India currently is the fourth largest emitter of carbon in the world, and has so far resisted any binding emission targets under an international agreement. India, and the Group of 77 developing nations have been opposing such binding targets unless they come tied with financial and technological support from developed nations which have so far led in carbon emissions.

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The United States Senate has refused to throw out a $1-billion program intended to boost dwindling car sales in the US from a $106-billion war funding Bill. The Senate voted 60-36 to keep the program that would provide vouchers of up to $4,500 for consumers to trade in their less fuel-efficient cars for cars that give better mileage.

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The United States-based oil and gas giant, Exxon Mobil Corporation, has been ordered to pay $507.5 million in punitive damages plus interest for the oil spill that occurred off Alaska in 1989.

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.

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We may not be right about our estimates of the worst polluting commuters, at least I wasn’t, with the airplane topping my list. A study conducted by Mikhail Chester and Arpath Hovard of the University of California, Berkeley, has revealed that all our assumptions aren’t correct and it is the train not the plane that causes maximum damage.

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.

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More and more new-generation vehicles are using lithium batteries in an effort to cut down pollution levels, but could it be true that lithium batteries are as damaging to the environment as gasoline?

Yes, according to some experts on energy!

William Tahil, research director of Meridian International Research, an independent consultancy specializing in renewable energy, is not all that happy with lithium.

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Some confidential data from maritime industry insiders (based on engine size and the quality of fuel typically used by ships and cars) shows that just 15 of the world’s biggest ships may now emit as much pollution as the entire 760m cars on world’s roads today. And it’s not just an environmental issue, but also a health problem for people exposed to shipping pollution.

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]

Pollution seems to be having more adverse effects than once thought and with each passing day one is finding new ways and means in which it destroys life and causes harm both to humans and animals.

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

There is absolutely no doubt that carbon emissions caused by excessive use of fossil fuel and our callous cutting of trees have caused global warming to creep up to such dangerous levels that it is causing a serious threat to the polar ice caps and all the animals that reside in the cold paradise.

Polar Bears have been stranded on melting ice caps and have often eventually drowned to their death because of this new climate pattern. But, ADDI has come up with a very unique concept for these stranded animals, in the form of a Lifejacket.

The Polarbears are drowning because of the ice that are melting. They have to swim up to 100 km to find food. Global warming needs to be stopped.

However, his effort is more an attempt to promote awareness in an artistic way than to actually make a realistic lifejacket and strap it onto these animals, because it would seriously hinder their ability to swim and fish and even compromise their natural camouflage.

The whole message is simple and far more significant. Stop the pollution (and be better stewards to our Planet – like Bill would say) or the day we’ll need to wear lifejackets, is not really that far away! – via Dvice

Pollution is killing more than AIDS in Sao Paulo, says a Sao Paulo University report Air Pollution Lab.

According to the study, some nine people die each day because of pollution – which makes it some 3,500 a year. Less than half of that number of people, 1,624, die each year as a result of AIDS and traffic combined.

Sao Paulo will spend $1.5 billion on pollution-caused diseases, caused mainly by the six million cars in the city. Is it just me or that sounds like, if the cars don’t kill you in traffic, they will kill you with what comes out the back?

Nearly two-thirds of the air pollution is caused by 10% of the total vehicles, the ones that run on diesel fuel. Statistics say that there are about 150 lives lost each year due to sulfur releases from diesel-fueled vehicles and 232 deaths caused by AIDS.

Sao Paulo will adopt a “clean diesel” in 2009 hoping to reduce pollution by at least 5%. Seriously time for the “B” in Bric to clean up its act. – via Xinhuanet

Image courtesy of Auntie P

Everyone is aware that noise pollution is a source of irritability in most people. A recent study in San Francisco reveals that 1 out of 6 people living in San Francisco face risks of heart diseases, blood pressure and high stress. Any readers from SF that can comment on that noise pollution issue? Check out the video below.

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