2013 WORLD ENVIRONMENT DAY AWARDS!

As I mentioned before, World Environment Day is run by the United Nations Environment Programme and celebrated every June 5.  Every year, environmental awards are given.  Here are the:

Winners of the 2013 World Environment Day Awards 

Prime Minister's Environmentalist of the Year Award 

• WINNER: Don Henry, Australian Conservation Foundation (VIC)

Prime Minister's Young Environmentalist of the Year Award 

• WINNER: Kirsty Albion & Lucy Manne, Australian Youth Climate Coalition (VIC)

NSW Office of Environment and Heritage Sustainability Leadership Awards 

- Small and Medium Organisations 

• JOINT WINNER: Life Without Barriers, Caring for People: caring for place (TAS)

- Large Organisations 

• WINNER: Kempsey Bypass Alliance (NSW)

Swinburne University of Technology Sustainable Product Design Award 

• WINNER: Brightgreen, DR700 (VIC)

Virgin Australia Community Award

• WINNER:  OzHarvest (NSW)

Biodiversity Award

• WINNER:  Condamine Alliance, The Fish Are Back (QLD)

- Best Specific Environmental Initiative

• WINNER: Synergetics Environmental Engineering, Positive Energy Places (VIC)
• SPECIAL COMMENDATION: Saffron Restaurant (NT)
• SPECIAL COMMENDATION: Zoos Victoria, Becoming Carbon Neutral(VIC)

- Excellence in Overall Environmental Management 

• WINNER: Australian Ecosystems, Brendan Condon (VIC)

Environmental School Award

• WINNER: Bentleigh West Primary School, Locals Creating Wildlife Passages (VIC)

Excellence in Sustainable Water Management Award

• WINNER: Camerons Nursery, Reduce, Recycle, Reuse Water Saving Project (NSW)

http://www.unaavictoria.org.au/awards-programs/world-environment-day-awards/winners-finalists/

GLOBAL CARBON EMISSIONS

In one of my last blogs, I mentioned about the greenhouse gas emisssions and primary sources of it in US.  In NBC news, there is an article about global carbon emissions with a title "Surprise?  Global carbon emissions set new record in 2013."

"Global emissions of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide are on course to rise yet again in 2013, reaching a new high of nearly 40 billion tons, according to figures released Monday by researchers who track emissions around the globe.

The projected 2.1 percent rise over 2012 figures "is not a surprise at all,"Roisin Moriarty, a research scientist with the Global Carbon Project at the University of East Anglia's Tyndall Center for Climate Research, told NBC News in an email. In fact, "it is a little lower than the value we predicted last year — 2.6 percent." 

http://t.nbcnews.com/science/surprise-global-carbon-emissions-set-new-record-2013-2D11620258

NEWS ABOUT ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES

Internship in GreenSavings makes me to be more interested on environmental issues.  I like to search the news and interesting articles about nature online. Today there was a news about an active volcano that was found under Antarctic Ice in Huffington Post:

"Earthquakes deep below West Antarctica reveal an active volcano hidden beneath the massive ice sheet, researchers said today (Nov. 17) in a study published in the journal Nature Geoscience.

The discovery finally confirms long-held suspicions of volcanic activity concealed by the vast West Antarctic Ice Sheet. Several volcanoes poke up along the Antarctic coast and its offshore islands, such as Mount Erebus, but this is the first time anyone has caught magma in action far from the coast.

The volcano was a lucky find. The research project, called POLENET, was intended to reveal the structure of Earth's mantle, the layer beneath the crust. In 2010, a team led by scientists from Washington University in St. Louis spent weeks slogging across the snow, pulling sleds laden with earthquake-monitoring equipment."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/11/18/volcano-under-antarctica_n_4295985.html?ir=Green

GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS

United States Environmental  Protection Agency published a piece about greenhouse gases overview.  It defines the greenhouse gas emissions as gases that trap heat in the atmosphere. These gases are carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, fluorinated gases.  The primary sources of greenhouse gas emissions in the United States are:

Electricity production (33% of 2011 greenhouse gas emissions) - Electricity production generates the largest share of greenhouse gas emissions. Over 70% of our electricity comes from burning fossil fuels, mostly coal and natural gas.

Transportation (28% of 2011 greenhouse gas emissions) - Greenhouse gas emissions from transportation primarily come from burning fossil fuel for our cars, trucks, ships, trains, and planes.
Industry (20% of 2011 greenhouse gas emissions) - Greenhouse gas emissions from industry primarily come from burning fossil fuels for energy as well as greenhouse gas emissions from certain chemical reactions necessary to produce goods from raw materials.

Commercial and Residential (11% of 2011 greenhouse gas emissions) - Greenhouse gas emissions from businesses and homes arise primarily from fossil fuels burned for heat, the use of certain products that contain greenhouse gases, and the handling of waste.

Agriculture (8% of 2011 greenhouse gas emissions) - Greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture come from livestock such as cows, agricultural soils, and rice production.

Land Use and Forestry (offset of 14% of 2011 greenhouse gas emissions) - Land areas can act as a sink (absorbing CO2 from the atmosphere) or a source of greenhouse gas emissions. In the United States, since 1990, managed forests and other lands have absorbed more CO2 from the atmosphere than they emit.

WAYS TO KEEP THE ENVIRONMENT CLEAN

I like to visit other blogs which are about environmental issues.  I found a nice piece about some ways to keep the environment clean.  Here are some tips:

    * The 3Rs are considered to be the most important and easiest way to keep our environment clean and refrain it from pollution. Reduce, recycle and reuse are the famous 3 Rs that can keep our environment clean. By reducing the usage of harmful materials, and recycling items such as paper and glass and at the same time reusing goods that can be reused will reduce the pollution levels in the air and keep the environment clean.
    * Planting more trees increase the oxygen level in the atmosphere. This way there is an increase in the total oxygen level thus resulting in cleaner air to breathe and keeping environment clean.
    * Many people tend to litter. This is a bad habit as littering causes a rapid increase in pollution levels. Instead of throwing garbage on the roads, there should be recycling bins on every corner of the road so that people do not litter. This will help in keeping the environment clean.
    * Cigarettes are another harmful item that increases the air pollution as well as the well known health benefits.
    * By using eco friendly and biodegradable cleaning items the environment will be a better and cleaner place for humans to live in and by the continuous use of these products the environment will improve for future generation.


http://simple-green-organic-happy.blogspot.com/2012/02/ways-to-keep-environment-clean.html

SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

Sustainability is one of the key issues of the environment.  It is not important only for today but also for the future generations.  Sustainable development is the trigger of this issue and I believe that it is really crucial.  I think it might be good to share with you the information about sustainable development from the source of International Institute for Sustainable Development.

 

Sustainable development has been defined in many ways, but the most frequently quoted definition is from

"Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. It contains within it two key concepts:

• the concept of needs, in particular the essential needs of the world's poor, to which overriding priority should be given; and
• the idea of limitations imposed by the state of technology and social organization on the environment's ability to meet present and future needs."

 

When you think of the world as a system over space, you grow to understand that air pollution from North America affects air quality in Asia, and that pesticides sprayed in Argentina could harm fish stocks off the coast of Australia.
And when you think of the world as a system over time, you start to realize that the decisions our grandparents made about how to farm the land continue to affect agricultural practice today; and the economic policies we endorse today will have an impact on urban poverty when our children are adults.

You can visit http://www.iisd.org to get more information about sustainable development

UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND REDUCED CARBON EMISSIONS 15 PERCENT IN 2012

In The University of Maryland's Indepent Student Newspaper, there was a good news about UMD in terms of green and sustainable life.  In the sustainability office’s 2013 progress report released Thursday, the university reported a 2012 carbon footprint of 278,722 metric tons, a 10,803-ton drop from 2011 levels. Despite continuing sustainability challenges such as air travel and steam production, the office attributed its success to new initiatives such as commuter parking permits, the sustainability minor and campuswide recycling.  

The reduction signifies meeting the university’s first Climate Action Plan goal, a “very significant” achievement, said Andrew Muir, the sustainability office’s spokesman. The university’s Climate Action Plan, launched in 2009, set regular targets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and eventually achieve carbon neutrality by 2050.

Students and the rest of the university played a large role in helping meet the plan’s first goal, said Mark Stewart, the office’s senior project manager. For instance, the 76 percent recycling rate in 2012 exceeded its 75 percent target, and the sustainability minor launched that year is now the university’s most popular. More students have been biking to school, and students purchased 478 fewer parking permits, Stewart said.