Moving to wordpress

After a talk with otterman, moving everything there.

So new posts up at chengpuay.wordpress.com

Will miss the tagboard. Oh well, it was nice for a while.

Thanks blogger.

hibiscus

hibiscus.jpg
Originally uploaded by _Cheng Puay.

Nice flaming petals.

The cost of climate change

If the prediction of biodiversity loss, environmental damage is not enough a wakeup call. Perhaps dollars and cents will do.

Something from the Herald - "

Al Gore to advise Gordon Brown on climate change

"

Another article from thisismoney.co.uk - Economy faces climate 'calamity'

Here are some figures from the article -

CLIMATE CHANGE BY NUMBERS

£3.68 trillion - the total cost of tackling climate change per year unless drastic action is taken, according to the Stern report.
1% - how much of global gross domestic product (GDP) must be spent if climate change is to be tackled now.
200 million - the number of people who could become refugees after their homes are hit by drought or flood.
40 - the percentage of species that could become extinct due to climate change.
0.5% - the temperature increase across Africa in the past 100 years.
20% - Britain's current target for reducing carbon emissions.
30% - the EU's target for reducing carbon emissions by 2020 under proposals by Gordon Brown.
£10.6bn - the total amount the Stern report recommends should be spent on global research into carbon emissions.
1 in 6 - the number of people in the world whose drinking-water supply could be affected by climate change.

Best Wildlife Photos 2006 and short stories

Its finally out.

The top prize went to Göran Ehlmé from Sweden who captured this amazing image of a walrus hunting for molluscs.

For more images, check out the National Geogaphic site.


Read this from Neil Gaiman's blog. Something interesting from the Wired magazine, a story in just 6 words. Just learnt that Hemmingway wrote one of these - ("For sale: baby shoes, never worn.").

Worth reading.

Next week is packed. May be joining the Roots and Shoots program, or at least help out with guiding next Saturday. Now I am late for the Ubin field trip.

Back soon.

Last lap

Marking is finally done. After 40 to 50 scripts or so, it becomes mechanical. Still its good good scores, especially those I know had put in effort. Had some funny answers too, but this is not a place to comment. Next week will be wrapping up of the school term and planning for next year.
Need to think through 2007. What should I do?

Meanwhile Cambodia is getting closer. Hope the team will be ready.

Been a long time since I took a good photograph. Need a breakthrough there as well.

Around the corner, Jane Goodall is coming again to Singapore to promote her Roots and Shoots programe. Possible that I can convert the nursery into this. That will be fun.

Back with mac

Got my logic board replaced. So apparently that is what was causing all the minor glitches with the touchpad.
Well now hopefully it will be stable and running for years to come.
Back to marking.

Away for a while

Sent macbook in for another haul over. I will not be online for the time being. Meanwhile trying to do work on whatever available PC I can lay my hands on.
Being offline is great. Finished 3 books of Artemis Fowl, kindly supplied by gy. I am immensely grateful.

Will be back. Hopefully all macbook hardwire glitches fixed then.

Planet Enters 'Ecological Debt'

Now with the haze enshrouding us. It is good to look at some ecological problems in a global perspective.

Hence this BBC article "Planet Enters Ecological Debt" is worth a read.

Some exerpts of this BBC article:

"The authors said this year's global ecological debt day meant that it would take the Earth 15 months to regenerate what was consumed this year.

"By living so far beyond our environmental means and running up ecological debts means we make two mistakes," said Andrew Simms, Nef's policy director.

"First, we deny millions globally who already lack access to sufficient land, food and clean water the chance to meet their needs. Secondly, we put the planet's life support mechanisms in peril," he added.

For further reading, the series of articles under this section: "Planet Under Pressure", gives a good overview of the current situation our globe is facing.

Something from the introduction of this series:

BBC News Online's Planet under Pressure series takes a detailed look at six areas where most experts agree that a crisis is brewing:

Food: An estimated 1 in 6 people suffer from hunger and malnutrition while attempts to grow food are damaging swathes of productive land.

Water: By 2025, two-thirds of the world's people are likely to be living in areas of acute water stress.

Energy: Oil production could peak and supplies start to decline by 2010

Climate change: The world's greatest environmental challenge, according to the UK prime minister Tony Blair, with increased storms, floods, drought and species losses predicted.

Biodiversity: Many scientists think the Earth is now entering its sixth great extinction phase.

Pollution: Hazardous chemicals are now found in the bodies of all new-born babies, and an estimated one in four people worldwide are exposed to unhealthy concentrations of air pollutants.

Let me end this post with a passage by Alex Kirby, BBC news online environment correspondent.

Living within the planet's means need not condemn us to giving up what we now assume we need for a full life, just to sharing it.

The challenge we face is not about feeling guilty for our consumption or virtuous for being "green" - it is about the growing recognition that, as the human race, we stand or fall together.

Ingenuity and technology continue to offer hope of a better world. But they can promise only so much.

You do not need ingenuity and technology to save the roughly 30,000 under-fives who die daily from hunger or easily preventable diseases.

And facing up to the planet's pressure points is about their survival, and ours.

Food for thought.