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Focus on environment
Hungry polar bears eating each other
Polar bears, deprived of their natural food by longer seasons without ice, may be turning to cannibalism.
In the journal Polar Biology American and Canadian scientists reviewed three cases of polar bear cannibalism in early 2004 in the Beaufort Sea, north of Alaska. The kills included a mama bear in her den, a case described in graphic detail by the researchers.
Polar bears usually eat ringed seals; they kill each other for population regulation, dominance, and reproductive advantage, but in over two decades of study, scientists had never seen polar bears stalk, kill, and eat each other.
“This represents the brutal downside of global warming,” said Deborah Williams of green group Alaska Conservation Solutions.
Green TV
World’s first broadband TV channel dedicated to environmental issues was launched recently.
Green.tv is the brainchild of environmental film director/producer, Ade Thomas: “green.tv will be a kind of green Google for green films. If you want to see a news item about climate change, watch a kids’ story about penguins or a feature about wind farms, go to www.green.tv and you’ll be able to see some engaging and thought-provoking films about the environment, at a time when a greater understanding and awareness of these issues is critical.”
Developed with support from the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), green.tv will carry films from around the world produced by NGOs, community filmmakers, public sector bodies and companies with a firm interest in protecting our environment.
“Green.tv is a truly innovative project which will no doubt influence the field of environmental film-making and research. It will eventually offer a comprehensive ‘one stop shop’ for environmental TV programming — something that has so far not been available. Green.tv has the potential to become a broadband reference point or benchmark in this field,” said UNEP.
Growing deserts
Hundreds of thousands of people — some of them the world’s poorest — will be displaced in the next 30 years as the globe’s deserts expand, according to a report from the UN’s Millennium Ecosystem Assessment.
Climate change is likely to intensify droughts, heat waves, and floods in “drylands,” which comprise 41 per cent of the earth’s land surface and are home to 2.1 billion people. Other human factors also contribute to desertification, including unsustainable farming and irrigation practices, overgrazing, and population overload. And the impacts are global: huge dust storms in the Gobi and Sahara deserts are causing respiratory problems in North America and hurting coral reefs in the Caribbean.
To fight desertification, the UN recommends a $100 billion investment in improving management of crops and irrigation, shifting local economies to more sustainable bases like ecotourism and fish farming, and developing clean energy sources in arid zones.
Building recycling on the rise
The demolition of buildings in the US produces about 124 million tons of debris a year, most of which is carted off to landfills. But that is starting to change: instead of indiscriminately bashing buildings with wrecking balls, companies are taking a more deliberate approach, dismantling structures and recycling the materials. For instance, from waste generated by the deconstruction concrete will refill the site, steel will be made into new rebar, aluminium will be reused in other products, and foam-board ceiling tiles will be returned to the manufacturer for reuse.
In addition to the obvious environmental benefits over $200,000 will be saved in dump fees alone.
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