Dear Followers,

I am happy to announce that Environmental News site has a new look :)

Please see more at:

http://environmentalnewsworldwide.wordpress.com/

and you can also follow me on twitter @jnikoloska or Jasmina Nikoloska

Yours sincerely,

Jasmina

Controversial plans to relax the EU's zero-tolerance on GM food

According to the E.U.'s zero-tolerance policy any imported food of animal feed must be GMO free from the substances that have not been approved by the E.U. Council.

Currently only several varieties of GM soy, corn, cotton, potato, sugar beet, and canola (rape seed), are approved for planting and use in the E.U.

The EU plans for elimination of the zero-tolerance policy alarmed many environmentalist and GMO sceptics.  

There is a possibility for permitting import of animal feed that could contain traces of unauthorised GM crops.

Although GM supporters argue that it zero-tolerance policy could result with a shortage of feed for livestock and GM traces does not jeopardise food security, campaigners against GM food think that GM industry only wants to push its products and technology and by relaxing GM zero-tolerance policy they are opening it’s gates for imported GMO in EU.

The push for Europe to drop its zero-tolerance policy began in 2009 after EU authorities found traces of GM maize in soy shipments from the US and refused to allow its entry. Such recalls are expensive and those affected are unlikely to receive compensation, the Guardian published on 6th of February 2011.

 Written by Jasmina Nikoloska

Drought in Amazon raised severe concerns

It is unusual but sometimes happens for the rain forests to have no rain.

In 2005 the severe drought hit Amazon rain forest, the rivers level fell dramatically and according to the scientists these could happen ones in a century or so.

But an expectantly last year drought affected Amazon region in much larger area than in 2005, so the scientist are concern that these could become a pattern and that it is more than a coincides.

Although the cause is still unknown, it could be natural climatic variations and in the future we might see no more of these types of droughts, but the alternative is that it is associated with high concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, Dr. Simon Lewis explained for BBC News.

Rain forests like Amazon are natural absorbers of CO2 and by losing their ability and capacity to absorb; more greenhouse gases are ending in the atmosphere.

According to a research published in journal Science, in a typical year the forest absorbs 1.5 bn tonnes CO2, but in the 2005 the forest released 5 bn tonnes CO2, because of a dying trees. 

The real concern comes if we just compare the last year’s figures of released 8 bn tonnes from the forest and 5.4 bn tonnes CO2  produced by US  in 2009 by burning fossil fuels.

It is our duty to protect the forests by any cost.

Written by: Jasmina Nikoloska
Source: www.bbc.co.uk

First GM chickens resistant to bird flu created

The journal Science published a study of genetically modified [GM] chickens that are resistant to bird flu. 

According to the researchers at the Universities of Cambridge and Edinburgh in the United Kingdom, this achievement could stop bird flu from spreading and possibly reduce the risk of bird flu epidemics that could lead to flu virus epidemics in humans. 

Photo: minyanville.com

The researchers believe that the technology has the potential to create a variety of GM farm animals resistant to viral diseases.
They think that the genetic modification they have introduced is harmless to the chickens as well to people who might eat the birds and possibly it could an alternative to vaccination.
As the researchers explained, they inserted an artificial gene into chickens, which diverts an enzyme crucial for transmitting the H5N1 strain. Still the birds get sick and eventually die but they didn't pass on that virus to other chickens.

Although the technology offers a benefit, British public is sceptical over GM food and the Food Standards Agency (FSA) should conduct a full detailed safety evaluation before any of this GM produce could enter the market.
And Tim Elsdale, who is an organic farmer in East Sussex, told BBC News that it was better to adopt good farming practices to avoid animals getting diseases in the first place than to create GM farm animals.

On the other hand human population is growing rapidly and eventually feeding the world is going to be a real problem.

Written By Jasmina Nikoloska

Sources : bbc.co.uk & www.medicalnewstoday.com

Campaign - The Big Fish Fight

DISCARDS AT SEA

Around half of the fish caught by fishermen in the North Sea are unnecessarily thrown back into the ocean dead.

The problem is that in a mixed fishery where many different fish live together, fishermen cannot control the species that they catch.

Fishing for one species often means catching another, and if people don’t want them or fishermen are not allowed to land them, the only option is to throw them overboard. The vast majority of these discarded fish will die.
Because discards are not monitored, it is difficult to know exactly how many fish are being thrown away. The EU estimates that in the North Sea, discards are between 40% and 60% of the total catch. Many of these fish are species that have fallen out of fashion: we can help to prevent their discard just by rediscovering our taste for them.
Others are prime cod, haddock, plaice and other popular food species that are “over-quota”. The quota system is intended to protect fish stocks by setting limits on how many fish of a certain species should be caught.

Fishermen are not allowed to land any over-quota fish; if they accidentally catch them – which they can’t help but do - there is no choice but to throw them overboard before they reach the docks.

THE SOLUTIONs

We need to diversify our fish eating habits, and we need to change policy so that it works for fish, fishermen and consumers.
The Common Fisheries Policy (CFP), which is the political framework for the quota system, is currently being reformed for 2012. Scientists and environmental groups have suggested a number of ways that that the policy can work to protect fish stocks. Some details of these can be found on our solutions page.
Re-writing the Common Fisheries Policy is going to be an enormously complicated business, and unfortunately there is no one easy solution to ending discards. Many people agree that the answer will lie in a combination of different ideas and policies.

See more and get involved at: http://www.fishfight.net/

Solar industry raises concerns of potential e-waste

Reducing the use of fossil fuel, cutting greenhouse gases and other air pollution emissions have become recognised necessities; the recent explosive growth of solar technology is a welcomed occurrence because of the expected energy crisis. 

PHOTO: solarthermalmagazine.com
Thankfully, the Sun is most widely available energy resource.
However, solar modules contain some of the potentially dangerous substances found in electronic waste, including silicon tetrachloride, cadmium, selenium and sulphur hexafluoride, which is a potent greenhouse gas.
The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimates that e-waste is growing at two to three times the rate of any other source of waste; furthermore, only 15 to 20 per cent of e-waste is recycled.
The crystalline photovoltaic cell is the oldest and most widespread solar technology in the United States, holding a 57 per cent market share in 2009, according to Greentech Media. A thin film technology called cadmium telluride holds about 21 per cent, while copper indium gallium selenide (CIGS) currently has a market share of just 6 per cent. Amorphous silicon, which also has an indium tin oxide layer, takes 16 per cent.
Silicon Valley Toxic Coalition (SCTC) issued a report in 2009 warning that solar panels provide clean energy while in use, but a variety of factors during their manufacturing and disposal has the potential to greatly damage the environment.
Now is the right time to recognise the necessary measures for the solar industry to remain sustainable and retain it green credibility. Although solar panels have a life expectancy of approximately 25 years, and it is not expected for large amounts of modules to be returned for another 10 to 15 years for recycling or disposal, there is a big e-waste potential.
It is important to build proper infrastructure and address the issues of producer responsibility, recycling in an attempt to avoid the danger of electronic waste and future plans for the disposal of solar panels that are no longer needed.
Still, most companies that are beginning recycling programmes today are proceeding under the assumption that recycling will be costly. They are preparing for that expense by creating a variety of funding mechanisms based on the principle of producer responsibility, The Guardian wrote on 3 September 2010.
Currently there is nothing much to recycle except.....

See more: http://www.energetika.net/eu/novice/interviews/solar-industry-raises-concerns-of-potential-ewaste

Climate Change May Alter Natural Climate Cycles of Pacific

ScienceDaily (Oct. 18, 2010) — While it's still hotly debated among scientists whether climate change causes a shift from the traditional form of El Nino to one known as El Nino Modoki, scientists now say that El Nino Modoki affects long-term changes in currents in the North Pacific Ocean.

Photo: en.wikipedia.org

The research is published online in the journal Nature Geoscience.

El Nino is a periodic warming in the eastern tropical Pacific that occurs along the coast of South America. Recently, scientists have noticed that El Nino warming is stronger in the Central Pacific rather than the Eastern Pacific, a phenomenon known as El Nino Modoki (Modoki is a Japanese term for "similar, but different").

Last year, the journal Nature published a paper that found climate change is behind this shift from El Nino to El Nino Modoki. While the findings of that paper are still being debated, this latest paper in Nature Geoscience presents evidence that El Nino Modoki drives a climate pattern known as the North Pacific Gyre Oscillation (NPGO).

"We've found that El Nino Modoki is responsible for changes in the NPGO,"said Emanuele Di Lorenzo, associate professor in the School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences at the Georgia Institute of Technology. "The reason this is important is because the NPGO has significant effects on fish stocks and ocean nutrient distributions in the Pacific, especially along the west coast of the United States."

The NPGO, first named two years ago by Di Lorenzo and colleagues in a paper in Geophysical Research Letters, explained for the first time long-term changes in ocean circulation of the North Pacific, which scientists now link to an increasing number of dramatic transitions in coastal marine ecosystems.

"The ecosystems of the Pacific may very well become more sensitive to the NPGO in the future," said Di Lorenzo. "Our data show that this NPGO is definitively linked to El Nino Modoki, so as Modoki becomes more frequent in the central tropical Pacific, the NPGO will also intensify."

See more: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/10/101017133641.htm