Environment Blog- February

Hurricane study whips up a storm
4 comments

Rising ocean temperatures linked to global warming could decrease the number of hurricanes hitting the United States, say researchers. But their findings have been questioned by some at a recent meteorology conference.

The new study challenges research suggesting that global warming could be contributing to an increase in the frequency and the intensity of Atlantic hurricanes. Hurricanes feed on warm water, leading to conventional wisdom supported by recent research that global warming could be revving up more powerful storms.

Chunzai Wang of the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and Sang-Ki Lee of the University of Miami, US, examined 150 years of hurricane records and found a small decline in hurricanes making landfall in the United States as oceans warmed.

Wang says the number of those hurricanes actually hitting the United States is a much better indicator than the total number of hurricanes. This is because prior to the mid-1960s, when the advent of satellites and other technology made it easier to spot cyclones, some tropical storms and hurricanes lived and died far out at sea, undetected.

Continue Hurricane study whips up a storm

Litter menace
3 comments

The often underestimated cause of environment pollution is litter on city streets and alongside highways. One thoughtless act by a single person who tosses off an empty soda can add to an already large mass of litter. Contributing to that litter are trillion cigarette butts littered worldwide every year especailly in the most picturesque of places, beaches, nature trails, gardens, and other public places. The toxic residue in cigarette filters can take decades to degrade. Littered butts have caused numerous fires every year. 

Litter pollutes waterways and leaches toxic chemicals into soil and groundwater when it breaks down. There are simple ways of doing your part. Never let trash escape from your vehicle. Be alert and remember to take your garbage with you upon leaving a park or other public space. Seal household garbage bins tightly so animals can’t get at the contents.
 

Continue Litter menace

A case for the green lifestyle
2 comments

A common habit mostly seen in children and youth in today’s society is a tendency to waste food. However much we despise it, children these days are spoilt for choices and allowed to be picky with their food. They promptly discard fresh vegetables and snack on greasy stuff to glory. Much of the edible food that constitutes healthy eating find their way in trash bins and ultimately into the land fills.  

The 'value meals' restaurants advertise, also leads to food getting thrown away as nobody eats it all - causing harm to the world  as well as to the body. In the throw-away-society we have created, impulsive buying, lousy food planning, a busy lifestyle and callousness adds to the woes of an already stressed out planet.

Healthy eating affords a range of choices in grains, veggies and fruits, including the organic versions and increases energy and strengthens the immune system in a way no junk or processed food can. 

Continue A case for the green lifestyle

Labor abuse cases in toy manufacturing facilities
1 comments

Of late, the world has woken to a number of cases of labor abuses and human rights violation in manufacturing facilities of reputed  companies in developing nations. The National Labor Committee has recently identified several cases of labor abuses at a factory in China's Guangzhou province that produces Christmas ornaments for Target and Wal-Mart has uncovered shocking details of numerous violations including the employment of children as young as 12 working 10, 12 and 15-hour days, seven days a week, for less than China's minimum wage. The average employee spent 84 hours per week at the factory and worked for 77 of those hours.

The report highlights the hard realities of  the sweatshops. The factory cheated workers out of pay  and employees who quit or were fired were cheated out of these wages when they left. Many workers had to go for months without a day off.  Employees working with toxic paints were not provided with even the most minimal protective equipment. If they developed skin rashes or other illnesses from their exposure to these toxic chemicals, they were not compensated or offered medical care. Instead they were forced to quit. Some children worked overnight. The factory did not pay China's legally mandated overtime premium also.

Wal-Mart's supposedly extensive inspection system appears to be clearly flawed.

Mattel is another glaring example of  a company  being  extremely callous to the environment as well as to the health of the people who manufacture its toys and expose themselves regularly to poisonous chemicals.

Continue Labor abuse cases in toy manufacturing facilities

Israel’s green streak strikes a chord abroad
1 comments

Israel has been developing water technologies for decades now, and is now exporting its products abroad where it is finding eager buyers. Israeli companies are harnessing everything from bacteria to ultraviolet light technology, to treat, purify and reuse water. They have developed a unique recycling system using millions of small, plastic rings to breed bacteria and break down organic waste.

Netafim, a company that familiarized the  world with a water-sparing process known as drip irrigation was founded by Simcha Blass, an engineer and a kibbutz farming collective in the Negev desert. Today, Netafim nets more than $450 million in annual sales, mostly exports. It also aims to double its exports in the sector to $2 billion by 2010. One of its newest products, a wireless crop monitoring system, uses the concept of underground sensors and radios to ensure the right amount of water reaches each section of a field.

Continue Israel’s green streak strikes a chord abroad