BIKES NOT BOMBS

The organization Bikes Not Bombs works with poor communities in Roxbury, MA, to repair old bicycles and send them to poor countries to give people access to "safe, clean and sustainable transportation." In this way the group says it tries to "oppose the influence of militarism and monopolies over people's lives." Donations can be sent to 59 Amory St., #103, Roxbury, MA 02119.

BUSH WEAKENS CLEAN AIR ACT

EPA Administrator Christine Todd Whitman recently signed a set of regulatory changes that add up to the largest regulatory weakening of clean air protections in the 30-year history of the Clean Air Act, according to Physicians for Social Responsibility (PSR). The changes could allow pollution increases from upwards of 17,000 aging power plants and oil refineries across the nation. EPA took this action despite widespread opposition among the public, more than 1000 medical doctors and health professionals, forty-four senators and more than 100 representatives. PSR urges people to urge their senators to block the EPA changes.

MONTANA HARASSES BUFFALO

Montana Department of Livestock (DOL) agents captured two bull bison in late January and attempted to capture a third, assisted by a ranger from Yellowstone National Park and game wardens with the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks, according to the Buffalo Field Campaign (BFC). In this latest operation about a dozen elk were spooked from near a creek when eight agents on snowmobiles and horseback attempted to haze the buffalo to a capture facility. Yellowstone is home to the only wild herd in the US. The animals are descended from just 23 wild bison that survived the mass eradication of the 19th century. The BFC works to stop the slaughter of the buffalo. For more information: www.wildrockies.org/buffalo; bfc-media@wildrockies.org.

Gross Violations By Polluters

According to an October report put out by the US Public Interest Research Group, 28 percent "of major US polluters violated legal limits discharging chemicals known or suspected to cause cancer and other serious health effects from 1999 to 2001." They found that the average violation was more than eight times over the legal limit. "More than 81 percent of US polluters exceeded their Clean Water Act permit limits at least once in the period---the average violation was ten times the legal limit." The report also found that on 1, 562 occasions of pollution, facilities reported discharging more than ten times the legal limit while in 363 instances, they reported exceeding the legal limit by a factor of more than 100 times. (Multinational Monitor, October/November 2002)--KS

GLOBAL TEMPERATURE NEAR RECORD

Temperature data for the first 11 months of 2002 indicate that this year was the second warmest on record, exceeded only by 1998, according to Earth Policy Institute. The article says that recent data indicate an accelerating rise due to massive fossil fuel burning that has overwhelmed nature's capacity to absorb carbon dioxide. In May, a record heat wave in India claimed more than 1,000 lives in the state of Andhra Pradesh. In Islamabad, Pakistan, temperatures soared to 117F in June. Crop yields have fallen as temperatures have climbed in key food-producing countries. In general, a one-degree C rise in temperature above the optimum reduces grain yields by 10 percent. Scientists now report ice melting in all the world's major mountain ranges, including the Rocky Mountains, the Andes, the Alps and the Himalayas. On Africa's Kilimanjaro, the area covered by snow and ice has shrunk by 80 percent since 1900. Lonnie Thompson, Ohio State University glaciologist, reports that the snow and ice there may disappear by 2020. At Glacier National Park, half of the glaciers have disappeared, and the US Geological Survey projects that the remaining ones will disappear within the next 30 years. Last summer ice melting occurred over 265,000 square miles of the Greenland ice sheet. If this were to melt entirely, sea level would rise by 23 feet. The risk is that climate change could soon spiral out of control, leaving future generations with soaring temperatures, withered harvests, deadly heat waves, melting ice, and rising seas. For more information go to www.earth-policy.org. This information was adapted from a longer article and reprinted with permission.

AFGHANISTAN'S ENVIRONMENT RAVAGED

(ENS)-Afghanistan's environment is so degraded by two decades of warfare that it now presents a major barrier to efforts at reconstruction, according to a recent report. Combined with three to four years of drought, conflicts have drained the nation's wetlands and caused much of Afghanistan's wildlife to vanish. The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Post-Conflict Environment Assessment report shows how conflict has put previous environmental management and conservation strategies on hold, brought about a collapse of local and national governance, destroyed infrastructure, hindered agricultural activity and driven people into cities already lacking the most basic public amenities. The drought has lowered water tables, dried up wetlands, denuded forests, eroded land and depleted wildlife populations. The internationally significant Sistan wetlands between Afghanistan and Iran are now almost completely dry. The Iranian side of the wetland was designated a Ramsar site, an international treaty designed to protect important wetlands, in 1975. At that time, half a million waterfowl comprising 150 species were counted including eight globally threatened migratory birds such as the Dalmatian pelican and marbled teal. But in central Afghanistan, UNEP found the national waterfowl and flamingo sanctuaries at Dasht-e-Nawar and Ab-e-Estada were also completely dry. Flamingos have not bred successfully inside Afghanistan for four years, and the last Siberian crane was seen in 1986.

With 2 million refugees returning in 2002 and a further 1.5 million expected this year, pressure on Afghanistan's natural resources and environmental services are expected to increase even further. "Over 80 percent of Afghan people live in rural areas, yet they have seen many of their basic resources, water for irrigation, trees for food and fuel, lost in just a generation," said a spokesman. "In urban areas safe water may be reaching as few as 12 percent of the people." Disposal of solid waste is one of the country's most glaring problems, the report states. The assessment team found dumpsites were not taking measures to prevent groundwater contamination or toxic air pollution from burning plastic wastes. The rural assessment found widespread loss of forest had occurred across much of the country during the past 30 years. Satellite imagery reveals that conifer forests in some provinces have been reduced by over a half since 1978. Local communities have lost control of their resources in these eastern provinces, with warlords, timber barons and foreign traders controlling illegal and highly lucrative logging operations. The assessment also documented the loss of pistachio woodlands in the north. These trees can produce 35-50 kilograms of nuts per year, providing an important revenue source for local residents. The full report is at postconflict.unep.ch.

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