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Articles in: Pollution
Conservation, Green living, Politics, Pollution, Dec 16th, 2011,
Several dozen men ran naked around the University of Manila. They wanted to draw attention to the need for greater environmental protection. Bare runs have become a tradition at this Filipino University. Every year a group of students meet to fight in defense of the environment. The tradition started over 40 years ago. Then, the students were running around in protest against President Ferdinand Marcos. This year, runners fought for purification of the local rivers. Although the message was not clear for all, this year’s event has been watched by hundreds. “Whatever their advocacy was, I think it will definitely…
Tags: Manila University, naked men, Philippines, rivers pollution
Climate Change, Politics, Pollution, Dec 15th, 2011,
According to Yale University’s 2010 Environmental Performance Index (EPI) Canada ranked as the 46th greenest country in the world, a shameful and sudden drop from #12 in 2008. Why? Mostly due to Canadian ‘tar sands’ or ‘oil sands’ in the province of Alberta, where huge petroleum reserves lie in the form of bitumen, a heavy black form of crude that is energy intensive, highly polluting and more greenhouse gas intensive than conventional oil extraction. And now Canada has pulled out of the Kyoto Treaty, citing that it would be too expensive. Canadian environment minister Peter Kent claims that it would…
Tags: Africa, Canada, energy, Germany, Solar
Pollution, Dec 13th, 2011,
Natural gas firms that engage in hydraulic fracturing are hiding risks from landowners, according to a report by the Environmental Working Group. Hydraulic fracturing, commonly called ‘fracking’, is the practice of extracting natural gas from shale rock by drilling, planting explosives, and pumping in large amounts of water and chemicals to open up gas deposits. Fracking has been linked to the contamination of water supplies with toxic and cancer causing chemicals and even to earthquakes, making the practice controversial throughout the globe. These landowners who were left in the dark about drilling risks are likely just the tip of the…
Tags: chemicals, contamination, fracking, gas, hydraulic fracturing, water
Climate Change, Politics, Pollution, Dec 7th, 2011,
In 2009 you heard the trite references to Shakespeare about something being ‘rotten in the state of Denmark’ during the COP15 United Nations Climate Change Conference. Well it wasn’t just the pickled herring. Nothing stinks worse than corruption, greed and short sightedness in the face of very real human and environmental threats, but toxic waste comes pretty close. Industrial solvents, benzene, dioxins, bleach and sulphides are just a fragrant after scent wafting through the air and just close enough that they might tickle the nose hairs of those ‘negotiating a binding climate deal’ in Durban, South Africa at this years…
Tags: Climate change, COP17, Durban, South Africa
Politics, Pollution, Videos & Documentaries, Nov 25th, 2011,
In December 1970 Republican President Richard Nixon created the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Weeks later came the Clean Air Act and in 1972 the Clean Water Act (the latter vetoed by Nixon, but passed by Congress in a strong majority vote). Regardless, even ‘Tricky Dick’ considered environmental issues, like breathable air and drinkable water, to be above partisanship. In the current US political situation, this is plainly not the case. Republicans would like to dismantle the EPA or do away with it all together. They even go so far as to blame the current economic downturn on environmental regulation…
Tags: clean air, EPA, Rachel Maddow, republican, richard nixon
Health, Pollution, Nov 23rd, 2011,
The use of mercury in gold mining and gilding (covering something in a thin layer of gold) has a long history of poisoning in the Western world and a continuing legacy of death and disease in developing countries as the global demand for gold increases. What was commonly known as ‘gilder’s palsy’ occurs due to inhalation or unintentional ingestion when the toxic metal comes in contact with a worker’s hands and later mixes with their food or water. See the following historical example of mercury poisoning in Russia, from the Montreal Gazette: About 100 kilos of gold were mixed with…
Tags: Africa, gold, gold mining, mercury, poisoning, TOXIC
Politics, Pollution, Nov 14th, 2011,
The ‘Greenest government ever’ strikes again. According to official figures pollution contributed to some 200,000 premature deaths in the UK in 2008, a number with disproportionate victims in poor, urban communities. Furthermore, health care costs total £20bn per year for pollution-related ailments. And now the UK’s Conservative-led government wants to relax air quality standards and shift responsibility from national to local authorities. Standard Tory stuff, right? From the Independent: Poor air quality is caused by three main pollutants – nitrogen oxides, particulate matter and ozone. The UK is failing to meet EU limits for both nitrogen dioxide and PM. A…
Tags: air, government, Pollution, UK
Pollution, Nov 13th, 2011,
Sometimes you just don’t know whether to laugh or cry. I must confess I did the latter when reading about the arch eco-criminal, über litter bug a.k.a. audacious tire thug who illegally dumped over a million tires in remote spots of English countryside during the course of a single year. It’s a lousy, shameless crime, but it’s also funny. I mean, was he going for a world record in tire dumping, or as the English say ‘tyre rubbishing’? And he’s been given 15 months for this – I imagine, but honestly have no idea – unprecedented tyre crime. But tire…
Tags: crime, dumping, tire, tyre
Climate Change, Politics, Pollution, Nov 2nd, 2011,
Growing anti-nuclear sentiment in Europe has reached another milestone. Following Germany’s move to close all of its nuclear power plants by 2022, Belgium has decided to shut its own starting in 2015 and completing by 2025, according to a Reuters report. Much like the companies that run Germany’s nuclear stations, Belgium’s energy operator, Electrabel, warned of blackouts, environmental pollution and a decrease in energy independence as a result of the imminent shut down of the country’s 7 atomic power plants. From AFP: Already a net importer of electricity, Belgium could become increasingly dependent on its neighbours, increase its carbon footprint…
Tags: atomic, Belgium, Climate change, coal, energy, Europe, Fukushima, Lynas, nuclear, plant, power
Politics, Pollution, Oct 26th, 2011,
Last week representatives from over 170 countries met at a UN environmental conference in Colombia to work towards a ban on the exportation of hazardous waste from rich countries to the developing world. The measure is to ratify an amendment to the Basel Convention, a treaty forged in 1989 with the aim of ensuring that individual states take care of their own waste instead of dumping it in poor countries. The US, which is the top exporter of e-waste, still hasn’t signed on. The US has no rules for exporting its e-waste, most of which ends up in China as…
Tags: China, e-waste, export, japan, Philippines, toxic waste, US
Green living, Nature, Pollution, Science & Technology, Videos & Documentaries, Wildlife & Flora, Oct 22nd, 2011,
Abraham Ramonwana, head guide at Tuli Safari Lodge says: “if a mine develops in South Africa, it’s also going to affect Botswana and Zimbabwe”. The authorisation given to an Australian company called Coal of Africa Limited (CoAL) to construct an open-cast coal mine, called the Vele Colliery, just outside of the boundaries of the Mapungubwe National Park will affect this fragile natural harmony. To Abraham, “mining and industry is a short term plan, tourism is a long-term plan.” Abraham, like many others, believes that the Mapungubwe region should be preserved and protected from the impacts of infrastructural development, and allowed…
Tags: Abraham Ramonwana, coal, coal mining, Coal of Africa Limited, manungubwe, Pollution, South Africa
Pollution, Wildlife & Flora, Oct 14th, 2011,
Containment and clean up of what has been termed New Zealand’s ‘worst ever environmental disaster’ are on their way in the Bay of Plenty after a Liberian cargo ship ran aground on a coral reef and began leaking fuel oil late last week. So far 350 tons of oil have leaked into the bay, damaging wildlife and washing up on area beaches. A salvage crew has been working aboard the ship, the Rena, making slow progress. Meanwhile, a group of some 2,000 volunteers has been cleaning toxic oil from affected beaches. Read the latest in the New Zealand Herald. For…
Tags: beaches, coral, New Zealand, oil spill, reef, ship, wildlife
Pollution, Wildlife & Flora, Oct 10th, 2011,
Oil leaking from the stranded container ship off New Zealand’s coast has washed up on local beaches and could continue polluting for weeks, according to authorities. Beautiful Mt Maunganui Beach in Tauranga has been hit with “tar balls”, aka toxic blobs of oil, prompting authorities to issue a public warning to stay away from the stricken beach. So far some 10-50 tons of oil are estimated to have leaked from the Liberian container ship, the Rena, since it hit Astrolabe Reef, near the city of Tauranga on Wednesday, poisoning local wildlife. Weather conditions this week are predicted to hamper rescue…
Tags: beach, leak, Maunganui, New Zealand, oil, ship, spill, tauranga
Pollution, Oct 7th, 2011,
A large container ship is stranded on a reef off the coast of New Zealand and is leaking oil. The ship, named the Rena, ran aground on Astrolabe Reef near the city of Tauranga on Wednesday, causing a 5km (3mi) long oil slick to leak into the Bay of Plenty. So far 4 sea birds have been found dead in the slick, while 4 blue penguins and 2 shags have been rescued by New Zealand Wildlife Response. From the New Zealand Herald: The Rena was carrying about 1700 tonnes of heavy fuel oil and about 70 tonnes of marine diesel…
Tags: Astrolabe Reef, blue penguin, leak, New Zealand, oil, Rena, ship
Nature, Pollution, Oct 5th, 2011,
A hole roughly five times the size of Germany has been observed in the ozone layer above the Arctic this year. The ozone layer is important because it filters the Sun’s powerful UV rays, which can cause skin cancer, cataracts, immune deficiency and damage to vegetation. Since the 80’s the once much talked about phenomenon of ozone depletion has been far more pronounced in the Antarctic region, but for the first time scientists have found a more or less equal ozone ‘hole’ in the northern hemisphere’s Arctic zone. Though man-made chemicals released into the atmosphere eat away at the ozone,…
Tags: arctic, hole, layer, ozone, UV
Pollution, Science & Technology, Sep 27th, 2011,
Can a world with a growing, increasingly industrialized population be fed by organic farming? As the world population approaches 7 billion, there are rising uncertainties about the Earth’s capacity to sustain this unprecedented amount of humanity. Conventional approaches on international and national governmental levels have been along the lines of the Green Revolution, which increased food production in some developing countries like Mexico, India and the Philippines, with the use of pesticides, chemical fertilizers and other technological advances in agriculture. Criticisms of the Green Revolution include concerns about pollution caused by pesticides and industrial fertilizers, as well as a belief…
Tags: agriculture, Germany, Green Revolution, industrial, industrialized, Löwenstein, organic farming
Conservation, Green living, Nature, Pollution, Videos & Documentaries, Wildlife & Flora, Sep 22nd, 2011,
Vele “Christopher” Neluvhalani is a retired public servant and writer, who believes that people have always been connected to the earth, visible by the traces they leave behind, like the ancient rock art on the sandstone outcrops in the Mapungubwe National Park. However, the recent announcement that authorisation has been given to an Australian mining company called Coal of Africa Limited (CoAL) to construct an open-cast mine just outside of the boundaries of the park will compromise the environmental integrity of the area, something that Neluvhalani believes “would be an offence to our ancestors.” Mining will Offend our Ancestors from…
Tags: coal mining, Coal of Africa Limited, dirty coal, Green Renaissance, Mapungubwe National Park, Mining will offend our Ancestors, nature preservation, Neluvhalani, south africa natural park
Green living, Pollution, Sep 7th, 2011,
If you buy groceries in Los Angeles, California, you soon may have to bring your own reusable shopping bags with you. A Los Angeles city councilman has proposed the outright ban of both plastic and paper disposable shopping bags at LA grocery stores. Instead of polluting the oceans with billions of plastic bags and adding to litter with wasteful paper bags, LA shoppers will be expected to use their own bags or purchase reusable ones at the city’s supermarkets. From the LA Times: By including paper bags in the ban, the proposal goes beyond similar measures taken recently by other…
Tags: ban, LA, Los Angeles, paper bags, plastic bags, Tesco, UK
Health, Pollution, Sep 6th, 2011,
In France, nitrogen fertilizers are being blamed for a proliferation of ‘toxic green algae’ covering beaches in Brittany. Ironically, agricultural pollution in France’s pig farming capital may be resulting in the deaths of wild boars in the region. Most pig farms in Brittany use nitrogen-based fertilizers to grow their pig feed. The green algae, which becomes toxic when it decomposes, has also forced the closure of beaches in Brittany. For more on that story see this video report from France 24. Two animal rights activists in Finland will be put on trial next month for exposing cruelty that occurs legally…
Tags: Brittany, cruelty, Finland, France, hog farm, pig farm, pig farming, USA
Health, Politics, Pollution, Sep 5th, 2011,
Smog kills. This is a well-established scientific fact. Unhealthy ground ozone levels contribute to and exasperate allergies and asthma. Cities like London, England and Los Angeles, California are particularly bad places to live in terms of air quality. London has the worst air quality in the UK, while Los Angeles – according to the American Lung Association – is the smoggiest region in the US. US President Barack Obama’s administration looked as if they would tighten controls on ozone levels in the country, but another compromise – aka bow to big business interests – seems to have put an end…
Tags: EPA, Los Angeles. London, lung, Obama, Pollution, Smog
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