Good news. Positive, uplifting, inspiring stories - Huffington Post The Yale Forum on Religion and Ecology Agri-Environmental Indicators Work in the OECD on agri-environmental indicators covers a range of issues such as agricultural impacts on soil, water, air, biodiversity, habitats and landscape and is primarily aimed at policy makers and the wider public interested in the development, trends and the use of agri-environmental indicators for policy purposes. The focus of the work is in particular related to indicator definitions, methodologies and calculation of indicators. Events Farm management indicators and the environment Proceedings of an OECD Expert Meeting, Palmerston North, New Zealand, March, 2004. Agricultural impacts on soil erosion and soil biodiversity: developing indicators for policy analysis Proceedings from an OECD Expert Meeting, Rome, Italy, March, 2003. Agriculture and land conservation: developing indicators for policy analysis Proceedings from an OECD Expert Meeting, Kyoto, Japan, May, 2003. Agricultural water quality and water use: developing indicators for policy analysis
Nature Publishing Group : science journals, jobs, and information George Monbiot – Accidental rewilding I stepped out into the sunlight, scarcely able to believe what I had seen or, rather, what I had not. I stared at the hills around me, contrasting them with the old photos of those same hills I had seen. Where dense forests now grew, forming a high, closed canopy — in the valleys, over the hills and up the mountain walls until they shrank, many thousands of feet above sea level, into a low scrub of pines, which diminished further to a natural treeline — there had been almost nothing. In the photos, taken on the western side of Slovenia during the First World War, the land was almost treeless. So tall and impressive are the trees now and so thickly do they now cover the hills that when you see the old photos — taken, in ecological terms, such a short time ago — it is almost impossible to believe that you are looking at the same place. I have become so used to seeing the progress of destruction that scanning those images felt like watching a film played backwards. Daily Weekly Explore Aeon
PelicanWen Journal of Sustainable Development 2. Review of the "Keeping the Promise" Report The document Keeping the promise: a forward-looking review to promote an agreed action agenda to achieve the Millennium Development Goals by 2015, by the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, dated 12 February 2010, is the fundamental point of reference for the MDG summit meeting. In the August 2010 issue of this journal, a few recommendations were offered pursuant to facing this challenge. These recommendations are structured around the "guiding principles" proposed by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in Keeping the Promise. Something to keep in mind .... Also to keep in mind .... 3. The UN Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD) seeks to form partnerships with voluntary multi-stakeholder initiatives contributing to the implementation of Agenda 21, Rio+5 and the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation (JPOI). The red line is the cumulative number of partnerships registered during the 2005-2009 time window. THE MDGs AT 10 AND CIVIL SOCIETY 4. 5.
genealogy + dna + community This map shows the geographic distribution of haplogroup T1 as measured in various geographically and ethnically defined populations from around the world. The value displayed at any geographical location indicates the percentage of individuals at that location who belong to this Haplogroup. This map shows the geographic distribution of haplogroup T2 as measured in various geographically and ethnically defined populations from around the world. The value displayed at any geographical location indicates the percentage of individuals at that location who belong to this Haplogroup. Mitochondrial haplogroup T is common in European populations, and is found throughout Western Eurasia, including North Africa, the Arabian Peninsula, and occasionally in the Near East. Haplogroup T is divided into two main groups: T1 and T2. The T2 subclade is most frequent in Europe with the highest frequencies in the Mediterranean and Near East areas. Richards M, Macaulay V, et al.
Unsustainable development? Let's face it: the UN MDG Review Summit was "business as usual." This in no way detracts from the value of this important event. But it is painfully clear that peoples and nations are not ready to change old habits and norms of behavior in order to facilitate the transition from consumerism to sustainability. Indeed, the number of "global citizens" that are genuinely concerned and ready to start walking the talk is increasing. But general inertia, resistance to change, and vested interests continue to prevail and, therefore, political will is lacking to pursue meaningful reforms in most secular and religious institutions. The Mother Pelican journal will continue to foster a radical rethinking of sustainable human development. Indeed, a reasonable amount of material consumption is required to meet physical (and to some extent, psychological) human needs. Such development of personality is a lifelong religious-psychological journey. "A custom without truth is ancient error."
With Sinus Study, Saint Louis University Researchers Find that Harmless Members of Microbiome Spark Immune Reaction Scroll down to listen to an explanation of how scientists think the microbiome, disease, and the immune system are related. Saint Louis University researchers have analyzed the microbiomes of people with chronic rhinosinusitis and healthy volunteers and found evidence that some chronic sinus issues may be the result of inflammation triggered by an immune response to otherwise harmless microorganisms in the sinus membranes. The findings, recently published in JAMA Otolaryngology - Head & Neck Surgery, support mounting evidence that inflammation may be the cause of most chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS) instead of bacterial infection. Study author Rajeev Aurora, Ph.D., professor of molecular microbiology and immunology at Saint Louis University, says that the paper sheds new light on the spectra of microorganisms that live in our bodies and our own immune response to those organisms. “So, we turned to look at the immune system.”