THE ISLAND OF BALI

The Island of Bali is part of the Republic of Indonesia. Bali has an area of 2,175 square miles; measures just 55 miles along the north-south axis and less than about 90 miles from East to West. The Island of Bali is famous for its beautiful landscape. A chain of six volcanoes, between 1,350 meters and 3,014 meters high, stretches from west to east. Bali's natural attractions include miles of sandy beaches, picturesque rice terraces, fast flowing rivers, deep ravines, pristine crater lakes, sacred caves, and lush tropical forests.

The island's rich cultural heritage is visible everywhere - in over 20,000 temples and palaces, in many colorful festivals and ceremonies (including tooth filings and cremations), in drama, music, and dance.

You can experience Bali (seeing Bali's beaches and rice terraces, the famous Besakih Temple on the slopes of holy Mount Agung, Lake Batur and it's active volcano, Ubud, Legian, Kuta, Nusa Dua, and the temples of Tanah Lot and Ulu Watu) on many different excursions and guided tours by coach, private car, bike, boat or air plane.

Make no mistake, Bali faces serious environmental problems. In the Denpasar, drinking water dwindles to a trickle during the day, owing to the unquenchable thirst of Nusa Dua, the elite resort. The hotel industry's demand for electricity has pushed forward plans for a controversial geothermal power station at Bedugal, a sacred mountain lake. Nor are the beaches immune to the build-it-and-they-will-come philosophy. Sand dredging off the port of Benoa to enlarge an island for yet more hotels has altered the water currents; they are now eating away at the beaches in the old resort area of Sanur (Keith Loveard).

BALI IS PARADISE ON EARTH; SABANG, LAKE LAUT TAWAR AND PULAU BANYAK ARE PARADISE IN THE WORLD. VISIT ACEH TING TING !

EXCLUSIVE SITE

human and planet earth

MENJARING BINTANG

MONALISA

B E L L E

LADY WITH AN ERMINE

DA VINCI’S AIR PLANE

AESTHETICS AND BEAUTY

CONTROVERSIAL ‘LA BELLE FEERONNIERE’

MUTUALLY EXCLUSIVE ALTERNATIVES

ARTISTS

HUBUNGAN MANUSIA DENGAN BUMI

PROFIT AND LOSS OF OIL PALM

MY PROFILE

   
WHAT IS CLIMATE CHANGE?

The most general definition of climate change is a change in the statistical properties of the climate system when considered over long periods of time, regardless of cause. Accordingly, fluctuations over periods shorter than a few decades, such as El Niño, do not represent climate change. more...

(www.wikipedia.org)

'GLOBAL DIMMING'...

CLIMATE CHANGE

GLOBAL DIMMING DOCUMENTARY (You Tube)

SATELLITES RECORD WEAKENING NORTH ATLANTIC CURRENT (NASA)



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A North Atlantic Ocean circulation system weakened considerably in the late 1990s, compared to the 1970s and 1980s, according to a NASA study.
Sirpa Hakkinen, lead author and researcher at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md. and co-author Peter Rhines, an oceanographer at the University of Washington, Seattle, believe slowing of this ocean current is an indication of dramatic changes in the North Atlantic Ocean climate. The study's results about the system that moves water in a counterclockwise pattern from Ireland to Labrador were published on the Internet by the journal Science on the Science Express Web site at:
http://www.sciencexpress.org or http://www.aaas.org




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The current, known as the sub polar gyre, has weakened in the past in connection with certain phases of a large-scale atmospheric pressure system known as the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO). But the NAO has switched phases twice in the 1990s, while the subpolar gyre current has continued to weaken. Whether the trend is part of a natural cycle or the result of other factors related to global warming is unknown.
"It is a signal of large climate variability in the high latitudes," Hakkinen said. "If this trend continues, it could indicate reorganization of the ocean climate system, perhaps with changes in the whole climate system, but we need another good five to 10 years to say something like that is happening." Rhines said, "The subpolar zone of the Earth is a key site for studying the climate. It's like Grand Central Station there, as many of the major ocean water masses pass through from the Arctic and from warmer latitudes. They are modified in this basin. Computer models have shown the slowing and speeding up of the subpolar gyre can influence the entire ocean circulation system."



	Item 3
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Satellite data makes it possible to view the gyre over the entire North Atlantic basin. Measurements from deep in the ocean, using buoys, ships and new autonomous "robot" Seagliders, are important for validating and extending the satellite data. Sea-surface height satellite data came from NASA's Seasat (July, August 1978), U.S. Navy's Geosat (1985 to 1988), and the European Space Agency's European Remote Sensing Satellite1/2 and NASA's TOPEX/Poseidon (1992 to present).
Hakkinen and Rhines were able to reference earlier data to TOPEX/Poseidon data, and translate the satellite sea-surface height data to velocities of the subpolar gyre. The subpolar gyre can take 20 years to complete its route. Warm water runs northward through the Gulf Stream, past Ireland, before it turns westward near Iceland and the tip of Greenland.



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The current loses heat to the atmosphere as it moves north. Westerly winds pick up that lost heat, creating warmer, milder European winters. After frigid Labrador Sea winters, the water in the current becomes cold, salty and dense, plunges beneath the surface, and heads slowly southward back to the equator. The cycle is sensitive to the paths of winter storms and to the buoyant fresh water from glacial melting and precipitation, all of which are experiencing great change.
While previous studies have proposed winds resulting from the NAO have influenced the subpolar gyre's currents, this study found heat exchanges from the ocean to the atmosphere may be playing a bigger role in the weakening current. Using Topex/Poseidon sea-surface height data, the researchers inferred Labrador Sea water in the core of the gyre warmed during the 1990s. This warming reduces the contrast with water from warmer southern latitudes, which is part of the driving force for ocean circulation.
The joint NASA-CNES (French Space Agency) Topex/Poseidon oceanography satellite provides high-precision data on the height of the world's ocean surfaces, a key measure of ocean circulation and heat storage in the ocean.

NASA's Earth Science Enterprise is dedicated to understanding the Earth as an integrated system and applying Earth System Science to improve prediction of climate, weather and natural hazards using the unique vantage point of space. NASA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and the National Science Foundation funded the study.
http://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/news/topstory/2004/0415gyre.html

GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE (NASA):

Reservoir growth, Mali

Drought in the 1970s spurred the formation of the multinational Organization for the Development of the Senegal River (OMVS) to develop irrigation, power generation and navigation. The Manantali Dam in western Mali was one of two large dams built as part of the OMVS project. These images show the vast extent of land that was flooded when the dam's reservoir was filled. Roughly 10,000 to 11,000 people were displaced above the dam. Below the dam, loss of the normal annual cycle of flooding and recession hit traditional agriculture hard. With limited capital for equipment, village-scale irrigation systems were constructed without adequate drainage, resulting in soil salinization. Reduced flooding may also be contributing to deforestation along the Senegal River. See also "Drought, Mali". Next...

Fire, Greece

On August 24, 2007, the first of more than 170 fires broke out on the Greek Peloponnesus. The fires, of undetermined origin, cut a swath of destruction across the peninsula. They razed hundreds of villages, threatened the ancient historic site of Olympia and endangered the city of Sparta. These images show the area before and after the fires. Next...

Urban growth, Texas

These images show the growth of the Dallas-Fort Worth urban area into the surrounding countryside over a 30-year period. The population of the combined metroplex has grown substantially from about 2.4 million people in 1970 to 3.8 million in 1988 and 5.6 million in 2002. The Ray Roberts Reservoir (northwest of Dallas) and Joe Pool Lake (southwest of Dallas) were added sometime between the 1974 and 1989 images. The Dallas-Fort Worth Airport, which first opened to traffic on January 13, 1974, can be seen to the north of Dallas-Fort Worth in all three images. Next...

Ice melt, Alaska

McCarty Glacier in southern Alaska. Also see this image pair of the same glacier. Next...

Reservoir shrinkage, Nevada / Arizona

Lake Mead, in Nevada/Arizona. Lake Mead is one of the largest reservoirs in the world, supplying water to California, Arizona, Nevada and Mexico, including the water-guzzling Las Vegas. Through dam turbines, the lake also provides power to Nevada, southern California and northern Mexico. Since 2000, the water level has been dropping at a fairly steady rate due to lower-than-average snowfall and over a decade of drought, and as of July 2010, the lake was at 38 percent of its capacity. Water supply has been further diminished by the drawing off of water from upstream reservoirs in the upper Colorado River Basin which, historically, has been the source for the Lake Mead Reservoir. Also see this image pair of Lake Mead. Next...

Tsunami, Thailand

Phuket, Thailand. A tsunami washed ashore on the island of Phuket, a popular tourist destination on the coast of Thailand, on December 26, 2004. More than 4,300 people were confirmed dead in the disaster, with thousands more reported missing. These pictures show a stretch of coast, 25 kilometers (16 miles) long, north of Phuket International Airport. In the 2004 image, after the tsunami hit, coastal areas appear gray where vegetation was stripped away. Both images are shown in simulated natural color. Next...

Humans now play a key role in the biosphere, with the large human population dominating many of Earth's ecosystems. This has resulted in a widespread, ongoing extinction of other species. The large scale loss of species caused (biotic crisis) by human influence since the 1950s an estimated 10% of the total species lost as of 2007. At current rates, about 30% of species are at risk of extinction in the next hundred years. The extinction event is the result of habitat destruction, the widespread distribution of invasive species, hunting, and climate change.

(Next, ... Condition of the Earth)

APA YANG DAPAT DILAKUKAN SAAT INI

Ditengah kesibukan yang sangat padat dan beban pekerjaan yang sangat berat, saudara dapat juga turut berpartisipasi memikul tanggung jawab penyelamatan lingkungan dengan kegiatan dan kebijakan sebagai berikut :

Tidak melakukan pekerjaan-pekerjaan yang dapat merusak lingkungan, menanami pekarangan dan tanah-tanah kosong disekitar tempat tinggal dengan pohon-pohonan yang bermanfaat, mengurangi pemakaian energi atau bahan/alat yang bersumber dari fosil, menggunakan barang-barang konsumsi dan alat rumah tangga dengan produk-produk yang ramah lingkungan serta ikut serta menyebarkan informasi mengenai masalah lingkungan dan pentingnya menjaga kelestarian lingkungan ke berbagai pihak atau dapat juga saudara bekerja sama dengan kami dengan cara mendukung serta membantu berbagai program kegiatan penyelamatan lingkungan yang kami laksanakan.

GREENPEACE INDONESIA

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		REPLANT: Tanam pohon pada lahan tandus dan hutan yang telah gundul.

		REDUCE: Kurangi penggunaan bahan-bahan yang dapat merusak lingkungan.

		REUSE: Gunakan kembali barang bekas yang masih layak pakai.

		RECYCLE: Daur ulang barang bekas menjadi produk baru.