INFORMATION / IDEAS / ENVIRONMENT

2012-01-07T23:00:00.000-08:00

ENVIRONMENT / 2011 /11-15 /

9.11 George Monbiot on nature valuations

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From: Vickram Crishna <v1clist@yahoo.co.uk>
Date: 14 June 2011 02:52
Subject: [IIT-Global-RenewableEnergy] The answer to life, the universe, and ... 30 pieces of silver
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George Monbiot on nature valuations

http://www.monbiot.com/2011/06/06/an-answer-to-the-meaning-of-life/

Vickram
http://communicall.wordpress.com
http://vvcrishna.wordpress.com

9.12 Effect of economic activity on human welfare

Daly’s argument is brilliant in its simplicity. In former times, nature’s capital was enormous, and man’s reproducible capital was small. For example, fish in the oceans were plentiful, but fishing boats were not. Today fishing boats are in excess supply, but ocean fishing stocks are depleted. Thus, the limiting factor is not man-made capital, but nature’s capital. Daly stresses that by leaving ecological and social costs out of the computation of GDP, economists do not have a reliable measure of the effect of economic activity on human welfare.

http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=25056

9.13 Managing without plastic

Managing without plastic:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3JXWRVrFiKs

9.14 Biotechnology bus

Over the objections of scientists, food millers and food processors, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) recently announced it will deregulate the first genetically engineered industrial corn crop, commonly called ethanol corn. According to the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS), allowing farmers to plant engineered ethanol corn will contaminate corn intended for food, which could have serious consequences for the U.S. food industry.

... “The USDA has placed the interests of the biotechnology industry over the interests of food processors and the general public,” said Mellon, a molecular biologist. “The agency’s priorities are upside down. Food is far more important than ethanol. USDA needs to stop throwing the food industry under the biotechnology bus.”

http://www.bcdemocratonline.com/news/business/x449518739/Deregulating-genetically-engineered-industrial-corn-will-contaminate-food-supply

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Shoppers wary of genetically engineered foods find they're everywhere ...

Dan Barber, a well-known New York chef who grows his own food and sits on President Barack Obama's Council on Physical Fitness, Sports and Nutrition, said the growing popularity of organic foods has given an "economic legitimacy" to the criticism.
He believes messing with nature will always have collateral damage. And, the more genetically modified crops are used, he said, the more pure crops will become compromised.
"Once you head down that road you don't turn back," Barber said.
http://www.syracuse.com/news/index.ssf/2011/02/shoppers_wary_of_genetically_e.html

9.15 Feed the Living, Love What's Here, Dare Not To Bear, Enough Already!

A hidden time bomb of our economy is that it must grow to succeed. A constant expansion is necessary to keep the system humming. It's always sold as a net good. But with growth comes higher levels of consumption, waste and greenhouse gas emissions. At some point, infinite expansion will be an unsustainable economic model. Whether we collectively prepare for that point before wrecking our environment is the ultimate dilemma of a selfish species. So far, it doesn't look good.
Population is a major factor in all this. Like a giant Ponzi scheme, people add to economic growth, while making it essential that the economy expand to make room for them. America had 152 million people in 1950, now nearly 312 million, with a net gain of one person every 15 seconds. How much more of this kind of growth is good for us or for America's natural resources?
... In Franzen's novel, Walter Berglund held a brainstorming session over what to call his new population control advocacy group. Among the suggestions were: Feed the Living, Love What's Here, Dare Not To Bear and Enough Already! I second them all.
http://www.tampabay.com/opinion/columns/overconsumption-by-humans-and-no-concern-are-ruining-the-planet/1148180

2012-01-07T22:15:00.000-08:00

ENVIRONMENT / 2011 / 6-10 /

9.6 Drowning out the truth about the Great Barrier Reef

.. But this is what happens over and over again in the Australian media.

By misreporting “facts” and smearing scientists' personal reputations, journalists are willfully misleading the public about the nature of the threat to one of the most diverse ecosystems in the world, and one of our most valuable tourism assets.

And ultimately to our world.

http://theconversation.edu.au/drowning-out-the-truth-about-the-great-barrier-reef-2644

9.7 It's your environment, stupid!

Comment:

Professor Hegde's article is quite an eye opener, coming from a competent cardiologist. Any nature induced genetic modification is based on the need for the living body to supplement any deficiency in its architecture to cope with its existing/new environment to survive. This happens during the evolution incrementally over long time intervals with the living bodies own 'intelligence'- the capability to choose the right combination of genetic materials for its benefit as a whole including all the sub systems that function symbiotically. Competing/tampering with nature, applying incomplete/half baked, perhaps even mis-understood knowledge to alter stabilized eco systems and life cycles evolved over millenniums certainly needs to be censured.

http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/open-page/article2233677.ece

9.8 Saviour of Sinharaja

It was a time when tropical rainforests, mostly in developing countries, were being raped to
promote wood-based industries. But William Ryan Herbert Perera stood firm as a sturdy tree to
protect a forest that went on to enter the World Heritage List. Now in the twilight of his years,
he tells Kumudini Hettiarachchi of his single-handed battle.
http://www.sundaytimes.lk/110626/Plus/plus_01.html

9.9 "Top down" ecological effects

The decline of large predators and other "apex consumers" at the top of the food chain has disrupted ecosystems all over the planet, an international team of scientists reports tomorrow (July 15) in Science.

The study reviewed research on a wide range of terrestrial, freshwater and marine ecosystems and concluded that "the loss of apex consumers is arguably humankind's most pervasive influence on the natural world."

The “top down” ecological effects of losing these large animals have been underestimated compared to the “bottom up” effects of environmental changes, said Distinguished Professor of Biology Tom Schoener of the UC Davis Department of Evolution and Ecology, one of the authors of the review. The lead author is James Estes, professor of ecology and evolutionary biology at UC Santa Cruz.

http://www.news.ucdavis.edu/search/news_detail.lasso?id=9942

9.10 Family planning a gift to planet

Former Colorado senator and current president of the United Nations Foundation,Tim Wirth, who also served as undersecretary of state for global affairs in the Clinton administration, warns that we must consider population as one of the major contributors to climate change and other environmental crises.

"The population of the world is currently scheduled to increase by nearly 50 percent in the next 50 years; mankind has already saturated our oceans, land and air with our carbon garbage. Where will we put the new waste?" Wirth writes in an e-mail.

A recent U.N. report states that the 2.5 billion people to be added by 2050 is the carbon equivalent of adding two more United States to the planet. Is this population mass — with its resultant CO2 pollution, warming weather, melting glaciers, loss of habitat, disappearing shorelines, massive economic dislocation and potential migration to the U.S. and other developed countries — what we want for our kids and grandkids? Hardly.

Read more:Lamm: Family planning a gift to planet - The Denver Post http://www.denverpost.com/opinion/ci_18436014#ixzz1RzMzIdz3
Read The Denver Post's Terms of Use of its content: http://www.denverpost.com/termsofuse

2012-01-07T22:05:00.000-08:00

ENVIRONMENT / 2011 / 1-5 /

9.1 Pesticide pollution common in European rivers

The goal of the EU Water Framework Directive is to achieve high environmental quality in surface and groundwater sources by 2015. The chemical status will be assessed based on a list of 33 so-called priority pollutants. Since more than 14 million chemicals are on the market and more than 100,000 of these are produced on an industrial scale, agencies have to confine their monitoring to a manageable number of pollutants. Throughout Europe scientists are therefore working on methods to establish which pollutants should be used in the standards.

The rivers in the study were the Elbe, the Danube, the Schelde and the Llobregat. One of the most frequently registered compounds was diethylhexyl phthalate (DEHP), a chemically-produced softener which may impair fertility and will therefore banned in the EU starting 2015. Also found frequently were bisphenol A (BPA), which may also impair fertility, and diclofenac and ibuprofen, two pharmaceutical substances used commonly in painkillers.

The scientists classified a total of 73 compounds as potential priority pollutants. Around two thirds of these are pesticides. The most problematic pesticides were diazinon, which is already prohibited in Germany and Austria, as well as azoxystrobin and terbuthylazine, which are still allowed in Central Europe.

...“We were also surprised that substances previously classified as harmless, such as HHCB, which is used as a synthetic musk fragrance in personal care products, are present in the environment in alarming concentrations,” said Dr. Werner Brack. “In our opinion the development of the Water Framework Directive should ensure that in future not only the presence of chemical substances but also their effects are monitored,” Brack said.

http://summitcountyvoice.com/2011/10/16/environment-pesticide-pollution-common-in-european-rivers/

9.2 Water stress

Jonathan La Nauze, from Friends of the Earth, said ''the ecological outcomes of 2800 gigalitres are frightening, the entire South Australian floodplain has been written off and there is a very low chance that the red gums of the Goulburn, Murray and Murrumbidgee would survive''.

The environmentalists' position puts them at odds with a number of irrigator groups that have already indicated that a cut of 2800 billion litres of water a year is too high and will devastate rural communities.

The 3000 to 4000 billion litres of water a year cut put forward by the authority last year was met with anger in some rural communities, culminating in copies of the guide being burnt at an angry consultation meeting in Griffith.

Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/national/green-groups-reject-river-plans-20111004-1l7af.html#ixzz1ZuLzSAxA

9.3 Historic Green Aviation Prize

The winning aircraft had to fly 200 miles in less than two hours and use less than one gallon of fuel per occupant, or the equivalent in electricity. The first and second place teams, which were both electric-powered, achieved twice the fuel efficiency requirement of the competition, meaning they flew 200 miles using just over a half-gallon of fuel equivalent per passenger.

"Two years ago the thought of flying 200 miles at 100 mph in an electric aircraft was pure science fiction," said Jack W. Langelaan, team leader of Team Pipistrel-USA.com. "Now, we are all looking forward to the future of electric aviation."

.. NASA uses prize competitions to increase the number and diversity of the individuals, organizations and teams that are addressing a particular problem or challenge. Prize competitions stimulate private sector investment that is many times greater than the cash value of the prize and further NASA's mission by attracting interest and attention to a defined technical objective. This prize competition is part of the NASA Centennial Challenges program, part of the Space Technology Program, managed by the NASA Office of the Chief Technologist.
http://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2011/oct/HQ_11-334_GFC_Winners.html

Watch video:
http://www.irishweatheronline.com/news/environment/energy-environment/pipistrel-wins-largest-aviation-prize-in-history/40574.html/comment-page-1

9.4 Green aviation

Noise

The challenge: Aircraft noise continues to be regarded as the

most significant hindrance to increasing the capacity of the

National Airspace System, largely because of nuisance noise

near major metropolitan airports. Although the Federal Aviation

Administration has invested more than $5 billion in airport

noise reduction programs since 1980, the problem persists.

The goal: Develop aircraft technology and airspace system

operations to shrink the nuisance noise footprint around each

airport until it is about one-third of its current size by 2015,

about one-sixth its size by 2020, and contained within the

airport property boundaries by 2025.

http://www.aeronautics.nasa.gov/pdf/green_aviation_fact_sheet_web.pdf

9.5 Loss of large predators has far-reaching consequences

Loss of large predators has far-reaching consequences

The decline of large predators, such as wolves, sharks and lions is having a far-reaching effect throughout the planet's ecosystems, according to an international group of researchers.

Reporting in the journal Science, James Estes from the University of California Santa Cruz, US, and 23 colleagues from around the world warn that "the loss of these animals may be humankind's most pervasive influence on nature". The researchers have found that the loss of these large predators, or 'apex consumers', can have unexpected impacts on other processes, such as disease, wildfires and biogeochemical cycles.

http://environmentalresearchweb.org/cws/article/news/46884

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It is amazing that what a six year old child can infer is considered the height of science by our scientists. Did the National Geographic Magazine not know all this; they have been educating the public about the environment starting from 1888. The WWF has been dong it for 50 years. Do these fancy organizations purposely plan to fail by deliberately leaving out all the important issues ?

Selvaraj

2012-01-07T11:02:00.000-08:00

ENVIRONMENT / 2011

Dear Friends,

The purpose of this blog is to make available to a larger audience my posts, mainly in the IIT Global Current Affairs Group and a few other groups.

Most of these posts refer you to the store house of knowledge - The Word Wide Web. A few of the posts are also my 'bright?' ideas.

This blog is for posts in the category 'Environment'.

9. ENVIRONMENT

9.1 Pesticide pollution common in European rivers (16/10/11)

9.2 Water stress (5/10/11)

9.3 Historic green aviation prize (4/10/11)

9.4 Green aviation (21/9/11)

9.5 Loss of large predators has far reaching consequences(4/9/11)

9.6 Drowning out the truth about the great barrier reef(30/8/11)

9.7 It’s your environment, stupid! (22/7/11)

9.8 Saviour of Sinharaja (22/7/11)

9.9 Top down ecological effect (15/7/11)

9.10 Family planning a gift to planet (13/7/11)

9.11 George Monibot on Nature valuations (14/6/11)

9.12 Effect of economic activity on human welfare (31/5/11)

9.13 Managing without plastic (20/5/11)

9.14 Biotechnology bus (27/2/11)

9.15 Feed the living, love what’s here, dare not to bear,enough already! (31/1/11)

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