Webcam keeps an eye on flamingo chicks
December 30, 2008
Posted in Conservation
One of the first of this year’s lesser flamingo hatchlings on Kimberley’s Kamfers Dam. Photo courtesy Save the Flamingo Association
Kimberley’s Kamfers Dam now has a live streaming webcam trained on its lesser flamingos which allows researchers and the general public a rare close-up view of a flamingo breeding colony comprising thousands of birds.
The colony is now well into its second breeding season.
Last year about 9,000 chicks hatched on an S-shaped artificial island specially constructed for the birds in the middle of the dam, making it the only lesser flamingo breeding site in South Africa and one of only four on the whole continent.
This year the breeding season started much earlier than last year – the first egg was reportedly spotted at the end of October – and more chicks are expected, says the Save the Flamingo Association, an environmental non-profit organisation based in Kimberley.
The Save the Flamingo Association is trying to conserve the birds’ Kamfers Dam breeding site which is threatened by deteriorating water quality from effluent spilling from a broken sewerage works and from a proposed massive residential and commercial development on a property adjoining the wetland.
In November the Northern Cape department of tourism, environment and conservation gave the proposed Northgate development the go-ahead. The Save the Flamingo Association has lodged an appeal against this decision, it says in an entry on its Facebook site.
The water quality is the more immediate threat to both the birds and the local human residents. A recent newspaper report said that water quality tests show high levels of faecal coliform bacteria in Kamfers Dam, which poses a risk of waterborne gastroenteritis. The dam water also tested positive for Clostridium, which causes botulism in birds.
Kimberley’s ailing Homevale sewage treatment works is reported to be the source of the effluent in Kamfers Dam. But it is part of a much wider problem in the province. In September, the water affairs and forestry minister Lindiwe Hendricks said in parliament that all the sewage works in the Northern Cape were operating below acceptable standards.
The association says it urgently needs funds to (a) conduct water quality analyses, (b) undertake legal action, (c) maintain the flamingo breeding island, and (c) ensure that Kamfers Dam and the adjoining properties are conserved.
The Save the Flamingo Association has set up an online donation system for anyone interested in contributing towards their work at Kamfers Dam.
Meanwhile, the lesser flamingos at another breeding colony, this time on Tanzania’s Lake Natron, have become the stars of a new Walt Disney film entitled The Crimson Wing – Mystery of the Flamingos.
The more than a million flamingos that gather on the shores of the huge soda lake, create an extraordinary natural spectacle, yet few people visit the area, says Birdlife International. According to filmmaker Matthew Aeberhard, “More people have walked on the moon than have been out on the mudflats where the flamingos have their breeding colonies”.
But, according to BirdLife International, a proposed soda ash plant at Lake Natron and the associated infrastructure may displace and scatter the lesser flamingos.
“They [Natron’s flamingos] could be very heavily impacted by minor developments,” Aeberhard said. “A company starts mining here and the water level may change, the salt balance may change”.
BirdLife International is leading a “Think Pink” campaign to conserve Lake Natron.
Plastic surgeon in lipodiesel probe
December 27, 2008
Posted in Transport
A Beverly Hills plastic surgeon is reportedly being investigated for allegedly using fat liposuctioned from his patients to power his and his girlfriend’s 4×4 vehicles.
The Mail Online reports that surgeon Dr Alan Bittern claimed that his patients were happy for their unwanted fat to be put to use as biofuel, which he apparently calls “lipodiesel”.
“The vast majority of my patients request that I use their fat for fuel - and I have more fat than I can use,” he is quoted as saying.
But it is illegal in the United States to use human medical waste to power vehicles and the doctor – who is believed to have moved to South America – is being investigated by the California health department, the report says.
[Thanks to Alf for the link]
Olympic pollution controls had marked impact, say scientists
December 21, 2008
Posted in Green News
The efforts of China’s authorities to clean up the air for this year’s Olympics in Beijing had some surprising results, Nasa researchers report.
According to atmospheric scientist Jacquelyn Witte and colleagues from Nasa’s Goddard Space Flight Centre, during the two months when authorities temporarily closed some factories and banished many cars in Beijing, the levels of nitrogen dioxide (NO2) – a noxious gas resulting from fossil fuel combustion (primarily in cars, trucks, and power plants) – plunged by nearly 50 percent. Levels of carbon monoxide (CO) fell about 20 percent.
“After the authorities lifted the traffic restrictions, the levels of these pollutants shot right back up,” Witte noted.
The steep decline in certain pollutants came as a surprise to the researchers, says a Nasa news release.
The researchers used Nasa’s Aura and Terra satellites to measure the impact of the air pollution controls.
Witte presented the results on December 16 at a meeting of the American Geophysical Union in San Francisco.
Ultimately, researchers aim to use satellite data to evaluate and refine models to predict how pollution levels respond to changes in emissions. Such models are important for understanding the integrated Earth system and aiding policymakers considering ways to reduce pollution, says Nasa.
News briefs
December 19, 2008
Posted in Green News
- BOTTLE STOPPERS: Students at Britain’s Leeds University have voted to ban bottled still water from all their bars, cafes and shops. More than 30,000 pounds in profits reportedly will be lost from the sale of around 20,000 bottles of water a year to students by the university union’s outlets. “It’s a measure of concern about the environment, putting sustainability before profit,” Tom Salmon of Leeds University Union told the Guardian. Bottled water will be replaced by water fountains and “affordable, reusable water bottles”, and a campaign will promote tap water. [Source: Guardian] (Thank you to Anna on Twitter for the link)
- BUY EVERY MOUNTAIN: Capetonians were shocked to discover this week that Hout Bay’s landmark Sentinel mountain, which has been described as one of Cape Town’s most photographed features, has been put up for sale for a mere R12-million. Many people had been under the impression that the mountain was part of a national park. The fact that it is privately owned raises concerns that the mountain may be developed – Hout Bay is a very popular, upmarket, residential suburb. South African National Parks has apparently made “several offers” to buy the Sentinel, but they have been rejected. Any attempts to develop the land are likely to be met by fierce resistance from environmentalists. The estate agent involved in the sale was quoted as saying: “It’s quite unusual for a mountain to be up for sale. Whoever buys it will probably do so to be able to say: ‘I own that mountain’.” [Source: IOL]
- POWERING DOWN: The government has retrofitted 4,000 buildings with energy-saving equipment, saving R56-million a year in electricity costs, the deputy president, Baleka Mbete, told an energy saving conference earlier this month. It aims to eventually make every government facility energy efficient. Ms Mbete urged ordinary South Africans not to waste power. She also warned that Eskom will be carrying out routine maintenance to its infrastructure in January. This time last year rolling blackouts cost the economy billions of rands. [Source: BuaNews]
- SHORING UP: The Netherlands is spending billions of dollars on reinforcing its dykes amid fears of flooding from rising sea levels as a result of climate change. Two-thirds of the country lies below sea level. It is also investing in augmenting its fresh water supplies. [Source: AFP via TerraDaily]
Cute car for a crowded world
December 18, 2008
Posted in Transport
Electric cars are a big favourite on Treevolution. This cute little bubble car is Nissan’s Pivo2. It’s an electric concept car that is on display in an exhibition called “Japan Car. Designs for a Crowded World” that’s showing at London’s Science Museum at the moment. The car is an environmentally friendly urban commuter with a friendly little onboard “robotic agent”. The cabin can rotate 360 degrees, so the driver never needs to reverse and you’ll never have to parallel park again.
You can see more pics of the Pivo2 and other cars in the exhibition on Flickr and there’s a video of the Pivo 2 in action on Daily Motion.
Guide to Cape Town’s nature reserves
December 18, 2008
Posted in Conservation
If you ask people why they love living in Cape Town they’ll often tell you that it’s because, no matter where you live in the city, you are never very far away from a nature reserve, a forest, a mountain, or a beach. It’s very condusive to an outdoorsy lifestyle. There are an incredible number of places where you can just park your car and walk for a few hours.
What’s more, Cape Town lies in the unique Cape Floristic Region, which was declared a Natural World Heritage Site in 2004. The region is the smallest and richest of the world’s six floral kingdoms and much of the plant life is found nowhere else. But more than 2,500 of its 9,000 plant species are threatened or endangered.
The City of Cape Town has set aside 24 areas where there are urban remnant habitats to try and conserve the natural heritage.
The city’s department of environmental resource management has produced a booklet – City of Cape Town Nature Reserves. A network of amazing urban biodiversity – with information about the 24 small reserves and natural areas spread throughout the city, which are easily accessible to residents or visitors.
The 63-page booklet, gives you an overview of the vegetation types. There is at least one page on each of the reserves with plenty of photographs, plus details of opening hours, entry fees, activities that you can do on each reserve and the types of species found there.
Contact details for the local friends groups associated with the nature reserves are included in the booklet. Residents of Cape Town are encouraged to become actively involved in conserving their natural and cultural heritage by joining these groups.
The booklet would make a great present for any nature lover who lives in the Cape or is planning to visit. It is apparently available from the Rietvlei, Rondevlei and Helderberg Nature Reserves at R5 per booklet. It is also available from the Botanical Society Bookshop at Kirstenbosch Gardens.
You can also download a free copy of the publication from the City of Cape Town’s website.
Source: BuaNews
Not the hottest, but 2008 still makes the top 10
December 17, 2008
Posted in Green News
The year 2008 is likely to rank as the 10th warmest year since climate records began in 1850, according to the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), the United Nations’ authoritative voice on weather, climate and water.
But don’t let the climate change denialists say ‘I told you so’, because all the years that have been warmer than 2008 have been during the last 12 years, the WMO director-general Michel Jarraud told a press briefing. And the reason this year’s temperature has been slightly lower that the rest of the 21st century so far is because of a moderate to strong La Niña that developed in the latter half of 2007. La Niña and El Nino are part of a naturally occurring climate cycle influenced by ocean surface temperature in the tropical eastern Pacific Ocean.
Interestingly, a recently published survey of mortality from natural threats in the United States – which has been not-so-euphemistically dubbed the “death map” – found that heatwaves claimed more lives than more headline-grabbing natural disasters such as earthquakes and hurricanes. (The survey period was 1970 – 2004, so it did not include Hurricane Katrina, which killed more 1,500 people in 2005 when it hit New Orleans).
The survey, published in the International Survey of Health Geographics, noted: “Over time, highly destructive, highly publicised, often catastrophic singular events such as hurricanes and earthquakes are responsible for relatively few deaths when compare to the more frequent, less catastrophic events.”
Other climate-change related info from the WMO report was that the extent of the Arctic Sea ice dropped to its second-lowest level since satellite measurements began in 1979 during the melt season this year – which peaks in mid-September.
“A remarkable occurrence in 2008 was the dramatic disappearance of nearly one-quarter of the massive ancient ice shelves on Ellesmere Island. Ice 70 metres thick, which a century ago covered 9 000 km2, has been chiselled down to just 1 000 km2 today, underscoring the rapidity of changes taking place in the Arctic,” the WMO said in a press release.
The ozone hole over Antarctica was smaller than last year, its area reached a maximum of 27 million km2 on 12 September. This is less than in the record year 2006 (more than 29 million km2) but larger than in 2007 (25 million km2). The variation in the size of the ozone hole from one year to another can be, to a large extent, explained by the meteorological conditions in the stratosphere, says the WMO.
Climate extremes, including devastating floods, severe and persistent droughts, snow storms, heatwaves and cold waves, were recorded in many parts of the world, notably Cyclone Nargis which caused devastation in Burma earlier this year.
Call for more public participation in SA’s energy policy
December 17, 2008
Posted in Business
The government has failed to respect the right of the South African public to participate meaningfully in the country’s future energy policy, says the Public Service Accountability Monitor (PSAM).
Its committment to a long-term strategy that involves nuclear plants generating up to a quarter of the country’s total energy output in the coming decades has been made without any meaningful public participation, the Rhodes University-based group says in a press release.
The energy policy implemented in South Africa will have a major impact on efforts to eradicate poverty in the country. To do this it needs to maximise job creation and enhance opportunities for the improvement of the quality of life of the poor majority, it says.
“Nuclear power is enormously expensive and there are coherent arguments that it is not cost effective, does not create the kind and number of jobs that our country desperately needs and poses unacceptable environmental risks,” the PSAM states.
There have been some encouraging signs that the government is looking at ways to introduce more renewable energy. For example, Nelly Magubane, deputy director-general of the department of public enterprise, said recently that “renewable energy is definitely on the cards…we are actually looking at ways of making sure that we get even more renewable energy in the system”, notes the PSAM.
Although Eskom recently shelved plans to build a new power station, Nuclear One, because it could not afford it, the PSAM notes that the electricity utility has made it clear that nuclear power remains firmly on its long-term agenda.
Eskom is negotiating a $5-billion dollar (about R50-billion) loan from the World Bank to help fund its expansion and has already secured a $500-million dollar loan from the African Development Bank.
The PSAM is urging both Eskom and the World Bank to conduct its negotiations openly and transparently. “After all, what is being considered is essentially a loan to the people of South Africa, and we have a right to know what the conditions of the loan are, since we will be repaying it,” it says.
The PSAM wants the World Bank and on the government to make any loan to Eskom conditional on guarantees of meaningful public participation in the formulation of South Africa’s future energy policy and to ensure that the terms and conditions of any loan are transparent, allowing both parliament and the public to hold Eskom accountable for its use of the funds.
Learn the story behind the stuff you buy
December 13, 2008
Posted in Lifestyle
Have you every wondered where the stuff you buy comes from and what happens to it when you throw it away? Annie Leonard did, but she went further than most of us and decided to find out. The Story of Stuff is a 20-minute film that tells you what she discovered.
Leonard is an activist who has spent the past 10 years travelling around the world fighting environmental threats – she’s apparently even been to South Africa – so she knows a thing or two.
In the Story of Stuff she looks at the real costs of extraction, production, distribution, consumption and disposal, and she isolates the moment in history where she says the trend of consumption mania began. She manages to be very informative, without being preachy, and the cute graphics keep things light and highly watchable.
The film underscores the importance of recycling and CONSCIOUS consumption.
This is a good little film to watch before you do your Christmas shopping because it might make you pause and think a bit more carefully about what you spend your money on.
If you’ve got an ADSL line and lots of bandwith you might want to watch it straight off the site, or you can download a copy (50MB) and share it with your friends.
‘No new coal’, says daring caped crusader
December 12, 2008
Posted in Green News
The cooling towers of Kingsnorth power station, near Nottingham in the UK. © Ed Clarke, iStockphoto.com
In an extraordinarily audacious and dangerous act of environmental sabotage, an unknown “caped crusader” breached the security of Britain’s Kingsnorth coal- and oil-fired power station and brought one of its 500MW turbines to a standstill last month. Then, after leaving a calling call which read “NO NEW COAL”, he simply disappeared.
The power station was brought to a halt for four hours. This means that the unknown saboteur single-handedly reduced Britain’s carbon emissions by 2 percent, the Guardian reports.
The hunt is now on for “climate man”. The police say they have no suspects and even seasoned climate activists say they have no idea who did it, but would really love to know.
A spokesperson for power utility E.ON was quoted in the Guardian article as saying: “It was extremely odd indeed, quite creepy. We have never known anything like this at all, but it shows that if people want to do something badly enough they will find a way.”
Read the full story here
(Thanks to Gavin for the link)
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