On Wednesday March 9th the Centre for Environment is holding a seminar on biodiversity entitled Biodiversity: New Dimensions of the Policy Challenge. The event is part of the Centre's ongoing seminar series. The scheduled speaker is Robert C. Paehlke, Professor Emeritus, Environmental and Resource Studies and Political Science, Trent University.

The event is being held from 4:10 to 6:00pm in Room SS1072 of Sidney Smith Hall (100 St. George St.). There is no fee or registration, everyone is welcome. More information is available here. 

On Thursday March 3rd the Centre for Environment is holding a seminar on fluoride in drinking water entitled Medicating the Masses with Fluoride in Drinking Water: Do the Benefits Outweigh the Risks? The event is part of the Centre's ongoing seminar series. The scheduled speaker is Hardy Limeback, Professor and Head, Preventative Dentistry, Faculty of Dentistry, University of Toronto.

The event is being held from 4:10 to 6:00pm in Room RS208 of the Roseburgh Building (4 Taddle Creek Road). There is no fee or registration, everyone is welcome. More information is available here.

Today, Thursday February 17th, the Centre for Environment is holding a seminar on human biomonitoring of environmental chemicals entitled Human Biomonitoring of Environmental Chemicals: Result from the Canadian Health Measures Survey. The event is part of the Centre's ongoing seminar series. The scheduled speaker is Doug Haines, Director of the Chemical Surveillance Bureau, Environmental and Radiation Health Sciences Directorate of Health Canada.

The event is being held from 4:10 to 6:00pm in Room RS208 of the Roseburgh Building (4 Taddle Creek Road). There is no fee or registration, everyone is welcome. More information is available here.

Copenhagen's newest waste management plant, scheduled to begin operation in 2016, will incorporate an urban ski park into its design. The plant will incinerate waste from five different municipalities into heat and electricity for 140, 000 homes. Mr. Ingels, founded of the Bjarke Ingels Group which designed the project, has stated the plant will challenge the conception that sustainability means sacrifice. “We try to look at some different approaches where sustainable cities and sustainable buildings actually increase the quality of life,” he said during an interview with National Public Radio's Living on Earth. “We call this ‘hedonistic sustainability’.” Waste-to-energy plants are commonplace in European countries such as Denmark, Sweden and Germany, but have failed to gain a similar momentum this side of the Atlantic. In the United States, only 87 municipal waste management plants are generating electricity, which accounts for a paltry 1 percent of the nation's power. The high capital costs associated with waste-to-energy plants, as well as plentiful space for landfills and the influence of groups advocating recycling as opposed to incineration, have created major barriers for the development of such projects. (The New York Times recently conducted a Q&A session with Mr. Ingels about another recent project of his, 8 House, a sustainable, mix-use project in Copenhagen.)

A judge from the small town of Lago Agrio, in the Andean Amazon, has recently ruled that oil giant Chevron is responsible for polluting remote tracks of the Ecuadorean jungle. Judge Nicolás Zambrano subsequently ordered that the company pay 9 billion dollars in damages, one of the largest environmental settlements ever made. The legal battle over this issue has been raging for 17 years in both American and Ecuadorean courts, pitting indigenous tribes against one of the largest corporations in the U.S. It is not clear if Chevron will pay part or all of the award, as both sides of the court case have appealed the decision. As explained by Ralph G. Steinhardt, a professor of law and international affairs at George Washington University Law School, "it might as well be Monopoly money, given all the respect that Chevron will show it. There is a legal regime for enforcing foreign judgments but there is a lot of discretion for U.S. judges to suspend the enforcement of foreign judgments.” Similar suits may soon emerge as of a result of both the size of the award and the widespread attention the case brought towards environmental degradation.

The attorney generals of three U.S. states - New York, Connecticut, and Vermont - sued the American Nuclear Waste Commission this past Tuesday over a new commission policy that states nuclear waste may be stored safely for 60 years at a nuclear power plant after the reactor has gone out of service. In a statement New York's attorney general Eric T. Schneiderman said, "Our communities deserve a thorough review of the environmental, public health and safety risks such a move would present.”

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has issued the first federal policy for aquaculture. Farm-raised seafood may now be produced in federal waters, as long as the operation does not endanger wild fish stocks or saltwater ecosystems. The production of aquaculture has been rising globally, with farmed fish and shellfish surpassing stocks caught in the wild as the major source of seafood worldwide in 2009. Environmentalists and researchers in other countries have criticized marine aquaculture for its purported link to pollution and disease among wild fish.

The Britain-based nonprofit group Third Environmental Generation (3EG) has recently released a report entitled Degrees of Risk: Defining a Risk Management Framework for Climate Security. The research team has specified a "A, B and C" framework for mitigating the effects of climate change: (A) Aim to stay below 2°C (3.6°F) of warming; (B) Build and budget assuming 3-4°C (5.4-7.2°F) of warming and (C) Contingency plan for 5-7°C (9-12.6°F) of warming. The report in its entirety is available here for download.

The Environmental Protection Agency's Administrator Lisa Jackson testified before the House Energy and Commerce Committee. During her testimony, she sought to emphasize the importance of the EPA's recent efforts to update standard designated by the Clean Air Act to better protect human and environmental health. There has been lobbying from industry groups, who want Congress to create special loopholes for air pollution standards. The Environmental News Network has highlighted the importance of the Clean Air Act, including the 100, 000 hospital visits avoided and the 160, 000 human lives saved by the environmental standards within the act.

Conservation International has released a series of photographs chronicling the ten most endangered forest biodiversity hot spots in the world, to coincide with the United Nation's International Year of the Forest. Forests provide a wide range of essential ecosystems services but, as Olivier Langrand of Conservation International explains, they are "being destroyed at an alarming rate to give room to pastures, agricultural land, mineral exploitation, and sprawling urban areas, but by doing so we are destroying our own capacity to survive."

The Canadian Wildlife Federation Robert Bateman Get to Know Contest begins April 10th, during National Wildlife Week. Renowned Canadian artist Robert Bateman invites youth aged 5-18 to "get to know" the wildlife surrounding them through drawing, writing, photography and video entries. The theme of this year's contest is "This Is My Forest, in honour of the UN's International Year of the Forest. For more information, see the Get To Know website.

Over the weekend four suspected poachers were shot by park rangers in South Africa, in two separate incidences. Three of the poachers were shot in Kruger and the other was shot in KwaZulu-Natal national park, both of which are popular safari destinations. In the past year, 333 rhinos were killed by poachers in South Africa, triple the number killed in 2009. 

The sewage treatment plants of New York City release foul odours and often contaminate nearby waterways. But officials in the city are envisioning a way to transform the vast amounts waste - sludge, methane gas and other waste-water byproducts - produced by residents of the city into renewable energy resources. Heating fuel can be extracted from the sludge, whereas the algae produced by wastewater contains butanol, an fuel source alternative to gasoline. The treatment plants could also sell methane to homeowners in the area to heat their residences. As it costs the city of New York approximately $400 million dollars a year to provide sewage treatment services, the sale of these alternative fuel sources represent a major financial asset. Currently the 1,200 tonnes of sludge produced daily by the city are sent to landfills in various states. Methane released from the sewage plant's digesters presents the greatest opportunity. Currently half of this methane is used to provide for about 20 percent of the electricity needs of the city's 14 sewage treatment plants, whose electricity bills amount to approximately $50 million dollars a year. The other half of this methane is burned off and wasted. The city's Department of Environment Protection is also analyzing proposals for wind and solar plants on Staten Island. As explained by Eric A. Goldstein, a lawyer with the National Resources Defence Council, which oversees the city's environmental agency, "If what you've got is lemons, of course you try to make lemonade. It's taking existing infrastructure and outfitting it to help solve other city problems."

Canada, the United States and Russia have failed to accurately report fisheries catches in the Arctic for decades, according to researchers at the University of British Columbia. In their study to be published in the journal Polar Biology, the researchers estimate that during the period of 1950 to 2006, the fisheries catch totaled 950, 000 tonnes - almost 75 times the amount reported to the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization. "Ineffective reporting, due to governance issues and a lack of credible data on small-scale fisheries, has given us a false sense of comfort that the Arctic is still a pristine frontier when it comes to fisheries," said Dirk Zeller, lead author of the report and a senior research fellow at UBC's Fisheries Centre. "We now offer a more accurate baseline against which we can monitor changes in fish catches and to inform policy and conservation efforts." The Us Around Us Project, based at UBC, has documented the trend of fish stocks moving towards the polar region, as a result of global warming.

The United Nation's food agency has issued an alert warning that China's wheat crop is threatened by a severe drought that has resulted in shortages of drinking water. China is the world's largest producer of wheat and has been self-sufficient for decades, due to national security reasons. If China begins importing wheat in response to the drought, world prices for wheat could rise even higher than their recent record levels. Shandong Province, which is the cornerstone of Chinese wheat production, will face its most severe drought in 200 years if the drought is not ended soon.

In an attempt to raise much-needed revenue, the British government is moving forward with its controversial plans to sell or lease much of the publicly managed woodlands and forests in that country over the next ten years. Among lots in the nearly 1,000 square miles to be leased or sold are several historical woodlands, such as Sherwood Forest, the legendary home of hero Robin Hood. The plan has resulted in public protest and condemnation from conservationists and ministers from all parts of the political spectrum.

Mark Bittman, of the New York Times Opinionator blog, has released a critique of the U.S.D.A's recently released Food Guide for Americans 2010. In his column, Bittman also discusses Walmart's recent promise to decrease store prices of fruits and vegetables. This plan, he explains, will likely squeeze small-scale farmers instead of decreasing the damage done to the environment, labourers and consumers. Instead, he says, a move to more high-quality and expensive produce is needed, although the mechanism through which to make this produce affordable to consumers is not discussed.

Oprah has decided to go vegan for a week and has challenged her employees to do the same. Assisting them with this challenge is New York Times-bestselling author Kathy Freston. For more information, click here.

As part of an ongoing project, old and unused bikes from Canada and the United States are being shipped to Guatemala, where they are transformed into power sources that drive corn grinders and water pumps. This initiative has been developed by Maya Pedal, an organization that seeks to assist Guatemalan farmers in increasing their grinding potential, so that they may have more food and a greater surplus to sell. Pedal Energy Development Alternatives in Vancouver has been instrumental in providing support for this initiative, having sent a number of interns to Guatemala to get the project off the ground.

For those interested, watch the video to find out more about this project and visit the Maya Pedal website to find out how you can help.

Mark Bittman, food columnist and author of Food Matters, has written a "Food Manifesto for the Future" for the New York Times Opinionator blog. In his column, he discusses changes that must be made in order to transform the unhealthy, unsafe and environmentally destructive diet of the average American into something that is good for us and the earth. Among his ideas are ending government subsidies for processed food, encouraging and subsidizing home cooking, and taxing the marketing and sale of processed foods.

Hawaiian Representative Angus McKevley and Senators Mike Gabbard, Chun Oakland, and Clayton Hee have co-sponsored a bill that would prohibit the production and sale of foie gras in that state. The same bill was considered in 2010 but did not pass in committee. If the bill is passed, Hawaii will join the ranks of California and 15 other states who have banned foie gras in their jurisdictions.

Researchers from the Karolinska Institute in Sweden have found that the nitrates in spinach act as fuel for muscles. They discovered that the daily consumption of 300 grams of spinach (around 1 and a half cups) reduces the amount of oxygen needed by the body to power muscles. Nitric oxide has also been found to open blood vessels and lower blood pressure.

B.C. Premier Gordon Campbell has appointed a provincial task force to review the killing of 100 dogs in Whistler last year, after a decline in tourism following the Olympics. The task force will review the actions of all agencies involved in the situation, as well as reviewing the responsibilities and regulations of the dog sledding industry. “It's there to discover where we fell short,” Mr. Campbell explained. “It’s sickening and it’s something we have to learn from so we don’t see it happen again.”

New research shows that the massive amounts of chemical dispersants released into the Gulf of Mexico to break up the BP oil spill have remained deep underwater for months. The dispersants remained in deepwater plumes, not biodegrading as quickly as anticipated, although they are being diluted overtime into less concentrated masses.

The U.S. Department of Agricultural released Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2010 this Monday, recommending that Americans fill at least half their plates with fruit and vegetables and that they cut back on processed foods high in sodium, fat or sugar. While this advice may seem obvious to most, these new recommendations are a big step for the U.S.D.A., which faces stiff pressure from powerful food lobby groups. The guidelines are created to assist consumers and federal nutritional programs make healthy choices, but also put additional pressure on the food industry to formulate processed foods that comply with the recommended reductions in sodium, fat, and sugar. The guidelines may convince restaurants to decrease portion size, as meals are typically twice the portion size of what is recommended under the federal guidelines. In this way, the guidelines put forward by the U.S.D.A. have a significant impact on the way in which Americans eat on a day-to-day basis. Following discussions with Michelle Obama as part of her campaign for healthy eating and reduction of childhood obesity, Wal-Mart has recently released a five-year plan that entails reformulating its store-brand processed foods and lowering the prices of fruits and vegetables. For the entire U.S.D.A. dietary guidelines policy document, click here.

Christo's planned art exhibition, "Over the River, A Work in Progress," has drawn the attention of a river-protection group. If approved by the U.S. Board of Land Management this spring, the project would suspend fabric panels over a 40-mile stretch of the Arkansas River in Colorado. As planned, the project will take two years to complete and will be exhibited for a period of two weeks in the summer of 2014. Christo is well-known for his large-scale artwork that incorporate the surrounding environment. His 2005 exhibition of "The Gates" in New York City's Central Park drew widespread attention.

Following the growing number of companies who seek to appeal to consumers through their socially responsible practices - such as "fair trade" coffee and "dolphin-safe" tuna - a collaboration of companies and environmental organizations, including the wind turbine maker Vestas and the World Wildlife Fund, have unveiled a new product label that details the extent to which wind power is used in the production of various goods. This new labelling process, called "Windmade," will be operated by a nonprofit organization and will require participating companies to undergo certification. One of the main objectives of the project is to promote consumer awareness of and preference for sustainable alternatives to fossil fuel, which in turn will provide market incentive for more companies to develop wind power and other renewable energy technology. After a record year in 2008, the wind industry is now suffering from reduced demand for its services due to the global recession and unexpectedly cheap natural gas in the United States.

The skyline of Hong Kong has become increasingly obscured in the past few decades, as pollution worsens due to economic development both on the island and mainland China. While concerning for tourists attempting to photograph the city's iconic skyline, this increasing pollution is also having extremely detrimental effects on human health in Hong Kong. The declining air quality has been linked to 1,200 deaths annually in the city during the period 2007 to 2010. As a result, residents of the city are becoming increasingly worried about the smog. Despite this concern and increasing evidence linking the smog to human health consequences, immediate action is not likely. “Air quality is unlikely to improve in the near future because the government refuses to adopt international guidelines for air quality management and health protection,” said Dr. Hedley, one of the scientists involved in the study. 

The White House commission's investigative report on the disastrous BP oil spill has only just been concluded but signs indicate that the practice of deepwater drilling is expanding every day around the world. This past Tuesday, Australia's resource and energy minister revealed that BP had obtained rights to drill in the Bight Basin, located off the southern coast of the continent. These are the first permits to be issued for a frontier subbasin in more than a decade. Experts anticipate that offshore drilling is unlikely to slow down in Northern Europe, Asia, Africa or South America. As oil prices and energy demand continue to rise - and as remaining onshore fields are increasingly exploited - offshore drilling offers the greatest prospect for meeting global fossil fuel demand. Analysts expect deepwater drilling production to double in the next decade alone. For a full copy of the White House's report on the spill, click here.

A recent census of marine life has identified 1,200 new species of fish. This ten-year study was conducted by 3,000 scientists from over 80 countries, and covered most of the world's oceans and seas. This was the first comprehensive study of its kind, making a detailed census and categorization of all sea creatures, from the smallest micro-biological specimens to the largest fish and mammals.

In his State of the Union address this past Tuesday, President Obama identified 2035 as the target year for mostly-clean energy production, including sources such as clean coal and natural gas. Obama also called for increased investment in clean energy technology and encouraged Congress to eliminate billions of dollars in subsidies for oil companies, a position he has put forth since taking office in 2009.

The city of Perugia, Italy, was once plagued by traffic that made urban life a nightmare for its residents. Since the 1980s, however, forward-thinking city officials and urban planners have instituted limited traffic zones, wherein drivers must have the required permits, and a "mini-metro" that serves the city's small population of 160,000. The minimetro cars arrive about every minute, connecting the lower town to Perugia's centre, tranforming streets that were once congested with cars into ones crammed instead with pedestrians. Perugia is just one of many European cities that have large pedestrian zones - Munich, Germany and Vienna, Austria are other prime examples of this phenomenon. Why has this trend not been successfully exported to North American cities? "Cities are more compact in Europe; they evolved differently," says Lee Schipper, an expert on alternative energy and transportation at Stanford University. "There's more of a motive there to make cities liveable without cars."

Guangzhou, China, has been named the winner of the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy (ITDP) 2011 Sustainable Transit Award. ITDP is a nonprofit organization that seeks to reduce GHG emissions and improve urban life through its partnerships with various cities. Guangzhou's bike-sharing program, wide tree-lined bicycle lanes, and an expansive bus system that ties into the city's rail network were all cited as reasons for the ITDP's decision. The bus rapid transit system, which opened in February 2010, carries over 800,000 people a day, making it one of the largest in the world. ITDP has been collaborating closely with Guangzhou on the plans for bus and bicycle infrastructure.

Following President Obama's speech that identified energy security as one of the foremost issues facing the United States, Care2 has provided an infographic detailing the average energy consumed in one American's lifetime. As the writer explains, providing clear and compelling information to the public concerning per capita energy use is one of the most important factors in facilitating our transition to conservation practices and renewable energy resources. Most people simply do not know the full extent of their personal impacts; when we are able to put these impacts into perspective, we are compelled to action.

Gasland, a film that explores the environmental impacts of natural gas drilling, has received an Academy Award nomination for best documentary. Click here to watch a trailer.

One of the unanticipated consequences of the massive flooding recently experienced in Australia is its effect upon coral reefs. Scientists say that as the agricultural chemicals and sediments in the floodwater reach the ocean, these substances could pose a threat to the health of the coral reefs. Corals located close to the Australian shore are already stressed by the impacts of pollution, overfishing, shipping and climate change.

New research demonstrates that pandas thrive in old-growth forests. This discovery is timely as Chinese officials will soon decide whether or not to renew a 12-year logging ban that cover's the panda's geographic range.

Following predictions by scientists of the increased volatility of storms and other weather patterns as a result of global climate change, China has experienced a tragic and difficult year. Natural disasters, including extreme weather, floods, landslides, fires, droughts and earthquakes, impacted 430 million Chinese and resulting in almost 8,000 deaths, according to Chinese officials. The damage resulting from the natural disasters was the worst seen in 20 years.

Despite growing support for cellulostic ethanol (or ethanol made from the nonfood portion of crops, and waste such as wood scraps and paper), the kind of bulk production of the fuel necessary for widespread adoption has not yet been developed. The production of cellulostic ethanol is poised to increase, however, as new federal law requires gas companies to blend in 250 million galleons of ethanol this year. This quota has been downsized by the Environmental Protection Agency to 6 million galleons, which appears to be a more realistic goal. The Mascoma Corporation, of New Hampshire, one of the many companies working towards commercial production of the substance, recently struck a deal with Valero, the largest independent oil refinery in the United States. The new plant is scheduled to commence production in 2013.

New York Times art columnist Roberta Smith has reviewed J. Henry Fair's recent collection of aerial photographs entitled "Abstraction of Destruction," showcased by the Gerald Peters Gallery in New York City. His photographs catalogue environmental destruction, from the BP oil spill and the Athabasca tar sands to the chemical and waste residue of various industrial plants. As Ms. Smith describes of his photographs and their effects, "not only does the airplane provide access to restricted areas, it also makes possible panoramic vistas that convey the frightening scale of the destruction, creating the feeling that humankind has wrought its own form of irreversible natural catastrophe. In these vistas you can almost literally watch the poison spread across vast areas of land and sea, creating stains and patterns in a startling palette of deathly grays, lurid rusts and chemical greens and blues." A slideshow of the photographs, with descriptions, is available for viewing here.

Since the installation of bike-lane "superhighways" last year, London transit official report that rush-hour cycling traffic has doubled on two downtown thoroughfares. Overall, bicycle traffic in the city is up 70 percent. The "superhighways," which originate in the city centre and then expand outwards, feature a variety of ammenities, including safety mirrors, signals at intersections, and bicycle parking spaces. Here is a YouTube video of the Barclays Cycle Superhighway.

Launched last week by Greenpeace and the Sierra Club in collaboration with other environmental non-government organizations, If It Were My Home is an interactive project that allows users to map their community and city with an overlay of the dimensions of the Athabasca tar sands, revealing the true scope of tar sands environmental impact in a way we can all understand and relate to.

Despite promises to protect endangered caribou in Ontario's woodlands, the McGuinty government has recently put forward a proposal that would essentially exempt logging, mining and other industries from having to take action to protect the species under the Endangered Species Act. At the moment only 20,000 woodland caribou exist in Ontario and their geographic range in the province has shrunk over 50 percent in less than a century. Ontario's Environmental Species Act was passed in 2008 and is one of the strongest of any North American jurisdiction, mandating the protection of habitat for threatened and endangered species.

In 2004, large numbers of aspens in the American West began dying off without apparent cause, resulting in scientists to dub the phenomenon "sudden aspen decline." A new study has recently concluded that the decline in aspen has contributed to the spread of hantavirus fatal to humans. The sin nombre virus is carried primarily by deer mice, whose populations have surged in numbers in areas with widespread aspen die-off. Humans who inhale these virus particles can develop hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, an infection with a fatality rate of around 40 percent. The aspen die-off and subsequent spread of the hantavirus should be considered an "unintended consequence of climate change," according to Dr. Lehmer, a biologist involved in the study. "The bottom line is that climate change is tending to introduce diseases where they haven’t been before, because it’s changing the entire dynamics of plant and animal ecosystems."

Flipper banding has been employed by scientists for decades to tag and monitor penguin populations but a recent study may result in a swift ending to this practice. Over the past 10 years, French and Norwegian researchers have followed 50 banded and 50 non-banded free-roaming king penguins on Antarctica's Possession Island. Their findings suggest that flipper banding impairs reproduction and significantly reduces life-expectancy of the penguins, with 80 percent of the banded penguins and 64 percent of the non-banded penguins dying during the study period.

Scientists report the intensity of flooding experienced by the eastern Australian city of Brisbane may be partly caused by global climate change.

The United Nations has called upon Nigeria to clean up villages contaminated by illegal gold mining operations, which have polluted local water supplies and resulted in the deaths of hundreds of children due to mass acute lead poisoning last year.

The poaching of rhinos in South Africa reached its highest level ever in 2010. According to national park officials, a total of 333 rhinos were illegally killed during this time, a rate nearly triple that of the previous year. Of the rhinos poached, ten were critically endangered black rhinos. Poaching has increased dramatically across Africa in the past few years, threatening the gains made in the past century through conservation efforts on the continent. South Africa has responded to these alarming developments by intensifying its law enforcement efforts, through which the country made approximately 160 poaching arrests in 2010.

According to Environment Canada, 2010 was the warmest year on record. The national average temperature was 3 degrees above normal, with the greatest impact being felt in northern Quebec, Nunavut and the Arctic tundra, where average temperatures ranged from 4 to 4.3 degrees above normal.