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]
In the news today …
October 31, 2008
Posted in Green News
- Green car needs greenbacks: The global credit crisis could delay production of South Africa’s Joule electric car as the manufacturing company, Optimal Energy, needs to raise more than $130-million dollars to build an assembly plant. [More].
- Please release me: A rare female whale shark being kept as an attraction in an aquarium in Sol Kerner’s recently opened Atlantis resort in Dubai (he also built SA’s Sun City megaresort) has provoked the ire of environmentalists and the public. A local newspaper has launched a “Free Sammy the Shark” campaign and a Facebook group has been set up calling for the shark’s release. [More]
Minister of minerals and energy to visit the Wild Coast
August 13, 2008
Posted in Green News
Buyelwa Sonjica, the minister of minerals and energy, will meet on Friday community leaders, local government, and the black economic-empowerment partners of the company that has been granted the rights to mine the dunes along a stretch of the Wild Coast, Mining Weekly reports. It doesn’t appear that the minister’s visit is likely to influence the signing of the licence and environmental management plan documents, though, which is scheduled for October 31. A spokesman for the department, reportedly told Mining Weekly that the granting of the licence was a “done deal”. Read the full story on Mining Weekly
News in brief
March 22, 2008
Posted in Green News
Elephant trouble – Kenyan conservationist Richard Leakey has given his “qualified backing” for South Africa’s lifting of the ban on elephant culling. The new elephant management norms and standards were announced on February 28. He told the BBC that it was a “necessary part of elephant population management”. But he also said that South Africa had a responsibility to curb human activities that impinge on elephant habitat. Read more at BBC.
Water trouble – Many conflicts around the world erupt or are worsened by water shortages, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon wrote in an opinion piece this week. And population growth and climate change are only going to make things worse. So, we urgently need to use water more efficiently and share it more fairly . “International Alert has identified 46 countries, home to 2.7 billion people, where climate change and water-related crises create a high risk of violent conflict. A further 56 countries, representing another 1.2 billion people, are at high risk of political instability,” according to Ban. From Environment News Service
Pollution on the move – Nasa has found that about 15 percent of the pollution over the Western United States and Canada actually originates in East Asia. What’s more it moves pretty quickly – pollution from forest fires or industry in East Asia can reach the western US in about a week. But you can’t simply blame East Asia for the pollution levels, says one scientist, some of it also originates in Europe, North America and elsewhere in the world. Environment News Service
News in brief
March 17, 2008
Posted in Green News
BEACH BUMMER – Four of Durban’s swimming beaches have lost their “blue flag” status because of unacceptable faecal pollution readings, Sapa reports. This comes less than a week before the start of the Easter school holidays. The blue flag is an “eco-label” awarded by independent non-profit organisation Foundation for Environmental Education.
BIG GAME SPENDERS – Dubai World, the investment arm of the government of Dubai, has bought into three South African game reserves for an undisclosed amount – Shamwari (Eastern Cape), Sanbona Wildlife Reserve (in the Western Cape) and Jock Safari Lodge (near the Kruger National Park) – Business Day reports. Dubai World acquired Cape Town’s Victoria and Alfred Water Front in 2006.
ANOTHER BIOFUELLED BOEING - American carrier Continental Airlines, Boeing and GE Aviation have announced plans to conduct a biofuels demonstration flight early next year using a Boeing Next-Generation 737. Last month a Virgin Atlantic Boeing flew from London to Amsterdam on a biofuel mix. The three companies are looking identify sustainable fuel sources that don’t impact food crops, water resources or contribute to deforestation, and which can be produced in sufficient quantities. Read more at EnergyDaily
CLOSING PRICE - Think nuclear power stations are expensive to build? Well decommissioning them doesn’t appear to be cheap either. Britain’s Sellafield nuclear site is expected to cost billions of pounds to decommission. At present, a number of consortia are at bidding for a 20-billion pound (about R320-billion) decommissioning contract, the Observer reports. According to Britian’s Independent, the Sellafield site’s main activity over the past few decades has been reprocessing used reactor fuel, separting out plutonium and uranium from nuclear waste. The Thorp reprocessing plant will reportedly close around 2011 when its contracts run out.
Project to sequence giant panda genome
March 9, 2008
Posted in Conservation
The endangered giant panda – of which there only about 1,600 left in the wild – is to have its genome sequenced. “This is the first genome project to be undertaken specifically to gather information that will contribute to conservation efforts for an endangered species,” said Oliver Ryder of the San Diego Zoo’s Centre for Conservation and Research for Endangered Species in a media release.
The goal is to finish the sequencing and assembling of the draft sequence within six months, said Dr Hongmei Zhu, of the Beijing Genomics Institute at Shenzhen, which announced the launch of the International Giant Panda Genome Project last week.
The giant panda is a symbol of China, the only country in the world in which it lives in the wild. It is one of the mascots for the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. It is also the logo and flagship species of the WWF.
The data from International Giant Panda Genome Project will help to protect and monitor the pandas as well as provide information on the impact of captive breeding and the control of diseases that could devastate the fragile populations, said the release.
The study will also help scientists understand the genetic basis for the giant pandas adaptation to its special diet and behavioural style. Pandas staple food is bamboo, and they can eat up to 38kg of it a day to meet their energy requirements, says the WWF.
The panda to be sequenced for the Giant Panda Genome Project will be chosen from the Chengdu and Wolong breeding centres, the release said.
Via:: Science Daily and Eurekalert
More bad news about the oceans
February 23, 2008
Posted in Green News
The millions of people who rely on fishing to make a living could be in for a hard time thanks to climate change because scientists expect it to have a serious impact on the oceans’ already dwindling fish stocks.
A UN Environment Programme report released this week, entitled In Deep Water, maps the impact of pollution, overharvesting and alien infestation on the world’s fisheries and then adds climate change to the mix – and the findings make depressing reading.
The worst-affected 10 to 15 percent of the oceans are also home to the world’s most important fishing grounds, the report found. And up to 80 per cent of the world’s primary fish catch species are already exploited beyond or close to their harvesting capacity.
Read more
Surgery restores golden eagle’s sight
February 18, 2008
Posted in Conservation
A cataract has been removed from the eye of a golden eagle in a procedure performed by surgeons from the University of Glasgow’s Small Animal Hospital.
The bird badly damaged its eyesight after it flew into electricity cables and it is believed the shock caused a cataract to develop, the university reports.
Putting birds under general anaesthetic is considered very risky as the shock often kills them, it adds. But it was decided that without sight, the bird’s future was bleak.
The eagle, who has been named Electra, now lives in a Scottish sanctuary.
Via :: Science Daily
Map shows damage people have done to the oceans
February 17, 2008
Posted in Green News
A new map showing the state of the planet’s oceans should set alarm bells ringing all over the world. It shows that human activity has left almost no part of any of the oceans untouched and ecosystems have been severely compromised in more than 40 percent of the world’s waters.
Hundreds of experts created the map, which was published in the February 15 issue of Science by combining data on 17 different human impacts to oceans, including fishing, coastal development, fertilizer runoff and pollution from shipping traffic.
Areas of concern are reportedly coral reefs, seagrass beds, mangrove forests in estuaries, seamounts, rocky reefs and continental shelves.
The North Sea, South and East China Seas, Caribbean Sea, Mediterranean Sea, Red Sea, Persian Gulf, Bering Sea, the Eastern Coast of North America and much of the western Pacific are the most affected by human influence, according to a report in Science Daily. Southern Africa’s oceans appear to show only limited impacts.
Via :: Science Daily
Compensation programme helps save lions in Maasai country
July 9, 2007
Posted in Green News
Maasai warriors in their distinctive red robes are one of the iconic images of East Africa. They’ve herded their cattle across the plains, living harmoniously with the wild animals, for centuries – or so it would seem. But nothing is ever as simple as it looks. At a community-owned ranch In the Tsavo-Amboseli ecosystem, a vast unfenced region in southern Kenya, the Maasai lose about two head of livestock a day to lions and other predators. To protect their precious cattle, the warriors used to kill lions. And who can blame them, cattle are their livelihood? But a compensation programme set up by the Ol Donyo Wuas Trust has convinced the Maasai communities on Mbirikani ranch that it is possible to live in peace with lions.
Read more
