Hail 406 years worth of Guy Fawkes. Hail the revolution. Hail the Gunpowder Plot.
Showing posts with label English. Show all posts
Showing posts with label English. Show all posts
Saturday, 5 November 2011
Tuesday, 1 November 2011
The six natural resources most drained by our 7 billion people
Here, the top 6 of the planet's natural resources that mankind is using in the largest amount
1. WATER
Freshwater only makes 2.5% of the total volume of the world's water, which is about 35 million km3. But considering 70% of that freshwater is in the form of ice and permanent snow cover and that we only have access to 200,000km3 of freshwater overall, it isn't surprising that demand for water could soon exceed supply. The Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations is predicting that by 2025, 1.8 billion people will be living in countries or regions with absolute water scarcity.
2. OIL
The fear of reaching peak oil continues to haunt the oil industry. The BP Statistical Review of World Energy in June measured total global oil at 188.8 million tonnes, from proved oil resources at the end of 2010. This is only enough to oil for the next 46.2 years, should global production remain at the current rate.
3. NATURAL GAS
A similar picture to oil exists for natural gas, with enough gas in proven reserves to meet 58.6 years of global production at the end of 2010.
4. PHOSPHORUS
Without this element, plants cannot grow. Essential for fertiliser, phosphate rock is only found in a handful of countries, including the US, China and Morocco. With the need to feed 7 billion people, scientists from the Global Phosphorus Research Initiative predict we could run out of phosphorus in 50 to 100 years unless new reserves of the element are found.
5. COAL
This has the largest reserves left of all the fossil fuels, but as China and other developing countries continue to increase their appetite for coal, demand could finally outstrip supply. As it is, we have enough coal to meet 188 years of global production.
6. RARE EARTH ELEMENTS
Scandium and terbium are just two of the 17 rare earth minerals that are used in everything from the powerful magnets in wind turbines to the electronic circuits in smartphones. The elements are not as rare as their name suggests but currently 97% of the world's supply comes from China and they can restrict supplies at will. Exact reserves are not known.
(Source: The Guardian Environment Blog)
1. WATER
Freshwater only makes 2.5% of the total volume of the world's water, which is about 35 million km3. But considering 70% of that freshwater is in the form of ice and permanent snow cover and that we only have access to 200,000km3 of freshwater overall, it isn't surprising that demand for water could soon exceed supply. The Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations is predicting that by 2025, 1.8 billion people will be living in countries or regions with absolute water scarcity.
2. OIL
The fear of reaching peak oil continues to haunt the oil industry. The BP Statistical Review of World Energy in June measured total global oil at 188.8 million tonnes, from proved oil resources at the end of 2010. This is only enough to oil for the next 46.2 years, should global production remain at the current rate.
3. NATURAL GAS
A similar picture to oil exists for natural gas, with enough gas in proven reserves to meet 58.6 years of global production at the end of 2010.
4. PHOSPHORUS
Without this element, plants cannot grow. Essential for fertiliser, phosphate rock is only found in a handful of countries, including the US, China and Morocco. With the need to feed 7 billion people, scientists from the Global Phosphorus Research Initiative predict we could run out of phosphorus in 50 to 100 years unless new reserves of the element are found.
5. COAL
This has the largest reserves left of all the fossil fuels, but as China and other developing countries continue to increase their appetite for coal, demand could finally outstrip supply. As it is, we have enough coal to meet 188 years of global production.
6. RARE EARTH ELEMENTS
Scandium and terbium are just two of the 17 rare earth minerals that are used in everything from the powerful magnets in wind turbines to the electronic circuits in smartphones. The elements are not as rare as their name suggests but currently 97% of the world's supply comes from China and they can restrict supplies at will. Exact reserves are not known.
(Source: The Guardian Environment Blog)
Defra aims to clean up junk mail industry
New move by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affair (DEFRA) to diminish the impact that unwanted and junk mail has on households and on the environment.
According to Caroline Spelman, Environment Secretary, the current overload of junk mail arriving to people's letterbox is "environmentally unsustainable".
The Department will be launching an online service where citizens can register and opt out of receiving all types of unwanted advertising mail.
From The Guardian:
According to the DMA, the average household receives more than 300 items of unaddressed and 77 items of addressed mail a year. Spelman said: "We have all returned home from holidays to be greeted by a mountain of unwanted, unsolicited mail waiting behind the front door, most of which is thrown straight out. These piles of paper irritate householders, waste businesses' money and are environmentally unsustainable."
Spelman said the initiative would make sure that the direct mail that was sent out was produced to higher standards and was fully recyclable.
The government has signed a three-year deal with the DMA to launch initiatives to help the UK move towards a zero-waste economy. Defra said that by 2014 the amount of unwanted direct mail hitting door mats will fall significantly as a result of the marketing industry increasing its current use of "suppression lists" (which includes opt-out, do not contact and gone-away lists) by 25%.
According to Caroline Spelman, Environment Secretary, the current overload of junk mail arriving to people's letterbox is "environmentally unsustainable".
The Department will be launching an online service where citizens can register and opt out of receiving all types of unwanted advertising mail.
From The Guardian:
According to the DMA, the average household receives more than 300 items of unaddressed and 77 items of addressed mail a year. Spelman said: "We have all returned home from holidays to be greeted by a mountain of unwanted, unsolicited mail waiting behind the front door, most of which is thrown straight out. These piles of paper irritate householders, waste businesses' money and are environmentally unsustainable."
Spelman said the initiative would make sure that the direct mail that was sent out was produced to higher standards and was fully recyclable.
The government has signed a three-year deal with the DMA to launch initiatives to help the UK move towards a zero-waste economy. Defra said that by 2014 the amount of unwanted direct mail hitting door mats will fall significantly as a result of the marketing industry increasing its current use of "suppression lists" (which includes opt-out, do not contact and gone-away lists) by 25%.
Tuesday, 5 July 2011
London Pride in pictures
Here, a bunch of pictures taken on Saturday afternoon in central London. Article will soon follow. Enjoy.
'Never trust a Tory' banner
Yeah, that's a glass
I think I know that guy with the lipstick...
The army could not miss this - and they call it a "men's" place
I have been waiting for them all day long! In the Naaavy! Ta ta ta ra ta, In the Naaavy!
Directly from the Venice carnival
Don't ask me what they are, I have no idea - but they're great
Er.. I don't know what to say about "him", but this is probably the best way to end this album
Thursday, 23 June 2011
Friday, 27 May 2011
Wednesday, 25 May 2011
Bush on himself: 'I'm not a teapot'
George W Bush publishes his memor, November 2010 (Cartoonist: Steve Bell)
A collection of the best satirist's works is on display at the Cartoon Museum with the exhibition: Belle Epoque - 30 years of Steve Bell
Thursday, 10 March 2011
Tuesday, 1 March 2011
Sunday, 20 February 2011
Tuesday, 7 December 2010
Transocean oil rig suffered start of blow-out in North Sea
(from The Guardian) - Drilling company Transocean had an incident on one of its North Sea rigs similar to that which caused the biggest oil spill in US history earlier this year, it emerged today.
Transocean was operating BP's Deepwater Horizon rig when it suffered a blow-out, killing 11 workers and releasing millions of barrels of oil into the Gulf of Mexico.
An internal company report obtained by the BBC shows that four months before the US disaster the Sedco 711 rig in the North Sea, which is leased by Shell and operated by Transocean, experienced similar problems.
In this case, however, the blow-out preventer – which is believed to have failed on the Deepwater Horizon – worked effectively, preventing oil and gas from spurting uncontrolled up the rig's pipe.
The incident on 23 December 2009 was investigated by the Health and Safety Executive and Transocean drew up an internal report.
Oil expert Dr Greville Williams of the Institution of Chemical Engineers, who has seen the report, told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "It is the story of a blow-out occurring during a completion exercise. They had drilled the well, they had got the end of the pipe sorted out.
"What's happened is that the flow valve at the bottom looks like it has been unseated during operations. When they started to displace the mud which is holding the reservoir back, the pressure started to move that mud and seawater back up the column. That's the blow-out starting to happen."
Dr Williams said the report showed that key indicators that something was going wrong were misinterpreted or discounted, while undue weight was given to a positive pressure test at the base of the well.
"It seems to me from this that they were accepting that they didn't do enough pressure testing of the flow control valve and probably didn't allow for more than one barrier to prevent the reservoir from communicating," he said.
"Normally, you would like to have at least two, but they were relying at this point on one barrier."
The report itself said: "The risk perception of barrier failure was blinkered by the positive inflow test."
The BBC said that a potentially major spill was avoided when the blow-out preventer was activated, capping off the well.
In a statement, Transocean told the BBC: "Any (safety-) related events that occur on a rig anywhere in the world, including the one on 23 December 2009, are immediately reported to management, fully investigated and the valuable information gleaned from that investigation is used to improve existing safety systems across the fleet."
Tim Yeo, the chairman of the House of Commons energy committee, told Today: "I think what we need to try to understand is how frequently this sort of thing is happening offshore and whether there is therefore a risk of a much more serious spill occurring.
"It is not clear that this was something which had been properly prepared for, and it may well have been more luck than judgment that got this under control.
"We don't want to see people working without the necessary kit, without proper training or procedures and the result of that being a major spill."
Transocean was operating BP's Deepwater Horizon rig when it suffered a blow-out, killing 11 workers and releasing millions of barrels of oil into the Gulf of Mexico.
An internal company report obtained by the BBC shows that four months before the US disaster the Sedco 711 rig in the North Sea, which is leased by Shell and operated by Transocean, experienced similar problems.
In this case, however, the blow-out preventer – which is believed to have failed on the Deepwater Horizon – worked effectively, preventing oil and gas from spurting uncontrolled up the rig's pipe.
The incident on 23 December 2009 was investigated by the Health and Safety Executive and Transocean drew up an internal report.
Oil expert Dr Greville Williams of the Institution of Chemical Engineers, who has seen the report, told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "It is the story of a blow-out occurring during a completion exercise. They had drilled the well, they had got the end of the pipe sorted out.
"What's happened is that the flow valve at the bottom looks like it has been unseated during operations. When they started to displace the mud which is holding the reservoir back, the pressure started to move that mud and seawater back up the column. That's the blow-out starting to happen."
Dr Williams said the report showed that key indicators that something was going wrong were misinterpreted or discounted, while undue weight was given to a positive pressure test at the base of the well.
"It seems to me from this that they were accepting that they didn't do enough pressure testing of the flow control valve and probably didn't allow for more than one barrier to prevent the reservoir from communicating," he said.
"Normally, you would like to have at least two, but they were relying at this point on one barrier."
The report itself said: "The risk perception of barrier failure was blinkered by the positive inflow test."
The BBC said that a potentially major spill was avoided when the blow-out preventer was activated, capping off the well.
In a statement, Transocean told the BBC: "Any (safety-) related events that occur on a rig anywhere in the world, including the one on 23 December 2009, are immediately reported to management, fully investigated and the valuable information gleaned from that investigation is used to improve existing safety systems across the fleet."
Tim Yeo, the chairman of the House of Commons energy committee, told Today: "I think what we need to try to understand is how frequently this sort of thing is happening offshore and whether there is therefore a risk of a much more serious spill occurring.
"It is not clear that this was something which had been properly prepared for, and it may well have been more luck than judgment that got this under control.
"We don't want to see people working without the necessary kit, without proper training or procedures and the result of that being a major spill."
Wednesday, 1 December 2010
Monday, 22 November 2010
Illicit tiger trade in Burma
Below is a series of photographs documenting the illegal trade of exotic animals in the village of Mong La, Burma. Tigers, leopards, jaguars and other magnificent specimen are poached in the Burmese forests, and taken to the town's local markets to be sold.
Dealers, collectors and tourists are some of the potential buyers.
The tiger populations have decreased of 97 per cent over the last 100 years. These animals are at high risk of extinction. It is not only dealers and poachers who are responsible for the extermination. What makes their business profitable is collectors, tourists and all those people who, although not involved in the practical crime of killing these animals, seek for and buy skins or other body parts.
(Photographs source, The Guardian - The entire reportage is available here)
Dealers, collectors and tourists are some of the potential buyers.
The tiger populations have decreased of 97 per cent over the last 100 years. These animals are at high risk of extinction. It is not only dealers and poachers who are responsible for the extermination. What makes their business profitable is collectors, tourists and all those people who, although not involved in the practical crime of killing these animals, seek for and buy skins or other body parts.
(Photographs source, The Guardian - The entire reportage is available here)
Thursday, 18 November 2010
China needs to address sustainability - WWF
WWF calls for China to address its environmental issues and boost sustainable development to avoid “bottleneck economic growth,” with the release of a report on the country's ecological footprint.
The study on the ecological footprint, conducted with the China Council for International Cooperation on Environment and Development (CCICED), was done to “evaluate the ecological deficits of different provinces in China as well as the impacts of specific businesses and households activities,” as written in the report.
According to the findings, China – which has undergone a steady economic growth since the 1970s – currently needs almost twice the amount of its natural resources to sustain its population. This deficit is largely due to emissions of carbon dioxide from burning fossil fuels. Industrialization, large scale urban development and intensive agriculture have increased the country's burden on the environment.
The lack of internal resources pushes China to import biological capacity from other countries. This dependence has been increasing, as has the need for the country to address this issue.
Zhu Guangyao, CCICED Secretary General, said in an official statement: “Due to rapid social and economic development [in China], environmental issues are increasingly becoming a bottleneck for future economic growth.
“The next 20 years will be critical for China to realise sustainable development. With this in mind, it is the goal of the Chinese government to accelerate the formation of a resource efficient and environmentally friendly society.”
To achieve these goals, says the report, China would need to enhance its infrastructure on the one hand, and change regulations on the other – both measures would help to drastically diminish the impact of its growth on the environment.
“China is already consuming more than twice as much as can be provided by its own ecosystems,” wrote James Leape, WWF International Director General.
“People in China today have an ecological footprint of 1.6 'global hectares' – that is, on average, each person needs 1.6 hectares of biologically productive land to meet the demands of their lifestyle. This is still lower than the world average of 2.2 global hectares, but it nonetheless presents important challenges.
“Raising awareness of China's footprint is a crucial step in China's efforts to improve the wellbeing of its people without jeopardising their future.”
As a matter of fact, many China-based industries that add up to the impact of the country's carbon emissions and ecological footprint are foreign companies that, after closing factories in their own countries, re-directed the production to south-east Asia. Here the workforce is less costly and the environmental regulations are vague.
Calculating the ecological footprint is meant to establish the level of land and water that are needed by a population. It is also meaningful to assess the impact that a population or a country has on a global scale, in terms of use of internal and external natural resources; those that are available within the country, and those that have to be imported from elsewhere.
As recently as 2003, the world's population consumed 25% more biological capacity than the planet could provide. The WWF warns that, if measures are not taken to tackle this trend, a spiral of degradation may wear off the world's resources.
“Today China’s global influence is greater than at any time in recent history,” said Mr Leape. “By reducing pressure on natural resources through better management and increased efficiency, the country can play an important role in sustaining the global environment while gaining competitiveness.”
The study on the ecological footprint, conducted with the China Council for International Cooperation on Environment and Development (CCICED), was done to “evaluate the ecological deficits of different provinces in China as well as the impacts of specific businesses and households activities,” as written in the report.
According to the findings, China – which has undergone a steady economic growth since the 1970s – currently needs almost twice the amount of its natural resources to sustain its population. This deficit is largely due to emissions of carbon dioxide from burning fossil fuels. Industrialization, large scale urban development and intensive agriculture have increased the country's burden on the environment.
The lack of internal resources pushes China to import biological capacity from other countries. This dependence has been increasing, as has the need for the country to address this issue.
Zhu Guangyao, CCICED Secretary General, said in an official statement: “Due to rapid social and economic development [in China], environmental issues are increasingly becoming a bottleneck for future economic growth.
“The next 20 years will be critical for China to realise sustainable development. With this in mind, it is the goal of the Chinese government to accelerate the formation of a resource efficient and environmentally friendly society.”
To achieve these goals, says the report, China would need to enhance its infrastructure on the one hand, and change regulations on the other – both measures would help to drastically diminish the impact of its growth on the environment.
“China is already consuming more than twice as much as can be provided by its own ecosystems,” wrote James Leape, WWF International Director General.
“People in China today have an ecological footprint of 1.6 'global hectares' – that is, on average, each person needs 1.6 hectares of biologically productive land to meet the demands of their lifestyle. This is still lower than the world average of 2.2 global hectares, but it nonetheless presents important challenges.
“Raising awareness of China's footprint is a crucial step in China's efforts to improve the wellbeing of its people without jeopardising their future.”
As a matter of fact, many China-based industries that add up to the impact of the country's carbon emissions and ecological footprint are foreign companies that, after closing factories in their own countries, re-directed the production to south-east Asia. Here the workforce is less costly and the environmental regulations are vague.
Calculating the ecological footprint is meant to establish the level of land and water that are needed by a population. It is also meaningful to assess the impact that a population or a country has on a global scale, in terms of use of internal and external natural resources; those that are available within the country, and those that have to be imported from elsewhere.
As recently as 2003, the world's population consumed 25% more biological capacity than the planet could provide. The WWF warns that, if measures are not taken to tackle this trend, a spiral of degradation may wear off the world's resources.
“Today China’s global influence is greater than at any time in recent history,” said Mr Leape. “By reducing pressure on natural resources through better management and increased efficiency, the country can play an important role in sustaining the global environment while gaining competitiveness.”
Tuesday, 16 November 2010
38degrees petition
The petition set up by 38degrees against the government's plan to sell off part of the state-owned English woodland, has been signed by 69,162 people so far.
Sign the petition at: http://www.38degrees.org.uk/page/s/save-our-forests#petition
Sign the petition at: http://www.38degrees.org.uk/page/s/save-our-forests#petition
How badly we need our forests
David Clark, on The Guardian:
Next year, 2011, will be the UN's International Year of Forests, aiming to strengthen the sustainable management of forests for the benefit of current and future generations. It would be a tragic legacy for the government if it marked this year by starting to sell off large parts of our public forests. We hold these magnificent green spaces in trust for our children. Once they've gone we will not get them back.
Government claims, articulated in the Guardian by environment secretary Caroline Spelman, that the environmental and public benefits would be maintained if forests are sold off simply do not stand up to scrutiny.
Some private landowners do receive grants under the England Woodland Grant Scheme. However, they typically get this money to undertake just one or two projects such as creating some new footpaths or planting more trees. This does not in any way match what the Forestry Commission does on land which it manages and, in any case, most private landowners do not apply for these grants.
The sustainable management of woodland requires a lot of work. All the Forestry Commission's woods are independently certified against the internationally recognised Forestry Stewardship Council (FSC) standard. A new owner would not be required to certify their woodlands.
A private landowner needs a licence to fell trees but it is essentially up to them how they manage their woodland, when and if they fell, what areas they fell and what types of trees they plant.
The Forestry Commission plants about 17m trees every year and has an important programme to restore our native woodlands. The organisation has also created 3000 hectares of new community woodlands in urban areas in the past 10 years.
Access on foot is currently safeguarded for freehold woodlands which the commission sells. However, there is no legal requirement to allow access for cycling or horse riding and there are no access rights on woodlands which are leased.
The commission maintains 24,000km of forest roads, seven times the total amount of motorway in Britain. It looks after thousands kilometres of footpaths and cycle trails too.
The commission employs specialist wildlife rangers and foresters who have restored important wildlife habitats on an unprecedented scale over the past 10 years, making a huge contribution to UK and European biodiversity targets.
By early this year, 99% of Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs) managed by the commission were in favourable or recovering condition. This exceeded the government target of 95% set for the end of 2010 and is greater than that achieved by any other significant SSSI manager in England in the public, private or charitable sectors. The commission is also leading the way in developing woodfuel as a more environmentally friendly source of energy.
Ministers are now trying to suggest that their plans are simply an extension of past sales of Forestry Commission land. However, the large scale sell-off the government appears to be planning bears no similarity to previous small sales of the land with the least environmental and public benefits.
What I find so extraordinary is that selling off large areas of our forests would risk so much while paying off only a small fraction of the national debt.
The commission costs less than 30p a year for every taxpayer, while 70% of the costs of managing our public forests in England are covered by commercial revenue.
We owe it to future generations to ensure our green gems are looked after and handed on to them rather than being sold off to the highest bidder.
(Lord Clark of Windermere was chairman of the Forestry Commission for eight years until December 2008)
Next year, 2011, will be the UN's International Year of Forests, aiming to strengthen the sustainable management of forests for the benefit of current and future generations. It would be a tragic legacy for the government if it marked this year by starting to sell off large parts of our public forests. We hold these magnificent green spaces in trust for our children. Once they've gone we will not get them back.
Government claims, articulated in the Guardian by environment secretary Caroline Spelman, that the environmental and public benefits would be maintained if forests are sold off simply do not stand up to scrutiny.
Some private landowners do receive grants under the England Woodland Grant Scheme. However, they typically get this money to undertake just one or two projects such as creating some new footpaths or planting more trees. This does not in any way match what the Forestry Commission does on land which it manages and, in any case, most private landowners do not apply for these grants.
The sustainable management of woodland requires a lot of work. All the Forestry Commission's woods are independently certified against the internationally recognised Forestry Stewardship Council (FSC) standard. A new owner would not be required to certify their woodlands.
A private landowner needs a licence to fell trees but it is essentially up to them how they manage their woodland, when and if they fell, what areas they fell and what types of trees they plant.
The Forestry Commission plants about 17m trees every year and has an important programme to restore our native woodlands. The organisation has also created 3000 hectares of new community woodlands in urban areas in the past 10 years.
Access on foot is currently safeguarded for freehold woodlands which the commission sells. However, there is no legal requirement to allow access for cycling or horse riding and there are no access rights on woodlands which are leased.
The commission maintains 24,000km of forest roads, seven times the total amount of motorway in Britain. It looks after thousands kilometres of footpaths and cycle trails too.
The commission employs specialist wildlife rangers and foresters who have restored important wildlife habitats on an unprecedented scale over the past 10 years, making a huge contribution to UK and European biodiversity targets.
By early this year, 99% of Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs) managed by the commission were in favourable or recovering condition. This exceeded the government target of 95% set for the end of 2010 and is greater than that achieved by any other significant SSSI manager in England in the public, private or charitable sectors. The commission is also leading the way in developing woodfuel as a more environmentally friendly source of energy.
Ministers are now trying to suggest that their plans are simply an extension of past sales of Forestry Commission land. However, the large scale sell-off the government appears to be planning bears no similarity to previous small sales of the land with the least environmental and public benefits.
What I find so extraordinary is that selling off large areas of our forests would risk so much while paying off only a small fraction of the national debt.
The commission costs less than 30p a year for every taxpayer, while 70% of the costs of managing our public forests in England are covered by commercial revenue.
We owe it to future generations to ensure our green gems are looked after and handed on to them rather than being sold off to the highest bidder.
(Lord Clark of Windermere was chairman of the Forestry Commission for eight years until December 2008)
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