Patagonia without Dams march, Temuco, Chile

voyagers:

During our last week before leaving for Patagonia, we took part on the Patagonia Without Dams march that took place in Temuco

Todays demonstration was at a national level, all of Chile’s biggest cities are participating in a national movement to protect one of the most bio-diverse places on Earth

Here are some pictures, you can see more in our Flickr

A video about a neighbor building between 8:20 and 9:40 (with some pictures at 6:30 and 7:50 pm =) I blurred the video on purpose, because I wanted to avoid misunderstanding :P by green.lemonpie.cl

If you are an artist and you are looking for Coachella VIP tickets and an opportunity to show your artwork to the world this is your chance!

TRASHed Coachella is searching the globe for the greatest artists in modern time to assist with redesigning recycling bins for Coachella

 2011. Since 2004, Coachella has hosted this interactive recycling bin art walk to help keep the festival grounds spotless and looking good.

Source and more info: http://coachella.com/event/sustain#Rec 

 Another great news is that the Recycling empty bottles initiative is back! and if you are attending Coachella Festival you just need to collect ten empty bottles and you will receive 1 bottle of water :D With this initiative you help to clean the place and recycle and also you are saving a lot of money because water is priceless in the middle of the desert :D

(Source: coachella.com)

THE ULTIMATE ROLLER COASTER RIDE: A Brief History of Fossil Fuels

Fossil fuels have powered human growth and ingenuity for centuries. Now that we’re reaching the end of cheap and abundant oil and coal supplies, we’re in for an exciting ride. While there’s a real risk that we’ll fall off a cliff, there’s still time to control our transition to a post-carbon future

Codelco and Solarpack will build the first industrial solar plant in South America

Solarpack, the Spanish multi-national company specializing in solar photovoltaic power plant development, investment, consulting, and services, and Codelco, the largest copper producer in the world, will construct the first industrial solar electric power plant in South America.

The Calama Solar 3 project agreement specifies construction and operation of 1MW of installed power in a new solar photovoltaic power plant (equivalent to the consumption of 1,500 households). It will provide electric power to the mining company facilities in Chuquicamata, located in the north of Chile.

Amazon drought, worst in 47 years

The Amazon’s 18-meter level on September was the lowest since 1963, disrupting transportation of food, fuel and medicines in northern Brazil. Growers in Brazil’s Southeast expect the drought will lessen output of the nation’s key commodities. Brazil is the world’s biggest producer of coffee, sugar and oranges. The prices of this products are increasing around the globe

The Amazon river and its basin functioning at half their normal capacity, when compared to the 2005 drought, it’s threatening rainforests, livelihoods, and entire populations as the maneuvering of supplies to river towns becomes extremely difficult.

There is enough water available to meet human need, but…

Although less than one per cent of water on the Earth is currently accessible for direct human use, there is enough water available to meet human and environmental needs. The challenge is to secure enough water of good quality in a way that doesn’t destroy the very ecosystems, rivers, lakes and aquifers, from which we take our water supplies.

We all live at the water’s edge, whether we are at the end of a pipe or at the bank of a river. We need water for our basic survival, for cultivating crops, for generating energy and for producing the goods that we use every day. However, the use of freshwater ecosystem service is now well beyond levels that can be sustained even at current demands and forecasts consistently suggest that demand for water will continue to rise in most parts of the world.

River fragmentation

Increased demand for water and hydroelectricity

Bye bye stromatolites, it was awesome having you here for the last 3.5 billion years

Chilean authorities recently approved a new mining project, Pampa Hermosa property of SQM. Pampa Hermosa project is going to extract iodine, sodium nitrate and potassium nitrate near the Pampa del Tamarugal, an oasis of life in the middle of the Atacama Desert.

Even though the project is located just 50 km from the coast, instead of utilizing treated seawater, they are going to extract water form the aquifers Salar de Llamara (Llamara salt flat) and Quebrada Amarga, the last one gives water to the Loa River, the most important in the region.

The Llamara salt flat is one of the last places on earth where stromatolites are still alive, and the only one where the government doesn’t protect them.