Nov 23 2010

‘Wonder food’ spreads to Middle East

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A nutritious blue-green algae, known as spirulina, has been added to school meals in Jordan to combat chronic malnutrition and anaemia among children. The Intergovernmental Institution for the use of Micro-algae Spirulina against Malnutrition (IIMSAM), which has observer status with the UN Economic and Social Council, says spirulina is rich in protein and vitamin B, and contains beta-carotene that can overcome eye problems caused by Vitamin A deficiency. A tablespoon a day can eliminate iron anaemia, the most common mineral deficiency.
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Nov 23 2010

Galactic Outburst

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Astronomers using NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope have found a stunning burst of star formation that beams out as much infrared light as an entire galaxy. The collision of two spiral galaxies has triggered this explosion, which is cloaked by dust that renders its stars nearly invisible in other wavelengths of light. Although bright as this is, it pales in comparison to a quasar. The brightest known quasar is 3C 273 in the constellation of Virgo. This quasar's luminosity is about 2 trillion times that of our sun, or about 100 times that of the total light of average giant galaxies like our Milky Way. The starburst newly revealed by Spitzer stands as the most luminous ever seen taking place away from the centers, or nuclei, of merging parent galaxies. It blazes ten times brighter than the nearby Universe's previous most famous starburst that gleams in another galactic smashup known as the Antennae Galaxy.
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Nov 23 2010

World’s First Hybrid Tugboat Reduces Emissions at California Ports

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Carbon emissions at sea have received more attention over the last decade. Ports, especially, can have a negative impact on air quality in the populated areas that surround them. The many emissions sources at ports include ships, trucks, trains, and cargo-handling equipment. Harbor-crafts also contribute a significant portion of total port emissions. These include tugboats, ferries, fishing boats, and dredge vessels. Recently, the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach have started using a hybrid electric tugboat. A new study by the University of California (UC) Riverside has shown that this has been effective at reducing emissions.
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Nov 23 2010

Have yourself a Merry Green Christmas!

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I'm guessing Christmas shopping has already started for many and I know of some people who have put up trees already. Christmas is a nice season: it wraps up the end of the year, gives us time to contemplate, spend time with families, shop and eat. Who doesn't like all of that? Modern Christmas is also supremely consumerist, so like with other holidays, it is essential to consider your personal footprint.
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Nov 23 2010

Air pollution exceeds safety limits in big Asian cities

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Air pollution in major cities in Asia exceeds the World Health Organisation's (WHO) air quality guidelines and toxic cocktails result in more than 530,000 premature deaths a year, according to a new report issued on Tuesday. Issued by the U.S.-based Health Effects Institute, the study found that elderly people with cardiopulmonary and other chronic illnesses were especially vulnerable and they tended to die prematurely when their conditions were exacerbated by bad air. "In general, those susceptible to air pollution are people who are older, who have cardiopulmonary disease, stroke, conditions often related to aging," the institute's vice president, Robert O'Keefe, said by telephone.
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Nov 22 2010

European Carbon Emissions

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The European Commission said on Monday a proposal to limit the use of some carbon credits from industrial gas projects in its emissions trading scheme might be unveiled during a United Nations climate summit in Mexico next week. The European Union Emissions Trading Scheme is the largest multi-national emissions trading scheme in the world. The trading Scheme currently covers more than 10,000 installations with a net heat excess of 20 MW in the energy and industrial sectors which are collectively responsible for close to half of the EU's emissions of CO2 and 40% of its total greenhouse gas emissions. Under the Trading scheme, large emitters of carbon dioxide within the EU must monitor and annually report their CO2 emissions, and they are obliged every year to return an amount of emission allowances to the government that is equivalent to their CO2 emissions in that year. In order to neutralize annual irregularities in CO2-emission levels that may occur due to extreme weather events (such as harsh winters or very hot summers), emission credits for any plant operator subject to the Trading Scheme are given out for a sequence of several years at once. Each such sequence of years is called a Trading Period. The 1st Trading Scheme Trading Period expired in December 2007. Since January 2008, the 2nd Trading Period is under way which will last until December 2012.
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Nov 22 2010

Global CO2 Emissions Increased in 2010

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During the heart of the recession in 2009, CO2 emissions fell as economic activity slowed. Now that the world is seeing modest signs at recovery, the pace of economic activity has picked up and so have the CO2 emissions. According to a new study from the University of Exeter in the United Kingdom, the planet may reach record levels of emissions by the end of the year.
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Nov 22 2010

Greening the Blue Helmets: the UN Goes Green

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The United Nations might be the body long responsible for hosting the forum for international agreement on climate change, so it’s about time it gets its own climate house in order.
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Nov 22 2010

Caffeinated alcoholic beverage ban: A lost health CSR opportunity

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The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has weighed in on the health merits of caffeinated alcoholic beverages, declaring that caffeine added to malt beverages constitutes an "unsafe food additive." That essentially makes it illegal to manufacture the beverages which currently bear vivid, youth-inspired names like Four Loko, Joose, and Max.
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Nov 22 2010

Bangladesh okays strict law to protect endangered species

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Bangladesh has approved a law that sets jail terms of up to 12 years for deliberately killing tigers and other wild animals endangered in the South Asian country, officials said on Saturday. A recent cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina also agreed to provide reparations to the families of victims killed or maimed by the animals that range between 100,000 taka ($1,415) and 50,000 taka. Each family will also get 25,000 taka as compensation if wild animals destroy assets such as houses and crops. "The cabinet approved jail terms from two years to 12 years for killing endangered snakes and animals including tigers," Hasina's press secretary Abul Kalam Azad told Reuters.
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