Home/Posts Tagged ‘Pollution’
Posts Tagged ‘Pollution’
Climate & Change, climate change, Politics, Videos & Documentaries, Oct 31st, 2009,
Private and corporate funding of higher education in the U.S. is nothing new, but blatant advertising of the coal industry to the point of requiring that a new dormitory for basketball players contain the word ‘coal’ in its name is kind of pushing things. A recent segment of the Rachel Maddow show pokes fun at a situation involving a private group of wealthy donors who are University of Kentucky basketball fans and apparently also big fans of coal. The group, called the Difference Makers, is offering to give $7 million towards the construction of the new dorm, provided it has…
Tags: carbon emissions, coal, Kentucky, Pollution, University of Kentucky
climate change, Oct 30th, 2009,
Not 30 minutes ago, the US Coast Guard reported an oil tanker leaking fuel into the San Francisco Bay. The slick that was caused is at least a mile long so far, and still expanding. Oil was leaked from the Panama-flagged Dubai Star during a fuel transfer this morning, and they are unsure how much exactly was spilled. Coast Guard water and aircraft are currently on the scene, about 2 ½ miles southeast of the Bay Bridge. Updates will be posted as things are found out. By Heidi Marshall
Tags: oil spill, Pollution, San Francisco
climate change, ,
Madagascar just can’t get a break: desertification, political instability, economic hardship, endangered species and now a bunch of toxic waste in their water. In August a Turkish freighter shipwrecked off the island nation’s southern coast, spilling raw phosphate, fuel, diesel and lubricant into a rich marine ecosystem, which is also on a migratory path for whales. According to a report featured on the WWF website about half of the 40,000 people who live in the area have been affected in some way, whether it be health complications such as respiratory problems and skin diseases or the damage to the local…
Tags: Madagascar, Pollution, shipwreck
Climate & Change, climate change, Oct 24th, 2009,
Coal does a massive amount of damage to the environment everyday. It is responsible for high greenhouse gas emissions, crop and timber damage, is an extreme air pollutant and causes many health risks, like asthma, chronic bronchitis and cardiovascular disease. All of this damage costs the US alone at least $62 billion per year. The National Academy of Sciences released a report that entails a study of 406 coal plants, which create a combined 95% of the nation’s coal-burned electricity. The amount of damage per facility, per year, is roughly $156 million in environmental damages; caused by sulfur dioxide, nitrogen…
Tags: climate change, coal, Pollution, renewable energy
Climate & Change, climate change, Videos & Documentaries, Oct 7th, 2009,
The West African nation of Nigeria is home to some of the richest and most diverse ecological systems in the world. The Niger River Delta in particular, contains four separate ecosystems: coastal barrier islands, mangrove swamp forests, freshwater swamps, and lowland rain forests. Nigeria also has a major petroleum industry, ranking 12th in the world for production, 10th for known reserves and 8th in oil export. Unfortunately the environmental treasure trove that is the Niger Delta is also the country’s main oil producing region. Amnesty International has spearheaded a campaign against Shell Oil in Nigeria. According to a BBC News…
Tags: gas flaring, Niger Delta, Nigeria, oil, Pollution, Shell
Climate & Change, climate change, Videos & Documentaries, Oct 5th, 2009,
Theoretically maybe, in reality no. Not yet, anyway. The catchphrase “clean coal” is a brazen marketing ploy of the old school Madison Avenue variety. Think Kool brand cigarettes (that’s right, something literally on fire is cool) and Gatorgum from the makers of Gatorade, which proudly boasted on its wrapper “Helps Quench Thirst” (it didn’t – it was sugary chewing gum). You get the picture – just saying it’s clean doesn’t make it so. The term “clean coal” is especially audacious. It’s one step away from saying “clean dirt.” In fact, it almost sounds like something The Riddler (of Batman fame)…
Tags: carbon emissions, clean coal, coal, Pollution, technology
Climate & Change, climate change, Oct 1st, 2009,
In the past 2 years, the United States has dropped its carbon emissions by at least 9%, according to Lester Brown of the Washington Post. In the piece, he points out that finally, the US is starting to make some headway towards a greener future. Although the recession and high gas prices may have something to do with the drop, consider that aside from Americans using less oil, the over-all usage of coal has also dropped, and many companies are replacing coal plants with renewable energy sources, such as wind farms. A recent bill passed by the US Congress seeks…
Tags: carbon emissions, Pollution, US
climate change, Sep 26th, 2009,
Today, the small Australian town of Bundanoon intends to go bottled-water free, as tapped water becomes the latest craze. Earlier this year, the town held a vote in favor of supporting events and businesses, in exchange for removing commercial bottled water from sale. Because such a small town (with a population of around 2,500) was going to take on such a huge industry, they received media coverage and praise from around the globe. And they certainly were not alone in their efforts to change. The environmental organization Do Something provided sponsorship negotiations, while new water stations were donated by Street…
Tags: plastic bottle, Pollution, water
climate change, Sep 23rd, 2009,
The Puget Sound – home to a vast array of marine and mammal life (including human) is constantly being threatened by pollutants, and it seems pet poop is one of the culprits. Storm water runoffs, polluted by various household chemicals and oils, (as well as the aforementioned poop) eventually end up in the sound, dumping some 140,000 pounds of waste into the body of water. The pollution can severely damage the wildlife in the region, not to mention Washington State’s lucrative seafood industry. Citizens, schools, advocacy groups and businesses have taken action and launched the Puget Sound Starts Here campaign,…
Tags: dog poop, Pollution, puget sound, seattle
climate change, Videos & Documentaries, Sep 22nd, 2009,
Greenpoint, a popular neighborhood in the New York City borough of Brooklyn, isn’t very ‘Green’ at all. Allegations of toxic vapors wafting up from the ground soil, high instances of rare bone cancer, multiple lawsuits and a pervading fear of unknown health risks plague the area. The culprit? A huge blob of oil bubbling up from the Brooklyn aquifer – where the neighborhood’s drinking water used to come from before the city started using upstate reservoirs. The source of all this oil is the long-polluted Newtown Creek, which forms Greenpoint’s northern margin and the border between the boroughs of Brooklyn…
Tags: Brooklyn, Exxon, Exxon Valdez, Exxon-Mobil, Greenpoint, Greenpoint spill, NY, oil spill, Pollution
climate change, Sep 21st, 2009,
In the “CO2 Energy Emissions Index (CEEI)” by global risk analyst Maplecroft (UK), it appears Australia has now overtaken the United States as the world’s top carbom emitter, at a rate of 20.6 tonnes of CO2 per capita. This is bad news, as Australia (along with other industrialized nations) will be under fire in December at eh Copenhagen Climate Change Summit. Australia is also considered at “great risk” because of its difficulty in obtaining renewable energy sources and dependence on fossil fuels. Australia and the US are followed, in order by Canada, the Netherlands and Saudi Arabia in per capita…
Tags: australia, carbon emissions, Pollution
climate change, Videos & Documentaries, Sep 19th, 2009,
The prestigious American newspaper is running a string of articles examining the worsening situation of America’s waters and what government agencies are doing about it. Featured are reports with titles such as ‘Debating How Much Weed Killer Is Safe in Your Water Glass’, ‘Health Ills Abound as Farm Runoff Fouls Wells’ and ‘Clean Water Laws Are Neglected, at a Cost in Suffering.’ Included in the Times’ ‘Toxic Waters’ project series are slideshows and videos, which add personal touches and sometimes shockingly graphic images to the informative text. Effluent pollution from livestock, tap water polluted with lead, bacteria, coal and chemical…
Tags: New York Times, Pollution, Times, Toxic Waters
climate change, sustainable living, Sep 4th, 2009,
If only there was a How Clean Is Your House? for cities: Two matronly ladies storm into Naples and scold a shamefaced mayor into cleaning up his act, vacuuming under the bed and somehow disposing of 400,000 tons of toxic so-called “ecoballs,” which are anything but what their name would have you believe. We, the viewers get to gasp with incredulous, self-righteous indignation because our home cities aren’t complete rubbish heaps. “How could they let it get so far?” we wonder out loud, tossing an empty bag of potato chips into the recycling bin, knowing some responsible civic worker will…
Tags: Berlusconi, Camorra, Campania, garbage, Naples, Pollution, Recycling, TOXIC
climate change, Videos & Documentaries, Sep 2nd, 2009,
TOXIC: Linfen, China – VBS travels to the single most polluted place on earth, the coal-mining town of Linfen in Shanxi Province, China, where kids play in dirty rivers and the sun sets early behind a thick curtain of smog. – vbs.tv Linfen, China’s coal capital was named the most polluted city in the world by the Blacksmith Institute, an organization that focuses on identifying heavily polluted areas and providing help to the people who live in them. A city of over 4 million, Linfen is literally choked by smoke from coal fires and steel mills, many which operate illegally…
Tags: China, coal, environment, industrial, Linfen, Pollution
Climate & Change, climate change, Aug 29th, 2009,
The world’s worst polluter, China, has been criticized for their rapid growth at the cost of the environment. Indeed, the country is notorious for letting companies get away with pumping copious amounts of CO2 into the atmosphere, for the good on their economy. Recently though, it seems China has given in to the rest of the world’s condemnation. China pledged to reduce their carbon emissions by 2050, as well as to rely on 20% renewable energy in 10 years. By next year, the government will have completed a 500-MW wind farm, which will be followed by another one with twice…
Tags: carbon emissions, China, climate change, Pollution
climate change, sustainable living, Videos & Documentaries, Aug 27th, 2009,
If I don’t take any risks, if I don’t make some sort of contribution, the work won’t be rewarding. There is a Chinese poem which says that a divine view is beheld from a perilous peak. -Wu Deng Ming, Chinese environmental activist ‘Black River – China’ is a documentary released in June 1996 by ABC Australia and distributed by Journeyman Pictures concerning the polluted Huai River basin, at the time home to 1/10th of China’s population. According to the report, the Chinese government’s goal was to have a clean river “by all costs” by the year 2000. That lofty target…
Tags: China, china pollution map, environmental activist, Huai River, Pollution, stephen voss
climate change, Wildlife & Flora, Aug 26th, 2009,
A new U.S. federal study of mercury contamination released this month found the highly toxic substance in EVERY fish tested at nearly 300 streams across the U.S. The study, undertaken by the U.S. Geological Survey, is the most comprehensive look to date at mercury in the American streams. Over a period of 7 years (between1998 to 2005), scientists collected and tested more than a thousand fish from 291 streams. Read the full article here
Tags: environment, fish, Pollution, seafood
Climate & Change, Politics, Aug 21st, 2009,
After meetings in Beijing, Tony Blair, the former British Prime Minister, urged for climate treaty negotiations as China would appear to be committed to stronger steps to contain swelling greenhouse gas emissions. After his talks with Premier Wen Jiabao, Blair said on Thursday that climate change had moved closer to the heart of China. As the world’s biggest emitter of greenhouse gases (from human activity) China is starting to explore goals for its next five-year development plan starting from 2011. The former British Prime Minister said the country was likely to adopt stronger measures to rein in emissions of carbon…
Tags: China, climate change, greenhouse gas, Pollution
climate change, sustainable living, Videos & Documentaries, Aug 12th, 2009,
I’m depressed. I just watched another documentary on The Great Pacific Garbage Patch. The world is infused with plastic and marinated in toxins. Our oceans, still largely clean, clear and pristine-looking, are actually a vast plastic soup steeped in poisonous chemicals, which are consumed by sea life and then in turn by humans. Serves them right, I think, and mentally kick a PET bottle into the senseless ocean of futility I currently think of as “life”. Or does it? I for one never wanted tons of plastic bags and I’m sure many others didn’t either, but they were (and still…
Tags: environment, fish, garbage patch, plastic, Pollution, sealife, water
