The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is known to be an “island” of trash, mainly plastic, floating in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. It is well known that it has vastly negative effects for marine life, and these shocking pictures from photographer Chris Jordan drive the point home.

During his visit to Midway Atoll in the Pacific Ocean, the photographer had the chance to see and photograph the havoc plastic waste is wreaking with the lives of albatross chicks. Parents mistake the waste as food, and feed it to their chicks, hundreds of which then die due to poisoning, choking or deadly blockages.

His photographs show the remains of such albatross chicks, with nearly decayed bodies but with the plastic waste clearly visible in their bodies. The photographer has said that the images show the actual contents in the birds’ stomach, and has not been “moved, placed, manipulated, arranged, or altered in any way.” It really is a stunning, shocking sight.

Source: Yahoo Green

Indoor plants for a brighter day?

In my past I used to specialize in raising dried flower arrangements.  Yes, I said raise.  I would take healthy plants water them, subject them to vast amounts of cigarette smoke and then neglect them.  They would dry out and die.  Eureka!  Instant dried flowers.

As I matured, I saw the benefits of plants (properly taken care of) in the home.  They were pleasant to look at and gave me some relaxation in getting an ivy plant to string all around the room at the ceiling and wall borders.  I would never have imagined they could have improved the air.

Yes, I know that plants absorb carbon dioxide from the air and use it as an airborne fertilizer to support their growth as well as the nourishment from the roots; the more carbon dioxide in the air, the better it grows.

I did not know that the green plants could also help to remove pollutants from the air.  The Pennsylvania State University performed an experiment on the ability of plants to eliminate ozone from the air.  They discovered that plants cut in half the time it takes for ozone to be reduced in the air.

In a test chamber, it took between 38 to 120 minutes for ozone to reduce from 200 ppb (parts per billion) to less than 5 ppb.  The chambers with houseplants in them showed an average of half that time for the same ozone depletion.

Snake plant (Sansevieria trifasciata), spider plant (Chlorophytum comosum), and golden pothos (Epipremnum aureum) were tested and no differences were detected between the species.

So, if you want less ozone in the air, put a lot of green plants in there.  It does not seem to matter what type of green plants you use, so be creative and use different types just to be sure.

Image courtesy of davidduran

Clean-up of Exxon Valdez Oil Spill in Alaska

The order issued by the Ninth US Court of Appeals in Pasadena, California, was consistent with the figure suggested by the Supreme Court in 2008.

The US federal appeals court in Pasadena also awarded plaintiffs 5.9% interest starting from the date of the original trial judgment in September 1996.

The cumulative amount of the interest could be almost double the fine of $507.5 million.

The appeals court also ordered that the parties must pay for their own attorney fees and court costs, which would cost another $70 million for Exxon Mobil Corporation, based in Irving, Texas, the United States.

However, the damages awarded by the federal appeals court in Pasadena is only a small fraction of the $5 billion in damages that a jury had originally awarded to the natives of Alaska, fishermen, business owners and others in 1996. This amount of $5 billion was later reduced upon appeals by Exxon Mobil.

In March 1989, an Exxon Valdez supertanker spilled over 50,000 tons of oil into Prince William Sound, on the south coast of Alaska. This was the worst oil spill in the history of the United States.

Exxon spent about $3.4 billion to clean up the oil spill as well spending to end criminal proceedings and compensate fishermen and business owners.

[via Yahoo!] Image courtesy of jimbrickett

Steam Train

The study took into consideration aspects that we never thought of before, comparing 11 modes of transportation on an equal footing. The comparison is well drawn as it considers the pollution created by factories whilst manufacturing the commuters, the distance traveled in the lifetime and even the number of passengers on each commuter in a lifetime.

Same study reveals that the pollution (considering all the additional polluting resources) doubles the greenhouse emissions for a train, increases one-third for a car and is up by 10 to 20% for the planes thanks to less polluting infrastructure required to manufacture them.

The politicians are pondering hard over ways to cut down pollution and this study could be of great help. They would now know that a better connected bus-train transportation format would be the least polluting. Also, they would realize the life-cycle emissions generated by cars, buses and aircraft are predominantly through the tailpipe emissions and therefore a fuel efficient or an alternate source powered engine would be ideal.

Rational solutions could foster the green revolution and at least we have a number of them revealed through this study.

[Via Newscientist] Image by stuckincustoms

Image by akpt

Following the recent decision by the US government to impose a strict 230-mile buffer zone along the entire US coast, pressure is now mounting on the UN’s International Maritime Organization and the EU to tighten laws governing ships emissions.

With low-quality fuel being used to cut on costs, the pollution from the 90,000 ocean-going cargo ships that operate 24 hours a day and 280 days a year is so huge that it puts the combined pollution from both aviation and auto industry to shame. Apparently coastal pollution leads to about 60,000 deaths a year in the US alone and sums up to $330 bn in health costs.

So will the emission standards for marine carriers across the planet be set anytime soon? Looks unlikely for now, isn’t it? [via Guardian]

However, this is something that will concern all the guys across the planet. New findings suggest that if water pollution continues at the rate it is going and if the rivers continue to become a cocktail of chemicals, then fertility problems in guys could only start growing!

It’s no new fact that the female sex hormone estrogen found in contraceptive pills, is causing the feminization of fish and in some cases can lead to male fish changing sex. Researchers now believe that Anti-androgens, which are found in a number of medicines including cancer treatment drugs and pesticides used in agriculture, could have the same impact on humans – though not to an extent where it could change our sex. Found in most of the English rivers, they could have a serious effect on fertility of men as they have tendency to block the male hormone.

While this will not be the singular source for growing infertility in men, a long list of chemicals that were previously though to be ‘not too harmful’ could be causing more damage than before, so better get yourself some clean water guys … Clean Water!

Source: TheTelegraph
An amazing image by crazscout

Most of those aware of the air problem include highly affluent, top earners and educated professionals who care about their health – and Singapore (long rivalry) wants them. Though breathability is a highly important chapter for cities to compete for, Hong Kong agrees on the fact that air quality is a “matter of life and death” but there aren’t any real measures taken.

Would you move out if you were living in Hong Kong?

GreenDaily via Yahoo!
Image by vagrantant

The protests lead to dozens of planes being canceled as the air traffic was halted for over 5 hours at the airport causing inconvenience to thousands of passengers who were eager to catch up with their holiday flights. The protesters are opposed to the government’s decision to allow the expansion of Stansted with a second runway as it would cause further damage to the planet, but the authorities refute their claim by saying that the aviation industry had become more fuel efficient in the last few years.

The protesters may be right, but the way they took action in their own hands, wasn’t the best option.

Source: Guardian

The concern is not only of noise pollution from cars and trucks, which are the root causes, but also from trains, sirens and exhaust fans. A plan is being drafted with these considerations in mind so as to restructure building codes, land use regulations and transportation policy, thereby cutting down on the noise.

A second method to help reduce noise pollution would be to electrify the transportation system and use more and more hybrid vehicles that produce minimal or no sound at all. They are a more feasible choice.

Since cyclists, walkers and mass transit users cut down on the greenhouse effect and thereby creating a healthier environment, this means we should all make an effort to bring in this change. – via SFGate.com

I don’t know what interested me more, the fact that China has some areas that aren’t polluted or that a top rate Chinese news site doesn’t know how to spell: ” Yellow River presents beautifal autumn scenery “

Doesn’t matter in the long, I suppose … but we can marvel at the beauty that China has to offer. It’s not just about economic development, or destroying the planet’s resources, or even human rights issues. China has some beauty to boast of as well. I mean, how can you go wrong with a name like “Yellow Riiver?” the mother river, China’s second longest.

But then, autumn is pretty everywhere, no? Why not in China, too?