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Future Uncertain After Collapse of Talks
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The WTO ministerial conference in the Mexican resort of Cancun came to an abrupt end Sunday without an agreement, leaving a big question mark hanging over the future of the international trade talk. The
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negotiations have collapsed, the positions are very distant, and there is no possibility of reaching an accord, at least for now, said delegates of several governments. The talks will continue at WTO (World Trade Organization) headquarters in Geneva, they added. full story
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WWF Calls for Reform as
WTO Bubble Bursts in Cancun
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Talks in Cancún collapse as trade negotiators wrestled with an overloaded agenda which failed manifestly to put sustainable development at its core. WWF now hopes governments will get out of
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the WTO cul-de-sac and acknowledge that the WTO is not the only show in town. The WTO should focus on how trade can contribute to sustainable development and rely on other institutions to deal with fundamental development and environment issues. full story
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River Restoration Gets Greener
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It's January in central Mississippi's Yazoo Basin. Clambering along the eroding banks of a stream, members of a team of field workers and scientists from a small Montana company carefully plant willow and
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sycamore cuttings. The dormant cuttings are harvested from a nearby sandbar and planted before the spring rains raise the stream's water level. Some of the cuttings are bundled together and anchored near the water's edge. full story
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Landfill Alternatives Tested
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Garbage-eating bugs possible sollution
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In the next few weeks, York Region hopes to find an $86,000 alternative to shipping garbage to Michigan. York, Peel, Durham and Toronto are working together to evaluate 51 companies with potential solutions
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that include shredding the garbage, having bugs eat it, adding heat and pressure to it or adding chemicals and processing the liquid results. Each region will launch a pilot project to test different technology. full story
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Greenpeace, Farmers Oppose
Genetically Engineered Corn
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GREENPEACE-Philippines urged the Arroyo government to pass a law that will stop the entry of genetically modified organisms (GMO) in the country, as it condemned multinational company Monsanto
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for introducing the Yieldgard Bt corn variety to farmers. Environmental activists unveiled a protest message against biotechnology research firm Monsanto Philippines Inc., a US-based vendor of genetically engineered agricultural products, as they rappelled from the top floor of a building housing the company's Philippine headquarters on Friday. full story
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Ozone Hole over Falklands
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The Ozone hole has reached land and population areas in Argentina, Chile and the Falkland Islands. The area and population affected including the Argentine city of Ushuaia which has a population of
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30,000 and Punta Arenas, Chile with a population of 120,000 are all at risk during this time period, so reports The Ozone Hole Organization, a non profit group dedicated to preventing the ozone layer. full story
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SOS for 700 Threatened Species
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At least 700 bird, mammal and amphibian species threatened with extinction, and probably many more, have no protection in any part of their ranges, according to an analysis released Thursday. Another
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943 species likely face similar situations since their protected areas are too small to be effective, said the study by Conservation International and the World Conservation Union. If nothing is done, “we will probably see the disappearance of many of these populations in the next 10 or 20 years,” said Conservation International scientist Gustavo Fonseca. “This will represent extinction to the scale that we have not seen before as a human species.” full story
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Push has Local Supporters
but also Local Critics
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This offshore oil rig is one of several in the Cook Inlet waters near Anchorage. The Bush administration is providing financial incentives for companies to drill in more offshore areas in Alaska. On a sandy bluff
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above Cook Inlet, where wildflowers stand against a backdrop of snowcapped volcanoes, drilling crews are tapping into the only oil prospect under active exploration in the vast federal waters off Alaska. full story
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Europe's Forests Need
Intensive Care After Fires
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After forest fires across Europe reached unprecedented intensity this year, WWF is urging governments and the EU not to subsidize the replanting of burnt areas with species which would again be susceptible
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to fires, like eucalyptus monocultures, and instead to prioritize financial support for natural restoration of burnt areas with indigenous species. The EU Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) is currently subsidising eucalyptus and other non-native plantations in the Mediterranean which increase the risk of fire and reduce soil quality.
full story
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Tourism Could be a Threat to
Environment: UN Report
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With the number of tourists to the world's biodiversity 'hotspots' expected to double by 2020, tourism could become a major threat to the environment, warns a new UN report titled, 'Tourism and Biodiversity:
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Mapping Tourism's Global Footprint'. It could be a blessing or curse depending on how the increased flow is handled, the report stated. It could be a major threat to nature or a chance to ease poverty of the world's poorest people.
full story
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Hamlet in Canada's North Slowly Erodes
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Gordon Anaviak lives in a house by the deep, black, cold Beaufort Sea, a sea that is eating away at the shoreline and causing the ground to melt. Nobody knows for certain why the sea is eroding this spit of land,
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exposing the permafrost upon which Tuktoyaktuk, a town of just less than 1,000 people, is built. But Anaviak, an elder of the Inuvialuit community, was born on the land and has his own theory. It boils down to global warming. full story
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Nine Monkeys Learn to Read Jungle Book
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It is schooling of a different kind. At the animal orphanage in Katraj Zoological Park, nine monkeys rescued from Mumbai’s urban jungle are being trained to survive in the wild. ‘‘They need to be trained before
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they are taken back to nature,’’ says orphanage director Neelimkumar Khaire. The syllabus for the five rhesus and four bonnet monkeys is simple: How to search for food in forests. Life in the urban mess has got them to develop a liking for junk food, mainly leftovers from hotels and restaurants, says Khaire. And city life has ruined their natural food habits. full story
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Suicide at WTO Meeting Highlights Farmers' Plight
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When Lee Kyang Hae scaled a metal security fence and plunged a knife into his heart on the first day of the Fifth Ministerial meeting of the World Trade Organization (WTO) in Cancun, Mexico, Wednesday, he was trying
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to speak for tens of millions of small farmers around the world who find themselves at the losing edge of economic globalization. Lee, a small farmer who had also served in South Korea's legislature, died at a Cancun hospital shortly afterwards, casting a pall over the proceedings for which trade ministers and delegations from more than 140 countries have gathered this week. full story
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WWF Urges Iceland to Review Controversial Kárahnjúkar Dam Project
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WWF remains concerned over Iceland’s biggest dam project ever, and calls on the Icelandic government to review the potential impacts of this project on one of the largest remaining wilderness areas in
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Europe. It is being built in the East Icelandic highlands and will fundamentally alter the fragile environment of the area. Five hundred nest sites of the rare pink-footed goose will be flooded and Iceland’s only reindeer herd is likely to diminish. Wetlands downstream are also likely to be impacted but according to independent studies, the economic benefits of the project are uncertain. full story
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Shanghai to Increase Spending on Environmental Protection
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The Shanghai municipal government pledged yesterday that it will spend at least 3 percent of the city's gross domestic product (GDP) annually in the following three years on environmental protection. According
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to Xu, the city has initiated a new three-year environmental protection plan (2003-05) and the expenditure budget will focus on six areas, including water, air, solid waste, afforestation, industrial pollution and agricultural contamination. full story
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Predict Global Climate from your Desktop
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The power of millions of personal home computers around the world is being harnessed to help forecast the climate for the 21st Century and improve models of global climate change. A new experiment in
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distributed computing called Climateprediction.net will be launched this week in London after being unveiled at the British Association for the Advancement of Science conference in Manchester. full story
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GM Trade Treaty Takes Effect
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The Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety gives countries the right to bar imports of live GM organisms (GMOs) - plants, animals, bacteria or viruses - which they believe carry environmental or health risks.
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However, the biggest users of GM agriculture have yet to ratify it. The more than 50 countries which have ratified the protocol now have the right to bar imports of live GMOs from other nations which have also ratified. full story
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Conservationists Decry Global Ills
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More than 11 percent of the world's land surface is included in conservation areas, surpassing goals set a decade ago, but oceans remain at risk and even protected land areas face growing threats from climate
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change and stubborn poverty. That's the key message this week at the World Parks Congress, a once-a-decade meeting of conservationists aimed at finding solutions to the ever-changing challenges of biodiversity preservation, including protection of rare plants and animals and ensuring support for conservation in parts of the world where the priority is finding the next meal. full story
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First Marine National Park for Chile
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Located around Carlos III Island in the Strait of Magellan, south Chile, the 67,000 hectare Francisco Coloane Marine Park is an important feeding ground for humpback whales and, occasionally, minke whales from
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the East Pacific Ocean. The island is also home to rockhopper penguins, macaroni penguins, fur seal, southern sealions, and a variety of seabirds. The protected area — which is larger than the city of Santiago — includes areas of water, the sea bed, rocky headlands, beaches, and land. full story
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Nuclear Plants in the Hotseat
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The worst heatwave to strike Europe since the end of World War II vanished at the end of August, leaving in its wake thousands of deaths and an enormous amount of public outrage. As the casualties of
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August were buried, little was said about another sobering fact. The heatwave revealed a dangerous flaw in France's vast system of nuclear power plants, a deficiency that could have brought the country to the brink of catastrophe. full story
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USDA Survey Shows Some Farmers Don't Comply with EPA Biotech Rules
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The Agriculture Department found that almost 20 percent of the Midwestern farms growing a pest-resistant biotech crop have failed to comply with federal planting requirements. The survey looked at
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289,640 farms in 10 Midwestern states -- Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, Ohio, South Dakota and Wisconsin -- to see how many were growing the biotech corn variety, Bt. It found that 93,530 farms, or 32 percent, were growing 4.2 million acres of
Bt corn. full story
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Powerful New Catalysts Attack Wide Range of Chemical Pollutants
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Scientists have developed catalysts that harness the ability of hydrogen peroxide to break down a variety of harmful agents, ranging from sulfur in diesel fuel to an anthrax-like bacterium. What is more, the process
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was developed under the tenants of Green Chemistry, which means it is sustainable and environmentally friendly. Researchers reported on the work yesterday at a national meeting of
the American Chemical Society in
New York City. full story
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Brutal Effects of Ground Zero Fumes
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Scientists who have analysed the aftermath of the 11 September 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center say that workers at Ground Zero suffered "brutal" effects from the fumes coming out of the wreckage.
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"The debris pile acted like a chemical factory," said Professor Thomas Cahill of the University of California at Davis. "It cooked together the components of the buildings and their contents, including enormous numbers of computers, and gave off gases of toxic metals, acids and organics for at least six weeks," he said. full story
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The Rich Set to Reap in Cancun
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By Adetokunbo Abiola
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There is something seriously wrong with the international institutions that govern globalization. This was why Professor Joseph Stiglitz, the former economic adviser to President Bill Clinton, said: "The developed
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world needs to do its part to reform the international institutions that govern globalization. We set up those institutions and we need to
fix them." full story
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Ministers Talk Agriculture,
Protesters Gear up for WTO Meeting
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Trade ministers from across the globe sought last-minute alliances Tuesday ahead of a World Trade Organization meeting, while opponents gathered on the beaches of this Caribbean resort mapped out
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plans to derail the meeting. full story
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Hopes Grow that Russians
will Ratify Kyoto Pact
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Speculation that the Kyoto Protocol on climate change could come into force soon has heightened since an announcement that Russia has completed the documents necessary for the treaty's ratification. Ever since
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the US decided to abandon the protocol in March 2001, Russia has held the key to the future of the agreement, which aims to curb greenhouse gas emissions from industrialised countries. full story
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African Ministers Hold Water Conference
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Ministers of 19 African countries that share the Nile, Zambezi and Senegal river basins are holding a two-day conference in Ethiopia to discuss how to better share the waters. At the opening of the meeting in Addis
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Ababa Tuesday, Ethiopia's minister of water resources, Shiferaw Jarso, said Africa's water is the most important source of its development.
full story
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Italy Wins Monsanto Ban Case
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Italy won the right yesterday to impose an emergency ban on genetically modified food products when Europe's highest court waded into a bitter dispute between Rome and the US biotechnology giant
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Monsanto. But Italy's victory was not clear cut and could be short-lived. The European court of justice said that Rome would have to provide "detailed" evidence that GM products posed a risk to human health before any emergency ban was imposed. full story
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State Forests for Sustainable Production Consolidate New Model for Amazon
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The creation of new conservation areas in Brazil's Southwest Amazon Ecoregion are being celebrated today by WWF and the international community present at the 5th World Parks Congress underway in Durban,
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South Africa. The creation of the 695,000-ha Chandless State Park and three state forests for sustainable production totaling another 482,000 ha was announced last Thursday by Acre state governor Jorge Viana.. full story
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Chemical Plant Security:
A Tale of Two Senate Bills
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Two years after the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, various federal agencies are sounding the same alarm. Scores of chemical plants around the country are potential targets for
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terrorists, and the industry not doing enough to protect the public. For example, the Environmental Protection Agency has identified more than 100 chemical plants that each could endanger a million or more people if attacked, and many more that could threaten thousands of people. full story
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Our Fragile Seas Need Greater Protection
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More than 60 percent of the world's oceans still resembled the "Wild West", despite international marine protection laws and occasional attempts to pursue fishing pirates, the Worldwide Wildlife Fund (WWF)
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said on Monday. WWF spokesperson Simon Cripps said the recent hot pursuit operation by Australia and South Africa to apprehend the Uruguayan vessel Viarsa 1 demonstrated the need for much greater effort to protect the world's oceans from unsustainable exploitation. full story
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Turtles Lured to Disco Death
in Park Dilemma
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Disco lights are luring baby turtles to their deaths on the fringes of a Greek marine park in the Mediterranean Sea. Environmentalists say that rare loggerhead turtles scramble out at night from eggs in the sand on
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beaches in the west Greek island of Zakynthos and instinctively head for the brightest horizon -- normally the white foam of waves under the stars. But neon lights from discos and cafes along the back of the beach at Laganas, built for tourists who also go for boat trips in the bay to try to spot turtles, are often fatally brighter. full story
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World Demand Increases Illegal Logging
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President Megawati Soekarnoputri blames the mounting international demand for logs as the main cause of rampant illegal logging activities in the country. "The increased demand for wood in the international market,
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the higher production of wood-based furniture products and the extension of wood-related industries, inevitably trigger illegal logging," Megawati said in her speech delivered as part of the celebration of the 10th anniversary of the Centre for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) on Monday. full story
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Warming Warning for Antarctica
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The face of Antarctica will change in the next 100 years as ice melts, glaciers retreat, penguins move south and green plants begin to colonise bare rocks of the Antarctic peninsula, researchers warned yesterday.
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"We know parts of Antarctica are warming, and they are warming very rapidly," Andrew Clarke of the British Antarctic Survey told the British Association festival. "The Antarctic Peninsula is one of three points on the globe that is warming particularly quickly at the moment."
full story
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Climate Change: New, Big Threat
to Protected Areas
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Amidst heat waves, droughts, forest fires, and other extreme weather events over the past months, WWF warns at the 5th World Parks Congress that such climate change impacts will damage protected
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areas and other valuable habitats unless greenhouse gas emissions are reduced drastically. Plants are forced to move upwards due to warmer temperatures caused by global warming, but for many alpine species this might be impossible.
full story
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Spill Damage Effect to Stay for Long
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The environmental impact committee, constituted to assess the environmental damage in the wake of oil spill from Tasman Spirit, in its report submitted to the Sindh government here on Monday
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estimates that oil spill could continue to pollute the beach for a long time and haunt those living and working on beach. According to the report, out of 28,000 tonnes of oil spilled into the sea, 11,000 tonnes of crude oil got evaporated, 7,000 tonnes got splashed on the shore, while another 10,000 tonnes settled at the bottom of the sea. full story
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Canada to Label Some
Genetically Modified Food
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After spending thousands of hours over four years discussing how best to label foods that contain genetically modified ingredients, a Canadian committee said on Monday it has agreed on voluntary rules.
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Canadian food makers will not be forced to indicate whether or not their products contain GM ingredients, but if they want to make claims on the subject, they have to be able to prove them, said a spokeswoman for the Canadian Council of Grocery Distributors. full story
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Global Warming Claim
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Global warming could lead to a shift in weather patterns that would cause the Amazon rainforest to dry up and die in 50 years, it was claimed today. The frightening prediction is one of many climate change models being
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studied by experts. It results in a ``super-el nino`` developing in the Pacific, a bubble of heat that would spell ecological disaster in south America. full story
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Giant Panda Twins Born
in Sichuan Province
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A five-year-old female giant panda gave birth to twin babies early Saturday morning in the Giant Panda Nature Reserve at Wolong in southwest China's Sichuan Province. It is the fourth twin pair born in the
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Wolong-based China Giant Panda Protection and Research Center (CGPPRC) since August. The panda cubs were born at 2:35 a.m. and 5:00 a.m., weighing 150 grams and 168 grams respectively. The mother and her babies are in good condition. full story
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Game Parks in Africa
Gain Ground, Lose Borders
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Southern Africa's grandest cross-border game park so far amounts to only some lines on a map, a few thousand animals trucked to the other side of a border fence and a concrete-block foundation for
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an immigration office here amid the rolling hills and scrub mopane trees of South Africa's Kruger National Park. Progress may be unequal, but southern Africa is moving toward a revolution in conservation: huge transfrontier game parks that will eliminate border fences and for the first time allow animals - and park visitors - to cross national boundaries. full story
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Worldwide Call on Iceland to Stop Whaling
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Whale watchers worldwide today condemned the Icelandic Government for jeopardising Iceland’s booming whale watch industry by restarting its whaling program. The Icelandic Government
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intends to catch 38 Minke whales by the end of September and follow this up with a bigger catch of Minkes next year, supposedly to study whether they threaten Iceland’s number one source of income – cod fishing. “This is the same kind of psuedo scientific misinformation the Japanese Government uses to justify its whaling,” says whale watch operator and leader of the International Alliance of Commercial Whale Watch Operators Frank Future. full story
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Albatrosses Face Growing Peril
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The plight of several species of albatross has worsened significantly in the last year, conservationists say. They say populations of six of the 21 albatross species have shown "a further alarming decrease". One,
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previously thought to be safe, is now believed to be at high risk of extinction. The culprits are said to be longline fishing boats, blamed for thousands of bird deaths annually. full story
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Bush Seeks an Exit Strategy as War Threatens His Career
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George Bush will attempt tonight to convince the American people that he has a workable 'exit strategy' to free his forces from the rapidly souring conflict in Iraq, as Britain prepares to send in thousands more
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troops to reinforce the faltering coalition effort. Frantic negotiations continued this weekend in New York to secure a United Nations resolution that would open the way for other countries to deploy peacekeeping troops to help after Bush - with one eye on next year's presidential election - signaled a change of heart on America's refusal to allow any but coalition forces into Iraq. full story
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Ethiopia Food Crisis Grows
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Ethiopia raised the number of its people affected by drought to 13.2 million yesterday and appealed for £25m to feed them until December. The country, facing its most serious drought in nearly two decades, had
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previously put those worst affected by food shortages at 12.6 million people. Aid agencies have warned that Ethiopia is sliding toward a famine in what they have described as a "silent emergency" that has evaded the world’s attention partly because of the crises in Afghanistan
and Iraq. full story
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Ozone Hole Growing Faster
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The ozone hole has grown more rapidly than usual during the last two weeks compared to the same period a year ago according to the latest World Meteorological Organization, WMO, report. Currently the ozone
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layer hole appears to be 25 million square kilometres in area, 10% below the record size of mid September 2000 when it reached 27 million square kilometres. The ozone mass deficit (a measure of the depth of the ozone hole) has reached 50 million tons, which “is also 10% below the record set in mid September 2000”. full story
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Bush Administration Fulfills Wish List
for Corporate America
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The Bush administration eased a series of important environmental regulations in a quiet flurry of late-summer activity, delivering almost every rule change on corporate America's wish list. In the
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past few weeks, the administration diluted federal rules governing air pollution from old coal-fired power plants; emissions that cause global warming; ballast water on ships contaminated with foreign species of plants and animals; sales of land tainted with PCBs; drilling for oil and gas on federal land; and scientific studies that underpin federal regulations. full story
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Poaching, Mining Imperil
"Crown Jewel" Park in Chile
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At 20,800 feet (6,340 meters), the peak of the snow-covered, dormant volcano Parinacota, in northern Chile, commands a view of Peru, Bolivia, and Chile's high Andean altiplano. Poachers come for the pelts of the
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vicuna and the now-endangered puma. And miners covet the gold once mined extensively in the park highlands. Lauca National Park, named for the Lauca River that snakes through the southern part of the park, is one of South America's crown-jewel conservation areas. In 1981 UNESCO named the park a Biosphere Reserve.
full story
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World's Parks to Weigh
Conservation, Human Needs
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The 5th World Parks Congress meeting in South Africa next week will focus on "Benefits Beyond Boundaries"—reflecting the 21st-century need to balance conservation of dwindling
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wilderness sanctuaries with the needs of struggling human societies. It is estimated that there are some 44,000 wilderness parks, together comprising about 10 percent of the Earth's land surface. In many parts of the world the parks are the last few remaining repositories of biodiversity, but increasingly they are being devastated by poaching, illegal logging, pollution, and other incursions by human communities struggling to survive. full story
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Under Fire, World's Park Rangers
Seek Protection
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Attacks on park rangers are increasing around the world. The dangers they face from poachers, smugglers, trespassers, and guerilla fighters are becoming so acute that their safety is to come up for special
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discussion at the fifth World Parks Congress in the South Africa next week. So serious is the problem that the World Conservation Union (IUCN) has placed it high on the agenda for the 5th World Parks Congress, being held in Durban, South Africa from September 8 to 17. full story
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More Forests Plagued by Pests, Diseases
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The area of forests affected by pests, animals or diseases in the first half of this year reached more than 8.4 million hectares, a 9 percent increase compared with the same period last year, according to statistics from the
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State Forestry Administration. The administration said the overall situation remained stable in the first half of the year and there was a decline in the number of pests or diseases affecting large-scale forests. However, the situation has become more acute in some regions, it said. full story
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Are Plastic Grocery Bags
Sacking the Environment?
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The "paper or plastic" conundrum that vexed earnest shoppers throughout the 1980s and 90s is largely moot today. Most grocery store baggers don't bother to ask anymore. They drop the bananas in
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one plastic bag as they reach for another to hold the six-pack of soda. The pasta sauce and noodles will get one too, as will the dish soap. As a result, the totes are everywhere. They sit balled up and stuffed into the one that hangs from the pantry door. They line bathroom trash bins. They carry clothes to the gym. They clutter landfills. They flap from trees. They float in the breeze. They clog roadside drains. They drift on the high seas. They fill sea turtle bellies. full story
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The Dolphin Debate: Activists Call for 'Rescue' of Captive Mammals
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Two dolphins from the Gulf of Mexico swim with a tourist at the Nizuc Aquatic Park in Cancún, Mexico. More than two dozen dolphins captured off the Solomon Islands were flown to Nizuc,
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sparking an international debate about the growing entertainment industry surrounding the animals. The new arrivals have become poster children for a global animal-rights movement, which not only seeks to have them returned to the wild, but also hopes their plight will help end international dolphin trafficking altogether. full story
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Ethiopia: Environmentalist Warns against Consequences of Land Degradation
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Professor Shiberu Tedla, a renowned biologist and environmentalist, warned last Friday that unless urgent measures were taken to arrest the serious environmental degradation the country would be heading for a
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“catastrophic situation”. He said that at least 150 million dollars a year was needed to protect the environment and that funds spent on the environment so far were not adequate. full story
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Greenpeace Presents Unique Offer
to the Icelandic Government
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Supported by the arrival of the Greenpeace flagship, Rainbow Warrior, Greenpeace today launched a public tour that will take the ship around the small North Atlantic Island. At the same time Greenpeace
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presented an offer to the Icelandic Government, giving them a chance to save their globally damaged reputation and the whales of the world.
full story
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Study Finds Alarming Level of Pollution
in The Caspian Sea
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A study report prepared by the Russian Hydro-Meteorological Institute (RosHydroMet) says that the northern part of the Caspian Sea contains alarming levels of hydrocarbon contamination. The
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report, submitted by the RosHydroMet during the eighth session of Caspcom in Ashgabat 5 September 2003 says that analysis of a large number of samples of water and bottom sediments from the northern part of Caspian have been found to contain uniform levels of high pollution. full story
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Kazakhstan's Glaciers 'Melting Fast'
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The political stability of a key central Asian state could be imperilled by climate change, researchers say. They say glaciers are melting so fast in parts of Kazakhstan that the livelihoods of millions of people will
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be affected. They found the area's glaciers were losing almost two cubic kilometres of ice annually during the later 20th Century. With regional temperatures rising, they believe climate change is responsible. full story
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'Is Viet Nam Happening Again?'
Marine General Blasts Bush
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A former U.S. commander for the Middle East who still consults for the State Department yesterday blasted the Bush administration's handling of postwar Iraq, saying it lacked a coherent strategy, a serious plan and
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sufficient resources. "There is no strategy or mechanism for putting the pieces together," said retired Marine Gen. Anthony C. Zinni, and so, he said, "we're in danger of failing." full story
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Researchers Reveal True Scale
of Whale Slaughter
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Scientists have underestimated the number of humpback and other great whales that were slaughtered in the North Atlantic at the peak of the whaling industry, latest research shows. The claims, published in the
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journal Science, could represent a major setback for countries trying to have a 17-year moratorium on commercial whaling lifted. full story
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World's Coral Reefs Struggle for Survival
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Nearly a decade after the launch of several international initiatives to raise awareness about the declining health of the world's coral reefs, these "rainforests of the sea" remain in a desperate struggle for survival,
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with most dying off in ever greater expanses and only a few reef systems showing evidence of modest recovery(Coral Kingdom). The destruction, documented by scientists in recent surveys, is largely the result of human activities, including overfishing, pollution and sediment runoff because of deforestation, the researchers say. full story
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Clean Air Could Go for a Loop(hole)
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The Bush administration plans to open a huge loophole in the United States’s air pollution laws, allowing an estimated 17 000 outdated power stations and factories to increase their carbon emissions with
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impunity. Critics of draft regulations due to be unveiled by the US Environmental Protection Agency next week say they amount to a death knell for the Clean Air Act, the centrepiece of US environmental regulation. The rules could represent the biggest defeat for US environmentalists since the Bush administration abandoned the Kyoto Treaty on global warming two years ago. full story
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Provision Threatens California
Efforts to Cut Smog
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A provision sponsored by a Missouri senator that is part of a massive spending bill would block California's efforts to cut pollution emitted from lawn mowers and other small machines. Sen. Christopher S. Bond
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(R-Mo.), chairman of the subcommittee that drafted the bill, included the provision after a lobbying campaign by Briggs & Stratton Corp., a leading engine manufacturer with two factories in his state. full story
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New Snowmobiles Emit More
Pollution in Tests
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A new generation of snowmobiles, approved for use in Yellowstone National Park after being promoted as cleaner and quieter, emit more pollution than models produced two years ago, according to test
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data from the Environmental Protection Agency. The controversial decision to allow snowmobiles in Yellowstone was based on industry promises that models with new engines would produce less pollution to foul the air and water in the nation's oldest national park. But recent tests on the 2004 models show that the machines produce from 40% to 213% more emissions than 2002 models. full story
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Don't Overload the WTO: Let it Stick to its Core Business, Says WWF
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WWF is calling on trade ministers not to use the Cancun meeting as an opportunity to further extend the scope of the World Trade Organization (WTO). Many governments are coming to Cancun
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with the aim of imposing a range of new issues — such as increased rights for investors, new rules on government procurement and ecolabelling — onto the WTO Agenda. But WWF believes the world trade body is ill equipped to handle these issues. It should instead concentrate on what should be its core business — facilitating fair trade deals and promoting trade that contributes to sustainable development. full story
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Experts Say Sharks Under Threat
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Conservationists gather this week to chart a way to save the shark, one of the most feared predators in the oceans itself under threat from over-fishing and demand for dishes such as shark-fin soup. Experts say
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governments around Africa were also coming under increasing pressure to open up their waters to large, commercial fishing fleets, which was likely to put even greater strain on shark numbers. full story
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Boise's Environmental Statement
Sets New Industry Standard
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San Francisco - Boise Cascade Corporation, a leader in the forest products industry, today released a new environmental statement marking significant progress in helping to protect endangered forest
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areas throughout the world and old growth forests in the United States. Rainforest Action Network has applauded the policy as an expanded commitment to sustainable forest stewardship for the industry. With this announcement, Boise becomes the first major U.S. forest products company to adopt a comprehensive environmental statement for its operations and the first distributor of wood and paper products to extend an environmental policy to its suppliers.
full story
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EPA Urges Look at Lower Soot Limits
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Scientists at the Environmental Protection Agency are urging the government to consider imposing stricter limits on the level of soot in the nation's air because evidence shows that soot contributes to
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sickness and death at its current level. A draft report by the scientists was posted to the agency's Web site on Friday, two days after the EPA eased air-pollution rules for power plants planning upgrades. The report points out that many of the nation's cities don't meet the current limit for yearly soot levels. Soot consists of a mixture of liquid droplets and specks of pollution emitted by diesel-powered vehicles, power plants and factories. The scientists' recommendations focus on the tiniest soot particles, which are the most dangerous to human health. full story
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Scientists Sound New
Climate Change Warning
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Scientists have found climate change in the Alps, Africa and Asia is melting glaciers with serious effects for water supplies. The findings were revealed at the annual conference of the Royal Geographical Society and the
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Institute of British Geographers, being held in London. Dr Stephan Harrison, from Oxford University, told conference: "The recent heatwave in Europe has served to highlight once again the potentially devastating effects of climate change. Central and southern Europe is experiencing one of the most prolonged droughts for decades. While many of the continent's rivers are at low levels, those draining from the Alps are being fed from rapidly melting glaciers." full story
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It's Cheaper to Grow Your Own
Clean Water: Report
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Big cities such as Melbourne and New York can save the billions they spend on treating water to make it drinkable by keeping their forests instead, a new study has found. The 114-page report titled Running Pure
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was released on Monday by the World Bank and the ecology organisation the World Wide Fund for Nature. The report found that one-third of the 105 big cities studied, including New York, Tokyo, Barcelona and Melbourne, get much of their water from protected forests. full story
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Public Needs More Sustainable Choices, Says Report
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Government should give individuals more choices on issues such as clean air, traffic congestion, and sustainable agricultural systems, rather than being bombarded with more "trivial" consumer choices, says
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a new report by the Fabian Society. To establish a truly sustainable society the government must focus on the provision of "quality of life"–enhancing choices, rather than trying to increase the amount of consumer choices available — which could actually decrease living quality, says the study. full story
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Groups Lock Horns Over Bison Range
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The bison are grazing placidly on the wide Montana prairies, but plans for their future care have created a storm among humans. Thousands of conservationists and others have written or called the Interior
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Department to protest negotiations to transfer management of the National Bison Range to a tribal government. Geographically, the dispute centers on 18,000 acres at Moiese, Mont., home not only to hundreds of bison but also to elk, black bears, coyotes, ground squirrels and more than 200 species of birds. Politically, it focuses on the Bush administration's environmental record and the rights and independence of Native Americans. And that cross section of interests has created strange bedfellows. full story
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Heatwave Deaths Blamed on Air Pollution
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Air pollution may have caused the deaths of thousands during last month's heatwave, a French government official said yesterday. Jean-Felix Bernard, president of France's Conseil National de l'Air,
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an air quality agency attached to the environment ministry, said: "Several hundreds or thousands could have been affected. Maybe between 1,000 and 3,000." France recorded 11,400 deaths more than usual in the first two weeks of August in the hottest weather in the country in 60 years which saw temperatures over the 40C (104F) mark.
full story
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EPA Lifts Ban on Selling PCB Sites
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The Bush administration has ended a 25-year-old ban on the sale of land polluted with PCBs. The ban was intended to prevent hundreds of polluted sites from being redeveloped in ways that spread
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the toxin or raise public health risks. The Environmental Protection Agency decided the ban was "an unnecessary barrier to redevelopment (and) may actually delay the clean-up of contaminated properties," according to an internal memo issued last month to advise agency staff of the change. full story
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World Must Act Now to Provide Safe Water
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With more than 2 million children dying each year from water-borne diseases, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan today called on the international community to avoid further dangerous delays
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and move from pledges to action in order to halve by 2015 the proportion of people lacking safe drinking water and sanitation. "Providing water services to all, especially the poor, is vital in and of itself," Mr. Annan told the International Freshwater Forum in Dushanbe, Tajikistan, in a message read for him by Anwarul Chowdhury, UN High Representative for the Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries and Small Island Developing States. full story
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Not Just Warmer: It's the Hottest
for 2,000 Years
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The earth is warmer now than it has been at any time in the past 2,000 years, the most comprehensive study of climatic history has revealed. Confirming the worst fears of environmental scientists, the
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newly published findings are a blow to skeptics who maintain that global warming is part of the natural climatic cycle rather than a consequence of human industrial activity. Prof Philip Jones, a director of the University of East Anglia's climatic research unit and one of the authors of the research, said: "You can't explain this rapid warming of the late 20th century in any other way. It's a response to a build-up of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere." full story
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Protected Forests Crucial to Supplying the World's Biggest Cities with Clean Water
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A new study by World Bank-WWF Alliance for Forest Conservation and Sustainable Use shows that protecting forest areas provides a cost-effective means of supplying many of the world’s biggest cities
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with high quality drinking water, providing significant health and economic benefits to urban populations. The new report, Running Pure, shows that more than a third of the world’s 105 biggest cities — including New York, Jakarta, Tokyo, Mumbai, Rio de Janeiro, Los Angeles, Barcelona, Nairobi, and Melbourne — rely on fully or partly protected forests in catchment areas for much of their drinking water. full story
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Hungary's Shrinking Lake
Fuels Climate Fears
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Lake Balaton, central Europe's biggest freshwater lake and one of Hungary's biggest tourist attractions, is shrinking - prompting warnings of an ecological and economic catastrophe that may be linked
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to global warming. For the first time since records began in 1865, four consecutive hot summers and low annual rainfall have sucked millions of cubic litres of water from the lake, exposing large mudflats and forcing holiday makers to walk far out into the lake before they can swim. full story
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