July, 11 2012, 03:01pm EDT

Federal Plan on Ocean Acidification Is Important First Step to Save Sea Life
SAN FRANCISCO
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration today announced the first steps of a national strategy to protect sea life from ocean acidification. The draft plan is intended to guide federal research and monitoring on ocean acidification, and ultimately lead to the development of adaptation and mitigation strategies.
"This plan is a good first step toward addressing the tragedy unfolding in our oceans," said Emily Jeffers, a staff attorney with the Center for Biological Diversity's oceans program, which recently called on President Barack Obama to develop a national action plan for ocean acidification. "But if we're going to save sea life from ocean acidification, we need to move quickly on big, bold steps that dramatically reduce carbon pollution."
Every day, the world's oceans absorb 22 million tons of carbon dioxide pollution from cars, factories and power plants. The oceans have become about 30 percent more acidic since the Industrial Revolution as a result of a chemical change in seawater that happens when ocean waters absorb CO2 pollution. This rate of change in ocean chemistry has no precedent in geologic time; the last time seawater was so acidic, about 55 million years ago, there were massive species extinctions.
Ocean acidification makes it hard for animals like corals and oysters to grow and survive. It also erodes the shells of tiny plankton that form the basis of the marine food web, which will likely result in large-scale problems up the food chain for sea stars, salmon, sea otters, whales and ultimately people, many of whom rely on seafood to survive.
"We need to take immediate action to address ocean acidification or the impacts will be catastrophic," said Jeffers. "We need a bold national action plan to ensure a future for our sea life."
In 2009 the Center for Biological Diversity sued the EPA for failing to address the impacts of ocean acidification in the state of Washington. As a result of a settlement, EPA acknowledged that ocean acidification is a water pollution problem that can and should be addressed by the Clean Water Act. In April of this year, the Center launched a campaign calling on President Obama and the EPA to develop a national plan to protect the oceans from acidification.
Read more about our Endangered Oceans campaign, read our FAQ about ocean acidification and see profiles of affected wildlife and U.S. regions.
At the Center for Biological Diversity, we believe that the welfare of human beings is deeply linked to nature — to the existence in our world of a vast diversity of wild animals and plants. Because diversity has intrinsic value, and because its loss impoverishes society, we work to secure a future for all species, great and small, hovering on the brink of extinction. We do so through science, law and creative media, with a focus on protecting the lands, waters and climate that species need to survive.
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AI-Aged Youth Warn of Climate Perils From 2050
"World leaders are not listening to the younger generation, so what if we turn young climate advocates into older versions of themselves—into their future voices?"
Nov 30, 2023
With help from generative artificial intelligence, We Don't Have Time turned over a dozen young climate campaigners into future versions of themselves to stress to world leaders the necessity of bolder action to tackle the climate emergency.
We Don't Have Time, the world's largest social network for climate solutions, launched the "Future Voices" initiative on Thursday, as the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP28) began in the United Arab Emirates and scientists warned that after months of devastating heat and extreme weather events, 2023 is "virtually certain" to be the warmest year on record.
"World leaders are not listening to the younger generation, so what if we turn young climate advocates into older versions of themselves—into their future voices?" said David Olsson of We Don't Have Time. "Then the demand for ending fossils and accelerating solutions can't be ignored. We encourage everyone to support this message."
The Future Voices website highlights that current children and young adults will suffer the consequences of the fossil fuel-driven climate emergency "to a much higher degree than previous generations," and already, youth worldwide are enduring the impacts of heating the planet and reporting that the crisis is taking a toll on their mental health.
The website features an interactive globe through which users can view video testimonies from campaigners around the world (also included below). One of them stars Swedish Fridays for Future and Climate Live campaigner Andreas Magnusson, who said in a statement that "in the fight against the climate crisis, including and listening to young people is crucial."
Speaking from Sweden in 2050, the AI-aged Magnusson says in his video that "in my hometown, Mockfjärd, I've seen landslide after landslide hit, caused by the heavy raining. And yet, I am not the one who suffers most. I come from a great place of privilege. I come from a part of the world that is not affected by nature's fury like other parts of the world are."
Activists from other parts of the world, in their own video messages from 2050, speak of "vast droughts causing water shortage," more frequent hurricanes, rising sea levels, and "floods and plagues."
Near the end of Magnusson's video, the 2023 version of him warns: "Time is running out. The choices world leaders make today will determine the kind of world we will live in tomorrow. The future is now."
In addition to the AI videos, the Future Voices initiative includes an online hub to help young activists who can't make it to Dubai still participate in COP28. Organizers are planning daily broadcasts with climate leaders and decision-makers.
"We are very proud and happy to be able to offer this opportunity for young people to get access to the most important climate negotiations of the year and deliver their messages to world leaders," said Olsson. "It would not have been possible without our incredible community of youth climate advocates."
Magnusson said that "Future Voices and the youth hub make the discussions at COP28 more inclusive."
"World leaders hold not only our future in their hands, they also hold our present, because we are already today affected by the climate crisis," the campaigner added. "And, frankly, it is youth who most of the time bring bold ideas and the unfiltered truth to the discussions about the future of humanity. Discussions that for 30 years haven't been able to even mention 'oil' in their agreements."
Watch more of the Future Voices videos below:
Nikka Gerona of the Philippines is co-chair of the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) Regional Young People's Action Team in East Asia and the Pacific.
Isaias Hernandez of the United States is an environmental justice educator and public speaker who created QueerBrownVegan.
Valeria Horton of Mexico founded Green Reconnection and was the Mexican lead negotiator for loss and damage at COP27.
Sophia Mathur of Canada is a climate advocate with Fridays for Future and recipient of the 2021 Action for Nature International Award.
AgustÃn Ocaña of Ecuador is the founder and chairperson of the Global Youth Coalition.
Anita Soina of Kenya is a climate advocate, politician, and global youth champion for the U.N.-hosted partnership Sanitation and Water for All.
Other featured activists include Farzana Faruk Jhumu of Bangladesh, an advocate with Fridays for Future and Feminist Action Coalition for Climate Justice; Denzel James of Australia, a UNICEF young ambassador; and Madina Kimaro of Tanzania, a UNICEF youth advocate and climate advocacy champion for the Tanzania Girl Guides Association.
There are also videos from Emma Kroese of the Netherlands, a climate advocate with Fridays for Future; Ashley Lashley of Barbados, a UNICEF youth advocate and CARICOM youth ambassador; Geoffrey Mboya of Kenya, a humanitarian, sustainability advocate, and youth adviser of the WeDontHaveTime Foundation; and JoaquÃn Salinas Atenas of Chile, a socioenvironmental artivist and UNICEF COP26 youth delegate.
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Progressives on Thursday said the American public was losing a vital voice that for nearly two months has offered rare critical coverage of the U.S.-backed Israeli assault on civilians in Gaza, as MSNBC announced it was canceling "The Mehdi Hasan Show."
The show began on the streaming service Peacock in 2020 and Hasan has hosted the weekend program on the network since 2021. He has gained recognition in the past for his incisive interviews of former Blackwater CEO Erik Prince and GOP presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy.
More recently he has provided viewers with commentary on the war in Gaza, in which more than 15,000 Palestinians have been killed so far, while also condemning Hamas' attack against civilians in southern Israel on October 7 as "undeniably, a vicious act of terror."
"How many more innocent people are going to die, and what will be achieved?" asked Hasan in one segment last month. "Does killing innocent Palestinians in Gaza, and not just members of Hamas, killing a Palestinian child every 15 minutes since October 7... Does that help defeat Hamas?"
Guardian columnist Owen Jones said there is "no better interviewer than Mehdi Hasan: forensic, razor-sharp, an encyclopedic knowledge."
"So MSNBC has now canceled his show," Jones said. "The few mainstream voices who challenge Israel's mass slaughter of Gaza are under attack."
As the cancellation of Hasan's show was announced, Palestinian American human rights lawyer Noura Erakat pointed to his recent interview with Mark Regev, an adviser to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, as "a whole class on journalistic method."
In the interview, Hasan implored Regev to admit Israel's onslaught has led to a high death toll of Palestinians, pushed back against his claim that Israel has targeted Hamas members, and demanded he address misinformation from his own government about the war.
"They canceled Mehdi Hasan for interviews like this—evidence-based and willing to challenge power," said author Sarah Kendzior of the Regev segment, "and it is doubtful he will be the only journalist pushed out for daring to practice journalism."
The Progressive Change Campaign Committee (PCCC) pointed out that on Wednesday evening Hasan appeared on "The Daily Show" to promote his program.
"To be clear, there was no instigating outrage. No shocking new thing," said the group. "He was acceptable (and cool) enough for 'The Daily Show,' and MSNBC let him go out and promote the network, and then they blindside one of their best hosts?"
"It's a huge programming mistake to kick voices like Mehdi Hasan off the air instead of asking: Why are they resonating with the public as they challenge power and question conventional wisdom?" the PCCC added.
MSNBC president Rashida Jones reportedly told staffers that the network was reshuffling its weekend programming—cutting Hasan's show and adding a program with hosts including Democratic strategist Symone Sanders-Townsend and former Republican National Committee Chair Michael Steele—"to better position ourselves as we head into the presidential election."
In canceling Hasan's show, noted journalist David Sirota, MSNBC is eliminating not only one of its most vocal critics of Israel, but also "one of the only people in cable TV news who has been willing to report critically on both parties."
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"This is real repression. There is panic in Russia's LGBT community," said one gay official in St. Petersburg. "People are emigrating urgently."
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In a decision that Amnesty International decried as "shameful and absurd," Russia's Supreme Court on Thursday banned the "international LGBT movement"—which critics noted doesn't actually exist—as an "extremist organization," a move human rights groups said will subject the country's already oppressed queer community to further repression.
During a closed hearing, Russia's highest court sided with the country's Justice Ministry, which earlier this month filed a lawsuit accusing the "LGBT movement" of fomenting social and religious discord.
LGBTQ+ advocates said the ruling will effectively silence queer activism in a country that banned so-called "gay propaganda" a decade ago, one of numerous legal attacks on gay rights including a law signed in July by Russian President Vladimir Putin prohibiting gender-affirming healthcare and stripping transgender people of marriage and parental rights.
"Russian authorities should immediately end this perverse persecution of LGBT people and concerned countries should support LGBT people and their advocates facing extreme risks and persecution in Russia," Human Rights Watch (HRW) said in a statement.
According to HRW:
Under Russian criminal law, participating in or financing an extremist organization is punishable by up to 12 years in prison. A person found guilty of displaying such groups' symbols faces up to 15 days in detention for the first offense and up to four years in prison for a repeat offense. The authorities may include individuals suspected of involvement with an extremist organization in the countrywide "list of extremists" and freeze their bank accounts. People deemed to be involved with an extremist organization are barred from running for public office.
Tanya Lokshina, HRW's associate Europe and Central Asia director, asserted that the court's move "apparently serves a dual purpose."
"It is meant to increase the scapegoating of LGBT people to appeal to the Kremlin's conservative supporters before the March 2024 presidential vote and to paralyze the work of rights groups countering discrimination and supporting LGBT people," she said.
Sergei Troshin, a municipal deputy in St. Petersburg who came out as gay last year, told the BBC that he thinks the court's ruling "will mean that anyone whom the state considers an LGBT activist could receive a long prison sentence for 'participating in an extremist organization.'"
"For the organizer of such a group, the prison term will be even longer," he added. "This is real repression. There is panic in Russia's LGBT community. People are emigrating urgently. The actual word we're using is evacuation. We're having to evacuate from our own country. It's terrible."
Since Russia invaded Ukraine last year, the Kremlin has increasingly touted "traditional values" as a bulwark against "degrading" Western cultural influences. An expanded version of the 2013 "gay propaganda" law is currently advancing in Russia's State Duma, the lower house of the country's Federal Assembly.
The advocacy group Rainbow Europe this year ranked Russia the third-worst European nation for LGBTQ+ rights, ahead of only Turkey and Azerbaijan.
Yan Dvorkin, an exiled Russian transgender activist who heads the advocacy group Center T, toldAl Jazeera that the court's ruling marks a "new low point of insanity."
Dvorkin said that since Russia is "losing the war" in Ukraine, many Russians are "very frustrated and dissatisfied with the government."
"It's very easy to take that anger out on LGBTQ people," he added.
Vitaly Milonov, a notoriously homophobic member of the State Duma from the ruling United Russia party, told the BBC that the Supreme Court ruling is "not about sexual minorities or the private life of individuals."
"It's more about the political agenda proclaimed by this LGBT international movement," he said.
"And I'm looking forward to the next step: banning the six-color rainbow flag," Milonov added. "We don't need this flag. It's a symbol of the fight with the traditional family. I hope that no one can show this flag in Russia."
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