News from around the planet:
A calculated risk? Scientists are getting into a bit of an argument over an experiment that will change the composition of oceans. Researchers plan to add about 20 tonnes of iron sulphate to a 186-square-mile area of ocean, which should result in an explosion of plankton numbers, which will consequently take up carbon dioxide from the air.
But, according to The Independent, other scientists are worried the experiment could have “devastating unintended effects on the oceans, including killing off large areas of sea, and releasing methane and nitrous oxide, which are even more potent causes of global warming.”
Drugging India’s water. Water outside Indian pharmaceutical manufacturing plants has been found to contain high levels of antibiotics, according to AP, with 21 different active pharmaceutical ingredients found in water in the town of Patancheru, home to 90 Indian drug companies.
Expect 1000 years of climate impact. Even if the world can put a stop to high carbon emissions now, we will still be seeing the effects of current levels for the next 1000 years, says MSNBC.
The peer-reviewed study concludes that if CO2 is allowed to peak at 450-600 parts per million, the results would include persistent decreases in dry-season rainfall that are comparable to the 1930s U.S. Dust Bowl in zones including the U.S. southwest, southern Europe, Africa, eastern South America and western Australia.
Australian biofuels causing environmental destruction. Australian importing of millions of tonnes of biodiesel made from palm oil is hurting tropical rain forests in Indonesia and Malaysia. Bulldozing rain forests for plantations is threatening animals like orangutans and the ridiculously adorable clouded leopard (above).
One Comment
The referenced article has a few numbers which are confusing. It refers to an
import of 10 million litres, but the opening paragraph talks about millions of tonnes.
A litre of bidiesel doesn’t weight a tonne so one of the figures is wrong.
In any event, Indonesia’s wildlife have far more to fear from
rich Indonesians importing an Aussie taste for beef than from us importing
biodiesel (which isn’t
a defence of biodiesel, just a plea to get the ordering correct!). Indo has about the same
land area as Queensland and about the same number of cattle — this makes the maths
easy enough even for those whose beef blocked vascular system is starving their
brains of blood. Qld’s cattle occupy about 100 million hectares including huge feedlots for which we use and import millions of tonnes of grain (proudly doing our bit to drive the
world’s grain shortage and contribute to food riots in 40 countries last year). So will
Indo’s 11 million cattle use more or less land than the 6 million or so devoted to
palm oil?