Australia: Cyclone Yasi

Australia: Cyclone Yasi



Cyclone Yasi hit Australia last week , its wend hit Queensland coast with nearly 200 mph. Thought its state's well organization warning system made possible to save the life's of its habitants. Only one death was registered after the category 5 storm Cyclone left the country but for its misfortune many damage in properties and agriculture where made. Up to 4$billion damaged caused are to be paid by the green party which won a record number of voting in the summer election .After the floods huge tax the government promise no more further rising. After this second natural disaster the government will have a bit difficulties in keeping its promises.
On the fortunate side of the disaster gap is that this storm hit a rich country like Australia. In the past we have seen Cyclones even smaller than Yasi hitting poor countries and taking thousands of life's. One of them that can be mention is Cyclone Nargis- a huge storm but smaller than Yasi hit the poor country of Burma and left at list 138,00 people dead. Australia one of the most non religious countries used to be called the sin country but as it seem its is protected by god more than they believe.

A.K

Global Warming and Food Commodities

Paul Krugman speculates that the spike in food prices is connected to global warming. Some will go apoplectic at the suggestion, but many elements fit the expected picture all too well.

M.A.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/07/opinion/07krugman.html?src=ISMR_HP_LO_MST_FB

Nigeria is poised towards an effective environmental policy

In 1987, toxic waste was unlawfully dumped in Delta State Nigeria through the local Koko seaport. The culprit was an Italian businessman, Gianfrance Raffaelli who had imported them under the false pretence that they were industrial materials.
Immediate public outcry motivated the military government to evacuate the toxic waste from the area. The Federal Environmental Protection Agency was decreed in 1988 to look into the managing and regulation of harmful waste, and it has later been repealed and replaced with a more effective and environmentally oriented National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency(NESREA) in 2007.
NESREA is poised towards conserving the environment through a process of sustainable development. Its aims are natural resources and soil conservation,water resources managment to control shortages, land degradation and pollution, and to protect Nigeria's wildlife from deforestation as a result of timber felling and accidental fires. while its institutional and legal framework exist, NESREA is faced with the problems of not having adequate baseline of information and data, and the necessary manpower to undertake its mandate.
I.S

The poor bear the brunt of climate change

the effects of climate change due to pollution seems to be at the forefront of most peoples minds, from those who believe it is the biggest challenge facing humanity to those who believe that it doesn't exist.
Thomas C. Schelling takes a look at the problem from different angle in his article, "the economics of global warming ; melting glaciers, rising incomes, and food." in Newsweek magazine ( January 31st Issue ).
Schelling claims that the biggest issue would be trying to help those countries and people that are most affected by global warming, and according to him that would be the poorest people in the poorest countries. he claims that climate change will affect food production in poor countries, where more than half of the population grows its own food.
even though estimates to world food production loss is low, this is not the full picture. it is estimated that between 1 and 2 billion people live on "the equivalent of 2$ per day". if half of them were to lose half their income, statically speaking, that would be less than 1 percent of the worlds income, but to those losing half of the income, which barely amounts to anything in the first place, it would be disastrous.
it seems that the poor will suffer the most as they would not have the resources to adapt to a changing climate, while the west will barely suffer at all in comparison. the developed world has to look for ways to help the poor countries that will suffer the effects of climate change due to the developed worlds energy consumption and production levels, including china's production levels, which led to the problem in the first place.
K.K

"Fog Cleans Air Pollution"

When we think of fog, we imagine walking or driving around blinded by it, mysterious objects and creatures crossing our roads, the whole image resembling a nightmare. But, we are told by a song to "always look on the bright side of life", and Jeffrey Collett, the atmospheric chemist of Colorado State University does just this: he shows us evidence that fog is not a bad thing at all. Radiation fog, in fact, cleans the air of pollution by capturing the floating particles that cause us to breathe heavily and sneeze, and bringing them to the ground. As a result of this, the air becomes (relatively) clean again. This article describes profoundly this self-healing procedure Mother Nature came up with a long time ago.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/videos/2005/0604-fog_cleans_air_pollution.htm

VT

Cap and Trade - Why not just Cap? http://topics.nytimes.com/topics/reference/timestopics/subjects/g/greenhouse_gas_emissions/cap_and_trade/index.html

One of the measures that have been introduced lately to combat climate change/ global warming is the Cap and Trade mechanism.
The idea is to introduce limits on carbon emissions and then allow for these limits to be negotiated and traded among polluters. However, if the problem is to reduce/limit the emissions why do we need a mechanism to trade these? And, by trading them do we actually work on reducing them? It seems to me that by introducing a trading system will not correct the bad practices that currently exist among industry and emitters, for these will be able to buy the extra credits of others to continue polluting at the same level as before, creating inequalities between companies and maintaining current practices to appear as "acceptable" if a fine is paid. Fines, however, as I see them do not reduce any emissions, now do they?

JSC

Environmental Policy Around the World, 2011

Dear Readers,

For the next five months, visit our site to find commentary, news updates, and thematic posts on environmental problems and solutions, written by students at McDaniel College Budapest.

For starters, recognize the photo accompanying this post? It's a satellite image of the Ajka alumina plant spill, taken five days after the disaster itself. A trail of red sludge is still visible coming from the empty reservoir. Since then, we've learned much about how the dangerous, highly alkaline sludge was not properly classified as a dangerous substance, and the lethargy with which people's lives in Kolontar and Devecser have been reconstructed.

More to follow...

M.A.