Bailout Needed To Save Earth’s Biodiversity

The past two years have seen a multitude of bailouts being issued to help companies and governments survive through an economic crisis. Trillions have been invested in automotive companies, governments and banks, but the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) warns that a bailout is needed in order to protect the world’s biodiversity, which is currently going through the sixth-mass extinction to occur in the past 500 million years.

The IUCN is calling for a 10-year strategy to be implemented in order to reduce the pressure on natural resources, while increasing governmental response to help species around the world. According to IUCN, currently 30 percent of all amphibians, 12 percent of the known bird species and 25 percent of corals are in threat of becoming extinct.

While the international community pledged to stop species decline by 2020 eight years ago, the pace of biodiversity loss has continued

IUCN is hoping that international cooperation like what was seen with the financial crisis can be used to help species. They warn that if a plan is not created to help species on this planet, our species may not survive.

Complaint Filed Against Canadian Government Over Oil Sands

Tar Sands Montage

Two complaints have been filed against the Canadian government through the North American Free Trade Agreement, which criticize whether or not the Harper government is actually doing enough to crack down on water pollution at the oil sands.

The complaint was prepared in part by Environmental Defence Canada, alleges that the government is not enforcing provisions within the Fisheries Act that do not allow any activity to contaminate bodies of water with anything deemed to be a harmful substance.

The complaint was filed jointly with the U.S.-based National Resources Defence Council and citizens from Alberta, Saskatchewan and the Northwest Territories, who live downstream from the oil sands.

While this may seem like a great step against the oil sands, while the complaint was filed, nothing will be done unless officials from Mexico and the United States accept the complaint and then submit it to the Commission for Environmental Cooperation. This can literally take years to do.

In response, Environment Minister Jim Prentice has stated that his department has not found any evidence from tailing pods pollution is leaking into the Athabasca River near the oil sand plants. The Opposition has jumped into the debate by supporting a private members bill that would call on the government to go beyond existing goals to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Prentice fired back stating that emissions from Canada have peaked and will begin dropping thanks to government polices and the reduction of the use of coal-powered electricity.

Will the complaint do anything to protect the waterways around the oil sands? Probably not. Is the government doing enough to reduce emissions? Not really. Will emissions start to go down in Canada through policies in place now? Most likely not.

Mangrove Trees Facing Extinction

When we think of extinction, we think of Pandas, polar bears and other cute mammals. We don’t often think of amphibians, fungus or insects and we certainly don’t think about trees. This is rather unfortunate since trees often support an entire eco-system and the loss of trees in an area can cause many other species to go extinct.

This is why the news that nearly one dozen mangrove species are now threatened and the loss of these trees could cause serious problems for the economies and eco-systems of the Central American coast.

Mangroves are not only trees, but shrubs and large plants that help to store carbon, provide nutrients to eco-systems, provide habitats for many marine species and prevent erosion.

In the name of progress, many mangrove forests are being cleared for aquaculture and development to the point where 11 of 70 mangrove species are now threatened with extinction.

Without these forests, economies would suffer as well since it would have a negative impact on fisheries and water quality in the coastal areas.

Extinction isn’t just about furry mammals, it is about plants, insects and funguses that literally make the world as we know it.

Mangrove Trees

Light Pollution Blocking Out Stars

Throughout the world, light pollution is a serious problem. While we don’t always think of light as pollution, the truth is that it is a significant form of pollution. Headlights, street lights and more are casting a bright glow on our skies and literally blocking out the stars. A survey done by the Campaign to Protect Rural England found that 83 percent of the people in the country have their view of the night sky affected by light pollution. Roughly 50 percent have their sleep disturbed, which is a serious situation because it contributes to accidents and low productivity at work, as well as health issues.

As a result, there is a campaign being started by CPRE that would only have necessary light being used at night. There are several reasons for this including:

• Children are growing up without ever seeing the stars
• Utility costs are high because of unnecessary light
• Pollution is being released into the atmosphere to power all the unnecessary lights
• Light pollution disrupts sleep patterns
• Light pollution causes a disturbance to the migration and sleeping patterns of wildlife.

If England begins to stamp out light pollution, it may lead to a ripple effect throughout the European continent, and out into the world as well.

Light Pollution Blocks Out Our Skies

Environment Good Guys: Wal-Mart Turning Into Green Crusader

Wal-Mart: A Green Leader?

Environmentalists have long been angry at Wal-Mart for some of their past environmental practices, but it would seem that Wal-Mart has heeded these warnings and is now beginning to make changes in its corporate policy to be more environmentally friendly. Recently, the company announced some plans to make it one of the most environmentally-friendly companies on the planet. Some of these plans include:

• Supply stores with 100 percent renewable energy.
• Change stores so they are zero waste.
• Only sell products that are sustainable and do not harm the environment.

In addition, the company will be building new stores that are being designed so they will be 30 percent more efficient and therefore produce 30 percent less greenhouse gases.  Solar panels will begin popping up on the roofs of the stores as well. Already the company has put solar panels on other stores and last year, the solar panels of Wal-Mart produced 7 million kilowatt-hours of energy. Wal-Mart will also ramp up its wind power potential. Last year, the company purchased 226 million kilowatt-hours of wind energy for 350 stores in Texas.

Not stopping there, the company will also be making its vehicles much more efficient by installing fuel-efficient technology into its fleet. In all, the vehicles will be 25 percent more efficient. Wal-Mart also wants to eliminate waste in its stores over the next 15 years, and it has already seen great success with this decision. In 2008 and 2009, the company redirected 57 percent of its waste from the stores, away from landfills. In all, Wal-Mart recycled 182 million pounds of plastic, 18.9 million pounds of plastic hangers, 12.4 million pounds of office paper, 1.3 million pounds of aluminum and 25 billion pounds of cardboard!

So, good for Wal-Mart for leading the way as the world’s largest retailer to help change the world and make other companies more environmentally-friendly.

Air and Water Pollution Causing Significant Deaths In China

Air Pollution Over A Typical City

Everyone knows that air and water pollution is a serious problem, but many of us do not think of how it can affect our health. Most see it as an annoyance but in places like China it can be deadly.

While China has seen amazing growth over the past 15 to 20 years, hundreds of millions of people have been able to rise out of poverty. In 1980, 53 percent of the population was in poverty, while today only eight percent are. However, that growth has had an unfortunate consequence of dramatically raising the levels of air and water pollution in the country. According to the most recent issue of The Lancet, both air and water pollution have been found to contribute to a significant amount of deaths in the country.

According to the report, indoor air pollution from the burning of solid fuels is the main environmental risk factor and it leads to about 420,000 premature deaths per year. Other health problems that are being caused by the air and water pollution in China include chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, acute lower respiratory infection and lung cancer.

Outdoor air pollution in China comes from industrial coal burning, vehicles, chemical releases and the burning of agricultural waste. It is estimated that 10 percent of a typical Chinese city’s gross domestic product in 2000 went to the economic cost of mortality due to outdoor air pollution. By 2020, that is expected to be around 16 percent.

Water pollution is just as serious a problem in the country, with most water sources being polluted. It is estimated that half of the 200 major rivers in China are heavily polluted, while only 25 percent of the 28 lakes and reservoirs in the country are suitable to drink.

Gorillas Extinct In Central Africa By 2025

Gone by 2025?

Things are not looking good for the gorilla in Central Africa, and many experts have stated that the gorilla will be gone from the Greater Congo Basin by 2025 without safeguards in place. Habitat loss due to illegal logging and mining, as well as poaching, has driven the species to the brink, and with outbreaks of Ebola in the population, thousands of gorillas have died.

For many of the poor families within the area of Central Africa, killing apes for their meat is the only way they can feed themselves. Currently, the illegal trade of ape meat is worth hundreds of millions of dollars per year. Even tough sentences and automatic death for caught poachers has done little to stop the poaching of the apes.

Originally, it was estimated by the UN that the great apes in the Basin would be down to 10 percent of their original levels by 2030, but new estimates in the past eight years have found this was overly optimistic.

Conservationists are urging the UN and other countries to begin putting in restrictions and sanctions to protect the great apes in the Greater Congo Basin to save the gorillas from becoming extinct.

Solar Energy From Skyscrapers

Skyscrapers are getting into the solar panel game by beginning to switch their windows to solar panels, allowing the entire building to run off the power of the sun, while also providing power back to the grid.

Solar panels are now being manufactured which will fit to the exteriors of skyscrapers in large cities. These transparent solar panels act as windows, while allowing sunlight to still get into the building.

This is made possible through a new technology called amorphous silicon. Roughly one to four inches in diameter, these panels actually go over existing windows, and then provide power to the building and the rest of the grid.

This is an amazing development because of the massive amount of power that can be generated using windows that create solar energy for a building. It is estimated that around 30 percent of the building’s power will come from solar cells, as well as wind turbines that will then be placed on the roof for energy during cloudy days.

Think of the massive impact this would have on the environment if all the skyscrapers in the world had solar power film over the windows, providing free and clean energy to the skyscraper.

Burning Tires As Renewable Energy?

Burning Tires = Pollution not Renewable Energy

In a very bizarre move, Illinois lawmakers are trying to label “tire incineration” as a renewable energy source within the city. Anyone who has seen tires burn knows that this is far from a renewable source of energy, or even a clean one, yet a House Committee has already approved the bill to designate burning tires as a renewable energy source. This comes only a few days after the Environmental Protection Agency began looking into whether Illinois is violating environmental laws by allowing a tire incinerator within an area of Chicago.

Geneva Energy, which operates the only tire incinerator in the state, would begin to get big benefits thanks to green energy credits by being labeled as a green energy source. Of course, never mind the toxic smoke that will be wafting out of the incinerator over one of the poorest areas of the entire country, which just happens to be the same district of the representative who sponsored the bill to label tires as a renewable resource.

Currently, there is a ban on tire burning in the state and if tire burning is labeled as a renewable resource, tire burning would become a green power source and no longer banned. Of course, once people heard about this ploy of green-washing, they began getting angry and the representative who sponsored the bill quickly took his name off of it.

Got to politicians who try and pull the wool over our eyes and think we won’t notice the toxic smoke of tires burning if they call it green energy. Also got to love politicians who do a quick turnaround to distance themselves from their own bill.

Several Butterfly Species Nearing Extinction in Europe

Large Blue Butterfly

The Welsh butterfly is nearing extinction in Europe and that has many conservationists worried because of the role the butterfly takes in the eco-systems that it inhabits. The Welsh butterfly is not the only butterfly that is nearing extinction either. It is estimated by the European Red List that roughly one-third of the butterfly species in Europe are seeing declining numbers, and 10 percent are nearly about to die out.

The biggest reason for the loss of butterflies in Europe is the destruction of flower-rich meadows. The loss of these meadows and other habitats has also put 14 percent of the dragonflies and 11 percent of beetles in Europe are near extinction as well.

The development of homes in areas, pressure on agricultural areas, and some poor summer weather the past few years has caused several butterfly species to come close to extinction.

This is not the first time this has happened in Europe, and conservationists can look at past success to bring back butterfly species. The Large Blue Butterfly, which is an icon of England, became extinct in the country in 1979 before steps were taken to save the species. The species had lost much of its habitat during the 1950s and 1960s, but through hard work and efforts to bring back the species, The Large Blue Butterfly is now becoming more common in England thanks to the hard work of conservationists to save that species.

Will the same be done for the Welsh butterfly and other butterfly species? Hopefully, otherwise Europe will become a less beautiful place.