11000 barrels of oil spill into the Amazon's Coca River

A landslide ruptured and oil pipeline in Eduardo Amazon, sending around 11000 barrels of oil into the Coca River. The oil pollution has since moved into the larger Napo River, which borders Yasuni National Park, and is currently heading downstream into Peru and Brazil. The spill has occurred in a region that is notorious for heavy oil production and decades of contamination, in addition to resistance and lawsuits by indigenous people.

The pipeline operator, Petrocador, has promised a swift cleanup and hired the US company Clean Caribbean& America to that end. In addition to possible environmental damage, the oil spill temporarily contaminated drinking water for the 80,000 residents of Puerto Francisco de Orellana, Ecuador, and an oil town on edge of the Napo River.

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Evidence grows of rainforest resilience to global warming

The world’s tropical forest are less likely to lose biomass, or plant material, this century due to the effects of global warming than previously thought, said scientists in a paper published in the journal Nature Geoscience. This adds to growing evidence that rainforests might be more resilient to the effects of climate change than feared.

In this study, scientists and tropical ecologists from Britain, the United States, Australia, and Brazil used computer simulations based on 22 climate models to study the response of tropical forest in America, Africa, and Asia to rising global temperatures. “While these new results suggest that tropical forests may be quite resilient to warming, it is important also to remember that other factor not included in this study, such as fire and deforestation, will also affect the carbon stored in tropical forests,” said co-author David Galbraith from the University of Leeds.

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Greenland adds nutrient to ocean as a side-effect of thawing

Greenland’s thaw, which is raising world sea levels, is also adding about 300,000 metric tonnes of iron a year to the North Atlantic, based on projections from the study from the muddy melt water of three glaciers in the southwest. That is similar to the amount of iron blown into the region as dust by winds. Scientists say that iron is a vital nutrient and that a lack of the element in parts of the oceans limits growth of everything from tiny plankton to fish and whales.

“We suggest that glacial runoff serves as a significant source of bio-available iron to surrounding coastal oceans,” the scientists, mainly at the US woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI), wrote in the journal Nature Geoscience. “We would expect this glacial contribution of iron to the North Atlantic Ocean to continue to increase under future warming scenarios”, they added. The findings show that “as glaciers and ice sheets melt there may be other effects than just increased sea level,” said Maya Bhatia, who was leader of the study at WHOI and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

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New technique measures evaporation globally

 Researchers at Columbia Engineering and Boston University have developed the first method to map evaporation globally using weather stations, which will help scientists evaluate water resource management, assess recent trends of evaporation throughout the globe, and validate surface hydrologic models, in various conditions. The study was published in an online Early Edition of Proceeding of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).

“This is the first tine we’ve been able to map evaporation in a consistent way, using concentrate measurement that are available around the world,” said Pierre Gentine, Assistant Professor of earth and environmental engineering at Columbia. “Global measurements of evaporation have been a longstanding and frustrating challenge for the hydrologic community,” says Gentine. “And now, for the first time, we show that simple weather station measurements of air temperature and humidity can be used across the globe to obtain the daily evaporation.”

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Volkswagen’s eco-campaign helps reduce CO2 emission and energy consumption in Pune plant

Volkswagen India’s ‘Think Blue. Factory’ initiatives for sustainable automobile production have helped its Pune plant reduce CO₂ emissions by 6.4% and energy consumption by 5.5%. The company said in a statement that its target is to reduce total fresh water consumption by 10 per cent in 2013. Environmental sustainability is a global target set by Volkswagen. The ‘Think Blue. Factory’ project, which was globally announced in 2011 and implemented in the Pune plant from 2012, focuses on reducing the environmental impact of all Volkswagen plants across the world by 25 per cent by 2018 based on 2010 values. This applies especially to energy consumption, water consumption, waste generation, air-borne emissions including carbon dioxide emissions. Mahesh Kodumudi, the President and MD, Volkswagen India Pvt Ltd, said, “The strategic goal for the Volkswagen Group is the economic and environmental leadership in the global automotive industry by 2018. The ‘Think Blue. Factory’ initiatives are a key to achieving the goals.

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Black carbon and burning of trees plague Brazil

New research reveals that charred plant material is leaching out of the soil and into rivers, eventually making its way to the ocean. So much of this "black carbon" is entering the marine ecosystems that it could be hurting ocean life, although further tests will be needed to confirm this possibility. People have used fire to shape Earth's vegetation for millennia. In Brazil's Atlantic Forest, the European began burning trees to make way for settlements and agriculture in the 16th century. What once blanketed 1.3 million square kilometres and ranked as one of the world's largest tropical forests had shrunk to 8% of its former size by 1973, when protective laws were put in place. But that's not the end of the story. The researchers discovered high levels of black carbon in the region's soil and in the Paraiba do Sul River, the largest river that exclusively drains the area once occupied by the Atlantic Forest. Local still burn sugarcane each year as a pre-harvest way of prepping the soil, but the researchers found that this could not account for the amount of black carbon they were seeing.

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A new action plan to save lakes in Kerala

In a major initiative to give a fresh lease of life to the lakes in south Kerala such as Ashtamudi, Sasthamcotta and Vellayani lakes, the state government plans to formulate an integrated action plan to protect lakes and to constitute a state wetland authority to conserve all wetland ecosystems in the state. In addition to the protection of three Ramsar sites, which include Vembanand lake spread across Kuttanad and Kochi, Ashtamudi and Sasthamcotta lakes in Kollam, a proposal will be sent to the Centre to declare Kavvai lake as a Ramsar site and to protect it. "The third largest lake after Vembanad and Ashtamudi, Kavvai lake spreads from Payyannur in Kannur district to Neeleshwaram in Kasaragod district and it needs to be conserved", said Kerala state council for science, technology and environment (KSCTSE) wetland technology unit coordinator Hari Narayanan. The revised proposal will also seek to protect other wetland ecosystems in the state such as Vellayani lake in Thiruvananthapuram, Kottuli in Kozhikode and Kadalundi lake spread across Kozhikode and Malappuram districts and to include them in the national lake conservation plan (NLCP), formulated by the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests, he said.

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Biosolar breakthrough promises cheap, easy green electricity

Barry D Bruce, professor of biochemistry, cellular and molecular biology, at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, is turning the term "power plant" on its head. The biochemist and a team of researchers have developed a system that taps into photosynthetic processes to produce efficient and inexpensive energy. Bruce collaborated with researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Ecole Polytechnique Federal in Switzerland to develop a process that improves the efficiency of generating electric power using molecular structures extracted from plants. The biosolar breakthrough has the potential to make "green" electricity dramatically cheaper and easier.

"The system is a preferred method of sustainable energy because it is clean and potentially very efficient", said Bruce, who was name one of "Ten Revolutionaries that May Change the World" by Forbes magazine in 2007 for his early work, which first demonstrated biosolar electricity generation. "As opposed to conventional photovoltaic solar power systems, we are using renewable biological materials rather than toxic chemicals to generate energy. Likewise, our system will require less time, land, water and input of fossil fuels to produce energy than most biofuels", Their findings are in the current issue of Nature: Scientific Reports.

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Bharti Airtel reduces greenhouse gas emissions by 11% in 2011-2012

India's largest mobile phone company Bharti Airtel said that it had reduced greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions per terabyte in network infrastructure by 11% in the financial year 2011-2012. It also saved 20 million KWh of energy by consolidating its facilities and improving energy efficiency of its data centre. As part of its initiatives to ensure sustainability and increase social inclusion, the mobile phone company plans to bring digitization to millions through far-reaching and efficient network coverage and deeper internet penetration.

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Chemicals and biofuel from wood biomass

A method developed at Aalto University in Finland makes it possible to use microbes to produce butanol suitable for bio fuel and other industrial chemicals from wood biomass. Butanol is particularly suited as a transport fuel because it is not water soluble and has higher energy content than ethanol. Most commonly used raw materials in butanol production have so far been starch and cane sugar. In contrast to this, the starting point in the Aalto University study was to use only lignocellulose, otherwise known as wood biomass, which does not compete with food production. Another new breakthrough in the study is to successfully combine modern pulp- and biotechnology. Finland's advanced forest industry provides particularly good opportunities to develop this type of bioprocesses. Wood biomass is made up of three primary substances: cellulose, hemicelluloses, and lignin. Of these three, cellulose and hemicelluloses can be used as a source of nutrition for microbes in bioprocesses. Along with cellulose, the Kraft process that is currently used in pulping produces black liquor, which can already be used as a source of energy. It is not, however, suitable for microbes. In the study, the pulping process was altered so that, in addition to cellulose, the other sugars remain unharmed and can, there fore, be used as raw material for microbes.

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Threat of hazardous waste to mother nature

Environmental protection has become a major concern these days, thanks to the various hazardous activities carried out mainly by industries. In India, haphazard dumping of harmful and dangerous substances/wastes have become very common. This not only results in severe environmental damage but also effects the lives of several organisms and their supporting systems. Rapid growth of industries in India has resulted in the generation of an increasing volume of hazardous wastes. Both indigenously generated and imported from other countries for recycling or reprocessing, need scientific treatment and disposal. However, only a few secured landfill sites are available in the country for disposal of hazardous wastes in a environmentally sound manner. Illegal dumping of hazardous wastes by industries may cause severe environmental pollution., The Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) has promulgated Hazardous Wastes (Management and Handling) Rules, 1989, and amended the same in 2000 and 2003 for proper management and handling of hazardous wastes in the country. India had also ratified the Basel Convention on transboundary movement of hazardous wastes in 1992, which is a significant tool for controlling and monitoring of import and export of hazardous wastes and its proper management. However, various issues and the regulatory framework for hazardous waste management in the country should be viewed in proper perspective by regulatory agencies and industries to help the government develop an environmentally sound management system.

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Panel recommends Bhendi Bazaar (Mumbai) redevelopments for environmental mod

Giving a boost to what will be the first major cluster redevelopment project to take off in the city, the state-level expert panel has decided to recommend the Bhendi Bazaar proposal for environmental clearance.
The State Expert Appraisal Committee (SEAC) screens proposals for construction projects spread over 20,000 m²and recommends them for clearance to the State Environment Impact Assessment Authority (SEIAA). The latter, headed by the environment secretary, will now accord approval to Bhendi Bazaar redevelopment, which will be spread over a plot of 66,264.74m²

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Newly discovered fish named after Barack Obama

A newly discovered species of colourful, freshwater fish has been named after US President Barack Obama due to "global vision of environmental protection and conservation", said scientists. Five new species of freshwater fish called darters have been discovered in river drainage in eastern North America and named after four US presidents and a Vice-President, Scientific American Running Ponies blog reported.

Darters are the smallest members of the perch family, and are named after their ability to zip around, under, into rocks and sediment on the beds of clean, fast-moving waterways. Almost 200 darter species have so far been discovered, most of which live in the rivers and creeks of northern Alabama and eastern Tennessee.

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New doubt cast on link between global warming and increased drought

There have been devastating droughts in the past few years in places like Africa, Australia, and the US. Last summer, the drought in the central US caused the loss of massive crops and a major economic hit for the country. The seeming increasing relevance of droughts has some announcing the effects of climate change coming to friction.

However, a new study from researchers at Princeton University in New Jersey and the Australian National University in Canberra has cast doubt on this premise. Their work indicates that the development of drought is much more complex than formerly believed and that the recent droughts were more an aberration than an overall drying trend.

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Multiple threats to the ancient Amazon forest other than climate change

A new genetic analysis has revealed that many Amazon tree species are likely to survive human-caused climate change warming in the coming century, contrary to previous findings that temperature increases would cause them to die out. However, the authors of the new study warn that extreme drought and forest fires will impact Amazonia as temperatures rise, and the over-exploitation of the region's resources continues to be a major threat to its future. Conservation policy for the Amazon should remain focused on reducing global greenhouse-gas emissions and preventing deforestation, they said.

The study by University of Michigan evolutionary biologist Christopher Dick and his colleagues demonstrates the surprising age of some Amazonian tree species- more than 8 million years- and thereby shows that they have survived precious periods as warm as many of the global warming scenarios forecast for the year 2100.

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Gir's plastic heap worries foresters

The day is not far when an Asiatic lion chokes on a plastic bag in the only place it calls home- the Gir forest. Environment activists have removed six tonnes of plastic from around Mount Girnar, which is home to 24 lions on the edge of Gir sanctuary. Every year, lakhs of devotees come for the four-day "Lili Parikarma" that begins and ends at the Bhavnath temple on Mount Gimar. In the process, devotees leave behind pouches of country liquor, gutkha packets, water bottles and wrapping of water and biscuits. The fair, organized by local people, sadhus, police and forest department officials, has now been curtailed to 9.6 km from the original 19.3 km that it was spread across. But, the mountain of plastic only seems to be growing in size every year, especially since it has become a huge tourist attraction due to the "Kushboo Gujarat Ki" ad campaigns. M A Kant, the Junagadh range forest officer, said they loaded more than 15 tractors with garbage after clearing the forest.

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In Varanasi, incense is lost in garbage stink

The pleasing incense filling the atmosphere during arati and other rituals has been overcome by the strong odour of garbage. This is the scene at one of the most spectacular ghats in Varanasi, the Dasawamedh Ghats. The Ghats, which is centrally located and witnesses round the year activities, has started to crumble , as reflected in its broken steps and ruptured platforms. While the receding Ganga had left heavy deposition oil silt and mud on the embankments, the dumping of leftovers of puja and other rituals on the ghat had turned the embankments murky. Loads of rotten flowers, garlands, and plastic bags can be found floating near the embankments and wastes from other ghats are also carried along river banks. "The renovated steps and platforms have started to rupture, unable to withstand even two bouts of monsoon season. The stone slabs that were fixed to the steps and platforms have started to crumble, some of them already uprooted from their original place", said Vinod Majhi, one of the local boatmen and residents of the locality.

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Indian metro cities among those facing highest climate change risks: Maplecroft

Maplecroft's Climate Change Vulnerability Index (CCVI), which forms a central pillar of the Atlas, classifies seven cities at 'extreme risk', out of a list 50 that were chosen for their current and future importance to global business.

Multinational companies operating in the Asian growth economies will be exposed to spiraling environmental risks over the coming decades, according to Maplecroft's 5th annual Climate Change and Environmental Risk Atlas, which identifies Dhaka, Manila, Bangkok, Yangon, Jakarta, Ho Chi Minh City, Kolkata, Mumbai and Chennai as the ten cities facing the maximum risk from the onset of climate change.

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Lower CO2 emissions on new cars: EU

New cars and vans in the European Union will produce one-third less carbon dioxide within eight years, under proposed new rules set out in Brussels. By 2020, the average emissions from new cars will have to be no more than 95g of carbon dioxide per kilometre driven, a cut of more than 40g from today's levels and of 35g/km compared with the 2015 target, if they proposed new regulations are accepted. Connie Hedegaard, climate chief of the European commission, said the goals were "ambitious but achievable" and would benefit consumers, through fuel cost savings, and help the EU's car making industry compete with overseas manufacturers. The proposals will now have to be accepted by member states and the European parliament, if they are to come into force. That process could be tricky as car companies are continuing to lobby politicians on the goals. According to the EU's estimates, as a result of the new goals the average driver of a new car in 2020 would save about 340 in the first year on fuel costs, and between about 2,900 and 3,800 over the car's average 13-year lifetime, compared with the 2015 target. This would equate to total savings of about 30bn a year in fuel costs, which could increase EU GDP by 12bn a year and create new jobs, as well as saving about 160m tonnes of imported oil.

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Power plants leading to rapid glacial meltdown in China

Experts say pollution caused by humans is the second leading cause in the melting of a glacier in the Tan Shan Mountains of Xinjiang. The number one glacier in the Tianshan Mountains in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous region has been retreating by more than four metres every year and its thickness has shrunk by more than 15 metres between 1958-2010, says one of the experts from the Tian Shan Mountains glacier observation station under the Chinese Academy of Sciences. However, Director of the International Center for integrated Mountain Development argues that climate change is the leading cause in the acceleration of the glacier thawing, with another major cause being Black carbon. The Black carbon refers to the particles including dust and ashes generated by incomplete combustion of carbon-containing material, such as the fossil and biomass material. Researchers at the Tian Shan Mountains glacier observation station under the Chinese Academy of Sciences said there are several power plants and building material factories, which have been operating for nearly 30 years near the glacier and the black carbon emissions from these plants have been accumulating on the surface of the glacier, and the black colour of the particles can absorb heat from the sun and intensify the thawing of the glacier. Additionally, the plants have also been polluting the water supply of the regional capital Urumqi, since the Urumqi Rive that runs through the city has originated from the glacier.

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Sound rather than sight can activate seeing for the blind, say researchers

Scientists at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem have tapped onto the visual cortex of the congenitally blind by using sensory substitution devices (SSDs), enabling the blind, in effect, to "see" and even describe objects. SSDs are noninvasive sensory aids that provide visual information to the blind via their existing senses. For example, using a visual-to-auditory SSD in a clinical or everyday setting, users wear a miniature video camera connected to a small computer (for smart phone) and stereo headphones.

The images are converted into "soundscapes", using a predictable algorithm, allowing the user to listen to and then interpret he visual information coming from the camera. Remarkably, proficient users who have had a dedicated training as part of a research protocol in the laboratory of Dr. Amir Amedi, of the Edmond and Lily Safra Center for Brain Sciences and the Institute for Medical Research Israel-Canada at the Hebrew University, are able to use SSDs to identify complex everyday objects, locate people and their postures, and read letter and words.

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Punjab may switch to non-paddy crops as water crisis sparks alarm

Punjab, the grain bowl of India, is in danger of losing the covered tag as depleting groundwater levels force the state to seriously consider reducing the planting of water-intensive paddy crop in the medium-to-long term to avoid a disaster. After a recent meeting with Punjab chief minister Parkash Singh Badal, the Planning Commission has decided to send a team of experts to the state to review the problem and suggests ways to tackle it. Punjab's shrinking rice production may spell trouble for food security as the state accounts for over 10% of the country's rice output, but contribute close to 25% to central grain reserves- thanks to a strong procurement network and high local taxes that discourage traders from purchasing from farmers.

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Climate change could influence the Colorado Mountain hail to disappear in a warmer future

Summertime hail could all but disappear from the eastern flank of Colorado's Rocky Mountains by 2070, says a new study by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the University of Colorado Boulder's Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences, and the National Center for Atmospheric Research. Less hail damage could be good news for gardeners and farmers, said lead author Kelly Mahoney, a research scientist at CIRES, but a shift from hail to rain can also mean more runoff, which could raise the risk of flash floods. "In this region of elevated terrain, hail may lessen the risk of flooding because it takes a while to melt," Mahoney said. "Decision makers may not want to count on that in the future". For the new study, published in the journal Natural Climate Change, Mahoney and her colleagues used "downscaling" techniques to try to understand how climate change might affect hail-producing weather patterns across Colorado.

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New study led by University of Miami to help scientists identify regions at high risk from earthquakes

A ground-breaking study led by University of Miami (UM) scientist Shimon Wdowinski shows that earthquakes, including the recent 2010 temblors in Haiti and Taiwan, may be triggered by tropical cyclones (hurricanes and typhoons), according to a presentation of the findings at the 2011 AGU Fail Meeting in San Francisco.

"Very well rain events are the trigger," said Wdowinski, associate research professor of marine geology and geophysics at the UM Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science. "The heavy rain induces thousands of landslides and severe erosion, which removes ground material from the Earth's surface, releasing the stress load and encouraging movement along faults.”Wdowinski and a colleague from Florida international university analyzed data from quakes magnitude- 6 and above in Taiwan and Haiti and found a strong temporal relationship between the two natural hazards, where large earthquakes occurred within four years after a very wet tropical cyclone season.

During the last 50 years, three very wet tropical cyclone events- Typhoons Morakot, herb and Flossie- were followed within four years by major earthquakes in Taiwan's mountainous regions. The 2009 Morakot typhoon was followed by an M-6.2 in 2009 and M-6.4 in 2010. The 1996 Typhoon Herb was followed by M-6.2 in 1998 and M-7.6 in 1999 and the 1969 Typhoon Flossie was followed by an M-6.2 in 1972. The 2010 M-7 earthquakes in Haiti occurred in the mountainous region one and a half years after two hurricanes and two tropical storms drenched the island nation within 25 days.

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Aalto University in Finland develops a method to convert chemicals and biofuel from wood biomass

A method developed at Aalto University in Finland makes it possible to use microbes to produce butanol suitable for bio fuel and other industrial chemicals from wood biomass. Butanol is particularly suited as a transport fuel because it is not water soluble and has higher energy content than ethanol. Most commonly used raw materials in butanol production have so far been starch and cane sugar. In contrast to this, the starting point in the Aalto University study was to use only lignocellulose, otherwise known as wood biomass, which does not compete with food production. Another new breakthrough in the study is to successfully combine modern pulp- and biotechnology. Finland's advanced forest industry provides particularly good opportunities to develop this type of bioprocesses. Wood biomass is made up of three primary substances: cellulose, hemicelluloses, and lignin. Of these three, cellulose and hemicelluloses can be used as a source of nutrition for microbes in bioprocesses. Along with cellulose, the Kraft process that is currently used in pulping produces black liquor, which can already be used as a source of energy. It is not, however, suitable for microbes. In the study, the pulping process was altered so that, in addition to cellulose, the other sugars remain unharmed and can, there fore, be used as raw material for microbes.

Read More