Plastic free Gurukul

Gurukul Community.Com: Towards Green Gurukul, Plastic Free Gurukul

Plastic waste stifles hydel project on Beas

Plastic waste stifles hydel project on Beas

Sat, Jun 28 03:01 AM

Tourism is taking its toll on the Larji Hydel project. While plastic is choking Beas, polythenes and bottles are flowing downwards from Rohtang Pass to the 126 MW hydel project on the river. The recent heavy downpours have swept down the plastic waste left behind by tourists in Manali and Rohtang Pass to the hydel project.

While Manali Municipal Committee Chairperson Naveen Thakur claims that efforts to curb plastic menace by banning plastic bags and removing plastic waste have been on for some time now, this tourist season, the problem has cropped up afresh.

Ajay Mittal, HPSEB Chairman and state's Principal Secretary (Power), says: "On a daily basis, we remove tonnes of plastic waste that gets accumulated at the barrage site. At times, the garbage slips into the machines as well. This could hit power generation and damage the machines."

Till now, the HPSEB has been clearing the plastic waste manually. "Our men go down into the river, close to the barrage and remove heaps of plastic. It is not only plastic bottles but also beer bottles that get stuck here," says D R Sharma, Superintending Engineer at Larji. The annual expenditure incurred in clearing the garbage exceeds Rs 1 crore, say officials.

Harinder Hira, Principal Secretary (Environment and Scientific Technologies) says: "I have directed Deputy Commissioner of Kullu, M Sudha Devi, to start a campaign for clearing all plastic garbage in the area."

Mittal has directed engineers to devise a way to ensure regular removal of plastic garbage from the river. "Cleaning of the river is an arduous task, but we have to do it to protect the project."

Climate Change Linked to National Security : Now the major players can act

Climate Change Linked to National Security
By PAMELA HESS
June 25, 2008



Global warming is likely to increase illegal immigration, create humanitarian disasters and destabilize precarious governments in political hot spots, all of which could affect U.S. national security, according to an assessment by U.S. intelligence agencies.

Sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East and Central and Southeast Asia are most vulnerable to warming-related drought, flooding, extreme weather and hunger. The intelligence assessment warns of the global impact from the spillover: increased migration and "water-related disputes," according to prepared remarks by Tom Fingar, deputy director of national intelligence for analysis, who was scheduled to speak before a joint House committee hearing.

"We judge that the most significant impact for the United States will be indirect and result from climate-driven effects on many other countries and their potential to seriously affect U.S. national security interests," Fingar stated.
Related

The national intelligence assessment on the national security implications of global climate change to 2030 is one of a series of periodic intelligence reports that offer the consensus judgment of top analysts at all 16 U.S. spy agencies on major foreign policy, security and global economic issues. Congress requested the report last year.

The assessment deals with the projected effects of climate change, and not just the negative ones. It predicts modest improvements in agricultural yields in North America and more water resources in South America. It predicts that most U.S. allies will have the means to cope economically. Fingar says, however, that unspecified "regional partners" could face severe problems.

Fingar states that the quality of the analysis is hampered by the fact that climate data tend not to focus on specific countries but rather on broad global changes.

Africa is among the most vulnerable regions, the report states. An expected increase in droughts there could cut agricultural yields of rain-dependent crops by up to half in the next 12 years.

Creation of the US Environmental Protection Agency

Cuyahoga River Catches Fire (1969)
Described in a Time magazine article as a river that "oozes rather than flows" and a waterway in which a person "does not drown but decays,” Ohio's Cuyahoga River used to be so heavily polluted that it actually caught fire on a number of occasions. The river fire of 1969, which received national media attention, helped spur the environmental movement of the late 1960s and prompted the creation of the US Environmental Protection Agency. What sparked a 1936 fire on the river?

For more details: United States Environmental Protection Agency, Cuyahoga River Area of Concern, June 20th, 2007.

Al Gore looks to India to lead climate change fight

India Today Conclave
India Today ConclaveEvent CoverageDay 3 March 15, '08



Al Gore looks to India to lead climate change fight
Saurabh Shukla
New Delhi, March 15, 2008




"Become activist citizens; India can lead the way on climate change," global eco-warrior and former US Vice-President Al Gore said today.

Al Gore was speaking at the concluding session “Leadership For 21st Century” at the India Today Conclave 2008 in New Delhi.

"Have pollution taxes, reduce other taxes," proposed the Nobel Peace Laureate for 2007, adding that this was the mantra many countries had adopted.

Ringing the alarm bells on the global crisis of climate change, Al Gore said: "We face a planetary emergency. The change of thinking has to happen in India, changing the laws is more important."

Al Gore – an Oscar winner for his movie An Inconvenient Truth and recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize for creating awareness on climate change – said the sense of urgency on tackling climate change is still not there. "Advanced developing countries like India have to provide leadership," he said.

Asked why countries were not doing enough to address the crisis, Al Gore said: "India has a big role to play, India is not doing it because the US is not doing. We share each other’s excuses for not safeguarding the planet."

AL Gore
Climate change shouldn't be treated as a political problem but a moral imperative, says Al Gore
"The goal is to evoke an effective response that requires mass action," he added.

Al Gore was candid in admitting that the US needs to do much more on climate change. He said US – the single largest emitter of global emissions – has done the least in solving the problem. "The US should be providing leadership which it is not. We need to see it not as a political problem but as a moral imperative."

Al Gore said the opportunity is far more than the danger that climate crisis poses. "We must see the opportunity and rise to it for the future generations to undertake work to do our part and do it well."

Articulating his concerns on the climate change crisis, Al Gore often had the audience in splits. "I am a recovering politician," he said.

"I flew on Air Force Two for eight years, now I have to take my shoes off to get on an airplane," Al Gore earlier said to a loud applause.

Asked why he didn’t do enough about climate change when in power, Al Gore said: "I did everything I could do while I was Vice-President. I went to Kyoto against the advice of everyone, but I was not able to convince more than one out of 100 senators to ratify it. But they feared they will be defeated."

"I realised this (climate change issue) could be solved if there is a sense of urgency and a sea change in public opinion."

Earlier Aroon Purie, Editor-in-Chief, India Today, welcomed Al Gore for the event’s gala dinner. "Al, you are a rock star today in your own right. Your work on climate change is pure genius, you have made climate change a sexy subject," Purie said, complementing the global leader on sensitising the world to the dangers of climate change.

Right and Left together on ecocrisis

tag: environment

Rising sea threatens Bapu's Dandi

Rising sea threatens Bapu's Dandi
7 Jun 2008, 0441 hrs IST,Hitarth Pandya & Melvyn Thomas,TNN

SURAT/BHAVNAGAR: Has global warming started wreaking havoc on Gujarat's winding coastline? A high tide in the Arabian Sea doesn't normally create panic.

But on Friday its rising waters threatened to drown Saifee Villa where Mahatma Gandhi had taken on the British by picking up a pinch of salt at Dandi. Besides, waters were not too far away from Iran Shah, where the Parsis have kept the Holy Fire at Udwada.

Seawater also entered some coastal villages of Surat and Bhavnagar. An alert has also been sounded at Alang, asking fishermen not to venture into the sea. In Bhavnagar, Katpur, Kotda and Jashwantpura villages saw seawaters entering their fields.

"The water has already reached near Dastoor Bag. One can see the water at the rear compound wall of Atash Behram. Generally this happens during the monsoon but this time, it has happened before the monsoon," said local resident Shukkar Tandel at Udwada.

At Dandi, the water reached the makeshift police chowky at the beach. "I had to warn tourists not to go too close to the water since it was deep. Had there been a marginal increase in the water level, it would have entered the village," said forest official PH Mahida at Dandi beach.

Magan Patel, sarpanch of Dabhari village in Surat, said: "A road separates our village from the sea but it was inundated on Friday. We had a similar situation in 1998 when seawaters had entered the village washing away the earthen embankments. This time too the embankment was washed away."

Manish Lodhari, secretary of National Fish Workers' Association said the sea along coastal Saurashtra was volatile.

Biofuels - Harm to the Environment

Biofuel: Bad for the Environment?
Researchers Say Biofuels Could Do More Harm to the Planet Than Good
By ASHLEY PHILLIPS
Feb. 7, 2008



As the debate over what do about human-caused global warming increases and "green fever" sweeps the nation, many environmentalists and politicians have viewed biofuel as a logical replacement for fossil fuels.


But two new studies released Thursday call into question the global movement toward biofuel. According to these researchers, production of biofuel actually contributes to global warming, doing more harm than good.

The studies, one conducted by Minnesota-based Nature Conservancy and one by Princeton University, examined the same issue: What environmental impact does growing vegetation used for biofuel have on global warming?

U.S. demand for ethanol crops like corn, soy and switchgrass has resulted in the conversion across the globe of natural habitats – like grasslands and rainforests – into fuel-ready farmland, according to the studies. That development has released mass amounts of carbon into the air, researchers said.

"You ask the world's farmers to produce energy and that's going to take additional land and that land has to come from somewhere. Unfortunately, much of it is coming from our natural ecosystem. What's the consequence of that?" Joe Fargione, the regional science director for the Nature Conservancy and the lead author of one study, told ABCNews.com. "If you imagine a grassland and a cornfield, there's much more carbon in the grassland soil. When you convert a grassland into a cornfield, that carbon has to go somewhere. It goes into the air as carbon dioxide and contributes to global warming."

"Any biofuel that causes the clearing of natural ecosystems will increase global warming," he continued.

In the Princeton study, which was led by Timothy Searchinger, a German Marshall Fund fellow and a researcher at Princeton University, numbers told a striking story.

Past data that has outlined the benefits of biofuels didn't include the issues surrounding the impact of land use and the carbon released into the air as a result, both studies said.

Using models that calculated carbon emissions in various countries, the Princeton researchers found that the production of corn-based ethanol nearly doubles greenhouse emissions over 30 years and increases greenhouse gasses for 167 years. Similarly, biofuels made from switchgrass, if grown on land originally intended for corn, increase carbon emissions by 50 percent.

$45 Trillion Needed to cut greenhouse gases in half by 2050

$45 Trillion Needed to Combat Warming
New study calls for $45 trillion to cut greenhouse gases in half by 2050
By JOSEPH COLEMAN Associated Press Writer
TOKYO June 6, 2008 (AP)
The Associated Press


The world needs to invest $45 trillion in energy in coming decades, build some 1,400 nuclear power plants and vastly expand wind power in order to halve greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, according to an energy study released Friday.

The report by the Paris-based International Energy Agency envisions a "energy revolution" that would greatly reduce the world's dependence on fossil fuels while maintaining steady economic growth.

"Meeting this target of 50 percent cut in emissions represents a formidable challenge, and we would require immediate policy action and technological transition on an unprecedented scale," IEA Executive Director Nobuo Tanaka said.

A U.N.-network of scientists concluded last year that emissions have to be cut by at least half by 2050 to avoid an increase in world temperatures of between 3.6 and 4.2 degrees above pre-18th century levels.


Scientists say temperature increases beyond that could trigger devastating effects, such as widespread loss of species, famines and droughts, and swamping of heavily populated coastal areas by rising oceans.

Environment ministers from the Group of Eight industrialized countries and Russia backed the 50 percent target in a meeting in Japan last month and called for it to be officially endorsed at the G-8 summit in July.

The IEA report mapped out two main scenarios: one in which emissions are reduced to 2005 levels by 2050, and a second that would bring them to half of 2005 levels by mid-century.

The scenario for deeper cuts would require massive investment in energy technology development and deployment, a wide-ranging campaign to dramatically increase energy efficiency, and a wholesale shift to renewable sources of energy.

Assuming an average 3.3 percent global economic growth over the 2010-2050 period, governments and the private sector would have to make additional investments of $45 trillion in energy, or 1.1 percent of the world's gross domestic product, the report said.

'India won't cut greenhouse emissions’

Friday, June 06, 2008

'India won't cut greenhouse emissions’

New Delhi: India will not reduce greenhouse gas emissions at the cost of development, Minister of State for Environment and Forests Namo Narain Meena said Thursday.

“India is struggling to bring millions of people out of poverty. We cannot accept binding commitments to cut down greenhouse gas emission,” Meena said at a function to mark the World Environment Day.

Though India has no commitment to reduce the global warming gases under the Kyoto Protocol, in recent climate change conferences many developed countries have said India needs to reduce the greenhouse burden.

Meena, however, said climate change was becoming a crucial issue, and needed immediate action. He added that consumptive lifestyle was putting severe pressure on biological resources. “Each of us has to become a saviour of the environment.”

“Each of us can help curb the adverse impact of climate change,” he said adding that afforestation will go a long way in reducing the carbon level in the atmosphere as “forest is the natural sink for CO2.”

S. Regupathy, who is also the minister of state for environment and forests, has said the World Environment Day provides an opportunity every year to reaffirm the commitments to work towards the sustainable conservation of environment.

Source: Indo-Asian News Service

Poor countries appeal to rein in global warming

Uphill Battle Marks New Round of Climate Talks in Germany Amid Concern by Poorer Nations
By ARTHUR MAX
June 2, 2008

(source:ABC News: Technology & Science)

Poor countries appealed to a 162-nation climate conference Monday to move faster on an agreement to rein in global warming, saying they already are suffering from floods and cyclones brought on by rising temperatures. The appeal came at the opening of a two-week meeting where the 2,000 delegates intend to start tackling the details of a new climate change agreement that is to take effect after 2012. "We are concerned over the slow progress of the last two years," said Amjad Abdulla of the Maldives, speaking for a group known as the Least Developed Countries. Climate change "for us is not a distant reality, but a present reality," he said. The recent cyclones that have battered Myanmar and Bangladesh "should be a wake-up call to all of us." The Bonn meeting builds on a landmark accord reached last December on the Indonesian island of Bali. For the first time, the United States, China and India had indicated they would join a coordinated effort to control the carbon emissions blamed for global warming. In Bali, delegates agreed to conclude a new climate change treaty by December 2009. They later adopted a negotiating timetable at another conference in Bangkok. "We have to roll our sleeves up and get down to work," Yvo de Boer, the U.N.'s top climate change official, said in an interview Sunday. Scientists say the world's carbon emissions must peak within the next 10 to 15 years and then fall by half by mid-century to avoid potentially catastrophic changes in weather patterns, a rise in sea levels that would threaten coastal cities and the mass extinction of plants and animals. The new climate change pact will succeed the first phase of the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, which requires 37 industrialized nations to reduce greenhouse gas emissions an average of 5 percent below 1990 levels by 2012. Delegates in Bonn will begin work on how to help developing countries adapt to anticipated changes in their climate, on transferring new technologies to help them avoid hefty carbon emissions as they expand their economies, and on how to raise the trillions of dollars required over the next decades to curb climate change.

Bisop on Green Taxes

A new green tax covenant
from Pickled Politics by Rumbold

With the price of oil climbing ever higher, there is increasing anger at the level at which petrol is taxed in this country. Britain has the second most expensive fuel in Europe (Germany is top), and it is tax that accounts for the majority of the cost. Protestors want Gordon Brown to reduce the tax on fuel, while environmentalists urge him to resist in the hope that people will use less oil in the future, and/or switch to alternative fuels.

Despite believing that man is contributing to climate change, many people are justifiably suspicious that green taxes, which are theoretically designed to encourage people to adopt a more environmentally-friendly lifestyle, are just an excuse for the government to raise more money. A few people still think that man has nothing to do with climate change, but then they are just incestuous paedophilic kidnappers, according to the Bishop of Stafford.

Let us assume for the moment that green taxes are effective, in that they will lead to people being in a more environmentally-friendly manner. These taxes are thus desirable, so long as the overall tax burden does not rise. There is a simple enough way to convince people that green taxes are not just another means by which the government raises revenue; every pound raised by green taxes should be matched in cuts on income tax, by raising the threshold at which people start to pay income tax. Moreover, the tax on oil should be reclassified, so that 25% of the tax counts as a green tax. This 25% would then be spent on the basic state pension.

Therefore, without raising the overall tax burden, the government can encourage people to behave in a more environmentally-friendly manner (good), raise the threshold at which income tax is paid (good, and which benefits the lowest paid the most), and increase the basic state pension (good, and which benefits the poorest pensioners the most).

The 2008 Global Climate Report

The 2008 Global Climate Report

thenazareneway to Communions





White House Issues Tardy Climate Report
By SETH BORENSTEIN,AP
Posted: 2008-05-30 07:11:57

WASHINGTON (May 29) - Under a court order and four years late, the White House Thursday produced what it called a science-based "one-stop shop" of specific threats to the United States from man-made global warming.

While the report has no new science in it, it pulls together different U.S. studies and localizes international reports into one comprehensive document required by law. The 271-page report is notable because it is something the Bush administration has fought in the past.

Andrew Weaver, a Canadian climate scientist who was not involved in the effort, called it "a litany of bad news in store for the U.S."

And biologist Thomas Lovejoy, one of the scientists who reviewed the report for the federal government, said: "It basically says the America we've known we can no longer count on. It's a pretty dramatic picture of all kinds of change rippling through natural systems across the country. And all of that has implications for people."

White House associate science director Sharon Hays, in a teleconference with reporters, declined to characterize the findings, but said it is an issue the administration takes seriously. She said the report was comprehensive and "communicates what the scientists are telling us."

That includes:

Increased heat deaths and deaths from climate-worsened smog. In Los Angeles alone yearly heat fatalities could increase by more than 1,000 by 2080, and the Midwest and Northeast are most vulnerable to increased heat deaths.

Worsening water shortages for agriculture and urban users. From California to New York, lack of water will be an issue.

A need for billions of dollars in more power plants (one major cause of global warming gases) to cool a hotter country. The report says summer cooling will mean Seattle's energy consumption would increase by 146 percent with the warming that could come by the end of the century.

More death and damage from wildfires, hurricanes and other natural disasters and extreme weather. In the last three decades, wildfire season in the West has increased by 78 days.

Increased insect infestations and food- and waterborne microbes and diseases. Insect and pathogen outbreaks to the forests are causing $1.5 billion in annual losses.

"Finally, climate change is very likely to accentuate the disparities already evident in the American health care system," the report said. "Many of the expected health effects are likely to fall disproportionately on the poor, the elderly, the disabled and the uninsured."

The report was required by a 1990 law which says that every four years the government must produce a comprehensive science assessment of global warming. It had not been done since 2000.

Environmental groups got a court order last year to force the Bush administration to produce the document by the end of this month. Hays said the White House has preferred issuing studies on individual global warming issues, such as an agricultural effects report that was released on Tuesday.

"It's totally begrudging," said Rick Piltz, director of Climate Science Watch at the nonprofit Government Accountability Project. "It's important the government go on record honestly acknowledging this stuff."

http://news.aol.com/story/_a/white-house-issues-tardy-climate-report/20080529214409990001

"eco-awakening"of Cindy Crawford

Cindy Crawford's New Eco-Chic Campaign
Former Supermodel Teams Up With PUR Water Filtration System to Help the Environment and Poor Children
May 7, 2008



After giving birth to two children, former supermodel Cindy Crawford says she had an "eco-awakening."
The supermodel talks about ways to help keep our water clean.

More Photos

The celebrity mom has now teamed up with the PUR Water Filtration System company to raise awareness about water and plastic waste through the "Thirsty for Change" campaign.

Crawford has designed an eco-chic reusable aluminum bottle with PUR and is hoping her example will inspire others to adopt more environmentally friendly habits.

Though estimates vary widely, PUR says that last year Americans went through 50 billion plastic water bottles, with 38 billion of them ending up in landfills. National

By switching to filtered tap water and a reusable bottles, PUR says each person can help cut down on plastic bottle waste, save money and protect themselves from dangerous contaminates.


"As a mom, I'm particularly concerned because I want my kids to grow up in a healthy environment. I filter my tap water with PUR. It's a really simple yet impactful way to reduce the amount of unnecessary plastic my family uses, while also ensuring that we always have access to clean, great-tasting drinking water," Crawford said.

Smart Sponge the Latest Weapon Against Water Pollution

Smart Sponge the Latest Weapon Against Water Pollution
New Technology Helps Clean Up Debris and Waste in Water
By SAM CHAMPION and DARCY BONFILS
May 26, 2008


Sparkling waters and pristine beaches are part of summer fun, but keeping oceans clean has become increasingly challenging for shore communities.
sponge
(ABC News)

Water pollution led to more than 25,000 beach closures in the United States in 2006, the most in nearly two decades, according to a report by the National Resources Defense Council.

Every eight months an amount of oil equivalent to the Exxon Valdez spill is dumped down storm drain systems into coastal waters.

Now a new device called the smart sponge is becoming the latest weapon in the fight against water pollution.

Long Beach, Calif., has begun using the smart sponge to help clean up pollution from the nearly 4,500 tons of waste that flow into the waters around that city each year, most of it shooting down the Los Angeles River after rainstorms.

In Long Beach, 2,000 sponges have been placed in city storm drains since 2004, neutralizing dangerous chemicals and catching debris before it has a chance to hit the ocean.



"The smart sponge is very similar to the sponge that you'd find in your home at your sink, except it has properties that allow it to absorb oil and kill bacteria on contact," said hydrology expert Duane Cook.

Tests show a drastic improvement in water quality, with a 97 percent bacterial kill rate and 1 million gallons of contaminated water diverted from the storm drain system every month.

Other beachfront cities like Miami and Norwalk, Conn., and airports and marinas are putting smart sponges to use as well.

"It's the last line of defense to protect the environment," said Glenn Rink, the creator of the smart sponge.

However promising the sponges may be in the fight against pollution, though, water experts say preventing pollution is still the best line of defense

"There is no silver bullet. … There's no golden ticket to solve our storm water problem," said Steve Fleischle at the Water Keeper Alliance. "What we really need to do is we need to educate people to not litter, to not dump motor oil down the storm drains."

Up to 9 Hurricanes This Season

Forecasters Expect Up to 9 Hurricanes This Season
NOAA Predicts Possible Above Average Hurricane Season
By ANTHONY McCARTNEY
May 22, 2008
The 2008 Atlantic hurricane season should be about as bad as normal or slightly busier, with a good chance of six to nine hurricanes forming, federal forecasters said Thursday in a new way of predicting how active the season could be.
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration releases forecast of "normal."


National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration officials also said 12 to 16 named storms and two to five major hurricanes could form. They said there is only a 60 to 70 percent chance for their predictions to come true.

This is the first time they gave a probability because they want people to understand that seasonal forecasts are uncertain. Some residents become complacent because they have seen errors in previous seasonal forecasts.

Forecasters stress residents should always be prepared no matter what the seasonal forecasts say, because even a slow season can be disastrous. Seasonal forecasts don't predict whether, where or when any of these storms may hit land.
Related


"We don't want anyone changing their preparation plans because of the seasonal outlook. The only number that matters is the number one, the one storm that you need to prepare for," said Dennis Feltgen, spokesman for the National Hurricane Center, which is part of NOAA.

An average season has 11 named storms, including six hurricanes for which two reach major status of at least Category 3 with winds of more than 110 mph.

Forecasters and emergency responders fear that coastal residents will be apathetic this year after the United States escaped the past two storm seasons virtually unscathed.

"Living in a coastal state means having a plan for each and every hurricane season. Review or complete emergency plans now -- before a storm threatens," said Conrad C. Lautenbacher, NOAA administrator. "Planning and preparation is the key to storm survival and recovery."

Colorado State University weather researcher William Gray expects 15 named storms, eight hurricanes and four major this year.

Last year, there were 15 named storms and six hurricanes, two of which were major. The government predicted 13 to 17 named storms, seven to 10 hurricanes and three to five major hurricanes.

Complete ban on plastic bags not possible in Delhi: Govt

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Complete ban on plastic bags not possible in Delhi: Govt

Wed, May 21 05:15 PM

A complete ban on plastic bags in the national capital is impossible, a government panel has noted and suggested setting up of recycling units by the manufacturers on the basis of "polluter pays principle" to tackle the menace.

"Environmentally-sound and economically-viable modern recycling units must be established by licensed plastic bags manufacturers or Plastic Manufacturers Associations on the basis of polluter pays principle," the panel said in its report submitted before the Delhi High Court.

The panel comprising officials of Central Pollution Control Board, Delhi Pollution Control Committee and Justice R C Chopra was set up by the court while hearing a petition filed by activist V K Jain from NGO Tapas.

Jain has sought a complete ban on plastic bags in the city, maintaining that they are chocking drains and the Yamuna river and leading to water-borne diseases.

He said developed and developing countries like Germany, Singapore and Bangladesh have successfully banned the product.

The panel while maintaining that polythene bags are not easy to be banned, an observation which has brought a ray of smile on the face of plastic industry, also suggested setting up of a compaction unit for plastic recycling to be managed by the civic agencies at zonal level.

Pollution eats up 3 species every hour

LONDON: Three species every hour are being scraped off from earth due to pollution, it has been revealed at world conference to save wildlife.

It was 65 years ago that dinosaurs were eradicated from the earth and since then, no rate of extinction has been observed as yet.

But now a shock report on the destruction of natural habitats has alarmed many by indicating that one in four mammals are on the endangered list, which includes orangutans, chimpanzees and elephants.

The United Nation's World Conservation Union reports that the list includes one in eight bird types, a third of amphibians and 70 per cent of plant life.

The reports have cautioned if there won't be any action taken for greenhouse gases and climate change, it could actually put food supplies in danger and "destroy the foundation of human life," reports The Sun .

In fact, much of harm has already been done with the destruction costs already hitting 1.8 billion pounds per year.

Officials attended the conference, at Bonn, Germany, from 191 countries, and they are planning to discuss ways of slowing the extinction rate.

However, according to German Environment Minister Sigmar Gabriel, the world faced "a Herculean task".

While a UN summit in 2002 had already set a target for slowing extinction, but it is still lagging way behind schedule.

Scientists in Australia have already "reactivated" DNA from an extinct species by using a Tasmanian tiger sample in mouse embryos.

Global Warming Affects life

Sci. & Tech.
Wildlife and environment already hit by climate change

GUARDIAN NEWS SERVICE

By Ian Sample

Global warming is disrupting wildlife and the environment on every continent, according to an unprecedented study that reveals the extent to which climate change is already affecting the world's ecosystems.

Scientists examined published reports dating back to 1970 and found that at least 90% of environmental damage and disruption around the world could be explained by rising temperatures driven by human activity.

Big falls in Antarctic penguin populations, fewer fish in African lakes, shifts in American river flows and earlier flowering and bird migrations inEurope are all likely to be driven by global warming, the study found.

The team of experts, including members of the UN's intergovernmental panel on climate change (IPCC) from America, Europe, Australia and China, is the first to formally link some of the most dramatic changes to the world's wildlife and habitats with human-induced climate change.

In the study, which appears in the journal Nature, researchers analysed reports highlighting changes in populations or behaviour of 28,800 animal and plant species. They examined a further 829 reports that focused on different environmental effects, including surging rivers, retreating glaciers and shifting forests, across the seven continents.

To work out how much - or if at all - global warming played a role, the scientists next checked historical records to see what impact natural variations in local climate, deforestation and changes in land use might have on the ecosystems and species that live there.

In 90% of cases the shifts in wildlife behaviour and populations could only be explained by global warming, while 95% of environmental changes, such as melting permafrost, retreating glaciers and changes in river flows were consistent with rising temperatures.

"When we look at all these impacts together, it is clear they are across continents and endemic. We're getting a sense that climate change is already changing the way the world works," said lead author Cynthia Rosenzweig, head of the climate impacts group at Nasa's Goddard Institute for Space Studies in New York.

Most of the reports examined by the team were published between 1970 and 2004, during which time global average temperatures rose by around 0.6C. The latest report from the IPCC suggests the world is likely to warm between 2C and 6C by the end of the century.

The question of Biofuels in environment saftey

Backlash Erupts Over Biofuels as Food Costs Rise
Maybe ethanol isn’t the answer after all, as both fuel and corn prices keep going up.

By . Agence France-Presse

May 9, 2008 -- A biofuels backlash has erupted throughout the United States, as lawmakers and experts debate the merits of converting food to fuel to support America's age-old love affair with the automobile.

With gasoline at record prices at U.S. pumps, and soaring corn, rice and wheat costs sparking a global food crisis this year with deadly riots in several nations, some have questioned the wisdom of higher U.S. biofuel mandates that divert U.S. crops, like corn, to fuel production.

"Why are we putting food in our gas tanks instead of our stomachs?" Richard Reinwald, owner of Reinwald's Bakery in Huntington, New York, asked members of Congress at a hearing last week on skyrocketing food costs.

Biofuels are derived from foodstuffs such as corn, soybeans and sugarcane, and plants like switch grass and their cellulosic waste.

Touted just months ago as an answer to spiking gas prices, biofuels are enduring closer scrutiny by U.S. lawmakers alarmed by the high cost of food staples and how they are sapping millions of American households.

Members of Bush's own Republican party are turning on him, including Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison, who called on Congress to undo "America's ethanol mistake."

"In recent weeks, the correlation between government biofuel mandates and rapidly rising food prices has become undeniable," Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Tex.) said in a statement on her website. "At a time when the U.S. economy is facing recession, Congress needs to reform its food-to-fuel policies and look at alternatives to strengthen energy security."

Hutchison is due to introduce legislation to Congress that would freeze biofuel mandates at current levels.

Biofuels are refined to produce fuel similar to those made from petroleum, but their growing use has been cited along with poor harvests due to drought, surging demand in Asia as living standards have risen, higher transport costs and trade restrictions for the rapid rise in food prices.
Joachim von Braun, head of the U.S.-based International Food Policy Research Institute, said a moratorium on biofuels from food grains in 2008 would lower corn prices by 20% and wheat prices by 10% in 2009 and 2010.

The United States is the world's top producer of corn-based ethanol, and the Bush administration sees it as a key way to reduce dependence on foreign oil and curb fossil fuel emissions, the main source of man-made global warming.

Some scientists warn that biofuels actually increase greenhouse gas emissions, as farmers convert forest and grassland to new cropland to replace or add to grain diverted to biofuels.

"Corn-based ethanol, instead of producing a 20% savings, nearly doubles greenhouse emissions over 30 years, and increases greenhouse gases for 167 years," Timothy Searchinger and other experts wrote in a study published in the journal Science.

Yet scores of American farmers eyeing swelling corn prices have abandoned wheat to grow corn, leading to the lowest U.S. wheat ending stocks in 60 years, according to the US Department of Agriculture, and causing a ripple effect of rising commodity prices.

Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2008

For a plastic free world

A woman's struggle against plastics that destoys a healthy life in our planet. You can contribute your miteca
Climate and Environment
Life Less Plastic
Posted on April 24, 2008 by Amy VanderZanden
Topics: Climate and Environment
Countries: United States
Alternatives to Plastic: Home Gardens. Photo: key lime_pie (flickr)
Alternatives to Plastic: Home Gardens. Photo: key lime_pie (flickr)

I recently came upon a blog by a Chicago woman committed to living as close to a plastic-free life as possible. Her journey to a life without plastic began last September, and over the months her postings about her adventures and increasing knowledge have gathered an audience in the thousands.

The statistics about our reliance on plastics are shocking: According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the amount of plastic in our waste stream has increased from less than 1 percent in 1960 to 11.7 percent in 2006. And, while Americans drank 50 billion bottles of water in 2006, 38 billion of those ended up in the trash, according to Fast Company magazine.

The anonymous blogger, whose blog is titled Life Less Plastic, explains that she's doing this for personal health reasons, as well to do better by the environment. Among her most popular posts is an entry describing "What I'm Doing to Be Mostly Plastic-Free," which includes:

10. Washing my dishes with Dr. Bronner's bar soap. It works! I'm not kidding!
11. Bringing my own stainless steel coffee mug to the coffee shop. This is important because paper cups are lined with plastic.
12. Bringing along a reusable water bottle or mug for water, and NEVER drinking bottled water.
13. Bringing my own takeout containers to restaurants in case I have leftovers. This sounds embarrassing, but no one has ever even noticed that I've brought my own container except for the people I'm with.
14. Not buying aluminum food cans, excluding canned tomatoes and vegetable broth, which I haven't been able to give up yet. Hopefully, I can/jar some tomatoes this summer and do away with this plastic use, though.

In a society where plastic is pervasive and packaging alternatives are few, even Life Less Plastic's author hasn't been able to do without medicine, which comes in plastic bottles; toothpaste; and even some packaged foods she hasn't been able to find in the bulk section of nearby supermarkets.

Plastics have been around for a while, but we are only beginning to understand their potentially negative consequences. Without plastic, we wouldn't have seen the advances in science and medicine we saw in the last century. However, as the Chicago blogger points out, there are a lot of ways to "live a life less plastic."
Keywords: sustainability, plastic, green revolution

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World carbon dioxide levels highest for 650,000 years, says US report | Environment | The Guardian

World carbon dioxide levels highest for 650,000 years, says US report | Environment | The Guardian


World carbon dioxide levels highest for 650,000 years, says US report


This article appeared in the Guardian on Tuesday May 13 2008 on p16 of the UK news section. It was last updated at 12:24 on May 13 2008.

The concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has reached a record high, according to the latest figures, renewing fears that climate change could begin to slide out of control.

Scientists at the Mauna Loa observatory in Hawaii say that CO2 levels in the atmosphere now stand at 387 parts per million (ppm), up almost 40% since the industrial revolution and the highest for at least the last 650,000 years.

The figures, published by the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration on its website, also confirm that carbon dioxide, the chief greenhouse gas, is accumulating in the atmosphere faster than expected. The annual mean growth rate for 2007 was 2.14ppm - the fourth year in the last six to see an annual rise greater than 2ppm. From 1970 to 2000, the concentration rose by about 1.5ppm each year, but since 2000 the annual rise has leapt to an average 2.1ppm.

Scientists say the shift could indicate that the Earth is losing its natural ability to soak up billions of tonnes of CO2 each year. Climate models assume that about half our future emissions will be reabsorbed by forests and oceans, but the new figures confirm this may be too optimistic. If more of our carbon pollution stays in the atmosphere, it means emissions will have to be cut by more than is currently projected to prevent dangerous levels of global warming.

Martin Parry, co-chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's working group on impacts, said: "Despite all the talk, the situation is getting worse. Levels of greenhouse gases continue to rise in the atmosphere and the rate of that rise is accelerating. We are already seeing the impacts of climate change and the scale of those impacts will also accelerate, until we decide to do something about it."

Perched some 11,000ft up a volcano, the Mauna Loa observatory has been measuring carbon dioxide in the atmosphere since 1958. It is regarded as producing among the most reliable data sets because of its remote location, far from any possible source of the gas that could confuse the sensors.

Over the decades, the Mauna Loa readings, made famous in Al Gore's documentary An Inconvenient Truth, show the CO2 level rising and falling each year as foliage across the northern hemisphere blooms in spring and recedes in autumn. But they also show an upward trend as human emissions pour into the atmosphere, and each spring, the total CO2 level creeps above the previous year's high to set a new record.

Robin Oakley, head of Greenpeace's climate change campaign, said: "We're now witnessing a key moment in the climate change story, and it's not good news. The last time the atmosphere was this choked with CO2 humans were yet to evolve as a species. To even consider building new runways and coal-fired power stations at this juncture in history is an unpardonable folly, but Gordon Brown seems determined to stumble forward regardless with his ill-conceived plans in the face of the science and widespread public opposition."

A study last year suggested that the recent surge in atmospheric CO2 levels was down to three processes: growth in the world economy, heavy use of coal in China, and a weakening of natural "sinks", forests, seas and soils that absorb carbon. The scientists said the increase was 35% larger than they expected.

They said about half of the carbon surge was down to the Chinese reliance on coal, which has forced up the carbon intensity of the overall world economy since 2000, reversing a trend of increasing energy efficiency since the 1970s.

· Martin Parry will be speaking at the Guardian Planning for Climate Adaptation conference on May 19

Richard Levin,president of Yale University, has written the following article in 2007. It gives us a comprehensive and relevant understanding of the grave danger humanity is facing today
Global Climate Change: Taking the Battle to the Campus

Richard Levin
YaleGlobal, 26 February 2007

NEW HAVEN: We are at last awakening to the reality of global climate change. The report this month by the worldwide team of scientists of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change stated that global warming is unequivocal and that most of the warming over the last half century is likely due to greenhouse gas emissions from human activity. No previous report of the respected panel, which was formed in 1988, has been so conclusive. There is less certitude about what to do and who will take the initiative.

Governments and corporations are obvious candidates for leadership in confronting the threat of global climate change. But there is also need to take the battle to university campuses, where the world's future leaders should join the fight by taking measures that communities at large will be asked to adopt.

Without dramatic action over the next half century, we face the threat of rising sea levels and massive economic disruption. Substantial costs cannot be avoided without a dramatic effort to reduce the emission of greenhouse gases.


Recently, 10 large corporations and four leading environmental groups announced support for US legislation to introduce a cap-and-trade system for carbon-dioxide emissions. The benefit of such as a system is that it produces a tangible limit on emissions – they are "capped" – while allowing the parties within a sector or industry whose emissions have an overall cap to buy and sell, or "trade," portions of that total emissions allowance.

Another way to curb emissions is for governments to impose a "carbon tax" on the companies or individuals that produce emissions. A tax will produce an uncertain amount of environmental benefit, but may be more practical for reaching millions of households than a cap-and-trade scheme, which has been effective in regulating the sulfur-dioxide emissions of large entities such as public utilities.

The call for legislation is welcome news, but not enough. Our governments have failed to take effective action so far. The US is most deficient, but even among the governments that signed the Kyoto Agreement, most have not taken sufficient steps to ensure that national targets will be met by 2012.

We cannot wait for our governments to act, though they must act if the problem is ultimately to be solved. Large organizations all over the world with the power to act independently should take matters into their own hands and begin to reduce greenhouse gas emissions now. We need to demonstrate that resisting global warming is feasible and not prohibitively expensive. By showing leadership in action, not just in words, we will make the necessary response by governments much more likely, in part because they will be more confident that significant laws and policies in response to climate change will be accepted by those they represent.

Several large global companies, including General Electric, have started down this path, and so has Yale, along with other universities. I have called upon my colleagues at some of America's best-known institutions to join Yale in committing to ambitious greenhouse gas reduction programs of their own. At this year's World Economic Forum in Davos, I met with the leaders of 23 global universities and urged them to join this effort.

Universities are a natural place to demonstrate that global warming can be resisted and its adverse long-term consequences avoided. It is, after all, our scientists who identified the causes and effects of climate change and who research ways to address it. And it is our students who, in the coming decades, will have the responsibility for ensuring that the opportunities for the health and prosperity of future generations will be no less abundant than they have been for the generations that preceded them.

Here's why universities must act today. Collectively and decisively, we can set a powerful example for the next generation of leaders who will increasingly interact with one another on global issues. We can demonstrate that it is possible to reduce emissions dramatically, even while accommodating the continuing growth and development of our campuses. If we succeed, so can others.

At Yale, we committed in 2005 to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions to 10 percent below the 1990 level by the year 2020. This represents a 43 percent reduction from our 2004 level, even while our plans call for 15 percent growth in our physical plant.

We intend to reach this ambitious goal by a combination of strategies, including:

1. Conservation within existing buildings

2. Sustainable construction of new buildings

3. More efficient production and distribution of energy on campus (Yale produces its own steam, chilled water and two-thirds of its electricity by co-generation)

4. Use of energy from renewable sources on campus

5. Direct participation in off-campus production of renewable energy

We have already reduced campus greenhouse gas emissions by 6 percent in one year. Among other measures, we have installed more efficient controls and sensors to regulate heat, air conditioning and lighting; we have begun to modify our power plant and distribution systems for greater efficiency; and we run our campus bus fleet on a blend of ultra low-sulfur diesel and carbon-free biodiesel fuels. A simple step we have taken is keeping our buildings a couple of degrees cooler in winter and warmer in summer than in the past.

Students have supported our commitment on many fronts. As community members, students reduced energy use in our residential colleges by 10 percent in 2006; as researchers, they contribute to the dialogue on climate science; as activists, they continue to raise the question as to how our universities ought to assist in shaping a vision for the future.

The good news is that many of the investments required to reduce carbon emissions actually save money in the long run. The astonishing news is that we estimate that we can reach our 2020 goal – a 43 percent reduction in emissions from current level – at a cost that is below 1/2 of 1 percent of our annual operating expenses. Any organization can afford this level of sacrifice to ensure the future of the planet.

Yale's strategy depends on conservation, renewable energy and participation in carbon-offset projects in roughly equal measure. All three approaches can be part of any organization's strategy. It is important, however, that carbon offsets produce real environmental benefit. Carbon markets in the US, in the absence of governmentally imposed caps, are immature. Carbon offsets, sometimes called "renewable energy certificates," can currently be purchased at prices well below the cost of creating incremental supplies of renewable energy. As long as this persists, purchasing offsets in the market will have no environmental benefit. Thus, at Yale, we only count offsets created by direct investment in new sources of supply.

For institutions in developing countries, where growth needs to be more rapid, a reduction to 10 percent below 1990 levels is too much to expect. But a 10 percent reduction below today's levels, or even a no-growth-in-emissions policy, would be a reasonable and constructive aspiration. On a global level, it would be unreasonable and unjust to maintain the wide disparity in nations' per-capita emissions well into the future, but a worldwide collective effort in greenhouse gas reductions must still be the goal.

Universities are the natural leaders of such an effort, but other non-profit organizations, municipal governments and for-profit businesses should heed the call as well. Our future depends on it.

Richard Levin is president of Yale University.

Rights: © 2007 Yale Center for the Study of Globalization

Antarctic warming slows down

Climate models off on Antarctic warming - LiveScience- msnbc.com

Climate models off on Antarctic warming
Change is less than predicted; concern remains about 'ice sheet edge'


updated 4:27 p.m. ET, Fri., May. 9, 2008

Antarctica hasn’t warmed as much over the last century as climate models had originally predicted, a new study finds.

Climate change's effects on Antarctica are of particular interest because of the substantial amount of water locked up in its ice sheets. Should that water begin to melt, sea levels around the globe could rise and inundate low-lying coastal areas.

The new study, detailed in the April 5 issue of the journal Geophysical Research Letters, marks the first time that researchers have been able to give a progress report on Antarctic climate model projections by comparing climate records to model simulations (these comparisons have been done for the other six continents). Information about Antarctica's harsh weather patterns has traditionally been limited, but temperature records from ice cores and ground weather stations have recently been constructed, giving scientists the missing information they needed.

"This is a really important exercise for these climate models," said study leader Andrew Monaghan of the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Co.

Temperature gap
Monaghan and his team found that while climate models projected temperature increases of 1.4 degrees Fahrenheit (0.75 degrees Celsius) over the past century, temperatures were observed to have risen by only 0.4 F (0.2 C).

"This is showing us that, over the past century, most of Antarctica has not undergone the fairly dramatic warming that has affected the rest of the globe," Monaghan said.

The gap between prediction and reality seemed to be caused by the models overestimating the amount of water vapor in the Antarctic atmosphere. The cold air over the southernmost continent handles moisture differently than the atmosphere over warmer regions.

The models did, however, correctly capture the increases in snowfall over Antarctica in the late 20th century, followed by a decrease in the last decade.

One reason that Antarctica hasn't warmed as much as other parts of the globe is the existence of the ozone hole overhead: It alters wind patterns, creating a swirling belt of winds around the landmass that keeps comparatively warm air from seeping in, preserving the continent's frigid temperatures.

One important exception to this rule is the Antarctic Peninsula, which has warmed by several degrees, in part because winds there draw in warmer air from the north.

Mixed verdict
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has estimated that sea levels could rise by 7 to 23 inches (18 to 59 centimeters) globally this century, in part due to ice melt at the poles and from mountain glaciers.

The new study, funded by the National Science Foundation and the U.S. Department of Energy, suggests that warming in Antarctica could offset this amount by about 2 inches (5 centimeters) if the continent warms by 5.4 F (3 C), as warmer air would hold more moisture and generate more snowfall, which contributes to the growth of the ice sheets, locking up any additional water in the these large masses of ice. That would mean a rise of only 5 to 21 inches (13 to 54 centimeters).

But these projections are by no means certain — if melt from Antarctic ice sheets outweighed the snowfall that contributes to their growth, sea level rise could be higher.

"The research clearly shows that you can actually slow down sea-level rise when you increase temperatures over Antarctica because snowfall increases, but warmer temperatures also have the potential to speed up sea-level rise due to enhanced melting along the edges of Antarctica," Monaghan said. "Over the next century, whether the ice sheet grows from increased snowfall or shrinks due to more melt will depend on how much temperatures increase in Antarctica, and potentially on erosion at the ice sheet edge by the warmer ocean and rising sea level."

The findings of the study don't call into question model projections for other parts of the globe, Monaghan said. "The models are really doing quite a good job at simulating the 20th century changes over the six inhabited continents," he told LiveScience.
© 2008 LiveScience.com. All rights reserved.

Environment protection: Chinese leader seeks Japanese help

Chinese leader seeks Japanese help on environment - Yahoo! News

Chinese leader seeks Japanese help on environment

Fri May 9, 10:43 AM ET

KAWASAKI, Japan (AFP) - Chinese President Hu Jintao on Friday voiced hope that Japan would share environmental technology with his country as he toured a state-of-the-art recycling factory.

Hu, on a rare visit to Japan to mend ties between Asia's two largest economies, visited the Kawasaki PET Bottle Recycling Factory near Tokyo which processes used bottles and electronics devices.

"We want to introduce Japan's advanced technology on the environment to China," Hu said, adding that his administration will focus on green businesses.

China's pollution has been rapidly growing as its economy soars, posing particular concern for neighbours such as Japan and South Korea.

Hu and Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda had agreed Wednesday to work together to fight global warming in a summit that focused mostly on general themes of reconciliation.

The two countries have long had tense relations, in part due to the legacy of Japanese aggression in China before World War II.

Hu wound up his time in Tokyo on Friday by meeting with Japanese Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko, who in an unusual step went to his hotel to bid farewell to Hu and his wife, Liu Yongqing.

Hu later visited a Chinese school in Yokohama, Japan's second most populous city which has a large Chinese community. He was welcomed with a traditional lion dance and Chinese songs.

Hu also met with a group of Japanese lawmakers supporting the Beijing Olympics, which has become a lightning rod for global criticism over China's rights record and treatment of restive Tibet.

"The Beijing Olympics are not only for the Chinese people but also for people in Asia, including Japan, and around the world," Hu told lower house Speaker Yohei Kono, who heads the group.

Chinese star hurdler Liu Xiang, one of his country's main hopes for Olympic gold, saluted Hu as he prepared for Saturday's Grand Prix in the western metropolis of Osaka.

"His visit to Japan helped deepen friendship between China and Japan," Liu said.

Hu later headed to Osaka for talks with business leaders. He was due to visit historic temples in the western town of Nara on Saturday before flying home.