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Updated: Sun Jun. 28 2009 1:20:24 PM
// The Canadian Press
TORONTO — Billions of litres of untreated sewage are gushing into Ontario’s waterways due to aging infrastructure and poor provincial oversight, says a report by environmental group Ecojustice.
The report, “Flushing out the Truth,” compiles the amount of sewage dumped into lakes and rivers by various Ontario municipalities in 2006 and 2007.
According to Ministry of the Environment figures analyzed by the group, approximately 18 billion litres of untreated sewage veered away from treatment plants and ended up in water bodies across the province in 2006, while 15 billion litres were dumped in 2007.
“It’s just not interesting or sexy to invest in sewers and that’s part of the problem, but we really need to be doing this,” said Elaine MacDonald, author of the report and senior scientist at Ecojustice.
Much of the untreated waste made its way into water bodies through sewage bypasses — diversions which carry excess sewage to lakes or rivers when treatment plants are over capacity or have technical problems.
Added to that are combined sewage overflows, which occur in older systems where stormwater and sewage from sinks, toilets and drains gush along the same pipe. Bad weather can cause the pipes to overflow into a lake or river.
Bypasses have to occur to prevent basements flooding or treatment plants backing up, said Ontario Ministry of Environment spokesperson Kate Jordan.
Dan Atkinson, vice president operations for the Ontario Clean Water Agency — a provincial agency — adds that a “wastewater plant is a living organism.”
“We can bypass wastewater or we can risk blowing out the biological mass in the wastewater plant,” he said.
Tests are conducted on water which is bypassed so agencies can track the strength of the waste being diverted into waterways. All overflows are supposed to be reported to the ministry, with major incidents made public through health advisories or beach signs.
The ministry also aims to invest $30 billion over a five-year period, starting in 2010, to upgrade wastewater infrastructure.
Physical contact with sewage overflows which occur close to shorelines are a major concern, said MacDonald.
“We need to get this information out to the public so people start thinking about this when they go down to the local beach,” she said.
The environmental agency wants provincial and municipal governments to keep a sharper eye out for dirty spills and make them public as they occur.
Topping the list of the report’s worst offenders was Niagara Falls, which released 7.5 billion litres of untreated sewage between 2006 and 2007. Hamilton came in second with 5 billion litres and Windsor was third with 4.3 billion litres of the smelly stuff oozing into provincial waterways.
The numbers make the region of Niagara seem worse than it is, said Rich Vikers, district manager of the ministry of environment’s Niagara office. The region has published a map of overflow information for the public and plans to update it with real-time information within the next year.
“We have placed a lot of obligations on the local municipalities to report their overflows and I think that’s why Niagara comes out looking like it’s No. 1,” said Vikers.
The region also received $10 million in federal and provincial funding to complete a high-rate wastewater treatment plant which would be the second of its kind in the area.
Ecojustice is urging municipalities to adopt green infrastructure to deal with storm water pushing sewage pipes over capacity. That type of infrastructure uses rain-barrels, green roofs and even designated storm-water wetlands to collect excess water during bad weather.
Source: http://toronto.ctv.ca/servlet/an/local/CTVNews/20090628/sewers_ontario_090628/20090628?hub=Toronto
Updated Wed. May. 13 2009 5:59 PM ET
CTV.ca News Staff
Once again, Canadians rank almost at the bottom of the National Geographic Society’s annual survey on consumer behaviors that impact the environment.
Among consumers in 17 countries in the “Greendex” survey, Canadians came in second last, trailing slightly behind consumers in the United States. That’s despite many improvements average Canadian consumers have made in the last year to “go green.”
Indians scored the highest overall ranking, getting a Greendex score of 59.5. Brazilians came in second at 57.3. U.S. consumers had the lowest score at 43.7, with Canadians second-worst at 47.5.
The “Greendex” ranks consumers in 17 countries around the world according to the impact of their choices in such areas as housing, transportation, food and consumer goods.
About 17,000 consumers were polled online (1,000 in each country) by international polling firm GlobeScan, and earned a score out of 100, reflecting the environmental impact of their consumption patterns.
Consumption was determined both by the choices consumers actively made — such as repairing rather than replacing items, choosing green products rather than environmentally unfriendly ones — and choices that are controlled more by their circumstances, such as the climate they live in or the availability of public transport.
Canada’s ranking suffered in large part due to our big homes. But the report also says Canadians, Russians and Argentineans are “more likely than others to have sealed drafts in their homes, installed thermal windows, or installed or upgraded insulation this past year.”
Our perpetual love affair with large cars and SUVs and resistance to use public transit also pulled our ranking down. Canadians ranked among the lowest in public transit use, with just 22 per cent saying they use it at least once a week.
“Car and truck ownership is above the 17-country average (86 per cent compared with 74 per cent) and, of those who drive, Canadians are among the most likely to drive large vehicles,” the survey found.
“Canadians have the third highest rate of driving alone most days (56 per cent).”
Consumers in developing countries, in contrast, tend to live closer to work and use more environmentally friendly transportation, such as walking, cycling, and public transportation.
On the food sub-index, Canadian consumers ranked ninth. While we reported above average beef consumption (37 per cent consume beef several times a week), that was mitigated somewhat by high levels of eating locally grown foods (again, 37 per cent do that several times a week). Also, Canadians are above-average in their consumption of fruits and vegetables, and well below average in their use of bottled water.
The survey found that while environmental concerns were motivators in consumers adopting more environmentally sustainable behavior over the past year, a bigger motivator was cost.
Greendex 2009 Overall Scores (2008 scores in brackets)
- Indians 59.5 (58.0)
- Brazilians 57.3 (58.6)
- Chinese 56.7 (55.2)
- Argentineans 54.7 (NA)
- South Koreans 54.6 (NA)
- Mexicans 53.8 (52.7)
- Hungarians 53.3 (51.7)
- Russians 52.0 (51.1)
- Spanish 51.4 (48.0)
- Germans 51.1 (48.1)
- Swedes 51.1 (NA)
- Australians 50.5 (47.8)
- French 49.5 (46.5)
- British 49.4 (48.2)
- Japanese 49.3 (47.4)
- Canadians 47.5 (46.3)
- Americans 43.7 (42.4)
Source: http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20090513/greendex_090513/20090513?hub=TopStories
updated 6:24 p.m. EDT, Wed April 22, 2009
- President Obama celebrates Earth Day in Newton, Iowa
- He unveiled a new initiative to lease federal waters for generating electricity
- Obama says there’s no “silver bullet” to solving the country’s energy needs
- VP Biden announces new clean and sustainable vehicles plan
NEWTON, Iowa (CNN) — President Obama marked Earth Day Wednesday by announcing a new initiative to lease federal waters for the purpose of generating electricity from wind and ocean currents.
President Obama unveils a new energy initiative Wednesday in Newton, Iowa.
The president announced the initiative, to be administered by the Interior Department, while reiterating his pledge to push for a comprehensive energy plan that encourages the development of alternative fuel sources, cuts dependence on foreign oil, addresses climate change, and creates new jobs.
Wind power can generate 20 percent of the country’s electricity by 2030 and support 250,000 jobs, Obama said during a visit to a wind turbine tower manufacturing plant.
It is part of “beginning a new era of energy exploration,” he said.
Contrary to the assertion of some critics, the country does not have to choose between protecting the environment and expanding the economy, Obama said. The real choice is between “prosperity and decline.”
The president said there is no “silver bullet” to solving the country’s energy needs, and that a variety of energy sources will be required to reduce dependence on fossil fuels. The United States needs to boost domestic production of oil and natural gas in the short term before fully transitioning to alternative sources, Obama said.
But over the long term, new energy sources will be required both to address the issue of climate change and strengthen the economy, he said.
Meanwhile, Vice President Joe Biden said Wednesday that $300 million in stimulus money will be given to state and local governments to help expand the number of clean and sustainable vehicles in cities around the nation. The program is called the Clean Cities Alternative Fuel and Advanced Technology Vehicles Pilot Program.
“Every day is Earth Day,” said Biden at a Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority training facility in Landover, Maryland, where he announced the program.
The plan, according to Biden, would help local governments and transportation authorities invest in clean vehicles and fund the fueling infrastructure to support them.
“From advanced battery cars to hybrid-electric city buses, we’re going put Recovery Act dollars to work deploying cleaner, greener vehicles in cities and towns across the nation that will cut costs, reduce pollution and create the jobs that will drive our economic recovery,” Biden said in a statement.
The funding adds to $11 billion already allocated to the Department of Energy to boost local energy efficiency programs and weatherize low-income homes. To participate, local governments have to apply to the Clean Cities Program for funding, and they can receive money for a variety of hybrid vehicles and alternative fuels.
Source: http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/04/22/obama.energy/index.html
Last Updated: Monday, April 6, 2009 | 6:06 PM ET
The Canadian Press
A polar bear stands on a ice floe in Baffin Bay above the Arctic Circle, as seen from the Canadian Coast Guard icebreaker Louis S. St-Laurent in July 2008. (Jonathan Hayward/Canadian Press)
The giant mass of Arctic sea ice is getting thinner and not lasting as long, with scientists warning that such physical changes are cause for global concern.
Researchers with NASA and the National Snow and Ice Data Center in Colorado released new information Monday that shows the northern polar ice cap is continuing its decade-long trend of shrinking.
Thicker, older ice floating on the Arctic Ocean is not replenishing like it used to.
More recent, thinner seasonal ice now makes up about 70 per cent of the ice in winter — up from 50 per cent in the 1980s and 1990s.
“What we’re finding is that the ice is now thinner than ever,” said Thomas Wagner with the Cryospheric Sciences Program at NASA in Washington, D.C.
“It’s receding a lot in the summer. And then, when it begins to grow back in the winter, it’s not growing back to the size it once was.”
Arctic ice is important for constraining the planet’s heat, said Wagner. The ice works like an air conditioner for the world, naturally cooling air and water. It also acts like a mirror, reflecting solar radiation back into space.
“As that ice melts, it’s replaced with darker sea water that absorbs a lot more light and begins to heat up.”
Melting ice raises geopolitical pressures
The shrinking of the ice cap is also opening up new shipping routes and opportunities for exploring natural resources, said Wagner.
The different “geopolitical landscape” already has some countries laying claim to the Arctic and beefing up their security measures, he pointed out.
It’s believed the Arctic contains as much as 25 per cent of the world’s undiscovered oil and gas.
Canada, Russia, the United States and a number of Nordic countries are competing for jurisdiction over untapped natural resources. It’s believed the Arctic contains as much as 25 per cent of the world’s undiscovered oil and gas.
Shrinking ice also has an effect on Arctic wildlife such as polar bears and seals, as well as on people living in the region who rely on ice for transportation and hunting, said Walter Meier of the snow and ice data centre.
He said Arctic ice measured about 15 million square kilometres at the end of February — down about 720,000 square kilometres from the winter average and a decline that’s roughly the size of Texas.
Ice-free Arctic in summer no longer a far-fetched notion
Ronald Kwok with the NASA jet propulsion laboratory in California described how the space agency first launched a satellite in 2003 to precisely measure differences in the Earth’s surface elevations within a couple of centimetres. Prior to that, ice thickness had been measured by submarines.
“Now, we can do it almost over the entire Arctic Ocean from space,” said Kwok.
He said researchers are still calculating the last five years worth of data to determine melting trends and predictions.
Summers in 2005 and 2007 were unusually warm and offered almost no replenishments of ice, he said.
“If the same melting and ice area is blown off the Arctic area this year, then we can expect a fairly low ice extent this coming summer.”
Meier said the suggestion of an ice-free Arctic in the summer was laughable a few years ago, but some studies have predicted that scenario could happen within the next five to 30 years.
“That seems fairly unlikely, but it’s not totally out of the realm of possibility,” he said.
Source: http://www.cbc.ca/technology/story/2009/04/06/tech-090406-arctic-sea-ice.html
Page last updated at 07:13 GMT, Sunday, 5 April 2009 08:13 UK
An ice bridge linking a shelf of ice the size of Jamaica to two islands in Antarctica has snapped.
Scientists say the collapse could mean the Wilkins Ice Shelf is on the brink of breaking away, and provides further evidence of rapid change in the region.
Sited on the western side of the Antarctic Peninsula, the Wilkins shelf has been retreating since the 1990s.
Researchers regarded the ice bridge as an important barrier, holding the remnant shelf structure in place.
Its removal will allow ice to move more freely between Charcot and Latady islands, into the open ocean.
European Space Agency satellite pictures had indicated last week that cracks were starting to appear in the bridge. Newly created icebergs were seen to be floating in the sea on the western side of the peninsula, which juts up from the continent towards South America’s southern tip.
Professor David Vaughan is a glaciologist with the British Antarctic Survey who planted a GPS tracker on the ice bridge in January to monitor its movement.
He said the breaking of the bridge had been expected for some weeks and much of the ice shelf behind was likely to follow.
The ice bridge has splintered at its thinnest point
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“We know that [the Wilkins Ice Shelf] has been completely or very stable since the 1930s and then it started to retreat in the late 1990s. But we suspect that it’s been stable for a very much longer period than that,” he told BBC News.
“The fact that it’s retreating and now has lost connection with one of its islands is really a strong indication that the warming on the Antarctic is having an effect on yet another ice shelf.”
While the break-up will have no direct impact on sea level because the ice is floating, it heightens concerns over the impact of climate change on this part of Antarctica.
Over the past 50 years, the peninsula has been one of the fastest warming places on the planet.
Many of its ice shelves have retreated in that time and six of them have collapsed completely (Prince Gustav Channel, Larsen Inlet, Larsen A, Larsen B, Wordie, Muller and the Jones Ice Shelf).
Separate research shows that when ice shelves are removed, the glaciers and landed ice behind them start to move towards the ocean more rapidly. It is this ice which can raise sea levels, but by how much is a matter of ongoing scientific debate.
Such acceleration effects were not included by the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) when it made its latest projections on likely future sea level rise. Its 2007 assessment said ice dynamics were poorly understood.
Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7984054.stm
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