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March 2004
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We invite you to speak your mind on these hot topics and global issues plucked from the pages of National Geographic magazine. For more on the subject go to the online feature page, or read the March issue of NGM.
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Harp Seals
Harp seal numbers have been climbing steadily for years, and hunting of whitecoat pups—once a cause célèbre of anti-fur activists—has been outlawed in Canada since 1987. But it's still open season after the seals wean at about two weeks old, and more are being hunted now than at any time in the past 35 years. In Canada last year some 286,000 harp seals were harvested, most of which were less than four months old. Is harp seal hunting a sustainable harvest or a senseless slaughter? Share your opinion about harp seal hunting. Enter>>
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China's Growing Pains
As China moves from a planned economy to free enterprise, the developing nation faces a legacy of environmental neglect. With nearly four times as many citizens as the U.S., how would the Chinese cope if the average family in China had two cars, and, like Americans, the average person ate 269 pounds (122 kg) of meat a year? And, since the average American consumes nine times as much energy, uses four times as much water, and releases nearly eight times as much greenhouse gas as the average person in China, do Americans have a right to criticize China? Share your thoughts on China's growing pains. Enter>>
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Zip: Talladega, AL
Today the severely and profoundly deaf have more technological options available to them than at any other time. And the cochlear implant—a device that enhances hearing by converting sound into electrical signals and transmitting them to the auditory nerve and brain—is the most advanced of these. However, not everyone in the deaf community is embracing this technology. Some feel their deafness is not a disability that needs to be repaired, but a natural linguistic difference that's given rise to deaf culture. Do you view deafness as an impairment or a linguistic difference? If you were born deaf, would you undergo surgery to enhance your hearing? Enter>>
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Hip Zips
Nominate your favorite zip or postal code for coverage in the pages of National Geographic. Our magazine series—ZipUSA—takes a periodic peek at special corners of the country by zip code. We like the concept so much that we're going global and extending our stories to include international postal codes as well. So describe a weird, wacky, wonderful locale of your own choosing—it just might make it into the magazine—and read postings from other folks too. Enter>>
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