Iceland - The cleanest country in the world

Iceland is the cleanest country in the world. This may be hard to believe right now, what with the clouds of volcanic ash grounding flights across northern Europe, but according to researchers at Yale and Columbia universities, the Nordic island ranks first out of 163 countries on their Environmental Performance Index.

Researchers ranked countries based on 25 indicators, including water and air quality, greenhouse gas emissions and the impact of the environment on the health of the population. (For more detail on the methodology, click here.) A score of 100 is excellent. Sierra Leone ranks at the bottom of the list with a score of 32. The U.S. ranks in the middle of the pack with 63.5. Iceland took top honors with a score of 93.5 thanks to ample clean water, lots of protected nature areas, good national health care and a plenitude of usually clean geothermal power.

Will Eyjafjallajokull wreck Iceland's rating the next time the academics run the numbers in 2012? The answer is no. "We do not score natural disasters," says Daniel Esty, a professor of environmental law at Yale who heads up the EPI and wrote the acclaimed book Green to Gold. The index is weighted to metrics that track how governments are performing relative to environmental policy goals, such as access to adequate sanitation and water, habitat protection and industrial emissions. The amount of sulfur dioxide released from fuel usage counts, not what's put out by volcanoes.

There are two paths that can take a country to the top of the EPI rankings. First, a country could be gifted with a rich endowment of clean water, diverse biology and not have sullied it with rampant industrialism. That's how Cuba, Colombia and Costa Rica placed so high.

Alternatively, a country could have industrialized and polluted its environment, but eventually gotten rich enough to start cleaning it up. That's the case with the European countries that make up more than half of the top 30.

"The richer you become, the more polluted you become, to a point. Then you become cleaner," says Christine Kim of Yale, research director for the EPI.

The U.S. is still on the upswing, says Esty. "Forty years ago the U.S would have had bad scores" like China (rank: 121st) and India (123rd). America, as it's matured, has made big strides in cleaning up lakes, rivers and streams, with clean drinking water available to practically the entire population. Air quality has gotten much better in places like Los Angeles. What's more, "no country is a better forest steward," says Esty. And despite the plague of pine bark beetles laying waste to millions of acres of forests across the west, "the U.S. is re-foresting at a rapid rate."

Sounds good, so why does the U.S. rank so much lower than those Europeans? "People in the U.S. are shocked the U.S. ranks so low. In Europe they're shocked the U.S. ranks so high," says Esty.

Trace the cognitive dissonance to greenhouse gas emissions, where the U.S. places very poorly because of our reliance on coal for 50% of power generation and our reliance on cars to traverse wide-open spaces. America's fully industrialized peers Japan (ranked 20th), Germany (17th) and the U.K. (14th) did far better. The best way for America to improve its score: make a big push toward generating power from nuclear and natural gas.

But could we ever place better than Cuba, which is ranked ninth? Well, Cuba's scant industrial base limits pollution, while socialized health care helps limit environmental-related illness. At least that's what the data claims.

"There's some made-up data out of Cuba," says Esty. They have problems with the veracity of China's data, too. The U.S. on the other hand has very high data quality because "we [in the U.S.] are able to get bad news published." Despite misgivings on Cuban data, "we don't use our judgment on data to push down countries' rankings."

Another unusual case is Belgium, which lags far behind its neighbors France, the Netherlands and Germany and the rest of Western Europe. Belgium is in 88th place, on par with Ukraine and lower than any other European country. The data on Belgium shows "incontrovertible systematic underperformance," says Esty. Less nuclear power, worse water quality and less protection of open spaces.

Esty cautions that it's more useful for policymakers to compare a country's results with those in its peer group. Desert countries will have trouble scoring high in the rankings because of their complete lack of emissions-free hydropower, and limited ecological diversity. Yet in the 2010 study, for the first time, the researchers decided to count sea water desalination as a renewable water source. This helps the oil-rich countries, which can afford to build desalination plants. (See "Making Sweet Water From (Almost) Perpetual Motion.")

In an enviro-measurement quandry, those oil and gas-rich regimes like Saudi Arabia (99th place) and Qatar (122th), don't get docked for the environmental impact of their exported hydrocarbons.

Esty says that of the 75 nations to give feedback to his researchers on their EPI rankings, none has been more outraged than South Korea. Landing in 94th place, between Gabon and Nicaragua, South Koreans see this study as an insult unbefitting their status as a first-world developed nation. The South Korean ambassador filed a protest. A bureaucrat even called up research director Christine Kim's grandmother back home in South Korea to complain. The South Koreans' overly rosy environmental self-assessment might have something to do with the worse performance of neighboring China and North Korea (147th place). Esty says the data on low levels of biodiversity and significant air pollution aren't in doubt.

A bastion of hope and irony: the most biodiverse place on the Korean Peninsula is the demilitarized zone, says Esty. Yet some of the deer there, because of landmines, only have three legs.

By: Christopher Helman, Forbes.com

Oceans becoming nosier thanks to pollution: Report

PARIS: The world's oceans are becoming noisier thanks to pollution, with potentially harmful effects for whales, dolphins and other marine life,
US scientists said in a study published Sunday.

Low-frequency sound in the ocean is produced by natural phenomena such as rain, waves and marine life, and by human activities such as sonar systems, shipping and construction.

The sound is absorbed mainly through the viscosity of the water and the presence of certain dissolved chemicals, said the report published in the science journal Nature.

But the concentration of chemicals that absorb sound in the oceans has declined as a result of ocean acidification, in turn caused by rising concentrations of carbon dioxide.

Rising levels of carbon dioxide come from human activity such as shipping, with the number of ships roughly doubling over the past 40 years, the scientists said.

This was in turn increasing the acidity of the ocean, shown by a lowering of its pH levels, they said.

Using model simulations, the scientists found that increases in acidity could reduce seawater sound absorption by as much as 60 percent by 2100 in high latitude oceans.

Concern about the negative effect of the sea's increased acidity had previously been concentrated on the reduced rate of calcification, such as in coral reefs.

"However, a less anticipated consequence of ocean acidification is its effect on underwater sound absorption," the authors said.

"A decrease in seawater pH lowers sound absorption in the low-frequency range and, as a result, leads to increasing sound transmission."

Future global warming due to an accumulation of greenhouse gases may further decrease the ocean's sound absorption capacity at certain frequencies, the study said.

"High levels of low-frequency sound have a number of behavioural and biological effects on marine life," it added.

This included tissue damage, mass stranding of mammals such as whales and temporary loss of hearing in dolphins associated with military tests using intense mid-frequency sonar, the report said.

Marine species had adapted to varying levels of noise but the consequences of the sea's decreased ability to absorb sound were uncertain and required further research, the scientists said.

Source: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/environment/pollution/Oceans-becoming-nosier-thanks-to-pollution-Report-/articleshow/5360546.cms

Spies Like Us: Will Secret Videotapes Derail the Chevron Pollution Case?

By Kirsten Korosec

The latest plot twist in the $27 billion pollution lawsuit against oil giant Chevron offers up at least one lesson: small spy-like bugging devices can be purchased from Skymall, the in-flight magazine tucked in the seatback pockets of many airlines.

The 16-year legal battle has all the trappings of Hollywood’s next courtroom drama. The lawsuit, filed on behalf of a group of indigenous Ecuadoreans living in the Amazon region, alleges Texaco caused massive contamination to the rain forest and its water sources during the company’s operations there. Chevron bought Texaco in 2001 and as a result, inherited the lawsuit.

The latest shocker — just a few months from an expected verdict — has Chevron on the offensive with allegations of bribery, a judge with a predetermined verdict and the secret tapes to prove it. The plaintiffs in the case have countered with accusations of entrapment, doctored up videos and Nixon-like dirty tricks.

Two of the videos show Ecuadorean Judge Juan Nuñez in meetings with American businessman Wayne Hansen and Ecuadorean Diego Borja, who are looking to land some of the environmental cleanup work that would presumably be awarded after a verdict is handed down. The men tape the meetings using a camera-equipped pen and watch and ask Nuñez questions about the court process. Hansen, in his unmistakable gringo accent, asks if Chevron is guilty. Nunez responds off camera, “Yes, sir.”

The other video records a meeting with men who claim they are members of President Rafael Correa’s ruling Alianza Pais party. The men proceed to discuss the terms of a $3 million bribery scheme, where at one point the president’s sister is named.

There a number of questions involving the videotapes, including why these businessmen had the James Bond-inspired equipment with them in the first place?

More importantly, will these tapes derail a multi-billion dollar case?

There’s no question, the stakes — for all parties – are high. Chevron stands to lose a case with a $27 billion payout or at least years of costly court appeals in its future. The secret videotapes could damage Ecuador’s pursuit of most-favored-nation trade status from U.S. Congress. And then there are the indigenous tribes living in the Amazon region where the pollution originally occurred.

Chevron has fought the claims in the lawsuit through an aggressive public relations campaign, a strategy the company defends, calling the case a judicial farce that has left the company with no alternative but to speak openly about the denial of justice.

And speak openly they have. Chevron’s public relations machine has been operating in overdrive in an effort offer their side of the story. The company has a blog, aptly named the Amazon Post, and a Texaco in Ecuador Web site as well as youtube channel with a variety of videos. Earlier this spring, the company hired a former CNN reporter to counter a planned ”60 Minutes” report about the Amazon pollution case.

Chevron’s involvement has been questioned, although the company is adamant that it had nothing to do with the secret video tapes. Chevron has said in other news reports, it doesn’t know why the men made the recordings or why they turned them over to the company back in June.

The plaintiffs argue the opposite. Both have called for investigations.

Which leaves the rest of us pouring over the video tapes — shaky hands and poor gringo Spanish galore – in hopes of finding some clue.

For the complete videos go to Chevron’s youtube channel.

Source: http://industry.bnet.com/energy/10001966/spies-like-us-will-secret-videotapes-derail-the-chevron-pollution-case/

A Roadmap for a Greener Future

Construction sector needs to contribute towards environmental responsibility. Architect Niteen Parulekar tells Bombay Times (TOI)

India is witnessing tremendous growth in infrastructure and construction development. Reports state that the construction industry in India is one of the largest economic activities and is growing at an average rate of 9.5 per cent as compared to the global average of 5 per cent. As the sector is growing rapidly, preserving the environment poses lot of challenges and at the same time presents opportunities. The construction sector therefore needs to play its role and contribute towards environmental responsibility. The Green Building Movement in India is a step in this direction — to minimise the negative impact of construction activity on the environment.
Green Architecture is a term used to describe energy-saving, environment-friendly and sustainable development. On the aesthetic side of green architecture or sustainable design lies the philosophy of designing a building that is in harmony with natural features
and resources surrounding the site. By using the traditional practices of sustainability and marrying them with contemporary applications we can create architecture that can be humble, stylish and green all at once. Among the world recognised Green Building rating system is US Green Building Council’s LEED rating system. India (IGBC) and Canada are the only two countries that have a USGBC affiliated, yet indigenised LEED rating system. We have also launched a green rating system TERI- GRIHA (Green Rating for Integrated Habitat Assessment) in August 2008 which evaluates building on a green scale.
In today’s times of world-class marketing and cut-throat competition, it is important that the developer is almost voluntarily forced to build green buildings. Hence we must not just use regulations, but provide incentives in the form of faster and easier approvals, quantifiable tax benefits, carbon offsetting, and thus encourage use of discounted green and local techniques. It is important for them to understand that practicing green could be an added marketing tool for better property investment, increased leasing rates and improved well-being from quality living. They will then realise the value of green rated buildings.
There is a tremendous potential for green building materials since a lot of those were being imported for a few years. This could open up a plethora of opportunities for several stakeholders like architects, material and equipment manufacturers and vendors. All these industry professionals need further incentives for extensive material research, manage inventories and use local resources. They need special discounts and tax breaks for the products. The adoption of green building materials is increasing over the years. There is also a change in the mindsets of the stakeholders. Earlier, there was a general perception that materials with recycled content were inferior in quality. However with increased awareness on green materials and their advantages the trend is rapidly changing.
A much talked about idea to deal with greenhouse emissions is Carbon credits or offsetting. Offsetting can be done in a myriad of ways; one is by buying shares in a company that will offset your gas emission by planting the required number of trees. The idea could be applied both at a company as well as an individual level. There is now a need for skilled and knowledgeable professionals who have deep understanding of sustainability and energy systems. The main objective is to enable faster reach of green concepts to wider sections of stakeholders and to provide a platform for networking at all levels.
The key to change is making people behave differently, to consume more wisely and thus “leave a smaller footprint” on the planet. It’s important that we now ‘Walk the Talk’.
Niteen Parulekar Architects Pvt Ltd actively pursue green design and encourage sustainable design professionals in their enterprise. They also conduct in-house green awareness and educational workshops.

Its Time 2 Shape Things Up!

Hey...

I am an Environment lover, Rohan, willing to contribute his part in saving the environment. I am an unemployed management post graduate from Mumbai, India. I would like to work towards the Renewable Sources of Energy and Sustainable development and bringing it to the masses.

AKAR Inc., that what i have named my company, is the first step towards my mission. The next being starting up this blog.

This blog will include the recent articles from the newspapers or the internet based on Green Environment with the purpose of spreading awareness of whats going on in and around the world. I would also try to include Green Jobs for the people interested to work in the related field.

Ideas to develop this blog and make it more fruitful in creating valid awareness of the Green Technology.

Keep in touch...

Warm Regards (its winter time baby!)

Rohan Ag.

Get me at: rohany2r@yahoo.com
roan.aga@gmail.com