Meditation Focus #179

Standing Tall


Hello!

What follows is the 179th Meditation Focus suggested for the next 4 weeks beginning Sunday, December 9, 2007.

STANDING TALL

1. Summary
2. Meditation times
3. More information related to this Meditation Focus
4. Special vigil for the global warming negotiations in Bali

THANK YOU FOR YOUR ASSISTANCE IN PASSING THIS ON TO OTHERS

Also recommended to your attention...

Veracity Series #19: Turning From Greed to Green! (December 1, 2007)
http://www.earthrainbownetwork.com/Archives2007/Veracity19.htm

Rising Phoenix Series #42: We Are Those We Have Been Waiting For! (November 20, 2007)
http://www.earthrainbownetwork.com/Archives2007/RisingPhoenix42.htm



1) SUMMARY

At this point in time, we are looking at one of the most wondrous experiences that has ever been bestowed upon living flesh. We are on the verge of making Contact... but this will not be the First contact, far from it. It will be like renewing our sacred bond with immortal friends we have know all along. It will be like welcoming back in our soul remembrance all those moments of sheer, pure happiness we have experienced before with these blessed souls. It will be and feel just like home. As we ascend the spiritual ladder of Love and enter ever vaster expanses of blissful, peaceful cognizance of That Which We Are, Something comes alight right in the very center of our heart. A New reality dawns on us as we open our heavenly eyes onto the scenery of past, present and future accomplishments on our never-ending Quest for Divine Perfection. A Flame, brighter than a quasar of Love, springs forth from the fulcrum of our awakening consciousness and we contemplate, assimilate and expand this sacred Knowledge until we reassert the full Remembrance of our Origin. We stand tall, ever more quivering with the vibrancy of our renewed discovery, and We Let It Be.......

A new Man is being born, after aeons of slow maturation in the tender embrace of the Universal Onlookers who have stood at our side all along. A new Reality is dawning and a new dispensation of the Divine Grace is occurring, at this very moment. Trust these words to reflect, however imperfectly, the Guidance that is being provided in the sanctity of your soul, at this very moment. Know that what is being stirred by these thoughts is the perfect expression of what you came here to realize, at this very moment.

Imagine a star like your Sun shining in the firmament of infinite vastness, and experience the multitude of Life-giving powers emanating from its core and radiating ad infinitum in all directions at once... Then imagine that from the bosom of this starry being, an even higher vibrational tonality than all it has ever shone before is ignited in the fiery realm of Primordial Source where All is possible, even something as sublime, as magical and as infinitely perfect as the Universe your telescopes have been showing you for some time now. Imagine, if such a wondrous accomplishment has been possible, what is still in store for an extraordinary creature like yourself... You are just like this expanding star and by your own volition you are making possible one of the most fascinating transmutation process of this field of experience... Your metamorphosis from a third dimensional being of flesh, blood and bones into a radiantly expanding expression of all that has laid dormant up to this point in time.

Now it the time to allow this process to fully proceed unimpeded. Now is the time to let the full Force of your Divine Light shine through. Now is the time of your spiritual Resurrection from the realm of mortal limitation into the infinite realm of infinite possibilities. All that has preceded this moment in the everlasting continuum of Existence was but a first step, a mere preparation, a simple stepping-stone in your Ascension from one vibrational range into a new much higher one. Now it the Time to Stand Tall, for the Highest Good of All.

This whole Meditation Focus has been archived for your convenience at http://www.aei.ca/~cep/MeditationFocus179.htm



2. MEDITATION TIMES

i) Global Meditation Day: Sunday at 16:00 Universal Time (GMT) or at noon local time. Suggested duration: 30 minutes. Please dedicate the last few minutes of your Sunday meditation to the healing of the Earth as a whole. See the Earth as healthy and vibrant with life, and experience the healing of all relations as we awaken globally to the sacredness of all Life and to our underlying unity with All That Is.

ii) Golden Moment of At-Onement: Daily, at the top of any hour, or whenever it better suits you.

These times below correspond (for most countries) to 16:00 Universal Time/GMT:

Honolulu 6:00 AM -- Anchorage 7:00 AM -- Los Angeles 8:00 AM -- Denver 9:00 AM -- San Salvador, Mexico City, Houston & Chicago 10:00 AM -- New York, Toronto & Montreal 11:00 AM -- Halifax, Santo Domingo, La Paz & Caracas 12:00 PM -- Montevideo, Asuncion * & Santiago * 1:00 PM -- Rio de Janeiro * 2:00 PM -- London, Dublin, Lisbon, Reykjavik & Casablanca 4:00 PM -- Lagos, Algiers, Geneva, Rome, Berlin, Paris & Madrid 5:00 PM -- Ankara, Jerusalem, Johannesburg, Athens, Helsinki & Istanbul 6:00 PM -- Baghdad, Moscow & Nairobi 7:00 PM -- Tehran 7:30 PM -- Islamabad 9:00 PM -- Calcutta & New Delhi 9:30 PM -- Dhaka 10:00 PM -- Rangoon 10:30 PM -- Hanoi, Bangkok & Jakarta 11:00 PM -- Hong Kong, Perth, Beijing & Kuala Lumpur +12:00 AM -- Seoul & Tokyo +1:00 AM -- Brisbane, Canberra & Melbourne +2:00 AM -- Wellington * +5:00 AM

You may also check at http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/fixedtime.html?day=09&month=12&year=2007&hour=16&min=0&sec=0&p1=0 to find your corresponding local time if a nearby city is not listed above.



3. MORE INFORMATION RELATED TO THIS MEDITATION FOCUS

The following is provided as a complement to further the process of inspirational understanding of what, in truth, cannot be grasped from a purely intellectual perspective, for the True Key to unlock the vault of your spiritual knowledge lies with you... and nowhere else.

CONTENTS

1. A Persian Rosary
2. Message from SaLuSa
3. Message from Yoko Ono
4. Message from the Recorder



1.

From: http://theoracleinstitute.org/joomla/content/view/43/33/

A Persian Rosary

1. Love and serve humanity.

2. Praise every soul. If you cannot praise him, let him pass out of your life.

3. Dare, dare and then dare more.

4. Do not imitate. Be original. Be inventive. Be yourself. Know yourself. Stand on your own ground. Do not lean on the borrowed staffs of others. Think your own thoughts.

5. There is no saint without a past. There is no sinner without a future.

6. See God and good in every face. All the perfections and virtues of the Deity are hidden in you. Reveal them. The Savior is also is in you. Let his grace emancipate you.

7. Be cheerful. Be courteous. Be a dynamo of irrepressible happiness. Assist everyone. Let your life be like unto a rose. Though silent it speaks in the language of fragrance. You are a trinity of body, mind and soul. The food of the soul is Divine Love. Therefore, feed your soul on Divine Love – so that the body and the mind be invigorate.

8. Be deaf and dumb concerning the faults of others. Do not listen to gossip. Silence the talebearer with virtuous conversation.

9. Stop the circulation of the poisonous germs of religious fanaticism through your veins and arteries and those of your children. Never argue with any soul concerning his religious beliefs. Religious controversies lead to hatred and separation. Religion is Love and Fellowship not theological dogmas and creeds. When you have Love and Sympathy in your heart for your fellowmen, you have the highest type of religion, no matter by what name you may call yourself. Rest assured that the emancipation of the world is through the Nameless God of Love and in Nameless Religion of Love.

10. Develop the qualities of essential goodness. Every soul is endowed with the attributes of intrinsic beauty. Discover those attributes and hold them before the world.

11. Religion is a personal relation between mankind and his maker. For God's sake, do not interfere with it, do not organize it, neither try to reduce it to so many statements. Organization, in whatever form, is the death-knell of religion. Do not preach this. Practice and teach it. Let no one dictate to you regarding what you should or what you should not believe and do in your spiritual life. The ultimate authority is the Authority of the Spirit within you and not that of any man, dead or alive. The Unerring Witness is standing in the center of your being, all powerful mighty and supreme! His is the final testimony. His is the court of last appeal.

12. God's love is in you and for you. Share it with others through association. Do not court separation from the creatures, but unite with them in love. To know yourself through your fellowmen is to know God.

13. Have courage. Realize your divine origin. You are the ray of the Sun of Immortal Bliss. You and the Father/Mother are one. The deathless, radiant Self is in you. Reverence your Celestial station. No harm will ever come to you. God's perfect image and likeness you are abiding in the fort of his Protection. Association with all people will lead to spiritual enfoldment and not to the deterioration of the soul.

14. Live above the work of faith and infidelity, religion and atheism, orthodoxy and liberalism, truth and error, angel and devil, and you will be living with, and in God – the God of Absolute Good, the God of Absolute Beauty, the God of Absolute Perfection.

15. In relation there is no compulsion. The path to spiritual enfoldment is not by restriction and constraints not anathema and excommunication, but by constant progress from world to world, from star to star, from constellation to constellation, forever and without end.

16. The Light of Lights is in your heart. Uncover it, and let it shine for the illumination of mankind. Do not expect a favor from a friend or foe, and you shall never be disappointed.

17. Overcome malice, envy, personal spite and prejudice, and you are the master of Destiny.

18. Do not condemn a single soul. In condemning him, you are condemning yourself. Never for an instant forget that he is also the child of God. Upon the great sea of the spirit, there is room for every sail. In the limitless sky of Truth there is room for every wing.

19. Do not murder the character of a soul under the guise of religion, either by bitter blame or faint praise. Spiritual murder is worse than the taking of a man's life. Have a sin-covering eye. See only the beautiful, the lovely, the noble.

20. Be gentle. Be lenient. Be forgiving. Be generous. Be merciful. Be wakeful. Be thoughtful. Be frank. Be positive. Soar in the atmosphere of freedom. Walk in your chosen path and let no criticism disturb you in the least. This is the way to success, to happiness, to health, prosperity, to glory. Let me walk in it during the days of my life!

Printing this out and reading it from time to time might be a good idea...



2.

From: http://www.treeofthegoldenlight.com/First_Contact/mike_quinsey/channeled%20messages/November%202007/MQ_11_28_07SaLuSa..htm

Message from SaLuSa -- 28 November 2007

We find that the people of Earth are generally of great faith in the future, sensing that there are enormous changes now in the process of taking place. Couple that with patience and endurance, and you will find a path that is going to fulfill your expectations. There is a feeling in the air of the new energies that are permeating your atmosphere. Many are linked into the grids that carry the Light around Earth, and that is penetrating those areas where the dark are most dominant. Over eons of time such areas have attracted those who are themselves of the lower energies.

The dark cannot draw you into their ways unless you respond to them, and where you have done so it is because you have a natural inclination towards those energies. You bring these potentials with you when you incarnate upon Earth, and your challenge is to overcome them. It is part of Karmic cleansing in preparation for your upliftment into the higher realms. Sometimes you are clear of them except for some lingering and partial attraction. In these circumstances, it will be more of a test to determine whether you will succumb to such temptations.

If life were without its temptations and challenges there would be little growth taking place. There is no shame in having plumbed the depths and risen up again. In fact, you are to be applauded for your determination to overcome the weaknesses of lower Self, and see that evolution is the coming of the master of such situations. A Master you shall be, and your creative powers will return. Earth is a fiery place where emotions sometimes run rampant, and your test is to remain cool, calm and collected in such circumstances.

Certainly there are times immediately ahead where the truth will bring out the worst reactions in some people. They presently have little understanding about the true reality of Earth, and are cocooned in their own beliefs that do not extend to spiritual understanding. Many are in a state of denial about their true selves, and look for material satisfaction without feeding their Spirit. Matters will change in the near future, as the truth of Mankind regarding his Higher Self and source within the Creator will be made clear. It can still be rejected, but that will exclude such souls from taking part in the Ascension.

The different levels of existence are no different to the type of grading you get in your schools. Earth is a great classroom and clearly there are a multitude of different levels of understanding within it. What is happening now is a natural form of selection, that tends to draw people of a like kind together. See how evolution proceeds without interference from us or any other sources, except of course those on Earth. Deviating from the true path is your choice, and in its own way presents no problems providing you find your way back again. To gain experience is exactly why you are here, and there is no purpose in being hard on yourself for going astray. Learn the lesson that is presented to you, and try to ensure that you do not repeat your errors.

It is far better to have experienced whatever attracts you, and know whether it has a place in your search for the truth and upliftment. Many punish themselves unnecessarily believing that they have to serve a penance. All actions, thoughts and words are seen for what they are when you leave your earthly life. It is then that you can decide whether you owe it to yourself and others to have further experiences. Ones that will put it all into context and enable you to have an understanding of the result of your actions. The dire after life that is often depicted for you, is by no means representative of what truly takes place. The fires of Hell are in your mind and only exist if you make it your reality, and the more darkness you attract to yourself the more you are creating the lower levels as your home.

You can do a lot whilst on Earth to ensure you go straight into the realms of Light after your life expires. It is in the living of all that aligns with the Light, and trying to create the perfect life upon Earth. That is almost impossible for you at your present stage of evolution, but living with the intention of doing so will drive you forward as far as you can possibly reach. As you can see, all of the effort is worthwhile and you lay down the foundations for your next life. No effort is wasted and even if you end on a low point, there has to be a gain in it for you. Each life is a continuation of the last one, and it is therefore wise to see each one as an investment in your future.

With Ascension beckoning your efforts need to be in the right direction, and allowing for the old you to quietly slip away will enhance your preparations for it. By your actions you will set out a path in front of you, and if for you that is Ascension then try your best to live it now. Treat all as equals because you see the soul within, and know that you are linked together. Give of your love without fear or favor knowing that it is the Light that exceeds all expectations. See the positive where negativity rules and allow for others to experience in their own way, giving a helping hand when they wish to lift themselves up.

What we ask you to do is exactly what we do for you, and we have nothing but love in our hearts for each and everyone. We know the problems that you face, and understand your reasons for straying from the path of Light. We see you for what you really are, and also the great Beings that you are becoming. Your future is with us as your Star Brothers and Sisters, and we welcome you back into the Galactic Brotherhood of Light. All of this is too much for some of you to comprehend, but as we connect with you again and are able to openly contact you that will all change. We are nearer than ever to you, and we see our pathway opening up as the debris of the negative forces is being swept away. We are completely together in the ending of this cycle, and we too are destined to uplift with you. Ascension is a cosmic process that involves your complete Solar System, and we are here to ensure its smooth and successful completion.

I am SaLuSa from Sirius a member of the Galactic Federation, and we figure quite prominently where the Earth is concerned. We are here to ensure your safe transition from duality into the Light, and we look forward to working with you all in harmony and peace.

Thank you SaLuSa.

Mike Quinsey.    



3.

Message from Yoko Ono

Dear Friends

This December 8th is the 27th anniversary of John Lennon's passing. You are welcome to visit http://www.IMAGINEPEACE.com at any time on Dec 8th for a special message & video.

WAR IS OVER! artwork is now available for download at: http://www.imaginepeace.com/downloads/WarIsOver.jpg
Print & display in your window, workplace, school, street, car, computer & elsewhere over the holiday season.

On December 8th, 11.15pm (your local time) remember John by taking a moment of quiet reflection. If you would like to play or sing the song "Imagine" and imagine a world of peace,just know that we are all together at that moment in every time zone, as IMAGINE PEACE makes its way around the world - every hour for 24 hours.

Send in stories & photos of what you did on December 8th to stories@imaginepeace.comfor us, the family of Peace and Love, to tell us and tell us of your experiences. That would be lovely!

With deepest love

Yoko Ono Lennon



4.

Message from the Recorder

I have been profoundly moved by the tremendous response to Christ's Call for people to dedicate themselves to his membership with the prime intention of overcoming the ego and helping to build the Era of Love and Peace on Earth. I felt passionately that Members should feel a sense of momentous occasion, an awareness of the presence of Christ, and a feeling that this is indeed a powerful unshakeable link between each Member and Christ. I had a vision of a Holy Page, a true sanctuary in consciousness dedicated to Christ, thus drawing his consciousness into the Holy Page - making it Christ's Page. You will be able to go to http://christsway.co.za/. If ordered right away, and if they print and ship as they advertise, the book(s) should be in YOUR hands in time for Christmas. Following is the link to the publisher and to the book: http://www.authorhouse.com/BookStore/ItemDetail~bookid~47023.aspx

I want to express my enormous gratitude to the dear people who were so very generous in making donations to have both the English and Spanish books printed, when so many readers are affirming they have found Christ's Letters at exactly the right time in their lives.

With abundant love and joy in Christ

Recorder

Note: Details about all the related Spanish material can be found through http://www.caminodecristo.com/



4) SPECIAL VIGIL FOR THE GLOBAL WARMING NEGOTIATIONS IN BALI

At this critical juncture in humanity's history, please keep this situation in mind during your meditations, especially in the coming week.

"As the world’s governments meet at the UNFCCC 13th conference of the Parties in Bali (Dec 3-14) and the third meeting of parties of the Kyoto Protocol — the most critical UN meeting on climate change to date — we urge strong and unequivocal political leadership to tackle climate change and secure the safety of our planet. This month the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change warned that we are on the brink of committing the world to devastating climate change. This is already having a serious impact on the world’s poorest people — who have done least to cause the problem. The world is now looking to its leaders to show that they have listened to the scientists’ clear message and are prepared to make serious endeavours to tackle the problem — and Bali is the critical moment for them to act. The Bali meeting must agree a clear mandate to launch negotiations for a new “global deal” to build on the first phase of the Kyoto Protocol. A new deal must be agreed by 2009 and be in place by 2012 — and it must be sufficiently comprehensive to ensure that the world’s emissions of greenhouse gases peak and begin to fall well before 2020. Critically, any new climate deal must include a commitment by the industrialised nations to adopt binding targets to cut their emissions by at least 30 per cent by 2020 from 1990 levels. It must also provide clear incentives — through an improved carbon market and measures to facilitate technology transfer and promote clean-energy investments — to help the larger developing countries to shift their growth on to a low-carbon pathway and include a mechanism for reducing net deforestation to at least zero. Finally, there must also be a fair deal on adaptation for the most vulnerable developing countries. We have a limited window of opportunity to stop catastrophic climate change and develop a new one-planet future for our environment and humanity. The deadlock over climate-change policy must be broken. The eyes of the world are on our leaders — and we urge them to act now to protect the planet’s future."

- Taken from http://news.google.com/news?ned=ca&hl=en&q=bali&btnG=Search and in the selected newsmedia articles below

Global rallies focus on climate (8 December 2007)
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/7134060.stm
Mass demonstrations have taken place across the UK and worldwide to coincide with UN climate change talks in Bali. Marches were held in 50 cities globally, including London, Cardiff, Glasgow and Belfast. In London protesters delivered a letter to Downing St calling for climate change measures to be a priority. The rallies come midway through the summit, which is considering how to cut greenhouse gas emissions after current Kyoto Protocol targets expire in 2012. Thousands of delegates from almost 200 nations are attending the two-week UN Framework Convention on Climate Change on the Indonesian island of Bali. They are seeking progress towards a "Kyoto II" deal - a new global climate treaty. Talks will also focus on how to help poor nations cope in a warming world. (...) Indonesian Environment Minister Rachmat Witoelar, who is president of the conference, said he hoped the United States, which did not sign the 1997 Kyoto accord, would be brought on board. Australia's Trade Minister, Simon Crean, has warned that both rich and poor nations must commit to slashing greenhouse gas emissions. (...) Mr Rudd signed papers leading to the ratification of the Kyoto Protocol as soon as he took office, reversing the policy of the previous conservative government. The US opposes Kyoto because it does not include major polluters like China and India. It is expected to resist pressure to agree binding emission targets, despite hopes among developing countries that emission cuts of 25-40% by 2020 for industrialised countries would be included in a final agreement when the conference ends. The figures were agreed upon earlier this year by industrialised nations that signed the Kyoto Protocol. It commits three dozen industrialised countries to cut their greenhouse gases an average of 5% below 1990 levels between next year and 2012, when it expires.

Bali draft says all nations must join climate fight (Dec 8, 2007)
http://uk.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUKL0847529820071208
NUSA DUA, Indonesia (Reuters) - All nations must do more to fight climate change, and rich countries must make deep cuts in greenhouse gas emissions to avoid the worst impacts, a draft proposal at United Nations talks said on Saturday. The four-page draft, written by delegates from Indonesia, Australia and South Africa as an unofficial guide for delegates from 190 nations at the December 3-14 talks, said developing nations should at least brake rising emissions as part of a new pact.It said there was "unequivocal scientific evidence" that "preventing the worst impacts of climate change will require (developed nations) to reduce emissions in a range of 25-40 percent below 1990 levels by 2020."The draft is the first outline of the possible goals of talks on a new global deal to replace the Kyoto Protocol, which binds just 36 developed nations to cut emissions of greenhouse gases by 5 percent below 1990 levels by 2008-12."Current efforts ... will not deliver the required emissions reductions," according to the text, obtained by Reuters, that lays out a plan for averting ever more droughts, floods, heatwaves and rising seas."The challenge of climate change calls for effective participation by all countries," it said. The United States is outside the Kyoto pact and developing nations led by China and India have no 2012 goals for limiting emissions.Echoing conclusions this year by the U.N. climate panel, it said global emissions of greenhouse gases would have to "peak in the next 10 to 15 years and be reduced to very low levels, well below half of levels in 2000 by 2050." (...) Differences over who should take the blame for, and do most to curb, emissions threatened to deadlock the main talks. Canada and Australia joined Japan on Saturday in calling for commitments from some developing countries.But developing nations would find it "inconceivable" to accept binding targets now, said the U.N.'s climate change chief Yvo de Boer. An alliance of 43 small island states urged even tougher action to fight climate change, saying they risked being washed off the map by rising seas. CLIP

Time to stop the climate blame game (3 December 2007)
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7125047.stm
As a key UN climate change conference gets underway in Bali, Malini Mehra says the current global political system is "abysmally unfit for purpose". In this week's Green Room, she calls for nations to stop playing the blame game, and work together to deliver a low carbon global economy. If our bloc politics are a constraint on action, we need to change them Representatives from more than 180 nations have gathered in Bali to begin discussions towards a new global deal on climate change.The odds could not be higher - climate change is a challenge of civilisational dimensions.Scientists have coined a term for our new age - they call it the "anthropocene" because human interference with planetary systems is affecting the very life-support systems we depend upon.They warn that we may be the last generation to live in an age of climate stability, and that we are now entering an era outside human experience.Jim Hansen - the man who first broke the warnings about the greenhouse effect in 1988 - says: "We are on the precipice of climate system tipping points beyond which there is no redemption."The latest report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) puts it more diplomatically. In its carefully worded, politically-parsed and vetted Synthesis Report, it warns that "anthropogenic warming could lead to some impacts that are abrupt or irreversible, depending upon the rate and magnitude of the climate change".More recent studies suggest that phenomena such as accelerated melting of the Greenland ice sheet and less carbon dioxide (CO2) being absorbed by the oceans mean that tipping points and abrupt climate change could actually be much closer than we think. CLIP

Canada could "derail" climate talks: activists (December 8, 2007) !!!
http://www.canada.com/globaltv/national/story.html?id=73269b12-3abd-4380-9572-25083811e4d7
A leaked government document suggests Canada could derail talks to reach a post-Kyoto agreement at the UN conference in Bali, Indonesia, with a set of priorities that go against Kyoto principles, climate activists said Saturday. As over 180 nations are gathered in Bali to hash out a blueprint for a successor to the Kyoto Protocol - which expires in 2012 - Canadian negotiators will ask to create binding emission targets for all major emitters, including industrialized developed nations and poorer, developing nations, such as India and China, suggests a federal document obtained by the Climate Action Network, an international network of environmental advocates. "To be asking countries with hundreds of millions of people in poverty (to accept binding targets) is not a position that is going to move along things here in Bali," said Dale Marshall, representative of the David Suzuki Foundation, a member of the action network. "It is going to derail everything." CLIP

China Says West Should Deal With Warming (December 8, 2007)
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5gBTCrOwOrOXV9BkLBDRmtO3XWbHQD8TD68IG0
BALI, Indonesia (AP) — Developing countries led by China squabbled with the West over mandatory emission cuts at the Bali climate change conference, as activists accused Canada on Saturday of undermining the negotiations by insisting on targets for poor nations.China, which some believe has surpassed the U.S. as the world's top emitter of carbon dioxide and other heat-trapping gases, questioned the fairness of binding cuts when its per capita emissions are about one-sixth of America's. It said, too, that it has only been pumping pollutants into the atmosphere for a few decades, whereas the West has done so for hundreds of years."China is in the process of industrialization and there is a need for economic growth to meet the basic needs of the people and fight against poverty," said Su Wei, a top climate expert for the government and member of its delegation at the U.N. Climate Change Conference in Bali. CLIP

Scientists turn up the heat on leaders (Dec 07, 2007)
http://www.thestar.com/sciencetech/Environment/article/283426
In rare political foray, 200 climate experts call for deep emissions cuts -- BALI, Indonesia–Top scientists jumped into the political battle over global warming at a climate conference yesterday, urging nations to make deep cuts in carbon dioxide and other heat-trapping gases.But the United States refused to back mandatory cuts despite mounting international and domestic pressure.More than 200 experts issued a declaration at the four-day-old international gathering on Bali island calling for a 50 per cent reduction in emissions by 2050 – a rare policy prescription by scientists who usually limit themselves to presenting evidence and leaving the politicians to choose remedies.The scientists aimed to spur talks here about launching negotiations, over the next two years or so, on an emissions-cutting pact to succeed the Kyoto Protocol that expires in 2012. It requires 36 industrial countries to reduce the gases by 5 per cent below 1990 levels.The United States is the only industrial country to reject it. Canada signed on but critics complain it has not done enough to meet Kyoto commitments. The declaration has "the weight of the scientific community behind it," said Australian climatologist Matthew England, a group spokesperson. "We have to start reducing greenhouse gas emissions as soon as we possibly can."Delegates from nearly 190 nations are here for the two-week forum.

Scientists beg for climate action (Dec 5)
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071205/ap_on_sc/climate_scientists
WASHINGTON - For the first time, more than 200 of the world's leading climate scientists, losing their patience, urged government leaders to take radical action to slow global warming because "there is no time to lose."ADVERTISEMENT A petition from at least 215 climate scientists calls for the world to cut in half greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. It is directed at a conference of diplomats meeting in Bali, Indonesia, to negotiate the next global warming treaty. The petition, obtained by The Associated Press, is to be announced at a press conference there Wednesday night. The appeal from scientists follows a petition last week from more than 150 global business leaders also demanding the 50 percent cut in greenhouse gases. That is the estimate that scientists calculate would hold future global warming to a little more than a 3-degree Fahrenheit increase and is in line with what the European Union has adopted. CLIP

'Tropics expand' as world warms (4 December 2007)
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7126069.stm
Climate change is causing the tropics to widen, with possible impacts on the global food supply, research suggests. Scientists examined five different measures of the width of the tropical belt, and found it expanded by between 2 and 4.8 degrees latitude since 1979. Other researchers meanwhile said climatic change could increase the number of thunderstorms in the US. The findings emerged as delegates met in Bali for UN climate talks focusing on reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The capacity of poorer countries - many of them in the tropics - to respond and adapt to impacts of climate change will be another major theme of the talks. CLIP

State of the planet, in graphics (25 October 2007)
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_depth/629/629/7056601.stm
Globally human populations are growing, trade is increasing, and living standards are rising for many. But, according to the UN's latest Global Environment Outlook report, long-term problems including climate change, pollution, access to clean water, and the threat of mass extinctions are being met with "a remarkable lack of urgency".

'Unexpected growth' in CO2 found (23 October 2007)
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7058074.stm
Carbon dioxide (CO2) levels in the atmosphere have risen 35% faster than expected since 2000, says a study. International scientists found that inefficiency in the use of fossil fuels increased levels of CO2 by 17%. The other 18% came from a decline in the natural ability of land and oceans to soak up CO2 from the atmosphere. About half of emissions from human activity are absorbed by natural "sinks" but the efficiency of these sinks has fallen, the study suggests.

Billions face climate change risk (6 April 2007)
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/6532323.stm
Billions of people face shortages of food and water and increased risk of flooding, experts at a major climate change conference have warned.The bleak conclusion came ahead of the publication of a key report by hundreds of international environmental experts.Agreement on the final wording of the report was reached after a marathon debate through the night in Brussels.People living in poverty would be worst affected by the effects of climate change, the gathered experts said.

Amazon clearing falls, but eco fears stand (December 9, 2007)
http://tinyurl.com/2yalns
BRAZIL has announced a sharp drop in the rate of Amazon deforestation, but environmentalists warn it could be a short-term trend masking a broader threat against the rainforest.Brazil's environment ministry reported that the rate of Amazon destruction dropped 20 per cent between August last year and July this year. The report came the same day an environmental group warned that climate change, together with deforestation, could wipe out or severely damage nearly 60 per cent of the Amazon forest by 2030. The Brazilian ministry report, citing preliminary figures, showed the rainforest lost 11,224 square kilometres, an area larger than Jamaica, during the 12 months ending in July. In the previous 12-month period, 14,039 square kilometres were lost.Joao Paulo Capobianco, the ministry's executive secretary, attributed the drop to increased enforcement of environmental regulations.He also cited lower prices of soybeans and the strengthening of Brazil's currency, which make it less profitable to clear forest to grow the crop. CLIP

CLIMATE CHANGE: Forests Could Cool or Cook the Planet (December 7, 2007)
http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=40390
BROOKLIN, Canada (IPS) - A two-degree Celsius rise in global temperatures could flip the Amazon forest from being the Earth's vital air conditioner to a flamethrower that cooks the planet, warns a new report released at the climate talks in Bali, Indonesia Friday. And we're already past 0.6 degrees C., climate experts say. Paradoxically, a two-degree C. rise in global temperatures cannot be prevented without a largely intact Amazon rainforest, says Dan Nepstad, a senior scientist at the Woods Hole Research Centre in the U.S. state of Massachusetts and author of the report "The Amazon's Vicious Cycles: Drought and Fire in the Greenhouse", issued by WWF, the global conservation organisation. "The importance of the Amazon forest for the globe's climate cannot be underplayed," said Nepstad at a press conference from Nusa Dua on the island of Bali, the site of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) conference running until Dec. 14. The trees of the Amazon contain at least 100 billion tonnes of carbon -- 15 years worth of global emissions from all sources, he said. "It's not only essential for cooling the world's temperature but also such a large source of freshwater that it may be enough to influence some of the great ocean currents." It is in everyone's interest to keep the Amazon intact, but deforestation continues apace, driven by expanding cattle ranching, soy farming, conversion into sugar cane for biofuel and logging. This assault is drying out the forest, making it more vulnerable to burning. Rising global temperatures are also increasing evaporation rates, drying the forest further. "There's a perfect storm building for massive forest loss in the Amazon," Nepstad warned. CLIP

IPCC Final Climate Warning Before Bali (03/12/07 )
http://www.i-sis.org.uk/IPPCClimateBali.php
Evidence for global warming unequivocal and most likely due to human activities, but there is high confidence for effective adaptation as well as high agreement and much evidence of substantial economic potential for mitigation; the cost of fighting global warming at the most stringent level will cost no more than 0.12 percent of global GDP a year up to 2030. CLIP

Global Warming Wreaks Havoc With Nature (Dec. 05, 2007)
http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1691459,00.html
(BALI, Indonesia) — More than 3,000 flying foxes dropped dead, falling from trees in Australia. Giant squid migrated north to commercial fishing grounds off California, gobbling anchovy and hake. Butterflies have gone extinct in the Alps. While humans debate at U.N. climate change talks in Bali, global warming is already wreaking havoc with nature. Most plants and animals are affected, and the change is occurring too quickly for them to evolve."A hell of a lot of species are in big trouble," said Stephen E. Williams, the director of the Centre for Tropical Biodiversity & Climate Change at James Cook University in Australia."I don't think there is any doubt we will see a lot of (extinctions)," he said. "But even before a species goes extinct, there are a lot of impacts. Most of the species here in the wet tropics would be reduced to ... 15 percent of their current habitat."Globally, 30 percent of the Earth's species could disappear if temperatures rise 4.5 degrees Fahrenheit —and up to 70 percent, if they rise 6.3 degrees Fahrenheit, a U.N. network of scientists reported last month. CLIP

Ethical crisis of climate change (DEC 1, 2007)
http://www.madison.com/wsj/home/local/index.php?ntid=259890&ntpid=1
(..._) Its most recent report, in the words of the New York Times, describes the mounting risks of climate change "in language that is both more specific and forceful than its previous assessments.'' It is the focus of a meeting of world leaders that begins this week in Bali, Indonesia, where Patz will give a keynote lecture. His most recent research documents the ethical crisis of climate change, showing the stark contrast between countries that cause global warming and those that suffer the health consequences from it, especially children hit by malaria, malnutrition and diarrhea. "Our high consumption of energy is putting a huge disease burden on places that are quite remote from us,'' said Patz, who is a professor in the UW-Madison Department of Population Health Sciences and the Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies."This is the key message from this paper: Those most vulnerable to the health risks of climate change are the least responsible for causing the problem,'' Patz said. CLIP

Bali Conference: Diplomats warned that climate change is security issue, not a green dilemma (06 December 2007)
http://environment.independent.co.uk/climate_change/article3226421.ece
Foreign policy-makers are waking up to the impact of climate change on conflict zones worldwide, and will add their voice to those calling on governments at the UN conference in Bali to act urgently.An internal presentation to senior diplomats at the Foreign Office listed every recent, serious breakdown of civil order around the world and mapped it against those countries hardest hit by climate change. The fit was almost perfect. One of the diplomats present said there was an "audible intake of breath" from the audience when the slide was shown.As the scientific debate has been unequivocally settled by the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change this year, it has become increasingly apparent that its effects will have major implications for foreign policy. "Climate change presents an enormous challenge to the international community, and unless we respond effectively we won't be able to deal with the implications," said John Ashton, the UK's special representative for climate change. "We need to see how we can use the assets at our disposal to something about it." CLIP

Broad Energy Bill Passed by House
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/120707A.shtml
Jonathan Weisman and Steven Mufson, writing for The Washington Post, report, "The House yesterday brushed aside a new White House veto threat and handily approved a comprehensive energy bill that would raise automobile fuel-efficiency standards for the first time in 32 years and require increased use of renewable energy sources to generate electricity."

New Fuel Cell Cleans Up Pollution And Produces Electricity (2007 12 08)
http://www.redicecreations.com/article.php?id=2415
Scientists in Pennsylvania are reporting development of a fuel cell that uses pollution from coal and metal mines to generate electricity, solving a serious environmental problem while providing a new source of energy. They describe successful tests of a laboratory-scale version of the device in a new study. In the new study, Bruce E. Logan and colleagues point out that so-called acid-mine drainage (AMD) is a serious environmental problem that threatens the health of plants and animals as well as the safety of drinking-water supplies, due mainly to the high acidity of contaminated waters and its high content of metals, particularly iron. AMD poses difficult and costly environmental clean-up problems.They describe development of a new type of fuel cell that is based on microbial fuel cells, which are capable of generating electricity from wastewater. Using a solution similar to AMD, they showed that the device efficiently removed dissolved iron from the solution while also generating electricity at power levels similar to conventional microbial fuel cells. Improvements in the fuel cell will lead to more efficient power generation in the future, the researchers say. The iron recovered by the device can be used as a pigment for paints or other products, they note.

CLIMATE CHANGE: Forests, the Great Green Hope? (Dec 3)
http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=40324
BROOKLIN, Canada (IPS) - Expanding European forests absorbed 126 million tonnes of carbon dioxide from 1990 to 2005 -- equivalent to 11 percent of European Union emissions from human activities -- while a U.N. target to plant one billion trees mainly in Africa has been surpassed."Forests reduced carbon dioxide more than twice the amount of Europe's renewable energy programmes," said Pekka Kauppi, who led the University of Helsinki study, published in the British journal Energy Policy on Nov. 29. Better conservation, migration to cities, and conversion of surplus farmland are the reasons behind the growing and expanding forests, which are mainly in Latvia, Lithuania, Sweden, Slovenia, Bulgaria and Finland Kauppi, told IPS. The study is based on forestry statistics provided by governments and that were not independently verified. The resulting "surprisingly high carbon dioxide removal" may be the major factor in Europe achieving its ambitious target of 20 percent reductions in greenhouse targets by 2020, Kauppi said. "On a global scale, there is hope for the future if we stop deforestation and expand forests," he added. For that reason, carbon credits should be given to standing forests, which would offer countries and forest owners additional financial incentives for conservation, he said. However, there is intense disagreement on this issue. "Forests are a band-aid," said Mike Flannigan, a research scientists at the Canadian Forest Service. "Eventually, forests die, releasing all that stored carbon into the atmosphere." "Forests are carbon-neutral over the long term," Flannigan told IPS. CLIP

The tropical global warming solution (3 Dec 2007)
http://gristmill.grist.org/story/2007/12/2/18111/9274
Bali, Indonesia, is the perfect backdrop for this week's climate summit. No country better embodies the immense peril of inaction -- and the immense opportunity this meeting has to make massive and immediate progress in stemming the climate crisis.Indonesia is the world's third largest global warming polluter, behind the United States and China, and just ahead of Brazil. But in Indonesia, like Brazil and the rest of the tropical world, pollution isn't coming from factories, power plants, or cars like it is in the industrialized world. Instead, almost all of it is coming from the rapid burning of the world's vast tropical forests to make room for timber, agriculture, and especially palm oil plantations. (Despite its green reputation, palm oil is anything but: a recent study in Science found that palm oil, like other biofuels, produces two to nine times more greenhouse gases than regular old crude oil because of the forests and grasslands destroyed for its production.)Companies like Starbucks, Procter & Gamble, Cargill and Seattle's Imperium Renewables are paying top dollar to turn palm oil into food, cosmetics and biodiesel. That global demand has driven the value of a hectare of palms above $1000 (PDF) in some cases -- providing a powerful financial incentive to corporations, investors, and farmers to raze the forests, regardless of the consequences to the climate or to the endangered orangutans, tigers, and rhinoceroses - and indigenous people -- who need them to survive.The Bali conference could immediately eliminate that perverse accounting by making sure forests and other wild lands around the world are financially valued for the carbon they store, and not just their potential as timber or agricultural land. The way to do that is to allow polluters to get credit for protecting forests that they can apply against their pollution reduction obligations, an idea called carbon ranching or avoided deforestation.Polluters would jump at this opportunity. Protecting forests from destruction can cost as little as 75 cents per ton of carbon dioxide - even at higher costs, it's a fraction of the price (PDF) of cleaning up most industrial pollution. CLIP

Toll Of Climate Change On World Food Supply Could Be Worse Than Thought (4, 2007)
http://tinyurl.com/ypflda
Global agriculture, already predicted to be stressed by climate change in coming decades, could go into steep, unanticipated declines in some regions due to complications that scientists have so far inadequately considered, say three new scientific reports.The authors say that progressive changes predicted to stem from 1- to 5-degree C temperature rises in coming decades fail to account for seasonal extremes of heat, drought or rain, multiplier effects of spreading diseases or weeds, and other ecological upsets. All are believed more likely in the future. Coauthored by leading researchers from Europe, North America and Australia, they appear in this week's issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS)."Many people assume that we will never have a problem with food production on a global scale. But there is a strong potential for negative surprises,"

What will we eat as the oil runs out? (3 Dec 2007)
http://www.energybulletin.net/38091.html
Our global food system faces a crisis of unprecedented scope. This crisis, which threatens to imperil the lives of hundreds of millions and possibly billions of human beings, consists of four simultaneously colliding dilemmas, all arising from our relatively recent pattern of dependence on depleting fossil fuels. The first dilemma consists of the direct impacts on agriculture of higher oil prices: increased costs for tractor fuel, agricultural chemicals, and the transport of farm inputs and outputs. The second is an indirect consequence of high oil prices - the increased demand for biofuels, which is resulting in farmland being turned from food production to fuel production, thus making food more costly. The third dilemma consists of the impacts of climate change and extreme weather events caused by fuel-based greenhouse gas emissions. Climate change is the greatest environmental crisis of our time; however, fossil fuel depletion complicates the situation enormously, and if we fail to address either problem properly the consequences will be dire. Finally comes the degradation or loss of basic natural resources (principally, topsoil and fresh water supplies) as a result of high rates, and unsustainable methods, of production stimulated by decades of cheap energy. Each of these problems is developing at a somewhat different pace regionally, and each is exacerbated by the continually expanding size of the human population. As these dilemmas collide, the resulting overall food crisis is likely to be profound and unprecedented in scope. CLIP

Weather Warfare: Beware the US military’s experiments with climatic warfare (December 7, 2007)
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=7561
‘Climatic warfare’ has been excluded from the agenda on climate change. "HAARP is a weapon of mass destruction, capable of destabilising agricultural and ecological systems globally." "‘Climatic warfare’ potentially threatens the future of humanity, but has casually been excluded from the reports for which the IPCC received the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize." Rarely acknowledged in the debate on global climate change, the world’s weather can now be modified as part of a new generation of sophisticated electromagnetic weapons. Both the US and Russia have developed capabilities to manipulate the climate for military use. (...) The HAARP system is fully operational and in many regards dwarfs existing conventional and strategic weapons systems. While there is no firm evidence of its use for military purposes, Air Force documents suggest HAARP is an integral part of the militarisation of space. One would expect the antennas already to have been subjected to routine testing. Under the UNFCCC, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has a mandate ‘to assess scientific, technical and socioeconomic information relevant for the understanding of climate change’. This mandate includes environmental warfare. ‘Geo-engineering’ is acknowledged, but the underlying military applications are neither the object of policy analysis or scientific research in the thousands of pages of IPCC reports and supporting documents, based on the expertise and input of some 2,500 scientists, policymakers and environmentalists. ‘Climatic warfare’ potentially threatens the future of humanity, but has casually been excluded from the reports for which the IPCC received the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize.

Climate Change: The Looming Humanitarian Disaster
http://act.oxfamamerica.org/campaign/climatechange
The headlines are dire. Polar bears face extinction; ice caps are melting; storms are intensifying. What's missing from the debate is what climate change is doing to poor people around the world.Climate change isn't just an environmental crisis. It's a humanitarian crisis. Poor people, who are least responsible for causing climate change, are bearing the brunt of its impacts—from droughts to floods to diseases. Many poor communities occupy the flood plains, farmlands, deserts, and marginal areas that are the front lines of a changing climate. That is why Oxfam has decided to join the fight against climate change by launching a major new campaign. And we need your help immediately. US officials are representing YOU at major UN climate negotiations in Bali, Indonesia, to decide how to negotiate a global agreement to address climate change and whether to assist poor people whose lives are affected. You can help make sure they do the right thing.Tell US officials to help poor people dealing with the devastating consequences of climate change. Tell them that Bali is the place to commit and now is the time to act. CLIP Go at the URL above to sign and send a letter on this issue.

In a few days Al Gore is going to address the UN Climate Change Conference in Bali, Indonesia. At his urging, I've signed an important petition showing I support his important call for a visionary treaty to address the climate crisis. I hope you will too... http://climateprotect.org/standwithal - The world's elected leaders must take the steps necessary to solve global warming. It's not too late. We have the opportunity now to improve the Earth's future for our children, and their children. If we don't act, we will only have ourselves to blame.



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