World Watch articles from July 2007

World Watch archives from July 2007

Umbrellas.(LIFE-CYCLE STUDIES)(invention of umbrellas)
July 1, 2007... Overview An early 18th century English dictionary defines an umbrella as a "screen commonly used by women to keep off rain." Men too, of course, shelter from downpours under umbrellas, but the devices were invented--as long ago as 1400 BCE...

Clones.(FROM READERS)(Letter to the editor)
July 1, 2007... The article "Food from Cloned Animals Receives Preliminary Approval" (March/April 2007, p. 8), gave me a great shock, since in Japan this kind of opinion perhaps has gone out of the discussion about food and the food market, though I am not...

Cuba: sustainability pioneer?(FROM READERS)(Letter to the editor)
July 1, 2007... In the fall of 2006, the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) Living Planet Report found that Cuba is the only country in the world which meets its criteria for sustainable development. Cuba alone, according to WWF, manages to achieve certain basic living...

Carbon judgment.(FROM READERS)(Letter to the editor)
July 1, 2007... I strongly support your editorial in the March/April issue ("Carbon Crimes," p. 2). Building more conventional coal-fired plants is irresponsible. The coal industry will, however, try to reassure governments and citizens that "clean coal"...

Portland leads the way in preparing for "peak oil".(EYE ON EARTH)(oil production )
July 1, 2007... In early March, Portland, Oregon, became the first U.S. city to publish an official strategy for coping with a future in which oil is no longer plentiful and economical. The city's 85-page report on "peak oil" explores three scenarios for the...

Costa Rica aims to become first "carbon-neutral" country.(EYE ON EARTH)
July 1, 2007... Costa Rica's government is developing plans to begin offsetting all of the nation's carbon dioxide emissions, the news service La Nacion reported in February. Roberto Dobles, the country's environment and energy minister, said Costa Rica aims...

Shark overfishing may lead to scallop losses.(EYE ON EARTH)(Technical report)
July 1, 2007... Aggressive fishing of large sharks in the northwest Atlantic may be causing decimation of the bay scallop fishery along the U.S. eastern seaboard, according to marine scientists. In a study published in the March 30 issue of Science,...

Population projections assume lower fertility, Greater control of HIV.(EYE ON EARTH)(United Nations assessment)(Report)
July 1, 2007... By 2050, the world's population is projected to increase from 6.7 billion to 9.2 billion, according to the latest United Nations (UN) assessment. Declining fertility rates and increased longevity will lead to an aging population, the UN...

As poaching rises, DNA analysis may be critical for elephant conservation.(EYE ON EARTH)
July 1, 2007... Over the past year, unprecedented numbers of African elephants have been slaughtered for their tusks, according to reports. Between August 2005 and August 2006, authorities worldwide seized more than 24 tons of smuggled elephant ivory en route...

Chinese air pollution crosses Pacific to Western U.S.(EYE ON EARTH)(Brief article)
July 1, 2007... Air pollution from China is traveling across the Pacific Ocean and ending up on the West Coast of the United States, according to a study published in the Journal of Geophysical Research in March. The particulate pollution, known as black...

Europe's first concentrating solar plant to light up Seville.(EYE ON EARTH)(Brief article)
July 1, 2007... Spain is now home to Europe's first commercial concentrating solar power plant, an 11-megawatt facility located in the municipality of Sanlucar la Mayor, 25 kilometers west of Seville. The facility is the first in a series of planned solar...

Climate control.(UPDATES)(report from Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change )(Brief article)
July 1, 2007... See "Climate Change, Coming Home," May/June 2007, p. 8 The latest report from the 120-nation Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change says cutting greenhouse gases by 50-85 percent of 2000 levels by 2050 would cost 3 percent or less of...

Trafficking gone wild.(UPDATES)(in Brazil reports National Network Against Wild Animal Trade )(Brief article)
July 1, 2007... See "Crimes of (a) Global Nature," September/October 2002, p. 12 The trade in monkeys, parrots, and other wild animals has reached critical proportions in Brazil, according to a report by the National Network Against Wild Animal Trade...

Car-free bonus.(UPDATES)(3 days car ban in Beijing, China reduces nitrogen oxide pollution levels )(Brief article)
July 1, 2007... See "Greenhouse Car-Nations," May/June 2007, p. 32 Scientists report that a three-day car ban in Beijing, China, last November cut the city's nitrogen oxide pollution levels by up to 40 percent, a difference that was perceivable from space....

Ice cap kaput.(UPDATES)(climate change in the Arctic by 2020)(Technical report)
July 1, 2007... See "Living with Climate Change in the Arctic," September/October 2005, p. 18 The Arctic ice cap is melting much faster than expected and is now about 30 years ahead of predictions for ice loss, a U.S. ice expert said in April. Ted...

Carbon offsets 101: a primer on the hottest--and trickiest--topic in climate change.
July 1, 2007... Carbon offsets have become all the rage recently: the winter Olympics of 2006 in Turin, Al Gore, the U.S. country-rock trio Dixie Chicks, and Hollywood actor George Clooney all buy offsets in an effort to become "carbon neutral." The New Oxford...

Green tags: making sense of the REC-age.(Renewable Energy Certificate )
July 1, 2007... On a grassy sandhill in eastern Colorado, Wray School District Superintendent Ron Howard parks his truck and points to the spot where his district's new wind turbine will stand. "Right there, top of the hill," he says. "The wind comes from the...

Traffic Planet: life in the second carboniferous period.(TALKING PICTURES)
July 1, 2007... Right: Dacca dust-up--rush hour in the capital of Bangladesh. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Below: Where the rubber meets the road--a motorway somewhere in the United Kingdom. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The Dutch solution: bicycles...

A burning issue: palm oil shows promise as a biofuel, but the environmental cost of production can be high.
July 1, 2007... Tour guide Asok Kesavan has brought his multinational group of tourists to see some of the oil palm plantations in the countryside in his homeland, Malaysia. He asks his driver to stop the bus and the tourists unload briefly for a walk through...

Environmental award spotlights grassroots environmentalists.(Goldman Environmental Prize)
July 1, 2007... Every April, six activists from around the globe are awarded the prestigious Goldman Environmental Prize, the world's largest cash prize for grassroots environmentalists. "These six winners are among the most important people you have not heard...

Bottom lines.(MATTERS OF SCALE)(figures of people globally having access to toilets and using toilet paper)(Statistical table)
July 1, 2007... Bottom Lines Estimated sales of toilet paper in the United States US$5.7 billion (2005) In Canada US$643 million In India US$7.7 million...