Oceans Threatened By Garbage Waves

With the news in recent weeks that global warming may be happening quicker than anyone had expected, it was only to be expected that further bad news would be on its way. And lo and behold, the latest news on the environment seems to show that things are getting worse on levels other than a climatological one. The latest news is that an increase in irresponsible trash dumping is likely to have a more profound effect than expected on seas already suffering, the effects, of global climate change – and worse yet, this is a worldwide trend. The revelations come from a report by the US-based group Ocean Conservancy that tracks and catalogues what they refer to as “a global snapshot of marine debris”.

The breadth of the action – nearly 400,000 volunteers set to the task, in 104 different locations – has revealed the extent of the problems of irresponsible dumping. On that one day alone last September, nearly seven million pounds of trash was collected from waterways from oceans to lakes, and from rivers to canals. That amounts to the weight of eighteen adult blue whales, and accounts for only what was found on that one day. What it demonstrates is a worrying tendency for humanity to put things where they cannot see them, and hope that they will go away. The only logical outcome of this attitude is a major pollution problem that will have results that so far can only be imagined.

On that single day in September 2008, 11.4 million items of garbage were collected. Included among these were cigarette butts, food containers and plastic bags. Although the latter of these has already come in for some scrutiny and has been targeted by conservation plans – with supermarkets now charging for plastic bags in some place, and offering stronger, re-usable canvas bags at a discount – the rest currently go unnoticed, and are providing a serious concern. The effects of toxins contained within the cigarette butts alone really do not bear thinking about. One other effect of the research was to show exactly which items are causing pollution off the coasts of which nations.

In the Philippines, 11,077 diapers were picked up. Off the coast of Britain, 19,504 fishing nets were found. Across Canada, the major offender appeared to be cigarettes and cigarette butts, with 323,706 showing up. As well as these, straws, beverage bottles and food receptacles were found to be a major source of the problem, which hints at beach parties and similar events carrying much of the burden of blame. The overall outcome of such polluted oceans is damaged marine ecosystems and polluted beaches – affecting more than one major industry very adversely indeed. In respect of this, another International Coastal Cleanup is being arranged by Ocean Conservancy for the 19^th of September, 2009. Again, the focus will be worldwide, with a close eye being kept on what the figures are this time.

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Global Environment, Environmental Crisis, And Global Economic Crisis

Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair has warned new US president Barack Obama that the current global economic crisis must not distract people from looking to take steps in avoiding climate change. The warning comes as Obama meets Blair’s successor Gordon Brown to discuss solutions to the economic situation, and brings into sharp focus the potential dangers of taking one’s eye of the ball when it comes to environmental matters – a potential and natural reaction to the high priority that is being placed on the financial crisis. The message from Tony Blair is that, economic crisis or no economic crisis, there  are still issues that need to be addressed with real urgency where environmental concerns are at issue.

In Blair’s view, some people are of the opinion that due to the economic turmoil, the environmental crisis that we could be facing needs to take a back seat, but in his words “either the climate is changing or it is not”. And, with the scientific consensus on the matter saying that it is incontrovertibly the case that climate change is a reality, we cannot simply turn our backs on environmental issues. If we are to do that, not only will the environmental crisis multiply, but it will have very real knock-on effects on the economic situation too. As a consequence, it is important that we concentrate equally on facing down the two major crises of our time – the global environment and the global economy.

Mr Blair has welcomed the fact that in Mr Obama’s recently-passed economic stimulus plan are contained incentives to use cleaner, renewable sources of energy. This is a sound effort to ensure that, rather than take one crisis as a priority and ignore the other, both problems can be tackled as a joint effort. With the expense that is involved in relying on fossil fuels – a situation that makes the global oil market an ever thornier problem – to concentrate on looking at alternative energy and greater energy efficiency makes more sense than ever. This is something that seems to set Obama apart from his predecessor George W Bush, who was viewed by many as a climate change skeptic, and viewed the scientific consensus as being misleading.

With the economic crisis still possessing a very firm grip on many of the world’s leading economies, there will continue to be stimulus and bailout plans to try and bring it into line. Mr Blair’s words to Mr Obama seem to be a warning to avoid economic expediency taking hold at the expense of environmentally sound plans. With Mr Obama having taken great care in selecting his cabinet and his advisers, it does seem that this warning is not one that will fall on deaf ears. A continuing focus on matters environmental is both essential and likely, but it is not a battle that will be won any time soon, and one which will depend on continued monitoring. This is an issue that we will continue to read about for a long time to come.

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Green House Gas Emissions Rapidly Increased

In a revelation that will come as a surprise to Northern Ireland’s minister for the environment Sammy Wilson, it has been suggested that rather than having little effect, the curse of global warming is set to turn out worse than scientists had first said. Leading climatologist Chris Field says that over the coming century, the severity of the crisis is only going to get worse, and that the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has actually underestimated the rate at which the climate is set to change.

Professor Field made his remarks while speaking to an American Science conference in Chicago. In his speech he revealed that recently revealed data shows that greenhouse gas emissions in the eight-year period from 2000 to 2007 actually increased a good deal more rapidly than had been expected. The result of this is that the climate will change far more severely over the course of this century than anyone had previously forecast. The associated dangers to the global environment are set to be much more dire than anything that has previously been seriously mooted.

The IPCC report of 2007 forecast that climate change would see a rise in temperatures between 1.1 and 6.4 degrees Celsius, but according to Prof Field this seriously underestimates just how bad things will get. The higher level of emissions, says the Professor, is largely down to the increase in use of coal for electric power in the emerging superpowers, India and China. Without immediate, effective action we could be in for a very troublesome future. Field added that while the overall impact on temperatures is as yet impossible to forecast accurately, the change is likely to accelerate much faster than predicted.

As a result of the change in temperatures, forests in tropical areas will dry out and become more prone to wildfires, and the world’s permafrost is also likely to melt at a higher speed – resulting in a huge increase to the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere. The knock-on effects of this mean that the problem, far from having been overstated, is likely to snowball in a way that no-one has foreseen.

This latest release on the extent of the problem comes in the aftermath of a controversy in Northern Ireland, where the Minister for the Environment recently blocked the transmissions of advertisements from the environmental campaign Act on CO2, saying that they were “unwelcome”.

Wilson’s previous public pronouncements on the issue have marked him out as a Climate Change skeptic, amounting to suggestions that the problem was natural rather than man made, and in his latest controversial statements he has referred to global warming as a “hysterical pseudo-religion.” The latest controversy has seen Wilson subject to a vote of no confidence from within the Northern Ireland Executive, with a view on climate change that differs from most people’s. As we write, Wilson holds on to his position, but it seems that his credibility as Environment Minister must have suffered wounds that, if not lethal, will prove deeply detrimental to his ability to discharge his future duties.