Environment | News & Views

Eat more anchovies, herring and sardines to save the ocean’s fish stocks

Cut back on tuna and salmon and load your plate instead with herring and sardines if you want to help save the world’s fish. So says the scientist who led the most comprehensive analysis ever carried out of fish stocks in the world’s oceans and how they have changed over the past century.

The study by Villy Christensen of the University of British Columbia’s Fisheries Centre confirmed some previous indications that populations of predator fish at the top of the food chain, such as cod, tuna and groupers, have suffered huge declines, shrinking by around two-thirds in the past 100 years. More than half that decline occurred in the past 40 years.

Christensen found that the total stock of “forage fish”, such as sardines, anchovy and capelin, has more than doubled over the past century. These are fish that are normally eaten by the top predators. “You remove the predator, you get more prey fish,” said Christensen. “That has not been demonstrated before because people don’t measure the number, they don’t go out and count them.”

His call for consumers to shift their attention down the marine food chain from predators like tuna and cod to more unusual fish echoes that by celebrity chef Jamie Oliver, who suggests we should eat more coley, mackerel, dab, pouting, herring and sardines.

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‘Water poverty’ to rise in the UK as scarcity pushes up bills

Taken from: The Guardian

“Water poverty” will become the new fuel poverty for an increasing number of households as scarcity of supply pushes up bills, according to an influential thinktank that says Britain must deal urgently with climate change.

A report by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, one of the largest social policy research-and-development charities, says that low-income households are at particular risk because of new methods being introduced to increase the efficient use and distribution of water. It defines “water poverty” as when households spend 3% or more of their income on water bills.

The report, Vulnerability to Heat Waves and Drought: Adaptation to Climate Change, by the environmental consultancy AEA and a team from the University of Surrey, warns that water is becoming scarce as a result of climate change and increased consumer demand. An estimated four million households in the UK are already “water poor”, according to the report, and the situation is likely to worsen, with bills predicted to rise by 5% a year for some customers.

Water companies are moving away from flat-rate fees to new charging models that bill customers with steadily higher prices according to how much water they use.

The report warns that this could create affordability problems for some low-income households and lead to “water poverty”.

“The issue of water poverty – just like fuel poverty – is extremely important, especially as we start to look into the future and consider how climate change is going to impact society,” said the report’s lead author, Magnus Benzie. The south-west of England, where bills are on average 43% higher than in the rest of the country, is set to be particularly affected as the UK becomes significantly drier in coming decades, according to the report.

It suggests that any influx of people into the region, coupled with increases in tourism, will exacerbate the problem. The region has tried a new pricing system, using three tariffs that ratchet up with increased water use, but there are concerns that this may see some households hit disproportionately.

“We currently waste a lot of water, so on one level it makes sense to encourage greater efficiency by charging people depending on how much water they use,” Benzie said. “But some tariffs can put unfair pressure on households that cannot reduce their water consumption, either because of household size, medical needs or an inability to invest in water-efficient appliances.”

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Green energy ‘could unlock £12bn in cash for local councils’

Taken from: Low Carbon Economy

Renewable energy generation could potentially unlock £12 billion of cash for local councils over the next 20 years, a new report suggests.

Produced by the think-tank the New Local Government Network (NLGN), the study suggests tapping into the subsidies made available for green energy developments could hold part of the answer to the financial pressures being faced by local authorities.

In August, the coalition announced it would begin allowing councils that produced green power to sell it back to the national grid. Previously they had only been able to put it to local use.

At the time, energy secretary Chris Huhne said the initiative could open up £100 million extra income a year.

The Power and Money report by the NLGN said, despite their revenue generating potential, currently there are only 275 community projects accredited under the Feed-in Tariff (FiT) scheme.

However, Luke Hildyard, the study’s author, said: “By carrying out the review of the FiT earlier than planned and delaying the renewable heat incentive, the government has increased the risk factor for those planning to roll-out micro-generation installations locally.”

He added the “uncertain environment” meant councils could be reluctant to embark on such schemes.

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Report warns of climate change impact on infrastructure

Taken from Low Carbon Economy

Climate change could cripple UK infrastructure in the future if action is not taken to mitigate its effects, a new report has warned.

Engineering the Future was presented to the government’s chief scientific advisor this week and states, unless measures are taken to protect infrastructure, climate change “could have seriously detrimental effects on UK society and the economy”.

Lord Browne of Madingley, president of the Royal College of Engineering, which compiled the report, said: “Climate change is a genuine risk. While efforts must continue towards mitigating its effects, we need to think very carefully about how we adapt to the changing climatic conditions that are anticipated over the coming century.”

He added that engineering “is one of the best chances we have” of dealing with issues such as rising sea levels.

Last year, the Met Office dramatically revised its worst case scenario for rising sea levels, more than halving its prediction to 6ft from 13ft.

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ASDA and Marks & Spencer lead assault on packaging waste crisis – but will it work?

Taken from The Ecologist Online

As UK supermarkets scramble to reduce packaging in the face of growing legislation and consumer demand, Aimee Steen talks exclusively to those tackling the problem at high street stores and asks what role customers have to play

There’s not much a joint of beef can do to be offensive. Unless you’re vegetarian, in which case steering clear of the meat aisle in the supermarket is probably the best option. Lincolnshire trading standards, however, did have a problem with a Sainsbury’s Taste the Difference joint. It wasn’t too big, it wasn’t too small, it wasn’t claiming it was delicious when it actually didn’t have much on a bog-standard burger. It simply had too much packaging.

It was a landmark case, believed to be the first packaging prosecution brought against a major supermarket, but it was dropped just before it was due to be heard in October 2010. Lincolnshire council decided that the offending product had, in fact, had its packaging sufficiently reduced. Sainsbury’s claimed that the product’s packaging had already been reduced by 53 per cent and would be reduced by a further 10 per cent. All in all, we will never know whether the case would have been successful.

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UN forest protection plans failing because of land scarcity and demand for food

Taken from The Ecologist Online

REDD-type forest agreements ignore indigenous populations and are seeing a scramble for forest ‘carbon credits’ by governments and individuals, warns study

Schemes that pay countries to protect their forests are failing to stop deforestation because they ignore economic drivers such as land scarcity, demand for food, and biofuels, according to a study published this week.

At the UN climate talks in Mexico last December the international community agreed to provide money to less industrialised countries for projects that protect their rainforests (projects loosely termed as Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD)). Over the next decade it has been estimated as much as $35 billion could be provided to such schemes every year to reduce deforestation.

However, this has resulted in a growing number of land grabs by governments and individuals who are motivated by a desire to take advantage of forest-based carbon credits, says a study by the International Union of Forest Research Organisations (IUFRO).

The authors say the UN-led forest protection plan to transform forests into storehouses for carbon, or for biodiversity or some other narrow purpose, will fail. Instead, they say, REDD-type projects should focus more on supporting regional and national efforts to tackle the economic and local factors driving deforestation.

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Frogs re-evolved lost lower teeth

Taken from BBC Online

Tree-dwelling Gastrotheca guentheri are the only frogs with teeth on both their upper and lower jaw. The reappearance of these lower teeth after such a long time fuels debate about whether complex traits are lost in evolution or if they can resurface. Scientists suggest this new evidence identifies a “loophole” in previous theories.

The Gastrotheca genus of frogs carry eggs on their backs
Commonly known as “marsupial frogs”, the Gastrotheca genus carry their eggs in pouches. Unlike marsupial mammals such as kangaroos however, the frogs’ pouches are on their backs. The species Gastrotheca guentheri is even more unusual, being the only known frog to have teeth on its lower jaw.

Dr John Wiens led a team of scientists from Stony Brook University, New York to investigate this exceptional feature. Their findings are reported in the journal Evolution.

“I combined data from fossils and DNA sequences with new statistical methods and showed that frogs lost their teeth on the lower jaw more than 230 million years ago, but that they re-appeared in G. guentheri within the past 20 million years,” explains Dr Wiens.

In the past, scientists have argued that traits “lost” in evolution cannot return, an assertion known as Dollo’s law. The return of lower jaw (mandible) teeth in G. guentheri after more than 200 million years could make evolutionary biologists reconsider this law.

“The loss of mandibular teeth in the ancestor of modern frogs and their re-appearance in G. guentheri provides very strong evidence for the controversial idea that complex anatomical traits that are evolutionarily lost can re-evolve, even after being absent for hundreds of millions of years,” Dr Wiens says.

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Papier-mache milk bottle arrives in UK supermarkets

Taken from The Guardian

A Suffolk-based inventor believes he may have found the answer to Britain’s rapidly developing landfill crisis.

Each day some 15m plastic bottles are used in the UK, many ending up on the country’s burgeoning waste mountains. And as the average plastic bottle takes 500 years to decompose, this legacy will have an impact on generations to come.

But now, inspired by a papier-mache balloon that his son made at school, Martin Myerscough believes he has come up with the answer. The GreenBottle, which looks remarkably like the conventional two-litre plastic bottles on supermarket shelves, comprises a sturdy paper shell with a plastic liner to keep the milk fresh.

Once the lining is ripped out, the paper shell can be quickly flattened and recycled up to seven times – plastic bottles can be recycled only once. Alternatively the paper bottle can be turned into compost within a matter of several weeks.

The bottle has been trialled at Asda stores in East Anglia and a national roll-out across the supermarket chain will start this week, beginning in Cornwall.

Myerscough dreamt up the idea for Greenbottle after talking to a man in his local pub. “A chap I row with was running the local landfill, so I asked him what was the main problem and he said plastic bottles, especially milk bottles, and that set me thinking.”

Recalling his son’s efforts with papier-mache, Myerscough played around with several designs before coming up with a prototype.

Currently 1,000 two-litre bottles are supplied to shops around Suffolk, and Myerscough claims customers have been “overwhelmingly positive”.

There are plans to make the next generation of bottles entirely from paper and to sell products to other industries, such as detergent and shampoo manufacturers.

Asda’s decision to introduce the bottles nationally should help bring costs of production down. “The price is the same as a plastic bottle,” Myerscough said. “Our target is to be competitive with plastic bottles.”

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Public belief in climate change weathers storm, poll shows

Taken from The Guardian

The public’s belief in global warming as a man-made danger has weathered the storm of climate controversies and cold weather intact, according to a Guardian/ICM opinion poll published today.

Asked if climate change was a current or imminent threat, 83% of Britons agreed, with just 14% saying global warming poses no threat. Compared with August 2009, when the same question was asked, opinion remained steady despite a series of events in the intervening 18 months that might have made people less certain about the perils of climate change. Emails between climate researchers that were released online in November 2009 had led to unfounded suggestions that the scientific basis for global warming was flawed. World leaders also failed to agree to a global deal to combat warming and a mistake over the melting of Himalayan glaciers was handled badly by the UN’s science panel.

Supporters of action on climate change, from government to business to campaigners, will be relieved that this series of negative news failed to increase scepticism significantly. Polling by other organisations in early 2010 suggested a rise in the proportion of those unconvinced of the danger of climate change. But over the 18-month period between the ICM polls, the proportion of people saying climate change is not a current threat rose by just 3% and was balanced by a 3% rise in those saying it is a threat, representing a small polarisation of the opposing viewpoints.

The UK also suffered two unusually cold winters in 2009 and 2010. But three times more people said the freezing weather had actually made them worry more about global warming than those who were less worried. The finding runs counter to the idea that people are influenced more by local conditions than by reports of globally rising temperatures. It may also indicate an understanding of how warming is projected to increase extreme weather events and that people distinguish between changes in short-term weather and long-term climate.

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Weekly green glossary: Assam, Hydroxyl radical and natural disasters

Taken from The Independent

Buzz words for the week ending January 07.

Assam – The world renowned tea brand is beginning to be affected by climate change, according to reports. (Guardian)

Bees – New research confirms that bee populations are dwindling, which could have catastrophic effects on agricultural production. (Reuters)

Blackbirds – and other wildlife have been dying in huge numbers across some parts of the United States , leaving scientists baffled as to the cause of their death. (CBC News)

Bluefin – The controversy surrounding the fishing of endangered Bluefin tuna hasn’t dampened the enthusiasms of Japanese gastronomes, where one of the fish sold for a record breaking €298,711. (Guardian)

Chukchi – Alaskan residents and conservation groups have succeeded in challenging permits held by Shell Oil to drill exploratory wells in the areas of Beaufort and Chukchi. (Associated Press)

Hydroxyl radical – A new study shows that levels of Hydroxyl radical, an atmospheric substance that acts in a similar fashion to a detergent, maybe more stable than previously believed, providing a stronger scientific basis for emission regulations. (NY Times green blog)

La Nina – the weather phenomena that has left a part of Australia the size of Germany and France flooded. (Reuters)

Natural disasters – In terms of natural disasters, 2010 was one of the deadliest years, with a total of 295,000 people losing their lives to earthquakes, hurricanes, floods, forest fires and other natural catastrophes. (AFP)

Plastic bags – Italy became the latest country to ban the use of non-biodegradable plastic bags on January 1; however, retailers are still being allowed to use up their stocks. (Environmental Leader)

Tidal power – American company Verdant Power has submitted an application to install 30 new tidal power turbines in New York’s East River. If successful, the turbines could generate power for the city. (Intelligent Energy Portal)

ULE - American safety certification firm Underwriters Laboratory Environment (ULE) has created a sustainability standard for mobile phone manufacturers. (Green Biz)

Unilever - has unveiled what is believed to be one of the greenest headquarters (HQ) ever built. The HQ of the company behind Vaseline is located in Hamburg and is equipped with LED lights and efficient heating systems. (Inhabitat)

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