Asia-Pacific leaders to cut taxes on green goods

Asia-Pacific leaders representing more than half of the global economy committed Sunday to cutting tariffs on environmental goods to no more than five percent and reducing energy intensity.

In a joint statement after a summit in Hawaii, leaders of the APEC bloc -- which includes the United States and China -- said they would also eliminate non-tariff barriers that impede trade in green products.

Tapirs on the brink of extinction

THE Malayan tapir (Tapirus indicus) is the largest of the world’s four tapir species. The other three species – lowland, mountain and Baird’s – are found in Central and South America. Once distributed over South-East Asia, the Malayan tapir is now confined to Peninsular Malaysia, Sumatra in Indonesia, Thailand and Myanmar, and continues to decline in numbers in all four countries.

“Only the first two countries have significant populations and habitat remaining. The decline in population is the result of continued habitat loss from illegal logging and the lack of protection of most areas still containing significant populations,” says Dr Alan Shoemaker at a tapir symposium in Kuala Lumpur last month.

Tapirs losing out

BENDUL, the Malayan tapir, is a sorry sight. Unlike the other tapirs at the Sungai Dusun Wildlife Conservation Centre which have hefty, robust bodies, Bendul is almost all skin and bones. Her coat is dull and grey, not a healthy shine like that on the others. Her ribcage shows under her skin and her body is badly scarred.
She was named after the place where she was found loitering in late September, a village in Ulu Bendul some 16km from Seremban in Negri Sembilan, and arrived at the centre wounded and starving.
“After trapping her, we had planned to return her to the forest but when we saw that she had a bullet wound which was infested with maggots, we decided to bring her here,” says Mahathir Mohamad who heads the Sungai Dusun centre, located in the upper reaches of Selangor about 90 minutes’ drive from Kuala Lumpur.

Wild fodder: At the Sungai Dusun Wildlife Conservation Centre, the seven tapirs there are fed leaves collected from the jungle.

From the tell-tale size and shape of the wound, wildlife officers believe Bendul had been shot by wild boar hunters, probably mistakenly. “Villagers say they have seen the tapir with two young. We searched but could not find the juveniles. We believe they have also been shot,” says Mahathir.

At Sungai Dusun, a 4,330ha sprawl of protected peatswamp and lowland dipterocarp forest near the Selangor-Perak boundary which is both a rescue and captive breeding centre, Bendul is seen chomping on the leaves of the mengkirai, nangka and mahang trees which keepers have collected from the forest. Soon, she will be fed nutrition-laden pellets to fatten her up. At the centre, she joins six other tapirs – four of which are captive-breds and two, also rescued tapirs.

Mysterious orange goo washing ashore in Alaska

A mysterious orange goo that washed ashore in an Alaska village last week and sparked pollution concerns turns out to be a mass of crustacean eggs or embryos, government scientists said on Monday.

Tests of a sample sent by the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation produced the results, officials at a laboratory belonging to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Alaska Fisheries Service Center said.

"We now think these are some sort of small crustacean egg or embryo, with the lipid oil droplet in the middle causing the orange color," Jeep Rice, a lead scientist at the Juneau laboratory, said in a news release.
"So this is natural. It is not chemical pollution; it is not a man-made substance," Rice said.

Last week's appearance of the orange substance in the Alaska village of Kivalina initially baffled villagers and experts.

Increase in GM Crops, Resistant Weeds Lead to Dramatic Rise in Pesticide Use

The widespread use of genetically modified (GM) crops engineered to tolerate herbicides has led to a sharp increase in the use of agricultural chemicals in the U.S. This practice is creating herbicide-resistant "super weeds" and an increase in chemical residues in U.S. food, according to a new report released today by The Organic Center, the Union for Concerned Scientists, and the Center for Food Safety.

According to the report, entitled "Impacts of Genetically Engineered Crops on Pesticide Use in the United States: The First Thirteen Years," as more farmers have adopted variations of corn, soy beans, and cotton bred to tolerate weed killer in recent years, the use of herbicides has increased steadily, with herbicide use growing by 383 million pounds from 1996 to 2008, according to the report. Forty-six percent of that increase occurred during 2007 and 2008.

Pesticide Pathway

When soil moisture levels increase, pesticide losses to the atmosphere through volatilization also rise. In one long-term field study, U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) scientists found that herbicide volatilization consistently resulted in herbicide losses that exceed losses from field runoff. Agricultural Research Service (ARS) soil scientist Timothy Gish and ARS micrometeorologist John Prueger led the investigation, which looked at the field dynamics of atrazine and metolachlor, two herbicides commonly used in corn production. Both herbicides are known to contaminate surface and ground water, which was primarily thought to occur through surface runoff.

How To Save Electricity

Ways to Save Electricity

Find out how you can save electricity in your home - help the environment and save money.

Every year electricity gets more and more expensive. Read on to find out how you can save electricity and money with this handy selection of energy saving tips.

How to Help Save Our Earth

Earth is a really critical partial of the lives. Most of us wouldn’t consider of polluting the bodies, nonetheless we have been polluting the world by injustice and use too much of the full of health resources. As obliged people we should at slightest do what we can to assistance reduce, reuse, and recycle what we can as a initial step.

We have been not utterly to blame; we hereditary a soiled Earth, though we can do something to safeguard which the young kids can grow up in a cleaner, safer world than ourselves.

Don’t ever let someone get divided with observant “what can we do, we am customarily a single person”. Each and each chairman can do a lot, and we can change others to do something as well.

How to save water

Saving water is really important as it is a limited resource which is essential to our well being. It is important that we save water and here are a list of how you can do it from home!

1. Check faucets and pipes for leaks
A small drip from a worn faucet washer can waste 20 gallons of water per day. Larger leaks can waste hundreds of gallons.

2. Don't use the toilet as an ashtray or wastebasket
Every time you flush a cigarette butt, facial tissue or other small bit of trash, five to seven gallons of water is wasted.

What Will Climate Change and Sea Level Rise Mean for Barrier Islands?

ScienceDaily (June 16, 2011) — A new survey of barrier islands published earlier this spring offers the most thorough assessment to date of the thousands of small islands that hug the coasts of the world's landmasses. The study, led by Matthew Stutz of Meredith College, Raleigh, N.C., and Orrin Pilkey of Duke University, Durham, N.C., offers new insight into how the islands form and evolve over time -- and how they may fare as the climate changes and sea level rises.

The survey is based on a global collection of satellite images from Landsat 7 as well as information from topographic and navigational charts. The satellite images were captured in 2000, and processed by a private company as part of an effort funded by NASA and the U.S. Geological Survey.

Short Term Air Emissions and Their Effect on Global Warming

Fast action on certain pollutants such as black carbon, ground-level ozone and methane may help limit near term global temperature rise and significantly increase the chances of keeping temperature rise below 3.6 degrees F. Protecting the near-term climate is central to significantly cutting the risk of amplified global climate change linked with rapid and extensive loss of Arctic ice on both the land and at sea, said assessment authors.

The findings, released on June 15 in Bonn, Germany, during a meeting of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) have been compiled by an international team of more than 50 researchers chaired by Drew Shindell of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).

Fastest Sea-Level Rise in 2,000 Years Linked to Increasing Global Temperatures

The rate of sea level rise along the U.S. Atlantic coast is greater now than at any time in the past 2,000 years -- and has shown a consistent link between changes in global mean surface temperature and sea level.

The findings are published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).


The research, funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF), was conducted by Andrew Kemp, Yale University; Benjamin Horton, University of Pennsylvania; Jeffrey Donnelly, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution; Michael Mann, Pennsylvania State University; Martin Vermeer, Aalto University School of Engineering, Finland; and Stefan Rahmstorf, Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, Germany.
Kemp and colleagues developed the first continuous sea-level reconstruction for the past 2,000 years, and compared variations in global temperature to changes in sea level over that time period.

The Weather

We all complain about the weather. It is a great topic of conversation. Weather is the state of the atmosphere, to the degree that it is hot or cold, wet or dry, calm or stormy, clear or cloudy. Most weather phenomena occur in the troposphere, just below the stratosphere. Weather is part of what life is about. However, everything has its price. New research indicates that routine weather events such as rain and cooler-than-average days can add up to an annual economic impact of as much as $485 billion in the United States based on 2011 data. Rain, snow, and hot or cold temperatures can all have economic impacts. The study, led by the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), found that finance, manufacturing, agriculture, and every other sector of the economy is sensitive to changes in the weather. The impacts can be felt in every state.

Returning to the Caveman Diet

In today's age of highly processed food, packaged and shaped to look like animals, filled with ingredients we have never heard of, it is tempting to return to a diet from a much simpler time. A new fad that is catching on, known as the Paleolithic or "paleo" diet, aims to return people to a more "natural" way of eating. Before agriculture, people would eat lean meats, fruits, and vegetables, and they would avoid grains and processed foods. Is this what is really best for human consumption? According to a new book, the so-called caveman diet was abandoned for a reason, and the belief that it is superior is pure hokum.

Threatened Species: Dugong

Dugongs are marine mammals common in tropical coasts of East Africa, through south and southeast Asia all the way to Australia. Its body shape is similar to a pregnant lady which led to the idea of the presence of mermaids in the sea. But of course, that is not true. Dugong dugon belongs to the Sirenia order and it is the remaining species in the Dugongidae family. They are herbivorous animals, mainly focusing on specific seagrass species or marine algae if seagrass are scarce, so they are usually found grazing at the seagrass beds (Gales et al. 2003; Marsh et al. 1982). Having low birth rate and late sexual maturity, their population is vulnerable to disturbances (Hines et al. 2005). Large amount of energy is spent on raising their single offspring making them a good representative of consummate K-selectors (Pianka 1970). Little is known about this marine mammal because of their sensitive and shy character, most of the time avoiding places with human activities (Hutomo & Moosa 2005).

The Environmental Impacts of Aquaculture in Southeast Asia

Aquaculture is the farming of marine and fresh water fish, shellfish and aquatic plants which can be done in a marine or freshwater environment. It is an important sector as it reduces the pressure on the wildfish population due to overfishing (Naylor et al. 2000). Currently aquaculture supplies one-third of the world seafood supplies and is expected to increase due to the high demand of fish as a main protein source (Naylor et al. 2001). In Southeast Asia, the commonly used species for aquaculture are tilapia, shrimps (Penaeus monodon), crabs (Scylla serrata) and catfish to name a few (SEAFDEC 2009). Even though aquaculture is expected to provide a net increase of the global fish production, it has several negative impacts towards the environment. In this paper, major environmental impacts will be discussed such as discharge of effluent and chemicals from farms, introduction of exotic species, spread of disease, habitat loss and dependence of fish-based fish feed. Together with these, management of the impacts which are currently used will be discussed such as the integrated coastal zone management, management of farm effluent, disease control and the use of native species and low trophic level fish.

The New Generation of Environmentalist

I do not know if global warming is occuring but many scientist believe it is occuring. So far i have read quite some few scientific articles, and they usually connect their findings with global warming. This would include coral bleaching, introduction of new diseases, interruption of local ecosystems etc.

So maybe they believe it is happening because it is one of the possible explaination for their studies. I have friends who believe it is really happening and we must do something about it.

Are You A Water Waster Or A Water Saver?

To find out whether you're a water-sipper or a water-slurper, take the following quiz. Then scroll below to rate your own water footprint.

Answer the following questions to see where you rank on the water-conservation meter:

How and why to make seedbombs

Fun and easy to make, seedbombs can be used to green up hard-to-access urban wasteland or in your garden at home

Seedbombs originated in seventies New York. The term was originally 'seed grenade' and comprised wildflower seeds, water and fertilizer all wrapped up in a condom. They were lobbed over fences onto empty lots, with the overarching aim of making neighbourhoods sprucer.

From these small beginnings grew the guerilla gardening movement itself, where vacant lots were turned into productive community gardens with vegetables and edible flowers on tap.

However, seedbombs are not just for guerilla-style gardening - they can also be used for planting at home. And thankfully, the art of making seed bombs has moved on since the seventies.



Josie Pearl Jeffery, who runs Seed Freedom, a Sussex-based company that specialises in seedbomb kits, holds workshops at gardening events and summer festival.

'Seedbombs have the protection provided by the outer coating of earth and clay and as such the seeds are less likely to be damaged by harsh weather conditions and eaten by insects, birds and rodents,' she says.

The seeds therefore have a better chance of germinating and growing into mature plants - which means fewer seeds are required because the rate of success is higher.

So that's the reasoning behind it, but what's the method?

How to make a seedbomb

Having attended one of Josie's workshops I can tell you how the seed bombs take shape:

1) Mould your clay and compost mixture with water until it is sticky.

2) Add your seed mixture, which can be salad or mixed wildflower seeds, for example, and then pat gently into a small ball around the size of one you'd use for ping-pong.

3) Once you have chosen an appropriate site you can push your ball into place - in a pot/a wall/window box etc.

4) Then ensure it is kept warm (try to avoid frosts) and moist with regular watering until the seeds start to germinate.



If you prefer to adopt the guerilla gardening approach and throw the seedbomb onto some derelict land what will happen?

Josie explains that there are two different outcomes which depend on the weather. The seed bomb will either keep its form and the seeds germinate and sprout from the ball and work their way out of it in time, or if it rains a lot the seedbomb dissolves and seeds will lie on the bare earth until they germinate either on the surface of the ground or get trampled.

Polystyrene and Plastic Packaging

In Malaysia, polystyrene are mainly used for food and electronic packaging. The main reason of its usage is the solid spongy material which is really light and a bad heat conductor and really cheap.

However currently people are encouraged to not use it because it is not biodegradable. But no one denies that this thing is one of the most creative invention in the world. I actually really like it too.

This applies to plastic bags too. Really user friendly, durable, waterproof, light.. what else? Again the same thing, has many functions but its not biodegradable.

But currently, there are plastic bags made from starch which can biodegrade easier when they end up in the land fill but people start to question the use of these edible materials for plastic bags. The question is, do you feel it's reasonable to use food to make plastics bags when we don't have enough food to feed the poor children in our own nation and the third world countries? Is it right?

So one way is used to reduced the production of polystyrene and plastic bags - reduce the usage.



Yes, it is possible if everyone can reduce the usage, replacing them with paper bags etc. But it is important to remember most of us are not financially stable. We don;t have trees that grows money for us. In our food courts, many food sellers they prefer polystyrene packaging because it is cheaper.

So maybe I thought, yes we should reduce the usage, however at the same time we should also think of ways how to make these things biodegradable. Rather than just completely cut the usage of these things. We shouldn't show hatred towards it, but think of ways to make it a better product because we all love plastic bags and polystyrene box. It so light, cheap and fluffy!

How to Make Compost

1.Choose a site that is handy to your garden and kitchen, yet out of plain sight.

2.You don't need a bin to make compost-a pile of leaves, grass clippings and other yard wastes will do-but a bin keeps the compost contained and looks neater. You can corral compost in a simple wire column made from a 4-foot wide by 8-foot long piece of stiff wire mesh.

How to Make Garbage Enzyme

Garbage Enzyme Pseudoscience

Taken from The Star Online

"I WISH to point out that a lot of the facts championed by the garbage enzyme movement is largely inaccurate and falls perilously into the category of pseudoscience. I feel compelled to correct some of the myths and misrepresentations.

Garbage enzyme is nothing more than vinegar produced from organic wastes. It is essentially homebrew vinegar except that starch-rich food like rice is replaced with kitchen waste. The key ingredient is the sugar that is metabolised by bacteria into alcohol which subsequently is reduced to acetic acid (vinegar).

Polar bear's epic nine day swim in search of sea ice

A polar bear swam continuously for over nine days, covering 687km (426 miles), a new study has revealed.

Scientists studying bears around the Beaufort sea, north of Alaska, claim this endurance feat could be a result of climate change.

Polar bears are known to swim between land and sea ice floes to hunt seals.

But the researchers say that increased sea ice melts push polar bears to swim greater distances, risking their own health and future generations.

Carbon cycle and carbon sinks.

Imagine in the earth, the carbon atom is being reused for thousand of years to make up grass, then eaten by a cow becoming the cow's fat, then humans eat the cow, so that carbon becomes our fat, then we die so the carbon returns to the soil which becomes the nutrient to the grass and then eaten by a cow again.

That was an illustrated example of the carbon cycle in my opinion.

Why do people care so much about carbon anyways?