Lucknow girl to address world leaders on climate change

A 13-year-old girl from Lucknow, speaking on behalf of the world's three billion children, will address over a 100 world leaders including U.S. President Barack Obama during a summit on the climate change here on Tuesday.

"I'm going to tell him (Obama) that the policies that they make today are going to affect us and if they act in present then they have secured the future for us," Yugratna Srivastava told PTI.

"We received a very nice planet from our ancestors. It was green, now we have damaged it, polluted it, and we're going to give a bad planet to our successors and this is not right," Ms. Srivastava, who is also on the youth advisory board of United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)'s youth organisation called 'Tunza' (to nurture), added.

"Please listen to the voices of youth and children, and please try your best to solve all the environmental crises that are occurring in our community," is her message to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh.

The ninth class student of St. Fidelis College will be addressing more than a 100 world leaders at the General Assembly during the Climate Change Summit convened by the U.N. Chief Ban Ki-moon. India will be represented by the Foreign Minister S.M. Krishna and Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh.

This summit is being held to mobilise political will ahead of the Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen in December, which is expected to yield a climate treaty to succeed the Kyoto Protocol.

"They (the world leaders) have to take into account the opinion of the three billion youths," Ms. Srivastava said.

"They can't exclude us so we are ready to help them and provide full support to them to have a green planet."

Commenting on the divide between the developed and developing world on the issue, Ms. Srivastava noted, "Each country should do its best since environmental problems never differentiate political or geographical boundaries."

"Whatever protocol they make, it should be an action oriented one and they should enforce them," she added.

The UNEP was very impressed with Ms. Srivastava's performance at a meeting in Daejeon, South Korea, which produced a youth statement on climate change on the road to Copenhagen. She was selected for Tunza after speaking at the high-level event through a competitive process.

The young environmentalist said that she was proud to represent India.

Courtesy:beta.thehindu.com

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Manmade disaster:Mafia, politicos strip rivers

Parched land and desiccated wells are all signs of a severe drought, but craters on riverbeds across Maharashtra are telling the tale of a manmade ecological disaster in the making.

The law prohibits sand mining below three feet, but illegal sand excavators dredge as deep as 30 feet at most places until the riverbed is bereft of sand. The result are rocky and lifeless rivers which can't absorb water, leading to dead and buried wells.

Due to illegal sand excavation, a complete layer of sand has vanished from riverbeds and the ground water table is plummeting to dangerously low levels, ominous signs for the future.

A farmer, Bharat Perne says, "Earlier after digging just a few feet, we used to get water. But now, even after digging up to 80 feet there is no water. Infact, we get saline water. Sand worth Rs 10 crore has been illegally excavated from this area alone.

The illegal sand mining is making the river water unfit for human and animal consumption and threatening the livelihood of fisherfolks and farmers. What's more, it is also believed to have weakened the foundation of several bridges.

"A bridge near my fields was covered in 20 feet of sand from below, but it has been excavated illegally and now the foundation of the bridge is weak. However, trains are still running on it," says Perne.

Noted activist, Anna Hazare, who is on a vow of silence to protest the government's apathy towards the problem, claims that everyday more than 2,000 truckloads of sand is being illegally excavated from rivers across Maharashtra.


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‘Mallika is the body of my film’

If the select few who have seen the rushes of Maan Gaye Mughal-e-Azam are to be believed, Mallika Sherawat has returned to the Murder mode.

The sex symbol will be locking lips with co-actor Rahul Bose several times over. And their intimate scenes are said to be “very hot.”

Director Sanjay Chhel reasons, “Mallika is playing an upcoming actress so her look is very glam. She knows how to use her sensuality to wriggle out of difficult situations.”

He points out that while he would want to cash in on Sherawat’s ‘hot’ image and reel in her audience, he doesn’t want the film to lose its distinctive flavour.

“Maan Gaye Mughal-e-Azam is a contemporary black comedy.. a Woody Allen, Mel Brooks, Kundan Shah kind of a film. I’ve rewritten all the rules of commercial cinema. Mallika with her command over Punjabi and Haryanvi, is fabulous,” he said.


Courtesy:hindustantimes.com
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US toxics weast at india's costline

Thousand tonnes of hazardous American waste have been dumped at Tamil Nadu's Tuticorin Port, where almost 35 large containers conceal the waste, that has been lying untouched for the past three years. ( Watch )
There is reportedly an amount of 890 tonnes of harmful waste that has been brought all the way from New Jersey. The biggest question though is if it is a case of civic apathy or a classic case of the West treating India as a dumping ground.
Since the past three years, contaminated municipal waster such as polythene bags, crushed soft drink cans, pesticide containers, used batteries, metal wires and others more have been rotting away at the port.
The cargo reportedly reached India as a part of wastepaper imported by an Indian company back in 2005. However, during the routine checks, port authorities -- much to their shock -- discovered that the cargo did not have only paper but carcenogenic waster discarded by America.
However, the fact that has been interesting is that in September 2007, a committee constituted by the Madras High Court had certified that the American garbage posed a threat to the people of India and the environment. Following this, the Madras High Court demanded that this trash be sent back to New Jersey immediately.
But, much to the horror of environmentalists, the scrap still lies around the area and the Indian company is unwilling to take responsibility of the cargo. The Americans also are refusing to take the waste back. BP Shukla, Zonal Officer - South Central Pollution Control Board said, "This consignment has municipal waste that cannot be allowed inside India."
This is not the first time that the West has used India as a dumpyard. In October 2007, a huge controversy erupted after large amounts of toxic waste sent from New York was seized at the Kochi port. Similarly there have been huge furores in the past over the dismantling of toxic laden ships like the Blue Lady and Clemencau in India.

Courtesy:timesofindia.com
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Oxygen vanishing from tropical oceans: scientists

WASHINGTON (Xinhua): An international team of physical oceanographers has discovered that oxygen-poor regions of tropical oceans are expanding as the oceans warm, limiting the areas in which predatory fishes and other marine organisms can live or enter in search of food.
The results of the study was released on Thursday and will appear in the May 2 issue of journal Science.
The researchers found through analysis of a database of ocean oxygen measurements that oxygen levels in tropical oceans at a depth of 300 to 700 meters have declined significantly during the past 50 years. The width of the low-oxygen zone is expanding deeper but also shoaling toward the ocean surface.
"We found the largest reduction in a depth of 300 to 700 meters in the tropical northeast Atlantic, whereas the changes in the eastern Indian Ocean were much less pronounced," said Lothar Stramma, lead research from the Leibniz Institute of Marine Sciences in Germany.
"Whether or not these observed changes in oxygen can be attributed to global warming alone is still unresolved. The reduction in oxygen may also be caused by natural processes on shorter time scales," said Stramma.
Researchers say that these low-oxygen zones are "underwater deserts," which will likely have far-reaching impacts on ecosystems because important organism can not survive in them.

Courtesy: thehindu.com

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SRK and Preity bat for green earth

Bollywood actors Shah Rukh Khan and Preity Zinta have joined hands with the National Geographic channel to urge people to make earth a cleaner and greener place to live in.

Dedicated to World Earth Day, the channel launched a special music video titled Earth - A Song for Life and messages by actors Shah Rukh, Preity, Kunal Kapoor, Rahul Bose and Science and Technology Minister, Kapil Sibal on the internet.

The lyrics have been penned by Sameer of Sawaariya fame. Sandeep Chowta has composed the music and Bangalore-based music band Karma6 has lent its voice for the song that inspires people to care about mother earth.

"The sole intention of the music is to inspire viewers and listeners to realise that even one small step can help save our world," said Chowta.

"We are extremely happy that these talented stars have joined us in our endeavour to protect our world," Nikhil Mirchandani, managing director of National Geographic Channel (South Asia), said.

"Music can reach out to people across borders. We were convinced that this would be a unique way to spread the message and inspire the youth to be more environmentally aware .

"The song strikes an emotional chord with the messages, and has an extremely youthful and fresh feel to it. We hope that this anthem will inspire today's youth to do their bit for a better future," he maintained.

Shah Rukh in his message said he is optimistic about the country's youth succeding in making the earth a better place to live in.

"I believe my children will breathe easier. I believe there will be nicer things around them to look at. I believe they will be closer to nature. I'm a non-cynic," Shah Rukh said.

"I'm a very positive thinker and I believe in the power and the sensitivity of the youth. I think the youth is going to be very sensitive to the changing scenario around the world and they will put their best foot forward and make planet earth a cleaner, greener, nicer and a better place to live in," he added.

The actors said even small initiatives like discontinuing the use of plastic can contribute largely in bringing a change.

"My message to all those people out there for Earth Day would be - please try saving the planet, you don't have to do a very big thing, all you can do is use as little plastic as you can. So if you don't want Mumbai to drown in the rain or London to have lots of rain or excessive heat anywhere around the world, save it in your little way by using lesser plastic," urged Preity.

Courtesy:ndtvmovies.com

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Dutch honour for Indian conservationist

Charudutt Mishra, India director of the International Snow Leopard Trust is among three conservationists this year to be honoured with the Netherlands 'Golden Ark Award'.
Mishra was awarded for his project on the protection of snow leopard in the Himalayas based on ''the understanding of and for (the interests of) the local population,'' a statement issued said.
The winners - Patricia Medici (Brazil) and Michiel Hotte (the Netherlands) being the other two - were selected by an international jury from a total of 69 candidates from 40 countries.
The awards carry, among other things, a cash amount of 50,000 Euros each.
While Medici was awarded for her ''successful efforts in saving the Brazilian lowland tapir'', Hotte was given the honour for the ''protection of the Amur leopard - the rarest large feline species'', the statement said.
Mishra was given the 'Whitley Gold Award' in 2005 for ''successfully reducing the retaliatory killings of snow leopards by implementing an insurance scheme among communities whose livestock suffered their predation''.
He was also involved in a post-conflict wildlife assessment in Afghanistan on behalf of the UN.
Holland's Prince Bernard instituted the 'Order of the Golden Ark'. The award was renamed 'Golden Ark Award' this year.
The hosts, Burger Zoo in Arnhem in Netherlands, will sponsor the award for the next 10 years.

Courtesy:ndtv.com

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New satellites to monitor warming: US

After years cutting of budgets for tracking global warming, President George W Bush has proposed more than a USD one billion increase over the next five years for launching more and better Earth-observing satellites.

The president's 2009 budget provides money for six new NASA satellites to watch Earth's changes, costing at least $ 910 million over the next five years.

It also calls for an increase of more than $ 200 million for National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's weather satellites and climate monitoring, including restoration of key instruments that had been cut from a troubled and delayed weather satellite.

NASA had not approved a new Earth sciences mission in four years and the number of NASA Earth-observing satellites either in orbit or in the pipeline had dropped from 26 in 2004 to 21 last month.

A critical report last year by the National Academy of Sciences contended the government was unprepared for collecting vital information about global warming.

It noted that NASA's Earth sciences research budget had been effectively cut by 30 per cent since 2000 and the report prompted changes in the government's Earth observing plans, officials said.

Courtesy:timesofindia.com
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Welcome: The biggest overseas grosser of Akshay Kumar

The Aneez Bazmee-directed comic caper, Welcome has recorded path breaking collections internationally, emerging as the No.1 film of Christmas 2007. The magnum opus was promoted, marketed and distributed overseas by the international arm of Indian Films - Studio 18.

Welcome has grossed more than $ 4.5 million (INR 18 cr) at the international box-office in just two weeks and is going strong in its third week as well. With no comparable tent-pole release in the weeks to come, Welcome is poised to create even bigger milestones in film history.

Of the total international two-week gross, $ 3.5 million has been mopped up from the three key markets alone - US, UK/Ireland and UAE, and the remaining from other European and Asia-Pacific markets.

In the US, Welcome crossed $ 1 million on 63 prints at the end of its second week, much the same as the Gulf, where collections touched $ 1 million on 29 prints at the end of the second week and have held strong over the weekdays as well. Welcome is reported to have beaten some of the biggest blockbusters in the UAE, including Namastey London, Heyy Babyy and Bhool Bhulaiyaa, making it the highest grossing film ever for Akshay Kumar in this territory.

In the UK/Ireland, Welcome mopped up $ 1.5 million on 51 prints at the end of its second week, making it the highest fortnight gross for an Akshay Kumar title in this market. It was alongside Hollywood biggies at No.8 in the coveted UK TOP 10 in its opening weekend having bagged the second highest opening in 2007 after Om Shanti Om. The box-office of Welcome in two weeks in the UK/Ireland has overtaken that of films like Guru, Chak De India, Ta Ra Rum Pum, Heyy Babyy and Bhool Bhulaiyaa,

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Industrialised nations responsible for climate change, says Manmohan

Observing that industrialised countries have the "biggest" responsibility for the impact on climate, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Thursday put the onus on them to correct the damage.

Addressing the 95th Indian Science Congress here, he said the world cannot walk down the path of environmentally harmful development that developed industrial economies have pursued thus far.

"They bear the biggest responsibility for what has happened and must bear the greatest responsibility for correcting the damage," Singh said adding climate change posed a great and a new challenge to the development prospects and to the livelihood of the people.

Noting that India has adopted a "pro-active and pragmatic approach" to the problem of environmental degradation, he said "we cannot replicate the western model of wasteful consumption and environmentally harmful industrialisation.

"We need an alternative approach more mindful of our resource endowments, and also of the need to avoid damage to the environment", the Prime Minister said, adding "we need a global response, a national response and a local response."

An expert committee headed by R Chidambaram had come forward with a research agenda to study the impact of climate change in the country, he said, adding the government was in the process of identifying a centre of national excellence on climate change.

Courtesy:thehindu.com
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Tuna in trouble

For centuries, humans have mythologised the bluefin tuna, an elite, warmblooded fish that can traverse the Atlantic basin in less than a month and a half and grow to weigh three-quarters of a ton. Romans put bluefin on their coins; Salvador Dali painted them.

Now, researchers are using hard science to prevent the fish from going extinct.
Analysing facets including chemical markers in the tuna's ear bones and satellite readings generated by tags attached to migrating fish, marine biologists are beginning to decipher how separate bluefin populations travel and spawn. And those distinctions, they say, may help determine whether fishery managers can preserve the Atlantic's remaining giant tuna.

“We know phenomenally more about bluefin now than we did 15 years ago. We know enough to save this species,” said Michael Sutton, vice president and director of the Centre for the Future of the Oceans at Monterey Bay Aquarium in California. “We don't have the will.”

As demand for the tasty fish has soared among sushi connoisseurs — and as Americans and Europeans face off over who bears the most responsibility for plummeting Atlantic bluefin stocks — scientists have helped answer one of the key questions now confronting fishery managers: Two separate populations of bluefin swim in the Atlantic basin. In other words, humans cannot afford to let either stock disappear completely, because they are genetically distinct.

For years, Europeans have been overfishing bluefin tuna that breed in the Mediterranean. In fact, for the past four years European Union officials have set catch quotas at nearly double the levels their scientists recommended, and fishermen have exceeded those already-elevated quotas by 50 per cent each year. In the United States, the federal government has imposed greater restrictions, but fishermen can still bring home bluefin tuna they incidentally catch as the fish are spawning each spring in the Gulf of Mexico.

“We have some excellent science,” said John Graves, a professor at the Virginia Institute of Marine Science who studies bluefin by conducting DNA analysis. “The real challenge here is to get the science translated into management, and that's where we're hitting a roadblock.”
The fact that bluefin from the Mediterranean and those from the Gulf of Mexico mix most of the year has led some fishermen to think the stock off America's East Coast has been faring better than it actually is, Graves said. Instead, he added, fishery managers need to realise that western
Atlantic bluefin off the East Coast are in dire shape. There are two other species of bluefin, Pacific and southern, which face their own fishing pressures.“What you have now are essentially two stocks, but the only time the stocks are separated is during spawning,” Graves said, adding that the two Atlantic populations do not interbreed. “We need to protect the western stock, because that's a unique genetic entity.”

For years, researchers knew little about how pelagic fish such as bluefin travel, feed and mate. But new developments have allowed scientists to better understand a species that can fetch more than $170,000 for a single fish.

“It's the Porsche of the ocean,” said Sutton, whose aquarium keeps bluefins in its Outer Bay exhibit. “It's as fast as a sports car, it weighs as much as a sports car and it's as valuable as a sports car.”

Satellite tags — which can record the temperature of the ocean as well as the depth at which the fish swim and the level of light to which they are exposed — have provided scientists with a precise record of how bluefin tuna travel. Stanford University marine biologist Barbara A Block and her colleagues tagged two fish within a matter of minutes off western Ireland; within eight months, the fish were more than 3,000 miles apart. One had travelled to waters just northeast of Cuba; the other swam off the coast of Portugal.

Block's team has used a different kind of electronic tag, which they surgically implant in bluefin tuna, to record at regular intervals not only where the tuna go but how their bodies react to the surrounding environment. This year, a student of Block's, Steve Teo, published a paper
chronicling that the tuna warm as they engage in courtship, and tend to stay in warmer waters such as the Gulf of Mexico during this period.

Jay R Rooker, a marine biologist at Texas A&M University, has used a different technique to reach the same conclusions as Graves and Block. Rooker and his colleagues examine otoliths, or ear bones, of bluefin to determine where the fish originate and journey, because the chemical composition of these ear bones reflects the water in which the fish have been swimming. By reading the isotopes of carbon and oxygen contained in these ear bones, Rooker can isolate bluefin from the Mediterranean and the western Atlantic.


Courtesy:deccanherald.com
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Top priority for environmental concerns: Vice Admiral

Environmental concerns are being given top priority in Navy's expansison and developmental plans, Vice Admiral Sunil K Damle, Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Southern Naval Command, said on Thursday,

Environmental concerns occupy a prominent place in Navy's roadmap for the future, he said, inaugurating the Indian Institute of Architects National Convention here. While navy was looking at infrastructure development to meet its training and operational needs, 'we aim to do so in as green and clean a way as possible', he said.

Garbage management, pollution control and development of green spaces are priority areas that the navy is currently addressing, he said.

The world class, state-of-the-art Naval Academy at Ezhimala would be ready in 2009, he said. 'It will provide a prime example of infrastructure development coexisting with environmenal conservation since it has been designed to be a green project right from the drawing board'.

Gurunath Dalvi, President, Indian Institute of Architects, in his presidential address said the convention provides a platform that was expected to bring together architects and planners from across the country and even some experts from overseas, to deliberate and introspect on the theme subject- Conscious Urbanism

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Govt. acts on UN reports on climate change, sets up panel

Acting on UN reports during the outgoing year on threats of impending climate change, the Government set up a high-level panel to tackle the impact of global warming.

The first report of the Nobel award winning Inter-Governmental Penal on Climate Change (IPCC) rang the alarm bells predicting that temperatures in the next century are expected to go up by 2.5 to 4.5 degrees Centigrade and that India, along with developing countries, will face a serious shortage of water and threat to food security.

In the midst of a grim scenario painted by IPCC, a council headed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will act as a think-tank to decide on India's future course of action in the short term as well as after 2012 when the Kyoto Protocol expires.

A three-member sub-committee to be headed by Nobel laureate and IPCC Chief R K Pachauri will submit its report by early next year. The report will assume significance globally as India has been rated as the 4th largest carbon emitter after the United States, Australia and China.

India's per capita emissions of GHG, a formulation connected to climate change, is 1/20th of USA, 1/15 of EU-15 and 1/12th of Japan.

With a 17 per cent share of the global population, the emissions from India are not high in percentage terms, but they have already started showing their immediate effects on the weather, experts say.

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Nanotechnology: answer to air pollution?

The emerging field of nanotechnology could provide a solution to the soaring air pollution caused by automobile emissions worldwide, scientists say.

Research shows that nano-treatment of engines can cut down toxic gas emissions by up to 90 per cent, Prof J Narayan of North Carolina State University told PTI here.

"Use of nanotechnology based systems increases the rate of pre-emission carbon trapping considerably, which is the main constituent of carbon dioxide," explains Narayan. "Thus, it causes cleaner emissions," he added.

Nanotechnology, a very important branch of applied science that deals with matters on atomic and molecular scale, "has a considerable role to play in improvement of energy efficiency," Director of Ansal Institute of Technology M P Singh said.

"Environmental degradation due to automobile emissions is a big issue today. Using nanotechnology can help us to mitigate air pollution considerably," said Ravi V Bellamkonda of the Georgia Institute of Technology.

Scientists are of the view that the single largest influence of air pollution is the amount of carbon dioxide and motor vehicles worldwide are a major contributor to the gas in the atmosphere.

"Nano formulation can augment fuel efficiency by up to 35 per cent as it reduces per capita consumption. That means we have to use smaller amount of materials," Narayan said.

"It (nano-treatment) reduces friction among various engine parts considerably and in turn adds to the lubricating quality of the machine," Narayan said.

With lowering of the fuel combustion rate, air pollution rate also comes down, scientists said.

Upholding the fact that "nano-treatment" helps to protect internal surfaces of the machines, Narayan added "in future nanometals -- which are ductile as well as tough enough -- may play an important role in improving fuel efficiency."

Over a hundred scientists gathered to exchange their ideas and experiences at an International Conference on Nanoscience and Nanotechnology, organised by Ansal Institute of Technology, recently in Gurgaon.

"Nanotechnology doesn't replace any system, but it improvises the existing ones," Bellamkonda said

Courtesy:thehindu.com
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US accepts developing nation proposal at Bali

In a sudden reversal, the United States accepted changes proposed by developing nations to a document launching talks for a new global warming pact by 2009, clearing the way for its adoption.

The U.S. delegation earlier had rejected the changes proposed by poor countries that their need for technological help from rich nations and other issues receive greater recognition in the document launching the negotiations.

But after delegates criticized the U.S. stand and urged a reconsideration, the U.S. delegation relented.

``I think we have come a long way here,'' said Paula Dobriansky, head of the American delegation. ``In this, the United States is very committed to this effort and just wants to really ensure we all act together. We will go forward and join consensus.''

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It's developed vs developing nations at Bali meet

The U.N. chief said Wednesday that guidelines on greenhouse gas emissions cuts opposed by the United States may be ``too ambitious'' to include in a final statement from the climate conference in Bali.

Drafts of the conference statement obtained by The Associated Press this week have included a call for industrialized countries to consider cutting emissions blamed for global warming by between 25 percent and 40 percent by 2020.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, however, said such goals might have to wait for subsequent negotiations when asked about steadfast opposition by the United States, though at some point targets for emissions cuts would be necessary.

``Realistically, it may be too ambitious'' at the Bali conference, Ban told reporters, while urging Washington to be flexible. Later he added: ``Practically speaking, this will have to be negotiated down the road.''

The European Union and developing nations strongly favor the guidelines, which they say are needed to avoid a devastating rise in world temperatures above 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) over preindustrial levels.

The United States, however, has argued strenuously at Bali that including such language in the final document would prejudice negotiations over the next two years aimed at crafting a new global warming pact to take effect in 2012.

``The reality in this business is that once numbers appear in the text, it prejudges the outcome and will tend to drive the negotiations in one direction,'' said Harlan Watson, a lead U.S.
negotiator

Courtesy:thehindu.com
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Global warming: Indian subcontinent at war risk

UN environmentalists have warned the Indian subcontinent is at risk of conflict, even war because of global warming.

According to the UNEP's report, shrinking Himalayan glaciers, shifting monsoon patterns and rising seas along the coastlines could create millions of refugees.

They could threaten the borders between India and Pakistan and India and Bangladesh.

Science and Technology Minister Kapil Sibal landed in Bali on Monday. Sibal will offer India's commitment to cut greenhouse gases but not at the cost of industrial growth. India is expected to make its case on December 12

Courtesy:ibnlive.com
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Oil from damaged tanker blackens shore in S Korea

Mallipo Beach (South Korea) (AP): South Korea's Coast Guard mobilised thousands of people on Sunday to clean up a disastrous oil spill polluting a swathe of the country's scenic and environmentally rich western coast.

About 100 ships, including Coast Guard, navy and private fishing boats, were to help contain and clean up the spill, South Korea's worst ever, said Coast Guard official Kim Young-hwan.
Kim said about 6,000 people, including government personnel, local residents and volunteers were expected to participate, nearly triple the number on Saturday.

"This will be difficult work," Kim said. "We are just in the initial stage."
The oil started hitting beaches, including Mallipo, after a Hong Kong-registered supertanker was slammed by a South Korean-owned barge that came unmoored from its tugboat in rough seas.
A total of 66,000 barrels of crude gushed into the ocean, more than twice as much as in South Korea's worst previous spill in 1995.

Thick, smelly waves of crude washed ashore, turning seagulls black and threatening fish farms along a 17-kilometre stretch of coast.

Mallipo is one of South Korea's best-known beaches, an important stopover for migrating birds, including snipe, mallards and great crested grebes, and has an abundant fishing industry.

Courtesy:thehindu.com
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Cauvery river turns toxin dump yard

Many factories claim to have achieved zero effluent status but the real story is that many companies actually dump toxic wastes into rivers and the biggest casualty is the River Cauvery in Tamil Nadu. It's turning into a dump yard of toxins.

It is the lifeline of Tamil Nadu but the Cauvery River could be carrying tonnes and tonnes of toxic wastes.

Workers from a company in Kerala were caught red handed while releasing 16,000 litres of toxic ferrous chloride into the river in Mettur. This has allegedly come from the Kerala based Cochin Minerals and Rutiles limited.

Cauvery irrigates nine districts and remains the chief source of drinking water for lakhs of people. According to the environmentalists, this could pose a serious health hazard in the long run.
Nityanand Jayaraman, Advisor, Community Environmental Monitoring said, ''Lead leads to a low IQ in children, chromium is carcogenic and cadmium can cause renal failure and ferrous chloride has all these chemicals.''

Only last year, the Supreme Court's monitoring committee had recommended shutting down of CMRL charging it with dumping effluents into the river Periyar. But the company denies the charges and claims the tanker was only being cleaned near the river.
Mani, AGM of CMRL said, ''My product is most suitable for controlling pollution in paper indsttries.''

Although disposal of effluents is the responsibility of the companies, ironically the police have registered a case just against the driver of the hired tanker. Environment and pollution control board officials were not available for comment.

Courtesy:ndtv.com
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Mission Save Earth.

Call it mission mitigation. Prime ministers, industry icons, Hollywood actors will all be here on the island resort of Bali sharing space with government officials, UN agencies and NGOs to fight the for climate cause.

The Kyoto Protocol - that currently binds 36 industrial nations to cut emissions of greenhouse gases by an average of five percent below 1,990 levels - will lapse in 2012.
The task is a tough one - to get the world at large to agree to a roadmap to fight global warming by 2009. The crucial development has come at the very outset with Australia signing the kyoto treaty.

"Great news that Australia has finally agreed to ratify the Kyoto Protocol. As the world's biggest coal exporter, Australia has to really ask itself a question - is it going to get serious and deal with climate change or is it going to keep exporting coal and simply fuel the problem and make it worse,” says Shane Rattenbery of Green Peace International.

The conference comes amid dire warnings that global warming is already irreversible. As global surfcae tempreatures continue to climb, glaciers melt and sea levels rise, developing nations and island countries face the worst risk. Not helping matters is that most countries have not managed to meet the kyoto targets set in 2001 So is the Bali really poised to find a solution to this crisis?

Experts say conference is not expected to deliver a fully negotiated climate deal right away, but set the necessary wheels in motion. India's stand at Bali is clear- as developing nation it is will not commit to any binding cuts at the cost its economic development.

Courtesy:ibnlive.com
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