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Sustainable Energy for All

Posted by ep-admin on Sunday, 30 September 2012 in Energy Efficiency

2012 has been declared as the 'International Year of Sustainable Energy for All' by the UN. Sustainable Energy for All is an initiative launched by the United Nations Secretary-General and guided by his High Level Group that brings all key actors to the table to make sustainable energy for all a rea...

IGSD: Climate Change Could Kill More Than 100 Million People by 2030

Posted by Wolf on Saturday, 29 September 2012 in Climate Change

Without fast action, accelerating climate change impacts will cause more than 100 million deaths and knock off more than 3 percent of GDP (gross domestic product) by 2030, according to a report released today by the humanitarian organization DARA. The report, commissioned by 20 governments in the C...

BP to Improve Spill Response Preparedness

Posted by henryfool on Friday, 28 September 2012 in Oil Spill

BP Products North America, Inc. will pay a $210,000 penalty and implement an enhanced oil spill response program at its oil terminals nationwide, as well as a comprehensive compliance audit to resolve alleged violations of oil spill response regulations at its Curtis Bay Terminal in Maryland, the U....

China's backlash grows against ConocoPhillips

Posted by EarthDude on Friday, 28 September 2012 in Oil Spill

Though the leaks may be largely under control, ConocoPhillips is still trying to contain the public backlash in China over its handling of recent offshore spills in Bohai Bay. The incidents, which have attracted only minor attention in the U.S., have made the Houston oil company the ta...

Laundry additive helps bust pollution

Posted by thatsenough on Friday, 28 September 2012 in Air Quality

Soon, we could all be wearing clothes that purify the air as we simply move around in them.Plans are now proceeding to commercialize a new liquid laundry additive called CatClo, which contains microscopic pollution-eating particles.The new additive is the result of collaboration between the Universi...

Living near highway drives up kids’ asthma

Posted by plantitfilm on Thursday, 27 September 2012 in Human Health

A new study published online September 24 in Environmental Health Perspectives also indicates that previous estimates of childhood asthma exacerbation related to air pollution may have underestimated the true burden of exposure on society. The research focused on the Los Angeles basin.“Our findings ...

Humans Have Been Recycling For Millennia

Posted by henryfool on Wednesday, 26 September 2012 in Recycling

A new study by archaeologists from the Universitat Rovira i Virgili and the Catalan Institute of Human Paleoecology and Social Evolution (IPHES) shows that humans were recycling discarded stone tools as long as 13,000 years ago.We tend to think that recycling is a modern concept. Back in the 1970s, ...

How to Clean Up Oil Spills

Posted by Angel on Wednesday, 26 September 2012 in Oil Spill

MIT researchers have developed a new technique for magnetically separating oil and water that could be used to clean up oil spills. They believe that, with their technique, the oil could be recovered for use, offsetting much of the cost of cleanup. The researchers will present their...

Tracking European Air Quality

Posted by amir on Wednesday, 26 September 2012 in Air Quality

The largest and most comprehensive effort to research air pollution in Britain is underway in London and the skies above it. As many as 80 scientists from eleven universities are tracking nearly 1,000 different types of gases and particles in the atmosphere. Pollutants are being ...

Europe Air Quality Causing Shorter Lives

Posted by acox on Wednesday, 26 September 2012 in Air Quality

* Particles, ozone are Europe's biggest air problems* Eastern Europe, Mediterranean nations worst affected* EU to review air quality laws, WHO standards much tougher* Sulphur dioxide levels have fallenBy Barbara LewisBRUSSELS, Sept 24 (Reuters) - Microscopic particles, among the most har...

Sunshade Cover to Save Great Barrier Reefs

Posted by acox on Wednesday, 26 September 2012 in Ocean/Seas/Coastlines

Australian scientists have proposed covering endangered coral reefs with cloth to give them shade as a "last resort" to protect the Great Barrier Reef. The cloths would be anchored with ropes and float on the water surface to protect corals from sunlight, reducing heat stress which leads ...

How can we make our oceans well again?

Posted by bchristo on Wednesday, 26 September 2012 in Ocean/Seas/Coastlines

One-size-fits-all prescriptions do not work. The Ocean Health Index will assess how oceans are able to support life Around 20 years ago I took a submarine dive in the Sea of Japan. As we descended into the darkness to a depth of almost 5,500m (18,000ft) – more than two-thirds the height of Mt Eve...

Understanding Green Cleaning ‘Hybrids’

Posted by thatsenough on Wednesday, 26 September 2012 in Green Products/Services

While they have been in limited use for more than 30 years, mostly for consumer cleaning, what some call “hybrid” cleaning products — commonly known as oxygen-based, bio-based, bio-enzymatic, or bio-renewable products — are making more and more headway into the professional cleaning industry.Before ...

What Sea-Ice Loss Means for Development in the Arctic

Posted by henryfool on Monday, 24 September 2012 in Ocean/Seas/Coastlines

Arctic sea-ice extent shrank to an unprecedented low this summer, part of a long-term decline in the icy white cap over the far northern ocean.Researchers predict that nearly ice-free summers are on the way, although it’s not yet clear when this will happen. This shift has implications for climate —...

World Rhino Day- Sept. 22

Posted by ep-admin on Sunday, 23 September 2012 in Newsletter Archive

Today, there are perhaps 5,000 black rhinos and 20,000 white rhinos left on the continent, but even these numbers must be considered optimistic; the killing has reached such a frenzied pitch that the only thing that's certain is that the populations are in free-fall. The root causes for the slaught...

590 Whales Dead in The Farow Islands

Posted by EarthDude on Saturday, 22 September 2012 in Earth Violators

Some of the world’s leading environmental and marine conservation organisations have come together to write a letter to the Prime Minister of the Faroe Islands to halt one of the worlds most prolific whale hunts. This year (up to 24th August 2012) the islanders have killed 590 pilot whales...

Mapping Coral Reefs to Save Wildlife

Posted by Angel on Thursday, 20 September 2012 in Ocean/Seas/Coastlines

SAWFISH and snubfin dolphins on the brink of extinction are top priority in a plan to restore degraded coral habitats and reconnect coastal ecosystems along the Great Barrier Reef. The plan by the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority comes as the CSIRO today will launch a report in Brisbane, ...

Can ecotourism conserve the world's national parks?

Posted by henryfool on Thursday, 20 September 2012 in Ecotourism

Tourism is often seen as a double-edged sword, with visitors flocking into fragile areas. A new study explains how revenue from ecotourism could fund conservation National parks are huge draws for travellers, many of whom seek remote or off-the- beaten-track experiences in pristine environments. Ac...

Riding Sunlight

Posted by Aaron on Thursday, 20 September 2012 in Transportation

Solar Power for Public TransportationFor those concerned about the environmental impact of their daily commute, taking public transportation may be a way to be nicer to the planet. According to statistics highlighted by the Sustainable Cities Collective, taking public transportation over driving can...

Enough Wind Power for the East Coast

Posted by Angel on Wednesday, 19 September 2012 in Wind

Recent reports have shown that it’s possible to power the entire world with wind power, but scientists at Stanford University conducted a more focused study that delivered the first-ever quantitative analysis of offshore wind energy on the US East Coast. The study states that there is...