Serve and get served with focus on quality is how every citizen contribute in turning any society to wealthy and healthy place to live in. How to do it rests on three pillars: accountable and transparent policies; sustainable science and technology; and coherent and informed society. Though these three requirements can promote achieving sustainable socio-economic developments turning them to reality can take different approaches and pathways depending on cultural, geographical, socio-economic and political boundary conditions. Http://sustain-earth.com

http://m.sodahead.com/united-states/5-truths-you-can-either-agree-or-disagree-with/question-4547989/

Flooding is among major threats in many countries around the world. Global warming is a modern man-made driver of negative feedback impacts on the global water cycle.

World Vision Australia is a member of the Australian Council for International Development (ACFID) and adheres to the ACFID Code of Conduct which defines minimum standards of governance, management and accountability of development for non-government organisations (NGOs). http://worldvision.com.au/home/defaultverD.aspx?lpos=top_drop_0_Home

To know more about flooding visit: http://montagepages.fuselabs.com/public/Benji-kun/Floods/3cc1dea9-0708-4b2a-a127-389832eea821.htm

University of California Television “UCTV” embraces the core missions of the University of California — teaching, research and public service — through quality, in-depth television that informs, educates and enriches the lives of people around the globe.

University of California Television (UCTV) is a public-serving media outlet featuring programming from throughout the University of California, the nation’s premier research university made up of ten campuses, three national labs and affiliated institutions.

Launched in January 2000, this academic initiative embraces the core missions of the University of California — teaching, research, and public service — through quality, in-depth television that brings to life the tremendous range of knowledge, culture and dialogue generated on UC’s diverse campuses.

Reaching the public through cable, online, YouTube, iTunesU, Roku, and mobile apps, UCTV transports knowledge far beyond the campus borders and into the homes and lives of inquisitive viewers around the globe.

UCTV explores a broad spectrum of subjects for a general audience, including science, health and medicine, public affairs, humanities, arts and music, business, education, and agriculture. Program formats include documentaries, faculty lectures, research symposia, artistic performances and more.

UCTV also reaches specialized audiences, including K-12 teachers with “Teachers P.E.T.,” health care professionals with “The Med Ed Hour,” and the academic community through UCTV Seminars.

In March 2012, UCTV launched UCTV Prime, a YouTube original channel and the first university-run channel to be included among YouTube’s new production partnerships with recognizable brands in entertainment, news, lifestyle and education.

http://www.uctv.tv

The increasing pressures and demands on rapid globalization new and complex issues emerge for integration of religions, cultures and populations in the ongoing process of globalization.

http://ieet.org/index.php/IEET/more/Inayatullah20120122

Amazing conclusions from continuous and comprehensive global research that are based on all developments in science as a whole “big science”. They involve, also, integrated global observations on several scales and enormous human thinking and intelligence of the whole past century. It is how climate change shaped and formed global creativity (http://www.theguardian.com/stage/2014/nov/05/climate-change-theatre-2071-katie-mitchell-duncan-macmillan) to bring politics and science for a better future. A future we want to create and for generations to come. Climate change is not just about science – it’s about creating the future (http://www.theguardian.com/science/2014/nov/22/-sp-climate-change-special-report).

Saving is essential not only in economic terms but is also for the very sake of lasting survival, not only our survival but the protection and preservation of life on the planet. It took us so much time to arrive to the conclusion that “production and consumption” of natural resources, in particular fossil fuel, at the existing rapid speed is not more than destruction and annihilation of our life. It is a hard conclusion and inconvenient reality that much of the fossil fuel of the planet must stay buried and not to be burned. For the coming decades, until 2050 and beyond, the emission of carbon dioxide has to be cut down to zero which essentially mean much of the fossil fuel on the planet has not to be burned.

http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/jan/07/much-worlds-fossil-fuel-reserve-must-stay-buried-prevent-climate-change-study-says

Climate change creativity

The Millennium Development Goals promised to reduce poverty by half by 2015. Why are Africa and India so far behind in reaching this target? Follow the Big Debate about “Why Poverty?” with panel of top world politicians, ministers, writers and policy-makers from UK, Nigeria, India and South Africa as well as participants from business leaders, academics, activists and students: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1JD7nB8tRc4&app=desktop.

Mining is one of the big industries in Africa that is supposed to contribute in erasing its poverty. However, though the enormous mineral resources in Africa, the question still remains “Does Mining Benefit Africa?”. Follow the Big Debate on this topic with focus on where the income and wealth of Africa’s minerals ends up? Is the benefit is still for the investors and not for the population? Would Africa be able to develop education, health, sanitation and transport infrastructures from such wealth? Are the taxation systems correct, accountable and transparent? Whether or not Africa is heading to an overall privatization, how would public services be developed? All in all would poverty is still remain when all the mineral resources in Africa are consumed?  Many facts and information are uncovered from top politicians, government and finance bodies, mining industries, World Bank, policy-makers and activists from Africa as well as representatives from international companies and others bodies of relevance to the topic.

Would we still hear the same story, again and again, a worker in the mining industry after 22 years of loyalty in a company reporting billions in profit still has no electricity, no sanitation and continue to live in poverty!

One of the six Nobel Prizes that are globally awarded every year is devoted for inventions in Physics. This year “2014”  the prize was awarded for efficient blue Light Emitting Diodes “LED” which enables the production of bright and energy-saving white light sources. “LED”, used in the scientific and market communities, is replacing other sources of light with tectonic changes and transformations in the global lighting technology.

The interest of humans for lighting started already with the discovery of fire and the earliest forms of artificial lighting were made from natural grease-filled materials with fiber wick.  Ancient Greek philosophers were credited for the first peculations (500 BC) about the nature of light, followed by the first correctly attributed  vision to the passive reception of light reflected from objects by Ibn al-Haytham (1038 AD). The 17th century witnessed several progress in compound microscopes and refracting telescopes with advances in astronomy, e.g. by Galileo, Kepler and Snell. Further progress in nature of light was obtained from a long controversy between two theories: wave theory by Huygens (1629-1695); and particle theory of Newton (1642-1727). It was not until 1892 when the invention of the incandescent light bulbs, wire filament heated to high temperatures by electric current, were successfully completed by Thomas Edison. Through further advances in physics during 20th century, new knowledge and understanding was gained (http://www.canon.com/technology/s_labo/light/001/11.html) not only what regards the nature of light but also developing materials and laboratory procedures for production of artificial light by different types of lamps, e.g. ballast, fluorescent, compact fluorescent, halogen and LED (http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lighting). LED-lamps, in addition of being most energy effective artificial light sources, have several exceptional versatile and advantages for smart mobile application and integration in renewable energy-based timely applications.  http://www.nobelprize.org/mediaplayer/index.php?id=2370&view=2

Many physical phenomena exiting in nature, such as light, has fascinated humans to search about their origin and some of us went more in depth to find ways to study them and even re-produce them not only on small laboratory scales but also for much more wider everyday life applications. This is how our science and technology keep advancing and transforming observations and abstract ideas to understandable and comprehensible realities with useful applications for human benefits. Innovations keep generating new inventions replacing less efficient, less accurate and less secure inventions to more efficient, accurate and safe products. This evolution in science and technology is important, essential and imperative for improving the quality of life on earth and for achieving sustainable socio-economic developments. This is not a straightforward process free from difficulties, constrains, disappointments, failure, mobility, pain, and even threats, accidents and disasters and above all the continuous and hard struggle to find the necessary resources, investments and partners. Some of these can have solutions and remedies through preparedness, lobbies and also systematic, gradual and continuous build-up of pre-required and introductory knowledge as well as collaboration and teaming up in consortiums.

Science and technology nowadays, also market dynamics, are characterized by being trans-disciplinary with diffuse barriers between disciplines, so classification to physics, chemistry, physiology/medicine and economy is introducing increasing pressures not only on researchers, management of research infra-structures and projects, top peer-reviewed journals and research-funding organization but also on career-development-plans, involvement and shaping of early-stage researcher as well as construction and management of higher education in general. Alfred Nobel’s Will (http://www.nobelprize.org/alfred_nobel/will/testamente.html) (http://nobelpeaceprize.org/en_gb/alfred-nobel/testament/) stated that the prizes “shall be annually awarded to those who, during the preceding year shall have conferred the greatest benefit on mankind” within the disciplines of physics, chemistry, physiology/medicine, economy, literature and peace. With the new era of trans-disciplinary and trans-sectorial requirements for achieving sustainable socio-economic developments new possibilities for awarding the prize are to be expected for joint inventions by physicists and chemists; physicists, chemists and physiologists; chemists and physiologists; physicists and physiologists; ……. etc as long as the inventions are contributing to the greatest benefit to mankind. Classification into disciplines is just to give equal chances and terms to all disciplines contributing in “the greatest benefit on mankind” including existing and emerging nexuses (water-energy, environment-medicine, environment-economy, …. where underlying sciences can be combinations of physics, chemistry, physiology or even economy for example) with impacts on “the greatest benefit on mankind” in particular life quality and the conservation and protection of natural resources. The scientific career, engineering endeavor, entrepreneurship, mobility, diverse, dynamic and global engagement of Alfred Nobel and his concern about safety and peace as well as his transparency, cultural, literature and art interests have all in all finally resulted in unifying humans towards the neutral goals of the hard issues of science and technology with the soft face of humanity as reflected in literature and peace (http://sv.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred_Nobel).

Tuning the mission of science, technology and economy towards achieving sustainable socio-economic developments has to be completed by global instruments to foster mutual respect across geographical, cultural and religious boarders for achieving peace within and between different generations (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R6VQpB4kGtQ&app=desktop).

What makes Scandinavia expensive and beautiful is the costs associated with safety, security and quality of life on all levels. But there are things you need to know if you are planning a long stay, e.g. in Sweden (https://sweden.se/society/20-things-to-know-before-moving-to-sweden/).

It not only about tourism and long stays in Scandinavia and the Nordic countries but in general it is how the culture, social life and economy are being entangled and intertwined with nature and the environment. What you see as a tourist, or experience during a stay, has long history of socio-economic evolution, continuity in space and time and deep involvement of generations (http://www.academia.edu/7640463/Entangled_Environments_Historians_and_Nature_in_the_Nordic_Countries). The article explores questions of definition, disciplinary knowledge and the need for interdisciplinarity, and the problem of national, spatial, and temporal boundaries in environmental history. It concludes with a look to the future of Nordic environmental history.

The industrial revolution (http://sv.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Industriella_revolutionen), the advance of science and technology during past centuries (http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/20th_century) , and the associated accelerating “production-consumption” because of population pressures are taking us to new global tectonic shifts. The scream of nature and life on earth is forcing a new world order to bring about zero-carbon technologies for major cleanup of the atmosphere from all un-necessary emissions of carbon dioxide. Indeed, we should shape these shifts to a much more wider and inclusive cleanup from all toxic pollution and waste that are causing enormous and accelerating degradation of the atmosphere, the hydrosphere and the land. http://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.cfm?id=10

For many decades and even centuries there have been an accelerating divergence of the socio-economic twin “eco-nomy and eco-logy” with enormous feedback impacts on the functioning and metabolism of all life processes and qualities on earth. The convergence of the gap between eco-nomy and eco-logy is IMPERATIVE for achieving sustainable socio-economic developments around the world. Just some few examples from two most big economies in world the USA (http://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.cfm?id=10) and the emerging China (http://www.mining.com/china-the-worlds-biggest-energy-consumer-and-producer-72513/).

http://blogs.worldbank.org/climatechange/

We can dream to get a world which we can enjoy together in combinations of natural colors with positive impacts from worlds greatest music.

BBC for SCIENCE & ENVIRONMENT, 4 December 2014, tells that African soil crisis threatens food security because of substantial soil degradation where 65% of arable land, 30% of grazing land and 20% of forests are already damaged. This serious land degradation accounts for about a quarter of land area of sub-Saharan Africa, which is indeed a vast area. The study has been published ahead of the 2015 international year of soils.

According to Montpellier Panel, made up of agricultural, trade and ecology experts from Europe and Africa, the problem needed a higher priority by aid donors as land degradation reduced soil fertility, leading to lower crop yields and increased greenhouse gas emissions. Soil degradation was also hampering economic development, costing the continent’s farmers billions of dollars in lost income.

The Montpellier Panel said that this issue must be given ‘Global priority’ as Africa is facing a combination of severe difficulties of land degradation, poor yields and a growing population. Panel chairman Sir Prof Gordon Conway, from Imperial College London, described the issue as a “crisis of land degradation and soil management”, adding: “We have got to do something about it”. “There are about 180 million people who are living on land that is in some way or another degraded. It is really very severe.” Neglecting the health of Africa’s soil will lock the continent into a cycle of food insecurity for generations to come, a report has warned.

Other factors are likely to add further threats for accelerating soil degradation, e.g. global warming, hydro-electric power industries (http://www.internationalrivers.org/resources/big-dams-bringing-poverty-not-power-to-africa-2006) and peak phosphorus by the end of this century  (http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peak_phosphorus).

http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-30277514

Living conditions on earth are highly dependent on climate and weather conditions that are primarily controlled by natural conditions on the earth and its position in the solar system. This is except the negative man-made impacts on the environment and climate that started with the expansion of world population and after the industrial revolution with observable effects on life during the past century.

So far, the major achievements of humans on earth have been dramatic. In addition to ancient civilizations, the past centuries have witnessed major global transformations that are brought about by enormous scientific and technical advances and innovation. Such developments and the associated fast urbanization, after the first and second world wars, have caused gradual marginalization, or even isolation, of some or even major populations in many regions around the world which is indeed the essence of increasing poverty, at least in relative terms. With the initial stages of the digital revolution such gaps have also increased though in the long run they would rather shrink because of increasing access to knowledge and the associated benefits from the “transfer-of-knowledge” and “exchange-of-knowledge”.

With the increasing globalization there are growing needs not only to understand and to know the life under “normal” conditions, i.e. less natural extremes in weather, but also to know more about how “normal” is “normal” under climate conditions that are drifting from the natural functioning of the earth’s system. In particular we need to widen our knowledge on the more extremes in harsh environments (http://www.therichest.com/rich-list/here-are-5-of-the-harshest-environments-on-earth/). Such understanding on the global level allows promoting and extending the applicability of science and technology. However, climate and weather conditions set severe limitations on the applications that can be based on scientific and technical advances and innovations. Remote cities (http://www.buzzfeed.com/adamdavis/the-most-remote-and-extreme-cities-around-the-world) and places at the end of the earth (Palmerston: The island at the end of the earth http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-25430383) are few examples. Also, the living conditions of rural populations in particular “uncontacted people” or the so-called “isolated peoples or lost tribes”, i.e. who live, or have lived, either by choice or by circumstance, without significant contact with the more globalized world (http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uncontacted_peoples). The increasing mobility and movement of people is bringing with it new needs for globalization of “cultures and traditions” rather than, and not only limited to or forced by, globalization of science and technology. Coupling science and technology to cultures and traditions is among difficult challenges in many places around the world.

In spite of the fact that our planet is undergoing a population explosion there are regions with declining populations because of increasing isolation. In the website below we will take you to places, e.g. the isolated areas of Arctic, Antarctic, canyons, deserts, Saharas, ……,  where it would be even hard to find a companion. It can even be much harder to survive in these places with the “affordable” technologies we have in populated urbanized regions. With this insight you will probably have a new appreciation for the people in your life, or you may probably prefer to stay where you are and do much better to preserve and protect your environment. Anyway enjoy these 25 most remote places in the world:

http://list25.com/the-25-most-remote-places-in-the-world/