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Archive for October 18th, 2012
Is geography behind sea-ice paradox?
Posted by Japan Times: None Given on October 18th, 2012
Japan Times: When sea ice covering the Arctic Ocean fell to a record-low level last month, much of the analysis in Asia and the Pacific focused on the opening of new and shorter commercial shipping routes to Europe, and increased access to Arctic offshore oil and gas resources.
These could be very positive developments for the region, especially for the energy-short trading economies of Northeast Asia led by Japan, China and South Korea.
But the dramatic decline in both the extent of Arctic sea ice and...
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Canada missing out on green revolution, panel says
Posted by Ottawa Citizen: Mike De Souza on October 18th, 2012
Ottawa Citizen: The Canadian economy will miss out on a booming market of green goods and services worth trillions of dollars if governments fail to steer away from foolish energy and climate change policies, says a new report to be released Thursday.
The analysis, the sixth and final report in a research series undertaken by the National Round Table on the Environment and the Economy, concluded that goods and services promoting reductions in greenhouse gas emissions were part of a sector that's growing faster...
Top EU court finds Britain guilty of dumping raw sewage
Posted by Reuters: Ethan Bilby on October 18th, 2012
Reuters: Britain faces large fines for breaching European Union law on water treatment after plants in northern England and London dumped raw sewage into waterways, the European Court of Justice ruled on Thursday.
The court has the power to impose fines of thousands of euros per day, but has yet to decide what the fine will be.
Under an EU law introduced in 1991, known as a directive, Britain was obliged to meet new standards for treating waste water. While other member states have respected the law,...
Natural Disaster Trends Report Cites Link To Climate Change ‘Footprint’
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on October 18th, 2012
Huffington Post: North America has seen the world’s sharpest increase in the number of natural catastrophes during the past 32 years, a trend that in some respects is linked to manmade global warming, according to a report released Wednesday from the global reinsurance giant Munich Re. The study, which has not undergone scientific peer review, examined natural disaster losses between 1980 and 2011, finding that weather-related loss events in North America “nearly quintupled” during the period, compared to just an...
Shell Canada denied in bid to block critics from Jackpine oil sands hearings
Posted by Financial Post: Kristen Courtney on October 18th, 2012
Financial Post: A regulatory panel has denied Shell Canada’s efforts to have critics excluded from participation in upcoming environmental assessment hearings for its Jackpine oil sands mine expansion north of Fort McMurray, Alta.
Shell had hoped to benefit from the new Canadian Environmental Assessment Act, 2012, enacted this summer as part of Ottawa’s “Responsible Resource Development Plan.”
The act is intended to ease the regulatory burden on companies and spur investment in Canada’s natural resources by...
Clean Water Act’s Essential Role in Restoring the Great Lakes
Posted by EcoWatch: National Wildlife Federation on October 18th, 2012
EcoWatch: As the Clean Water Act celebrates its 40th anniversary, conservation leaders are asking public officials to not undermine protections which have lead to healthier water to drink; cleaner streams, rivers and lakes in which to swim, fish and play; and dramatically lower rates of natural wetland loss.
“The Clean Water Act has been instrumental in improving our environment and economy for people across the nation,” said Jan Goldman-Carter, senior manager of Wetlands and Water Resources for the National...
UK drought and flooding ‘unprecedented’
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on October 18th, 2012
Guardian: The dramatic switch from drought and hosepipe bans in England this spring to the wettest April to June ever and widespread flooding was of a magnitude never seen before, water experts said on Thursday.
While water supplies have made "dramatic" recoveries from droughts before, such as in 1975/76, "sustained recoveries of this magnitude during the late spring and summer have not been seen before," said Terry Marsh, from the Centre for Ecology & Hydrology (CEH).
Earlier this month, the CEH...
Oracle predicts ‘huge’ market for UK water smart metering
Posted by BusinessGreen: Jessica Shankleman on October 18th, 2012
BusinessGreen: Business software giant Oracle is hoping to tap into a potentially "huge" market for smart water metering in Britain, as utilities try to tackle the loss of billions of litres of water through undetected leakages.
Water companies are facing mounting political and consumer pressure to reduce the 3.2 billion litres of water leaking from the UK water network every day, and are increasingly turning to new technology to reduce water stress and predict leak hotspots.
Oracle is to publish a report...
5 Wishes for the Clean Water Act on Its 40th Birthday
Posted by EcoWatch: Marc Yaggi on October 18th, 2012
EcoWatch: The Clean Water Act turns 40 today. As many know, a 40th birthday can be a momentous occasion for some, an "it`s all downhill" moment for others and just another year for the indifferent. We have many successes to celebrate for the Clean Water Act`s 40th, but our industry-controlled Congress is making it awfully hard to feel good about blowing out the candles.
After a year of kowtowing to big polluters with piecemeal attempts to gut the Act, last month, House Republicans decided to go whole hog...
Using film to square up to the horrors of factory farming
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on October 18th, 2012
Ecologist: Pig Business charts the rise of Smithfield Foods, now the world's biggest pork producer, and its expansion into Poland and Romania where it dominates the industry, taking advantage of low capital costs, cheap labour and unenforced regulations. Both countries, expecting employment and the benefits of inward investment have woken up too late to the aggressive and predatory nature of a business whose profits go to global investors while stench, pollution, disease and bankruptcies are the costs paid...