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Following is the July/August edition of EarthLink, a bi-monthly current awareness newsletter produced by INFOTERRA/USA. EarthLink provides information on international environmental activities, publications and news of interest to EPA staff and other environment professionals.
Sections:
Article: Flood on the Yangtze
Internet Sites on the Yangtze
International Environment News
General
Chemicals
Air Pollution
Sustainability
Global Warming
Bioremediation
Superfund
Nuclear Fuel
Upcoming International Conferences
INFOTERRA Information
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FLOODING ON THE YANGTZE
(see also article from the March/April 1998 edition of Earthlink)
After two months of floods throughout the regions served by the Yangtze, one of China’s longest rivers, the Chinese government today announced a $120 billion aid package to help agricultural and industrial concerns rebound from damages, as well as to help individuals recover.
From CNN, August 31, the story is as follows:
“The Yangtze's eighth flood crest of the year was rushing towards central Hubei province's Yichang city, a city of four million people and construction base for the gargantuan Three Gorges Dam project,” the China Daily said.
Flood fighters planned to use the massive Gezhouba Dam downstream and two giant reservoirs on Yangtze tributaries to dampen the “devastating power” of the surge, Li Sijun, a Hubei antiflood official, was quoted as saying.
But the crest was not expected to match the force of surges that overwhelmed flood defences in many areas, earlier devastating millions of homes and washing out fertile rice paddies and cotton fields.
Along the Yangtze, and in the northeastern province of Heilongjiang,
residents were facing shortages of crucial goods as autumn's chilly arrival
loomed, the China Daily said.”
(http://cnn.com/WORLD/asiapcf/9808/31/RB000977.reut.html
)
Because of this flooding on the Yangtze, the construction of the Three Gorges Dam may be delayed as money is diverted to aid victims of flooding and to rebuild basic services such as clean water.
INTERNET SITES CONCERNING THE YANGTZE AND FLOODING
1) International Rivers Network
Press Release from Wednesday, August 5, 1998
“Three Gorges Dam not the Answer to China’s Floods”
http://www.irn.org/programs/threeg/pr980805.html
2) CNN Interactive
31 August 1998
“China unveils $120 billion flood rescue package”
http://cnn.com/WORLD/asiapcf/9808/31/RB000977.reut.html
INTERNATIONAL ENVIRONMENT NEWS
General
“UNEP Rebuffed in Search for A Wider Role,” Nature 394
(2 July 1998): 4.
In an effort to create a stronger role for UNEP, its executive director,
Klaus Topfer, is encountering strong opposition from the Global Environment
Facility. Critics maintain that UNEP's purpose is now obsolete, as the
“environmental conventions and institutions it has spawned are now
accountable to their own member countries.”
Chemicals
“Polychlorinated Biphenyls: United States Announces Agreement to
Accelerate PCB Phaseout in Russia.” International Environment
Reporter (Vol.21, No. 14) 8 July 1998: 668.
The United States has agreed to work with Canada, Denmark, Finland, Norway
and Sweden to help speed up the phaseout of polychlorinated biphenyls
(PCB's) in Russia. Iceland is expected to join the effort as well. Russian
authorities will first gather information regarding identifying PCB production
facilities. The next phase will be implementing proper disposal of PCB
and finding alternatives to PCB for the industries affected.
Kannan, Narayanan, Nobuyoshi Yamashita and Gert Petrick, et. al. “Polychlorinated
Biphenyls in the Sea of Japan” Environmental Science and Technology,
Vol. 32, No. 12 (June 15, 1998): 1747.
Determining levels of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB’s) and nonylphenols
(NoPhs) in the Sea of Japan helps to assess the levels of marine pollution,
and also to understand the “deep sea structure” of this semi-enclosed
body of water. Using the recently developed Kiel in-situ filtration/extraction
pump system (KISP) two vertical profiles (deep water and shallow water)
and two space-integrated surface profiles were taken. The concentrations
of PCB’s and NoPhs in solution, as well as the composition of the
CB mixtures in solution in the vertical profile indicates a vertical structure
that is similar to that of the open ocean, as illustrated in an earlier
study by Kim (Biogeochemical processes in the North Pacific). Principal
component analyses of the results show a relation between deep and bottom
waters, and surface waters of the nearby region.
“Pesticides: Group Calls for Global Ban on DDT By 2007 Under Emerging
U.N. Treaty.” International Environment Reporter (Vol. 21,
No. 14) 8 July 1998: 677-678.
The World Wildlife Fund is pushing for the worldwide ban of DDT by the
year 2007. “DDT is used to kill insects that spread malaria - an
illness that is linked to the deaths of 5,000 children per day, according
to WWF.” DDT, considered a “probable human carcinogen”
by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, is highly toxic to fish and
dangerous to other wildlife and humans. A 52-page report was published
by WWF, Resolving the DDT Dilemma: Protecting Biodiversity and Human
Health. Copies of the report may be obtained for $10 from World Wildlife
Fund at (202) 778-9625 or from the World Wide Web at www.worldwildlife.org
.
Sissell, Kara. “Canada’s Pollution Releases Decrease by 15%.”
Chemical Week, 5 August 1998: 12.
The annual Canadian National Pollution Release Inventory (NPRI) has just
been issued, showing a 15% decrease in toxic releases in 1996. There was
also a 6% decrease in emissions of carcinogens. However, the debate about
these figures centers over which segment of Canadian society releases
the most pollutants. Many critics say that because the top polluters are
omitted from the NPRI, this causes a question to arise about what information
should be easily accessible to the public. There are also those who hold
that the quality of the emission is the important thing, not the quantity.
The view here is that environmental impact is the key issue.
Air Pollution
Pruzin, Daniel. “Air Pollution: Nations to Sign Accords on Heavy Metals, Persistent Organic Pollutants at Meeting.” International Environment Reporter (Vol. 21, No.13) 24 June 1998: 619-620.
This article looks at the fourth meeting in a series of “Environment for Europe” conferences. More than 50 countries were expected to sign an accord on heavy metals and persistent organic pollutants (POPs). There were 16 substances the POPs protocol would focus on. The heavymetals protocol will target reducing emissions from cadmium, mercury and lead. And there was to be a separate conference devoted to public participation on environmental decision-making.
Linden, Eugene, “Smoke Signals,” Time, Vol. 151, No.24 (June 22, 1998): 50-51.
Forest fires burning throughout the world have been caused by agricultural clearing, logging and industry. Rain forests have never burned before but with the increase in logging and the subsequent disappearance of trees, the system cannot survive. “A rain forest is a self-perpetuating system in that water vapor from trees energizes rainstorms. Cut the trees and rainfall decreases, further drying a system that is not adapted to recovering from fire.” In addition to the loss of natural resources, policymakers are concerned about the public health endangerment brought on by the fires. The cycle of destruction will continue as global warming increases with the loss of forests, droughts around the world will also increase.
Sustainability
“Landfill: UK Report on Sustainable Landfill and the Proposed EU Directive," Warmer Bulletin 61(July 1998): 22-23.
The UK House of Lords evaluated the EU draft report on sustainable landfills. This report proposes to reduce the amount of municipal solid waste landfilled in the EU, require recycling of tires, "ban the co-disposal of hazardous and inert wastes," and to classify landfills for the type of waste they handle: hazardous, non-hazardous, or inert. The House of Lords Committee heard comments on the draft from industry associations, government agencies and non-government organizations. It is calling for the government to promote waste minimization and recycling and to help create favorable market conditions for them.
Costanza, Robert, et.al., “Principles for Sustainable Governance of the Oceans,” Science 281 (10 July 1998): 198-199.
Because ocean ecosystems are suffering as the result of overfishing, pollution, and environmental change, six core governing principles promoting sustainability were introduced at a workshop sponsored by the Independent World Commission on Oceans. This article discusses the principles--responsibility, scale-matching, precaution, adaptive management, full-cost allocation, participation--and offers methods of application. Taking into account the precarious character of the natural world, workshop participants hope to raise awareness and in that way promote sustainability.
“Sustainable Logging Proves Unsupportable.” U.S. News and World Report, Vol. 124, No. 25 (June 29, 1998): 63.
Environmental and development organizations have been investing millions of dollars into sustainable logging projects in the tropics in the hopes of saving rainforests, but the scientificevidence is mounting that sustainable logging practices may actually do more harm to tropical forests and biodiversity than standard logging practices. Standard practices differ between tropical and temperate forests. Since tropical forests contain many hundreds of tree species (unlike temperate forests, which are more uniform), loggers do not clear cut tropical forests (but do damage neighboring trees, disturb wildlife and provide access to farmers who do clear forests). Sustainable forests are meant to provide economic incentives to stop the clearing, and provide a permanent supply of timber that can be regenerated. However sustainable logging is much less profitable than regular logging, and the market for “good wood” is small. Sustainable logging can also reduce biodiversity according to some scientists. There seems to be no easy solution to resolve these issues.
Global Warming
Ramanathan, V. “Trace Greenhouse Gas Effect and Global Warming.” Ambio, Vol. 27, No. 3 (May 1998): 187-197.
This paper describes the developments that transformed the global warming problem from that arising solely from CO2 increase to the trace-gas greenhouse effect problem in which several other gases contribute as much as CO2. This results in increased energy and radiation warming. Not all of this increased energy is balanced by surface emissions. Evaporation increases to restore surface energy balance. The increase in evaporation along with the increase in saturation vapor pressure of the warmer troposphere, contributes through the atmospheric dynamics to an increase in water vapor. The ability to predict regional and transient warming effects depends on resolving a number of outstanding issues, which are discussed in this paper.
“Cracks in the Antarctic Ice,” U.S. News and World Report, Vol. 125, No. 2 (July 13, 1998): 52.
Scientists have predicted that polar ice caps may melt as a result of global warming, raising sea levels to an such an extent that many coastal cities will be underwater. The West Antarctic Ice Sheet is seen as playing a major role in this scenario, and since it is surrounded by open ocean, it is especially vulnerable. There is disagreement on how unstable the ice sheet is, however new evidence shows that at least most of the ice sheet has collapsed once before during the past 1.3 million years, at a time when global temperatures were not much higher than their present levels. Scientists are unsure whether this will happen again, since there are many variables which determine how the ice sheet respond to the changes. However, the consequences of a meltdown are clear to all who are studying the ice sheet, since Antarctica contains 90 percent of the Earth’s ice, and 70 percent of its fresh water.
Cook, William J. “The Force of Al Ni¤o,” U.S. News and World Report, Vol. 124, No. 24 (June 22, 1998): 58.
Vice President Al Gore has recently announced that global warming is playing a direct role inmaking the effects of the El Ni¤o weather pattern worse, and that more extreme weather lies ahead unless something is done about global warming. NOAA recently reported that El Ni¤os have become more frequent in the last century, and that this past event was the strongest in this century. However, the report also states that based on current findings, it cannot be determined whether El Ni¤os are becoming stronger or more frequent because of global warming. Scientists point to historical data which shows that severe El Ni¤os have occurred over a long period of history. In the past 500 years, for example, there have been ten “very severe” El Ni¤o events (including this year’s El Ni¤o). This illustrates that the link between El Ni¤os and global warming is unclear.
Bioremediation
Fischer, Klaus, et.al., “Utilization of Biomass Residues for the Remediation of Metal-Polluted Soils,” Environmental Science & Technology 32, no. 14 (15 July 1998):2154-2161.
One of the main techniques for extracting heavy metals from soil is the use of organic chelates. While “natural substances for soil cleanup are advantageous because they are generally... biodegradable,” ecological balance may be improved by the use of biomass residues from agriculture and food engineering.
Superfund
“High Courts Liability Ruling is a Mixed Blessing,” Chemical
Week, Vol. 160, No. 23(June 17, 1998): 8.
In a June 8th ruling on Superfund liability, the U.S. Supreme
Court found that a parent company can be found liable if one of two criteria
are met: if it played a direct role in running the subsidiary plant, or
if it acted fraudulently toward the subsidiary plant. This is a mixed
blessing for government regulators, which welcomed the ruling. It allows
government regulators to pursue companies who are directly responsible
for running a polluting subsidiary plant, however they can no longer argue
that the parent company is liable, simply because they “supervised”
the subsidiary plant, as was done in past cases. It must now be proven
that the parent company was directly responsible for the subsidiary plant’s
pollution.
Nuclear Fuel
Oi, Noboru and Lothar Wedekind. “Changing Global Perspectives: Nuclear
Fuel Cycle Trends into the Next Century.” IAEA Bulletin, March
1998: 7-11.
This article highlights selected aspects of the major topics examined
at the symposium (the International Symposium on Nuclear Fuel Cycle and
Reactor Strategies: Adjusting to New Realities). The topics were considered
in depth by six symposium working groups, each whichpresented conclusions
reflecting the international common understanding of the status and trends
affecting the development of the nuclear fuel cycle well into the next
century.
UPCOMING INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCES
Notices regarding the following international conferences have been sent to INFOTERRA during the last few months. Notification is received through the mail and over the Internet. The list below is not comprehensive; INFOTERRA maintains a fairly large file of conference announcements. If you have any questions about the conferences listed below, or would like to consult our conferences file, please contact the INFOTERRA office (202) 566-0544 or send an email request to: library-infoterra@epa.gov.
1) Coastal Zone 99 (CZ99) Conference
San Diego, California
24-30 July 1999
Conference themes are the human dimension, the ocean realm, the watershed
perspective, and the public connection. Contact Chantal Lefebre, CZ99
Conference Coordinator, email: cz99@umbsky.cc.umb.edu,
FAX: 617/287-5575.
2) 3rd Conference on Natural Environment, Humans, and Their Interactions
21-22 January 1999
Conference Centre on Villanyi Rd. (H1114 Budapest, Villanyi ut 1113.)
Budapest, Hungary
The main topics of the conference will be as follows: Universe and Man
(from ebb and flow phenomenon to radiation); Earth and People (from caves
to biometeorology); Flora, Fauna and People (from allergology to zoonosis);
Cure with the Help of the Nature (from medical hydrology to phytotherapy).
Contact: Mr. Laszlo Varhegyi, E+L Congress- and Exhibiton Organising,
Ltd. H-1364 Budapest 4, P. O. Box 210. Phone: (36-1) 318-1036, Fax: (36-1)
318-3418, E-mail: l.varhegyi@mail.datanet.hu
3) STAD 1999: Sustainable Technology And Development
22-24 February 1999
Gwalior, India
The proposed topics are: Prospects & implementations of sustainable
technology, Management of resources, Sustainable habitat, Efficiency and
effectiveness of ecofriendly technology, System infrastructure, Quality
issues in communication, Industrial commitmentsfor sustainable process
and products, Sustainability and quality, CAD based solutions, and Policies,
education and training options. Contact: Madhav Institute of Technology
and Science, Dr. R.D. Gupta, P.O. Residency, Gwalior 474 005, M.P. India.
Tel: +91 751 364479 / 365571; Fax: +91 751 364684; Email: g.ayad@cgnet.com.
5) International Symposium on Information Technology in Oceanography
(ITO ‘98)
12-16 October 1998
Goa, India
Presented by the National Institute of Oceanography of India (NIO), this conference aims to review applications of information technology and identify areas of potential applications in oceanography. The objectives are to assess the requirements of end-users and to find a means of IT use to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of ocean industry. Contact: Vishwas Chavan, Organizing Secretary, NIO, Dona Paula, Goa 403 004, India.
6) MER5: Materials and Energy from Refuse
12-14 October 1998
Oostende, Belgium
The fifth international symposium of MER will draw a status of the current situation with landfills and waste treatment, as well as give an overview of up and coming technologies and an indicator of future trends. Special attention will be given to possible ways to recover energy without placing materials recovery in the background. Discussions will be held on: Regulatory Aspects, Organizational, social, and economic aspects, Waste Incineration with Energy Recovery, Energy from Biowaste and Biomass, Recycling, and other topics. Contact: Ms. Rita Peys c/o Technologisch Instituut vzw, Desguinlei 214, B-2018 Antwerpen, Belgium. Tel: +32 3 216 09 96; FAX: +32 3 216 06 89; Email: mer@ti.kviv.be.
