Article on the problem of Carbon credits
Sunday, 17 June 2007
Is this the world's most polluted river?
It was once a gently flowing river, where fishermen cast their nets, sea birds came to feed and natural beauty left visitors spellbound. Villagers collected water for their simple homes and rice paddies thrived on its irrigation channels. Today, the Citarum is a river in crisis, choked by the domestic waste of nine million people and thick with the cast-off from hundreds of factories. So dense is the carpet of refuse that the tiny wooden fishing craft which float through it are the only clue to the presence of water.
Their occupants no longer try to fish. It is more profitable to forage for rubbish they can salvage and trade - plastic bottles, broken chair legs, rubber gloves - risking disease for one or two pounds a week if they are lucky. On what was United Nations World Environment Day, the Citarum, near the Indonesian capital of Jakarta, displayed the shocking abuse that mankind has subjected it to.
More than 500 factories, many of them producing textiles which require chemical treatment, line the banks of the 200-mile river, the largest waterway in West Java, spewing waste into the water. On top of the chemicals go all the other kinds of human detritus from the factories and the people who work there. There is no such luxury as a rubbish collection service here. Nor are there any modern toilet facilities. Everything goes into the river. The filthy water is sucked into the rice paddies, while families risk their health by collecting it for drinking, cooking and washing. Twenty years ago, this was a place of beauty, and the river still served its people well. As one local man, Arifin, recalled: "Our wives did their washing there and our children swam."
Its demise began with rapid industrialisation during the late 1980s. The mighty Citarum soon became a garbage bin for the factories. And the doomsday effect will spread. It is one of two major rivers that feed Lake Saguling, where the French have built the largest power generator in West Java. Experts predict that as the river chokes, its volume will decrease and the generator will not function properly. The area will be plunged into darkness. But at least the factories will be stilled and their waste will stop flowing.
Link to Is this the world's most polluted river? | the Daily Mail
Your climate, your life
Climate change is one of the most important issues of our time. It regularly makes the news - the main debate amongst scientists today is focussed on the amount and rate of climate change we can expect to experience in the future.
This site is about our changing climate and how it affects our lives, from the buildings we live and work in, to the way we travel, the holidays we take and the food we buy in the shops.
Link to Your climate, your life
GeoHive: Global Statistics
Welcome to GeoHive, a site with geopolitical data, statistics on the human population, Earth and more. The main kind of data you can find here is population statistics of regions, countries, provinces and cities. Next to that there are some statistics on economic factors like wealth, infrastructure; statistics on natural phenomena; ....... and yet, even more
The site is structured into several parts. To get at statistics for a specific country, you can go directly to by Country. The Global section has regions and countries compared with each other: what are their capitals, areas, population, growth figures, &c. Also two- and three-letter codes for countries, historical population data and projected future populations for countries. Then there is a section with Charts. Find the city with the highest number of inhabitants, the largest airports of the world and the longest rivers.
Link to GeoHive: Global Statistics
Global Warming Interactive, Global Warming Simulation
Good interactive simulation from National Geographic
Link to Global Warming Interactive, Global Warming Simulation, Climate Change Simulation - National Geographic
Three Gorges Dam, China
The longest river in Asia, the Yangtze River brings mixed blessings to China. Although it meets the water needs of millions of people, the river regularly overflows its banks. In the twentieth century alone, Chinese authorities estimated, the river claimed the lives of 300,000 people. To protect some 15 million residents and 3.7 million acres (roughly 14,970 square kilometers) in the lower Yangtze floodplains, China began construction on the Three Gorges Dam in 1994. Like the river itself, the dam appears to be a mixed blessing: the reservoir was expected to submerge about 632 square kilometers (244 square miles) of land and force the relocation of more than a million people. The reservoir was anticipated to submerge ecologically and culturally important sites in the three gorges—Qutang, Wu Xia, and Xiling—that were the dam’s namesake.
These images show the Yangtze River in the vicinity of the Three Gorges Dam (lower right). Landsat 7 acquired the top image on November 7, 2006, after the main wall was complete. Landsat 5 acquired the bottom image on April 17, 1987, several years before construction on the dam began. In the top image, the dam’s main wall appears as a thin, buff-colored line crossing the water. The water body balloons out markedly in the later image—evidence of the rising water level. The water has backed up and expanded tributaries well upstream of the dam (upper left of image).
Link to EO Newsroom: New Images - Three Gorges Dam, China
World's Longest Rivers Map Quiz
Interactive river game based on world map and identification of rivers shown.
click on links above for Interactive games on naming countries and capitals.
Link to World's Longest Rivers Map Quiz
Friday, 15 June 2007
fitfortravel
fitfortravel' is a public access website provided by the NHS (Scotland). It gives travel health information for people travelling abroad from the UK.
Link to fitfortravel home page
Wednesday, 13 June 2007
Sunday, 10 June 2007
Chong Qing 重庆
Chongqing is a move by the Chinese government to spread the benefits of economic boomto the countrys vast interior. Home to3 Chinese in four. The government believes that the way to ease poverty in the interior it has to encourage people to abandon the land and migrate to cities.
In 1978 18% of chinese lived in citiesa nd towns. By 2010 the authorities estimate that 50% will, in the greatest migration in human history. One after another the cities of the interior have entered the race to urbanise, with the objective of becoming a world city. The most spectacular growth has occurred in Changqing.
The citys growth is attracting 200,000 new residents a year. The authorities are still encouraging expansion. The city limits are being expanded under a scheme the city calls "one hour economic circle". Under the plan, teh city wants to move 2 million rural residents into newly urbanized areas within an hours driving distance from the city centre within the next 5 years and another 2 million in the 5 years after that.
Switch it off!
London is to make one of the biggest environmental statements Britain has ever witnessed next week, when the heart of the city switches off its lights in a mass twilight turn-off.
Between 9pm and 10pm on Thursday 21 June, many of London's most famous landmarks, including Buckingham Palace, Clarence House, Canary Wharf, the BT Tower and at least one government department, will execute the black-out to raise awareness of global warming.
London's three million households will be urged to switch off their non-essential lights and appliances in what organisers hope will be the first in a series of events that will spread to cities across the country. The event is based on Earth Hour, a similar, hour-long mass switch-off earlier this year in Sydney that involved 65,000 households and 2,000 businesses and landmarks, including the Opera House and Sydney Harbour Bridge. Earth Hour saw energy consumption in the city fall by 10.2 per cent, meaning many fewer tonnes of carbon dioxide were released than otherwise would have been. Spectacular photographs recorded the blacked-out skyline.
Link to Switch it off! | UK News | The Observer
Is carbon offsetting the solution or part of the problem?
We burn fossil fuel in the developed world - and plant much-needed trees in Africa to 'off set' our emissions. It sounds like a win-win situation. But is it? Read the article here
Link to Is carbon offsetting the solution or part of the problem? | Magazine | The Observer
Climate Care
Climate Care was set up to tackle climate change by reducing greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. We do this by offsetting - making CO2 reductions on behalf of individuals and companies.
This site is excellent for Case study material:
1. The treadle Pump 2. Bioenergy 3.Wind Energy 4. Efficient Lightening 5. Efficient Cooking Stoves 6. Rainforest restoration
Useful (and simple) Carbon Offsetting Calculator available.
Wednesday, 6 June 2007
Learning centre
Because I am a Girl encourages students to explore and examine the role of girls in society and identify the differences between the experiences and expectations of girls and boys around the world. It accompanies the report ‘Because I am a Girl: The state of the world's girls 2007’ published by Plan.
Water in Kenya looks at the impact of water shortages in Kenya and the wider world. Students will begin to asses the impact that water shortages will have on them individually and the world as a whole.
Fair Trade in Pakistan begins to explore the idea of Fair Trade and the affect we can have in the developing world through Fair Trade. Students will develop an understanding about where products originate from and social responsibility.
Child Labour in India introduces the country of India to young people and examines the practice of child labour. It encourages young people to examine their own life and compare their experiences with those in India.
Make the link, break the chain examines the history of the transatlantic slave trade as well as the forms of slavery which still exist in the world today. It was developed from a project which linked schools in Brazil, Haiti, Senegal, Sierra Leone and the UK.
Togo: making choices has been designed to help UK children explore the ideas of needs, choices and fairness whilst learning about the lives of children in Togo.
Real life in Ghana explores similarities and differences between life in the UK and in Ghana. It draws on multimedia extracts of Ghanaian children, discovering everything from their daily routines through to the games that they play.
A global identity looks at the idea of our identity and how it can be used to distinguish and unite us all.
Speak out on Africa introduces the continent of Africa and encourages pupils to think about how their voice could facilitate change there. The work is an introduction to youth advocacy.
Visit a virtual village Experience a virtual visit to an African village. Nyalakot is a rural farming community of about 6,200 people where poverty is endemic and average income amounts to about £130 per person a year – less than 60 pence a day. Meet community members, children, students and adults.
Stop Disasters game Play this interactive game where you plan and construct an environment for a community affected by natural hazards.
Link to Learning centre
E Waste
Electronic waste in Guangdong, China As much as 4,000 tonnes of toxic e-waste are discarded every hour. Vast amounts are routinely and often illegally shipped as waste from Europe, USA and Japan to places where unprotected workers recover parts and materials.
This is a search on GREENPEACE. There are some excellent photographs here
Link to e waste | Search Results | Greenpeace International | 1
Tourism Threatens Antartica
More than anywhere else on Earth, the polar regions are most affected by global warming. Yet it is exactly this threat to their existence that is attracting more tourists to the region than before.
The World Tourism Organisation puts the number of annual visitors to the Arctic, including Alaska, at more than one million. Although far fewer tourists visit Antarctica, the rate of there growth is causing as much concern to environmentalists.
This year 33,000 people will visit the Antarctic region, up from about 7,400 a decade ago, according to the International Association of Antarctic Tour Operators (IAATO), which promotes responsible tourism practices.
Link
Large Area of Antarctica Melted, Re-Froze in 2005
In contrast to the Antarctic Peninsula, where evidence of climate warming has been evident in rising temperatures, retreating glaciers, and collapsing ice shelves, the interior of Antarctica has generally appeared to be staying well below freezing. In May 2007, however, a team of researches from NASA and the University of Colorado found evidence of warming and melting as much as 900 kilometers (500 miles) inland. Just 500 kilometers (310 miles) from the South Pole, and more than 2,000 meters (6,600 feet) above sea level, portions of Antarctica’s interior experienced temperatures above freezing for about a week in January 2005.
The areas where snow melted and then refroze as ice over the winter were detected by NASA’s Quick Scatterometer (QuikSCAT). In this image, areas where QuikSCAT detected more ice are red, and places where it detected less ice are yellow. Small patches of yellow and red around the coastline of East Antarctica show that at least some melting took place there, but the most significant amounts of ice formed in West Antarctica. QuikSCAT detected significant amounts of melting along a stretch of the West Antarctic coastline more than 500 kilometers (310 miles) long. Additional evidence of melting appeared as a ring of icy patches surrounding the Ross Ice Shelf.
Link to EO Newsroom: New Images - Large Area of Antarctica Melted, Re-Froze in 2005
Hurricanes - Towers in the Tempest
'Towers in the Tempest' is a 4.5 minute narrated animation that explains recent scientific insights into how hurricanes intensify. This intensification can be caused by a phenomenon called a 'hot tower'. For the first time, research meteorologists have run complex simulations using a very fine temporal resolution of 3 minutes. Combining this simulation data with satellite observations enables detailed study of 'hot towers'. The science of 'hot towers' is described using: observed hurricane data from a satellite, descriptive illustrations, and volumetric visualizations of simulation data.
Scroll down to available formats - click on desired size
Link to SVS Animation 3413 - Towers in the Tempest
Tuesday, 5 June 2007
Monday, 4 June 2007
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