Tag Archive: pollution


The world needs optimists. Optimists like Rob Stewart: writer, director and narrator of the new documentary Revolution about the state of the world’s environmental health.

Revolution premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in September 2012, and has been received well. In fact, it had the highest opening weekend of any Canadian documentary. Rob and his team are heading to Cannes in a few weeks to try to get wider international distribution.

They want the movie to be seen by at least 1 Billion people.

As opposed to just another droning eco-lecture, Revolution is a great travelogue, and thus adventurous and relatable. It still contains a lot of unique wildlife and marine life footage, along with powerful messages throughout.

It covers a lot of important topics: coral reef destruction, species extinction, the loss of biodiversity, ocean acidification, air and ocean pollution, and tar sand refining – all incredibly important and urgent matters. But is that enough? Don’t we have all the information we can take?

Of course, that’s not all there is. Rob founded an organization called United Conservationists, working to mobilize the public, and especially inform, educate and engage children and young people to take action and participate in conservation efforts on a number of issues, including overfishing, habitat loss, extinction, deforestation – basically, any leading destructive activities that are contributing to the environmental crisis of our generation.

The documentaries and the campaigns have had other positive effects, such as creating a positive and caring global community of people who are dedicated and focused on education, networking and activism. A community of the future. View full article »

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I wrote this article for Living Green Magazine. Scroll down to the bottom for a comprehensive infograph on deforestation and GHG emissions.

Forests are rich ecosystems and significant pools of biodiversity – important breeding grounds for millions of species of flora and fauna.

Their role in maintaining climate functions regionally and globally, and the regulation of regional climate patterns through hydrological cycles is of immense importance.

The trees which absorb carbon dioxide are a great tool to combat global warming: stopping deforestation could cut global carbon emissions by as much as three billion tonnes a year – the equivalent of more than 1/3 of all fossil fuel emissions.

And yet, deforestation is currently responsible for 20% of all emissions, contributing twice as much to global warming as was thought.

Our goal should be to prevent greenhouse gas emissions from deforestation by raising awareness and taking whatever action we can.

View full article »

This is the last instalment of the bike-sharing trilogy for Living Green Magazine.

My first bicycle article looked at three world cities that have successfully implemented popular bike-sharing programs. The second article reviewed cities in the U.S. and Latin America that have notable biking infrastructure. This third and final article in the series looks at programs in Europe, Australia, Asia, and Africa.

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EUROPE

European cities are the pioneers of the movement, and there are numerous successful and popular programs across the continent, and in every major city in Germany and France, each with a unique arrangement.

Copenhagen, Denmark, the epitome of a bike-friendly city, has the largest bike network in the world. Almost everything in the city is geared towards bike safety and raising eco-consciousness of residents and visitors, thus encouraging cycling.

Although, according to the European Green City Index, only 36% of Copenhagen citizens use the bike as primary means of transportation, the city is planned for cyclists: well-designed and managed cycling tracks, even, dense but compact urban terrain, well-balanced residential, commercial and business areas, and an attractive biking culture.

The diminishing use of other mass public transit methods, and especially private car use, and the related infrastructure, are important indicators of bike’s increased popularity. View full article »

This is Part 2 of my bike-sharing trilogy, written for and published by Living Green Magazine. The first looked at three world cities that have successfully implemented popular bike-sharing programs. In this second one I present a more detailed look at cities in the U.S. and Latin America that have notable biking infrastructure, and explore why biking is becoming more convenient, affordable, user-friendly, and popular. The upcoming final article will analyze Asia, Africa and Australia.

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UNITED STATES

It’s no secret that the U.S is a car-loving society. In the wake of industrialization, the car has dramatically transformed cities, jobs, and the whole Western culture.

Initially, the problem in North America was viewing cycling mainly as a sport or targeted recreation, rather than a beneficial transportation option or a solution for traffic or urban issues. Basically, bike commuting was, primarily, being viewed as a quirky, hippie, European idea – a subculture.

Changes are coming into effect after long analyses of demographics, behavioural economics, operational – social, commercial and business – movements, the availability and the dynamics of existing public transportation networks, city topography, and even the climate. Many northern U.S. cities have seasonal programs, for example.

Some U.S bike sharing schemes were also falling short at first because they were mostly concerned with revenue, which started as advertising campaigns (Washington D.C), and used faulty models, requiring yearly membership and large security credit card deposits. That is, perhaps, one of the reasons why European programs have been more successful and more popular – they are free (or affordable enough so that money is not the object) and completely user-oriented!

View full article »

BogotA, a city of graffiti

Bogotians take really well to foreigners. Most are proud that Colombia elicited some distant traveller’s interest and seems worthy of a visit.

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My first impression of the city was, however, pollution and traffic, followed closely by the prevalence of graffiti. Some elaborate and skillful art spanning walls and blocks not infrequently yielded to slogans: existimos porque necesitamos.

View full article »

deforestation

Listen up: already today we are using 25% more resources than our planet can provide sustainably (source: WWF).

How are we supposed to build a future around that?

We have to be willing to take action, collectively and immediately.

We must reduce our ecological footprint, and keep it to an absolute minimum.

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Deforestation is currently responsible for 20% of all emissions, contributing twice as much to global warming as was thought. Our goal should be to prevent greenhouse gas emissions from deforestation by raising awareness and taking whatever action we can.

Forests are rich ecosystems and significant pools of biodiversity – important breeding grounds for millions of species of flora and fauna.

Their role in maintaining climate functions regionally and globally, and the regulation of regional climate patterns through hydrological cycles is of immense importance.

The trees which absorb carbon dioxide are a great tool to combat global warming: stopping deforestation could cut global carbon emissions by as much as three billion tonnes a year – the equivalent of more than 1/3 of all fossil fuel emissions.

The Amazon is the single largest remaining tropical rainforest in the world, housing at least 10% of the world’s known biodiversity, including endemic and endangered flora and fauna. The world depends on this rainforest basin for carbon storage: it has the capacity to sponge 90-140 billion metric tons of carbon (source: BBC).

Main deforestation threats are as follows: burning forests to create grasslands for cattle, mechanized agriculture expansion resulting in soil erosion, river siltation and aquatic contamination with agrochemicals, poorly planned transportation and energy infrastructure, oil and gas spills from hydrocarbon exploitation, and illegal logging.

Unfortunately, immediately after announcing that deforestation is down since conservation efforts began in 1988, the authorities in Brazil voted yesterday to approve a controversial legislation which will alleviate strict fines for some illegal forest clearance and ease overall rules on deforestation.

The reason is a necessity for arable land to feed the growing population and to meet the growing demand for food, stimulating economic development. Farmers are arguing that environmental protection harms their sector and the entire food production system.

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Leading environmental agencies are warning that the changes will spoil Brazil’s significant environmental achievements of recent years and dangerously impair global efforts to fight climate change, reduce carbon emissions, and speed up the loss of biodiversity.

The changes are also expected to expose native tribes and poorer regional settlements to larger risks from floods and droughts.

Even though BP Oil representatives have persistently tried to put down speculations of long-term environmental damage as a result of the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, almost a year ago, there is sufficient research that shows otherwise.

The BP Oil Spill disaster impaired the productivity and resources of the habitat and its ‘carrying capacity’, weakening its potential in meeting the needs of the region and impeding its ability to renew and restore own resources.

I wrote about it here when it happened a year ago.

The delayed emergency response and the long-drawn-out cleanup have contributed to a virulent state of the region, which some critics called hopeless. The delicate Gulf ecosystem was devastated and entire chains of perfectly symbiotic habitats disrupted.

The injuries that the region is already facing and will be facing in the future may include direct impact on food stocks and fisheries, their economic and tourism losses due to environmental constraints such as contamination and pollution of waterways and land, and the many changes of policies as a result.

The cleanup was only an immediate solution, the true impact is seen and felt only after the emergency steps have been implemented, so in the long run, the spilled oil may produce oxidized compounds which increase dissolution, dispersion, emulsification and formation of tar, contributing tot he toxic exposure for the ecosystem.

The extent of it will be only visible when the damages can be measured and recorded, however it has already been almost a year since the event and the ecological schism may already manifest itself. At the rate the oil is breaking down, some of it could still be there a century from now!

Seagrass

Seagrass is valued for its ability to absorb carbon, its role in the oceanic carbon budget significant as it deposits considerable amounts in below-ground tissues, with larger seagrass species having greater capacity for accumulation of carbon due to the relatively slow turnover at the roots.

Global climate change resulting from carbon emissions, is accelerating the loss of seagrass habitats and causing decline and disturbances. 

Seagrass meadows play an vital role in coastal zones and provide the ecosystem with important functions, including feeding coral reefs and marine life, protecting smaller animal species, and sheltering organisms.

Algae that cover seagrass leaves, providing nutrition for the fauna itself, constitute an important link between terrestrial and other marine habitats.

Carbon affects temperatures, acidification and changes in currents, interfering with ecosystem flow.

Unlike coral reefs which produce more carbon than they consume, seagrass reacts differently to the cycle.

Depending on the processes that occurs within it as a result of carbon cycle and in relation to other ecosystems, it reflects its high rate of carbon trade.

Global warming will inevitably lead to decreased efficiencies in sequestering carbon, resulting in the reduction of nutrient supply to deeper ocean layers. This will reduce ocean’s ability to uptake carbon dioxide, contributing to oceanic acidification.

Red Danube Waltz

I wrote this article for danube-river.

Unfortunately, the latest European environmental disaster is happening right at home – edging around the Danube River Basin is a toxic waste spill from an industrial alumina plant reservoir located near the Hungarian town of Kolontar, in the vicinity of Lake Balaton, 160km southwest of Budapest.

The spill, a by-product waste from industrial manufacturing in the form of red mud, seeped across soil and groundwater, posing a high risk of toxic contamination and extensive but likely only short-term environmental damage in the area.

As the sludge oozed toward Danube, the longest international river in the world and an important breeding ground for wildlife, fear grew that it may spread the pollution faster carried by its stream, which is thought to be harmful to the delicate ecosystem and population health.

Transboundary Environmental Monitoring agencies, including UNESCO, IUCN and WWF are on high alert, and urge that there may still be chronic effects of heavy metals on the region’s delicate animal and plant habitats.

WWF-Hungary criticized the regulatory bodies for failing to attend to the faulty and ailing industrial site in due course, pointing out that the whole accident could have been avoided.

One of the most touristically attractive natural values in Eastern Europe and further, the pristine Danube is running from Germany’s Black Forest to Romania’s Black Sea, across eight national borders. The thought of an abrasive chemical tainting the impeccable flora and fauna and jeopardizing its biodiversity is traumatic.

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Oceans day

Today is World Oceans Day – embrace the big blue!

They need protecting and, as they cover 3/4 of our planet’s surface, it’s a very big endeavour, but extremely beneficial to the health of our environment.

WWF urges protection, as “over one billion people rely on oceans for protein, and the demand is only growing, but two-thirds of the world’s marine stocks are fully exploited, over-exploited, depleted or recovering at a slow rate.”

This includes:

- protection of marine ecosystems (full conservation of designated cultural, recreational and industrial uses);

- sustainable fishing (designating ocean zones for compatible uses that are most ecologically appropriate);

- managing shipping and trade (implementing systematic approaches to sustainable international and inter-coastal practices);

- forestallling pollution and toxicity;

- marine spatial planning (long-term benefits to coastal communities and industries);

- improving and managing ocean resources;

- not to mention performance and safety standards and emergency response (or prevention!) of disasters such as oil spills……

WWF is urging action and their Oceans Program is brilliant. Here’s the latest.

Check out a website of Oceans Project for more detailed info on what the ‘celebration’ (action) entails.

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