Ice Melting and Global Temperatures – The Two-Fold Relationship



Global climate change appears to have entered a new ecological relationship with respect to melting of polar ice and the potential effects for life on earth. Scientists studying the change in polar ice are predicting that, for the first time in the history of human existence on this planet, ice covering the North Pole may disappear entirely as a result of global warming by as soon as this summer. The US National Snow and Ice Data Center has expressed its concern over the rapidity with which the arctic sea ice is melting away; the reasons for concern are many fold but two important effects are quite easy to infer.

First, the natural shelter of ice covers huge deposits of oil and minerals beneath it which, in case of the disappearance of ice, will be left ‘open’ for exploitation by humans. While this may sound a cheerful prospect, the efforts of environmentalists toward energy conservation and sustainable growth will certainly be affected adversely. More fuel consumption will also further elevate global temperatures and make the atmosphere harder for life forms on earth. Much of the thick Artic ice cover has been replaced by thin swathes of ice and scientists believe there are more than 50% chances of Arctic ice disappearing altogether from the region by the summer. This is likely to affect the ecological balance in another way too – increase in local temperatures since ocean water absorbs a greater amount of solar heat than ice. Arctic species may need migration and other forms of adjustment to the sudden change in their habitat’s temperature.

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The Global Food Crisis of the Future



Biofuel production is on a rise but the global climate is getting worse and experts are warning of a food crisis not so far in human future. In fact, it has already started in many parts of the world and is expected to get worse if certain adaptations are not made in time. Mexico, West Bengal, Nepal, Jamaica, and sub-Saharan Africa, all show warnings of food shortage and/or problems with food supply to meet the public need of food commodities. At the same time, food price has been inflating in many countries at a rate of over 10% with the prices of wheat and maize soaring to a record high over the past few years; and dairy and fish are no exception.

Currently, the unbridled quest for biofuel production is seriously interfering with the food producing capacity of the farming sector in a number of places. In the US for example, as much as 20% of the total maize production went into making ethanol – biofuel for vehicles – while cutting petrol production by replacement with ethanol has already been raised in the US. Brazil and African countries are also inclined to give more of its food-producing land to biofuel production. In addition, even where uncultivable land is used for growing biofuel crops, large numbers of people are displaced, inviting social problems.

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Coffee: The Next Green Fuel



Cost-effective and eco-friendly biofuel continues to occupy the interest of green fuel makers. The latest venture in this direction takes coffee as the new source of biofuel that would cut the energy expenditure involved in biofuel production by a significant proportion while easing the stress on the use of conventional fuels and also reducing harmful emissions.

The first breakthrough in deriving biofuel from coffee happened in 2006 in Brazil – world’s leading producer of coffee – where coffee beans were used by a team of engineers for making biodiesel. The technology thus developed emerged as a cost-effective means of relatively inexpensive biodiesel since the fuel was extracted from low-quality coffee beans, those not approved for dietary human use. With a modest production capacity of 45 million kilos of biofuel, coffee beans serve as an easily available raw material for biofuel production. Biodiesel derived from coffee beans is currently being used in Brazil in some trucks and tractors on coffee cooperatives.

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Green Boots Arrive on the Scene



Technological advances help actualize the quest for eco-friendly lifestyle; and so does creativity. Take, for example, the fresh innovation of designer Camila Labra – a pair of green boots. Certainly, we are not talking about the color ‘green’ but the environment-friendly footwear designed by the 23 year old eco-conscious designer from Santiago (Chile). The product has nearly stunned the environmentalists and is also sending waves across the world of fashion.

Camila Labra’s green boots are made almost entirely of recycled plastic bags and have come to be named as Dacca Boots, after the city of Dhaka (capital of Bangladesh) where an abundance of plastic bags led to a ban on their use in 2002. Making a pair of Dacca Boots, as designed by Camila Labra, requires about 8 plastic shopping bags along with some cotton lining. The advantages of Dacca Boots are quite promising: useful recycling of otherwise troublesome plastic bags; saving the environment from the harmful effects of plastic waste (which is non-biodegradable); and saving other resource materials used in shoe-making; not to say of the hip look and style of these ankle boots.

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European Union votes to ban toxic farm pesticides



The European Union has voted to ban toxic farm pesticides earlier this week.  This move tightens the use of pesticides in agriculture and prohibits the use of 22 chemicals.

The legislation aims to control crop spraying especially in areas near schools and hospitals.  The ban also aims to curb the use of toxic chemicals, some of them said to be carcinogenic.

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