The United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, also known as the Rio Summit, Earth Summit (or, in Portuguese, Eco ‘92) was a major conference held in Rio de Janeiro from June 3 to June 14, 1992.
178 governments participated, with 118 sending their heads of state or government.Some 2,400 representatives of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) attended, with 17,000 people at the parallel NGO Forum, who had so-called Consultative Status.
The issues addressed included:
*systematic scrutiny of patterns of production — particularly the production of toxic components, such as lead in gasoline, or poisonous waste;
*alternative sources of energy to replace the use of fossil fuels which are linked to global climate change;
*new reliance on public transportation systems in order to reduce vehicle emissions, congestion in cities and the health problems caused by polluted air and smog;
*the growing scarcity of water.
An important achievement was an agreement on the Climate Change Convention which in turn led to the Kyoto Protocol. Another was agreement to “not carry out any activities on the lands of indigenous peoples that would cause environmental degradation or that would be culturally inappropriate”.
The Convention on Biological Diversity was opened for signature at the Earth Summit, and made a start towards redefinition of money supply measures that did not inherently encourage destruction of natural ecoregions and so-called uneconomic growth.
Twelve cities were also honoured by the Local Government Honours Award for innovative local environmental programs. These included Sudbury, Ontario in Canada for its ambitious program to rehabilitate environmental damage from the local mining industry, Austin, Texas in the United States for its green building strategy, and Kitakyushu in Japan for incorporating an international education and training component into its municipal pollution control program.
The Earth Summit resulted in the following documents:
*Rio Declaration on Environment and Development;
*Agenda 21;
*Convention on Biological Diversity;
*Forest Principles;
*Framework Convention on Climate Change.
Both Convention on Biological Diversity and Framework Convention on Climate Change were set as legally binding agreements.
Critics, however, point out that many of the agreements made in Rio have not been realized regarding such fundamental issues as fighting poverty and cleaning up the environment.
Duration : 0:6:41
Read the rest of this entry »
It just appeared to me that a few countries in Asia allowed their societies to consume dogs and cats. What do you guys think will happen to our environment if dogs slowly vanished?
Thank you. 
From an evolutionary standpoint, nothing at all. We have come to a point that dogs are and have been replaced by science and computers to perform most functions that dogs used to perform.
Wild dogs may be a different story however as they help with the ecology of the planet!!
www.SpillFighters.com – The Texas Land Office and Texas Water Commission successfully used ‘oil eating’ microbes to clean up large oil spills in just weeks. Microbes hunt down and eat the toxic oil and leave only a biodegradable waste that is non-toxic to humans and marine life. Marshland and beaches were pristine again in just weeks—not years like the Exxon Valdez spill. This is the answer to save the seafood industry and all the precious creatures we are about to kill.
Duration : 0:7:54
Read the rest of this entry »
Although paper towels cannot be and are not washed like regular towels, they cannot be reused by the end user, and end up being recycled or worse, put in landfill. Which has less impact on the environment? Take into consideration the water, detergent, and electricity used to wash regular towels.
Is a hot air hand dryer better for the environment than any sort of towel?
Neither, a real man either shakes his hands the wipes them on the person next to him or wipes them on his pants or shirt!
We don’t need no stinkin’ towels!
And for an added bonus, always leave the lid UP!
List 3 ways that people affect their environment everyday:
Example: Using water to take a shower.
___________________________________________
List 3 ways that people affect their environment seasonally?
Example:Watering lawns in the summertime.
___________________________________________
Which one of the 6 items you listed is the most harmful to the environment? Why?
___________________________________________
Which one of the 6 items is the most helpful to the environment? Why?
Man has been using the environment for his benefits, and we must realize that we cannot continue to harm our surroundings without first harming ourselves. As you know less than 1% of the fresh water is available for human use. We use water in our daily activities but fail to conserve water. Water is essential, hence we need to follow simple steps like turning off the faucet when we brush our teeth, taking shorter showers, washing only full loads of laundry, and installing a smart sprinkler controller among other things. Check http://www.bewaterwise.com/tips01.html for simple yet inexpensive tips to save water and help the environment.
eg: we save money if we turn off the lights as we walk out of a room. That kind of thing but the benefits have to be for the environment!! thanx!
Well for every watt of energy saved, that is a watt of energy that did not need to be generated. That means a certain amount of fuel was saved. Often that fuel is coal or gas, which means pollution was put into the are, plus a finite resource was used up just a little bit more, and will run out a little bit sooner.
The Environment
Duration : 0:6:53
Read the rest of this entry »
How does the environment affect the organism, and how does an organism affect the environment? Have we humans have good or bad effects on the environment?
The environment affects the organisms in its ecosystem. An ecosystem is a natural unit consisting of all plants, animals and micro-organisms (biotic factors) in an area functioning together with all of the non-living physical (abiotic) factors of the environment.
Central to the ecosystem concept is the idea that living organisms are continually engaged in a highly interrelated set of relationships with every other element constituting the environment in which they exist. Eugene Odum, one of the founders of the science of ecology, stated: "Any unit that includes all of the organisms (ie: the "community") in a given area interacting with the physical environment so that a flow of energy leads to clearly defined trophic structure, biotic diversity, and material cycles (ie: exchange of materials between living and nonliving parts) within the system is an ecosystem."
Organisms have some impact upon the environment in which they live. For example, beavers produce dams that block streams and create ponds; bears raid bee hives by tearing open tree trunks and sometimes gorging on an entire honeycomb; woodpeckers remove beetles and grubs from tree bark.
Humans have caused mostly bad effects upon natural environments. Human overpopulation and overdevelopment have depleted environmental resources, primarily through air pollution (e.g., greenhouse gases), water pollution (e.g., phosphate detergent eutrophication and algal blooms), soil erosion (caused by runoff from farmland), and deforestation (from slashing and burning to open land to agriculture). Humans have caused the destruction of ecosystems and massive extinction of wildlife.
In this short video, host Kevin Contreras shows us the highlight of his kitchen, a beautiful system designed by Italian manufacturer Valcucine, and takes us to the home of ecofabulous’s Zem Joachim to see her favorite green kitchen item. Building Green is airing nationally on PBS affiliates and is now available on iTunes!
Duration : 0:2:4
Read the rest of this entry »
1. What environment is PERFECT for plants ?
2.Is it difficult to keep plants perfect in places like Africa or any desert places or any extremely cold places ,why ?
3.How is Greenhouses helping us ?
4. What else can we do to keep our environment perfect ?
WOW ! That is excellent detail !
01. There is no single perfect environment for all species of plants. There plants well adapted to each of the environments with the exception of extreme habitats such as total darkness or where the temperatures never go above freezing or very salty areas. There is an ideal environment for each species of plant.
02. There a specific physical factors that plants need to grow and reproduce. Even in extreme habitats, there are plants that can survive as seeds or dormant underground structures (rhizomes, tubers, bulbs) that can start growth when growth conditions improve.
03. Increasing carbon dioxide concentrations can actually increase the photosynthetic rate. The downside of increased carbon dioxide concentrations in the atmosphere is increased temperatures which may cause a change in weather patterns that could impact crop production. Increased CO2 in the oceans may increase the photosynthetic rate of algae but at the same time, it causes increased acidity of the ocean causing a decrease in survival of algae.
04. To maintain the current habitats we need to minimize the production of CO2, limit the pollution of the air and water, reduce use of pesticides and fertilizers that cause pollution, reduce human impact on the environment.