EarthAction

Country Energy Sector Reform Efforts

For Global Spotlight Report #26, Climate Scorecard asked our Country Managers to describe the major energy sector reforms/changes that their countries had undertaken since 2015.

READ THE REPORT

Special attention was paid to changes in energy sources, the decrease or increase in fossil fuel sources of energy, the increase in renewables, and the use of nuclear power.

 

Country Managers were also asked to analyze the impact that their country’s energy sector reforms/changes have had (or hope to have moving forward) on their country’s overall level of energy production and consumption, overall emissions levels and the cost of energy.

 

2020 COUNTRY CLIMATE COMMITMENTS

 

View monthly updates of the short and long-term climate goals of leading greenhouse emissions countries. Learn More.

 

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Climate Change is Here - Just Ask The Arctic Fox

The world is facing a huge climate issue as the earth continues to overheat.  And along with this overheating planet comes the question of the survival of animals and plants.  Many will have to adapt to global warming and based on how quickly climate change is evolving, the possibility for some of these species to adapt in the same amount of time is nearly impossible. 

It would be false to believe that there is not a species that has adapted to past climate fluctuations, yet the rate of adaptation is extremely slow.  With the rate that climate change is evolving now, it is expected to be dramatically warmer by the end of the century. 

“Global temperatures are going to rise by about four degrees over the next 100 years as predicted by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change,” states Professor John Wiens, University of Arizona (The Guardian).

Most land animals will not be able to evolve so quickly to adapt to this dramatic change, thus: many species face extinction.  For many species, simply evolving to match the new conditions of global warming may not be an option. Moving habitat for many of these species is also not an option.

Though many seem to believe that climate change is not an issue for much of the planet’s wildlife, there is a lot at stake for these creatures.  Not only is there are melting icecaps, rising sea levels, and extremely drastic temperatures at stake, the speed at which these are occurring is inconceivable.  This transformation is not so far away as we may think and we are the ones creating this transformation. 

Let’s keep in mind what is at stake: much of today’s wildlife. 

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2013

Breakthrough in Down's Syndrome Chromosome Therapy

“Scientists have corrected the genetic fault that causes Down's syndrome – albeit in isolated cells – raising the prospect of a radical therapy for the disorder,” states Ian Sample, The Guardian. 

Through a number of experiments, US researchers have found a way to take the cells from people diagnosed with DS (Down’s syndrome) and shut down the extra chromosomes. While treatment for the disorder is still far off, this is the first big step towards a “chromosome therapy” for DS. 

Between one in a 1000 and one in 1100 births are DS babies, most with learning difficulties and those who inherit the disorder are subject to heart defects, bowel and blood disorders, and thyroid problems. 

"This will accelerate our understanding of the cellular defects in Down's syndrome and whether they can be treated with certain drugs," said Jeanne Lawrence, who led the team at the University of Massachusetts (The Guardian).

Researches discuss how this is the first major step towards potentially developing chromosome therapy. 

Nevertheless, while a chromosome therapy could potentially be a way to shut down the extra chromosome that is responsible for Down’s syndrome, there would be a number of practical and ethical issues.  The editing of the genome would have to happen at the embryo or fetus level, and this is hard to imagine possible or allowed in today’s society.

 

Story thanks to The Guardian, http://gu.com/p/3hcjn.    

5 Myths About Nuclear Weapons

- From Wikimedia Commons

Check out this NY Times op-ed by Ward Wilson, written Jan. 13, 2013, dispelling the myths of beneficial nuclear weapons. Follow the link here to read it. Also, click here to watch artist Isao Hashimoto's short film, showing 2,053 nuclear explosions in one video. 

How Climate Change is Destroying the Earth

 

- From our friends at LearnStuff. Here is a great info-graphic showing the devastating effects of climate change on our life-giving planet. 

 

California, Fracking and Tomorrow’s Energy

 

Hydraulic Fracturing Rig - Photo Courtesy of Los Angeles County

 

Sequestration, gridlock and international relations seem to dominate the public discourse, but the seemingly esoteric issue of hydraulic fracturing – fracking – has nevertheless established its place on the political stage. Just last month, our own California announced new policy proposals to regulate fracking; yet despite bucking the pro-industry trend, the state has failed to please concerned environmentalists. 

Sustainable Development in China

 

Beijing smog - Source: Guardian UK

With the heavy burdens of climate change, environmental degradation and rising populations competing for resources, many countries are looking to sustainable development initiatives. Sustainability serves to meet the needs of both developing and developed populations while limiting their harmful impact on the environment so that future generations may live comfortably and prosper. Further, sustainability seeks to reuse precious resources in such a way that their access or function shift from a limited supply to an alternating, enduring resource. 

 

 With a population of over 1.3 billion, China would do well in the 21^st century to develop programs that sustain the environment and its people for generations to come, and potentially bolster their image on a global scale.  China could have the world’s largest economy by the year 2030, and their position as an economic leader ensures that the world will follow the trends they set.  There is a great responsibility to lead and usher in a more sustainable future, not only for China’s rise as a global political power, but as its industrial sector begins to take off and flourish. 

 According to a recent report, since 2001, China has answered the worldwide call to develop responsibly across a broad spectrum of areas including: economic restructuring, health and lifestyle improvements, resource conservation and environmental protection.  But there are still many challenges ahead. A developing industrial sector has forced China to become an extreme polluter as many companies are forced to choose cheaper (and dirtier) methods for production. 

 The Global Markets Project, a conglomeration of the International Institute for Sustainable Development and the Chinese Ministry of Commerce, has spearheaded China’s effort to make major shifts in economic, political, social, and global development to ensure a forward-thinking agenda is omnipresent in all of China’s decisions regarding production, consumption, trade and infrastructure.  They produced studies in 2008 outlining many of the issues facing sustainable development which must be overcome in the following years. 

 Accomplishments:

• China’s poverty rate declined from 10.2 percent in 2000 to 2.8 percent in 2010.
• Energy consumption declined 26 percent from 2005 to 2010.
• China is developing global forest product chains that imports and exports raw materials that try to comply with patterns of sustainability.  

Challenges Ahead:

• GDP only ranked 100^th in the world and there are still over one hundred million living in poverty.  
• There is uneven sustainable development across regions.
• China has weak scientific and technological capacities.
• China’s global forest product chain development is impeded by trade policies, poor governance and incompetent business practices.  
• Global cotton and textile product chains must be stronger.  The cotton industry needs to shift to areas that favor sustainable production.  
• Further problems in sustainability involve carbon storage, biodiversity, water regulation and cultural heritage.

Potential Solutions:

If China becomes more involved in the global community through trade and resources, then it will gain stronger global partnerships that will increase the viability of sustainable development. An amalgamation of International Relations expertise combined with much of the findings in the aforementioned study found that:

• China must match forest product commodity chain sustainability through better management, marketing and by matching foreign productions standards.  
• China must strive to increase technology funding and implementation.
• Create systems in which coal consumption decreases by as much as 670 million tons in three years, by 2015.  
• Reduce reliance on energy intensity by 21 percent in 2015.
• Overhaul their global cotton and textile production industry by relocating the industry to more sustainable areas; exporting production; improving the demand for sustainable products; improve production standards; and initiate green trade policies and sustainable initiatives that are mandated and governed responsibly.  

• China’s electronics and electronic equipment manufacturing sector needs to be improved through regulatory standards and management during e-product manufacturing, during e-waste collection, dismantling and disposal, and require improved resource management, energy use and green initiatives in production standards.

By outlining a sustainable and energy efficient strategy, China could reduce its dependence on industrial antiquities and be successful.  Imagine a China that is less reliant on fossil fuels and factories that produce harmful waste.  This would benefit not only China and its people, but the world.  

- Anisha Sekar: EarthAction Contributing Writer

This article comes to you from NerdWallet.com, an unbiased source for quantitative analysis.

Two Birds with One Awesome Stone: Comic Books and Environmentalism

LEGENDARY GREEN MAN GROWN INTO SUPER HERO BY ECO COMICS

Publisher Eco Comics has today announced the launch of a comic book series featuring one of the most iconic and prolific characters from myth and legend, the Green Man.

The publisher says: “Green Man has come to represent the environmental movement and our endangered eco-system, and so has more relevance now than ever. It is therefore fitting that his comic book debut will be entirely paperless and published by Eco Comics”.

-Read more at Mohawk Media

-Preview art and images: http://blog.mohawkmedia.co.uk/ & www.facebook.com/official.GreenMan

-Click here to order Green Man #1 or for the free preview edition

 

Where have all the honey bees gone?

What is it:

Colony Collapse Disorder is the name given to a phenomenon first noticed by large-scale bee keepers in 2006 and 2007 that is estimated to have impacted one third of all honey bee colonies in the United States. 

Hives that suffer from CCD incur a loss of the majority of their adult worker-bee population and are characterized by a hive empty of bees yet full of honey, bee young and even the queen bee.The bees from these colonies appear healthy until, one day, bee keepers find a hive with no adult worker bees. No dead bees are found near the hive nor are there any signs as to where the bees disappear to, all that is known is that they leave behind what looks to be an otherwise healthy hive.

What Causes it?

 The causes of Colony Collapse disorder are debated, with no entirely conclusive study yet to be conducted. Some proposed causes include:

• poisoning from pollinating pesticide treated crops
• poor nutrition from altered foraging patterns/lack of diversified food sources
• increased presence of the honey bee pest varroa mites
• new viruses targeting bee immune systems

Most scientists and bee keepers argue that CCD may be the result of increased stress due to many of the above listed factors. However, all agree that threats to the honey bee population are threats to our global food system as we know it.

Why is it important:
Bees aren’t just busy pollinating flowers, they are the unsung heroes in food systems across the globe, pollinating many crops for human consumption. In the United States our industrial food system is supported by a network of bee keepers who truck bees up and down highways pollinating everything from Maine blueberries to Florida oranges and California almonds. Without them, food supplies world wide are in danger of collapsing.
And CCD isn’t just happening to bees in the United States, honey bees in The UK have been reportedly suffering from CCD and in 2011 the United Nations issued a statement declaring CCD a global concern reaching from US beekeepers to Chinese beekeepers.

What can we do:

• Urge secretary Tom Vilsack of the US Department of Agriculture to continue to fund research to combat CCD using this online messaging system from the National Resources Defense Council. (Tip- customize the message, tell Tom Vilsack why this issue is important to you, for maximum impact!)
• Read these tips from the NRDC on how to make a bee-friendly garden and which pesticides are commonly known to impact bee health. Inform other gardeners and farmers in your community of the pesticides on the list!
• Learn to keep bees (even in the city) to add to a growing number of small scale bee keepers invested in healthy honey bees across the globe!
• Read about what the EPA is doing to protect honey bees in the United States.

Written by EarthAction Intern Walker Dunn
Sources and Further Information:

http://www.ars.usda.gov/News/docs.htm?docid=15572
http://www.nrdc.org/wildlife/animals/bees.asp
http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/in720

Image Source through Creative Commons Liscensing

Middle Photo by: Dan Solely (c) turtlephoto.org 

Spreading The Word On Biochar

by: Alexandra Reissig

What if there existed a material that could help solve world hunger, fight climate change, and offer a solution for energy shortages to boot? Recent studies on biochar say that it may be just the product, and here’s the kicker: it has been around for at least 2,000 years. It is a solid material produced from the carbonization of organic waste. Extremely high in carbon content, its uses range from replenishing exhausted soil to sequestering excess CO2 out of the atmosphere. Recent discoveries into its uses, both locally and globally, have shown it to be a viable material for an environmentally sustainable future.

Biochar is essentially charcoal, produced when biomass is heated in a low oxygen environment in a pyrolysis process. This process takes dry biomass and heats it at extreme temperatures and at a very low oxygen level. It is very similar to what happens naturally to soil that has been exposed to forest fires: the charred remains are more healthy and nutrient rich. Of the total amount of carbon that goes into the pyrolysis process, half goes into an energy carrying system that can be generated into biofuel. The other half of the carbon is fixed in biochar: a charcoal-like material that can be used as fertilizer to help increase crop yields, prevent run-off of nutrients and fertilizers, retain moisture in the soil and replenish exhausted soils with organic carbon.