12 February 2014

P LANET L I FE
SU S TA I NA B LE L I F E
PEECYCLING: Plants need phosphorus, and we are running out of the stuff; some say we will reach peak phosphorus by 2030. That's we should recycling urine, to recover the phosphorus in it instead of ushing it away. Read more on page 4!

AN I M A L L I F E
THE WOOL INDUSTRY: Lambs are forced to endure a gruesome procedure called mulesing, in which huge chunks of skin are cut from the animals backsides, often without any painkillers - so that we can wear fashionable sweaters during winter. Read more on page 5!

OCE AN LI F E
HUNDREDS OF WHALE SHARKS KILLED ANNUALLY IN ILLEGAL TRADE IN CHINA: As many as 600 whale sharks a year are killed to supply one factory alone in China, a three-year undercover operation has revealed. Read more on page 6!

HE A LT HY L I F E
SUICIDE BY SUGAR: Nancy Appleton is a well known author on sugar and poor health and has listed 141 reasons why sugar ruins your health! Read more on page 7!

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12 February 2014

PL A N E T L I F E
FRACKING IS DEPLETING WATER SUPPLIES IN AMERICAS DRIEST AREAS
America's oil and gas rush is depleting water supplies in the driest and most drought-prone areas of the country, from Texas to California, new research has found. Of the nearly 40,000 oil and gas wells drilled since 2011, three-quarters were located in areas where water is scarce, and 55% were in areas experiencing drought, the report by the Ceres investor network found. Fracking those wells used 97bn gallons of water, raising new concerns about unforeseen costs of America's energy rush. "Hydraulic fracturing is increasing competitive pressures for water in some of the country's most water-stressed and drought-ridden regions," said Mindy Lubber, president of the Ceres green investors' network. Without new tougher regulations on water use, she warned industry could be on a "collision course" with other water users. "It's a wake-up call," said Prof James Famiglietti, a hydrologist at the University of California, Irvine. "We understand as a country that we need more energy but it is time to have a conversation about what impacts there are, and do our best to try to minimise any damage." For more on this story visit: theguardian,com

UK FLOODS: RIVER THAMES BREAKS BANKS

Thousands of homes in southern England are bracing for ooding after the River Thames burst its banks, with forecasters warning more bad weather is expected. Authorities say lives could be at risk, with water levels along parts of the river reaching their highest levels since gauges were installed in the 1980s and '90s. The country's Environment Agency has issued 14 severe ood warnings in the afuent counties of Surrey and Berkshire, to the west of London. The military has been brought in to evacuate properties and build defences. Some areas are already under water, including parts of the Great Windsor Park, near Queen Elizabeth II's castle at Windsor, which itself is built on higher ground. London is protected by the Thames Barrier, although the southern suburb of Croydon announced plans to divert rising oodwaters away from properties by pumping them into a pedestrian underpass. Parts of south-west England have been under water for weeks after the wettest January since 1766. For more on the UK Floods visit: www.bbc.co.uk
earth sanctuary colonel rose drive alice spring nt +61 412 933 352

Over 10,000 sandbags have been distributed in Datchet, Berkshire

12 February 2014

S EI S M I C L I F E
SEARCHES HALTED IN INDONESIA AFTER MT SINABUNG ERUPTION KILLS FIFTEEN
J a k a r t a , Indonesia (CNN) -- Search and recovery teams have again halted their perilous task of looking for victims from the recent volcanic eruptions of Indonesia's Mount Sinabung, disaster ofcials said. The death toll currently stands at 15 after plumes of ash spewed more than a mile into the sky Saturday and descended in superheated clouds. Scalding ash up to 700 degrees in temperature raced down the slope in just two to three minutes, engulng Sukameriah, a village close to the volcano's crater. A funnel of smoke, visible from kilometers away, has continued to shoot up from the North Sumatra mountain, turning the sky above the color of murky gray ash. Recovery teams -- a mixture of local rescue workers, military personnel and police -- ventured into the affected area Sunday and Monday, before calling off their search because conditions became unsafe. For more visit: cnn.com.
5.9 BOUGAINVILLE REGION, P.N.G. 5.9 SCOTIA SEA 5.0 SOLOMON ISLANDS 5.1 NEAR EAST COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN 5.5 KEPULAUAN ALOR, INDONESIA 5.0 TONGA 5.4 AZERBAIJAN 5.3 SOUTHEAST OF EASTER ISLAND 5.2 ANTOFAGASTA, CHILE 5.3 NEAR S. COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN 5.0 OFF EAST COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN 5.1 OFF EAST COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN 5.1 BONIN ISLANDS, JAPAN REGION 5.1 OFF COAST OF COLIMA, MEXICO 5.0 OFF EAST COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN 5.1 BONIN ISLANDS, JAPAN REGION 5.1 OFF COAST OF COLIMA, MEXICO Thanks to Global Disaster Watch 5.3 NORTHERN COLOMBIA 5.2 NEAR EAST COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN 5.1 KERMADEC ISLANDS, NZ 5.0 KERMADEC ISLANDS REGION 6.5 VANUATU 5.1 BANDA SEA 5.3 FIJI REGION 5.4 SANTA CRUZ ISLANDS 5.4 VANUATU 5.9 BALLENY ISLANDS REGION 5.2 NEAR EAST COAST OF HONSHU 5.2 TONGA 5.4 VANUATU 5.8 BALLENY ISLANDS REGION

EARTHQUAKES AROUND THE GLOBE THIS WEEK

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12 February 2014

S U S TA I NA B L E L I F E
SUSTAINABLE WASTE
The efcient use of material resources to help cut down on the amount of waste produced, and how to effectively deal with waste in a way that best contributes to the economic, social and environmental goals of sustainable development. A FEW IMPORTANT REMINDERS! Rethink before you buy Say NO to plastic bags Support local sustainable business Buy products that are recyclable in your yellow lid recycle bin and made with recycled content Recycle organic waste with a compost bin or Councils green waste bin for garden waste Take recyclable items like scrap metal, cooking oil, car batteries etc to Councils Resource Recovery Centers Reuse containers, paper, green bags etc Donate goods to local charities Buy pre-loved items from charities or Recycle Markets Use mulch, compost and aggregate from Resource Recovery Centres Assist recovery of resources at Council landlls by sorting items in your load to ensure east of separation and recover. For more visit: mcsl.org.au

IS PEECYCLING THE NEXT WAVE IN SUSTAINABLE LIVING?

Today, most human waste in the U.S. ows down the pipes to a facility such as DC Water's Blue Plains Advanced Wastewater Treatment Plant, the largest facility of its kind in the world. Blue Plains receives an average of 370 million gallons of wastewater, 94 percent of which is from residential sources in the District of Columbia and parts of Maryland and Virginia. This includes what washes down the kitchen drain, lls up washing machines, and ushes down toilets. Once at Blue Plains, it all goes through a multistage process in which it is passed from pool to pool of various hues of reddish brown, where the liquid is stirred, bubbled, fed to algae, and ltered until it is clean enough to get dumped back into the Potomac River. Much of what this process is doing is removing nitrogen and phosphorous, elements that can be pollutants when too much of them get into our rivers and oceans. But they are also essential nutrients for plant growthand thus, two of the basic components of fertilizer. Most conventional farms invest in synthetic fertilizer, which requires energy to produce and is associated with many environmental problems of its own. But by separating out human urine before it gets to the wastewater plant, Rich Earth cofounder Kim Nace says they can turn it into a robust fertilizer alternative: a "local, accessible, free, sanitary source of nitrogen and phosphorous." For more on this story visit; news.nationalgeographic.com or treehugger,com

earth sanctuary colonel rose drive alice spring nt +61 412 933 352

12 February 2014

AN I M A L L I F E
THE WOOL INDUSTRY
Sheep are gentle individuals who, like all animals, feel pain, fear, and loneliness. But because there is a market for their eece and skins, they are treated as nothing more than wool-producing machines. If they were left alone and not genetically manipulated, sheep would grow just enough wool to protect themselves from temperature extremes. The eece provides them with effective insulation against both cold and heat. Shearers are usually paid by volume, not by the hour, which encourages fast work without regard for the welfare of the sheep. One eyewitness said, [T]he shearing shed must be one of the worst places in the world for cruelty to animals I have seen shearers punch sheep with their shears or their sts until the sheeps nose bled. I have seen sheep with half their faces shorn off . In Australia, where more than 50 percent of the worlds merino woolwhich is used in products ranging from clothing to carpetsoriginates, lambs are forced to endure a gruesome procedure called mulesing, in which huge chunks of skin are cut from the animals backsides, often without any painkillers. For more on this story visit: www.peta.org.

Every year, millions of animals are killed for the clothing industryall in the name of fashion. Whether the clothes come from Chinese fur farms, Indian slaughterhouses, or the Australian outback, an immeasurable amount of suffering goes into every furtrimmed jacket, leather belt, and wool sweater.

HELP END BATTERY SHEEP FARMING

Investigations by Animals Australia in 2004 and 2011 at "The Wool Factory" a wool factory farm in Victoria revealed more than a thousand sheep being conned in sheds in tiny individual pens in order to produce 'ultra-ne wool' for high end fashion garments such as suits. Investigators documented sheep chewing on the wooden slats and strands of wire of their pens due to stress, frustration and boredom. These animals can endure this solitary connement for some 5 or 6 miserable years. A 2009 scientic study at this factory farm found that the majority of observed sheep displayed behaviours commonly perceived as 'stereotypies', abnormal behaviours such as head butting or nosing and chewing pen xtures, pacing and pawing. Sheep would usually graze in a paddock most of the day with their ock; instead, as in other intensive animal industries, in
Sheep raised for ultra-ne wool can be locked up in single pens 24 hours a day, every day, for 5 or more years

these 'factory sheds' their behavioural and social needs are ignored. For more on this story visit: www.animalsaustralia,org

earth sanctuary colonel rose drive alice spring nt +61 412 933 352

12 February 2014

OCE AN LI F E
HUNDREDS OF WHALE SHARKS KILLED ANNUALLY IN ILLEGAL TRADE IN CHINA
As many as 600 whale sharks a year are killed to supply one factory alone in China, a three-year undercover operation has revealed. Paul Hilton, a conservation photo journalist and codirector of Hong Kong based NGO, WildLife Risk made three trips between 2010 and 2013 to the town of Puqi in China's south east following a tip-off. "We decided to set up a small seafood trading company and we organised a business trip," he told Radio Australia's Asia Pacic program. "We met with a gentleman called Mr Li who runs the China Wenzhou Yueqing Marine Organisms Health Protection Foods Co Ltd and there (to) the processing plant and the courtyard was just full of giant whale shark ns." Whale shark hunting as well as the sale and export of products are banned in China which has signed the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES). Despite that, the Fisheries authorities say they lack the resources to stop the trade. "Recently this week there was a spokesperson who wanted to remain anonymous from the Chinese Fisheries side saying they are just totally understaffed and they don't have the resources to do more for endangered species," Mr Hilton said. "So there's loopholes all through the system, people are taking backhanders." For more visit: www.abc.net.au

SHARK CULL COULD HARM MIGRATION, SOUTH AFRICA WARNS WA

The South African government has voiced opposition to the trapping and killing of sharks, warning that Western Australias cull could have an impact on the number of migratory animals.A spokesman for South Africas department of environmental affairs told Guardian Australia that extractive activities focused on shared stocks may have local implications for shark species that visit South African waters, such as the great white. For more visit: theguardian.co.uk

BARRET GOVERNMENTS SHARK CULL PROGRAM DELIVERS FIRST CRUEL AND BARBARIC FATALITY: A BEAUTIFUL FEMALE TIGER SHARK
In the early hours of this morning the sherman hired to perform Barnett's dirty work of killing protected species, went out to check Barnett's drum lines as part of the new shark cull program off the Western Australian Coast. As each drum line was checked, it was found to be empty. However on the last drum line the sherman found a beautiful 3 metre plus female tiger shark. It's difcult to tell how much pain she would have been in for up to 12 hours with Barnett's brutal hook through her mouth. She was then brought alongside the boat by the sherman and shot four times in the head before she nally died. She was then gutted and then dragged out to sea and dumped For more on this story by Jeff Hansen, Managing Director of Sea Shepherd, visit: www.seashepherd.org.au.

earth sanctuary colonel rose drive alice spring nt +61 412 933 352

12 February 2014

HE A LT HY L I F E

SUICIDE BY SUGAR - WHY SUGAR RUINS YOUR HEALTH!

1. Sugar can suppress your immune 8. Sugar can cause hyperactivity, system. anxiety, inability to concentrate and crankiness in children. 2. S u g a r u p s e t s t h e m i n e r a l relationships in the body. 9. Sugar can produce a signicant rise in triglycerides. 3. S u g a r c a n c a u s e j u v e n i l e delinquency in children. 10. Sugar reduces the bodys ability to defend against bacterial infection. 4. Sugar eaten during pregnancy and lactation can inuence muscle 11. Sugar causes a decline in tissue elasticity and function the more force production in offspring, sugar you eat, the more elasticity which can affect an individuals and function you lose. ability to exercise. 12. S u g a r re d u c e s h i g h - d e n s i t y 5. Sugar in soda, when consumed by lipoproteins (HDL). children, results in the children drinking less milk. 13. Sugar can lead to chromium deciency. 6. Sugar can elevate glucose and insulin responses and return them 14. Sugar can lead to ovarian cancer. to fasting levels slower in oral 15. Sugar can increase fasting levels of contraceptive users. glucose. 18. Sugar may make eyes more vulnerable to age-related macular degeneration. 19. S u g a r r a i s e s t h e l e v e l o f neurotransmitters: dopamine, serotonin, and norepinephrine. 20. Sugar can cause hypoglycemia. 21. Sugar can lead to an acidic digestive tract. 22. Sugar can cause a rapid rise of adrenaline levels in children. 23. Sugar is frequently malabsorbed in patients with functional bowel disease. 24. Sugar can cause premature aging. 25. Sugar can lead to alcoholism. 26.! Sugar can cause tooth decay.

27.! Sugar can lead to obesity. 7. Sugar can increase reactive 16. Sugar causes copper deciency. 28.! Sugar increases the risk of Crohns oxygen species (ROS), which can 17. Sugar interferes with the bodys disease and ulcerative colitis. damage cells and tissues. absorption of calcium and For more reasons visit: magnesium. www.nancyappleton.com

earth sanctuary colonel rose drive alice spring nt +61 412 933 352