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Dear friends,
Please sign the the following petition which will be sent to the 2009 Copenhagen conference and governments across Europe.
The petition asks for the world's leaders to promote a plant based for all citizens in order to save the planet from global warming.
For more details please read the petition at :
Stop eating Meat - and heal our Planet!

http://fleischverbot.info/petition/

Farm Sanctuary Releases Report on “Humane” Meat Labels

Consumers are becoming increasingly aware of and concerned about the cruel treatment of animals exploited for meat, milk and eggs. In response, animal producers and food retailers are developing programs to market their products in ways that appeal to these growing concerns, using labels like “humane,” “natural,” “cage free” and “organic.” But what do these terms really mean? Taking a closer look at the substance behind these labels, we see that they refer to a wide range of living conditions for animals — and they may not be consistent with what consumers envision.
Farm Sanctuary reviewed information on meat, milk and egg product labels promoted by government agencies, industry associations, retailers, and third-party interest groups that purport to provide some level of enhanced welfare for the animals involved. A critical look shows that while some farm animals housed and handled under the tenets of a “certified” labeling scheme may suffer less than others, the degree to which their welfare has improved is still far from “humane.” And all animals exploited for meat, dairy or egg production – whether factory farmed or otherwise – meet the same cruel end at the slaughterhouse.

Gruesome Facial Tumor Disease Threatens Taz with Extinction

The disease referred to as “a contagious cancer”, ,, is decimating the population of Tasmanian Devils, leading experts to predict the extinction of the species in as little as 20 years.
Tasmanian devils have now been put on the Tasmanian endangered species list due to the decimation of the population by up to 70% in recent years. The cause of the die-off is Devil Facial Tumor Disease (DFTD), a disease detected 13 years ago, which is a fatal condition in Tasmanian devils, characterized by cancers around the mouth and head. The animals generally only live for about three months after contracting the disease.
The tumors are first seen in and around the mouth as small lesions, which develop into large tumors around the face and neck. The disease is extremely unusual, as it is only one of three

Climate Change Could Displace Millions In Asia's Coral Triangle

ScienceDaily (May 14, 2009) — Coral reefs could disappear entirely from the Coral Triangle region of the Pacific Ocean by the end of the century, threatening the food supply and livelihoods for about 100 million people, according to a new study from World Wildlife Fund.
Averting catastrophe will depend on quick and effective global action on climate change coupled with the implementation of regional solutions to problems of over-fishing and pollution, according to The Coral Triangle and Climate Change: Ecosystems, People and Societies at Risk, a WWF-commissioned study presented at the World Oceans Conference in Manado, Indonesia May 13.
“This area is the planet’s crown jewel of coral diversity and we are watching it disappear before our eyes,” said Catherine Plume, Director of the Coral Triangle Program for WWF-US. “But as this study shows, there are opportunities to prevent this tragedy while sustaining the livelihoods of millions who rely on its riches.”
The report offers two dramatically different scenarios for the Coral Triangle, which is comprised of the coasts, reefs and seas of the countries of Indonesia, the Philippines, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands and Timor Leste. The Coral Triangle occupies
Just one percent of the Earth’s surface, but is home to fully 30 percent of the world’s coral reefs, 76 percent of reef-building coral species and more than 35 percent of coral reef fish species. It is also serves as vital spawning grounds for other economically important fish such as tuna.
“In one scenario, we continue along our current climate trajectory and do little to protect coastal environments from the onslaught of local threats,” said Queensland University Professor Ove Hoegh-Guldberg, who led the study. “In this world, people see the biological treasures of the Coral Triangle destroyed over the course of the century by rapid increases in ocean temperature, acidity and sea level, while the resilience of coastal environments also deteriorates under faltering coastal management. Poverty increases, food security plummets, economies suffer and coastal people migrate increasingly to urban areas.”
The report also highlighted opportunities to avoid a worst-case scenario in the region through significant reductions in greenhouse gas emissions and international investment in strengthening the region’s natural environments, solutions that would help to build a resilient and robust Coral Triangle in which economic growth, food security and natural environments are maintained.
“Climate change in the Coral Triangle is challenging but manageable, and the region would respond well to reductions in local environmental stresses from overfishing, pollution, and declining coastal water quality and health,” Hoegh-Guldberg said.
Even under the best case scenario however, communities in the region can expect to experience dramatic losses of coral, rising sea level, increased storm activity, severe droughts and reduced food availability from coastal fisheries. But effective management of coastal resources would mean the communities would remain reasonably intact and more resilient in the face of such hardships.

Animal Welfare Issues

SupremeMasterTV.com

As farming has become increasingly industrialized, animals raised for food production are treated more like commodities than animals. They are handled as units of production, rather than living, breathing creatures. This mechanized approach ignores animals’ needs, which often sacrifices their health and wellbeing in the name of higher profits. Although there is controversy surrounding the degrees of comfort and freedom that farm animals should have, most people agree that farm animals deserve a minimum standard of cleanliness and space, and that animals should not be made to suffer needlessly. Increasingly, more and more consumers are demanding better treatment of animals.
Much of the problem of animal welfare has to do with the basic structure of industrial farms. Confining animals indoors, as closely together as possible, rather than letting them roam and graze on pasture, exposes the animals to high levels of toxins, which are released when so much manure decomposes in an enclosed space. To counteract the disease inherent in such conditions, animals are given constant doses of antibiotics. Animals are exposed to pesticides and other unhealthy additives through their feed, and are often bred and fed to produce unnatural amounts of eggs, milk or meat.
While many of the techniques utilized on factory farms were developed to make production more profitable, other techniques were implemented to increase efficiency and safety. However, these practices often cause discomfort, pain, and stress to animals, while inhibiting their natural, instinctual behaviors. Though industrial production practices may help “mechanize” the animals by decreasing interference with production, they ultimately create health problems in both animals and humans.

Swine Flu Ancestor Born on U.S. Factory Farms

Swine Flu Ancestor Born on U.S. Factory Farms
At an environmental level, the conditions which shaped H3N2 and H1N2 evolution, and increased the variants’ chances of taking a human-contagious form, are well understood. High-density animal production facilities came to dominate the U.S. pork industry during the late 20th century, and have been adopted around the world. Inside them, pigs are packed so tightly that they cannot turn, and literally stand in their own waste.
Diseases travel rapidly through such immunologically stressed populations, and travel with the animals as they are shuttled throughout the United States between birth and slaughter. That provides ample opportunity for strains to mingle and recombine. An ever-escalating array of industry-developed vaccines confer short-term protection, but at the expense of provoking flu to evolve in unpredictable ways.

The Pew commission concluded that this system created an “increased chance for a strain to emerge that can infect and spread in humans.” Scientists and public health experts have said the same thing for years, in even starker terms.
In 2003, the American Public Health Association called for a ban on contained animal feeding operations. One year later, St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital virologist Richard Webby, one of the original chroniclers of H3N2’s emergence, called the U.S. swine population “an increasingly important reservoir of viruses with human pandemic potential.” United States Department of Agriculture researcher Amy Vincent reportedly said that vaccine-driven evolution