Global Pollution

[waltky]

Millions of premature deaths can be prevented each year by reducing short lived climate pollutants...

WHO: Reducing Short-lived Climate Pollutants Can Save Lives
October 22, 2015 — The World Health Organization says millions of premature deaths can be prevented each year by reducing short lived climate pollutants. A WHO report recommends cutting emissions of black carbon, ozone and methane.

Carbon dioxide is the main greenhouse gas that causes global warming. But black carbon or soot, and methane and ozone in urban smog, all contribute to climate change and are harmful to health. The World Health Organization says emissions from short-lived climate pollutants cause cardiovascular and respiratory diseases, including heart disease, pulmonary disease, respiratory infections and lung cancer. It says they are responsible for many of the more than seven million premature deaths each year linked to air pollution. The WHO says the pollutants also can decrease agricultural yields.

Vehicles line up for diesel near a gas station in Kunming, Yunnan province, China.​

WHO Environment Chief Maria Neira says the pollutants, which exist both outdoors and indoors, have a strong impact on climate change. But the good news, she says, is they only remain in the atmosphere for a few days to 10 years, compared to carbon dioxide, which can persist for hundreds, even thousands of years. “The fact that they are short-lived pollutants, when you address them, you can reduce emissions very rapidly and then improve both air quality as well as slowing the rate of near term climate change ... You will have an immediate reduction in the ill-health and diseases caused by the reduction of air pollution,” said Neira.

The WHO has come up with a number of available, affordable measures to mitigate short-lived climate pollutants. Topping the list is reducing vehicle emissions by implementing higher emissions and efficiency standards. Indoor air pollution is another source of ill health and premature death. The WHO reports about 2.8 billion low-income households rely on dirty fuels, such as coal, wood and kerosene for cooking and heating. It says cleaner and more efficient stove and fuel alternatives could reduce the health risks.

WHO: Reducing Short-lived Climate Pollutants Can Save Lives

See also:

Southern Thailand Hit by Worst Haze from Indonesia Ever
October 22, 2015 — Southern Thailand was hit Thursday by the most severe haze ever from forest fires in Indonesia, forcing all schools in a province to close and disrupting flights in a popular tourist area, officials said.

The haze that has shrouded parts of Malaysia and Singapore for nearly two months reached hazardous levels in the southern Thai city of Songkhla, with the pollution index hitting a record-high reading of 365. A reading of 101-200 is unhealthy, 201-300 is very unhealthy and above 300 is hazardous. “This is a crisis,” said Halem Jemarican, head of the Southern Environment Office. He said the pollution index in southern Thailand has never exceeded 300 before.

A view of Yala city is pictured as a haze shrouds Muang district in the troubled southern province of Yala, Thailand​

Halem said his office has worked with other authorities to have all schools in Songkhla province send students home and all outdoor sports stadiums to close temporarily. Warnings have been issued to vulnerable people such as children, the elderly and people with illnesses not to go out of their homes. “The wind speed is very low this year in the south, causing haze to stay in our skies longer,” Halem said by telephone. An airport official in Hat Yai, a popular tourist area, said three flights bound for Bangkok were delayed Thursday morning because of the haze. A flight from Bangkok to Hat Yai was diverted to Surat Thani on Wednesday evening. The official declined to be identified because of working rules.

Local media reported that cloud seeding has been discussed as a way to dispel the haze in southern Thailand, which is hundreds of kilometers (miles) from the forest fires in Indonesia's Sumatra island. Southern Thailand boasts tropical beaches popular among tourists in Surat Thani and Phuket, two of the seven provinces suffering from the haze.

Southern Thailand Hit by Worst Haze from Indonesia Ever

 

[waltky]

Canucks dumpin' dey's poop inna river...

Montreal begins massive sewage dump into river
Nov. 12, 2015 -- The city of Montreal began a controversial process early Wednesday of dumping 2.1 billion gallons of raw sewage into the St. Lawrence River.

Dumping began just after midnight on a project city officials say is necessary to repair aging sewage treatment system equipment, but has drawn considerable criticism from Canadian as well as U.S. officials over concerns the river will be overrun with pollution. The sewage release is expected to last about a week. "Not only was there no other option, but it was necessary for the future, for the very integrity of the infrastructure," mayor Denis Coderre said. "We are protecting our river and it's better to have [the discharge] planned than just to react to a [break or rupture] where we might have even more waste water."

The city of Montreal began a controversial process early Wednesday of dumping 2.1 billion gallons of raw sewage into the St. Lawrence River.​

City officials said the dumping would have little effect on local fish population and would not affect drinking water, however the process was delayed during Canada's recent election and officials asked city residents to stay out of the water and for residents nearest the discharging sewers to avoid flushing condoms, medications or diapers.

The city doesn't expect lingering strong odor or a change in river color due to the dumping. Richard Fontaine, head of Montreal's waste-water management department, said the white film some people have noticed on the river is phosphorus. He said it was normal, regardless of sewage. The city took out full-page advertisements in local newspapers telling residents the dumping was necessary, even if it was unfortunate.

Montreal begins massive sewage dump into river

See also:

Mealworms Eat Plastic Waste
November 11, 2015 - It's a bit unclear how long it takes poly-styrene based products like Styrofoam to decompose. But no matter if it's 500 years, or 5,000, it's a long time in human terms, and it illustrates the scope of the problem we are creating every time we use disposable plastics. But scientists may have discovered an unusual way to break down this plastic garbage.

It takes hundreds of years to biodegrade Styrofoam, and those plastic plates, cups and containers currently take up between 25 and 30 percent of our landfill space. But these little guys might be able to fix the problem, by literally munching the plastic away. It turns out mealworms have a taste for Styrofoam. “Mealworms eat Styrofoam and they digest Styrofoam in their gut. The process was very fast. In less than 24 hours it became CO2," said Stanford University's Wei-Min Wu.

Each worm can digest plastic waste about the size of a pill every day. Special enzymes in their gut break down the styrofoam. “I think the secreted enzymes are really interesting. Those are the tools that actually break the wall down into little pieces," said Craig Criddle.

Researchers are trying to develop enzymes that mimic the worm's ability to break down plastic waste. “It’s an issue because we are running out of landfill space for one thing, especially in dense urban environments. Also, the clutter that results, particularly in the ocean everyone hears about, but all around the world," said Criddle. Surprisingly, environmental scientists found mealworms chomping on Styrofoam were just as healthy as those that ate their normal diet of bran.

Mealworms Eat Plastic Waste

 

[waltky]

Yuk!...

Sewage sent into river used for drinking water
Mon, Nov 16, 2015 - OH, CANADA: Montreal on Wednesday began piping billions of liters of raw sewerage into the St Lawrence River as the city repairs its sewer system, outraging many people

A stench rises from Montreal’s sewers, where used condoms, soiled sanitary napkins and other stomach-churning waste floats in the fetid brown water. That same foul mess this week began finding its way into Montrealers’ water supply, after city officials began diverting one-third of the sewer’s contents into Canada’s St Lawrence River. Officials on Wednesday began piping 8 billion liters — equal to about 3,200 Olympic swimming pools — of raw sewage into the St Lawrence, one of the nation’s most iconic waterways and a source of drinking water for a large part of the country.

Montreal Mayor Denis Coderre, left, on Thursday waits to inspect work on a sewer in Montreal, Canada.​

Authorities say the water diversion is a necessary part of a huge construction project currently underway to repair the aging sewer system, but the diversion has angered many environmentally minded Canadians, who point out that the waterway is used not just for drinking water, but is the habitat for a variety of fish species and other wildlife. “For 40 years, my boss has been fighting to clean up the river and they send us this,” said one private-sector marine worker who spoke despite being prohibited by the Montreal government from talking to the media.

City elders say they have to dump the dirty water while they work to repair the massive pipe that would have carried it to a wastewater treatment plant. They opened the valves on Wednesday in the sewer system for the Canadian metropolis, after first treating the wastewater with chemical agents to help neutralize it.

REASSURANCES DOUBTED

 

[waltky]

What a mess...

U.N. report: Toxic waste spread after Brazilian mine disaster
Nov. 26, 2015 - The mudslide poisoned the Rio Doce and killed at least 12 people.

Sludge from a burst dam in Brazil contains concentrated toxic waste, United Nations experts said, and not merely mud and water, as mining companies claimed. John Knox, U.N. special rapporteur on human rights and the environment, and Baskut Tuncak, U.N. special rapporteur on human rights and hazardous substances, said in a report submitted Wednesday the collapse of a tailing dam at an iron ore mine in Mariana, Brazil, on Nov. 5, holding back over two billion cubic feet of mud and mining waste, resulted in the spread of deadly chemicals.

A mudslide from a burst dam covered the Rio Doce in Brazil and killed at least 12 people on November 5, 2015. A United nations report noted high amounts of toxic chemicals in the river after the incident.​

Arsenic, manganese and other metals were found, at several thousand times the acceptable maximums, in samples taken at spots on Brazil's Rio Doce, the primary river in the region. The U.N. study referred to "toxic mud waste" and "high levels of toxic heavy metals and other toxic chemicals" in the samples. A spokeswoman for Samarco Mineracao S.A., a joint venture of mining companies Vale SA and BHP Billiton Ltd., and operators of the dam, previously said the silt flowing down the river consisted only of water, iron ore particles and quartz and that "the material analyzed does not present a danger to human health."

At least 12 people died in the mud flow, at least 11 remain missing and a number of people have visited area hospitals. The incident left thousands of people homeless and cut off drinking water supplies. The Brazilian government noted a negative impact on the local fishing industry. "The steps taken by the Brazilian government, Vale and BHP Billiton to prevent harm were clearly insufficient. The Government and companies should be doing everything within their power to prevent further harm, including exposure to heavy metals and other toxic chemicals," the report said. Samarco was fined $66 million for the accident, and said it will devote $260 million to cleanup efforts.

U.N. report: Toxic waste spread after Brazilian mine disaster

 

[Billy_Bob]

I see posting after posting of the problems we are facing in third world countries, why are we not using resources to teach and build up these people instead of Eco-fanaticism that is purely destructive?

Every one wants to whine about these problems yet the Eco-facists want to deprive these people of what we would consider basic needs in the west. It is truly sad.

 

[waltky]

Air pollution is a killer...

Scientists Blame Polluted Air for 5.5 Million Premature Deaths Each Year
February 12, 2016 - Air pollution is responsible for more than 5.5 million premature deaths every year, with more than half of those deaths coming in China and India, according to new research presented Friday.

Scientists warn the early death toll will climb over the next 20 years unless the world does more to fight the problem. The new study was carried out by researchers from China, India, the United States and Canada, who assembled estimates of air pollution levels in China and India and determined their impact on health. "Air pollution is the fourth highest risk factor for death globally and by far the leading environmental risk factor for disease," University of British Columbia professor Michael Brauer said Friday. "Reducing air pollution is an incredibly efficient way to improve the health of a population."

Vehicles move through morning smog on the last day of a two-week experiment to reduce the number of cars to fight pollution in New Delhi, India​

China, India

The report concludes that China and India, two of the world's most populous countries, also have the filthiest air in the world. Experts say small particulate matter emitted into the atmosphere in those countries causes a whopping 55 percent of air pollution-related deaths worldwide. Dan Greenbaum, president of the Health Effects Institute in Boston, a nonprofit organization that analyzes the health effects from different sources of air pollution, said that "living in areas with higher pollution can cause people to have increased heart and lung disease, and to die prematurely as a result."

http://gdb.voanews.com/98319BCB-3336-4B5F-AE9E-8AAA6A920A0D_w640_s.jpg[/img]
Young tourists wear masks as they stand near a Chinese Paramilitary policeman in Tiananmen Square in Beijing, China​

Greenbaum noted that indoor cooking contributed significantly to air pollution and the cost in human lives. “That is a very important issue in both China and India, somewhat less though in China, where they have started to move people on to propane and natural gas to get them away from using coal," he said. "But in India, a very significant number of the people still burn very poor wood and biomass fuels, cow dung and other sources. And that creates major exposures indoors to the mothers and children, for example, who are cooking or are near the stove.”

Some steps taken

[/CENTER]
[/quote]

 

[elektra]

Looks like they need to enact some environmental laws like we did in the 1950s-1960's. FAST!!!

Maybe we could sell them some wind turbines too

It is the wind turbines that caused the pollution, that is where they are built.

 

[elektra]

The third world is being invaded by first world companies AVOIDING those environmental laws Matthew. Environmental laws need to be codified and made binding ACROSS the globe. Then you would see those highly toxic ""green" energy systems like solar and wind .....disappear....

And you are so full of shit. In the wealthy nations, the 'green' energy systems are the ones that are growing leaps and bounds. And they are far less toxic than the old fossil fuel systems.

U.S. Solar Market Grew 76% in 2012 - Forbes

Imagine 16 million solar panels blanketing large pieces of land and covering roofs of homes and businesses. That was the number installed in the United States in 2012, when 3.3 gigawatts of the solar equipment materialized to representing a 76% annual growth.

Cumulatively, the country had about 7.2 gigawatts of solar generation capacity from solar panels by the end of 2012, according to a report by GTM Research the Solar Energy Industries Association. That capacity doesn’t mean consumers could tap that much power from solar power projects. The amount of production depends on whether the sun is up and unobstructed by clouds.

The size of the U.S. market grew 34% to $11.5 billion in 2012 from $8.6 billion in 2011. Major solar panel makers include First Solar, Suntech Power, Trina Solar, Sharp and SunPower.

Industry Statistics

The fourth quarter of 2012 saw 8,385 megawatts (MW) of wind power capacity installed, bringing total 2012 installations to 13,131 MW. The U.S. wind industry now totals 60,007 MW of cumulative wind capacity (and more than 45,100 turbines) through the end of December 2012. During 2012, wind energy became the number one source of new U.S. electricity generating capacity for the first time, providing some 42% of all new generating capacity.

Today, the U.S. wind industry represents not only a large market for wind power capacity installations, but also a growing market for American manufacturing. Over 550 manufacturing facilities across 44 states make components for wind turbines.

Yet, all that installed capacity is polluting and destroying our land and the land where they manufacture these systems.

Your post is full of lies and deceit, "The Industry", includes failed projects in their statistics, like the World's Largest Solar Plant (that runs on natural gas), Ivanpah.

 

[waltky]

Granny says it's from all dem sacred cows fartin' whilst dey roamin' `round...

Report says air pollution in India surpassing China
Wed, Feb 15, 2017 - India’s rapidly worsening air pollution is causing about 1.1 million people to die prematurely each year and is now surpassing China’s as the deadliest in the world, a new study of global air pollution showed.

The number of premature deaths in China caused by dangerous air particles, known as PM2.5, has stabilized globally in recent years, but has risen sharply in India, according to the report, issued yesterday by the Health Effects Institute — a Boston-based research institute focused on the health effects of air pollution — and the Institute of Health Metrics and Evaluation, a population health research center in Seattle.

India has registered an alarming increase of nearly 50 percent in premature deaths from particulate matter between 1990 and 2015, the report said. “You can almost think of this as the perfect storm for India,” said Michael Brauer, a professor of environment and health relationships at the University of British Columbia and an author of the study, in a telephone interview. Brauer cited the confluence of rapid industrialization, population growth and an aging populace in India that is more susceptible to air pollution.

Pollution levels are worsening in India as it tries to industrialize, but “the idea that policymaking should be led by government is lacking,” said Bhargav Krishna, manager for environmental health at the Public Health Foundation of India, a health policy research center in New Delhi. As air pollution worsened in parts of the world, including South Asia, it improved in the US and Europe, the report said, crediting policies to curb emissions, among other things.

Environmental regulations in the US and action by the European Commission have led to substantial progress in reducing fine particulate pollution since 1990, the report said. The US has experienced a reduction of about 27 percent in the average annual exposure to fine particulate matter, with smaller declines in Europe. However, about 88,000 people in the US and 258,000 in Europe still face increased risks of premature death because of particulate levels, the report said.

MORE

 

[Whocares386]

Also human population is one of the most underrated problems in the 21st century. So many people think it is NOT even a problem! If we don't educate these ignorant people in the third world countries humanity might be ended poorly... Because remember! There will be poverty, lack of food, massacre for us.

There is an article about that:

Population Increase and Its Implications

 

[Crick]

You sound as if you don't think it worth acting on until it affects "us".

 

[Old Rocks]

Looks like they need to enact some environmental laws like we did in the 1950s-1960's. FAST!!!

Maybe we could sell them some wind turbines too

We might want to start with some farm equipment first.. So those kids don't have to go dig thru the dump for lunch..
If you raise standard of living and education --- everything else good follows.

I yearn for the good ole days when we FOCUSED on REAL pollutants and the environment.

Thanks Waltky for finally posting an
ENVIRONMENT thread.. Good Thinking Bro...

Now isn't this just a blast from the past. Ah yes, focus on real pollutants. Just give the most polluting industry in the nation permission to pollute the water where ever they please. That is what the orange clown's admin has just done. The admin that so many here are celebrating.

 

[SSDD]

Toxic waste pollution a major problem in the developing world...

Toxic Waste Exposure Widespread in Developing World
May 14, 2013 - Millions of people in developing countries living near toxic waste dumps are facing potentially severe mental and physical health dangers, according to a new study. The report finds the hazards posed by exposure to these chemical waste sites are comparable to those from malaria and air pollution.

The study by a New York-based environmental organization analyzed water and soil samples at 373 waste sites in three countries - India, Indonesia and Pakistan - with a combined population of more than 1.5 billion people, roughly a fifth of the global population. The researchers found that the more than 8.6 million people living near the sites in 2010 were being exposed to a veritable soup of toxic chemicals. “Lead, chromium, phosphates, different kinds of organic chemicals, pesticides and the like. They’re all over the world, unfortunately," said Richard Fuller. Co-author Richard Fuller is head of the Blacksmith Institute, which funded the study and works to solve pollution problems in low- and moderate-income countries.

Fuller and colleagues calculated the affected population lost more than 828-thousand years of healthy life due to toxic waste exposure, as a result of illness, disability and early death. In comparison, researchers say malaria in the same countries caused less illness and early death, and air pollution slightly more. The three-nation survey found pollution levels were highest for lead, a toxic metal which, if absorbed into the bloodstream, can impair the neurological development of unborn babies and lower children’s IQ, a measure of their cognitive skills. Two-thirds of those exposed to lead near waste dumps in Pakistan, India and Indonesia were children and women of child-bearing age, according to researchers.

An apartment is engulfed by toxic smoke from burning trash at Dandora waste site, one of Africa's biggest garbage dumps, in Nairobi, Kenya

But lead author Kevin Chatham-Stephens, a pediatric environmental health expert at the Mount Sinai school of medicine in New York, says those living near toxic waste sites can take simple steps to reduce their risk. “Even though it may not sound like a lot, washing your hands is one of the most effective ways that we can decrease our exposure to chemical pollutants - just because we know that oftentimes chemicals such as lead can end up in the dust and if we have that dust on our hands, and then we eat our foods and we wipe our mouths or something like that, then that chemical can enter into our body," said Chatham-Stephens.

The Blacksmith Institute is evaluating toxic waste sites in 70 other developing countries, hoping to help organize clean-up efforts. Fuller says it’s a slow process to remediate the chemical dumps, but the countries he’s working with have been eager to cooperate. “Everyone here has the right heart and [is] keen to do the best that they can. So, we think it’s possible. It’s just going to take a lot of work," he said. The study on the burden of disease from toxic waste dumps in India, Pakistan and Indonesia is published online in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives.

Source

See also:

UN: Billions Still Will Lack Sanitation by 2015
May 13, 2013 — By 2015, almost one-third of the global population will remain without access to improved sanitation - which is U.N.-speak for hygienic toilet facilities. That would fall well short of a key global Millennium Development Goal [MDG], which is detailed in a new report published jointly by the World Health Organization and the U.N. Children’s Fund.

Bruce Gordon, the acting coordinator for water, sanitation and health at the World Health Organization, said Monday’s report was published as a wake-up call. “Now, with the period of the MDGs coming to a close - I think it is in about 1,000 days or so - we are seeing very clearly that unless we do something very differently, the sanitation goal is going to be missed.” The U.N.'s MDG, number 7, aims to reduce by half by 2015 the number of people without access to clean, reliable toilet facilities - compared to numbers reported in 1990. According to the report, if the current trend persists, 2.4 billion people will still be living without improved sanitation. They say the MDG target will be missed by 8 percent.

Gordon said a major drive needs to be made to get the numbers on track. One of the key efforts, he said, needs to be made in rural areas. Gordon noted that a lot of money is spent on complex urban sanitation systems in cities, at the expense of those in rural areas who have nothing. “There is a big problem in rural areas with sanitation, especially with open defecation. [We need to] ensure that some of the scarce resources are directed toward those areas where we have a big problem, and that just means very basic sanitation,” said Gordon.

According to UN data, one billion people around the world in 2011 still were defecating in the open, and 90 percent of open defecation takes place in rural areas. Bruce Gordon said the impact of poor sanitation has major impacts on global health, education, and economies. The World Bank estimates global economic losses due to poor sanitation at $260 billion a year.

Tackling the problem would have major benefits, said Gordon. “A big, huge benefit for us is health. We have 1.5 million people dying every year because of inadequate sanitation or lack of access to safe water or proper hygiene,” he said. Gordon cited the most problematic regions by far as being Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. According to a recent report by the charity WaterAid, 600 million people in Africa do not have a safe, hygienic toilet; that is 70 percent of the continent's population. WaterAid says the numbers are up since 1990, largely due to population growth and surging urban slums.

UN: Billions Still Will Lack Sanitation by 2015

Yes it is...but alas, Waltky...it won't be addressed as long as the AGW scam is sucking all the air out of the room and all of the treasure out of the coffers...

Maybe some of that will change now that the EPA is going to be eliminated from the scam and pointed back towards the job the agency was created to do...

 

[waltky]

Garbage is going to start backing up into waste disposal operations around the world. ..

The Chinese blockage in the global waste disposal system
Wed, 18 Oct 2017 - A ban on the import of waste in China is about create a major blockage backing up through the global waste disposal system

Imagine the world as a global waste disposal system. Now imagine it with a blockage. And what if that waste is backing up around the world, reappearing in places where you really don't want it to be. That blockage is about to happen in China and the flood is going to start seeping out into waste disposal operations around the world. Three months ago, China decided to ban 24 different grades of rubbish as part of its "National Sword" campaign against foreign garbage. Until now China has been importing millions of tonnes of the world's waste every year to feed its recycling industry. The Bureau of International Recycling China estimates that China last year imported 7.3 million tonnes of plastic scrap from Europe, Japan and USA, and 27 million tonnes of waste paper.

In Hong Kong, 2,500 tonnes of waste paper are piling up at its docks every day​

Robin Wiener, president of the US-based Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries, said: "More than 155,000 direct jobs are supported by the US industry's export activities, earning an average wage of almost $76,000 and contributing more than $3bn to federal, state, and local taxes. "A ban on imports of scrap commodities into China would be catastrophic to the recycling industry." The new restrictions have yet to be agreed by the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and China could still change its mind, but the waste is already starting to back up. In Hong Kong, 2,500 tonnes of waste paper are piling up at its docks every day.

Easy option

For China the problem is simply one of pollution. Its submission to the WTO reads: "We found that large amounts of dirty wastes or even hazardous wastes are mixed in the solid waste that can be used as raw materials. This polluted China's environment seriously." Western recyclers admit that China has been a cheap and easy waste bin for their industry. In theory the rubbish from your recycling rubbish bin is meant to be treated or sorted before it goes in the container overseas, but the rules have too often been ignored and rarely enforced. Mike Baxter, external affairs director at the recycler RPC Group, says: "The easiest option for years has been put it into a container and send it overseas where the labour is cheaper and it can be sorted by hand."

Western recyclers admit that China has been a cheap and easy waste bin for their industry​

But with the ban expected to come into full effect by the new year, if not before, the UK industry has written urging the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs to help with the expected overflow. Even so, Robin Latcham, editor of the recycling industry magazine MRW believes the recyclers are not spelling out the problems loudly enough, and says: "Why no mention of growing domestic stockpiles of waste and the danger of more fires or incidents of waste crime? "I don't think it is scare-mongering to set out such fears, along with concern that public perception of the recycling industry in its widest sense will be heavily scarred by greater fly-tipping, larger-scale dumping and more plumes of heavy black smoke crossing housing estates." No minister from Defra was available for comment, but a spokesman told the BBC: "We are aware of this situation and are looking into the potential implications."

Opportunities