The Forum on Earth Observations II, Feb. 15-16, La Jolla, Calif.

http://www.forumoneo.org/

If you use, process or produce information about the Earth, you should attend this important international event attracting participants from the United States and all over the world. A record-breaking hurricane season, lingering drought, out-of-control wild fires, scorching heat waves and rising global temperatures defined 2005.Join business, government and academic leaders as they explore strategies to better understand and respond to our changing planet. Help make 2006 the year of Earth-observation technology solutions. Be part of a proactive and creative group of U.S. and international entrepreneurs and policymakers when they meet in La Jolla, Calif., Feb.15-16, for the Forum on Earth Observations II: Managing Risk in the 21stCentury.

This post was brought to our attention by Wendy Hunter

Sustainable fishing

For those interested in marine environments, here is a website with information on sustainable fishing and consumer choices that we can make that are responsible.
http://www.oceansalive.org/eat.cfm?subnav=fishpage&group=Tuna
This link, posted by USP student cdewey, is featured on another site worth looking at:
http://www.environmentaldefense.org/home.cfm

UCSD launches a new Sustainability Web Site

Statement by Chancellor Fox (in support of the new Environment and Sustainability Web site at UCSD: http://sustain.ucsd.edu

"Through global thinking and interdisciplinary collaboration, UCSD has emerged as an international leader conducting cutting-edge environmental research in ocean and earth sciences; engineering; biological, health and atmospheric sciences; economic and public policy; and information technology. As stewards of our campus community, we feel compelled to address environmental challenges and implement innovative sustainable solutions. The 41,000 of us who populate the campus daily can create the synergy for further innovation through our personal commitment to sustainability." Marye Anne Fox Chancellor

Thank you Daniel Newbold for drawing this to our attention!

'Green' Measures Key to Earth's Future, Report Says

From the Los Angeles Times

THE WORLD

'Green' Measures Key to Earth's Future, Report Says

By Usha Lee McFarling

Times Staff Writer

January 20, 2006

By 2050, the planet's population will increase to 9 billion, with most people migrating to massive cities. Better vaccines will lessen the epidemic of HIV and offset flu pandemics. The global economy will quadruple. Demand for food, fresh water and raw materials for construction and heat will stretch natural resources to their limits,according to an analysis released Thursday. Read more
(Grant Jensen brought this article to our attention, thanks Grant!)

Technology and sustainability

Ted Faturos, a student in USP2, kindly draws our attention to this Op-Ed piece by Thomas Friedman of the NY Times (click here for a pdf of the article). Ted says: "the piece is about a new sustainable factory in Texas from Texas Instruments that keeps good paying jobs in the US, keeps profits high for TI, and is environmentally responsible. It offers interesting answers to our quest for economic development and environmental sustainable design. I think it is an excellent example of how technology can really make our society more sustainable."

Do you agree? Can technology "really make our society more sustainable." Please reflect on this point and we will discuss your comments during the "current events" timeslot we have in USP2.

Public unrest increasing in China (BBC News)

"China's official statistics are unreliable. But a BBC correspondent in Beijing, Louisa Lim, says the trend suggests growing social instability in China, as an ever-widening wealth gap leaves many excluded from the country's economic boom. A key cause of some of the most high-profile unrest has been land seizures by corrupt local officials, who have sometimes failed to give adequate compensation to villagers."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/4627602.stm