News Archive - May 2008

May 31, 2008

Harnessing Energy from the Oceans
Forever moving - our restless oceans have enough energy to power the world. As long as the Earth turns and the moon keeps its appointed cycle, the oceans will absorb and dissipate vast amounts of kinetic energy - a renewable energy resource of enormous potential.

Is water becoming 'the new oil'?
Public fountains are dry in Barcelona, Spain, a city so parched there’s a €9,000 ($13,000) fine if you’re caught watering your flowers. A tanker ship docked there this month carrying 5 million gallons of precious fresh water — and officials are scrambling to line up more such shipments to slake public thirst.

Jail and penalty for international smugglers
On 27 May, international smugglers were sentenced to imprisonment and penalties as they were found guilty of trading Amur tiger derivates and bear paws between Russia and China. The damage to the Far Eastern Russia nature is huge: around 900 paws of brown and black bears, 4 tiger skins, 531 saiga horns and more than 60 kilos of tiger bones.

Lighting an Efficient Future, Minus the Mercury
More and more countries are banning incandescent light bulbs in favor of energy-efficient compact fluorescent lamps, or CFLs. But options to recycle the mercury-laden alternatives are often scarce.

When we allow cars to compete with people for food
Crude oil prices hit $120 a barrel this month, translating into gas pump prices above $4 a gallon in parts of the United States. As a result, the rallying cry of energy self-sufficiency is gaining strength, reinforcing the U.S. policy of promoting renewable fuels, particularly corn-based ethanol, to reduce dependence on imported oil.

Most caregivers of young children lack basic knowledge of potentially toxic household products
According to a new study, knowledge of potentially toxic household substances among primary caregivers for young children is alarmingly poor. The results show that less than one-third of primary caregivers for children under the age of six could correctly estimate the toxicity of household poisons. The study is being presented at the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine’s 2008 Annual Meeting.

Green Careers and How to Find One
Around the globe, people are seeking career changes to find environmentally responsible employment. This once niche market has become mainstream, where now you can find opportunities from a range of employers, in a range of fields, that are suitable to a diverse range of job seekers.

Climate assessment forced by court order
The Bush administration released a climate change assessment on Thursday -- four years late and pushed forward by a court order -- that said human-induced global warming will likely lead to problems like droughts in the U.S. West and stronger hurricanes. President George W. Bush's stance on the issue has evolved from denying climate science to acknowledging that global warming is happening.

Rare uncontacted tribe photographed in Amazon
The photographs of the tribe near the border between Brazil and Peru are rare evidence that such groups exist. A Brazilian official involved in the expedition said many of them are in increasing danger from illegal logging.

BONN, Germany (Reuters) - Mankind is causing 50 billion euros ($78 billion) of damage to the planet's land areas every year, making it imperative governments act to save plants and animals, a Deutsche Bank official told a U.N. conference.

May 30, 2008

Methane release could cause abrupt, far-reaching climate change
An abrupt release of methane, a powerful greenhouse gas, from ice sheets that extended to Earth's low latitudes some 635 million years ago caused a dramatic shift in climate, scientists funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) report in this week's issue of the journal Nature. The shift triggered events that resulted in global warming and an ending of the last "snowball" ice age.

Funds miss the small farmers caring for marginal but environmentally valuable lands
EU funding programmes that consider farmers only as food producers, neglect the environmental and social benefits they also provide. This is one of the main conclusions of a series of studies recently completed by WWF and the European Forum for Nature Conservation and Pastoralism, and presented in Brussels on 15 May.

World's Largest Carbon Market Facilitates Pollution
An article in the Guardian newspaper reveals that billions worth of 'clean' investment on the world's largest carbon offsets market ends up polluting the environment. The article cites researchers who've reviewed the participating companies in the Kyoto Protocol Clean Development Mechanism (CDM). They issued a report which seriously undermines the credibility of the CDM.

kitchen composter turns garbage into gold
Here’s a great way to reduce the amount of food scraps tossed in the trash, and start making some food for your home-grown herbs and veggies. Feed vegetable scraps, coffee grinds, meat, fish and dairy into the hopper and within 2 weeks you’ve got fresh fertilizer — check out the Pro Composter by NatureMill.

Experts Admit Food Prices & Mass Hunger for the Poor Will Continue for Next Decade
The UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) noted in a press release from yesterday that, "The latest Food Outlook indicates that the food import bill of the Low Income Food Deficit Countries (LIFDCs) is expected to reach US$169 billion in 2008, 40 percent more than in 2007. FAO calls the sustained rise in imported food expenditures for vulnerable country groups 'a worrying development,' and says that by the end of 2008 their annual food import basket could cost four times as much as it did in 2000.

Water shortages and drought are the next scourge, warns US group
The next scourge to afflict the global economy after soaring oil and food prices will be a surge in the cost of water brought on by growing scarcity, one of the world's biggest companies warned yesterday. General Electric, the US industrial group, said it would cut its own use of water by 20% by 2012 and export water-saving and recycling technology to countries - often emerging economies - hit by shortages.

World's rarest rhinos captured on video
Hidden cameras have captured rare footage of critically endangered Javan rhinos in the jungles of Indonesia, which will help understand the animal's behavior patterns, the wildlife conservation group WWF said on Thursday. The rhinos have appeared twice on cameras one month after the devices were installed in the Ujung Kulon National Park in the westernmost region of Java island, with one rhino mother charging a camera and damaging it.

New Zealand moves to protect rare dolphins
New Zealand plans to ban commercial fishing near its coast and set up marine reserves to protect the rare Hector's dolphins, a government minister said on Thursday The Hector's dolphin is estimated to number around 7,400 from 29,000 in the late 1970s. However, one of its sub-species, the Maui dolphin, is said to be the rarest in the world and facing extinction with as few as 111 animals left.

Warming seen depleting Great Lakes even more
Global warming will likely drain more water from the Great Lakes and pose added pollution threats to the region's vulnerable ecosystem, environmental groups said in a report issued on Wednesday. Climate change could further reduce scant ice cover observed in recent winters, increasing evaporation rates and dropping water levels in the five lakes that collectively make up 20 percent of the world's surface fresh water.

Study shows biggest polluters east of Mississippi
All but one of the top 10 U.S. metropolitan areas that release the most greenhouse gases on a per capita basis lie east of the Mississippi River, a study released on Thursday showed. "A north-south divide is also apparent," as seven of the highest emitters of greenhouse gases are located in the south, including two from each of three states, Tennessee, Ohio and Kentucky, according to the report by the Regional Plan Association, a New York-based think tank. May 29, 2008

Study Supports U.S. Wind Expansion
Wind energy can supply 20 percent of U.S. electricity needs by 2030 at a "modest" cost difference, a new U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) report says. The analysis predicts that the 20 percent wind scenario would cost about 2 percent more than sticking with the current energy mix, which relies more heavily on traditional fossil fuels.

Energy Scavenging: Squeezing Watts from Motion
Using the same technology that allows hybrid cars to recycle braking energy, Max Donelan invented a gadget that produces power from the human knee - capable of producing 2.5 watts of electricity per leg. The unit is not too practical at the moment, but the technology and potential is sound. Currently the knee power generator weighs in at 3.5 lbs and it looks very awkward to have strapped on. Although 2.5 watts doesn’t seem like too much it is enough to power 5 mobile phones free of charge or resource.

Solar powered refrigerator
Getting away from it all doesn’t have to mean leaving your frosty cold-ones behind. These SunDanzer energy efficient DC refrigerators can keep your vitals cold while maintaining the off-the-grid status of your mountaintop yoga studio.

Organic-Food Desire, Soaring Grocery Bills Contributing to Trend
Keely Sinclair was worried about the politics of food - how far it travels, how safe it is, how pesticides affect the environment. On top of that, the 38-year-old office manager realized one day that she was spending an awful lot of money on organic produce.

Veja! Organic Cotton Sneakers Are Here
The dope sneakers for the hipsters down in Brazilia are these organic cotton sneaks from Veja. Veja means “Look!”? in Portuguese and these fly kicks sure do make you wanna do just that. The soles are made from natural rubber sourced from the Amazon rainforest. When Amazonians can make a livable wage by harvesting goods from the forest, they are much less likely to sell the entire trees for a one time profit.

USGBC to Outsource LEED Certification
In a move that will likely have far-reaching ramifications for the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) and its influential LEED rating systems, the organization has announced that as of January 2009 it will no longer certify buildings. That responsibility will pass to independent, accredited certifiers overseen by USGBC’s sister nonprofit corporation, the Green Building Certification Institute (GBCI). GBCI has administered the LEED Accredited Professional (LEED-AP) program since January 2008.

Aquaculture Operations Seek Organic Certification
Of the several proposed or available labels for seafood products, none are as divisive as organic. As the aquaculture, or fish farming, industry continues its rapid expansion, some U.S. environmental groups have called on the government to set organic standards for aquaculture. Their hopes are that the booming organic market, with its higher premium, would motivate fish farms to clean up their acts. Others remain unconvinced that an organic fish market could address aquaculture's environmental concerns without ruining the credibility of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) organic label.

Whales, lizards inspire hi-tech bio-mimicry
Whale hearts hold clues to making pacemakers and lizard skins are showing how to cut friction in electrical appliances as companies mimic nature to develop high-tech goods, a U.N.-backed report said on Wednesday. Among other advances that could save hundreds of millions of dollars, the wings of desert beetles could improve water collection and the drought-resistant African "resurrection plant" indicates ways to store vaccines without refrigeration.

Climate change may trim corn yields
Warmer temperatures brought on by climate change could trim output of some U.S. crops like corn in coming decades, but increase yields from other crops like soybeans, government scientists said on Tuesday. U.S. corn output dips and rises from year-to-year but has risen overall as farmers use new seeds and fertilizers to maximize growth.

May 28, 2008

Small business crunched by fuel prices
Many U.S. small business owners say soaring fuel costs are eating their profits at a time when the economy is already weak, making them more cautious about expanding or hiring. "In theory we could pass on extra costs with fuel surcharges," said Vince Puente, part owner of Southwest Office Systems Inc (SOS), which sells and services copy machines and other office equipment to companies in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. "However, our competitors are all bigger than us and aren't doing that, so surcharges would kill us."

Remote controlled planes to explore hurricanes
MIAMI (Reuters) - U.S. researchers are ramping up their use of unmanned, remote-controlled airplanes this year to penetrate the heart of Atlantic hurricanes in the hope of learning more about what makes the giant storms tick.

In Vitro Meat, a More Humane Treat
The ongoing world food crisis has incited riots and protests in more than ten countries over the past several months. In Haiti, seven people were killed in riots that led to the ouster of Prime Minister Jacques Edouard Alexis. Egypt's President Mubarak enlisted the army to produce and distribute bread after several people were killed in bakery clashes. Drought, a declining dollar, and a shift of investment money into commodities have all contributed to bare shelves and empty bellies.

Cocoa Could Be A Healthy Treat For Diabetic Patients
For people with diabetes, sipping a mug of steaming, flavorful cocoa may seem a guilty pleasure. But new research suggests that indulging a craving for cocoa can actually help blood vessels to function better and might soon be considered part of a healthy diet for the prevention of cardiovascular disease. Flavanols, natural plant compounds also found in tea, red wine, and certain fruits and vegetables, are responsible for cocoa's healthful benefits. In fact, according to new research.

Turkey hints at “significant” moves on climate change
Turkey today dropped its strongest hint yet that it will sign up to the Kyoto Protocol on combating climate change, and will join in international efforts aimed at cutting greenhouse gasses. Turkish President Abdullah Gül said he supports the UN plan for the two year negotiation process agreed in Bali last year, and added “Turkey is now preparing to undertake its responsibilities. Very significant work is currently under way so as to enable us to take important steps in the period ahead.”

Honey Bee Losses Continue To Rise In U.S.
Colony Collapse Disorder, diseases, parasitic mites and other stressors continue to take a devastating toll on U.S. honey bee populations, but Pennsylvania beekeepers on average fared better than their counterparts nationally during this past winter, according to apiculture experts in Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences. A recent survey by the Apiary Inspectors of America found that losses nationwide topped 36 percent of managed hives between September 2007 and March 2008, compared to a 31 percent loss during the same period a year earlier.

Scientists announce top 10 new species, issue SOS
The International Institute for Species Exploration at Arizona State University and an international committee of taxonomists — scientists responsible for species exploration and classification — today announce the top 10 new species described in 2007. On the list are an ornate sleeper ray, with a name that sucks: Electrolux; a 75-million-year-old giant duck-billed dinosaur; a shocking pink millipede; a rare, off-the-shelf frog; one of the most venomous snakes in the world; a fruit bat; a mushroom; a jellyfish named after its victim; a life-imitates-art “Dim”? rhinoceros beetle; and the “Michelin Man”? plant.

May 27, 2008

Ocean Acidification And Its Impact On Ecosystems
Emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) through human activities have a well known impact on the Earth's climate. What is not so well known is that the absorption of this CO2 by the oceans is causing inexorable acidification of sea water. But what impact is this phenomenon having on marine organisms and ecosystems? This is a question to which researchers have few answers as yet.

China works around the clock to drain quake lake

China has put the death toll from the earthquake that struck Sichuan province on May 12 at 65,080, with the figure certain to rise as searchers account for 23,150 missing. A total of 360,058 people were injured.

Senate set to take up climate change debate
The international fight to control climate change heads to a new arena in June when the Senate is to debate a bill that could cut total U.S. global warming emissions by 66 percent by 2050. Environmentalists are supportive but want more in the legislation, the business community questions the economic impact, and the politicians who have shepherded it seem gratified that it has managed to get this far -- even though it is unlikely to become law this year.

Record set for World's Largest Fair Trade Coffee Break!
On May 10 2008, a grand total of 12,128 people in more than 150 locations from coast to coast convened to set the record for the World's Largest Fair Trade Coffee Break. An estimated 50,000 people participated in more than 200 events taking place throughout North America during Fair Trade Fortnight (May 3-18).

Wind power could make Norway "Europe's battery"
Norway could become "Europe's battery" by developing huge sea-based wind parks costing up to $44 billion by 2025, Norway's Oil and Energy Minister said on Monday. Norway's Energy Council, comprising business leaders and officials, said green exports could help the European Union reach a goal of getting 20 percent of its electricity by 2020 from renewable sources such as wind, solar, hydro or wave power.

May 26, 2008

Spain's drought a glimpse of our future?
Barcelona is a dry city. It is dry in a way that two days of showers can do nothing to alleviate. The Catalan capital's weather can change from one day to the next, but its climate, like that of the whole Mediterranean region, is inexorably warming up and drying out. And in the process this most modern of cities is living through a crisis that offers a disturbing glimpse of metropolitan futures everywhere.

Vast bounty at risk from under protected oceans
Bonn, May 26, 2008 —Oceans offer a vast bounty to mankind — in food, climate and coastal protection, medicine and new technologies — a new WWF Germany study of the ocean's value has found, but are at risk due to very low levels of protection from over-exploitation. WWF is urging the 190 Parties to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity, now meeting in Bonn, Germany, to conserve the wealth of our oceans.

Market and Community Approaches to Food Crisis
The first quarter of this year saw food prices skyrocket, with the World Bank recording a 75 percent increase in its food price index since September 2006. The challenges for policymakers, however, extend beyond the current crisis. Since early 2002, food prices have risen by 140 percent, with the effect falling disproportionately on the poor. Meanwhile, a third of food bought in the United Kingdom is thrown away. There are fundamental problems of distribution and price stability that governments and NGOs must address if we are to repair food production and avoid further crises.

Study Cites High Cost of Global Warming, Says Action Would Be Cheaper
Doing nothing about global warming would cost America dearly for the rest of this century because of stronger hurricanes, higher energy and water costs, and rising seas that would swamp coastal communities, says a new study by economists at Tufts University. The study concludes that it would be cheaper to take aggressive action to cut greenhouse gas emissions than it would be to suffer the consequences of a changing world. "The longer we wait, the more painful and expensive the consequences will be," the report states.

More than 80% of World’s Fisheries In Danger From Overfishing
Geneva -- A new report released by Oceana today concludes that more than 80 percent of the world's fisheries cannot withstand increased fishing activity and only 17 percent of the world's fisheries should be considered capable of any growth in catch at all. Too Few Fish: A Regional Assessment of the World's Fisheries shows there is very little room for further expansion of global fishing efforts.

The Other Footprint : The Water Footprint
By now, you’ve all heard of the Carbon Footprint — the measure of the impact human activities have on the environment in terms of the amount of greenhouse gases produced, measured in units of carbon dioxide. Today, KGG sheds light on the other foot; Your Water Footprint. The Water footprint of an individual is defined as the total water used for the production of the goods and services consumed by the individual.

Billions wasted on UN climate programme
Billions of pounds are being wasted in paying industries in developing countries to reduce climate change emissions, according to two analyses of the UN's carbon offsetting programme. Leading academics and watchdog groups allege that the UN's main offset fund is being routinely abused by chemical, wind, gas and hydro companies who are claiming emission reduction credits for projects that should not qualify. The result is that no genuine pollution cuts are being made, undermining assurances by the UK government and others that carbon markets are dramatically reducing greenhouse gases, the researchers say.

G8 environment ministers: halve emissions by 2050
Environment ministers from the G8 rich nations on Monday urged their leaders to set a global target to halve greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, a small but vital step in the fight against climate change. But they stopped short of suggesting specific interim targets ahead of 2050, a key demand of developing countries in tough U.N.-led talks to forge a new treaty on global warming by the end of next year.

Race for Antarctic krill a test for green management
In the global rush for resources, a tiny pink crustacean living in the seas around Antarctica is testing man's ability to manage one of the world's last great fisheries without damaging the environment. Krill, which grow to about 6 cm (2 inches), occur in vast schools and is the major source of food for whales, seals, penguins and sea birds. Without it, scientists say, the ecosystem in and around Antarctica could collapse.

U.N., Myanmar put positive spin on cyclone aid
The United Nations and Myanmar's military government put a positive spin on differences over relief and rebuilding needs for millions of cyclone survivors at a pledging conference in Yangon on Sunday. Aid workers say that three weeks after Cyclone Nargis left 134,000 people dead or missing and up to 2.5 million destitute, parts of the stricken Irrawaddy Delta have still not been reached while the government seeks money for infrastructure.