BDPollution-Pollution and its effect to the environment

10:10 International Photofest 2012: REMADE

2012-04-02T20:13:00.003+06:00

Having a personal connection to a wonderful campaign, although no more in touch with it that often due to daily life, I do still want to promote it when I can. So here I am talking about it. This year 10:10 Global came with a fantastic idea about recycling old things into reusable things and gave it a name that would go with it "REMADE". This project will be observed in the month of April. All round the world wherever 10:10 reach goes, people will be working hard "REMADING". As it goes, every country that is involved with it would have to come up with activities of their own to promote REMADE, and so in Dhaka, Bangladesh, the great team here will be organizing an international photography exhibition. Although the exhibition will be held at a later time, they will be receiving photos in the month. To know more I am posting the details below:

If you are interested in photography and want to do do something positive about climate change, then this competition is for you:

10:10 Photofest 2012

Categories

• Category I: Natural wonders of our country
• Category II: Climatic disaster or climate refugee in Bangladesh
• Category III: The Urban Jungle

INTERNATIONAL CATEGORY:

• Category IV: Pictures of things REMADE (e.g. a photo of a repaired piece of clothing)

Submit entries to:

• All submissions must be made online as attachments to the following address:
bd1010_photosubmission@yahoo.com

Submission deadline:

15 April 2012

Eligibility criteria and guidelines:

ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA

• Participant must be at least 18 years or older

• Participants cannot be a member of organizing committee of 10:10 Bangladesh in 2011 and 2012.

• All photographs submitted must be from Bangladesh for categories I,II and III, AND all photographs for CATEGORY IV can be from citizens all over the world.

RULES:

Each contestant (Bangladeshi) may submit a single photograph or a single photo story in each category. A single photograph can be either colour or black and white. Photo stories must have a minimum of 3 and a maximum of 5 photos in each category.

Only non Bangladeshi participants can residing outside Bangladesh can submit one photograph/ one photo story in Category 4 and cannot send photos in catergories 1,2,3.

General guidelines:

• All pictures submitted must be taken by the participant following the eligibility criteria

• Images must be free of manipulation other than ordinary changes that might be made using conventional darkroom/digital techniques, such as spotting dust and scratches, changing color balance, conversion to black and white, adjusting contrast and other levels

• Composite images and photos with special effects, borders, added backgrounds, and/or embedded names (such as photographer names or agency names) are not permitted

• 1010 Bangladesh reserves the right to verify the authenticity of the submissions or the eligibility of the participant at any stage of the competition by any means and/or to disqualify images where post-processing is deemed to have exceeded acceptable photo-journalistic practices.

• Participants retain copyright to any images they submit to the contest

• By submitting images, participants agree that 10:10 Bangladesh will have the right to reproduce and print any images for the purpose of exhibition or promotion of 1010 Bangladesh

• Entries from Bangladesh will be returned.

• International entries will not be returned.

• Submissions for which have been selected for exhibition must pay a participation fee, the amount of which will be specified after primary selection or as earlier as deemed possible by 1010 Bangladesh.

International entries sent from outside Bangladesh are exempted from paying any participation fee.However, any entries from non- Bangladeshi from within Bangladesh will have to pay a participation fee.

Non Resident Bangladeshis are also eligible to pay a participation fee.

• Images must be at least 2500 pixels along the longest side
• Images must not be more than 5 mb in size
• The single images must be named as following: category_name of participant_title of image (e.g. Category I_Tashique Alam_our future.jpg)
• For photostory the participant must submit a short essay in a separate document file. The essay must not exceed 350 words. The essay file must be named as: category_name of participant_photostory title. The pictures must be named as category_name of participant_serial number. Both the pictures and essay document must be kept in a separate zip/rar file, which is named as: category_name of participant_photostory title.

• In a separate document the participant must submit the following details
o Name of participant
o Age
o Gender
o Address
o Contact number
o Email
o Educational Institution (if student)
o Nationality/Place of birth

Selection:

After the end of submission deadline, the submitted photographs and photostories will pass through a primary selection. Only the results of the primary selection will be selected for exhibition. Selected participants will receive certificates as being part of 10:10 Global campaign AND an exhibition of their submissions. Further details following primary selection will be available shortly. We appreciate your patience and participation.

Prize:

To be announced shortly (SURPRISE) - (in addition to a 10:10 campaign Photofest participation certificates for selected entrants and an exhibition of the selected photography at the 10:10 Photofest 2012)

Venue: Dhaka, Bangladesh

Organizer: 10:10 Bangladesh, the Bangladesh wing of 10:10 Global >>>> 10:10 is a Global campaign building the world's largest community taking positive action on climate change by reaching out to people, businesses and organisations around the world and encouraging them to cut their carbon emissions by 10% every year.

Web: http://www.1010global.org/
BD web: http://www.1010global.org/bd (sign up for the campaign if you haven't already!)

10:10 Bangladesh facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/1010Bangladesh

For further inquiries write to: bd1010_photosubmission@yahoo.com

Environmental Asbestos Exposure

2012-03-17T20:16:00.007+06:00

There are six different forms of asbestos that can be found naturally in soil and rocks around the world.Although asbestos is not dangerous when left undisturbed in the ground, mining or removal of the mineral can release asbestos fibers into the air, where environmental exposure can lead to serious illnesses such as malignant mesothelioma cancer and lung cancer.

Some types of asbestos, such as amosite and crocidolite, are usually found in their natural form in foreign countries like Africa.

However, environmental asbestos exposure in the United States is more common than many people understand, with rocky areas and mountain ranges being the typical spots of natural asbestos deposits. Large deposits of various forms of asbestos have been found in California, in the Rocky Mountains, in the Kootenai Mountains in and around Montana and also in other U.S. national parks and forests.

Unfortunately, many people unknowingly stir up naturally occurring asbestos while hiking and picnicking. Vacation activities such as four-wheeling through asbestos-contaminated hills can stir up the asbestos dust and cause inadvertent exposure. Once asbestos fibers are airborne, even walking through the area can lead to inhalation or ingestion of the fibers.

Although these fibers are natural, they are hardly harmless.

The six types of asbestos are labeled as carcinogens, and hundreds of other asbestiform minerals are thought to cause similar health problems. Illnesses that have been directly linked to environmental asbestos exposure include mesothelioma, lung cancer and asbestosis. Some cases of other cancers, such as ovarian cancer and laryngeal cancer, also have been linked to asbestos exposure.

To help reduce the chance that you are environmentally exposed to asbestos, you should take extra precaution while engaging in any outdoors activities in areas where asbestos is a known threat.

These are areas include Coalinga, California, Sall Mountain, Georgia and Libby, Montana. Be sure to heed any asbestos warnings posted in state parks and recreational areas, and avoid disturbing any rock or mineral deposits where asbestos may occur.

Another environmental exposure to be aware of is that of a damaged or imploded building. We've all seen on TV: hotels, office towers, parking garages, old sports arenas and civic center’s get imploded. One minute they are there, 30 seconds later they have disappeared in a carefully engineered pile of rubble.

All good, except: Old buildings have asbestos in them, and dust from these implosions is not good to breathe in.

The safety lesson, then, is not to be a spectator for or cheerleader of these implosions and also to stay away from the rubble afterward. Unless the building was abated before it was ruined, asbestos fibers are in the air and can be breathed in.

iPic Theaters: Earth Preservation Contest

2012-02-07T17:49:00.003+06:00

iPic Theaters is organizing a Film Festival Contest themed under "Earth Preservation". The winning video will have their chance to get their video premiered at iPic Theater for a month. The winning contestant will also receive $4000.

How to get involved?

Create a short film on the theme of Earth Preservation with a timeline of two to six minutes. Submissions will be accepted from Jan 7th,2012 - Feb 10th,2012. Results will be published on Earth Day, April 22nd 2012. Time is running out as the deadline approaches. To know more about the event go over to the facebook event here.

*All applicants must be 21 years or older.

Climate Vulnerable Forum: November 2011

2012-02-01T18:43:00.005+06:00

Nineteen climate vulnerable countries have signed the Climate Vulnerable Forum 2011 Dhaka Declaration last year November.
To know more about Climate Vulnerable Forum visit DARA.

Dhaka Ministerial Declaration of the Climate Vulnerable Forum

We, Ministers and representatives of Governments from Africa, Asia, the Caribbeans, Latin America and the Pacific, members of the Climate Vulnerable Forum, representing a significant number of countries most vulnerable to climate change and meeting in Dhaka on 14 November 2011.

Recalling the 2009 Male' declaration as the founding document of the Climate Vulnerable Forum, created at the initiative of the Republic of Maldives, and the 2010 Ambo Declaration, agreed under the leadership of the second Forum chair, the Republic of Kiribati,

Mindful of the firmly robust and unequivocal scientific basis of accelerating global climate change, wherein human activities are indisputably the principal and growing cause as well as of the imperative to act with urgency,

Standing indivisible as we are in our determination to act to bring about a resolution to the global menace of climate change which ultimately entail ever greater human suffering, inequity and irreversible damage to the Earth,

Resolute thereby in our commitment to pursuing, autonomously as an independent strategic choice and to the extent possible, national green development pathways, in spite of our limited capacities and negligible present and historical contribution to greenhouse gas (GHG)emissions that are the principal cause of climate change.

Reaffirming herein the objectives and principles of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, as well as the commitments of its parties, to enable its full, effective and sustained implementation through immediate and long-term cooperative action,

Acknowledging that the challenges of climate change are global in nature and call for the most extensive and inclusive cooperation by all countries, on the basis of equity and in accordance with common but differentiated responsibilities, historical responsibility, and respective capabilities and socio-economic conditions as laid down in the UNFCCC,

Concerned at the findings of the Climate Vulnerability Monitor 2010, an independent study examining the current and near-term socio-economic impacts of climate change that point to a large-scale and growing worldwide crisis,

Noting that many heavily affected developing countries are low-lying, small-islands, isthmus, land-locked, remotely located, arid and semi arid least developed; and are faced with rapid on-set and/or slow on-set climate phenomena affecting productive capacities, and often reversing developmental gains,

Noting further that climate change is rendering development projects costlier and compelling diversion of already inadequate funds from development to costly adaptation programmes,

Mindful nonetheless of the possibility that highly effective adaptation responses to climate change could be capable of limiting, in a cost-effective manner, a significant range of adverse socio-economic and environmental consequences, particularly with respect to human health,

Aware that climate change induced displacement of people is a major concern and their relocation puts enormous pressure on infrastructures and service facilities; and furthermore, large-scale displacement has the potential to transform into security concerns,

Recognising that migration is a viable adaptation strategy to ensure that populations are not compelled to reside in high risk and affected areas, and to manage risks during displacement; and furthermore a planned strategy in the long-term to offer displaced populations with enhanced options for dignified and diversified livelihood,

Emphasizing that climate change related impacts have a range of implications, both direct and indirect, undermining our government's ability to ensure the full and effective enjoyment of human rights and that resultant humanitarian crises, if not adequately addressed, may create multifaceted security challenges,

Seized in this light of the window of opportunity for preventing irreversible changes nationally, regionally, and globally as fast narrowing and that a failure to arrest further anthropogenic factors to climate change indeed implies existential threats for a significant number of the most vulnerable countries,

Reaffirming also the continued relevance of the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development, Agenda 21, the Programme for the Further Implementation of Agenda 21, the Johannesburg Declaration on Sustainable Development and the Plan of Implementation of the World Summit on Sustainable Development,

Recalling the Copenhagen Accord and the Cancun Agreements including commitments made by industrialized countries to take mitigation actions and developed countries to provide specified quantities of climate finance for the adaptation and mitigation actions of developing countries,

Recognizing the inadequacy of essential commitments, in particular of mitigation actions proposed by industrialized countries for containing global temperature rise within the current internationally agreed goal of less than 2 degrees Celsius,

Expressing deep concern at the very slow realization of essential commitments, as well as the real possibility of a vacuum in the international, legally-binding framework governing GHG emission reductions at the expiry of the first commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol to the UNFCCC, which could seriously endanger political and economic momentum,

Determined to seize this challenge of climate change as an opportunity for manifestation of our resolve to attain sustainable development to help lead the world into a new era of prosperity in fullest harmony with the Earth and in the interest of the younger and future generations,

Adopt the following Declaration:

1. We underscore that it is incumbent upon the developed countries, given their historical responsibility to climate change and taking into account their commitments to reduce our vulnerability, to extend all necessary support to our vulnerable countries so as to be able to respond to the challenges posed by climate change.

2. We renew calls for a comprehensive legally-binding global agreement capable of fully attaining the objective of the UNFCCC, in all urgency and into the long-term, and voice the imperative for a well-calibrated balance in the global focus on adaptation and mitigation with emphasis on development and easy transfer of environmentally sound technology in nationally determined priority areas;

3. We, as vulnerable countries, resolve to demonstrate moral leadership by committing to a low-carbon development path on a voluntary basis within the limitations of our respective capabilities, which are to a large extent externally determined by the availability of appropriate financial and technological support, and call on all other nations to follow the moral leadership.

4. Adaptation

- We underscore the need of focusing on adaptation in particular in the short term in order to minimize growing and widespread harm, and seek support for initiatives and projects on adaptation with a view to developing and realizing urgent country-driven adaptation activities;

- We call upon developed countries to support implementation in the developing countries, particularly in the most vulnerable countries, of our national adaptation plans and climate resilient development strategies and low carbon development plans;

5. Mitigation

- We reiterate our firm resolve to work collectively with the other Parties to the UNFCCC towards limiting foreseeable global warming to 1.5 degree Celsius above pre-industrial levels, peaking global GHG emissions by 2015, and thereafter achieving progressively ambitious emission reduction targets every subsequent decade targeting a sharp decline to a global reduction of 85% by 2050 relative to 1990 levels, and long-term atmospheric GHG concentrations to 350 ppm;

- We underline the imperative for securing a second commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol with no gap between first and second commitment periods and the immediate conclusion of a broad-based and inclusive legally binding agreement on GHG emission cuts, enacted by all Parties on the basis of equity, common but differentiated responsibilities, and respective capabilities;

- We seek necessary and immediate support for undertaking programmes to uphold mitigation by creating carbon sink, dissemination of environmentally sound technologies, and establishing a balance in the energy mix by focusing on renewable and/or alternative energy;

6. Finance

- We demand that climate finance under the authority of the Conference of Parties to the UNFCCC must be truly new and additional to Official Development Assistance commitments, as well as adequate, predictable, transparent and with comparable reporting, easily and directly accessible, and that may be supplemented through innovative sources of financing;

- We demand further that decisions taken at Cancun on finance are realized through immediate implementation by ensuring accelerated disbursement of commitments made, prioritization of the most vulnerable countries, easy and direct access for nationally determined priority projects, preferably through public channels. We also demand early establishment of the Green Climate Fund, which itself should achieve operational implementation by 2013 at the latest;

- We call upon the developed countries to make firm commitments on a progressive increase of funds with a specific and reasonable annual enhancement in the period 2013-2020 leading to USD 100 billion per year (in 2009 dollars) under the Green Climate Fund (GCF), and to realize those commitments;

- We underscore the need for establishing a balanced adaptation window of at least a 50 percent allocation on adaptation for all climate finance within the GCF to address requirements of the most vulnerable countries in relation to the number of people affected, the extent of challenge of reducing vulnerability and consequential adverse effects;

- We request that adaptation funds also be made available on an ongoing and predictable basis for the anticipated emergency response to severe weather events, with particular priority for vulnerable countries;

7. Transfer of technology and capacity building

- We declare that the most vulnerable countries need critical support from the international community in the areas of transfer of technology for adaptation in particular but also for mitigation actions, and for both public and private sector capacity building;

- We call for ensuring fuller and more pragmatic technology development, including appropriate models for generating hydrological scenarios at different scales in the affected regions to enhance water security through the adoption of climate resilient techniques, transfer and research and development to support crucial adaptation and green growth in vulnerable countries;

- We also call for an immediate agreement to begin the progressive release and transfer of all technologies of beneficial effect for the adaptation and green development actions of vulnerable countries commensurate to the challenge of tackling climate change as implied by science, and including patented knowledge, where these have resulted from the investment of public monies;

- We request for enhanced international collaboration and greater support on capacity building in order to enable us to respond effectively and comprehensively to minimize our risks to and impact of climate change, including the early, adequate and appropriately prioritized resourcing of the Climate Technology Centre and Network included in the Cancun Agreements;

- We further request for technical assistance for public and private sector capacity building in our countries targeted at the development, registration and scaling-up of Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) projects with high payoffs for adaptation as well as wider socio-economic/environmental co-benefits;

8. General points

- We urge the UN System, International Financial Institutions and other global organizations and forums to focus on building greater convergence on recognizing the nexus among environment, climate change, migration and development, and to work towards an enhanced reflection of the vulnerability of affected countries in the prioritization of projects and programmes under their respective mandated responsibilities.

-We acknowledge the expression of solidarity of the UN Secretary-General and request him to use all means available to his Office to promote our cause and remain engaged with the Climate Vulnerable Forum;

- We call for a common framework/criteria for assessing climate vulnerability with respect to the allocation of funds, (giving due consideration, inter alia, to the scale and extent of the present impacts of intensifying natural disasters, likely losses and risks in future, respective capabilities and socio-economic conditions, and people exposed to the impact of climate change country by country);

- In particular, we call for the immediate implementation of paragraph 14 (f) of the Cancun Agreements, which recognizes that migration is a viable adaptation strategy to address human displacement induced by climate change, and includes undertaking measures to enhance understanding, coordination and cooperation with regard to climate-induced displacements; migration and planned relocation; and in this respect call for the commencement of an international dialogue for an appropriate framework;

9. We urge the UN Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20), 2012 to recognize the very limited progress in achieving the objective of the UNFCCC and endorse the fundamental need to redouble efforts to limit further harm due to climate change;

10. We agree to work together in order to ensure widest possible dissemination of this declaration among all relevant national and international actors;

11. We recognize the important requirement of having enhanced clarity on the operational modalities of the Climate Vulnerable Forum and take note of a non-paper on provisional operational modalities as circulated by the People's Republic of Bangladesh as a reference document;

12. We agree to that Costa Rica would host the next Forum.

13. We also agree on the following as part of the agreed Forum activities for November 2011-June 2012:

a. Durban UNFCCC COP-17, South Africa: Side Event and delegation briefings to disseminate and support awareness, dialogue and implementation of the Dhaka declaration (November/December 2011).

b. Roll-out CVF web site development (from January 2012).

c. Rio+20 Technical Meeting to fine-tune substantive CVF inputs (April 2012).

d. UNFCCC First Sessional: Feed-in delegate briefing documents updated against outcomes at/since COP-17 and delegate feedback, plus CVF focal point action (May 2012).

e. Launch of second Climate Vulnerability Monitor report (June 2012).

f. Rio+20 Caucusing: High-level coordination and communication (June 2012).

g. Commence work on a new Low-Carbon Development Monitor.

14. We express our deep appreciation to Government of the People's Republic of Bangladesh for hosting the Climate Vulnerable Forum 2011 in Dhaka.

Adopted at Dhaka, Bangladesh on 14 November 2011.

Reason for businesses going green

2012-01-15T10:54:00.005+06:00

When going green started out couple of years back, businesses were very reluctant not to go towards that. There was a myth that going green was a waste of money and just a business-killer. However over time becoming more environmental-friendly became an investment to companies in the long run.

I worked on some technical aspects on renovating businesses/industries into green industries in Dhaka and found certain things why it’s worth it:

When it came to energy auditing, generally the entire energy flow would be mapped. Then after mapping that, you know where you are losing extra energy. So if you plug that portion of energy down, you save energy. So what’s the benefit of saving energy? Firstly you spend less fuel (with fuel prices increasing, you would be definitely glad if fuel was saved), you save electricity are just some places where you save. However the strongest motivation is money, and trust me you save a lot of money. For businesses

Saving Money = Profits

Anyways I got an article from The Economist on as to why firms go green.

Link courtesy @Julika Niehaus- Global Campaign Manager at 10:10

Pushing Toxic Water Uphill: Chevron's Losing Battle in Ecuador Pollution Case

2012-01-11T11:10:00.008+06:00

Chevron is back up against the ropes after a United States federal court judge denied a bid made by the corporation to stop Ecuadorian plaintiffs from collecting a damages award of $18 billion. Federal court judge Lewis Kaplan was asked to freeze assets owned by the plaintiffs until the result of a fraud lawsuit against the Ecuadorians was known. Unfortunately for Chevron, the bid was denied.

Adding to that, just a few days before the bid to freeze assets was made, Chevron was hit with one more nail in the coffin. An Ecuadorean appeal court upheld the $18 billion judgement over the oil damage in the county’s Amazon region. If the fraud lawsuit against the Ecuadorian plaintiffs fails, the oil giant has just one more option left, and that’s to make an appeal to Ecuador’s Supreme Court.

What caused the polution?

The exact circumstances of the pollution in question happened under Texaco, which has been part of Chevron Corporation since 2000. Texaco developed and operated the Lago Agrio oil field in the country from 1972 up until 1993, and during that time it is alleged that they did not dispose of industrial waste safely. It has been claimed that Texaco released up to 18 billion gallons of produced water into the Amazon rainforest, leaving a toxic trail that damaged vegetation, killed wildlife, and caused a variety of sicknesses in the local indigenous population. An environmental audit of the area pressured Texaco and Petroecuador, the two companies that extracted oil from the Lago Agrio oil field, to fund a $40 million remediation program from 1990 onwards. In 1998 a scientific team took water and soil samples only to find that around half of the samples analysed still had unsafe levels of petroleum hydrocarbon in them.

Action taken against Chevron

After years and years of campaigning, the Ecuadorian people finally managed to bring a case against Chevron in 2003. 30,000 Ecuadorean people were responsible for creating enough pressure and finding enough money to take on the multi-national corporation, and it paid off 8 years later. On the 15th of February 2011, an Ecuadorian court fined the oil company $8.6 billion for polluting the Amazon rainforest and the consequences of the damage. It was claimed during the lawsuit that local cancer rates increased, and crops and livestock were lost to the pollution.

The penalty rose to $9.5 billion dollars once an additional 10 per cent for reparations was included, but the total sum requested by Ecuadorian plaintiffs ended up being $27 billion. The court granted $18 billion, and the result of the case set a precedent, because it was the first instance of indigenous people suing a multinational corporation in a court located within the country the pollution actually happened in. Environmental activists celebrated and saw it as a start to charges being brought against other companies that pollute developing countries without punishment.

Chevron fights back

Chevron has opposed the fine since it was imposed, and filed a lawsuit against the Ecuadorian plaintiffs for fraud. The corporation believes that they have cleaned up their part of the damage to the rainforest, and they are being charged too much for the damages that have been claimed against them. Chevron has claimed that fraud and corruption have been used by the Ecuadorian plaintiffs, and the racketeering lawsuit they filed in New York in 2011 has yet to be decided.

This is not the first time that Chevron has been accused of illegal pollution, and they have even broken laws in America concerning pollution, namely the Clean Air Act. Other notable incidents were the 2002 oils spills in Angola that resulted in a claim for $2 million by the government of Angola for the damage. Only last year Chevron were prohibited from activities in Brazil after over 400,000 litres of oil were leaked into the ocean off the coast of Rio de Janeiro. The legal act that is being brought against Chevron in the Brazil case is demanding that $10.6 billion is paid in damages.

The controversy over Chevrons actions in Ecuador and whether they have been treated unfairly has been debated many times, but perhaps this new ruling is the beginning of the end to the case. What is certain is that no amount of money can turn the clock back and make good the damage done to the Amazonian rainforest.

--
This is a guest post.

Olivia Lennox is a green freelancer from London. Normally she'll be extolling the virtues of tempurpedic products or the latest organic soaps, but she has her finger on the pulse of international environmental law too.

GreenMyParents- Parents taught to save the planet

2012-01-04T16:17:00.011+06:00

A program launched on Earth Day 2010, GreenMyParents is a concept developed by young people to teach their parents and their peers to help the economy, earn money at home and to save the planet through simple everyday actions. When it started it targeted 100 kids to save $100 and spread through more kids so that through Earth Day 2011, it was intended to save $100 million.

Its actually simple! By following household efficiency and conserving energy it will take you a long way ahead in savings. They have also launched a book to give you tips on how to manage and be efficient. You can grab a copy at Amazon. Anyways to get a starter kit head down to their website.

Blog Update 2012

2012-01-04T16:17:00.006+06:00

Happy New Year to all you! Although I doubt it this will be last New Year I will be wishing considering the fact that 2012 is supposed to be the end. Anyways no more about the impending doom,let me go on with my updates. I have been out for over a year and ever since I had the recent realization, it was time I came back. Although I have become much busier than I was, the fight must go on. So with that in mind, I have actually decided to expand my horizon.

Firstly I have moved back to my domain again, BDPollution , and will shift to that completely soon. I am going through a transition period where I will be posting duplicate posts one on Blogger and on BDPollution. Eventually once work on BDPollution is complete and is stable, I will probably close down Blogger.

Secondly when I began this blog I considered the international viewer ship, although over time, I have been meaning to consider local news and now that I now broadening my horizon, So I will be having a dedicated section on Bangladesh, which will be covering on Bangladesh's environmental issues.

So hopefully have a lot of things to do and now back to regular posting..

Disappointed..but back again...

2011-12-14T20:28:00.006+06:00

I begin this post more than a year apart with great disappointment and a recent experience which reminded me how things might look like in the future. Why disappointed? The recent outcome of COP17 at Durban just makes it clear that even though with such visible changes about the environment, countries are still willing to fight over petty things. Although some say that this conference did somewhat have a positive outcome but nonetheless it reminded me of a similar conference that was held two or three years before where all the countries were in a rush to come up with a decision and in the end a three-page document was created containing absolutely nothing solid about proper climate change mitigation targets.

For rich countries, climate change sure does not seem like a big issue considering the current economic crises, and I understand that but for LDCs its a major dilemma. Least to say that they are the worst affected; such countries are stranded in the middle of a ping-pong court, just bouncing from one side to another. Hence I come to the point that reminded of a personal experience that I had recently.
I live in a supposedly posh area in Dhaka, and in such an area it is expected to get continuous water, electricity and gas supply or just to say the basic utilities. I never had complains about any of these issues unlike places in Dhaka where you would to wait in line to get water from the water authority.

So I was having this water shortage at my place and I remember that every time I would wake up from sleep to head to office, I knew if i was lucky that I could get a nice proper shower but that was not the case. I remember when I switched on the tap, it was clear only drops of water would fall, so I would quickly find a bucket to save as much as I could. From whatever water I saved, I would brush my teeth and manage to have a shower.

When I would get back from office, I could not even wash my hands, since there was no water. It became more than a necessity to me than anything, and not for lavish purpose of taking a nice long bath, but doing the basic things, like brushing your teeth, having a shower, washing your clothes, all of these things. Later eventually we bought water bottles, so that we could at least manage the basic necessities. It then popped in my head that buying water was cheap in Dhaka, hardly less than a dollar, if I consider a 5 liter water bottle. I know abroad that water is expensive.
For Bangladesh, water crisis is a norm, where a majority of people are used to it. Although not many rich countries are accustomed to such situations, with the effects of climate change, things will change.

So I started to imagine that the water shortage I had in a week, not having enough water to do the basic necessities will become a usual activity in the future. Water will become an expensive commodity and the people rich enough will have money to buy whereas for those who are poor would not be able to afford it. It might begin first with water territory issues then slowly will lead to war and so many more issues, and water is just of many problems we will face with climate change.

Hence with all of this disappointment and rabbles going on inside my head, I came to a realize that I almost gave up on the fight for climate change and with such outcomes at COP17 just made it clear that, the fight must go on and should never give up…

The United Nations has designated the first Monday in October as annual World Habitat Day.

2010-09-24T00:42:00.004+06:00

On Oct. 4, 2010, in recognition of World Habitat Day, Habitat for Humanity will raise awareness of the need for improved shelter and highlight Habitat’s priorities: the worldwide connection between human health and housing, and, in the United States, neighborhood revitalization. These themes echo the United Nations’ chosen theme for 2010 for events in the host city of Shanghai, China and the rest of the world: “Better City, Better Life.”

Every week, more than a million people are born in, or move to, cities in the developing world. As a result, the urban population of developing countries will double from 2 billion to 4 billion in the next 30 years. (Kissick, et al: 2006)

By the year 2030, an additional 3 billion people, about 40 percent of the world’s population, will need access to housing. This translates into a demand for 96,150 new affordable units every day and 4,000 every hour. (UN-HABITAT: 2005)

Habitat for Humanity hopes that by raising awareness and advocating for universal decent housing we can dismantle and alter the systems that allow for poverty housing and make an affordable, decent place to live a reality for all.

Habitat for Humanity World Habitat Day events

Around the world, many Habitat for Humanity local offices have organized World Habitat Day events. Habitat for Humanity’s 27th annual Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter Work Project is a World Habitat Day event this year. It will be held Oct. 4 – 8 in six cities in the United States. Held in a different location each year, Habitat’s Jimmy & Rosalynn Carter Work Project is an annual, internationally-recognized week of building that brings attention to the need for simple, decent and affordable housing. This year, the Carters will work alongside volunteers in Washington, D.C.; Baltimore and Annapolis, Md.; Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minn.; and Birmingham, Ala. to build, rehabilitate and improve 86 homes.

UK kicks off one of the world's largest wind farm

2010-09-23T23:52:00.003+06:00

As UK leads one of the largest coordinated global event 10:10:10, the Global day of Doing, this news sounds great. UK embraces renewable energy to a whole new level.

Details, basically this wind farm is one of the world's largest offshore wind farm situated off the Thanet in Kent. The project was at a cost of £780m ,and is expected to generate enough electricity to power 240,000 homes.

Read more about it.

UN Secretary General endorses 10/10/10

2010-09-18T21:11:00.005+06:00

Its great to hear that UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon has endorsed 10/10/10, the Global Day of Doing. As he quotes

“It’s time for us to roll up our sleeves and get to work on building the clean energy future that will generate economic opportunity and provide a better, safer, healthier world for our children. On October 10, I encourage everyone to do his / her part to be part of the solution to the climate challenge.”

He further said

“It’s time to roll up our sleeves.” Let’s get to work pulling in those 35 remaining countries and signing up even more work parties for 10/10/10. Together, we’ll show our nations what unity is all about.

Why the rest 35 countries? Apparently in 350.org website, 25 countries are still not active about 350 as in no activities relating to 350 have taken place. If they did last year, probably not this year. Just before posting this article, I was going through the list of the countries at 350.org website.

Read more about it.

An American setting an example

2010-08-25T00:48:00.004+06:00

Mr. David Sandalow served in the State Department and at the National Security Council during the Clinton administration. Mr.Sandalow also have helped the Obama administration to up speed the development of electric cars and offer incentives for consumers and communities to begin taking steps to make transitions off conventional vehicles.

He travels on a Prius, which he converted to the latter models which allows you to plug it at an electric outlet and charges the battery. He fills his Prius will gasoline only once or twice a month. Just imagine the amount of CO2 emissions he saves!

Hats off and its great that officials like him are setting the example.

Get the full article here.

10:10 Bangladesh in action at the enviro fair

2010-08-24T00:36:00.007+06:00

The enviro fair was held as mentioned in the previous post on August 19th-21st, 2010. When I arrived at the fair, I was wondering if I was at the right place, it just did not feel right.

Well I got out of the car, and walked all the way ( it was quite some distance) to our 10:10 stall and was awed. As you can see from the pictures, the stall was truly amazing. A great start to the 10:10 campaign in Bangladesh.

Before I began the tedious task to go around signing up people, I thought why not walk a bit, understand the people who are there. So I adventured, peeping through the different stalls, some to be quite impressive. An eco-resort, a company selling solar panels while other products being powered by solar.

Then few of our team at 10:10 got their guns loaded( giving them their sign-up sheets and a pen) and we began approaching people about 10:10.

The enviro fair turn-out was not high being a festive month and I just cause of the downpour, overall a successful 10:10 event.

More pictures can be seen at 10:10 flickr page here.

Congrats Bangladesh!!

2010-08-18T22:11:00.004+06:00

Well, as I was keeping my fingers crossed over the last 3-4 weeks, finally looks like I wont be needing to. I have been in talks with 1010Global Team in signing Bangladesh as an official participant of the 10:10 campaign and finally it has been done. I recently signed an MoU with them and today had a wonderful skype conference call with the 10:10 team.

It was quite delightful honestly. Anyways updates so far

News;

TERM Magazine is now the country hub for 10:10 Bangladesh while I have assigned country coordinator.

We are working on to get a 10:10 Bangladesh website shortly.

Event update:

There is going to be a three day Environment Fair from August 19th-21st 2010, from 10am-8pm. We will be there campaigning about 10:10, while TERM Magazine will be displaying there arrary of solar lamps, a perfect way of cutting CO2 emissions in Bangladesh. We will be signing up people also!! To know more about the fair, please visit http://www.digtef.com/

Yamaha's zero electric scooter

2010-08-13T23:18:00.004+06:00

Yamaha has announced, actually last month that it has added a zero-emission electric scooter to its arsenal. The scooter is a 50cc and apparently can travel five times farther than its gasoline counterpart.

The scooter, EC-03, can travel 43 kilometers on a single 6-hour charge from a normal household power outlet .The model will be launched in September 1st,2010 with a price tag of $2,800.

Courtesy of Physorg.com

Bangladesh and India part of PutSolarOn.it without knowing it

2010-08-08T20:15:00.005+06:00

In my last post, I mentioned about the campaign on PutSolarOn.it, a campaign targeted towards world leaders, so that they also start by getting to work. The objective, placing a solar panel on top of all head buildings.

Bangladesh and India have recently powered their head buildings with solar power. Bangladesh Prime Minister office was lighted by solar power something earlier this year. Soon after the Prime Minister's office, the Bangladesh Bank was also powered by solar. Looks like in Bangladesh, the politicians are a bit ahead in fighting climate change compared to the West but there a still a lot of work that needs to be done.

Governor of West Bengal in India, Gopal Krishna Gandhi, installed solar panels on the Kolkata Raj Bhavan, the Governor's Residence, in December of 2009.

Even before the PutSolarOn, leaders have taken action and this shows that you too as an individual can do so much without waiting for someone do it for you. Anyways, the people at 350.org were quite excited when they found out. Get it here.

Put Solar On it

2010-08-02T22:24:00.005+06:00

Another campaign initiated by my favorite group 350.org in light of the 10/10/10 Global Work Party called the Put Solar On It, there aim to target world leaders on installing solar panels on the roof of where the leaders work. Like the US, the White House, India the Rashtrapati Bhavan; in Mexico they call it Los Pinos.

We all know that installing solar panels will not solve the climate crisis, but will send a strong message, setting an example. This is a perfect opportunity for leaders to get involved on the 10:10 goal.

Top 10 Countries utilizing solar energy

2010-08-02T21:47:00.002+06:00

As countries make strong decisions on cutting their CO2 emissions, I came across a list of the top 10 countries using solar power and to tell you the truth, its quite fantastic.

1. Germany (9,785 MW)
2. Spain (3,386 MW)
3. Japan (2,633 MW)
4. United States (1,650 MW)
5. Italy (1,167 MW)
6. Czech Republic (465 MW)
7. Belgium (363 MW)
8. China (305 MW)
9. France (272 MW)
10. India (120 MW)

Courtesy of 1bog.org

10:10:10 Climate Campaign in Bangladesh

2010-07-29T00:32:00.004+06:00

Ok, drum-roll or not, I do not know how to begin. BDPollution have been working with TERM Magazine- a concern of Bangladesh Information Gateway Limited(BIG) to roll out the 10:10:10 campaign in Bangladesh. Now we are not working alone and have no intention to work alone.

Our motto is "Realizing the consequences" and our plan is to create an awareness on sustainable living for the adaptation to climate change. Our aim is to reach out to:

• Educational institutions and students
• Businesses and working communities
• Governments
• Concerned dignitaries

We plan to build a movement till the main event October 10,2010 when an information seminar will be organized.

We need all the help we can get and would need volunteers. If you are interested then please sign-up with us.

Our action map on 350.org website

World Ocean Day Reminds Us To Protect Our Future

2010-07-16T00:21:00.007+06:00

The month of June marks World Environment Day, World Ocean Day, and Global Wind
Day - three environmentally conscious days whose main purpose is to spread awareness of environmental issues taking place in today's world. The Gulf oil spill is a huge reminder that now is the time to invest, innovate, and utilize specific renewable energy technologies that can reduce our dependency on oil consumption and preserve our environment.

•Ocean Renewable Energy Coalition (OREC) is a national trade association that is "dedicated to promoting marine and hydrokinetic energy technologies from clean, renewable ocean resources." They incorporate over 40 members, some of which are literally "turning the tide" when it comes to renewable energy by using the known green technique of harnessing ocean waves and currents to produce energy.

• Ocean Power Technologies (OPT) is doing this is via their PowerBuoy 40 that acts as a "wave energy converter" while submerged.

• The Ocean Renewable Power Company (ORPC) is installing power systems all along the Gulf Stream's ocean currents (which has 21,000 times the energy of Niagara Falls). With the constant flow of the Gulf Stream, if ORPC harnesses just 1/1000 of the Gulf's renewable energy that would still be enough to power up to 7 million homes.

Wave power technology, while underused, has been a known technology, for years. However, a future green source with a lot of potential can be found in algae within the ocean. Using algae as a source of energy is a new ideology but many believe them to be "the ultimate in renewable energy". Half of algae's weight is based off of oil, which can be made into bio-fuel that could be used on anything from cars to airplanes. Considering that there over 65,000 known algae species this could potentially be a big time future energy source.

The future of green energy depends upon the ability to use it efficiently. This means that everything from cars to building structures would need to be much more efficient to require less consumption. Nissan set the benchmark in the auto industry by skipping the gasoline engine altogether and going straight to the fully electric LEAF. Companies like Globetrotters Engineering Corporation (a Chicago based architecture company founded by Niranjan Shah known for their custom LEED solutions), Wells Fargo (which built an office tower that is not only LEED approved but saves up to 5 million kWh a year), and Kubala-Washatko Architects & Boldt Construction (which actually built the first ever LEED-platinum certified, carbon neutral building) are setting the standard for LEED design.

Since the inception of LEED certification, it took several years for the first building to reach platinum certification. Now, it is something that architects strive for. For many projects government incentives are available for businesses that reach LEED certification. Niranjan Shah realized that the LEED benchmark is the future of architecture and that creating structures that benefit from renewable energy just makes common sense. He proves that success can coincide with environmental friendliness. Hopefully, in upcoming years we’ll see LEED platinum certification become the standard.

After the oil spill in the Gulf it's clear to see that now, more than ever, protecting our oceans stands for something much greater. By saving our oceans, we are making a commitment to the preservation of our natural resources, our wildlife, and our humanity. Through the promise and development of a sustainable, renewable energy future, we can follow a new path which will redefine the meaning of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

Written by Marcus Reyes
Marcus Reyes studied public policy with a focus on energy research and environmental
sustainability. He is an advocate of clean energy technology and contributes written work to the blogosphere related to energy conservation and environmental preservation. PowerBuoy 40 – CNN Editorial Feb 26, 2010
Algae: “The ultimate in renewable energy” – CNN Tech Editorial Globetrotters Engineering Corporation Niranjan Shah – GEC CEO Niranjan Shah Twitter Feed
First LEED Platinum Certified Carbon Neutral Building Niranjan Shah – Live Journal

10 Biggest Health Dangers behind the US Oil Spill

2010-07-16T00:01:00.003+06:00

Nursingschools.net was kind of enough to provide me the link to one of their posts on the dangers associated with the US Oil Spill. Their post talks about the present dangers and the future problems.

Such problems are

1) Sickness among the clean-up workers
2) Danger to marine life
3) Aggravation of existing illness
4) Pregnancy risks
5) Smoke fallout
6) Neurological disorder
7) Food contamination
8) Oxygen depletion
9) Dispersion of oil
10) Lung disease

Read the full article at their website.

Blog update

2010-07-15T23:15:00.002+06:00

Its been a long time since my last update. I am hoping to get back to the usual posting.Over the last 1 month a lot of things have been going on with the climate change front. One of the largest oil spills have caused a major ecological disaster in the US. I have two posts that deals with the oil spill and the problems associated with it.

In the mean time, don't forget about this year's climate campaign 10:10 organized globally by 350.org.

Climate Change and the Integrity of Science

2010-05-16T21:04:00.003+06:00

The recent escalation of attacks on the science of climate change and on scientists working in this field by the small number of climate deniers and their political supporters has drawn a sharply worded response from 255 members of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, including at least 11 Nobel laureates. In an essay published in the May 7th issue of the journal Science as the Lead Letter, the scientists say:

"We are deeply disturbed by the recent escalation of political assaults on scientists in general and on climate scientists in particular."

The essay continues:

"There is compelling, comprehensive, and consistent objective evidence that humans are changing the climate in ways that threaten our societies and the ecosystems on which we depend."

In recent months, a small minority of vocal climate deniers have been emboldened by minor errors identified in some of the international scientific assessments of climate change and by the publication of private email exchanges from some in the climate community. A recent independent commission in the UK, chaired by Lord Ron Oxburgh to review this debate, concluded that, "We found absolutely no evidence of impropriety whatsoever." The Science essay explicitly and strongly addresses these issues, saying:

" there is nothing remotely identified in the recent events that changes the fundamental conclusions about climate change:

* The planet is warming due to increased concentrations of heat-trapping gases in our atmosphere. A snowy winter in Washington does not alter this fact.
* Most of the increase in the concentration of these gases over the last century is due to human activities, especially the burning of fossil fuels and deforestation.
* Natural causes always play a role in changing Earth's climate, but are now being overwhelmed by human-induced changes.
* Warming the planet will cause many other climatic patterns to change at speeds unprecedented in modern times, including increasing rates of sea-level rise and alterations in the hydrologic cycle. Rising concentrations of carbon dioxide are making the oceans more acidic.
* The combination of these complex climate changes threatens coastal communities and cities, our food and water supplies, marine and freshwater ecosystems, forests, high mountain environments, and far more."

The essay also includes a sharply worded rebuke to politicians who have recently threatened climate scientists whose scientific conclusions disagree with their political inclinations.

"We also call for an end to McCarthy-like threats of criminal prosecution against our colleagues based on innuendo and guilt by association, the harassment of scientists by politicians seeking distractions to avoid taking action, and the outright lies being spread about them."

It is hard to get 255 members of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences to agree on pretty much anything, making the import of this letter even more substantial. Moreover, only a small fraction of National Academy members were asked to sign (the signatories are all members of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences but were not speaking on its behalf). Because of a desire to produce a statement quickly, the coordinators of the letter focused on those sections of the NAS most familiar with climate science and the ongoing debate. But the NAS (and Academies of Sciences and other professional scientific societies from dozens of other nations) has previously published a long set of assessments and reviews of the science of climate change, which support the conclusions laid out in the Science essay.

And in the concluding paragraph of the essay, this group of leading scientists argues for taking action to deal with the risks of climate change:

"Society has two choices: we can ignore the science and hide our heads in the sand and hope we are lucky, or we can act in the public interest to reduce the threat of global climate change quickly and substantively."

In the end, we have only three choices: we can act to mitigate the risks of climate change by reducing greenhouse gas emissions, we can expand efforts to adapt to a changing climate, or we can suffer the consequences of doing nothing. The only real question is, what is the balance among these three options.

Are the climate deniers going to go away? No. Nothing will convince them, since science hasn't. There are still people -- a lot of people -- who do not believe in evolution, or plate tectonics, or the Big Bang theory. But the longer that policymakers hesitate to act, the more the balance will shift to suffering. I believe that history will prove those delaying action to be dangerously wrong, at a time when it is urgent that society be courageously right.

This article has been from the Huffington Post

Source: Huffington Post.

Local Climate Meetup in April

2010-04-20T20:29:00.003+06:00

2010 is the year where we get to work, a plan designed by our favorite climate group 350.org. So to get your organized, 350.org are asking people to organize local Climate Meetup this April from the 22nd to 29th. Globally communities are organizing and planning for the big day. For those of you do not know, book your calendar cause October 10 2010 is the Global Work Party 10/10/10

They also have come up with their own site 1010global.org. Individuals, businesses, organizations, Educations are all involved, the plan to cut everyone's carbon footprint by 10%. Last year we saw the largest coordinated movement on climate change in human history however even though the output of the Copenhagen was not up to the mark, people still have not given up hope and this year its about getting into the grunt work and bringing results.

Anyways good luck with the Climate Meetup!!