Islands of the World : SOS
For the first time in human history, the North Pole can be circumnavigated -- the Arctic ice is melting quicker than many anticipated. The devastating effects of climate change are also accelerating sea level rise and small island nations are preparing evacuation plans to guarantee the survival of their populations. In a week, these small islands are tabling a resolution calling on the UN Security Council to address climate change as a pressing threat to international peace and security. But the island states' campaign for survival is meeting fierce opposition, so they need our help. Sign the petition now

Bush lets trash collect on ocean sanctuary he promised to protect
In 2006, President Bush established 140,000 square miles of Hawaiian island and surrounding ocean as a national monument, citing the need to protect the extensive reef and the 7,000 rare species living there. Two years later, officials say the clean-up efforts were better before Bush's designation. In his 2006 speech at the signing of the proclamation Bush said: As a marine national monument, the waters of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands will receive our nation's highest form of marine environmental protection. We will protect a precious natural resource. We will show our respect for the cultural and historical importance of this area. And we will create an important place for research and learning about how we can be good stewards of our oceans and our environment. The archipelago, now known as Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument, is plagued by huge amounts of debris that wash up on the islands' shores. In 2005, before its designation as a national monument, the area received a $2.1 million cleanup budget. Through 2008, the Bush administration requested only $400,000 per year

How the world's oceans are running out of fish
The future of our seas has never been more precarious. Ninety years of industrial-scale overfishing has brought us to the brink of an ecological catastrophe and deprived millions of their livelihoods.

Beach Cleanup Tally: 6 Million Pounds of Trash
Last September, the Ocean Conservancy sponsored a worldwide beach cleanup effort. This week it released its findings: 6 million pounds of garbage was cleared from beaches in a single day. The biggest single source of debris was from smoking materials.

No Pristine Oceans Left
No areas of the world's oceans remain completely untouched by humanity's influence, according to a new study. The project revealed that more than 40 percent of the world's marine ecosystems are heavily affected.

House Approves Superferry Service for Now
[In another setback for the Ocean] The Hawaii House on Wednesday approved legislation that allows the Hawaii Superferry to resume interisland service while an environmental impact statement is conducted. The Senate approved the measure 20-5 on Monday. The House voted 39 to 11. One legislator was excused. The legislation establishes a task force to observe ferry operations, and implements measures to mitigate the ferry's potential to harm whales and transport invasive species.

Foods Carrying the USDA '95% Organic' Seal Are Now Allowed to Contain Factory Farmed Intestines, PCBs, and Mercury
Despite receiving more than ten thousand comments from consumers and family farmers opposing various aspects of a late May 2007 proposal, the USDA has approved a rule that will allow 38 new non-organic ingredients to be allowed in products bearing the "USDA Organic" seal. But the agency says this may just be interim approval, ,and has offered to extend the public comment period another 60 days (the original public comment period was only 7 days). "The ruling is yet another reason for organic-minded shoppers to carefully read ingredient labels, look for '100% Organic' labels, and buy from local family farmers via your area co-op, farmers market or CSA." Take action and send a letter to the USDA here.

How Trash Travels to Our Islands
Greenpeace has provided an animated tool online to view the source of the increasing amount of trash found in Hawai`i.

The Science Journal Nature confirms New Hope for Oceans and Fisheries
Americans love seafood. From fish sandwiches to gourmet wild Alaskan salmon—five billion pounds of seafood a year. Only consumption in Japan and China is greater. According to a report in the journal Science, several of the world’s leading marine biologists concluded that, if bad fishing practices continued, in a worse-case scenario all fish and seafood species worldwide would crash by 2048. Whether this and similar conjectures come true depends on how we respond to the biological and economic decline of fisheries. The good news is that this doesn’t have to be a reality.

For 1,000 or More Homeless in Hawaii, Beaches Are the Best Option
When the home she had rented for 30 years for $300 a month was sold, Alice Greenwood and her 6-year-old son joined an estimated 1,000 people living in tents along the 13 miles of beaches on the Waianae Coast of Oahu. “Being homeless is not a crime, it is the fault of the government,” Mrs. Greenwood said. “I can understand when it’s 20, 30 people, but when it hits the thousands. ...”

Ecosystems under Threat: Invasion of the Alien Species
Whether by accident or design, humankind has been responsible for the creation of monsters right across the world. Some are big, some are small - but all of them are scary. The photo to the left is a "echizen kurage". They are 6ft wide and weigh 450lb (200kg), with countless poisonous tentacles.

Plastic Trash Vortex Menaces Pacific Sealife
The contents of the 'Yellow Thing' after a trawl in the high seas of the Central North Pacific Ocean, October 30, 2006. The environmental group Greenpeace is highlighting the threat plastic poses to the world's oceans. Old toothbrushes, beach toys and used condoms are part of a vast vortex of plastic trash in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, threatening sea creatures that get tangled in it, eat it or ride on it, a new report says. Because plastic doesn't break down the way organic material does, ocean currents and tides have carried it thousands of miles (kms) to an area between Hawaii and the U.S. West Coast, according to the study by the international environmental group Greenpeace.

Act Now to Restore Habitat
We have a rare and urgent opportunity to restore native habitat on thousands of acres of Hawaiian ranch and farmland to help protect Hawaii's endangered wildlife. Send an email to your state legislators to support state funding to protect Hawaii's wildlife.

Message to the Po `e (the people)
I urge all who understand the history of an illegally overthrown government and who believe in justice to turn away from the distractions. Do not spend your energy worrying about or combating the actions of the occupying power. While examining those actions can provide useful lessons

Save the Oceans
We are awed by life in the sea - whether by animals that speak to our humanity, such as dolphins and whales, or species so foreign that they appear as though from another planet. The oceans are vast, mysterious worlds that few of us have ever really explored. Perhaps precisely because these worlds are so inaccessible to us, destructive industries have taken liberty to destroy fragile ocean ecosystems and use the seas as dumping grounds for waste. Industrial fishing fleets have removed all but 10 percent of the oceans' large fish.

URGENT: Save Marine Mammals from Seismic Blasts
21-jun-05—I have worked for Greenpeace for 14 years, and I've fought against many efforts to exploit the environment during that time. But today, I'm outraged by a proposal in Congress to allow seismic testing along our entire coastline to explore for oil and gas. Seismic blasts have a decibel level of 260 - that's more than twice as loud as an ambulance siren! Whales, dolphins and other marine mammals rely on their sense of hearing to navigate, to locate food and to communicate with each other. Exposure to this level of sound can cause deafening disorientation and can lead to permanent damage, brain hemorrhaging and even cause entire pods of whales and dolphins to beach. The Senate will vote on this dangerous clause TODAY, so your help is urgently needed.

Mired in Denial, Lost in the Present
Dropping in on the Apocalypse. Okay, then, what about those glaciers, already oft-reported to be retreating worldwide -- from Mt. Kilimanjaro to the highest peak in the world, Mount Everest, which, thanks to the [US], is possibly four feet shorter than it once was. Well, the news on this -- if you happen to see the slightest value in your basic glacier -- is meltingly grim. (It's worth remembering that unlike sea ice whose loss won't raise sea levels -- think of a melting ice cube in a drink -- glaciers, which are essentially frozen rivers sitting on land, have enormous potential to raise those levels and so sink islands as well as low-lying farm lands and cities.)

Acid seas put marine ecosystems at risk
Gigantic changes to the world's oceans, leading to the complete disappearance of marine life from cod to coral reefs, are now threatened by the main greenhouse gas causing global warming.

Marine Chemical May Cause Hearing Damage In Whales
Yale researchers say a chemical used to protect marine vessels against barnacles clinging to their hulls may be doing damage to the hearing of whales and other mammals.

Have a question about Hawaiian geography, weather, or culture? As this web site grows, we hope that we will provide the answers residents and seasonal visitors of all ages are seeking.

Aloha kãkou, and welcome to the “Aloha News Network”. We are advocates for human rights, the protection of our environment, sustainable living, and the creation of fair and equitable political and social systems. Creating inclusive and safe communities is no easy task when the only thing we all share in common are our differences. In Hawaii we have residents (and seasonal guests) who are tall, short, heavy, thin, who embody many races, cultures, and ethnicity's; people who are red, white, black, brown, yellow, pink and polka-dotted with freckles; homosexual, heterosexual and every point in-between. We have designed this space to be an open forum where all may feel welcome to share and contribute positively toward Hawaii's future and freedom. This web site is also accessible from the Aloha Spirit Network. Mahalo iâ `oe no ke kipa `ana mai. E kipa mai hou!