed every other day as a direct result of an accidental shooting, whether self-inflicted or at the hands of another child or an adult
The CDC used to survey how Americans kept their loaded, unlocked guns in their homes in an annual telephone survey that asked 400,000 adults about various health risks. The data found that an estimate 1.5 million children lived in such homes. The CDC stopped the questioning in 2004
this is such a horrible patter that continues and that more action is needed.”
Most of the shootings occurred at the children’s homes, with handguns legally owned by adults for self-protection.

Accidental shootings kill one American child every 48 hours – report — RT America

6 annotations

children

www.rt.com

6771

In August, some of the last doctors still working in the city’s eastern quarters wrote a letter to President Obama pleading for help in stopping the targeted bombardment of hospitals by forces backing President Bashar Assad.
Last month, there were 42 attacks on medical facilities in Syria, 15 of which were hospitals

A conversation with the last female doctor in Eastern Aleppo - VICE News

2 annotations

welfare

news.vice.com

9212

“Without a doubt, Taiwan is walking in front of other Asian countries on this,” said Ying Xin, executive director of the Beijing LGBT Center
Taiwan’s Constitutional Court on Wednesday ruled in favor of allowing same-sex marriage
the first place in Asia to legalize same-sex unions
Over the past year, religious groups mobilized against marriage equality, claiming that same-sex marriage threatens children and families
In Taipei, activists will now turn their attention to influencing how legislators interpret the ruling and what that means for same-sex couples and families.

Taiwan on track to become the first country in Asia to legalize same-sex marriage - The Washington Post

5 annotations

social institution

www.washingtonpost.com

8468

golf course took three years to make and drew much ire
Time and again we have seen Olympic hosts promise that the billions of dollars spent on the two-week spectacle would have a lasting effect on the local economy
Rio Olympics
because there is nobody to pay the energy bill.
Today, the Olympic Village has turned into a ghost town
One practice pool has turned orange
Quite symbolically, this set of Olympic rings is half covered.
Seats have been pried from the stands.
The media center was recently demolished and is now a health hazard.
Craziest of all, the Olympics were only six months ago.

Rio Olympic venues are abandoned just 6 months after the games - Business Insider

10 annotations

olympics

japan-magazine.jnto.go.jp

7986

How do you throw away a cup of coffee in San Francisco?
San Francisco turns food waste into nutrient-rich and profitable compost.
You take the lid off and put it in the recycle bin. The soiled cup goes in the compost bin.
By comparison, only three of Arizona’s 10 largest cities offer any sort of curbside compost collection, and those programs prohibit residential food waste in the bins.
Eight years ago, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors passed the Mandatory Recycling & Composting Ordinance. Among other things, it requires everyone, from residents to tourists, to separate their trash into one of three bins: recycling, landfill and compost.
The law requiring food waste to be composted is part of San Francisco’s aggressive goal to hit zero waste by 2020. In other words, in less than three years, the city wants all of its waste to be recycled or composted, rather than sent to landfills.
The Ferry Building’s Big Belly trash cans are color-coded (black for landfill, blue for recycle and green for organics) and labeled in English, Chinese and Spanish. Large posters on the front show what can be thrown in each bin.
Making compost on an industrial scale is a Rube Goldberg machine of shredding, moisture monitoring and aeration. In San Francisco, it’s done at facilities outside the city limits. Before the process starts, the organic materials go through a series of screenings to weed out contaminants.
Recology sells compost by the cubic yard and keeps the profits. Prices start at about $9 a yard, according to Reed.
San Francisco residents pay less per month for their recycle and compost bins than they do for their landfill bins. It’s a financial incentive to encourage participation, Rodriguez said.
Of that, about 650 tons per day is compost and 625 tons is recyclables, he said, making San Francisco one of the only cities in America where curbside composting has surpassed recycling.

San Francisco's mandatory composting law turns food waste into profit

11 annotations

ecology

www.azcentral.com

7604

Though the exact cause of the newborn dolphin's death is unclear, Laura Bridgeman, from the International Marine Mammal Project, says that captivity itself is likely to blame — raising the possibility that it was an act of mercy on the part of Lulu, knowing what awaited her.
Or it could be that Lulu did not want her child to endure the endless pain and suffering of captivity."
This bottlenose dolphin knows both the freedom of living in the open ocean and the hopelessness of being trapped inside an aquarium's tiny pool. That may be why she just did something unthinkable,
she had been handed a sentence that was arguably even worse — to spend the remainder of her life breeding and performing as a living exhibit in the Nagoya aquarium.
We may never know for certain the rationale behind Lulu's actions, but regardless, the death rate among infant dolphins is much higher in captivity. That's reason enough to empty the tanks

Mother Dolphin Kills Her Own Baby To Spare Her A Life In Captivity

5 annotations

birds

www.thedodo.com

4371

This interactive map shows why renewables and natural gas are taking over the US - Vox

0 annotations

energy

www.vox.com

10612

乾甜點是將混入了大米粉及砂糖等東西的材料倒入模具中成形，然後將它烘乾的和甜點。春天時會有櫻花花瓣及花蕾等形狀的乾甜點登場
櫻花羊羹
紅色食用色素將以白扁豆為原料的白餡染成粉紅色，再以大菜凝固成四方體的櫻花羊羹。有些會混入了鹽漬櫻葉或櫻花，有些則有兩層味道。
櫻花乾甜點

品嚐櫻花甜點，感受日本春天 | 日本最新動態電子雜誌

4 annotations

8001

最近日本網站gooランキング就請網民投票選出10大最失望的伴手禮。
10大最失望手信投票結果
3：東京香蕉蛋糕
京都八ツ橋・生八ツ橋
7：京都府八ツ橋・生八ツ橋
2：愛知縣ういろう

日網友投票　最失望的日本手信竟然是......｜即時新聞｜生活｜on.cc東網

6 annotations

tourist destinations

hk.on.cc

3682

food waste supermarket
Wefood, which sell produce at prices 30 to 50 per cent lower than they would normally cost, has enjoyed such tremendous popularity in Copenhagen
The project draws long line of both eco-conscious shoppers and individuals with limited budgets
The supermarket is part of a Government initiative to reduce food waste in Denmark.
Every year more than 700,000 tonnes of food are wasted in Denmark. After being open just six months, WeFood has received over 40 tonnes of food that would have otherwise been destroyed.
Earlier this year, France has passed a law banning supermarkets from throwing away or spoiling unsold food.

World's first food waste supermarket so popular it has to open second branch after 9 months | The Independent

6 annotations

retail

www.independent.co.uk

10326

waste management
the Nordic nation uses the best quality waste-to-energy (WTE) conversion procedure to ensure that the waste that is generated is recycled into energy that is used to distribute electricity and heat to a large percentage of households
Each Swede produces just over 500 kg or half a ton of household waste every year
Waste incineration provides heat corresponding to the needs of 810,000 homes, around 20 per cent of all the district-heating produced.
Sweden imports garbage from neighbouring European nations, amounting to about eight hundred thousand tons of trash from the UK, Italy, Norway, and Ireland to ensure that their power plants stay up and running.
Norway pays Sweden to take the waste off their hands, while Sweden gets a regular supply of electricity and heat.

Sweden has a thing or two to teach the world about waste management | catchnews

6 annotations

music

www.catchnews.com

14475

Not only is this causing more flooding, but it has the potential to damage the city’s drainage, piping and sewerage systems.
Others megacities have demonstrated that this is possible. Tokyo managed to stop land subsidence 40 years ago. Other cities, such as London, have cleaned their rivers not just of visual garbage but also invisible pollutants
more people are actually leaving Jakarta than arriving
Traffic is the most visible problem
Average spending on routine transportation, meanwhile, has risen to between 15% and 35% of income. In cities such as London and Singapore, it is between 5% and 8%
the issue for Jakarta isn’t its 9.6 million residents – it is the 3.5 million commuters. Governing this city is no longer about managing places, but flows
What is not visible is even worse: the city is sinking. Land subsidence is happening at a rate of 3cm per year in some parts of the city, 20cm in others

Jakarta at 30 million: my city is choking and sinking – it needs a new Plan B | Cities | The Guardian

7 annotations

programming languages

4536

As the Atlantic continues to heat up, the trend is widely expected to be towards more powerful and wetter storms, so that Matthew might seem like pretty small beer when looked back on from the mid-century.
it will see a rise in the frequency of the most powerful, and therefore more destructive, variety
This view was supported recently by Kerry Emanuel, a hurricane scientist at MIT, who pointed to Matthew as a likely sign of things to come.
convincing evidence for a link between typhoons barrelling across Taiwan and the timing of small earthquakes beneath the island. T
huge volume of rain dumped by tropical cyclones, leading to severe flooding, may also be linked to earthquakes
rainfall also influences the pattern of earthquake activity in the Himalayas, where the 2015 Nepal earthquake took close to 9,000 lives,
During the summer monsoon season, prodigious quantities of rain soak into the lowlands of the Indo-Gangetic plain, immediately to the south of the mountain range, which then slowly drains away over the next few months. This annual rainwater loading and unloading of the crust is mirrored by the level of earthquake activity,
In high mountain ranges across the world from the Caucasus in the north to New Zealand’s southern Alps, longer and more intense heatwaves are melting the ice and thawing the permafrost that keeps mountain faces intact, leading to a rise in major landslides.
one of the key places to watch will be Greenland,
a staggering loss of 272bn tonnes of ice a year over the last decade
future ice loss may trigger earthquakes of intermediate to large magnitude

How climate change triggers earthquakes, tsunamis and volcanoes | World news | The Guardian

11 annotations

geology

www.huffingtonpost.com.au

10225

Surging sea levels
Far fewer species
Millions more living in poverty
Far less sea ice in the Arctic Ocean

6 Things Children Born This Year Will Experience In Their 20s | HuffPost Australia

4 annotations

energy

6920

地區的沙漠呈現擴大之勢
沙塵暴的發源地位於甘肅、寧夏和內蒙古交界處的戈壁南緣
測量PM10（直徑不大於10微米的顆粒物）的空氣質量指數高高徘徊在900到999
中國的政策制定者已嘗試各種方法來抗擊從不斷擴張的戈壁刮來的沙塵
綽號“綠色長城”的防護林帶。這條在中國北方種植起的防護林帶最終將綿延4500公里、包含1000億棵樹
999是空氣質量指數應用給出的讀數上限。世界衛生組織(WHO)的指南建議，該指數不應高於50
數十年的濫砍濫伐和過度放牧是造成該地區沙漠化的罪魁禍首
煤炭開采和發電站也是肇因

北京遭遇沙塵暴空氣質量指數爆表 - FT中文網

8 annotations

big5.ftchinese.com

5091

findings are broadly in line with similar research conducted in the UK and elsewhere,
plastic contamination of seafood is a global problem.
at least 200 illegal ones have sprung up in poorer districts and in the outskirts of Semarang.
he research has found that every species tested contained some plastic particles, including fragments and fibres – tilapia were the worst with 85% seen with plastic.
research has found that every species tested contained some plastic particles, including fragments and fibres – tilapia were the worst with 85% seen with plastic.
The majority of mullet, shrimp, and milk fish tested also had plastic particles.
This comes as the city authorities in Semarang have organised a major clean-up - the main streets and rivers look largely clear of plastic waste.
While public attention is focused on larger items like bags and bottles choking rivers and canals, there is emerging scientific concern over the long-term implications of smaller and less visible pieces known as microplastics.
microplastics
aim is understand how much plastic is contained in seafood, how much of it people eat

Indonesian study into health risks of microplastics - BBC News

10 annotations

news

6860

Some jobs at Brunelle’s plant were moved out of state and others went overseas, he said. Brunelle lost his position, which paid him $70,000 a year.
But having worked for eight companies since he was 18, Brunelle has now been without a full-time job for about eight months. His 50th birthday came and went in May. He tries to stay cheerful, but he’s tired, and he voted for Donald Trump.
It is with the support of voters such as Brunelle, who feel belittled rather than empowered by globalisation,
David Brunelle.
But then Water Star was bought by Tennant, a commercial cleaning company from Minnesota, which wanted the technology for its floor scrubbers. Brunelle lost his job.
Brunelle is a smart man. He knows the arguments in favor of globalisation,
In the long term, maybe it is good for the world economy,” he said. “But we have to go down for the rest of them to go up. And it hurts.”

Jobless, jaded, and voting for Trump in Ohio: 'He’ll be different, in some way' | US news | The Guardian

7 annotations

politics

3278

Ohanian has shared dozens of photos on social media of the city from before – and after
Al-Madina Souq, a trading market that has stood the test of time since as early as the 14th century, have been ruined
The ancient city’s stunning Citadel, which dates as far back to the middle of the third millennium BC and is considered to be one of the oldest and largest castles in the world, has also suffered significant damage
It’s easy to imagine what a stay in the Carlton Citadel Hotel might have been like.
show how the ancient city has changed

Aleppo: Chilling photos show how the ancient city has changed since the Syrian conflict started | The Independent

5 annotations

tourist facilities

www.independent.co.uk

13910

Officially, you’re still not allowed to have fun,” said Jason Clampet, the co-founder of the travel news site Skift.com, referring to the 12 acceptable categories of travel to Cuba
Many trips qualify as “people-to-people” trips under the educational exchange category, which independent travelers to the island can now pursue.

Is It Easy to Visit Cuba? Travel Experts Weigh In - The New York Times

2 annotations

travel

www.nytimes.com

5790

revealing that three-quarters of 276 national parks are experiencing an earlier onset of spring
the onset of spring is earlier than 95 percent of the historical range
one of the invasive species that park staff struggle with most is buffelgrass.
Biological invasions are a really big deal in the national
The purpose of the current report is to give staff at individual parks a sense of how climate change is affecting their sites

Climate Change Is Causing Earlier Springs in National Parks

5 annotations

tourist destinations

blogs.discovermagazine.com

6854

the worst areas are in dark red
Billions of data points are collected daily
This three-dimensional interactive world map, produced by an award-winning French start-up company based in Beijing
AirVisual also launched a "Node" air quality monitor this year that informs people about the air quality both inside and outside their homes. It won a French award for start-ups
the greatest concern is about a form of pollution called PM2.5, referring to particles smaller than 2.5 micrometers — so small that they can travel through the lungs and into the bloodstream

This stunning world map shows the awful state of air pollution - The Washington Post

5 annotations

ecology

www.washingtonpost.com

6318

Dhaka City Corporation, has to unblock the city's sewer lines without any proper safety equipment.
Dhaka has a population in excess of 14 million and has recently been hit by major floods caused by heavy rains and an insufficient storm drainage system.
Dangerous: Workers are often surrounded by cockroaches, and have no masks to protect him from the poisonous fumes
one of the world's least desirable jobs.
Despite a rise in the number of deaths of manhole workers, they go into the manholes without any protective gear

Bangladesh sewer cleaner has to dive into liquid filth | Daily Mail Online

5 annotations

sex

www.dailymail.co.uk

4631

capital investment in California has plummeted over the past five-plus decades. According to an analysis done by the ASCE, the state spent 20 cents of every tax dollar on infrastructure in the 1950s and '60s. By the 1980s, that had dropped to five cents.

Can Trump’s plan restore America’s crumbling infrastructure? - The Globe and Mail

1 annotations

geology

beta.theglobeandmail.com

10843

The visualization linked to the screenshot above shows just how dramatic the downward trend in Arctic sea ice volume has been since 1979.
The first image, captured by the Terra satellite in 2014, shows extensive snow cover around Alaska’s Brooks Range (to the left), and sea ice forming offshore. The second image, from the Aqua satellite in 2016, shows the same region — mostly snow- and ice-free.
The chart at right compares the evolution of Arctic sea ice extent during 2007, 2012 and 2016. This year is plotted in red.
Why has Arctic sea ice been growing so slowly in the past couple of weeks? Once again, Scambos says warm ocean temperatures are probably implicated. And it looks like that relatively warm sea surface may be having an effect on the air temperature above it:
In fact, the Arctic overall has been warming faster than any other region on Earth, thanks to emissions of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere

Arctic sea ice trends near a record low for this time of year - ImaGeo

5 annotations

weather

13285

IKEA has revealed it will be using solar powered electric rickshaws as its chosen form of delivery vehicle in india.
the electric rickshaws will be charged at their store using 4,000 solar powers installed on the building’s roof with the excess electricity used to provide electricity for lighting and other uses inside the store

IKEA's first india store will use solar powered electric rickshaws for deliveries

2 annotations

racism

www.designboom.com

6558

Your debt to income ratio wouldn’t be much higher than 30 percent after taking the mortgage (although lenders may give loans even if it is as high as 43 percent).
It should be a priority if you meet these criteria:
The longevity of a home has a lot to do with the materials you use inside for countertops, walls and flooring. If you plan on handing it down to your children and getting years of use, you may want to use engineered hardwood instead of solid, granite or quartz countertops.
– You plan on staying in the same area for at least a couple of years.

Everything Millennials Need To Know About Buying Their First Home

4 annotations

careers

elitedaily.com

3920

PETA’s eyewitness footage tells another story. Take a look at the way hens really live on a farm that supplies eggs to Nellie’s—which are “certified humane
A veterinarian who viewed the footage stated, “In my opinion, these escape portals are ‘window-dressing’ that allows the producer to designate this production system as ‘cage-free’ and ‘free-range’ without any substantial improvement in the quality of the hens’ lives.”
Even though Nellie’s claims that the chickens “roam where they please” and “have easy access to the outdoors,” that access was severely restricted on this farm. Hens could get outside only through small hatches and had to risk pushing past many other frantic or socially dominant birds who were also attempting to go out
Even though the birds weren’t kept in cages, they still had only a little more than a square foot of space each. Such restricted space prevents chickens from performing natural types of behavior, such as extending their wings, stretching their necks for foraging activities, and properly roosting and resting.

Chickens Crammed Inside Shed on 'Free-Range' Farm - PETA Investigations

4 annotations

agriculture and forestry

investigations.peta.org

6679

the new poll found that 67% of Americans favored a nationwide assault weapons ban, a rate that rose steadily over the last five years. In 2013, just 56% of voters said they supported an assault weapons ban.
If you think Americans are largely unmoved by the mass shootings, you should think again," Tim Malloy, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Poll, said in a statement
A new Quinnipiac poll released Tuesday found that two-thirds of American voters support stricter gun laws, reaching the highest level in the poll's history.

New poll shows support for stricter gun control is at an all-time high - Business Insider

3 annotations

government

7321

How Your Consumption Habits Impact Wildlife
maps could be useful for finding the most efficient ways to protect critical areas
study published in Nature Ecology & Evolution.
The resulting maps can tell which countries and which commodities, threaten species at the various hotspots,
The U.S. also has high biodiversity footprint in southern Spain and Portugal, due to their impacts on threatened fish and bird species.
consumption in Japan is driving threat hotspots in Southeast Asia, and around Colombo and southern Sri Lanka, where threats are linked to tea, rubber and other manufactured goods sent to Japan.
Once you connect the environmental impact to a supply chain, then many people along the supply chain,

This Map Shows How Your Consumption Habits Impact Wildlife Thousands of Miles Away

7 annotations

ecology

www.ecowatch.com

14910

BEIRUT, Lebanon — Dozens of Syrians choked to death after a suspected chemical attack struck the rebel-held suburb of Douma,
The United States government said it was working to verify whether chemical weapons had been used. A new, confirmed chemical attack in Syria would pose a dilemma for President Trump, who ordered military strikes on a Syrian air base after a chemical attack last year to punish Mr. Assad but has more recently said he wanted to get the United States out of Syria.
The agreement was celebrated at the time, but multiple chemical attacks since then have been blamed on the Syrian government, raising questions about how effective the agreement wa
The attack appeared to break the will of Douma’s rebels, who agreed on Sunday to a deal with the government to hand the area over and be bused to another area outside government control in the country’s north.
Douma is the last remaining town in the area still controlled by rebels, and the Syrian government has vowed to retake it.
“The Assad regime and its backers must be held accountable, and any further attacks prevented immediately,” a State Department spokeswoman, Heather Nauert, said in a statement. Ms. Nauert noted a sarin gas attack in April 2017 in northwestern Syria that the United States and the United Nations blamed on the Syrian government.

Dozens Suffocate in Syria as Government Is Accused of Chemical Attack - The New York Times

6 annotations

government

www.nytimes.com

6941

The IHE Delft institute for water education for example, estimates about 1600 litres of water is needed to grow just one kilo of wheat in Australia – discard the bread that wheat turns into, and that water has been spent for nothing.
When Craig Reucassel last year stood atop a giant pile of freshly picked Queensland bananas – edible yet destined to rot because they didn’t meet supermarkets’ bizarre cosmetic requirement
Shoppers can help to halt the madness by embracing “ugly” food. Woolworths offers the cheaper “odd bunch” range,
rotting food in landfill gives off greenhouse gases, further harming the environment.
Here’s our guide on how to help.
Small businesses are also popping up to rescue ugly yet edible produce,

Embrace 'ugly' fruit and compost: cutting back on food waste | Life and style | The Guardian

6 annotations

ecology

6946

I graduated from a top university with honours, and was successful in my field,
. Social Bite is a charitable cafe chain in Scotland that invests 100% of their profits and have now started building shelters for the homeless.
I was diagnosed with a whole raft of disorders – PTSD
nothing worked. Eventually, and in suicidal desperation, I found something that did – injecting heroin.
Eventually, I ended up on the streets. Most addicts will have similar stories – they are victims of rape, child abuse, and all manner of horrors. Many lack even the barest chance to get help, or any kind of family
Last month one woman asked for a bag of crisps and a bottle of cherry coke and burst into tears when she got it. These are human beings at their lowest ebb, a little humanity can mean the world to them
but it also led to opportunities, like coming across a Hare Krishna mobile food kitchen that was being all but ignored. This was literally manna from heaven and it made them very happy to reach somebody in need
People are so close to destitution in the UK that when it stares them in the face they can easily react badly. Eight million people in the UK are one payday away from being homeless.

Homeless in Britain: ‘I graduated with honours – and ended up on the streets’ | Cities | The Guardian

8 annotations

government

5840

behind the scenes animals are kept in cruel conditions with many dying soon after being snatched from their natural habitat
More than 40% of images taken are what are referred to as “bad” wildlife selfies: photos that feature someone hugging, holding or inappropriately interacting with a wild animal
Wildlife tourism in Latin America is extensive. Research by the charity found that more than half of 249 attractions it looked at online offered direct contact with wild animals. It was particularly concerned at the use of sloths as “props” in photos. According to the charity, the animal is particularly vulnerable to human interaction and there is “good reason to believe” that most sloths being used for tourist selfies don’t survive beyond six months of this treatment.
Steve McIvor, CEO at World Animal Protection said: “The wildlife selfie craze is a worldwide phenomenon fuelled by tourists, many of whom are unaware of the abhorrent conditions and terrible treatment wild animals can endure to provide that special souvenir photo.”
Research by World Animal Protection in Brazil and Peru has revealed rise in photos with wild animals on Instagram
with a 292% increase in the number of images posted to Instagram from 2014 to present

'Wild animal selfies': charity condemns trend following Amazon investigation | Travel | The Guardian

6 annotations

animal welfare

7158

We urgently need the government to form a comprehensive plastic action plan. Banning all plastic bags and single-use packaging would be a good start, but we need to go way beyond that. Plastic production has to be reduced,
In one study, 95% of all adults tested in the US had known carcinogenic chemical bisphenol A in their urine. In another, 83% of samples of tap water tested in seven countries were found to contain plastic microfibres. A study published last week revealed plastics contamination in more than 90% of bottled-water samples, which were from 11 different brands. And earlier this year the River Tame in Manchester was found to have 517,000 particles of plastic per cubic metre of sediment – that’s nearly double the highest concentration ever measured across the world.
plastic is now in what we eat, drink and breathe, and constitutes a significant and growing threat to human health.
The more researchers look, the more they find in the human body.
If we can breathe in these micro- and nano-sized particles and fibres, the scientists conjecture, they are likely to get into the human bloodstream, lung tissue and breast milk

The plastics crisis is more urgent than you know. Recycling bottles won’t fix it | John Vidal | Opinion | The Guardian

5 annotations

chemicals industry

6975

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Pacific Tsunami Warning Center released a video Friday mapping every earthquake as it occurred from Jan. 1, 2001, through Dec. 31, 2015.
Those tsunami-generating quakes include the devastating 9.1-magnitude tremor in Sumatra in 2004, an 8.8 magnitude in Chile in 2010 and the 9.0-magnitude quake off Japan’s northeastern coast in 2011
with colors representing depth, and size representing magnitude

Watch 15 Years Of Earthquakes Rock The Planet | The Huffington Post

3 annotations

geology

6519

steel producers had “gone on a tear” leading to increased emissions
Huge swaths of north and central China have been living under a pollution “red alert” since last Friday when a dangerous cocktail of pollutants transformed the skies into a yellow and charcoal-tinted haze.
Ctrip, China’s leading online travel agent, said it expected 150,000 travellers to head abroad this month in a bid to outrun the smog. Top destinations include Australia, Indonesia, Japan and the Maldives.
Yang Xinglin, who also fled to Chongli, said she had requested time off from her job at a state-owned real estate firm so she did not have to inhale the smog.
smog had paralysed airports in Beijing and across the country’s northern industrial heartland in cities
A big part of what happened is that the steel price went up when the government started a huge wave of construction projects to stimulate the economy,” he said.

Smog refugees flee Chinese cities as 'airpocalypse' blights half a billion | World news | The Guardian

6 annotations

ecology

5828

An airport security guard wearing a mask to protect himself against air pollution at the Beijing Capital International Airport.China's capital is shrouded by heavy smog.
Women, carrying their belongings, hoping to be evacuated from a rebel-held sector of eastern Aleppo,

Week in Pictures: From Berlin attack to China pollution - Al Jazeera English

2 annotations

sex

www.aljazeera.com

4316

, toxin exposure through plastic ingestion could affect many biological processes, such as growth and reproduction,
Whale sharks feeding in the Sea of Cortez off Mexico's Baja Peninsula, which is an important breeding ground, are estimated to ingest under 200 pieces of plastic per day.
A study, in the journal Trends in Ecology and Evolution, says the creatures may be swallowing hundreds of tiny bits of plastic a day.
Studies have shown chemicals associated with plastics in the bodies of whale sharks and fin whales
"The full magnitude of risks of ingesting microplastics are yet to be fully investigated,"
Fin whales in the Mediterranean Sea are thought to be swallowing closer to 2,000 microplastic particles per day.
The researchers say there have been reports of 800kg of plastic found in the carcass of a stranded whale in France and another in Australia

Plastic pollution: Scientists' plea on threat to ocean giants - BBC News

7 annotations

large animals

www.huffingtonpost.com.au

7014

Egg and Veggie Bowl
Clean-Eating
Broccoli Salad with Almond Dressing
Avocado Chickpea Salad Sandwich
avocado will be playing the role of mayo and chickpeas will be playing the role of tuna.
Spring Roll Bowls
Kale Quiche with Cheddar-Rice Crust

30 Clean-Eating Lunch Recipes - PureWow

7 annotations

desserts and baking

www.purewow.com

6353

devastating floods in Pakistan, pangolin smuggling in Thailand, wildflowers in bloom across the Atacama Desert in Chile, and much more.
An aerial view shows buses parked close together after dropping Muslim pilgrims off near Mount Arafat,
Flowers bloom at the Huasco region of the Atacama desert, 600 km north of Santiago, Chile,
Smoke and flames rise during clashes between joint forces of Iraqi army and Shi'ite Popular Mobilization Forces fighting Islamic State militants in Tal Afar,
Pakistani commuters travel on a flooded street following heavy rainfall in Karachi, Pakistan, on August 31, 2017.
A man carries Buthaina Muhammad Mansour, believed to be four or five years old, rescued from the site of a Saudi-led airstrike that killed eight of her family members in Sanaa, Yemen, on August 25, 2017.

Photos of the Week: 8/26–9/1 - The Atlantic

6 annotations

www.theatlantic.com

7875

pygmy elephants are often killed by angry plantation owners after the animals have strayed from protected reserves into the palm oil plantations or crops that eclipse enormous areas which used to be part of their habitat, to eat the valuable fruit the palm oil is harvested from.
we have witnessed the tragedy of Borneo and Sabah from a heart-wrenchingly close proximity.
Palm oil plantations are expected to encroach even further on what little habitat there is left for many critically endangered species and experts believe many more species will soon be extinct in the wild.
I learn that poachers often don't kill the animals before beginning the gruesome task of hacking off their tusks. Nor do they do so afterwards -- the elephants are instead left to die slow and painful deaths.
the animal as the proboscis monkey -- an endangered species of which there's only about 7,000 left in the wild.
the lone monkey looks like the last surviving sailor clinging to the mast of a sinking ship
massive deforestation since the 1960s under the timber and palm oil industries has drastically reduced native jungle to such an extent the primary rainforest is now threatened.

On The Brink Of Extinct: Borneo And The Tragedy Of Deforestation

7 annotations

unrest and war

6924

Sir Michael Dixon, the director of the Natural History Museum, said: “Brent’s image highlights the urgent need for humanity to protect our planet and the species we share it with.”
Wildlife Photographer of the Year prize
Giant gathering by Tony Wu
the species has faced renewed poaching in recent years despite conservation efforts.
The prestigious Wildlife Photographer of the Year award has been handed to a photojournalist who captured a criticially endangered black rhino lying dead with its horn cut off.
Contemplation by Peter Delaney

Rhino without its horn wins Wildlife Photographer of the Year prize - The i newspaper online iNews

6 annotations

large animals

inews.co.uk

7520

We used to take metal containers with tight lids to buy oil. That should restart as well,” she adds.
Like Amudha using leaves to wrap her fragrant flowers in Chennai,
The ban in Tamil Nadu, home to nearly 68 million people, is part of an ambitious national campaign to rid the world’s second-most populous nation of plastic waste
By the end of last year, nearly 400 companies and manufacturing plants dealing in the banned materials were shut down
Large chains like McDonald’s are no longer providing plastic straws,” she says. “I have also stopped buying bottled water and soft drinks.”
Bans on thin plastic shopping bags are the most common regulations. State government officials are also working to reduce the manufacturing of plastic by shutting down factories and preventing import of plastic products
nearly 40 percent of the country’s plastic waste is neither collected nor recycled. It ends up polluting water supplies and soil,
In contrast, Mumbai, state capital of Maharashtra, India’s commercial nerve-center, began enforcing a ban last June that imposes tough penalties for people caught selling or buying 22 banned items,

Plastic bans spread in India, from Tamil Nadu to Maharashtra, with surprising winners and losers

8 annotations

metals

6948

According to the Vegan Society, there are now at least 542,000 vegans in the UK; 10 years ago, that figure was about 150,000.
Tesco has said that demand for vegan and vegetarian products has grown 40% in the past year alone
. At four locations in London, there’s an astonishingly good Mexican joint called Club Mexicana, which sells “fish” tacos and pulled jackfruit burritos – jackfruit is native to south India and has a texture that resembles pulled pork.
He says their surf-and-turf – vegan barbecue ribs and tofu scampi – is very popular.
Tsouni Moss, who runs the popular vegan Instagram account Yes, It’s All Vegan

Hail seitan! How vegan food got down’n’dirty | Life and style | The Guardian

5 annotations

vegan

8328

China, Indonesia and India have brought the largest numbers of people out of poverty since the crisis.
The poor in Greece saw the largest income drop—an average of 10% per year. Other countries where the incomes of the poorest 40% fell were Croatia, Ireland, Israel and Latvia.
But keeping up the momentum will be difficult
There won’t be enough growth to reach the end of poverty goal by 2030 even with very optimistic trajectories of growth
Since 2008, too, the proportion of people in extreme poverty population has fallen steadily
In general, poverty can be reduced through higher overall GDP growth or by better distributing the economic gains
today, over half of the world’s poorest live in sub-Saharan Africa, a region which has struggled to improve

World Bank Poverty and Shared Prosperity report: Over 1 billion people have been lifted out of poverty since 1990, but the next billion will be harder — Quartz

7 annotations

disease

qz.com

13618

some are finding hope through education.
In a poor country run by a government that seems to have little will to protect girls, the wisest thing they can do is try to escape the station in which they were born. Amid all the threats, school can be their only refuge. Education is a challenge because of the fees
Ghazipur landfill, 70 acres of trash in Delhi, India, provides a hunting ground for seven-year-old Zarina, who salvages items to sell.
Sierra Leone’s ministry of education banned pregnant girls from attending school. The intent of the policy, which was formalized by the government in 2015, is to prevent them from influencing their peers and to protect them from ridicule.
Sierra Leone’s ban on pregnant girls in school “is a knee-jerk, old-fashioned morality, and it’s the wrong statement to make,

For These Girls, Danger Is a Way of Life

5 annotations

unrest and war

7794

One of the most striking of the 40 indicators assessed by the researchers was a huge increase in the number of people over 65 exposed to extreme heat.
Heatwaves are affecting many more vulnerable people and global warming is boosting the transmission of deadly diseases such as dengue fever, the world’s most rapidly spreading disease
hotter and more humid weather was increasingly creating conditions in which it is impossible to work outside. In 2016, this caused work equivalent to almost a million people to be lost, half in India alone.
The findings, published in the Lancet journal, come from researchers at 26 institutions around the world,
This rose by 125 million between 2000 and 2016 and worries doctors because older people are especially vulnerable to heat.
Dengue is also known as “breakbone fever” due to the pain it causes and infections have doubled in each decade since 1990, now reaching up to 100m infections a year now.
70,000 deaths that resulted from the 2003 heatwave in Europe looked small compared to the long-term trends: “We were alarmed when we saw this.”
The impacts of climate change are not limited to poorer nations, said Dr Toby Hillman, at the Royal College of Physicians, but also affect developed nations like the UK. He said air pollution kills about 40,000 in the UK each year
Patients queue for treatment following an outbreak of dengue fever in Bhopal, India this month. Photograph: Sanjeev Gupta/EPA
Nearly 700,000 persons have been internally displaced in Somalia as a result of the drought and food crisis, reports say. Photograph: Peter Caton/Mercy Corps

Climate change already bringing disease, air pollution and heatwaves | Environment | The Guardian

10 annotations

disease

7382

According to data from the Igarapé Institute, a Brazilian think-tank, 43 of the 50 most murderous cities in the world last year, and eight of the top ten countries, are in Latin America and the Caribbean.
In both 2015 and 2016, El Salvador was the world′s most violent country,
Acapulco, a beach resort on Mexico′s Pacific coast, recorded 108 homicides per 100,000 people last year, placing it second behind San Salvador.
The middle of the list is dominated by Brazil
In America, the only rich country on this list, a spike in homicides has propelled two more cities, Detroit and New Orleans, to join St Louis and Baltimore, which also figured on last year′s list.

Daily chart: The world’s most dangerous cities | The Economist

5 annotations

www.economist.com

12994

Yet Dairy Queen, Hooters Asia, IBM, Johnnie Walker, Oman Air, Peroni Brewery, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Ripley’s Believe It Or Not!, and many other companies sponsored the cruel tournament this year.
Breaking eyewitness footage shows elephants who were forced to participate in Thailand’s cruel King’s Cup Elephant Polo Tournament being repeatedly struck and gouged with bullhooks—sharp steel-tipped rods resembling fireplace pokers—and their ears being violently yanked
The only way to make elephants tolerate having humans riding around on their backs for polo games or any other reason is to “break” them.
Elephants are highly social beings who thrive in matriarchal herds, protecting each other, caring for their babies, and traveling many miles a day. They experience joy, sadness, and fear. Their rituals of mourning over the deaths of family members rival any that humans have developed.
Their complex emotional states and multifaceted relationships are left in tatters. Using these endangered animals in silly spectacles is shameful.

BREAKING! Elephants Beaten With Bullhooks for Thailand's Annual King's Cup Elephant Polo Tournament

5 annotations

large animals

www.petaasia.com

7412

Alerted by the predictions of drought, the Victoria Falls-based Bhejane Trust started drilling and setting up solar-powered boreholes in the park in May last year.
the animals of Hwange national park in Zimbabwe faced desperate water shortages.
According to the PWMA, at least 80 elephants died of drought-related causes in 2012. Many more animals have died in Hwange’s drought, including 620 Cape buffaloes that died in 2015 alone.
animals rely on an artificial supply of water developed in the 1920s. But since the early 2000s, Zimbabwe’s government has let pumps and pipes slide into disrepair.
Now the trust operates and maintains a network of 34 boreholes, in collaboration with the parks authority, GroupElephant.com and the Conservation & Wildlife Fund
In May this year, the parks authority advertised for prospective buyers “with the capacity to acquire and manage wildlife” to buy animals from the country’s 10 national parks to ease pressure on water resources. PWMA spokeswoman Caroline Washaya-Moyo did not respond to a request for an interview on the Hwange wildlife water security problem.

Water relief for 8,000 thirsty elephants neglected by Zimbabwe | Environment | The Guardian

6 annotations

large animals

www.huffingtonpost.com.au

5388

5 Yemen
7 Syria
34 Nepal
30 South Korea
41 Indonesia
51 Gaza

55 Incredible Photos Of Girls Going To School Around The World

6 annotations

school

7067

use renewable energy to power their facilities. Beyond that, they can cut back sharply on water and chemical use;
From the pesticides poured on cotton fields to the washes in which denim is dunked, making 1kg of fabric generates 23kg of greenhouse gases on average
Kirsten Brodde of Greenpeace also notes that H&M has eliminated toxic per- and polyfluorinated chemicals from its lines (
shopper will move on from wearing a consciously green T-shirt to viewing other kinds of clothing as the trappings of planetary destruction.
A handful of brands encourage customers to recycle old clothes by returning them to stores. But almost all apparel today is made of a mix of materials—very often including polyester. Separating them out is difficult

Garb age: Looking good can be extremely bad for the planet | The Economist

5 annotations

www.economist.com

3699

the plastic pandemic moves far beyond coconuts or any other stubbornly wrapped consumable. We’re becoming familiar with the eye-popping statistics. A garbage truck worth of plastic empties into the ocean every minute. Worldwide, humankind produces over 300 million tons of plastic each year,
A garbage dump site near Taihu Lake, Jiangsu province, China. On Jan. 1, 2018, the country closed its borders to several types of imported waste.
It means we need
I’ve distilled 10 years of plastic worrying, coconut rampages and dumpster diving into my new book, Turning the Tide on Plastic.
. To the traditional mantra of the 3Rs ― reduce, reuse and recycle ― I’ve added five more directives: record, replace, refuse, refill and rethink. My strategy makes recycling the last resort.

What You Can Do To Beat Plastic Pollution | HuffPost

5 annotations

chemicals industry

7263

Big Issue founder John Bird has raised concerns this could be “the worst winter for over two decades” for homelessness
A lot of people think homelessness can never happen to them, but it can, in the blink of an eye.
Being on the street wore me down. I slept in car parks, where boy racers threw rubbish at me. You wake up freezing, with no public toilets open. I lost weight; I lost all communication with my friends. I had a nervous breakdown.
between 2010 and 2016, the number of people sleeping rough in England rose by 134%.
– people are losing their flats because of universal credit, domestic violence, not being able to afford the mortgage; it could be anything

Homelessness: ‘People think it can never happen to them, but it can, in the blink of an eye’ | Society | The Guardian

5 annotations

children

7184

health
We asked Andy Bellatti — a registered dietitian and the cofounder of Dietitians for Professional Integrity — for advice about which "health foods" are actually not worth eating.
When you juice fresh fruits and veggies, you remove their fiber
By themselves, almonds are protein powerhouses. But by volume, a typical glass of almond milk is only about 2% almonds and contains almost no protein.
So if you're looking for a truly healthy alternative, opt for soy, skim, or low-fat milk.
Bottled water is not cleaner or healthier than most tap water in the US
92% of the America's 53,000 local water systems meet or exceed federal safety standards and are at least as clean and often cleaner than bottled water.
No one needs to detox. Unless you've been poisoned,
coconut oil has a whopping 12 grams of saturated fat and just 1 gram of healthy fat. Experts suggest avoiding saturated fats because they've been linked with high cholesterol and a risk of Type 2 diabetes.

Healthy food misconceptions and myths

9 annotations

disease

6341

The moment you have guns in society, you will have gun violence
Japan has one of the lowest rates of gun crime in the world. In 2014 there were just six gun deaths, compared to 33,599 in the US. What is the secret?
Your criminal record is checked and police look for links to extremist groups. Then they check your relatives too - and even your work colleagues. And as well as having the power to deny gun licences,
You have to attend an all-day class, take a written exam and pass a shooting-range test with a mark of at least 95%.
The result is a very low level of gun ownership - 0.6 guns per 100 people in 2007, according to the Small Arms Survey, compared to 6.2 in England and Wales and 88.8 in the US.
They are the first nation to impose gun laws in the whole world and I think it laid down a bedrock saying that guns really don't play a part in civilian society."
Japanese police officers rarely use guns and put much greater emphasis on martial arts
If you have too many police pulling out guns at the first instance of crime, you lead to a miniature arms race between police and criminals
policemen never carry weapons off-duty, leaving them at the station when they finish their shift.
One bullet shell was unaccounted for - one shell had fallen behind one of the targets - and nobody was allowed to leave the facilities until they found the shell
There is no clamour in Japan for gun regulations to be relaxed, says Berteaux. "A lot of it stems from this post-war sentiment of pacifism that the war was horrible and we can never have that again,
peace is always going to exist and when you have a culture like that you don't really feel the need to arm yourself or have an object that disrupts that peace."

How Japan has almost eradicated gun crime - BBC News

12 annotations

crime

8448

翠玉パフェ
茶々セット
パフェとそば又はうどんのセットです。パフェは次の４種からお選びいただけます。宇治パフェ・白玉パフェ・ほうじ茶パフェ・玄米茶パフェ。

都路里のメニュー｜茶寮都路里

3 annotations

beverages

www.giontsujiri.co.jp

5176

one of the world's biggest pulp mills which started production on Indonesia's Sumatra island
giant Asia Pulp and Paper (APP) was sourcing raw materials mostly from trees grown on drained peatlands, where haze-belching fires occur every year
Vast areas of peatland, which store carbon, have been drained in recent years using networks of canals to convert them into plantations for trees to produce pulp and palm oil.
Huge fires erupt on and around plantation land every year on Sumatra, much of it in peat.

One of the World’s Biggest Pulp Mills Is Devastating Indonesia's Environment - Seeker

4 annotations

news

www.seeker.com

7009

pigs are social, playful, protective animals who bond with each other, make nests, relax in the sun, and cool off in the mud.
Pigs have been documented showing empathy for other pigs who are happy or distressed
Pigs have been known to save the lives of others, including their human friends
Pigs have very long memories. Dr. Stanley Curtis, formerly of Penn State University, put a ball, a Frisbee, and a dumbbell in front of several pigs and was able to teach them to jump over, sit next to, or fetch any of the objects when asked to, and they could distinguish between the objects three years later.
, a pig who saved a young boy from drowning; Spammy, who led firefighters to a burning shed to save her calf friend Spot; and Lulu, who found help for her human companion, who had collapsed from a heart attack. A pig named Tunia chased away an intruder, and another, named Mona, held a fleeing suspect’s leg until the police arrived.

The Hidden Lives of Pigs | PETA

5 annotations

movies

www.peta.org

7008

After attaching a motion controller to a standard Harmonix guitar peripheral and putting on the Rift, players would see a five-lane "note highway" with beats to hit at specific moments, layered over a concert scene. "It feels great to stand on stage with a screaming crowd in front of you
founded in 1995 by a pair of MIT Media Lab students
They stripped the five-note system down to three notes, vastly simplifying the beats that players had to match
Rock Band developer Harmonix Music Systems has always focused on building for odd new platforms

How Harmonix put Rock Band into a virtual reality world | The Verge

4 annotations

guitar

www.theverge.com

3159

Japan's charaben culture
Considered the queen of charaben in Japan, Tomomi Maruo has been honing her craft for 13 years. She runs character bento classes and posts how-to videos on her YouTube channel, where Maruo has about 3,000 followers.
mothers often slice the ends of hot dogs into the splayed legs of an octopus, adding eyes from tiny pieces of dried seaweed.
In Japanese culture, emotions are often not openly expressed, and while it's possible to say "I love you", to many it just feels awkward
Tomomi Maruo is considered the queen of "charaben" -- charater bento boxes. Over the past 13 years, she has become renowned for her realistic portrayals of famous figures, such as Barack Obama, in the boxes.
The answer, it seems, lies in the heritage of a cuisine that has for centuries been eaten with the eyes as much as the mouth.
why has kawaii cuisine taken off in Japan -- and why do adults embrace the trend as much as children?
Today, kawaii has been well integrated with the traditional aesthetic codes that guide the presentation of all Japanese cuisine -- small separated portions, contrasts of color and shape, and reminders of the season.
One way for mothers to express love for their children is with the daily bento box.

The power of cute in Japanese food culture - CNN.com

9 annotations

children

edition.cnn.com

8270

In the first year of this program, we reduced growth in our vacation liability—the cost of time off
and some of our business managers asked us to reconsider the program.

Why I'll Keep Paying Employees To Take Vacation | The Huffington Post

2 annotations

business and industrial