The Environment Chronicle

Officials with Louisiana's Plaquemines Parish are investigating why hundreds of thousands of dead fish were found in the Bayou Chaland area of the state, which is west of the Mississippi River. Workers with the Plaquemines Parish Inland Waterways Strike Force discovered the massive fish kill Sept. 10, 2010, and reported it to the Louisiana Department of Wildlife & Fisheries.

The world's freshwater turtle populations are being decimated by a perfect storm of habitat loss, hunting and a lucrative pet trade, and urgent action is needed to save them according to new analysis from Conservation International. The new analysis, which has been undertaken for World Water Week, identifies that the worrying decline in many of the world's turtle species is evidence that humanity's management of vital freshwater ecosystems is causing deep and damaging environmental impacts that will affect people and wildlife alike. Dr Peter Paul van Dijk, Director of Conservation International's Tortoise and Freshwater Turtle Conservation Program said: "More than 40 percent of the planet's freshwater turtle species are threatened with extinction – making them among the most threatened groups of animals on the planet. Their decline is an indicator that the freshwater ecosystems that millions of people rely on for irrigation, food and water are being damaged in a manner that could have dire consequences for people and turtles alike."

On 9 September 2010 the Report “TEEB for Local and Regional Policy Makers” was launched. The new report, entitled TEEB for Local and Regional Policy Makers, prepared by The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity (TEEB) initiative hosted and supported by the United Nations Environment Programme, highlights how much cities depend on nature, and illustrates how ecosystem services can provide cost-effective solutions to municipal services.

On 8 September 2010 the European Parliament adopted a text agreed with the Council to update Directive 86/609/EEC on the protection of animals used for scientific purposes. The aim of the new Directive is to strengthen legislation, and improve the welfare of experimental animals. Publication of the final text is foreseen in autumn 2010.

By integrating satellite mapping, airborne-laser technology, and ground-based plot surveys, scientists from the Carnegie Institution’s Department of Global Ecology, with colleagues from the World Wildlife Fund and in coordination with the Peruvian Ministry of the Environment (MINAM), have revealed the first high-resolution maps of carbon locked up in tropical forest vegetation and emitted by land-use practices. These new maps pave the way for accurate monitoring of carbon storage and emissions for the proposed United Nations initiative on Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD). The study is published in the September 6, 2010, early edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

On 3 September 2010 was an international meeting on biodiversity in Geneva (Switzerland). Switzerland invited ministers representing the former and upcoming presidencies of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) to an informal meeting. The participants agreed on the Geneva Ministerial Biodiversity Call for Immediate Action, in which they affirmed the key role of biodiversity and its services for humans and called for a trend reversal in international biodiversity policies. The declaration calls upon heads of state and government, who will meet at the high-level meeting of the General Assembly as a contribution to the International Year of Biodiversity on 22 September of this year, to send a clear signal to the delegates of the 10th Meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the CBD in Japan this October.

Climate change: Average temperatures on the rise, more hot days. Germany's National Meteorological Service, the Deutscher Wetterdienst, and the Federal Environment Agency believe the trend in weather records confirm the forecasts made by climate researchers. Extreme weather events with heavy precipitation or heat waves have increased tangibly in the past few decades, and it is likely that their occurrence and intensity will continue to rise. The annual mean temperature in Germany increased by 1.1°C from 1881 to 2009. It could climb another 2 to 4°C by the end of the century. The rising temperatures are expected to trigger ever more and intense heat waves. Measurements taken at some of the Meteorological Service’s stations have proven that the number of summer days (days with maximum temperatures of 25°C and above) has more than doubled since 1950.

The second phase of the Commission Regulation on household lamps enters into force on 1 September. Standard light bulbs of more than 60 watts will no longer be sold.

Marine species of September 2010 in the International Year of Biodiversity is the Antarctic is the Oarweed (Laminaria digitata), a North Atlantic brown alga. Laminarians are brown algae that are several metres long and are designated as kelp because of their form of growth and leathery structure. They form large forest-like underwater stocks along rocky coasts flooded with light (kelp forests). As they offer protection, food and a habitat for many other marine organisms, they are especially important for coastal ecosystems.

On 1 September 2010, Commission adopted a decision outlining the criteria necessary to achieve good environmental status for Europe's seas. The definition of the criteria is a requirement under the Marine Strategy Framework Directive which aims to achieve good environmental status in all EU marine waters by 2020. The Commission decision focuses on different aspects of marine ecosystems including biological diversity, fish population, eutrophication, contaminants, litter and noise.

Cairn Energy's Stena Don oil rig is scaled by Greenpeace activists to demand an end to offshore drilling.

On 30 August 2010, the Federal Government published the study it commissioned to model scenarios for its upcoming energy concept. The government instructed three research institutes to provide a scientific basis for its energy concept. Prognos (Basel), EWI (Cologne) and GWS (Osnabrück) submitted their joint study last Friday, 27 August 2010. The Federal Government is planning to decide about the Energy Concept on 28 September 2010. The nine scenarios consist of one reference scenario and 8 different prolongation scenarios. The reference scenario assumes a continuation of current trends and no changes to the present energy law regime, in particular no prolongation of the operating times of the German nuclear power plants. The 8 target scenarios consist of two sets of 4 scenarios each, with extensions of 4, 12, 20 and 28 years for the operation of nuclear power plants. The two sets differ regarding upgrading costs for the existing nuclear power plants.

On 30 August 2010, the InterAcademy Council has released its report “Climate Change Assessments - Review of the Processes and Procedures of the IPCC”. The review committee states that the process to produce the periodic assessment reports has been successful overall. However, it recommends fundamentally reforming the IPCC management structure and strengthening its procedures.

On 27 August 2010 the Mongolian cabinet held meeting in the Gobi desert. The meeting of 12 government ministers was held in scorching heat in Gashuunii Khooloi, a sandy valley in South Gobi province, about 670 kilometers south of Ulan-Bator. Minister of Natural Environment and Tourism Gansukh Luumed said Mongolian herders' traditional way of life is under threat. "Global climate change accelerates the desertification process in Mongolia. Currently, 70 percent of Mongolian land is affected by desertification."

EU scientists have succeeded in obtaining viable mass eggs from Atlantic bluefin tuna in captivity, using natural means and without any hormonal induction. If breeding can be developed on a commercial scale, pressure on endangered wild stocks could be significantly relieved. This is the result of the third year of work of SELFDOTT, a research project funded by the European Union to the tune of € 2.98 million and co-ordinated by the Spanish Institute of Oceanography (IEO). A total of 10 million eggs were produced in a single day. Getting naturally spawned eggs from captive individuals represents an important step forward in research on Atlantic bluefin tuna aquaculture, bringing commercial breeding of this species closer. That could contribute to a sustainable management of bluefin tuna. SELFDOTT is a consortium representing 13 government bodies, research institutes and industry organisations from France (IFREMER, CNRS, University of Montpellier 2), Germany (University of Düsseldorf), Greece (HCMR), Israel (NCM-IOLR), Italy (University of Bari), Malta (MCFS, Malta FishFarming), Norway (Skretting) and Spain (University of Cádiz, Ricardo Fuentes Group and the co-ordinating IEO).

On 24 August 2010, the Minstry of Environment and Forests rejected the environment clearance of Vedanta bauxite mining project in Niyamgiri of Orissa, India.

On 23 August 2010 Greenpeace was confronted by a Danish warship in the freezing seas off Greenland as the environmental group's protest ship ‘Esperanza' approached one of the world's most controversial oil drilling projects operated by the British company Cairn Energy. The Greenpeace ship left London 12 days ago vowing to challenge the oil industry at the site of a dangerous deepwater drilling project in the wake of the BP disaster in the Gulf of Mexico, but didn't reveal its intended location until 23 August when the ship arrived in the seas west of Disko Island in the Arctic. The Danish government has sent warship, to protect two drilling sites being operated by Britain's Cairn Energy. There is a 500m security zone surrounding each of the rigs.

In 2010, World Ecological Debt Day or Earth Overshoot Day falled on 21 August. Earth Overshoot Day, a concept devised by U.K.-based new economics foundation, marks the day when demand on ecological services begins to exceed the renewable supply.

On 20 August 2010 the European Union ban on importing seal products went into effect, though an exception was made for groups who have filed legal challenges to the ban.

Scientists at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) have detected a plume of hydrocarbons that is at least 22 miles long and more than 3,000 feet below the surface of the Gulf of Mexico, a residue of the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill. The study, published in the 19 August 2010 issue of the Science, is the first major peer-reviewed analysis of the underwater oil plume.

On 12 August 2010 Greenpeace launched a three-month ship expedition to support independent research into the impacts of the Gulf oil disaster on marine life, as well as researching the unique environments and marine life that are at risk. The Arctic Sunrise departed from St. Petersburg, Florida.

A scientific expedition to the Colombian Amazon has revealed a new species of titi monkey (Callicebus caquetensis), Conservation International announced on 12 August 2010. However, the exciting news is tinged with concern as researchers from the National University of Colombia who discovered the new primate consider it to be critically endangered due to rapid loss of the forest where it lives and its small population.

Scientists made the discovery while analyzing the most detailed global surface temperature maps to date, developed with data from remote sensing satellites including the new Landsat 8, a joint project of NASA and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). Researchers analyzed 32 years' worth of data from several satellite instruments. They found temperatures plummeted to record lows dozens of times in clusters of pockets near a high ridge between Dome Argus and Dome Fuji, two summits on the ice sheet known as the East Antarctic Plateau. The new record of minus 136 F (minus 93.2 C) was set Aug. 10, 2010.

LAVA has created two giant origami tigers made of recyclable materials, aluminium and barrisol for the World Wildlife Fund (WWF). The giant origami tigers are on public display at Hauptbahnhof, Berlin’s central station, until 30 August 2010. The project was commissioned by Customs House Sydney, for WWF. The artistic creations will be used to raise awareness for conservation, as there are only 3,200 tigers left, according to WWF. Each tiger measures eight feet high and 22 feet long, and weigh 200kgs. Each tiger is illuminated with sustainable LED lights, drawing inspiration from the ancient tradition of Chinese paper lantern making. The digital origami tigers have been adopted by WWF for their international Year of the Tiger Campaign.

On 9 August 2010 United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon launched in New YYork a new High-Level Panel on Global Sustainability that brings together some of the world’s leading policymakers and thinkers to formulate a new blueprint for sustainable growth and low-carbon prosperity for all on a planet under increasing strain, not least from climate change. To be co-chaired by Finland’s President Tarja Halonen and South African President Jacob Zuma, the 21-member High-Level Panel on Global Sustainability brings together representatives from government, the private sector and civil society in countries rich and poor. The new body is expected to deliver its final report by the end of next year, ahead of the UN Conference on Sustainable Development scheduled for 2012, as well as annual conferences of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

On 6 August 2010 more stringent air quality standards applied in Germany. This is to transpose the new EU Directive on Ambient Air Quality into German law. For the first time, the Directive sets standards for fine particles (with a diameter of less than 2.5 micrometres; PM2.5), which are particularly dangerous to human health. With the 8th Act Amending the Federal Immission Control Act and the 39th Ordinance Implementing the Federal Immission Control Act (Ordinance on Air Quality Standards and Emission Ceilings - 39. BImSchV), Directive 2008/50/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 21 May 2008 on ambient air quality and cleaner air for Europe is being transposed on a one-to-one basis. The Länder are responsible for the enforcement of the new provisions. One important step towards meeting the limit values can be the designation of low-emission, or environmental, zones which vehicles with high emissions must not enter. More than 40 of these low-emission zones have already been established by the Länder.

The Federal Environment Ministry (BMU) has commissioned the Gesellschaft für Anlagen- und Reaktorsicherheit (Association for Plant and Reactor Safety, GRS) to carry out a preliminary safety analysis for Gorleben and summarise all available information on the salt dome and the results of exploration activities to date. The main goal of the project is to develop a clearly documented forecast, on the basis of existing information, of whether the Gorleben site can comply with the new safety requirements for the final disposal of heat-generating, radioactive waste. The focus of the preliminary safety analysis will be on the question of long-term safety, i.e. it must be demonstrated in a transparent way whether the site is suited for safe final disposal at all, and if so, under which conditions. Moreover, an optimised final disposal concept will be developed, taking into account operational safety, and the future need for additional examination and exploration will be assessed. The preliminary safety analysis is expected to be concluded by the end of 2012.

On Aug. 5, 2010, an enormous chunk of ice, about 251 square kilometers (97 square miles) in size, or roughly four times the size of Manhattan, broke off the Petermann Glacier along the northwestern coast of Greenland. The Petermann Glacier lost about one-quarter of its 70-kilometer-long (40-miles) floating ice shelf, according to researchers at the University of Delaware, Newark, Dela. The recently calved iceberg is the largest to form in the Arctic in 50 years.

On 4 August, 2010 the Federal government adopted a national renewable energy action plan. The action plan outlines that the binding domestic target of an 18 percent share of renewable energies in gross domestic energy consumption will be reached by 2020 and may even be surpassed and amount to 19.6 percent. Currently this share is about 10 percent. The national renewable energy action plan is the core element of reporting obligations laid down in the EU's Renewable Energy Directive (Directive 2009/28/EC). Based on a specific template EU member states must submit a national renewable energy action plan, including measures and expansion strategies geared towards achieving the binding national target. The national action plan was drawn up with the scientific support of the German Aerospace Center in Stuttgart (DLR), Ecofys consultants, the Center for Solar Energy and Hydrogen Research Baden-Württemberg (ZSW) and the German Biomass Research Centre (DBFZ).

The Government of Myanmar formally announced on 3 August 2010 that the entire Hukaung Valley would be declared a Protected Tiger Area. Isolated in Myanmar, the Hukaung Valley Tiger Reserve stretches approximately 8,452 square miles in the northernmost part of the country. The Valley is known as a tiger reserve with the potential of holding several hundred tigers, but illegal hunting both of tigers and their prey has caused a steep decline in their numbers with some estimates showing as few as 50 of the big cats in the region. In 2004, the Myanmar government designated 2,500 square miles of the Hukaung Valley as an inviolate wildlife sanctuary, based off of the first ever biological expedition of the area in 1999 led by Dr. Alan Rabinowitz.

On 30 August 2010 the German Weather Service (DWD) announced, that Germany has experienced its wettest August on record. About 157 litres per square metre had fallen on average across the nation. That compares with the average over many years of just 77 litres per square metre. August 2010 had the highest rainfall for that month since records started being kept in 1881.

Marine species of August 2010 in the International Year of Biodiversity is the Antarctic is the Fragilariopsis kerguelensis.

The World Heritage Committee holding its 34th session chaired by João Luiz da Silva Ferreira, the Minister of Culture of Brazil, has inscribed the Rainforests of Atsinanana (Madagascar) on the List of World Heritage in Danger because of illegal logging and hunting of endangered lemurs on the site.

On 30 July 2010 the World Heritage Committee inscribed the Everglades National Park (United States) on the List of World Heritage in Danger , because of serious and continuing degradation of its aquatic ecosystem.

On 29 July 2010 the World Heritage Committee decided to remove the Galapagos Islands from the List of World Heritage in Danger. The Galapagos Islands, which have been called a unique "living museum and showcase of evolution" were inscribed on the Danger List in 2007 because of threats posed by invasive species, unbridled tourism and over-fishing. The Committee found that significant progress had been made by Ecuador in addressing these problems. It welcomed the Government's continuing efforts to strengthen conservation measures, especially in dealing with introduced species.

Safe and clean drinking water and sanitation is a human right essential to the full enjoyment of life and all other human rights, the General Assembly declared on 28 July 2010, voicing deep concern that almost 900 million people worldwide do not have access to clean water. The Assembly resolution received 122 votes in favour and zero votes against, while 41 countries abstained from voting.

Environmental authorities in northeastern China are monitoring chemical levels in a major river after floodwaters carried more than 3,000 barrels filled with toxic chemicals into it. State-run Xinhua news agency says the containers floated into the Songhua River in northeastern Jilin province Wednesday after flood waters swept through a chemical plant. Another 4,000 barrels that washed out of the factory were empty. Officials briefly cut off water to Jilin city, leaving its four million citizens dependent on bottled water for a day.

On 27 July 2010, a wellhead in southeastern Luisiana was sprewing a mist of oil and gas up to 100 feet into the air after being hit by a tugboat. The leak is about 65 miles south of New Orleans in the Baratavia Bay, which is surrounded by wildlife-rich wetlands and was a fertile area for fishermen, shrimpers and oystermen before the BP spill.

On 26 July 2010, a pipeline belonging to Enbridge Inc. burst in Marshall, Michigan, releasing more than 800,000 gallons of crude oil into Talmadge Creek, a waterway that feeds the Kalamazoo River. The spill has affected up to 25 miles of the Kalamazoo River. The spill site, located between Marshall and Battle Creek, includes marshlands, residential areas, farmland and businesses. While the oil leak has stopped, this incident is far from over. EPA believes over a million gallons of oil may have leaked into the river. The Kalamazoo River is a fast-moving river and EPA’s focus right now is on preventing oil from the Enbridge spill from affecting sensitive shorelines and, ultimately, keeping the oil out of Lake Michigan.

On 23 July 2010, an Amsterdam court fined multinational company Trafigura one million euros for violating EU laws on the export of hazardous waste, which the UN says killed at least 15 people, and forced thousands to be hospitalized in 2006. 69 people were hospitalized and over 100,000 others, complaining of nausea and vomiting after inhaling fumes, sought medical treatment after the incident.In July 2006, 500 tons of caustic soda and petroleum residues on board the Probo Koala ship were originally meant to be off-loaded in Amsterdam, but a disagreement about price led to the waste being redirected to Ivory Coast. There, it was dumped on several open rubbish tips in Abidjan.