Gowanus Canal in Brooklyn Designated Superfund Status
For over a hundred years, the Gowanus Canal was used as a dumping ground for a host of refining and manufacturing companies. It is now one of the most polluted waterways in the U.S., with high concentrations of heavy metals and PCBs in the sediment. Though the Bloomberg administration was seeking to avoid a Superfund designation (believing that it could manage a faster cleanup without the Superfund stigma), the EPA will now begin the cleanup process, expected to take 10-12 years.
Are Methane Emissions from the Arctic Becoming a Big Problem?
There is some worrisome news coming out of the Arctic, where a recent study in Science has found that methane is bubbling up from deposits in the seafloor. Methane, 25 times more potent as a greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide, could amplify global warming as deposits located in the arctic permafrost and on the sea floor become more active. However, the short-lived nature of methane (compared to CO2) may make methane less worrisome than some think. Unfortunately the jury is still out.
The G.O.P.’s Green Rogue – Senator Lindsey Graham
Senator Lindsey Graham has been one of the sole Republican members of congress that has been actively pushing for domestic climate change legislation. In case you missed it, Tom Friedman’s column on how Senator Graham frames his push for a price on carbon emissions is well worth a read.
A Polar Bear Jawbone Provides Clues to the Species Evolution
It turns out that polar bear split from brown bears only 150,000 years ago. DNA evidence from a 130,000 year old jaw bone provides evidence that polar bears have been through warming periods before, giving hope that they would be able to adapt to rapidly warming temperatures in the arctic.
In my recent road trippin’ post, I left off en route to Santa Barbara. I spent a little more than six years of my life living in Santa Barbara and every time I have returned since leaving there in early summer 2007, I wrestle with the gravity of my decision to go. Nestled between the mountains and the sea, Santa Barbara is often called the “California Riviera.”
Fortunately enough, not all my ties to this place have been severed, and I am lucky enough to call on great friends who are still there whenever I am passing through. This time around they had wonderful things in store for us once we arrived.
Santa Barbara is host to an International Film Festival, and luckily for us we were passing through in the middle of it. Of even greater serendipity, however, was that our first night also happened to be the global premier of a new film by my favorite surf filmmaker, Chris Malloy. The film, 180° SOUTH: Conquerors of the Useless, retraces the 1968 journey of Yvon Chouinard and Doug Tompkins, the respective founders of Patagonia and the North Face Clothing Company, to a remote climb in southern Patagonia. The adventure changes the lives of the two men forever, and plants the seedlings for what would later become one of the greatest conservation efforts in South America. Chris Malloy uses Chouinard and Tompkin’s experience as a springboard for a present day journey to the same destination, and to convey the power of discovery, adventure, and ultimately conservation and the impact we have on the special places of the world.
China Reveals Extensive Pollution Survey
China recently released a comprehensive new pollution survey, which took two years and 570,000 staff to complete, and puts China ahead of other developing countries in having a detailed map of who is polluting and where. Government officials speculated that the detailed census suggests that pollution may peak sooner rather than later. Read the story here.
Asian Carp Threatens Lake Michigan
Introduced in the southern United States more than three decades ago, the Asian Carp is an invasive species that can consume up to 40% of its body mass per day. This strain on the food chain can be devastating for an ecosystem, and state and federal officials are watching closely as the fish make their way toward Lake Michigan.
UCLA Develops Synthetic ‘Gene’ Designed to Capture CO2 Emissions
UCLA chemists report creating a synthetic “gene” that could capture heat-trapping carbon dioxide emissions, which contribute to global warming, rising sea levels and the increased acidity of oceans. Read a review of the research in Science Daily.
Another Look at Packaging and Food Waste
While we don’t always agree with what the freakanomics guys are doing, we found this article on packaging waste to be thought provoking.
Indonesia to Tackle Climate Change on its Own
Indonesia’s leading climate change advisor said he thinks global consensus on climate change cannot be reached, but hinted at a national strategy currently underway that would allow Indonesia to move forward on tackling the effects of environmental degradation without waiting for another round of international negotiations.
Brazil Approves Huge Dam in the Amazon
The Brazilian government has given approval for the construction of a massive dam in the Amazon state of Para. This controversial project would devastate 500 sq km of the rainforest, and affect the livelihoods of over 12,000 indigenous people. The Belo Monte dam would be the third largest in the world at 11,000 MW, and provide electricity to 23 million homes to help meet Brazil’s growing energy demands. Reported by the BBC.
EU to Classify Palm Oil Plantations as Forests
Palm oil plantation expansion across Southeast Asia has led to massive amounts of rainforest destruction over the past few decades. Palm oil, an important cash crop for the region, is used as a cooking oil, in cosmetics products, and as a biofuel. According to a leaked document from the European Commission at Mongabay. the EU may allow the classification of palm oil plantations that were converted from rainforest as “forest”, thereby meeting their sustainability criteria. Should this be approved, it could lead to further destruction of the forests of the region – exacerbating climate change and destroying biodiversity.
New Wind Turbine Design Based on Jet Engines Could Boost Efficiency by 4X
Flodesign, a Massachusetts-based wind turbine company has just received over $35 million in venture capital and $8 million in grants from the DOE to bring their revolutionary design to market. Should its performance claims be true, it could reduce the cost of generating wind energy by half. Read more and watch a video of the design at Treehugger.
Rising CO2 emissions in the atmosphere due to the burning of fossil fuels is causing ocean acidification. Ocean dwelling organisms, many of which we eat and depend on, will be negatively affected because forming carbonate (i.e. shells) will become much more difficult. A new study from the north Pacific provides evidence that the oceans are becoming more acidic on a large scale.
Graph showing the increase in both atmospheric and dissoved ocean CO2, and decrease of ocean pH (increase in acidity). Source: Doney et al.
The results of a 15-year long study in the north Pacific Ocean provides evidence that the planet’s oceans are becoming more acidic due to increasing CO2 emissions in the atmosphere. The study, just published in Geophysical Research Letters, compared the pH of seawater samples taken along a transect between Oahu, Hawaii and Kodiak, Alaska on two expeditions in 1991 and 2006. The results show that average pH has decreased by 0.023 in the top 800 m of the ocean. While that may not sound like a lot, this decrease in pH corresponds to a roughly 6% increase in ocean acidity.
An increase in the concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere increases the partial pressure of CO2, causing an imbalance between the dissolved CO2 in the oceans and the atmosphere. The oceans consequently absorb CO2, which creates carbonic acid in the water. In other words, by burning lots of stuff (coal, gas, wood) here on land, we are changing the chemistry of the earth’s oceans.
The following short video from worldfocus was published in February, 2009, but is as relevant today as ever. Prioritizing ecological restoration and supporting environmentally sound infrastructure and development projects will be critical if the country’s long term recovery efforts are to reduce vulnerability to natural disasters such as the earthquake on January 12, 2009, or the hurricanes and tropical storms of August-September 2008.
Indonesia: Illegal logging is not only leading to rainforest destruction, but is also exacerbating poverty, causing human rights to be violated. Unless the Indonesian government can rein-in corruption, future efforts to stop deforestation (such as REDD) are likely to fail.
Human Rights Watch has just released a report titled Wild Money that details how rampant corruption in Indonesia’s forestry sector is negatively affecting human rights and governance.
Indonesia, home to the third largest area of tropical rainforest (outside of Brazil and the Democratic Republic of Congo) also has one of the world’s highest deforestation rates. Yearly exports from timber production are worth $6.6 billion, more than all of the African and Central American countries’ exports combined.
However, more than half of Indonesia’s timber was logged illegally. Illegal activities related to the forest sector include (but are not limited to) bribing forestry officials and police, obtaining logging permits and export permits through nefarious means, and logging protected areas.
The yearly losses as a result of illegal logging are greater than Indonesia’s total budget for health services – over $2 billion. It is also the amount of money it would take to provide basic health services to 100 million of Indonesia’s poorest people, according to The World Bank.
Illegal logging is disenfranchising rural forest communities, of which many depend on the forest for their livelihoods. With such entrenched corruption – pervasive throughout the police, military, government. and judiciary, illegal logging is contributing to poor governance.
Paige Olmsted’s photo from Sarawak, Borneo is the winner of the 2009 Project Groundswell photo contest. Her photo captured 23% and a majority of the 273 votes cast. She will be receiving a copy of the BBC Planet Earth DVD box set in the mail.
Congratulations Paige!
Thank you to all who submitted photos and those that took the time to vote.
I just finished watching a stunning visual documentary by Yann Arthus-Bertrand called HOME. The film, released last summer and available to watch free online, shows our planet in all of its natural beauty through high definition aerial photography. But accompanying this natural beauty, are images depicting a wide range of the global environmental problems routinely discussed here such as deforestation, climate change, water shortages, and poverty.
By putting a human face and bringing to life these problems, the film has a very powerful message: that we humans have dramatically altered not only the majority of the planet’s landscape, but the fundamental chemistry of the atmosphere and oceans. And without a dramatic change in our current trajectory, we will push many of these the planets already stressed systems past the breaking point.
While most many of the visuals are a bit depressing, the film ends on a positive note with a series of positive actions and trends being taken around the world. As the narrator says, “It’s too late to be a pessimist.”
I encourage you to watch the film. You won’t be disappointed.
Indonesia is welcoming a newly emerging forest carbon mechanism, Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD), as a means to mitigate climate change. Nearly 20% of global CO2 emissions are released into the atmosphere as a result of deforestation, and many see the prevention of these emissions as relatively inexpensive way to combat climate change. Under REDD, industrialized nations will be able to offset their carbon emissions by paying millions of dollars to tropical countries in return for not cutting down trees. Not only would REDD help combat climate change, but it would also theoretically protect some of the most important ecosystems on the planet.
Morning mist in Berau, East Kalimantan
With the third largest area of tropical rainforest in the world (after Brazil and The Congo), Indonesia is poised to reap substantial benefits from this scheme. REDD also could potentially improve the country’s forest management and enhance local livelihoods, and ultimately promote sustainable development.
Gowanus Canal in Brooklyn Designated Superfund Status
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