Tag Archives: nations

Dot Earth Blog: On the Path Past 9 Billion, Little Crosstalk Between U.N. Sessions on Population and Global Warming

by Myrna Posted on September 21, 2014

As the United Nations convenes sessions on global warming and population growth, a new study foresees rising human numbers through 2100. Link: Dot Earth Blog: On the Path Past 9 Billion, Little Crosstalk Between U.N. Sessions on Population and Global Warming

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Dot Earth Blog: On the Path Past 9 Billion, Little Crosstalk Between U.N. Sessions on Population and Global Warming

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Canadians are eating tar-sands pollution

by DaniellBlankens Posted on July 7, 2014

Canadians are eating tar-sands pollution

By

Caelie Frampton

Tar-sands extraction isn’t just turning swaths of Canadian land into postapocalyptic film sets. New research shows it’s also contaminating the wild animals that members of the Mikisew Cree and Athabasca Chipewyan First Nations have traditionally relied on for food.

We already knew that the tar-sands operations have been dousing northern Alberta with mercury and other forms of pollution. Now university scientists have collaborated with the First Nations to test the pollution levels in hunted animals found downstream from the tar-sands sites. Here are some lowlights from their findings, which were included in a report published on Monday:

Arsenic levels were high enough in in muskrat and moose muscle; duck, moose, and muskrat livers; and moose and duck kidneys to be of concern for young children. Cadmium levels were again elevated in moose kidney and liver samples but also those of beaver and ducks … Mercury levels were also high for duck muscle, kidneys, and livers as well as moose and muskrat kidneys, especially for children. …

Total levels of PAHs [polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons] and levels of carcinogenic and alkylated PAHs were very high relative to other food studies conducted around the world.

The First Nations members aren’t shocked to hear this. Some have already started avoiding their traditional foods because of worries about contamination, they told researchers. More from the report:

Participants were concerned about declines in the quality of [traditional] foods, in the greatest part because of environmental pollutants originating from the Oil Sands. It was notable how many participants no longer consumed locally caught fish, because of government-issued consumption advisories and associated human health concerns. Muskrat consumption had also declined precipitously, along with muskrat populations, a decline that was attributed to changes in hydrology and contaminant levels associated with the WAC Bennett Dam and the Oil Sands. The only effective alternatives to traditional foods are store-bought foods. …

All participants were worried about ongoing declines in the health and wellbeing of their community. They generally viewed themselves as less healthy than their parents, who rarely got sick. Neurological illnesses (e.g. sleeping disorders, migraines, and stress) were most common followed, in descending order of frequency, by respiratory illnesses (e.g. allergies, asthma) as well as circulatory (e.g. hypertension, coronary) and gastrointestinal (e.g. gallbladder, ulcers) illnesses. Yet, everyone was most concerned about the current and escalating cancer crisis.

A documentary about the research — One River, Many Relations — will be released in October. Here’s a trailer:

John Upton is a science fan and green news boffin who tweets, posts articles to Facebook, and blogs about ecology. He welcomes reader questions, tips, and incoherent rants: johnupton@gmail.com.Find this article interesting? Donate now to support our work.Read more: Climate & Energy

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Canadians are eating tar-sands pollution

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Wiretapping Advocate Condoleezza Rice Joins Dropbox

by BobbieStocks Posted on April 10, 2014

Mother Jones

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The internet is not pleased that Condoleezza Rice will be joining the board of the filesharing service Dropbox. A lot of the concern has to do with the fact that she’ll be helping Dropbox navigate “international expansion and privacy” issues. As Ars Technica notes, the former National Security Advisor and Secretary of State isn’t exactly the kind of person you’d trust to defend your data from Uncle Sam: In 2003, she authorized NSA wiretaps of members of the United Nations Security Council at the behest of George W. Bush, and later defended them. Of course, to be fair, maybe having an insider like Rice onboard will allow Dropbox to push back against would-be government intrusions. Still, the news is likely to give a boost to Dropbox competitors that now market their cloud services, convincingly or not, as “NSA-proof.”

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Wiretapping Advocate Condoleezza Rice Joins Dropbox

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We may have to suck up CO2 to prevent planet from frying, U.N. says

by GayUYUMhwfb Posted on January 18, 2014

We may have to suck up CO2 to prevent planet from frying, U.N. says

By

Shutterstock

The climate situation is so dire that we may have to resort to geoengineering to keep the planet livable, according to a leaked draft of a forthcoming report from the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

The New York Times reports:

Nations have so dragged their feet in battling climate change that the situation has grown critical and the risk of severe economic disruption is rising, according to a draft United Nations report. Another 15 years of failure to limit carbon emissions could make the problem virtually impossible to solve with current technologies, experts found.

A delay would most likely force future generations to develop the ability to suck greenhouse gases out of the atmosphere and store them underground to preserve the livability of the planet, the report found. But it is not clear whether such technologies will ever exist at the necessary scale, and even if they do, the approach would probably be wildly expensive compared with taking steps now to slow emissions.

More from Reuters, which first obtained a leaked draft summary of the report:

To get on track, governments may have to turn ever more to technologies for “carbon dioxide removal” (CDR) from the air, ranging from capturing and burying emissions from coal-fired power plants to planting more forests that use carbon to grow.

Most projects for capturing carbon dioxide from power plants are experimental. Among big projects, Saskatchewan Power in Canada is overhauling its Boundary Dam power plant to capture a million tonnes of carbon dioxide a year.

Al Gore was alarmed by the news and said resorting to mass-scale geoengineering would be “insane,” “utterly mad,” and “delusional in the extreme.” Speaking to reporters, he said, “The fact that some scientists who should know better are actually engaged in serious discussion of those alternatives is a mark of how desperate some of them are feeling due to the paralysis in the global political system.”

The draft IPCC report also calls for a big shift from dirty energy investments to clean ones, echoing comments made this week by U.N. climate chief Christiana Figueres.

An IPCC spokesperson emphasized that the leaked document is just a draft and the report will change before the final version is released in April.


Source
World may have to suck gases from air to meet climate goals-UN, Reuters
U.N. Says Lag in Confronting Climate Woes Will Be Costly, The New York Times
Al Gore says use of geo-engineering to head off climate disaster is insane, The Guardian

John Upton is a science fan and green news boffin who tweets, posts articles to Facebook, and blogs about ecology. He welcomes reader questions, tips, and incoherent rants: johnupton@gmail.com.

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“Unruly Passengers” Increased 12x in Four Years. I Wonder Why?

by ColinEllzey Posted on December 23, 2013

Mother Jones

Speaking of airlines, two stories crossed my radar by chance today. Here’s the first:

The number of incidents of unruly passengers jumped from less than 500 in 2007 to more than 6,000 in 2011, according to the International Air Transport Assn., the trade group for world airlines, which has been keeping track of the incidents….A meeting has been scheduled for March by the International Civil Aviation Organization, a branch of the United Nations, to discuss new rules on how to deal with unruly passengers. A location for the meeting has not been set.

And here’s the second:

On Jammed Jets, Sardines Turn on One Another

With air travelers increasingly feeling like packed sardines, flying has become a contact sport, nowhere more than over the reclined seat.

Now, it is only getting worse, as airlines re-examine every millimeter of the cabin. Over the last two decades, the space between seats — hardly roomy before — has fallen about 10 percent, from 34 inches to somewhere between 30 and 32 inches. Today, some airlines are pushing it even further, leaving only a knee-crunching 28 inches.

….Southwest, the nation’s largest domestic carrier, is installing seats with less cushion and thinner materials — a svelte model known in the business as “slim-line.” It also is reducing the maximum recline to two inches from three. These new seats allow Southwest to add another row, or six seats, to every flight — and add $200 million a year in newfound revenue.

I wonder if these could possibly be related in any way?

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“Unruly Passengers” Increased 12x in Four Years. I Wonder Why?

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Northern Gateway tar-sands pipeline gets crucial government blessing

by Stacey Kawano Posted on December 20, 2013

Northern Gateway tar-sands pipeline gets crucial government blessing

By

Miguel Vieira

The pipeline would be built through British Columbian forests like these.

A key Canadian ruling Thursday could eventually lead to sticky tar-sands oil being shipped west via a new pipeline laid through spectacular forests and pristine streams.

Enbridge Inc. got a positive recommendation from a national review panel for its proposed $US6.1 billion Northern Gateway pipeline project, which would carry oil 730 miles from the tar sands of Alberta to a new terminal on the west coast of Canada, where it would be loaded onto about 220 ships a year, primarily bound for Asia. About a third of pipeline project would cross as-yet undisturbed land, and the oil-laden ships would travel through prime fishing areas.

Northern Gateway

Click to embiggen.

But it’s not a done deal yet. The federal government now has 180 days in which to make a final decision, and opposition in British Columbia and from First Nations (aka Native) groups could still trip up the process.

 The Vancouver Sun reports:

On Thursday, after a decade of planning by Calgary-based Enbridge, lengthy hearings, testimony from more than 1,000 people in opposition, and technical evidence presented by experts and lawyers, the National Energy Board-led panel said the project could go ahead if Enbridge met 209 conditions.

Those conditions include Enbridge carrying $950 million in spill insurance coverage, putting in place a plan to offset losses in Caribou habitat and putting into effect its promised enhanced tanker safety plan. That plan includes the use of escort tugs, a new advanced radar system, and an increased spill-response system.

The panel said they concluded the project would be in the public interest.

Thursday’s announcement did not go down well in British Columbia. From the Canadian Press:

B.C. Environment Minister Mary Polak said the province wants to assess whether the panel’s report addresses five conditions B.C. has set out before it will support the pipeline.

“We are not yet in a position to consider support for any heavy oil pipeline in B.C.”

The pipeline faced an uphill battle in B.C. where the environmental movement was bolstered by a decades-old “War in the Woods” against old-growth logging.

Enbridge and the oilpatch drastically underestimated the power of Green Corp., the older, wiser and better-funded modern version of the tie-dyed denizens who were arrested trying to save trees in the 1990s. Flush with cash from green philanthropists largely from south of the border, groups such as Forest Ethics Advocacy, the Dogwood Initiative and Rising Tides mounted a relentless campaign in Canada and abroad.

But perhaps the toughest hurdle for the project has been the simmering tension between B.C. First Nations and the federal government.

Here’s more on that simmering tension from the Aboriginal Peoples Television Network:

A showdown with Indigenous people in the region looms if the federal government gives final approval for the project.

The pipeline is facing some opposition from First Nations in British Columbia. So far, about 130 First Nations have signed a declaration in opposition to the pipeline.

“This project will never be built,” said Nadleh Whut’en First Nation Chief Martin Louie, who was speaking for the Yinka Dene Alliance. “We have drawn a line in the earth they cannot, and will not, cross.”

Enbridge, however, has signed about 36 separate protocol agreements with individual First Nations.

A camp, led by the Unist’ot’en clan of the Wet’suwet’en people, has dug in for several years on the Northern Gateway’s proposed pipeline route about 1,000 kilometres north of Vancouver. The camp issued a statement to APTN National News Thursday pledging to stop the pipeline’s construction through their territory.

“The NEB decision of ‘yes’ does not matter to us…we will continue to say ‘no’ without compromise,” said the statement. “They do not have jurisdiction or decision making power over Unist’ot’en territory. We will not remove our gateway.”

If constructed, Northern Gateway could provide an alternative to Keystone XL, which, as you might have heard, has not thus far been approved by the U.S. government. Both projects have powerful supporters and passionate opponents, so whether they’ll get built is anyone’s guess.


Source
Federal review panel gives green light to Northern Gateway pipeline, Vancouver Sun
Review panel supports Northern Gateway pipeline, opponents vow to fight on, Canadian Press
Showdown looms as Enbridge’s Northern Gateway pipeline gets green light, Aboriginal Peoples Television Network

John Upton is a science fan and green news boffin who tweets, posts articles to Facebook, and blogs about ecology. He welcomes reader questions, tips, and incoherent rants: johnupton@gmail.com.

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U.N. launches new fight against food waste

by 7MelansonHayden940 Posted on January 23, 2013

U.N. launches new fight against food waste

By Susie Cagle

No one can agree on just how much food we’re wasting. But it is so, so much.

sporkist

The United Nations and its Food and Agriculture Organization say it’s a third of all food produced, while other studies say it’s closer to 40 or 50 percent. After it leaves the farm, a lot of food is chucked because it’s not pretty, or it’s past its expiration date, or it simply falls through the cracks. According to the EPA, food waste makes up 21 percent of the garbage bound for landfills in the U.S.

This is not news — we’ve known for a while that our modern foodprint is massive. What’s noteworthy is that people are actually maybe kind of starting to do something about it.

Today the United Nations launched a campaign to reduce global food waste, which it estimates at 1.3 billion tons a year.

“In a world of seven billion people, set to grow to nine billion by 2050, wasting food makes no sense — economically, environmentally and ethically,” said U.N. Under-Secretary-General and UNEP Executive Director Achim Steiner.

The campaign, “Think-Eat-Save,” calls on eaters to take some logical steps — steps so seemingly obvious that it’s sad we need a campaign to promote them. E.g. make a shopping list and avoid impulse buys and “marketing tricks.” Also: Freeze leftovers, donate to food banks, and don’t be afraid to buy “funny” looking fruit and veg (if they even make it to the store shelves, that is).

This is all good stuff, but I reiterate my sadness. This is a problem of the incredibly privileged. According to the U.N., European and North American consumers waste upwards of 10 times what African and south Asian consumers do. Restaurants are particularly bad at this, even though cutting down on waste could save them thousands of dollars.

One campaign probably won’t do much to change our wasteful habits, so long as those habits are generally good for big business, and so long as that campaign is organized by the toothless U.N.

“Think” is a good place to start, but what else can we do? Sit back and celebrate when fancy real estate firms get a pat on the back for turning their food waste into fertilizer for their fancy gardens? Please, please no. Ugh. I’ll be out back fishing bagels from the dumpster, a-gain.

Susie Cagle writes and draws news for Grist. She also writes and draws tweets for

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The U.N. climate conference wraps up, and now all of our problems are solved

by Myrna Posted on December 10, 2012

The U.N. climate conference wraps up, and now all of our problems are solved

By Philip Bump

There are pretty good odds that the atmosphere already contains enough greenhouse gases to push global temperatures more than 2 degrees C higher by the end of the century, an increase broadly understood to mean catastrophic effects across the globe. If the atmosphere isn’t yet at that point, the amount that we’d have to curb our pollution to prevent it becomes steeper and less realistic by the day.

Which is why the United Nations — having previously eradicated from the world the scourges of war, poverty, inadequate medical care, and hunger — holds annual meetings during which it consistently and efficiently ratchets down the levels of greenhouse gas emissions from all of the nations of the world. Every schoolkid, no matter his or her nation of origin, has a photo of Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon over the bed, dreaming of one day attaining that most-powerful position on Earth.

This year’s annual meeting, held in Doha, Qatar, wrapped up over the weekend. Two weeks ago, we offered a fairly cynical preview of what to expect from the United Nations’ gathering. Our prediction for its ineffectiveness was almost too optimistic.

As in previous years, participants (limited to a fairly small group of people with credentials given by the U.N.) spent 13 days, 23 hours, and 59 minutes of the two weeks arguing loosely about funding issues and then spent a furious 60 seconds developing a face-saving and ineffective agreement that will, at the very least, ensure that they will be able to expense plane tickets to next year’s meeting. (If this is an exaggeration, it is a slight one.) The last-minute agreement, as described by Reuters:

Almost 200 nations extended on Saturday a weakened U.N. plan for fighting global warming until 2020, averting a new setback to two decades of U.N. efforts that have failed to halt rising world greenhouse gas emissions.

The eight-year extension of the Kyoto Protocol beyond 2012 keeps it alive as the sole legally binding plan for combating global warming. But it was sapped by the withdrawal of Russia, Japan and Canada, so its signatories now account for only 15 percent of global greenhouse emisions. …

A package of decisions, known as the Doha Climate Gateway, would also postpone until 2013 a dispute over demands from developing nations for more cash to help them cope with global warming.

All sides say the Doha decisions fell far short of recommendations by scientists for tougher action to try to avert more heatwaves, sandstorms, floods, droughts and rising sea levels.

In summary: The main victory from the meeting was that the Kyoto Protocol (remember the Kyoto Protocol?) will limp forward, with fewer signatories. Yaaayyyyy. But then, as Mother Jones put it: “it’s something.” It seemed for much of the process that even a tiny victory would slip through participants’ fingers; that Kyoto was plucked from the recycling bin is better than nothing and not much else. And as for providing economic support to developing nations that want to build in systems for fighting carbon pollution? We’ll talk to you next year in London.

hydropower

Neither this press conference nor the elegant COP18 branding could stem rampant carbon pollution 🙁

A columnist at The Guardian suggests that there may be one other cause for optimism.

Doha reaffirms that [a replacement to Kyoto] must aim to achieve the UN goal of limiting global warming to 2C. [Ed. – You know, if possible.] And it sets in train a process to review countries’ emissions targets, with the aim of closing the “emissions gap” between current pledges and the reductions needed to meet that goal. The deal creates a new mechanism to compensate the countries worst hit by climate change for the loss and damage it causes. A single negotiations platform has been established to achieve the new agreement, with a deadline for completion of 2015.

This is a much bigger deal than most commentators, and most governments, have realised.

But!

The last time there was a negotiating deadline was 2009, in Copenhagen.

That turned out poorly.

Philip Bump writes about the news for Gristmill. He also uses Twitter a whole lot.

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