A whale of an idea
By Kate Lunau - Thursday, May 6, 2010 - 40 Comments
How to fight whaling by Japan, Iceland and Norway? Legalize it.
Glenn Lockitch/Sea Shepherd
Last Thursday, which was (some might say ironically) Earth Day, a fleet of Japanese harpoon boats left on their springtime whale hunt. That same day, the International Whaling Commission, which manages whale populations worldwide, proposed partially lifting a decades-old ban on commercially hunting the marine mammals. That plan would allow Japan, Iceland, and Norway—which have steadfastly ignored the ban anyway—to engage in limited whaling, which supporters say is necessary to bring these nations in line and ensure less whales are killed. Critics call the notion ridiculous. “Let’s legalize whaling to save the whales?” says Paul Watson, head of the non-profit Sea Shepherd Conservation Society. “This will result in more whales being killed, not less.”
Conscious of dwindling populations, the 88-member IWC placed a moratorium on commercial whaling in 1986, while still allowing a limited indigenous hunt (Canada is not an IWC member, but attends meetings as an observer). No provisions exist for policing the ban, and the three rogue IWC members have continued so-called “loophole whaling.”
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Alberta’s dirty water hazard
By Chris Sorensen - Tuesday, May 4, 2010 at 3:00 PM - 3 Comments
Getting rid of oil-sands tailings ponds is easier said than done
Jeff McIntosh/CP
Alberta Premier Ed Stelmach marked Earth Day by talking tough about the oil sands. He called on oil companies to eliminate, within a “few years,” the murky man-made lakes, or tailings ponds, that hold contaminated water (leftover bitumen, sand and various heavy metals) from the extraction process. The vast ponds, which collectively cover about 130 square kilometres—bigger than the city of Vancouver—have become a focal point for environmentalists and are the subject of a lawsuit after 1,600 ducks died on one of Syncrude’s ponds two years ago.
But Stelmach’s vision was overshadowed the following day when Alberta’s energy regulator approved tailings-pond plans for two oil sands projects, including one that has yet to be built. While the approvals were granted in accordance with new guidelines that require ponds to be treated and drained more quickly so they can be planted with vegetation, it’s still a far cry from having no ponds whatsoever—a goal the industry says will likely require significant investments in new technologies.
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Earth Day will be 40 years old come April 22. Is it still relevant?
By macleans.ca - Monday, April 19, 2010 at 4:31 PM - 15 Comments
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Plan B for global warming
By Jonathon Gatehouse - Wednesday, April 22, 2009 at 1:15 AM - 39 Comments
A bold scheme to cool earth almost overnight. But are we ready?
There’s a drawing of Don Quixote tacked to the wall of David Keith’s University of Calgary office; one of Gustave Doré’s famous illustrations showing the aging knight flying backwards off his horse as his lance bends against the blade of a windmill. The 45-year-old environmental scientist purchased it as a self-mocking reward after the publication of his 2004 paper, “The influence of large-scale wind power on global climate.” Using computer modelling, Keith and his colleagues posited that wind energy might not be quite as green as envisioned, potentially changing climate on a worldwide scale as fields of turbines slow the winds, changing rainfall and the amount of moisture in the soil. Their conclusion that the much-touted benefits from wind farms might actually be outweighed by the costs didn’t meet with broad public approval. Keith’s email inbox quickly filled with hate messages, a rare trick for an academic.Should the trend hold, the professor might want to start clearing space on his wall for a crucifix. The work Keith is engaged in now messes with nature itself, breaking some of the greatest taboos of the world’s environmental movement. Spurred by new data suggesting global warming is progressing faster, and at a much more profound level than even the worst-case scenarios, he is at the fore of a small group of scientists proposing a quick technological fix: a “Plan B” to slow climate change and cool the earth almost overnight via massive human interventions. Among their science-fiction-style ideas: the deployment of millions of lenses the size of doughnuts in geo-stationary orbit between the earth and the sun, the creation of vast banks of artificial clouds over the world’s oceans, covering deserts with reflective material, and Keith’s preferred solution—seeding the stratosphere with sulphate or other particles. All schemes designed to send a portion of the sun’s rays back into the cosmos, and buy politicians, business and the public time to finally get serious about cutting greenhouse gas emissions.
