Is Arctic methane on the move?
Wednesday, 10 March 2010 11:32
Neville Gillmore
Is Arctic methane on the move?
In today's atmosphere, methane is a stronger greenhouse gas per molecule than CO2. Is now the time to get frightened?From RealClimate, part of the Guardian Environment Network
Methane is like the radical wing of the carbon cycle, in today's atmosphere a stronger greenhouse gas per molecule than CO2, and an atmospheric concentration that can change more quickly than CO2 can. There has been a lot of press coverage of a new paper in Science this week called "Extensive methane venting to the atmosphere from sediments of the East Siberian Arctic Shelf", which comes on the heels of a handful of interrelated methane papers in the last year or so. Is now the time to get frightened?
No. CO2 is plenty to be frightened of, while methane is frosting on the cake. Imagine you are in a Toyota on the highway at 60 miles per hour approaching stopped traffic, and you find that the brake pedal is broken. This is CO2. Then you figure out that the accelerator has also jammed, so that by the time you hit the truck in front of you, you will be going 90 miles per hour instead of 60. This is methane. Is now the time to get worried? No, you should already have been worried by the broken brake pedal. Methane sells newspapers, but it's not the big story, nor does it look to be a game changer to the big story, which is CO2.
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UK import emissions are the highest in Europe , figures show.
Wednesday, 10 March 2010 11:17
Neville Gillmore
UK import emissions are the highest in Europe, figures show
Study finds 253m tonnes of CO2 are released annually in the manufacture of products bound for UK shores - mostly in the developing countries
- Ian Sample, science correspondent
- guardian.co.uk, Monday 8 March 2010 20.00 GMT
- Article history
The majority of the UK's import emissions are released in rapidly industrialising parts of the developing world such as China. Photograph: Stringer Shanghai/Reuters
Britain's demand for imported goods is responsible for more greenhouse gas emissions abroad than any other European country, according to a new study published today.
The report shows that 253m tonnes of carbon dioxide are released overseas each year in the manufacture of products bound for UK shores, the equivalent of 4.3 tonnes per person. The average Briton's carbon footprint is 9.7 tonnes, not including emissions from goods.
Only the US and Japan have higher emissions linked to their imports, at 699m tonnes and 284m tonnes of carbon dioxide per year respectively, the study found.
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How food and water are drivng a 21 st-century African land grab
Wednesday, 10 March 2010 01:44
Neville Gillmore
How food and water are driving a 21st-century African land grab
An Observer investigation reveals how rich countries faced by a global food shortage now farm an area double the size of the UK to guarantee supplies for their citizens
A woman tends vegetables at a giant Saudi-financed farm in Ethiopia.
We turned off the main road to Awassa, talked our way past security guards and drove a mile across empty land before we found what will soon be Ethiopia's largest greenhouse. Nestling below an escarpment of the Rift Valley, the development is far from finished, but the plastic and steel structure already stretches over 20 hectares – the size of 20 football pitches.
The farm manager shows us millions of tomatoes, peppers and other vegetables being grown in 500m rows in computer controlled conditions. Spanish engineers are building the steel structure, Dutch technology minimises water use from two bore-holes and 1,000 women pick and pack 50 tonnes of food a day. Within 24 hours, it has been driven 200 miles to Addis Ababa and flown 1,000 miles to the shops and restaurants of Dubai, Jeddah and elsewhere in the Middle East.
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Ancient tradition of water purification could save lives
Tuesday, 09 March 2010 06:43
Neville Gillmore
Ancient tradition of water purification could save lives
Ecologist
5th March, 2010
Thousand-year-old Indian method of using tree seeds to purify water should be used more widely for tackling waterborne diseases
Indian tree seeds that purify water could dramatically reduce disease in the less-industrialised world, say researchers.
The technique of crushing seeds from the Moringa Oleifera tree and adding them to water has been used in its native India for thousands of years.
Now researchers from Canada say it is time to publicise the technique more widely in order to reduce water born diseases across the world.
One billion people in Asia, Africa and Latin America rely on untreated surface water to survive. The NGO Water Aid estimates that 1.4 million children die every year from diarrhoea caused by unclean water and poor sanitation.
The researchers at Clearinghouse, an organisation that promotes low-cost water treatment technologies, are pointing to the ancient method of water purification as a possible solution.
As well as reducing bacteria by over 90 per cent, the use of Moringa Oleifera seeds reduces 'turbidity', making water less cloudy.
Furthermore, say the researchers, the Moringa tree is suited to growing in areas afflicted by drought and has other benefits besides water
purification.
'Not only is it drought resistant, it also yields cooking and lighting oil, soil fertiliser, as well as highly nutritious food in the form of its pods, leaves, seeds and flowers,' said Michael Lea of Clearinghouse.
Despite its life-saving potential, the benefits of the tree are little known, even in areas where it is cultivated.
Lea hopes that by making his report freely available will allow communities most at need to benefit from it.
'This technique does not represent a total solution to the threat of
waterborne disease.'
'But given the cultivation and use of the Moringa tree can bring benefits in the shape of nutrition and income as well as of far purer water, there is the possibility that thousands of 21st century families could find themselves liberated from what should now be universally seen as 19th century causes of death and disease,' he said.
Useful Links
The Clearinghouse study
Water Aid
Last Updated ( Tuesday, 09 March 2010 06:47 )
Power station plans spark pollution fears.
Thursday, 04 March 2010 11:12
Neville Gillmore
Power station plans spark pollution fears
BRIAN ROBINS
March 4, 2010
The state government has approved plans for two large new power stations, triggering concerns about a further increase in greenhouse gas emissions, especially if coal is used as the fuel.
The approvals are for ''concept plans'' for two, 2000- megawatt power stations at Mount Piper, near Lithgow, and Bayswater, which is near Muswellbrook in the Hunter.
Final plans for the power station design, including fuel source, will need separate approval before construction can begin.
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