This follows the recent news that the United States was pledging their support, but Japan, where most bluefin tuna is eaten, is considering opting out of CITES controls. The EU is backing exemptions for traditional fishers, and deferring the ban for a year.

Many hotels made that list and the one that stands out the most is the Talbott Hotel which happens to not only be one of the best luxury hotels in Chicago but the first Green Seal-certified hotels in the United States.

Green Seal is a Washington DC based non-profit that provides environmental certification science based standards. What’s different about the Green seal’s standard-setting process is that it works as a collaborative process making its rules fairer and allows for complete transparency gathering its input from industry, government, academia and the public.

The Talbott Hotel met the Green Seal approval not only by offsetting 100% of its electricity with the use of wind power but also has and extensive recycling program, all of it equipment from lighting to heating is energy efficient and rewards its guests for responsible practices by purchasing one month carbon offsets.

Directed by Louie Psihoyos, one of the world’s most prominent still photographers, the film depicts, partly through the use of hidden cameras and microphones, the capture of dolphins by local fishermen in the whaling town of Taiji, Wakayama Prefecture.

If you haven’t seen it - do so now. This is a film which must be seen and talked about.

“The regulatory mechanisms that have been relied upon have failed to do the job,” said Strickland, who will lead the U.S. delegation to the CITES world conference March 13 to 25. “We are literally at a moment where if we don’t get this right, we could see this very, very special species really at risk for survival.” said Tom Strickland, the Interior Department’s assistant secretary for fish and wildlife and parks, in a recent interview.

In the last 50 years, the adult population of eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean bluefin tuna has declined 74%, much of it in the past decade. In the western Atlantic, the population has dropped 82% in 40 years.

Reuters says that there are no initial reports of damage.

Taiwan was hit by a 7.6-magnitude earthquake in September 1999 that killed more than 2,000 people.

This is a really cool campaign, and it has just started, so check out the website and see how you can help!

http://www.72hoursamericanpower.com/

Capital buildings swayed for around 20 seconds, with bridges and homes collaspsing. The death toll is at 122 at this point, but is expected to rise.

A tsunami set off by quake threatened every nation around the Pacific Ocean, triggering tsunami warnings for Chile, Peru and all the way to the Hawaiin islands.

With power and phone lines down right now, Americans seeking information on friends and family are instructed to call 1-888-407-4747.

Fresh, clean water is a priceless commodity that many live without. According to UN-Water, an inter-agency organization established by the United Nations to respond to the worldwide water shortage, more than one sixth of the world’s population, 894 million people, currently have no fresh water. Incredibly, over 2.5 billion people do not have proper forms of water sanitation, a lack of which can lead to widespread disease and malnutrition. http://www.unwater.org/statistics_san.html. As a result of these dangerous and unhealthy conditions, 1.5 million children die every year from complications due to improper water sanitation. These fatalities are preventable, which adds a sense of urgency to this global issue.

Although an international water shortage has the potential for disastrous results, I believe that we are capable of handling the water supply and sanitation problems; however, we must be efficient and utilize all available resources to achieve success. Right now, an especially powerful population of students is being ignored. As a future undergraduate student, I view this demographic as an engaging, passionate and driven group of young adults whose willingness to donate time, effort and resources would be an invaluable addition to the struggle to reverse the global water shortage. It is absurd for this active population to be bypassed when relief organizations worldwide are struggling to find sufficient manpower to combat the water shortage.

Admittedly, many schools in the United States are already working to assuage the impact of the water shortage; however, there is still a lack of a collective, organized effort on behalf of the universities to encourage ongoing remediation. Princeton University’s Davis Projects for Peace recently sponsored two undergraduate students to travel to the small village of Jorit, Ethiopia where they spent their summer building a clean water system for the town. Endeavors like these are required in greater numbers to truly instigate change on an international level. Other institutions such as Georgetown University and Tufts University have sponsored lectures on the subject in an attempt to educate individuals on the severity of this threat as well as the importance of conservation efforts that will prevent water shortage from reoccurring or intensifying. These efforts are a solid starting point, but they are not enough to change the progression of the water shortage. Why can’t universities use their research capabilities to teach students methods of water sanitation that they can then spread to the areas in need across the globe? Student time abroad could count for college credits as compensation for their efforts. This idea is not so far-fetched; thousands of college students already participate in summer internships around the world. These young adults are eager to explore the world, so let’s exploit their curiosity and travel instincts in a productive manner that will not only provide aid for those suffering from a lack of clean water, but will also promote an ongoing commitment to service abroad at the university level.

Clearly there is much work to be done before this issue will be resolved; however, with the help of our nation’s youth, the process would be expedited. In the United States, there are approximately eighteen million college students and seventeen million high school students. These astounding figures add up to be over eleven percent of the nation’s population. This vast quantity of young adults provides the power to initiate real change in the regions that are affected most by the devastating water shortage. It is this kind of active, zealous participant that is required in order to truly improve, and eventually resolve, the water crisis. We can no longer ignore this dedicated, enthusiastic group of individuals when dealing with the international water shortage. I would like to see more colleges and universities implement scholastic options that would include hands-on work abroad by students, supervised by faculty, building water treatment plants and educating local residents on sanitation and conservation methods. The academic content is interdisciplinary, cutting across the humanities departments as well as the sciences. The potential the student population holds is critical to the success of the efforts to ameliorate this global issue.

Because water is the most vital resource to human life, the lack of water is the most significant malady currently afflicting the world. This problem is a critical issue today, but it will be a global crisis tomorrow. If nothing is done to stop this potential disaster, entire populations will be forced to survive without the most basic resource that all living things need and deserve: fresh, clean water.

Sara Clark is a senior at Council Rock High School North in Newtown, Pennsylvania, located twenty miles north of Philadelphia.  She has lived in Newtown for eleven years.  Next year, she plans to attend college in the United States, where she anticipates majoring in International Relations.  She feels very strongly about the global water shortage and plans to incorporate this international issue into her undergraduate education as well as her work and experiences beyond college.

They released a statement shortly after an official at SeaWorld Orlando said that the killer whale, Tilikum, is being evaluated and that the theme park will keep the animal. The same killer whale that killed Brancheau has been linked to two previous deaths since 1991.

Dawn Brancheau, who was 40 years old, had been “interacting” with the killer whale in knee-deep water “when the animal grabbed her by the hair, and pulled her underwater.” Rescuers were not able to immediately jump in and render assistance” to Brancheau due to Tilikum’s “aggressive nature.”