GLOBAL WARMING : Degree-by-Degree Guide

The following vital information is extracted from the Appendices of the book "FROM CRISIS TO PEACE" written by The Supreme Master Ching Hai...

"If global warming continues at the current rate, we could be facing extinction. So what exactly is going to happen as the Earth heats up? Here is a degree-by-degree guide, excepted from SIX DEGREE: Our Future on a Hotter Planet, by Mark Lynas, in National Geographic, January 22, 2008 (Lynus, M, 2007)

1 Degree C increase
Ice-free sea absorbs more heat and accelerates global warming; fresh water lost from a third of the world's surface; low-lying coastlines flooded.
Chance of avoiding one degree of global warming : ZERO

2 Degree C increase
Europeans dying of heatstroke; forests ravaged by fire; stressed plants beginning to emit carbon rather than absorbing it; a third of all species face extinction.
Chance of avoiding two degrees of global warming : 93% but only if emissions of greenhouse gases are reduced by 60% over the next 10 years.

3 Degree C increase
Carbon release from vegetation and soils speeds global warming; death of the Amazon rainforest; super hurricanes hit coastal cities; starvation in Africa.
Chance of avoiding three degrees of global warming: poor, if the rise reaches two degrees and triggers carbon-cycle feedbacks from soils and plants.

4 Degree C increase
Runaway thaw of permafrost makes global warming unstoppable; much of Britain made unihabitable by severe flooding; Mediterranean region abandoned.
Chance of avoiding four degrees of global warming: Poor, if the rise reaches three degrees and triggers a runaway thaw of permafrost.

5 Degree C increase
Methane from ocean floor accelerates global warming; ice gone from both poles; human migrate in search of food and try vainly to live like animals off the land.
Chance of avoiding five degrees global warming: negligible, if the rise reaches four degrees and releases trapped methane from the seabed.

6 Degree C increase
Life on Earth ends with apocalytic storms, flash floods, hydrogen sulphide gas and methane fireballs racing across the globe with the power of atomic bombs; only fungi survive.
Chance of avoiding six degrees of global warming: Zero, if the rise passes five degrees, by which time all feedbacks will be running out of control.

For more reading and information, please visit:
http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/episode/six-degrees-could-change-the-world-3188/Overview

http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/episode/six-degrees-could-change-the-world-3188/six-degrees-book

To read "FROM CRISIS TO PEACE... the Organic Vegan Way is the answer" (free-of-charge), log on to : www.crisis2peace.org

PLEASE WAKE UP! .... A Poignant Plea

The following is a passionate plea by The Supreme Master Ching Hai, author of the book "FROM CRISIS TO PEACE... The Organic Vegan Way is the Answer". With unwavering determination, she devotes her time and resources to awakening the world to the disastrous impact of climate change and to the vegan solution.

To read the free-of-charge e-book,available in multiple languages,please go to: www.crisis2peace.org

PLEASE WAKE UP !

O, world, wake up and behold
Rivers and mountains are in tumult
Burnt forests, eroded hills, desiccated streams
Whither do the poor souls go in the end?

O, great Earth, lessened be your agony
For these tears to wane with the persistent night.
O, seas and lakes, cease not your melodies
Allowing hope for a morrow among humanity...

O, sentient beings, have respite in the realm beyond
Though you departed without any utterance.
Let the throbbing of my heart abate
While I await Earthlings' timely repentance.

O, deep forests, preserve your true selves
Protect thhe human race in their moments of erring.
Please accept my heartfelt thousand teardrops
To nurture your majestic trees, leaves and roots.

O, heart, relent your sobbing
For my soul to rest in long nights,
Tears dried up and I'm wordless
Weeping in sympathy for the tormented!

O, night, please kindle your source of light
Shine the way for those human souls in darkness
Be serene for my mind to be still
And enter emptiness with the miraculous celestial melody.

O, day, stir not in sudden unrests
For peace to repose in our very hearts
For humankind's stuggles to subside
For the true Self to gloriously shine!

O, heart of mine, lament no longer
Like an insect writhing in the chilling winter.
Calmly wait for a perfect tomorrow
And the day the world turns into Paradise.

O, I cry, I plead, I pray, I beg!
O, infinite Buddhas,
Bodhisattvas, angels
Deliver souls straying from the True Path
Wandering in the endless cycle of suffering migration.

O, brother, wake up at once!
Proudly walk on great seas and rivers
Look straight at the flaming sun
And vow sacrifice to save all beings.

O. sister, wake up this instant!
Arise from places of devastation
Together let's renew our planet
For all to sing joyous songs of oneness

Author : The Supreme Master Ching Hai
FROM CRISIS TO PEACE

More than half of Borneo's carnivores face extinction

KOTA KINABALU (Bernama)

More than 50 per cent of Borneo's many carnivore species could become extinct, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) which lists them on its red list of threatened species.

In disclosing the findings, Sabah Wildlife Department (SWD) Director Dr Laurentius Ambu said as such there was a need for action plans and long-term solutions to the declining number of Borneo's carnivores.

Speaking at the launching of the 1st Borneo Carnivore Symposium, yesterday, he said the need to strengthen knowledge was crucial in efforts to protect the 24 species of carnivores found in Borneo such as the amazing Sunda Clouded Leopard (Neofelis diardi), which is only found in Borneo.

"Last year, scientists even rediscovered the world's most endangered otter species here in Sabah at Dermakot (near Sandakan), so it's obvious we have to work harder to protect these amazing wildlife," he said.

The symposium, aimed at developing action plans to ensure the survival of the carnivores in Borneo, was attended by almost 200 officials from 15 countries including Malaysia, Brunei and Indonesia.

"The conservation of carnivores is important because they are what we call the keystone species as their presence maintains a healthy ecosystem within the forests of Borneo," said Laurentius, who was also the organising chairman of the Symposium. Besides the Sunda Clouded Leopard, the threatened carnivores of Borneo, refer to mammals including civet cats like the Malay civet (Viverra tangalunga), otters and badgers such as Teledu.

Laurentius said carnivores are on the top of the food chain and maintain ecological balance within the forests as well as agriculture plantations in Borneo.

The symposium was organised by the SWD, IUCN's Cat, Small Carnivores and Otter Specialist Groups of the Species Survival Commission and the Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research of Germany.


Source: http://www.borneobulletin.com.bn/mon/jun20b1.htm

THE BENEFITS OF ORGANIC VEGAN FARMING

Chapter 4 of "FROM CRISIS TO PEACE ... the Organic Vegan Way is the Answer" takes an objective view on the subject. Written by The Supreme Master Ching Hai, the book aims to raise global awareness on the present climate crisis faced by every nation on the planet and offers the most effective and quickest way to turn the situation around.

"The benefits of organic farming for human livelihood, for human health and for animals' health, natural resources and protection of our planet, all these benefits we cannot even under-estimate, we cannot even estimate all in here. Organic farming not only helps to protect the planet, it will even help to eliminate hunger."

"Returning to traditional, organic farming methods is already proven by success in Africa, for example, and in some places like the Americas, Europe and Australia. People are more informed about the harms of the meat and more informed about the benefits of a vegetarian diet."

SUSTAINABILITY AND HIGH YIELDS
***It has been found that a large-scale change to organic farming could feed the world. Research in Denmark and elsewhere has shown large yields from orgainc farming on land that was previously under-utilized;
***Organic practices such as composting and rotating crops improve the soil;

REDUCING THE USE OF PESTICIDES AND FERTILIZERS
***Organic farming is good for animals, all beings on this planet, including even trees and land, in part because it does not use chemical fertilizers or pesticides which are considered to be potentially cancer-causing and also depleting bees' colonies and killing many other animals...
***:Chemical fertilizers and pesticide runoffs are also known to contribute to the ocean dead zones;
***Over 5 billion pounds of pesticides are used throughout the world each year! and only about 10% of these chemicals ever reach the areas where they are intended for. So the rest goes into the air and water ...

IMPROVING THE ENVIRONMENT AND SOIL
***If all people, all the farmers and all the arable land on our planet turn into organic farming methods, then immediately, 40% of the CO2 will be absorbed by the farming methods alone already.

SAVING ENERGY AND RESOURCES
***Organic, vegan farming is productive, saving 37% more energy and even more water than conventional farming methods.

SAVING MONEY FOR GOVERNMENTS
***The cost of subsidizing organic vegetable farming is very small compared to the sunsidies needed to keep the animal farms afloat.... Organic, vegan farming can save governments a lot, a lot of money, 80% of it.

PROFITABILITY FOR FARMERS
*** A study on small farmers in Latin America who switched to organic vegetable farming found that they earned higher revenues than before.... some of the reasons for the greater profits are that the production costs are lower than conventional farming;
***There are more crops varieties that can be rotated.... also, the organic system is naturally more resistant to drought.

IMPROVING FOOD SAFETY AND HEALTH
***We all benefit from better health because (organic food is) free from toxins and abundant in nutrients, without the genetiic modification and cancer-causing pesticides.

ORGANIC VEGANISM IS A SPIRITUAL MOVEMENT
***Small farmers have a spiritual role in veganism as well. The vegan diet itself is a spiritual movement because it is the single most effective way to expand our human compassion and noble qualituy, and loving quality.
***When we live and let live, when we love all beings as if we love ourselves, then that is already very highly spiritual... that is in line with all the greatest religions on Earth. That will be very pleasing to Heaven. This allows us more to completely extend our respect and care to all life.
- The Supreme Master Ching Hai -

NOTE
Read the e-book (avialable in multiple languages) at: www.crisis2peace.org

ENACTING VEGAN LAWS AND POLICIES

The Supreme Master Ching Hai conveys an earnest plea to all WORLD LEADERS to use their mighty power to help protect their peoples and the environment from the present planetary climate change crisis...

The following extracts are from Chapter 4 of Her book titled:
FROM CRISIS TO PEACE... the Organic Vegan way is the Answer.

WORLD LEADERS SHOULD SET AN EXAMPLE
"I would say to them (the world leaders) to use their mighty power to change the diet of the planet and adopt immediately, new technology, sustainable energy. And set an example by themselves by becoming a vegetarian or vegan."

"The leaders must change themselves also, and then in turn change our social system so that it becomes more free and more spiritual, more morally high because they carry with them this responsibility - it's heavy if they do not act with Heaven's merciful nature and progressive plan, and if they then do not act according to the principle of the universe."

DISTRIBUTE INFORMATION ABOUT THE PLANT-BASED DIET
"People are not really well-informed about what's on their plate."

"Many don't realise the harmful emissions of the livestock industry or that killing begets killing, and they are not aware that meat is another kind of additive poison. They are not aware that meat is destroying our planet."

"The governments have to help. Distribute more informtion encouraging more vegetarian diet lifestyle, just bombarding the whole planet with a new energy of compassion and love and health and then everybody will join in. Supportive energy is very important."

"We only have this one home : Earth. If it is destroyed, another one cannot be built, unlike a house, which can be rebuilt, we can't build another Earth if it's destroyed. It's not that easy. Therefore, the most important thing for the government to do is to spread information to the public."

BAN MEAT AS SMOKING WAS BANNED
"We have to ban meat. We're banning it now by showing people how to eat, to cook vegetarian. We go all out. This is really for survival. Make it your mission in life to inform people about the danger of eating meat and show them the solution."

"Because if we don't raise anymore cattle or animals then the Earth will be more sustainable: no more greenhouse gas or methane gas from the animals... Then the Earth will recover."

"Because a good leader stops what is bad for the people and facilitates what is good for them. They can facilitate, namely, through public campaigns, using the media, and through schools to inform about the benefits of the healthy, life-saving, planet-saving way of life."

WE HAVE NO OTHER CHOICE.... either we change or we will all go.
"Given this critical necessity, these people who are economically tied to the meat industry would be willing to change if they were properly informed and know how important it is to change their lifestyle and their career. They have many strong motivations. For example, the first is to save the planet from a climate catastrophe, save all lives in this world."

STOP ANIMAL KILLING AND WARS AND REBUILD THE COUNTRY
"The thing is, the leaders should know what is a priority...... all the leaders must concentrate on saving our planet and must concentrate on spreading information and making new laws for people to live a more benevolent life."

"And all killing, torturing humans or animals must stop. all deforestation, harming the environment and destroying the trees, all that has to stop and leaders will only bring into law what's beneficial, peaceful, if possible, spiritual as well, for all, like protecting true spiritual groups, the harmless but beneficial groups."

"Share wealth among all : distribute enough food and clothing for needy humans and animals. Building protective areas for all, for humans and animals - protect all lives. Rebuild forests, clean up rivers, lakes, oceans and protect them; award to green and animal care groups. Clear away, clean up alcohol and drugs, meat and animal products. Laboratory tests involving cruelty to animals must stop. Clear away animal-factory farms..... "

ENACTING VEGAN LAWS AND POLICIES
"I hope the governments would please make it into law to forbid the killing of animals, to forbid anymore animal livestock raising"

If they are truly the leaders that pledge to protect their people, to improve their country in many aspects, then this is the first step we have to to do.

STOP the meat industry, stop the fish industry, stop the dairy industry. Then our planet will be the way it was and even better."

A HEARTFELT PLEA from The Suprme Master Ching Hai...
'HOW I really want to embrace the leaders and the non-leaders, people of this world and tell them, "Wake up." I want to embrace them and tell them, "Wake up, wake up now. Wake up, my love; wake up my friend, save yourself."


"THE FUTURE IS IN YOUR HANDS, SO YOU MAKE IT BEAUTIFUL OR YOU MAKE IT WORSE, IT IS UP TO YOU."

Note : To read the e-book (available in multiple languages), please go to :
www.crisis2peace.org

5 mil voices of Malaysia to support Global Warming awareness

http://www.permatagreenland.com

Please join us: click to show your support to this important project initiated by
Dr Sharifah Mazlina Syed Abdul Kadir
(the first Asian woman / Muslim to cross North & South Pole)
to help create global warming awareness among Malaysians and citizens of the world. -

Click to pledge :

Malaysian pledges http://www.permatagreenland.com/index.php?option=com_jquarks4s&controller=survey&id=2

International pledges

http://www.permatagreenland.com/index.php?option=com_jquarks4s&controller=survey&id=1



P.S. Please pass this on, thank you!

LIVESTOCK DEPLETES EARTH'S RESOURCES

"FROM CRISIS TO PEACE.... The Organic Vegan Way is the Answer" reflects The Supreme Master Ching Hai's deep concern for our environment. In Chapter 3 of the book, She conveys the adverse ecological damages to Earth's natural resources and the heavy costs of meat production...and calls for all responsible parties to take a stand and SOS our Planet Earth before it is too late...

STOP DEFORESTATION
"The livestock sector is the single largest human use of land and the top driving force behind rainforest destruction."

"Deforestation is also largely driven by meat production. With the United Nations estimating that deforestation accounts for approximately 20% of all greenhouse gas emissions, nearly all deforestation itself is related to meat production."

"Eighty percent of cleared Amazon forest is designated as a cattle grazing area to prepare the animals for slaughter, and the remainder is planted with soy crops used also largely for animal feed."

"A rainforest area the size of a football field is destroyed every second to produce just 250 hamburgers."

"We are losing 55 square meters of rainforest for every beef hamburger patty."

"Forests play a tremendous role in absorbing CO2.... Trees attract rain, keep the soil, and stop erosion...."

"We have to ban deforestation, and we have to plant more trees, of course. Wherever there's erosion or empty land we have to plant more trees."

STOP WATER SHORTAGES
"We must reconsider our agricultural practices and how we manage our water resources, with agriculture and livestock accounting for 70% of fresh water use and up to 80% of deforestation."
- Ban Ki-moon , United Nations

"While 1.1 billion people lack access to safe drinking water, we waste 3.8 trillion tons of precious clean water each year for livestock production."

"One serving of BEEF uses over 1,200 gallons of water
One serving of CHICKEN uses 330 gallons of water
One complete VEGAN meal with TOFU, RICE and VEGETABLES uses only 98 gallons of H2O"

"To produce one pound of beef, it takes 2,500 gallons of water, 12 pounds of grain, 35 pounds of topsoil and the energy equivalent of one gallon of gasoline. If all these costs were reflected in the price of the product, without subsidies, the least expensive hamburger in the US would cost US$35." - John Robbins

ERADICATE WORLD HUNGER
"If everyone ate a plant-based diet, there would be enough food to satisfy 10 billion people."

"Ninety percent of all soy, 80% of all corn and 70% of all grain grown in the United States are fed to fatten livestock, while this could feed at least 800 million hungry people."

"Every 5 seconds, a child dies of hunger."

ALLEVIATE FINANCIAL AND HEALTH COSTS
The Cost of Climate Change :

"European Commission study estimates climate change could cost up to US$74 trillion. One meter sea level rise would increase storm property damaged by US$1.5 trillion."

**Cardiovascular Disease has cost $503.2 billion in the US in 2010
**Cancer treatment costs $6.5 billion in the US per year
**Diabetes treatment costs $174 billion in the US per year
**Individual treatment of being overweight costs $93 billion in the US per year.

"Global adoption of the Vegan diet could wipe 80% (US$32 trillion) off the estimated US$40 trillion cost of mitigating climate change by 2050."

"So, with the vegan diet, we eat what's best for our health, for the animals, for the environment, and nature will do the rest to restore the balance and save our world."
- The Supreme Master Ching Hai

NOTE : To read the e-book, please go to: www.crisis2peace.org available in multiple languages.

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

Two activists from PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) painted themselves green and carried signs of "GO GREEN, GO VEGAN" in English, Bahasa Malaysia and Mandarin - in an effort to get Malaysians to Save the Planet from climate change due to the raising of livestock for food.

Over 600 million animals are slaughtered every year in Malaysia for food.....

(Source: http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2011/6/8/nation/20110608112104&sec=nation)

The following observations are adapted from Chapter 3 of "FROM CRISIS TO PEACE", authored by The Supreme Master Ching Hai in regard to the VEGAN DIET... quickest solution to solve current environmental issues...

BE VEGAN : THE GREENEST LIFESTYLE
**(Stopping meat production) saves 80% of the total cost of US40 trillion for reducing global warming;

**uses 4.5 times less land to grow food;

**conserves up to 70% clean water;

**saves 80% of the cleared Amazonian rainforest from animal grazing;

**frees up to 3.4 billion hectares of land;

**frees up to 760 million tns of grain every year (that is half the world's grain supply);

**conserves one-third fossil fuel used for meat production;

**reduces air pollution from untreated animal wastes; maintains cleaner air;

**saves 4.5 tons of emissions per household per year;

**stops 80% of global warming or more.

"So, with the Vegan diet, we eat what's best for our health, for the animals, for the environment, and nature will do the rest to restore the balance and save our world."
- The Supreme Master Ching Hai

(Therefore,) the greenest of all green policy, the greenest of all the green actions, the most compassionate, the most heroic, the lifesaving action, is the VEGAN DIET.
- The Supreme Master Ching Hai

BLOGGER'S NOTE:
To read "FROM CRISIS TO PEACE" please go to: www.crisis2peace.org available in multiple languages

The Hidden Costs from the Effects of Global Warming

Written by The Supreme Master Ching Hai, "FROM CRISIS TO PEACE" boldly addresses the causes and effects of climate change and offers the quickest solution to mitigate global warming. In Chapter 2, She points out some of the hidden costs which have been mostly observed but which many are not aware of....check out the following quotes and excerpts for a better understanding of the crisis facing us and what we can do to abate it.

*** LOSS OF BIODIVERSITY
Leading ecologists say that the decline of wildlife due to species extinction is so rapid that there is no modern comparison. Scientists also now predicts that the Earth's 16,000 endangered species may become extinct 100 times faster than previously thought.

"20% - 40% of the species of organism on Earth are likely to go extinct during the present century on the basis of global warming alone, without even the other factors coming into it." - The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)

***WATER SHORTAGE
Dwindling water supplies have caused escalating tensions and even conflicts to erupt as many people, including disadvantaged farmers, don't have enough water or are struggling for their share.

One billion people have no access to clean, safe water. And 1.8 billion children die every year due to sickness from contaminated water.

*** FOOD SHORTAGE
The United Nations announced that as of 2009 the world is now seeing the highest number of hungry people in four decades. There are 1.02 billion people with not enough food in the world.

In Peru, due to excessive heat and droughts over the last 12 years, 140,000 hectares of potatoes and corn have been ruined - equal to food that could feed 11 million people.

***HUMAN HEALTH
According to Swiss-based research, climate change is already responsible for some 315,000 deaths a year, with another 325 million people who are severly affected. This comes in addition to an economic loss of US125 billion every year. The worst affected are developing nations in Africa, with other very threatened areas being in South Asia and small island nations.


***STOP THE GREATEST CONTRIBUTOR TO OUR ENVIRONMENTAL CRISIS...
Livestock are one of the most significant contributors to today's most serious environmental problems. Urgant action is required to remedy the situation."- Dr Henning Steinfield, Chief of Livestock Information and Policy Branch, FAO,UN

*** Stop blaming the CO2 for every problem of global warming on our planet. We are to be blamed. The meat industry is to be blamed. The meat industry is the one we have to focus on to stop, to abolish. To stop the climate change and to stop the waste of the forests and land, stop talking around the subject. Talk to the point: Meat Industry must stop.
- The Supreme Master Ching Hai (From Crisis To Peace)***

THE BEST SOLUTION : BE VEGAN TO HEAL THE PLANET
The smartest way would be to stop the worsening of global warming by being vegan. It sounds very simple but it is the best solution, the most effective, and the effect of it will be felt almost immediately. Without this main, most time-effective change, no matter what we try to do, it won't be enough to repel the worst consequences that we have accumulated.
- The Supreme Master Ching Hai (From Crisis to Peace)

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Taiwanese Schools Offer Vegetarian Meals

FOCUS TAIWAN - News Channel published the following news on 7 November, 2010. According to a survey carried out by the nation's Education Ministry, at least 85% of public schools are offering veggie meals to their students in an effort to promote healthy eating habits and to save the environment.

Leaders and educators of countries can take a lesson from them and help do the same... read the full report here:
>Over 85 percent of schools offer vegetarian meals: MOE
2010/11/07 19:32:42

Taipei, Nov. 7 (CNA) Around 86 percent of elementary, junior and senior high schools in Taiwan have provided vegetarian lunches to students to promote healthy lifestyles and help reduce global warming, according to the results of a survey released by the Ministry of Education (MOE) on Sunday.

The survey, conducted in mid-October, shows that 2,328 out of 3,517 public schools around the country have offered vegetarian meals, with 676 schools providing a vegetarian diet at least once every two weeks or once every month.

Forty-six schools have offered vegetarian menus twice per week, and three schools polled have followed the vegetarian diet more than three days in a week, the survey revealed.

The latest figures show that promotion of vegetarian meals has been well accepted in comparison with an earlier survey conducted in February, when only 1,201 schools, or 34 percent of the total, offered vegetarian diets.

Deputy Minister of Education Lin Tsong-ming said that global warming is threatening human survival, and over-consumption of meat has also caused significant health problems for many people.

Contrary to public perception, vegetables provide more nutrition for the human body than animal products, Lin said.

For example, he said, dried bean curd contains more protein than shrimps, the iron content of the seaweed is nine times more than that of liver, and black sesame seeds contain 10 times the calcium quantity of goat milk.

Yunlin County has the largest number of schools providing vegetarian dishes as the county started to promote a healthy diet in 2009. It has received a warm response and strong support from students' parents.

(By Lin Szu-yu and Maia Huang) enditem/MH