http://www.unep.org/Documents.Multilingual/Default.asp?DocumentID=562&ArticleID=6069&l=en Who: The people of Nairobi, Kenya What: Planting 5,000 trees to help rebuild Karuma forest Where: Nairobi When: Feb 14, 2009 Why: Combat Global warming, help rebuilt the forest near Nairobi How: Plant trees. My Opinion: Nairobi is the largest city in Kenya (with a population of 3 million) this means that 3% of the population should up to this. That would be like 75 thousand people from Toronto showing up to plant trees! This is a great step forward for Africa and for the world!
Endangered San Bernardino Kangaroo Rat Hops Closer to Extinction: Habitat Slashed by Feds
http://www.enn.com/press_releases/2685
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Friday finalized a dramatic reduction in habitat designated as critical for the survival of the charismatic and declining San Bernardino kangaroo rat. The proposal would designate a total of only 7,779 acres of habitat, a 76-percent reduction from the current designation of 33,295 acres.
“The Bush administration has escalated its relentless attack on endangered species in its waning days,”� said Ileene Anderson, a biologist with the Center for Biological Diversity. “Discarding over three-quarters of the San Bernardino kangaroo rat’s habitat will accelerate this charming little animal’s slide to extinction. The science simply does not support this absurd designation.”
Who: Endangered San Bernardino Kangaroo Rat
What: The Bush administration is cutting 3 quarters of the Kangaroo Rats habitat acres of land.
Where: San Bernardino, California
Why: This species is endangered because of the reduction of there land habitat.
How: If they don't give the acres of land back for the rat it will slide to extinction.
In my opinion the bush administration is finally doing something smart. With the economic problems going on in the states, saving some money that is only going to some stupid rats is wise. What I don't agree with would be if the money that is saved from cutting the habitat for this animal is used on frivolous things that I believe would be wrong. But if they are using it toward to help them in this troubled time and the people of the united states country then i must agree with it.
A Great Discovery http://www.enn.com/wildlife/article/39269
Summary: Who: Scientists from the California Institute of Technology and an international team of collaborators What: A team of scientists went on a month-long deep-sea voyage to a marine reserve which brought to light at least three never-before-seen species of sea life. Jess Adkins, Caltech's lead scientist, said, "It was truly one of those transcendent moments, we were flying--literally flying--over these deep-sea structures that look like English gardens, but are actually filled with all of these carnivorous, Seuss-like creatures that no one else has ever seen." They found a new species of carnivorous sea squirts, a new species of barnacles, and a new species of sea anemones. Where: A marine reserve near Tasmania, Australia. When: February 9, 2009 9:06 am. Why: Up until now, the area of the reef the scientists were exploring--called the Tasman Fracture Zone--had only been explored to a depth of 1,800 meters (more than 5,900 feet). Using Jason, a submersible machine, the researchers on this trip were able to reach as far down as 4,000 meters. The cruise had two main goals, to try to use deep-sea corals to reconstruct the paleoclimate through understanding the fluctuations in CO2 found in the ice-core records and to document what's down there. How: They achieved their second goal and are working on the first, through the 10,000-plus samples collected will help the researchers begin their work of deciphering just what has been happening to the ocean throughout the centuries of climate change, and during and between glacial cycles.
My Opinion: I think it is so cool that they found new species. In the article, Jess Adkins said, "In one sense, the deep ocean is less explored than Mars." I think it would be great to keep exploring and keep discovering the marvelous and magical creations that our Lord has made. Then we can even more stand in awe and praise His name for his marvelous creations.
Performing two Google searches from a desktop computer can generate about the same amount of carbon dioxide as boiling a kettle for a cup of tea, according to new research. While millions of people tap into Google without considering the environment, a typical search generates about 7g of CO2 Boiling a kettle generates about 15g. “Google operates huge data centers around the world that consume a great deal of power,” said Alex Wissner-Gross, a Harvard University physicist whose research on the environmental impact of computing is due out soon. “A Google search has a definite environmental impact.” Google is secretive about its energy consumption and carbon footprint. It also refuses to divulge the locations of its data centers. However, with more than 200m internet searches estimated globally daily, the electricity consumption and greenhouse gas emissions caused by computers and the internet is provoking concern. A recent report by Gartner, the industry analysts, said the global IT industry generated as much greenhouse gas as the world’s airlines - about 2% of global CO2 emissions. “Data centers are among the most energy-intensive facilities imaginable,” said Evan Mills, a scientist at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in California. Banks of servers storing billions of web pages require power. Though Google says it is in the forefront of green computing, its search engine generates high levels of CO2 because of the way it operates. When you type in a Google search for, say, “energy saving tips”, your request doesn’t go to just one server. It goes to several competing against each other. It may even be sent to servers thousands of miles apart. Google’s infrastructure sends you data from whichever produces the answer fastest. The system minimizes delays but raises energy consumption. Google has servers in the US, Europe, Japan, and China.
Summary Who: Everyone that has a computer
What: Using Google is having an environmental impact
When: January 12, 2009
Where: All over the world
Why: Using Google is having a definite impact on the environment. Whenever someone conducts two searches on Google, it is equivalent to boiling a kettle. It is said that the global IT industry generated as much greenhouse gas as the worlds airlines
How: Google’s search engines generate high amounts of CO2 due to how they operate. When someone conducts a search, it goes to several servers competing against each other. It minimizes delays, but increases energy consumption.
My Opinion What a weird thing to read about. Whoever thought that going on Google would be harming the environment. Its crazy how unaware we are about these things. Such little acts seem to have such big affects nowadays. The thought never even comes to mind that something like this would be harmful, but I guess we just have to pay more attention to exactly what we are doing and think about what its affect could be
Who: UN Environment Programme and the Asian Institute of Technology (South Asia’s people) What: South Asia’s rivers three largest rivers (Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna(GBM), Indus, and Helmand river basins) are all highly vulnerable, with millions of people are risk of increasing water scarcity. When: Over the last century it has put a lot more pollution into these rivers. In the last 20 years along the amount of water in India has decreased from 4,000 to 1,869 cubic meters. Where: South Asia Why: The per capita availability of freshwater is declining, and contaminated water remains, it is the greatest single environmental cause of human illness and death. How: Extreme population growth in the basins over the last century has put pressure on the region's water resources, while around two-thirds of the Himalayan glaciers that feed the basins are receding. My Opinion: First of all that really sucks. These rivers are so crucial for the lives of so many people living in South Asia. But at the same time the reason why it is so polluted is because the people living there don’t treat the river properly, and area always polluting it. I think they should make some sort of cleaning system for the river (what ever that could mean), and put in some laws of how to treat the river. Because if people continue to use it how they are using it right now. It will no longer be usable.
Who: Australian Conservation Foundation Wilderness Society, the Australian Marine Conservation Society, the Nature Conservancy and the Pew Environment Group.
Where: Perth, Australia
When: February 23rd 2009
What: Conservation Foundations are beginning to pay more attention to conserving the beautiful waters of Perth Australia. Perth is considered a Hot Spot for unique marine life, and it needs sanctuaries to secure its future to maintain the marine animals. The Sanctuaries help maintain the health of the environment, which will affect the recreational fishing in the region in the near future.
Why: 9 out of 10 UNIQUE marine species are only found in these waters of Perth Australia. Only 1 percent was protected, and the conservation foundations wanted to make sure they place more protection on the water because of the unique marine life living their. There are species that live there that scientists are not yet familiar with.
How: The foundations are coming together along with other professors and scientists to figure out a way in order to make sure these waters are safe and protected.
My Opinion: In my opinion, conserving the waters of Perth Australia is a very wise idea. Scientists may be able to learn more from the species that live their, as well as study them and increase there education about them. These animals obviously like living in the environment that the Perth waters offer, so why not maintain it? Unique species migrate here, and it is not only educational but extraordinarily beautiful. It’s a chance to see new creation that God made for us to enjoy.
http://www.cnn.com/2009/TECH/science/02/26/undersea.munitions.cleanup/ Undersea Bombs Threaten Marine Life Beyond the golden beaches and beneath the blue waters of the Puerto Rican island of Vieques is a site that resembles more of a munitions graveyard than a Caribbean paradise.
James Porter measures a 2,000-pound Navy bomb in the waters off the Caribbean island of Vieques.
Hundreds of corroding and unexploded bombs litter the sea floor, leaking toxins and taking a toll on nearby marine life. The munitions were left by the U.S. Navy, which had a training site on Vieques for six decades.
"We know that these munitions are leaking cancer-causing materials and endangering sea life," said marine ecologist James Porter, associate dean of the Odum School of Ecology at the University of Georgia, who recently completed a research trip to Vieques.
Responding to a request by the governor's office of Puerto Rico, Porter tested the island's waters for the presence of radioactive material surrounding the sunken USS Killen, a World War II-era destroyer used as target practice for Navy missiles.
Instead, Porter stumbled upon another finding: cancer.
He discovered that feather duster worms, sea urchins and various types of coral found near bombs and bomb fragments contained high levels of carcinogenic material -- in some cases 100,000 times more than what is considered safe for commercially edible seafood.
Don't Miss Fish migrating to cooler waters, study says In Depth: Planet in Peril "We have not yet traced these contaminants from the reef to the dinner table, but we definitely know these contaminants are in the marine ecosystem," he said.
Porter was scheduled to present his findings Thursday at the Second International Dialogue on Underwater Munitions in Honolulu, Hawaii. The conference brings together scientists, military officials and underwater technology companies to discuss how to identify and clean up hazardous undersea munitions dumps from the Caribbean to the Baltic Sea.
"Any country that has a coastline and has ever had war is going to be a place where you can find this problem," said Porter, who warns that removing underwater munitions takes careful planning. "If you pick up a bomb, you pick up a problem."
Vieques, which lies just east of Puerto Rico's mainland, has had a long history of U.S. military involvement. The Navy used the island as its main Atlantic training site for 60 years before pulling out in 2003.
In 2005, the Environmental Protection Agency designated portions of Vieques Island a Superfund site, classified under a federal program to clean up the nation's hazardous waste.
The U.S. Navy has allocated an estimated $350 million in recent years to clean up areas of Vieques where unexploded bombs could come into contact with residents or tourists, said Christopher Penny, head of the U.S Navy's Vieques Restoration Project. But these efforts so far have been limited to the land and shoreline.
Vieques is one of many ocean sites around the world affected by abandoned ordnances, said scientists and military officials.
"In the U.S. and countries around the world going back to World War II, it was common practice to ... take munitions to a site well offshore and dispose of [them]," said Addison Davis, Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Army for Environment, Safety and Occupational Health.
That changed in 1982, when the United Nations passed the Law of the Sea Treaty, which made it illegal for countries to dump excess weapons in open waters.
But cleaning up after history has its own unique challenges.
One of the many political and environmental obstacles to addressing this issue is the lack of a munitions "map." There is no national or international registry that can pinpoint where these dump sites are, Porter said.
Many of the bombs also have been corroded by saltwater over decades, making it more difficult for restoration crews to identify and safely remove them. Toxic elements such as TNT, mustard gas and the chemical weapon Lewisite also can be hard to detect in large bodies of water.
"It is a combination of looking at the safety, health and environmental risks and establishing levels for the cleanup," said the Army's Davis.
One highlight of this week's conference in Honolulu is the Army's plan to remove old explosive rounds dumped in the shallow waters of Pokai Bay off Oahu's Wai'anae Coast, an area known as Ordnance Reef. The Army has allocated about $4 million to clean up the area, which is estimated to hold more than 2,000 explosives.
"What we're going to attempt to do is look at those munitions in the water that have the greatest potential for harm for people and the environment and to go after those first," said Davis.
Conventional and chemical weapons have historically been detonated or left to corrode, which presents a challenge when cleaning up ordnances from the sea floor.
But a retired Navy bomb-disposal technician has invented a remotely operated vehicle he says can find, collect and dispose of these munitions in a safe way.
James Barton calls his prototype an Ordinance Removal System. The machine picks up unexploded bombs off the sea floor and delivers them to a lift basket for surface disposal or deep-sea burial. It is operated remotely with toggle switches and relies on an underwater hydraulic system designed by Barton, president of Underwater Ordnance Recovery Inc.
"I built this technology to help this problem, because people want these munitions out of the water," Barton said.
Scientists and military officials hope Porter's findings and Barton's device will help bring attention to an environmental problem that for years has been out of sight, out of mind.
"The environmental cost, preparation and training for war has huge environmental impacts that normally are not considered," Porter said. "We normally think of this kind of defense as national security. But in the long term we live on one planet, and taking care of that is maybe our best self-preservation and self-defense."
Who:all marine life in Puerto Rico What:Hundreds of corroding and unexploded bombs litter the sea floor, leaking toxins and taking a toll on nearby marine life. Where:Puerto Rican island of Vieques When:For the past 60 years up to the present
My Opinion: It's horrible that because of our war tactics and practice routines that only bring harm to people, our beautiful marine life are now suffering. Toxic elements such as TNT, mustard gas and the chemical weapon Lewisite are leaking out and destroying the beautiful undersea world that God has created.
Who: The World Resources Institute What: Climate change affects Biodiversity When: February 21, 2000 Where: Around the world Why: Rapid global warming can affect an ecosystems chances to adapt naturally. How: The weather phenomenon, El Nino, together with other things such as deforestation, killed as much as 10% of the insect population in Mexico.
My Opinion: We need to stop deforestation whenever and wherever we can because it will cause a huge problem when combined with other disasters.
summary: who: a ship called the Probo Koala What: offloaded more than 500 tons of toxic waste Where: Côte d'Ivoire When: On August 19, 2006 How: On August 19, 2006 a ship called the Probo Koala offloaded more than 500 tons of toxic waste, rumoured to be dirty water used for cleaning the ship's gasoline tanks, for disposal. The waste was transferred into tankers owned by a firm called "Compaigne Tommy" under agreement that it would be treated and disposed of. However, soon after, it became apparent that the untreated slops had been dumped illegally at municipal refuse dumps. The toxic waste, an alkaline mix of water, gasoline, and caustic soda, allegedly gave off many poisonous chemicals, including hydrogen sulphide. In the weeks following the incident the BBC reported that 17 people died,[2] 23 were hospitalized, and a further 40,000 sought medical treatment (due to headaches, nosebleeds, and stomach pains). The UN humanitarian office OCHA was more circumspect about the cause of their death and stated that no definitive link has been established between the cause of death and the waste. A Dutch newspaper stated that it was unlikely that the waste has actually resulted in casualties.[citation needed] The Dutch National Institute of Public Health and the Environment (RIVM) later reported this as incorrect. No investigation was done on the waste. However, a specialist from RIVM has been sent to the Ivory Coast as a member of an UN team to investigate the situation. The ship, the Probo Koala, was a Panama-registered tanker chartered to the Dutch company Trafigura. Before it dumped the waste in Abidjan, it attempted to have the waste processed in Amsterdam, Netherlands, but Amsterdam Port Services BV, the company that had contracted to take the waste, refused after its staff reported an incredible smell coming from the waste. A company specialized in the disposal of chemical waste, Afvalstoffen Terminal Moerdijk tendered the disposal of the waste (based on the samples it received) for 500,000 Euro. The Proba Koala then left for Côte d'Ivoire where "Compaigne Tommy", which was registered only days before the arrival of the Probo Koala, was contracted for 18,500 dollars to dispose of the waste. [3] A Dutch newspaper[4] reported that the waste could have been generated as a result of attempted on-board desulfurization (removing mercaptans) of naphtha in a Merox-like process. In this way high mercaptan laden gasoline is upgraded to meet certain country specific specifications. This would explain the water/caustic soda/gasoline mix and also the presence in trace amounts of a certain catalyst called ARI-100 EXL, generally used in this process. It would on the other hand not explain the presence of hydrogen sulphide because the final stage of the Merox process is the disulfide unless the attempt at desulfurization had failed.
why: In the aftermath of the crisis, many top government figures resigned.[5] This mass resignation has been called "unprecedented" in the Ivory Coast's history. More recently, in an effort to prevent the contamination of the food chain large numbers of livestock (among them 450 pigs) affected by the spill have been culled.[6]Several African countries such as Nigeria refused to accept the toxic waste, yet somehow it ended up in Cote D'Ivoire during a time when the president and his wife were questionable figures there. The former president Félix Houphouët-Boigny was quoted as saying "If you let Laurent Gbagbo lead this country, Cote D'Ivoire will burn". The current president and his wife have greatly increased their net worth in Africa and Europe and the people speculate that they accepted payment for letting the Dutch company dump this lethal waste.[citation needed] On 11 November 2006, a GBP100 Million lawsuit was filed in the High Court in London by the UK firm Leigh Day & Co. alleging that "Trafigura were negligent and that this, and the nuisance resulting from their actions, caused the injuries to the local citizens."[7] Martyn Day, of Leigh Day & Co said, "This has been a disaster on a monumental scale. We hold Trafigura fully to account for all the deaths and injuries that have resulted from the dumping of their waste." In response, Trafigura announced on Monday 13 November 2006 that it has started libel proceedings against British lawyer Martyn Day, of Leigh Day & Co.[8] Shortly after it became apparent that the toxic slops from the Probo Koala had led to the outbreak of sickness, two Trafigura executives, Claude Dauphin and Jean-Pierre Valentini, travelled to Abidjan to offer their help. They were arrested on 18 September, four days after their arrival, and have been held in Abidjan's Maca prison since. There have been several reported attacks of the two executives.[9] Trafigura has called for the immediate release of Mr. Dauphin and Mr. Valentini.
I think people like this are idiots. Hello dumping crap in our ocean. People like this should be put in jail. I was mad when The Dave Mathews Band who used to be one of my favorite bands empty there's tour buses septic tank into a river while crossing a bridge I lost respect for them after that.
Tuna spawning grounds can help Coral Triangle nations get better deal on fishing
http://www.enn.com/wildlife/article/39442
Who: Indonesia, the Philippines, and the Pacific What: Fish are spawning… When: March 11, 2009 09:53 AM Where: Indian, Pacific and Southern Oceans Why: I don’t know.. The fish just want to spawn?
My Opinion: Well, I think its good the fish are spawning. We all need to have more fish in our lives. And it’s the way they live, its not like we could stop them..
Cheney delaying protections for endangered whales. Four years ago, the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) “started a rulemaking process to protect the North Atlantic right whale” — there are only about 300 still alive — from collisions with ships. The threat to the species’ population is so serious that the NMFS says that “the death of even a single whale, particularly of a breeding female, “may contribute to the extinction of the species.” But according to a letter sent by Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA), efforts to protect the whales are being undermined by Vice President Dick Cheney’s office:
[The National Marine Fisheries Service] submitted their plan to an office in OMB at the end of February 2007 for a review that was supposed to take 90 days. Now over a year later the review has not been completed and documents point to White House officials and the office of the Vice President as being a major reason why. Cheney’s office is questioning everything including whether reducing the speed of large ships will help save the whales.
In the four years since the rulemaking process began, “seven more North Atlantic right whales have been killed by “vessel strikes” and five have been injured.”
Who - National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) What- Injured Whales where- North Atlantic why- From To many fast ships from us transporting. my opinion - I think we should realize what we are doing, and how it is hurting so many animals on land and in water. We shouldn't have to get to the point, where the animal is almost gone, before we do somthing. I think we should act more on what we do, and how we do it.
WHAT:Test Studies on soil to see if there is any arsenic compounds in it.
WHEN: April 3rd, 2009
WHERE: Massachsetts
WHY: I suppose it acts as a soil steriod to increase health and life to the soil.
HOW: Arsenic compounds seeped through heavy metals and playground equipment into the soil around it.
OPINION: I think that God made it the way it was suppose to be in the beginning. So i think we should not purposly add this junk even though it is supposed to increase health of the soil in the evironment. Although I suppose it's alright because we sort of screwed up the earth since God created so we may as well try to fix it a little bit.
Why: The coral reefs have turned black with disease due to sewage discharge which is now threatening fragile undersea ecosystems and tourism How: Since the surrounding area of these coral reefs are tourism hotspots, garbage and excrement are dumped into the surrounding waters which is damaging the reefs. Along with this, there are also coral-robbing tourists.
My Opinion I am starting to get depressed with having to read all these sad environmental news stories and I think we should focus on the possitive of the environment not the negative all the time. there are way more good things going on than there are negative. Its good to get the word out though... good on ya CNN
Accelerated warming in the Antarctic Peninsula has caused the loss of over 85 percent of the ice shelves surrounding the northern half of the peninsula in the last 20 years, experts say.
The latest collapse occurred on the weekend. The Wilkins ice shelf, an ice sheet up to 250 metres thick located on the southwestern side of the peninsula - the northernmost part of the mainland of Antarctica - had already shrunk from a surface area of 16,000 to 13,700 square kilometres.
Finally the slender ice bridge attaching it to an offshore island collapsed, releasing a considerable portion of the ice shelf to sea, where it is breaking up.
When:April 4th
Where:The Antartic
Why:Global Warming
My Opinion:The Antartic's ice shevles are melting at a rapid pace. We need to portect the little left we have. If the ice is melting at this pace we need to expect large climate and life changing events.
15 Comments:
http://www.unep.org/Documents.Multilingual/Default.asp?DocumentID=562&ArticleID=6069&l=en
Who: The people of Nairobi, Kenya
What: Planting 5,000 trees to help rebuild Karuma forest
Where: Nairobi
When: Feb 14, 2009
Why: Combat Global warming, help rebuilt the forest near Nairobi
How: Plant trees.
My Opinion: Nairobi is the largest city in Kenya (with a population of 3 million) this means that 3% of the population should up to this. That would be like 75 thousand people from Toronto showing up to plant trees! This is a great step forward for Africa and for the world!
Endangered San Bernardino Kangaroo Rat Hops Closer to Extinction: Habitat Slashed by Feds
http://www.enn.com/press_releases/2685
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Friday finalized a dramatic reduction in habitat designated as critical for the survival of the charismatic and declining San Bernardino kangaroo rat. The proposal would designate a total of only 7,779 acres of habitat, a 76-percent reduction from the current designation of 33,295 acres.
“The Bush administration has escalated its relentless attack on endangered species in its waning days,”� said Ileene Anderson, a biologist with the Center for Biological Diversity. “Discarding over three-quarters of the San Bernardino kangaroo rat’s habitat will accelerate this charming little animal’s slide to extinction. The science simply does not support this absurd designation.”
Who: Endangered San Bernardino Kangaroo Rat
What: The Bush administration is cutting 3 quarters of the Kangaroo Rats habitat acres of land.
Where: San Bernardino, California
Why: This species is endangered because of the reduction of there land habitat.
How: If they don't give the acres of land back for the rat it will slide to extinction.
In my opinion the bush administration is finally doing something smart. With the economic problems going on in the states, saving some money that is only going to some stupid rats is wise. What I don't agree with would be if the money that is saved from cutting the habitat for this animal is used on frivolous things that I believe would be wrong. But if they are using it toward to help them in this troubled time and the people of the united states country then i must agree with it.
A Great Discovery
http://www.enn.com/wildlife/article/39269
Summary:
Who: Scientists from the California Institute of Technology and an international team of collaborators
What: A team of scientists went on a month-long deep-sea voyage to a marine reserve which brought to light at least three never-before-seen species of sea life. Jess Adkins, Caltech's lead scientist, said, "It was truly one of those transcendent moments, we were flying--literally flying--over these deep-sea structures that look like English gardens, but are actually filled with all of these carnivorous, Seuss-like creatures that no one else has ever seen." They found a new species of carnivorous sea squirts, a new species of barnacles, and a new species of sea anemones.
Where: A marine reserve near Tasmania, Australia.
When: February 9, 2009 9:06 am.
Why: Up until now, the area of the reef the scientists were exploring--called the Tasman Fracture Zone--had only been explored to a depth of 1,800 meters (more than 5,900 feet). Using Jason, a submersible machine, the researchers on this trip were able to reach as far down as 4,000 meters. The cruise had two main goals, to try to use deep-sea corals to reconstruct the paleoclimate through understanding the fluctuations in CO2 found in the ice-core records and to document what's down there.
How: They achieved their second goal and are working on the first, through the 10,000-plus samples collected will help the researchers begin their work of deciphering just what has been happening to the ocean throughout the centuries of climate change, and during and between glacial cycles.
My Opinion:
I think it is so cool that they found new species. In the article, Jess Adkins said, "In one sense, the deep ocean is less explored than Mars." I think it would be great to keep exploring and keep discovering the marvelous and magical creations that our Lord has made. Then we can even more stand in awe and praise His name for his marvelous creations.
-Ashleigh Miller
The environmental impact of Google searches
“http://www.enn.com/business/article/39060”
Performing two Google searches from a desktop computer can generate about the same amount of carbon dioxide as boiling a kettle for a cup of tea, according to new research. While millions of people tap into Google without considering the environment, a typical search generates about 7g of CO2 Boiling a kettle generates about 15g. “Google operates huge data centers around the world that consume a great deal of power,” said Alex Wissner-Gross, a Harvard University physicist whose research on the environmental impact of computing is due out soon. “A Google search has a definite environmental impact.” Google is secretive about its energy consumption and carbon footprint. It also refuses to divulge the locations of its data centers. However, with more than 200m internet searches estimated globally daily, the electricity consumption and greenhouse gas emissions caused by computers and the internet is provoking concern. A recent report by Gartner, the industry analysts, said the global IT industry generated as much greenhouse gas as the world’s airlines - about 2% of global CO2 emissions. “Data centers are among the most energy-intensive facilities imaginable,” said Evan Mills, a scientist at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in California. Banks of servers storing billions of web pages require power. Though Google says it is in the forefront of green computing, its search engine generates high levels of CO2 because of the way it operates. When you type in a Google search for, say, “energy saving tips”, your request doesn’t go to just one server. It goes to several competing against each other. It may even be sent to servers thousands of miles apart. Google’s infrastructure sends you data from whichever produces the answer fastest. The system minimizes delays but raises energy consumption. Google has servers in the US, Europe, Japan, and China.
Summary
Who: Everyone that has a computer
What: Using Google is having an environmental impact
When: January 12, 2009
Where: All over the world
Why: Using Google is having a definite impact on the environment. Whenever someone conducts two searches on Google, it is equivalent to boiling a kettle. It is said that the global IT industry generated as much greenhouse gas as the worlds airlines
How: Google’s search engines generate high amounts of CO2 due to how they operate. When someone conducts a search, it goes to several servers competing against each other. It minimizes delays, but increases energy consumption.
My Opinion
What a weird thing to read about. Whoever thought that going on Google would be harming the environment. Its crazy how unaware we are about these things. Such little acts seem to have such big affects nowadays. The thought never even comes to mind that something like this would be harmful, but I guess we just have to pay more attention to exactly what we are doing and think about what its affect could be
Environmental Article Summary #9
Rebekah McMurphy
February 20th, 2009
Geography 12
South Asia's largest rivers threatened
http://www.enn.com/ecosystems/article/39331
Who:
UN Environment Programme and the Asian Institute of Technology (South Asia’s people)
What:
South Asia’s rivers three largest rivers (Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna(GBM), Indus, and Helmand river basins) are all highly vulnerable, with millions of people are risk of increasing water scarcity.
When:
Over the last century it has put a lot more pollution into these rivers. In the last 20 years along the amount of water in India has decreased from 4,000 to 1,869 cubic meters.
Where:
South Asia
Why:
The per capita availability of freshwater is declining, and contaminated water remains, it is the greatest single environmental cause of human illness and death.
How:
Extreme population growth in the basins over the last century has put pressure on the region's water resources, while around two-thirds of the Himalayan glaciers that feed the basins are receding.
My Opinion:
First of all that really sucks. These rivers are so crucial for the lives of so many people living in South Asia. But at the same time the reason why it is so polluted is because the people living there don’t treat the river properly, and area always polluting it. I think they should make some sort of cleaning system for the river (what ever that could mean), and put in some laws of how to treat the river. Because if people continue to use it how they are using it right now. It will no longer be usable.
Critical protection sought for Australia’s big blue backyard
Source: http://www.enn.com/top_stories/spotlight/39355
Who: Australian Conservation Foundation Wilderness Society, the Australian Marine Conservation Society, the Nature Conservancy and the Pew Environment Group.
Where: Perth, Australia
When: February 23rd 2009
What: Conservation Foundations are beginning to pay more attention to conserving the beautiful waters of Perth Australia. Perth is considered a Hot Spot for unique marine life, and it needs sanctuaries to secure its future to maintain the marine animals. The Sanctuaries help maintain the health of the environment, which will affect the recreational fishing in the region in the near future.
Why: 9 out of 10 UNIQUE marine species are only found in these waters of Perth Australia. Only 1 percent was protected, and the conservation foundations wanted to make sure they place more protection on the water because of the unique marine life living their. There are species that live there that scientists are not yet familiar with.
How: The foundations are coming together along with other professors and scientists to figure out a way in order to make sure these waters are safe and protected.
My Opinion: In my opinion, conserving the waters of Perth Australia is a very wise idea. Scientists may be able to learn more from the species that live their, as well as study them and increase there education about them. These animals obviously like living in the environment that the Perth waters offer, so why not maintain it? Unique species migrate here, and it is not only educational but extraordinarily beautiful. It’s a chance to see new creation that God made for us to enjoy.
http://www.cnn.com/2009/TECH/science/02/26/undersea.munitions.cleanup/
Undersea Bombs Threaten Marine Life
Beyond the golden beaches and beneath the blue waters of the Puerto Rican island of Vieques is a site that resembles more of a munitions graveyard than a Caribbean paradise.
James Porter measures a 2,000-pound Navy bomb in the waters off the Caribbean island of Vieques.
Hundreds of corroding and unexploded bombs litter the sea floor, leaking toxins and taking a toll on nearby marine life. The munitions were left by the U.S. Navy, which had a training site on Vieques for six decades.
"We know that these munitions are leaking cancer-causing materials and endangering sea life," said marine ecologist James Porter, associate dean of the Odum School of Ecology at the University of Georgia, who recently completed a research trip to Vieques.
Responding to a request by the governor's office of Puerto Rico, Porter tested the island's waters for the presence of radioactive material surrounding the sunken USS Killen, a World War II-era destroyer used as target practice for Navy missiles.
Instead, Porter stumbled upon another finding: cancer.
He discovered that feather duster worms, sea urchins and various types of coral found near bombs and bomb fragments contained high levels of carcinogenic material -- in some cases 100,000 times more than what is considered safe for commercially edible seafood.
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"We have not yet traced these contaminants from the reef to the dinner table, but we definitely know these contaminants are in the marine ecosystem," he said.
Porter was scheduled to present his findings Thursday at the Second International Dialogue on Underwater Munitions in Honolulu, Hawaii. The conference brings together scientists, military officials and underwater technology companies to discuss how to identify and clean up hazardous undersea munitions dumps from the Caribbean to the Baltic Sea.
"Any country that has a coastline and has ever had war is going to be a place where you can find this problem," said Porter, who warns that removing underwater munitions takes careful planning. "If you pick up a bomb, you pick up a problem."
Vieques, which lies just east of Puerto Rico's mainland, has had a long history of U.S. military involvement. The Navy used the island as its main Atlantic training site for 60 years before pulling out in 2003.
In 2005, the Environmental Protection Agency designated portions of Vieques Island a Superfund site, classified under a federal program to clean up the nation's hazardous waste.
The U.S. Navy has allocated an estimated $350 million in recent years to clean up areas of Vieques where unexploded bombs could come into contact with residents or tourists, said Christopher Penny, head of the U.S Navy's Vieques Restoration Project. But these efforts so far have been limited to the land and shoreline.
Vieques is one of many ocean sites around the world affected by abandoned ordnances, said scientists and military officials.
"In the U.S. and countries around the world going back to World War II, it was common practice to ... take munitions to a site well offshore and dispose of [them]," said Addison Davis, Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Army for Environment, Safety and Occupational Health.
That changed in 1982, when the United Nations passed the Law of the Sea Treaty, which made it illegal for countries to dump excess weapons in open waters.
But cleaning up after history has its own unique challenges.
One of the many political and environmental obstacles to addressing this issue is the lack of a munitions "map." There is no national or international registry that can pinpoint where these dump sites are, Porter said.
Many of the bombs also have been corroded by saltwater over decades, making it more difficult for restoration crews to identify and safely remove them. Toxic elements such as TNT, mustard gas and the chemical weapon Lewisite also can be hard to detect in large bodies of water.
"It is a combination of looking at the safety, health and environmental risks and establishing levels for the cleanup," said the Army's Davis.
One highlight of this week's conference in Honolulu is the Army's plan to remove old explosive rounds dumped in the shallow waters of Pokai Bay off Oahu's Wai'anae Coast, an area known as Ordnance Reef. The Army has allocated about $4 million to clean up the area, which is estimated to hold more than 2,000 explosives.
"What we're going to attempt to do is look at those munitions in the water that have the greatest potential for harm for people and the environment and to go after those first," said Davis.
Conventional and chemical weapons have historically been detonated or left to corrode, which presents a challenge when cleaning up ordnances from the sea floor.
But a retired Navy bomb-disposal technician has invented a remotely operated vehicle he says can find, collect and dispose of these munitions in a safe way.
James Barton calls his prototype an Ordinance Removal System. The machine picks up unexploded bombs off the sea floor and delivers them to a lift basket for surface disposal or deep-sea burial. It is operated remotely with toggle switches and relies on an underwater hydraulic system designed by Barton, president of Underwater Ordnance Recovery Inc.
"I built this technology to help this problem, because people want these munitions out of the water," Barton said.
Scientists and military officials hope Porter's findings and Barton's device will help bring attention to an environmental problem that for years has been out of sight, out of mind.
"The environmental cost, preparation and training for war has huge environmental impacts that normally are not considered," Porter said. "We normally think of this kind of defense as national security. But in the long term we live on one planet, and taking care of that is maybe our best self-preservation and self-defense."
Who:all marine life in Puerto Rico
What:Hundreds of corroding and unexploded bombs litter the sea floor, leaking toxins and taking a toll on nearby marine life.
Where:Puerto Rican island of Vieques
When:For the past 60 years up to the present
My Opinion: It's horrible that because of our war tactics and practice routines that only bring harm to people, our beautiful marine life are now suffering. Toxic elements such as TNT, mustard gas and the chemical weapon Lewisite are leaking out and destroying the beautiful undersea world that God has created.
This comment has been removed by the author.
Andrei Eremi
Climate Change Affects Biodiversity
http://www.globalissues.org/article/172/climate-change-affects-biodiversity
Who: The World Resources Institute
What: Climate change affects Biodiversity
When: February 21, 2000
Where: Around the world
Why: Rapid global warming can affect an ecosystems chances to adapt naturally.
How: The weather phenomenon, El Nino, together with other things such as deforestation, killed as much as 10% of the insect population in Mexico.
My Opinion: We need to stop deforestation whenever and wherever we can because it will cause a huge problem when combined with other disasters.
summary:
who: a ship called the Probo Koala
What: offloaded more than 500 tons of toxic waste
Where: Côte d'Ivoire
When: On August 19, 2006
How: On August 19, 2006 a ship called the Probo Koala offloaded more than 500 tons of toxic waste, rumoured to be dirty water used for cleaning the ship's gasoline tanks, for disposal. The waste was transferred into tankers owned by a firm called "Compaigne Tommy" under agreement that it would be treated and disposed of. However, soon after, it became apparent that the untreated slops had been dumped illegally at municipal refuse dumps. The toxic waste, an alkaline mix of water, gasoline, and caustic soda, allegedly gave off many poisonous chemicals, including hydrogen sulphide.
In the weeks following the incident the BBC reported that 17 people died,[2] 23 were hospitalized, and a further 40,000 sought medical treatment (due to headaches, nosebleeds, and stomach pains). The UN humanitarian office OCHA was more circumspect about the cause of their death and stated that no definitive link has been established between the cause of death and the waste. A Dutch newspaper stated that it was unlikely that the waste has actually resulted in casualties.[citation needed] The Dutch National Institute of Public Health and the Environment (RIVM) later reported this as incorrect. No investigation was done on the waste. However, a specialist from RIVM has been sent to the Ivory Coast as a member of an UN team to investigate the situation.
The ship, the Probo Koala, was a Panama-registered tanker chartered to the Dutch company Trafigura. Before it dumped the waste in Abidjan, it attempted to have the waste processed in Amsterdam, Netherlands, but Amsterdam Port Services BV, the company that had contracted to take the waste, refused after its staff reported an incredible smell coming from the waste. A company specialized in the disposal of chemical waste, Afvalstoffen Terminal Moerdijk tendered the disposal of the waste (based on the samples it received) for 500,000 Euro. The Proba Koala then left for Côte d'Ivoire where "Compaigne Tommy", which was registered only days before the arrival of the Probo Koala, was contracted for 18,500 dollars to dispose of the waste. [3]
A Dutch newspaper[4] reported that the waste could have been generated as a result of attempted on-board desulfurization (removing mercaptans) of naphtha in a Merox-like process. In this way high mercaptan laden gasoline is upgraded to meet certain country specific specifications. This would explain the water/caustic soda/gasoline mix and also the presence in trace amounts of a certain catalyst called ARI-100 EXL, generally used in this process. It would on the other hand not explain the presence of hydrogen sulphide because the final stage of the Merox process is the disulfide unless the attempt at desulfurization had failed.
why: In the aftermath of the crisis, many top government figures resigned.[5] This mass resignation has been called "unprecedented" in the Ivory Coast's history. More recently, in an effort to prevent the contamination of the food chain large numbers of livestock (among them 450 pigs) affected by the spill have been culled.[6]Several African countries such as Nigeria refused to accept the toxic waste, yet somehow it ended up in Cote D'Ivoire during a time when the president and his wife were questionable figures there. The former president Félix Houphouët-Boigny was quoted as saying "If you let Laurent Gbagbo lead this country, Cote D'Ivoire will burn". The current president and his wife have greatly increased their net worth in Africa and Europe and the people speculate that they accepted payment for letting the Dutch company dump this lethal waste.[citation needed]
On 11 November 2006, a GBP100 Million lawsuit was filed in the High Court in London by the UK firm Leigh Day & Co. alleging that "Trafigura were negligent and that this, and the nuisance resulting from their actions, caused the injuries to the local citizens."[7] Martyn Day, of Leigh Day & Co said, "This has been a disaster on a monumental scale. We hold Trafigura fully to account for all the deaths and injuries that have resulted from the dumping of their waste." In response, Trafigura announced on Monday 13 November 2006 that it has started libel proceedings against British lawyer Martyn Day, of Leigh Day & Co.[8]
Shortly after it became apparent that the toxic slops from the Probo Koala had led to the outbreak of sickness, two Trafigura executives, Claude Dauphin and Jean-Pierre Valentini, travelled to Abidjan to offer their help. They were arrested on 18 September, four days after their arrival, and have been held in Abidjan's Maca prison since. There have been several reported attacks of the two executives.[9] Trafigura has called for the immediate release of Mr. Dauphin and Mr. Valentini.
I think people like this are idiots. Hello dumping crap in our ocean. People like this should be put in jail. I was mad when The Dave Mathews Band who used to be one of my favorite bands empty there's tour buses septic tank into a river while crossing a bridge I lost respect for them after that.
Tuna spawning grounds can help Coral Triangle nations get better deal on fishing
http://www.enn.com/wildlife/article/39442
Who: Indonesia, the Philippines, and the Pacific
What: Fish are spawning…
When: March 11, 2009 09:53 AM
Where: Indian, Pacific and Southern Oceans
Why: I don’t know.. The fish just want to spawn?
My Opinion: Well, I think its good the fish are spawning. We all need to have more fish in our lives. And it’s the way they live, its not like we could stop them..
--Maegan
http://thinkprogress.org/2008/04/30/cheney-delaying-protections-for-endangered-whales/
Cheney delaying protections for endangered whales.
Four years ago, the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) “started a rulemaking process to protect the North Atlantic right whale” — there are only about 300 still alive — from collisions with ships. The threat to the species’ population is so serious that the NMFS says that “the death of even a single whale, particularly of a breeding female, “may contribute to the extinction of the species.” But according to a letter sent by Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA), efforts to protect the whales are being undermined by Vice President Dick Cheney’s office:
[The National Marine Fisheries Service] submitted their plan to an office in OMB at the end of February 2007 for a review that was supposed to take 90 days. Now over a year later the review has not been completed and documents point to White House officials and the office of the Vice President as being a major reason why. Cheney’s office is questioning everything including whether reducing the speed of large ships will help save the whales.
In the four years since the rulemaking process began, “seven more North Atlantic right whales have been killed by “vessel strikes” and five have been injured.”
Who - National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS)
What- Injured Whales
where- North Atlantic
why- From To many fast ships from us transporting.
my opinion - I think we should realize what we are doing, and how it is hurting so many animals on land and in water. We shouldn't have to get to the point, where the animal is almost gone, before we do somthing.
I think we should act more on what we do, and how we do it.
ARTICLE: http://www.enn.com/sci-tech/article/39579
WHO:university of massachusetts do test studies
WHAT:Test Studies on soil to see if there is any arsenic compounds in it.
WHEN: April 3rd, 2009
WHERE: Massachsetts
WHY: I suppose it acts as a soil steriod to increase health and life to the soil.
HOW: Arsenic compounds seeped through heavy metals and playground equipment into the soil around it.
OPINION: I think that God made it the way it was suppose to be in the beginning. So i think we should not purposly add this junk even though it is supposed to increase health of the soil in the evironment. Although I suppose it's alright because we sort of screwed up the earth since God created so we may as well try to fix it a little bit.
Jesse Ord
http://www.enn.com/ecosystems/article/39259
Who: Taiwan’s Coral Reefs
What: They are turning black with disease
When: February 6, 2009
Where: Southeast coast of Taiwan
Why: The coral reefs have turned black with disease due to sewage discharge which is now threatening fragile undersea ecosystems and tourism
How: Since the surrounding area of these coral reefs are tourism hotspots, garbage and excrement are dumped into the surrounding waters which is damaging the reefs. Along with this, there are also coral-robbing tourists.
My Opinion
I am starting to get depressed with having to read all these sad environmental news stories and I think we should focus on the possitive of the environment not the negative all the time. there are way more good things going on than there are negative. Its good to get the word out though...
good on ya CNN
EvanL.
Accelerated warming in the Antarctic Peninsula has caused the loss of over 85 percent of the ice shelves surrounding the northern half of the peninsula in the last 20 years, experts say.
The latest collapse occurred on the weekend. The Wilkins ice shelf, an ice sheet up to 250 metres thick located on the southwestern side of the peninsula - the northernmost part of the mainland of Antarctica - had already shrunk from a surface area of 16,000 to 13,700 square kilometres.
Finally the slender ice bridge attaching it to an offshore island collapsed, releasing a considerable portion of the ice shelf to sea, where it is breaking up.
When:April 4th
Where:The Antartic
Why:Global Warming
My Opinion:The Antartic's ice shevles are melting at a rapid pace. We need to portect the little left we have. If the ice is melting at this pace we need to expect large climate and life changing events.
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