articles-november 9

Fast Arctic Thaw Threatens People, Polar Bears

by Alister Doyle
 
OSLO - Global warming is heating the Arctic almost twice as fast as the rest of the planet in a thaw that threatens millions of livelihoods and could wipe out polar bears by 2100, an eight-nation report said on Monday.

The biggest survey to date of the Arctic climate, by 250 scientists, said the accelerating melt could be a foretaste of wider disruptions from a build-up of human emissions of heat-trapping gases in the earth's atmosphere.

The "Arctic climate is now warming rapidly and much larger changes are projected," according to the Arctic Climate Impact Assessment (ACIA), funded by the United States, Canada, Russia, Denmark, Iceland, Sweden, Norway and Finland.

Arctic temperatures are rising at almost twice the global average and could leap 4-7 Celsius (7-13 Fahrenheit) by 2100, roughly twice the global average projected by U.N. reports. Siberia and Alaska have already warmed by 2-3 C since the 1950s. full article

U.S. judge rejects motion to dismiss Teck Cominco polluting lawsuit
11:07 AM EST Nov 09

YAKIMA, Wash. (AP) - A judge on Monday rejected a B.C. mining company's motion to dismiss a lawsuit accusing it of polluting the Columbia River for decades.

Teck Cominco Ltd. of Vancouver had argued the lawsuit should be thrown out because the U.S. government cannot impose rules on Canadian companies that operate on Canadian soil. U.S. District Judge Alan McDonald disagreed, saying the United States' environmental laws are intended to clean up pollution inside U.S. borders, regardless of where it originated.

"The Upper Columbia River site is a domestic condition over which the United States has sovereignty and legislative control," McDonald wrote in a ruling issued out of Yakima. full article

Fighting a deadly plague
Gila River Indian Community steps up attack on diabetes

Nov. 9, 2004 12:00 AM
They came dressed in modern clothing, fighting a modern disease.
But their faces were those of traditional Native Americans, the same faces as their ancestors who eked a living from this land of daunting beauty and unforgiving sun for centuries.

They are members of the Gila River Indian Community, gathering for the dedication of a new medical building. They are fighting their No. 1 enemy, diabetes, an illness unheard of a century ago. advertisement

A combination of genetics and lifestyle changes, from farmers who ate sparsely to people with modern conveniences and high-calorie diets, has taken its toll. Pimas have the highest rate of Type II diabetes in the world, with more than half of all adults contracting it. full article

Tim Giago: On the cutting edge of "moral values"
Notes from Indian Country
© 2004 KNIGHT RIDDER TRIBUNE
Tim Giago (Nanwica Kciji) 11/8/2004
And so the crux of Election 2004 turned on the whims of moral values? How frightening!

Whose morals and values? If God created man in his own image, which image did he use as a pattern? Because those who voted for George W. Bush and John Thune have certain values, are the rest of us expected to adhere to those values?

When the settlers and their armies converged upon the people of the Great Sioux Nation in the late 1800s, they noticed that the Lakota families often consisted of one man and two or more wives. Their Christian values immediately presumed this to be morally wrong. Did they bother to find out why this was a way of life? No, they saw what they believed to be a moral issue and set about to change it to fit their own mores. full article

Brazilian Indians gaining political ground

BRASILIA, Brazil (Reuters) -- From isolated villages in the Amazon jungle to far-flung settlements in the vast savannas of the interior, Brazil's Indians are venturing as never before into mainstream politics.

Initial results from last month's nationwide local elections show four Indians were chosen as mayors and five as deputy mayors and final results are expected to give Indians more than 100 posts.

The numbers may seem small but they represent a jump from one Indian mayor elected in 2000. full article

Labeling of U.S. corn is sought

By EDIE LAU
Sacramento Bee
November 09, 2004

- An international review of a controversy over bioengineered genes in Mexican corn recommends that Mexico combat the biotech intrusion by requiring labeling or milling of kernels imported from countries such as the United States.

The suggestion, made by a panel of scientists advising the Commission for Environmental Cooperation of North America, was not welcomed by the U.S. government, which offered harsh words after the report's official release on Monday.

"This report is fundamentally flawed and unscientific," said a statement issued by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

"The authors acknowledge that no economic analysis of their recommendations was conducted, and that many of these recommendations are based solely on sociocultural considerations." full article