Submitted by: John Lambert (FG Staff Journalist)

Newswise.com reported that plastic pipes can affect the odor and taste on the water we drink. At the 234th meeting of the American Chemical Society, Andrea Dietrich, Ph.D. reported her findings that plastic pipes can affect the taste and smell to water. Dietrich reported that her panel stated the water had a “fruity plastic” taste. Dietrich noted, “Although water is a complex mixture of organic and inorganic chemicals, most people expect their drinking water to have little or no flavor.”

Dietrich used two methods to test for odors. She had a “Sensory Panel” smell the water that has been sitting in plastic pipes. The panelists described the water of having a “waxy plastic citrus” or “burning plastic” odors. Second, Dietrich had the water tested chemically for metals and other organic materials.

Dietrich did report to the ACS that various styles of plastic piping had different effects. “We found that cPVC has a low odor potential and it doesn’t seem to release many organic chemicals,” Dietrich said. “HPDE actually had the highest odor production, although it didn’t release very many organic materials. The PEX-b pipe had a moderate amount of odors and also a moderate amount of organic chemicals that were released into the air. PEX-a had fewer odors and organics release than the PEX-b pipe.”

When asked about any potential heath affect, Dietrich just answered that is still under investigation and she doesn’t have any answers at this point.

More of this story can be found from Newswise.com

Christal Films is proud to announce that “The Green Chain” has been selected to compete for the Vancouver International Film Festival’s new $25,000 “Climate for Change Award” — one of the largest cash awards at any film festival in North America.

The series includes dramatic features and documentaries and “The Green Chain” is the only Canadian film in competition and one of only two dramatic entries. “The Green Chain,” which deals with the people behind the issues in today’s forests, is written and directed by Mark Leiren-Young. The movie stars Tricia Helfer and Tahmoh Penikett (from TV’s Battlestar Galactica), Genie and Gemini award winner and recent Emmy nominee August Schellenberg (Bury My Heart At Wounded Knee, The New World, Black Robe), Genie and Gemini award winner Brendan Fletcher (The Pacific, RV), Gemini Award winner Babz Chula, and Vancouver actors Jillian Fargey (Mount Pleasant) and Scott McNeil (Sleeping With Strangers). The new annual award is and is sponsored by Kyoto Planet, “a new eco-conscious company with three distinct but interrelated parts: a financial vehicle to support and facilitate investment in, and management of, business opportunities in the green sector, a foundation to award grants and manage the non-profit portion of the company’s business, and a consumer company grounded by a broad portal to serve as the preeminent marketplace for knowledge, ideas, discussion and goods and services in the environmental space.” VIFF Director Alan Franey says, “This is a major and very important development for our festival. Although it is true that we have featured many films on environmental issues over the years, the generous and enlightened support of Kyoto Planet encourages us to put environmentally themed films front and centre in our program.”

The production of The Green Chain was financed in participation with Telefilm Canada, TMN - The Movie Network and Movie Central and will be distributed by Christal Films across Canada in 2008.

For more on the Climate for Change Award visit KyotoPlanet.  Information on the film can be had at “The Green Chain” Official Website.

The European Union has banned bluefin tuna fishing in the Mediterranean  by its memberstates for the rest of 2007. The year’s permitted catch quota for the threatened fish species has already been reached. The EU hopes to prevent overfishing and underreporting by moving to a complete ban right away.

In recent years overfishing and underreporting have been two of the main causes of bluefin tuna stocks dwindling in the Mediterranean. Because of this the species is now in danger of collapse.

Read more on this story from the BBC

IUCN Press Release

20 September 2007

As the rate of biodiversity loss accelerates worldwide, civil society organizations and governments are joining forces to fight the global extinction crisis.  On September 7 in Beijing, twenty Chinese and international organizations signed the Countdown 2010 declaration, committing themselves to additional efforts to reduce biodiversity loss by the year 2010.

According to the 2007 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, China has a “particularly large number” of species in danger of extinction.  China is also one of the world’s biologically richest countries.  At the Countdown 2010 Launch, organizations ranging from local Chinese NGOs to international organizations active in China to government-affiliated institutions joined together to declare their commitment to saving biodiversity in China.  With this decision, they honor the global 2010 biodiversity target, a commitment made by state representatives at the World Summit on Sustainable Development in 2002 to significantly reduce biodiversity loss by 2010.

Countdown 2010 is a network of active partners working together towards the 2010 biodiversity target.  Each partner commits to additional efforts to tackle the causes of biodiversity loss. The secretariat – hosted by the World Conservation Union (IUCN) – facilitates and encourages action, promotes the importance of the 2010 biodiversity target and assesses progress towards 2010.  Countdown 2010 now has hubs in Europe, Asia, Africa and South America, and the establishment of a Countdown 2010 hub in China has been spearheaded by the IUCN China Program.
“We’re excited to be bringing Countdown 2010 to China, one of the world’s greatest storehouses of biodiversity,” said Wiebke Herding, of the Countdown 2010 secretariat.  “Countdown 2010 is starting with an impressive array of organizations here.  I’m sure that by 2010 we’ll see the positive impact of this network on China’s biodiversity.”

Prior to the Launch, a consultation was held with key partners to discuss how best to promote the 2010 biodiversity target in China. IUCN Chief Scientist Jeffrey A. McNeely led discussion on monitoring progress towards the 2010 biodiversity target, while others discussed communications challenges, civil society capacity needs, and the necessity of effective information exchange, offering concrete suggestions for potential actions to be taken by Countdown 2010 and partners.

At the Launch ceremony, McNeely underscored the global importance of China’s unique natural heritage, calling on the audience to consider a number of potential responses to the challenge of conserving this natural heritage on the road to 2010.  The Countdown 2010 in China website, a bilingual platform for sharing information on China’s biodiversity and partners’ conservation efforts, was also made public.

A Northwest passage through the artic, running from the Atlantic along the North American north-coast to the pacific, has long been sought as a quick traderoute between Europe and Asia. Historically the route has always been impassable, but satellite images taken by the European Space Agency show that with the Arctic icecap at a record low a fully navigable route now exists.

The Northeast passage, a similar route along the Russian arctic coast, remains closed for now, but experts say it may be open much sooner than expected. In fact the ESA says that the Arctic ice may be gone altogether by 2040.

Read more from Yahoo! News

The recovery of the eastern Pacific gray whale population probably isn’t as successful as it was thought to be. Since the end of commercial whale hunting the population has risen to 20,000 whales.

When scientists observed some whales arriving at their breeding grounds malnourished they first thought this meant the population had risen to its pre-hunting numbers. The malnourishment serving as an indicator that the number of whales was as high as the ecosystem could sustain.

But new genetic research suggests that there were more whales pre-hunting than there are now. While malnourishment is still a sign that the ecosystem can’t support a larger population scientists now believe this is because climate change may be altering the whales’ food supply.

Of the three original grey whale populations, Atlantic, eastern Pacific and Western Pacific, only the eastern Pacific stock could be called numerous today. The Atlantic stock has been extinct for centuries while the western Pacific stock may down to as few as 120 animals.

Some hunting quotas exist for the easter Pacific gray whales, given to Russian and Native American tribes. The fact that the population isn’t as robust as previously thought may lead to lower quotas in future.

Read more from the BBC

WWF press release

12 Sep 2007

Nairobi, Kenya / Gland, Switzerland – WWF is working closely with UNHCR, the UN’s refugee agency, to prevent encroachment into the World Heritage-listed Virunga National Park by displaced people after several weeks of civil unrest in the area, and to help them meet the huge demand in fuelwood.

About 35,000 people have fled the heavily armed conflict near Sake in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo over the past week, according to the UN.

People fleeing the fighting in Sake, west of Goma, the largest town in the region, have spontaneously set up three camps for internally displaced people in Mugunga, a small town next to Virunga National Park. However, one of them – the Lac Vert Camp – is partly located within the park.

“With so many internally displaced people near Goma looking for food, shelter and fuelwood, we are facing a very difficult situation,” said Marc Languy of WWF’s Eastern Africa Regional Programme Office.

“One of the challenges is to avert a fuelwood crisis that would put the park’s forest under pressure while ensuring the displaced people have all the necessary commodities they need.”

WWF is working closely with UNHCR and ICCN (Institut Congolais pour la Conservation de la Nature) to find solutions to the problem, under a programme funded by the European Union.

While collection of wood within the park is being regulated to meet the immediate demand, several alternatives have already been identified, such as sourcing of wood from nearby plantations. Most of them are located among the 10 million trees WWF has planted in the past 20 years around Virunga National Park.

“With an average of 12kg of wood per family per day, we are looking at about 50 tonnes of wood to be collected every day; it is a real challenge for both humanitarian and conservation NGOs,” explained Languy.

During meetings with UNHCR, WWF also provided maps showing the park’s boundaries so that the most suitable areas for settlements can be identified.

While recent threats to mountain gorillas — nine of them have been killed in the past few months — seem to be coming slowly under control, habitat destruction, and in particular deforestation, remains the most important concern, as it has far-reaching and long-lasting effects on the park’s biodiversity.

“We don’t want history to repeat itself, when in 1994-1995, in the face of another humanitarian disaster, hundreds of thousands of refugees fleeing Rwanda invaded Virunga National Park and destroyed the forest. It still has not recovered,” added Languy.

UNHCR is urging the displaced people to move from the Lac Vert Camp to a new camp that could accommodate up to 5,000 families. This is an encouraging sign that will help reduce the damage to the park, according to WWF.

However, WWF is concerned that some other humanitarian NGOs are discouraging people to move from the problematic camp to the new one set up by UNHCR. WWF urges these NGOs to respect national and international law and not to build any infrastructure within the protected area.

Adaptation strategies needed to build resilience

10 September 2007, Rome - Climate change is emerging as one of the main challenges humankind will have to face for many years to come. It could become a major threat to world food security, as it has a strong impact on food production, access and distribution.

Abnormal changes in air temperature and rainfall and the increasing frequency and intensity of drought and floods have long-term implications for the viability and productivity of world agro-ecosystems.

This was the main message delivered today by Alexander Müller, FAO Assistant Director General, to over 140 world experts convened in Rome for a workshop on “Adaptation Planning and Strategies.” While continuing to deal with the causes of climate change — by reducing emissions and increasing greenhouse gas sinks — it is crucial, Müller said, to also take immediate action to cope with its effects. Ways must be found to build up peoples’ resilience as well as that of food production systems, he added.

Read the full story from the FAO

Life around volcanic deep-sea vents thrives in an environment radically different from any other. Yet even these enclaves of life in the deep may not be immune to the effects of climate change. But even life that survives the great pressure, near total darkness and blazing temperatures of the deep-sea vents turns out to be linked to the rest of the ecosystem.

British research has found that some of the creatures around the deep-sea vents rely on food that drifts down from the sea surface level. Therefore climate change at the surface could have a knock on effect on life around the vents.

Read more from the BBC

Leaders for the APEC (Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation) group of Pacific Rim countries reached an agreement on Saturday on a long-term goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions. All 21 APEC countries together are responsible for some 60% of all greenhouse gas emissions. But the group didn’t set any binding targets for reductions.

A target of reducing energy use 25% per dollar of gross domestic product by 2030 was mentioned, but only as a non-binding goal. The declaration also includes a call to increase forest cover in the region by 2020.

According to the New York Times the developing APEC nations, led by India and China, were the main opponents of any binding targets. Because of the lack of firm targets the declaration has come in for criticism from environmental organizations.

Read more from the BBC or the New York Times (free registration may be required)

A full list of APEC member countries is available from Wikipedia here

Even though the EU is urging people to switch to compact fluorescent light bulbs(CFLs) it will likely retain import tariffs on CFLs made in China for as much as another year. Cost is often cited as a major reason for people to keep using old incandescent light bulbs, and the tariffs can add up to 66% to the price of CFLs.

Continuation of the tariffs has been proposed by the European Commission and will have to gain a majority backing of EU member states. The Commission has defended the the tariffs as needed to give European manufacturers time to adjust, even though only one of Europe’s four major producers of CFLs has called for the tariffs to be extended.

Read more from the BBC

158 countries meeting in Vienna as part of an effort to prepare for a continuation for the Kyoto protocol have agreed rough targets on Climate Change. The targets will serve as a loose guide for a full on summit in Bali, Indonesia in December.

The agreement does not include the United States, because the US government never ratified the Kyoto protocol. Several of the nations that were present, including Russia, Japan and Canada, took a lot of convincing to go along with setting firm targets.

Read more from the International Herald Tribune

Reports that the Chinese river Dolphin or Baiji seemed to be extinct may have been premature. Chinese media, particularly the official Xinhua news agency, report that the dolphin has been sighted.

The man who spotted the dolphin filmed at long distance. According to experts the distance makes it impossible to say with 100% certainty whether it was a Baiji or not, but it is likely to have been.

If any Baiji can be found in the wild scientist hope to capture them in order to breed them and keep the species alive.

Read more from the BBC

More than 150 countries have sent delegates to a meeting in Vienna aiming to extend and widen the UN Kyoto protocol on climate change. The meeting wants to engage non-governmental organizations as well as governments.

The talks are meant to prepare the way for a full on UN climate summit in December in Bali. In Bali a decision will probably take place on whether or not to follow up on, or continue with the Kyoto protocol after it expires in 2012.

Read more from the BBC

An ambitious project to build the first offshore windmills in the USA appears to be doomed. Officials have recommended that the plan be scrapped, as the cost has risen. According to calculations rising building costs would leave energy from the windmills costing twice as much as energy from other sources.

Kevin Law, the chairman of the Long Island Power Authority, who is recommending that this project be canceled has stated his support for renewable energy, including other wind projects. The decision not to move ahead with this project is, in his own words, “based strictly on the costs.”

Read more from the New York Times (free registration may be required)

An article in the magazine New Scientist reveals the startling fact that up to 3 percent of deaths from heart attacks could be caused by, or at least occur sooner because of, sudden noises.

The World Health Organization (WHO) thinks that up to 200,000 deaths per year could be caused by noise pollution.

Less lethal but also damaging are the results of long-term low-level noise exposure. In such cases sleeping problems and even hearing damage can be the result.

Part of the New Scientist article is available from the magazine’s website here

By Garry Duffy, BBC News, Sao Paulo

Brazil’s government has promised to investigate allegations that its policy of settling landless communities in the Amazon is encouraging deforestation.

Greenpeace has claimed that some of these areas are being exploited by logging companies, after what it says was an eight-month investigation.

Brazil’s environment ministry says deforestation in those areas is falling but it will investigate the claims.

The government says land distribution to the poor is an important objective.

But Greenpeace says the implementation of the policy is encouraging uncontrolled logging and deforestation in some parts of the Amazon.

Read the full story from the BBC

The World Health Organization has issued a warning about the consequences of Beijing’s high pollution levels for the health of visitors to the city, as well as its inhabitants. The warning comes as Beijing is starting a 4 day test of a system aiming to bring down pollution during the Olympics next year.

While the scheme being tested now - banning cars with license plates ending in odd and even number alternately - might bring down pollution levels the WHO warns this may not be enough. The city’s poor air quality could still cause asthma attacks and people with cardiovascular problems are also advised to be cautious.

Experts say attempts to limit pollution in Beijing may have little or no effect. The dangerous particles can travel great distances so any reduction in Beijing could be offset by pollution from elsewhere in China.

Read more from the BBC

The National Snow and Ice Data Center in the United States has reported that Arctic sea ice has reached the lowest extent on record, and is still continuing to shrink. In fact there is still about a month left in the usual melting season for Arctic sea ice this year.

Sea ice has been monitored since the 1970s, when satellite images became available. And scientists say the current melt can’t be explained by natural variability. Influences from human activities must be contributing to the melt.

The melting is even going faster than computer climate models had predicted. According to one expert this may bring the date for a complete melt of Arctic ice in the summer forward from a 2070 to 2100 prediction all the way to 2030.

Read more from the International Herald Tribune

By Richard Black, Environment correspondent, BBC News website

Scientists have painted the first detailed picture of Atlantic ocean currents crucial to Europe’s climate.

Using instruments strung out across the Atlantic, a UK-led team shows that its circulation varies significantly over the course of a year.

Writing in the journal Science, they say it may now be possible to detect changes related to global warming.

The Atlantic circulation brings warm water to Europe, keeping the continent 4-6C warmer than it would be otherwise.

As the water reaches the cold Arctic, it sinks, returning southwards deeper in the ocean.

Some computer models of climate change predict this Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation, of which the Gulf Stream is the best-known component, could weaken severely or even stop completely as global temperatures rise, a scenario taken to extremes in the Hollywood movie The Day After Tomorrow.

Read the full story from the BBC