February 29, 2008
Researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, have created a carbon calculator that shows people as well as cities and businesses how their lifestyles contribute to global warming and identifies areas where they can reduce their footprint.
Debuting this week, the latest edition of the CoolClimate Calculator was created by scientists at the campus’s Berkeley Institute of the Environment (BIE) and the Renewable and Appropriate Energy Laboratory (RAEL). The calculator allows not only individuals, but households, small businesses and even cities and municipalities, to estimate the amount of carbon dioxide they generate annually based on their mode of transportation and their food, housing and lifestyle choices, and then compare the results to the footprints of similar households in the nation’s 28 largest urban areas.
Simultaneously, the State of California’s Air Resources Board this week premiered a California-centric version of the carbon calculator on its new Web site, "Cool California."
According to BIE researcher Christopher M. Jones, who gathered much of the information incorporated into the calculator, the calculator could be tailored to any state, region or city to provide residents with more precise information that is based, for example, on available energy sources and modes of public transportation, and local food and energy prices. In fact, he is working now with the city of Berkeley to make a carbon calculator tuned to the choices available in that city.
"The goals are to get people to understand that every thing they do, every dollar they spend, has an impact on the climate, and to provide critical information about which consumption choices lead to the greatest impact," Jones said. "This is the only carbon footprinting tool that allows people to look at all of their consumption together and to compare themselves to similar households with similar incomes living in the same area."
According to Richard Corey, assistant chief of the research division of the California Air Resources Board, an important aspect of the calculator is that it helps to "identify the actions people can take. In many cases, these actions save money."
Working with BIE and RAEL to design the calculator were Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, the California Air Resources Board, the California Energy Commission and Next 10, an independent, nonpartisan organization that educates Californians to improve the state’s future. The calculator was supported in part by the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, the World Wildlife Fund and the Center for Information Technology in the Interest of Society (CITRIS), which is a research partnership between the University of California, the state and industry to apply information technology solutions to California’s biggest challenges.
Jones suggests that people first explore the calculator to look at the average impact of similar households in their area and compare this with households in other urban areas. They may find surprises, such as that environmentally conscious San Francisco has a higher average carbon footprint than Tampa, Fla., mostly because of Tampa’s lower incomes and milder winters.
People can then get more specific, inputting their cars’ average mileage and how many miles they drive each year, how much public transportation they use, how much they spend on food per month, and their average monthly heating, electricity and gas bills. None of this personal information is collected by UC Berkeley or the state.
BIE and the state will continue to refine the calculator, with plans to launch phase 2 of CoolClimate in September, Jones said. That version will include enough data for Californians to compare themselves to neighbors in the same zip code and link to additional resources and options to mitigate their carbon footprint. It also will allow businesses and organizations as well as households to customize the calculator for their continued use as they make lifestyle changes to lower their carbon footprint. Cities, for example, could use the calculator to make procurement decisions.
"This will be a benchmarking tool as well as a Web services tool to allow other cities or associations or businesses to develop their own versions," Jones said. "That way, they can enhance and really take ownership of it."
Daniel Kammen, co-director of BIE, noted that, "carbon calculators, even at this early stage, already highlight an important feature: that our carbon budget is not all energy purchases, but is also the embedded carbon in the goods and services we purchase. A next step for this effort is to provide and support regional or state versions of the calculator and to get increasing amounts of detail on individual products."
"The more we use these tools to educate the public, the easier it will be for us to manage the state’s greenhouse budget," added Kammen, a professor of energy and resources and of public policy at UC Berkeley. "By the Air Resources Board taking the lead on this public mission, the board is making people’s personal carbon footprints part of the public dialog around California’s low-carbon future."
CoolClimate Calculator Web Site: http://bie.berkeley.edu/calculator.html
Cool California Web Site: http://coolcalifornia.org/
Image Caption: CoolClimate Calculator
Image Credit: University of California, Berkeley
Source: University of California, Berkeley
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February 28, 2008
In the current debate over the longer-term effects of 2 1st century global warming and climate change, research from The Open University (UK) is now providing some compelling evidence of what can happen when the Earth’s oceans and atmosphere become much warmer.
Open University graduate student Chris Pearce, together with supervisors Dr’s Anthony Cohen and Angela Coe, went back 183 million years to the Early Jurassic Period for information on how the Earth reacted in the longer term to severe environmental change. What happened on Earth during and after abrupt global warming over a time scale of approximately several hundreds of years included a substantial decrease in the oxygen content of the oceans and a significant mass extinction of marine and terrestrial species. These initial big changes appear to have occurred at rates that are similar to those occurring at the present day. The facts that they have gathered are being published today in GEOLOGY by the Geological Society of America and will provide essential information to help validate predictions about environmental change in the future.
The use of current computer models to try to predict the longer term course of future climate and environmental conditions is uncertain because of our relatively poor understanding of the great complexity of the Earth’s behavior.
The Open University team examined and de-coded the geological record of the extreme environmental disturbance known as the Toarcian (Early Jurassic) Oceanic Anoxic Event. Their findings show that there was widespread decrease in the oxygen content of the oceans during this abrupt period of global warming. The researchers also demonstrate that the changes in seawater oxygenation at that time were periodic and were coupled with regular, large-scale fluctuations in the Earth’s global carbon cycle.
Dr Cohen commented: “These records have the potential to provide quantifiable information about precisely how the Earth responds to severe environmental change in the longer term. The precise relationships between the various expressions of this environmental crisis in the Jurassic, although it occurred a very long time ago in Earth’s history, can provide valuable constraints for testing the reliability of predictions about environmental change that will continue to occur in the future as a result of man’s activities.”
Source: Open University
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February 27, 2008
Larry Eisenberg was in the middle of a remodeling and expansion project, and he needed some new carpeting - $85 million worth of it, in fact.
Eisenberg, the facilities manager of the Los Angeles Community College District (LACCD), was given leadership over the school district’s $2.2 billion, 40-building expansion and full renovation, which is currently in its building phase.
Working with the charge to make the new buildings as environmentally friendly as possible, he didn’t hesitate to call in some help from University of Wisconsin-Madison textile chemist and design studies Professor Majid Sarmadi.
The two men have had a professional relationship for more than 20 years, beginning shortly after Sarmadi was hired at the university in 1986. At the time, Eisenberg was the director of procurement for the Wisconsin’s Department of Administration, which entailed, among other things, buying carpeting for the state "year in and year out" as wear and tear took its toll on the floors, he says.
Not satisfied with continually buying new carpet, Eisenberg went to UW-Madison to see if any faculty members could lend some insight on what makes carpeting durable. He was then directed to new faculty member Sarmadi.
"We started talking, and I told him what I needed, and asked if he could help me work on the specifications for a carpet that would last," Eisenberg says. "Of course, I learned he was an incredible expert at how carpet is constructed and the chemistry and the physics and all that kind of thing, and maintenance issues. He’s like the world’s expert on carpeting, and it was just amazing he was in our backyard there."
Eisenberg, a West Coast native, soon left Wisconsin for Oregon, but he didn’t leave Sarmadi behind - the two quickly met again when Sarmadi helped Eisenberg develop standards for three types of carpeting for Washington County, which is home to part of Portland. When Eisenberg moved back to his home state of California and faced the biggest job of his career, consulting Sarmadi again was no question.
Sarmadi was particularly eager to take on this project. One of his primary interests in the field of textiles is making them environmentally friendly, he says, and carpeting is one of the worst offenders in the field. Between boiling the carpeting in dye, rinsing and drying it, each square yard of carpeting uses more than 50 gallons of water and significant amounts of energy, he says.
Not only that, Sarmadi adds that carpeting is the No. 1 textile in landfills.
"I believe that we have borrowed this land from our children, we have not inherited, we have borrowed it, so we have to be good stewards of our resources," he says. "Sustainability is very important to me. What we do should be sustainable, environmentally friendly."
Sarmadi has researched several of the processes and materials involved in carpet-making and developed a rigorous set of standards for carpet manufacturers to follow. Though manufacturers are often reluctant to change due to the high costs, the $85 million price tag of the project attracted many of the major manufacturers to bid on the project, Eisenberg says, with the company Tandus winning the final bid.
"Our $85 million contract is the kind of thing that made their eyes light up and say, ‘OK, we’ll do it.’ For that, that’s worth it, but if someone comes to them and says, ‘OK, I want to do my living room in sustainable carpet and they need to spend $50 million to change their factory,’ no. They’re not going to do that unless they really saw a market generally around the world for that kind of thing," he says.
In the standards, Sarmadi promoted using solution-dyed fibers, which use a powdered dye mixed in with the molten polymers before they are shaped into carpet fibers, instead of the boiling process.
"Assume that you are making noodles, and when you make your dough, you put food coloring and mix the dough, and then your dough is colored, rather than later on when you make your noodles, putting blue in the water, and then dying the whole thing and bringing it to boil and having two hours at boil," he says.
Another important element in green carpet-making, he adds, is eliminating many of the harmful chemicals, such as formaldehyde, that go into the product, and thus eliminating indoor air pollution from the carpet. Moreover, the standards for the LACCD require that the carpeting is 100 percent recyclable - meaning the polymers can be broken down and remade into more carpeting or other products - and made from 40 percent recycled materials, helping cut down on carpeting in landfills.
According to Eisenberg, the most surprising part of the project has been that the final product not only saves water and energy, but lasts longer and costs much less. Sarmadi’s carpeting standards have a 30-year warranty, as opposed to the typical 10- to 15-year warranty, and have saved the LACCD the equivalent of $40 million.
"[Originally], I said, ‘OK, it’s worth it. We’re going to pay more, but it’s worth it. We’re really doing something really good for the world by changing the carpet industry and by creating a product that’s going to be healthy for our students and that kind of thing,’" Eisenberg says. "And then the bid opening happened, and it was like, ‘Oh my God, not only is this a fabulous thing from an environmental standpoint, but the price was incredible.’"
As the carpeting begins to be laid down in California, Sarmadi’s work has been extensively recognized, winning 14 local, regional and national awards from everyone from the mayor of Los Angeles to the United States Congress.
Sarmadi’s standards may start to have an impact back in Madison, as well. As the School of Human Ecology, which houses the Department of Design Studies and Sarmadi’s textile research, plans to renovate and expand its facilities in 2009, Dean Robin Douthitt says, and the school will aim to achieve Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification. Although it’s too early to tell if Sarmadi’s carpeting research will play a part in the renovation and expansion, he has been in touch with architects about incorporating the new carpeting if possible.
"We expect our new facility to reflect the programs and the kind of scholarly work that goes on here," Douthitt says. "So we will have a building that will do things like have LEED certification, that will be very concerned with creating workplace environments that are healthy � It’s not just a good idea - it’s core to our mission, it’s what we’re teaching our students, so we really want this to be reflected in the building."
As the school’s renovation continues in the planning phase, Sarmadi is researching "smart fabrics," or textiles that kill bacteria without using liquid chemicals, for use in everything from hospital gowns and military uniforms, as well as working to improve the flame retardency of fabrics while eliminating harmful chemicals from them.
While working to stay on the cutting edge of textile research, Sarmadi also calls himself a "firm believer" in the Wisconsin Idea and has committed himself to helping Wisconsin industry. His work has included yearly presentations on state-of-the-art textiles to Lands’ End facilities in Dodgeville and Reedsburg, and more than 20 presentations to the corporate headquarters of Kohl’s Department Store in Menomonee Falls.
Sarmadi is also highly involved in Madison’s civic life. Douthitt, who has known Sarmadi for 20 years, began working at the university around the same time as Sarmadi in the 1980s. Sarmadi says he drew her into Madison’s Downtown Rotary, a civic organization devoted to promoting cultural understanding and community building. Sarmadi has participated in particular with the organization’s scholarship program and with building religious understanding among Christians, Jews and Muslims. Sarmadi has also presented to Kiwanis and local schools, and has volunteered with the Supreme Court of Wisconsin.
It is this commitment to the environment and the city, Douthitt says, that defines Sarmadi’s life and work. Despite his unusual position as the only physical scientist in the school, Douthitt says Sarmadi’s work embodies what the School of Human Ecology tries to impart on its students - the value of community service and collaborative work.
"We’re an eclectic group of people all coming together by improving the quality of human life, which is the mission of the school," she says. "That’s something we highly value here, and it’s something that makes us different, but also pulls everybody together."
Source: University of Wisconsin, Madison
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February 21, 2008
A dangerous new waste stream is rapidly emerging…
The UN estimates that some 20 to 50m tons of e-waste are generated worldwide each year, comprising more than 5% of all municipal solid waste. The fate of large quantities of this so-called e-waste is unknown. Much is exported, often illegally, for dumping in Africa or for rudimentary recovery in Asia, where workers at scrapyards are exposed to toxic chemicals when the products are broken apart and as water, soil and air are polluted.
This report investigates the global sales of electrical and electronic products and assesses the amount of waste arising from this. Quantities of e-waste generated are predicted to grow substantially in the future, both in industrialized and developing countries. Rich countries often legally or illegally divert this problem from their own backyards: the "hidden flow" of e-waste that escapes responsible collection, reuse and recycling systems causes environmental damage in the backyards and scrapyards of poorer countries.
Greenpeace is challenging manufacturers of electronic goods to take responsibility for the entire lifecycle of their products - from production, through manufacture and to the very end of their products’ lives. Only in this way can we ensure that the dangerous tide of toxic e-waste can be stemmed, and that the hidden flow of e-waste does not become a problem in anybody’s backyard.
PDF Report (click on logo)
Image Caption: Chinese women dismantle computer circuit boards in an e-waste scrap yard. After sorting the circuit boards they will be burned over open fires to extract metals. The smelting releases large amounts of poisonous gases.
Image Credit: Greenpeace / Natalie Behring
Source: Greenpeace USA
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February 18, 2008
Balancing short- and long-term fisheries benefits could have prevented the collapse of the cod populations in Atlantic Canada, and is the last best chance for tuna, says University of British Columbia fisheries economist Rashid Sumaila.
"We must act as if future generations of people are alive and negotiating with us now on catch levels," says Sumaila, who is presenting his findings with UBC Fisheries Prof. Daniel Pauly at the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Annual Meeting in Boston, MA.
Comparing the fate of tuna to that of cod, which helped shape the economies of whole nations in the early 20th century, Sumaila and fellow scientists from Stanford University, the University of New Hampshire and the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) say warning signs are clear that tuna stocks are on the brink of disastrous decline.
"At its peak in 1968, cod fisheries in Atlantic Canada provided US$1.4 billion in revenues," says Sumaila. "By 2004, they delivered only US$10 million." He estimates revenues from yellow fin tuna in the Western Central Pacific peaked in 2001 at US$1.9 billion and dropped by 40 per cent in only three years to US$1.1 billion.
Developed countries like the U.S. and Japan have technologically advanced long-line fishing fleets that enable them to harvest adult yellow fin tuna, highly valuable and popular with the Japanese sushi market. Developing countries such as the Philippines, however, have less advanced fleets that target skipjack using purse-seiners and fish aggregating devices while trapping juvenile yellow fin as by-catch.
WWF-Philippines estimates 16 per cent of total tuna catch of the Philippine’s purse-seine fleet are juvenile yellow fin by-catch. If allowed to grow to maturity, this by-catch would total 1.2 million tonnes in marketable biomass, representing over US$1.2 billion a year in lost revenue.
"If we could establish cooperative management agreements that see developing countries receive a share of current adult tuna fishery yields from developed nations in return for allowing the juvenile population to mature, everyone, including future generations of people, will benefit from much greater economic gains while preserving tuna population for the long run," says Sumaila.
Source: University of British Columbia
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February 14, 2008
In an effort to do good for the planet — and save a few bucks on energy bills — many consumers are making the switch from incandescent to compact fluorescent lighting (CFL) in their homes and businesses.
CFLs are high-efficiency bulbs that contain a small amount of mercury sealed in glass tubing.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) estimates that Energy Star-approved CFLs use up to 75 percent less energy than traditional incandescent light bulbs and last up to 10 times longer. They do, however, contain some mercury and require special disposal that not everyone may be aware of.
“There is serious concern over improper disposal and the potential cumulative effects of mercury from these bulbs being placed in our landfills,” says Kim Dietrich, PhD, professor of environmental health at the University of Cincinnati (UC) and an internationally recognized expert on heavy-metal exposure. “Many cities — including Cincinnati — are now offering recycling programs for CFLs, and consumers need to take advantage of them.”
A small amount of metallic mercury, an element found naturally in the environment, is used to create energy to illuminate CFLs. No mercury is released during normal use of the high-efficiency bulbs, but it can become a vapor— absorbable through the lungs — if the bulb is broken. Once in the body, mercury can stay in the brain for a long period of time and has been linked to impaired cognitive function.
Dietrich says if consumers take some common-sense precautions, the cost- and energy-saving benefits outweigh the very minor health risks associated with consumer CFLs.
“CFLs contain extremely small amounts of mercury that will have no health effect on consumers if they are used and disposed of properly,” he explains. “In fact, one CFL contains 100 times less mercury than a single dental amalgam filling or old-style glass thermometer.”
National lighting companies such as Philips Lighting are pushing to rid U.S. retail stores of incandescent bulbs by 2016 in an effort to reduce global warming, according to recent news reports.
The EPA recommends the following steps to clean up a broken fluorescent bulb:
- Open a window and leave the room for at least 15 minutes. This will allow the mercury vapor to dissipate and reduce the risk of inhaling dangerous fumes.
- Using a stiff piece of paper and wearing disposable rubber gloves, scoop up the glass fragments and place them in a sealed plastic bag. Wipe the area clean with paper towels or disposable wet wipes and put them in the plastic bag. Do not use a vacuum or broom to clean up the broken bulb on hard surfaces.
- Place all cleanup materials in a second sealed plastic bag and take it to a recycling center or place it in an outdoor trash can.
- Wash your hands thoroughly after disposing of the bag.
- If the bulb breaks on a rug or carpet, use the same method mentioned above to scoop up the glass fragments. Use sticky tape to pick up the smaller pieces and powder.
- If vacuuming is still required, wait several hours and then sweep the area. Immediately remove the vacuum bag (or empty and wipe the canister), then place the bag and cleanup materials into two sealed plastic bags.
Source: University of Cincinnati
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February 14, 2008
Project BudBurst to provide information on timing of blooms
A nationwide initiative starting this week will enable volunteers to track climate change by observing the timing of flowers and foliage. Project BudBurst, operated by the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR) and a team of partners, allows students, gardeners and other citizen scientists in every state to enter their observations into an online database that will give researchers a detailed picture of our warming climate.
The project, which will be launched tomorrow, will operate year round so that early- and late-blooming species in different parts of the country can be monitored throughout their life cycles. Project BudBurst builds on a pilot program carried out last spring, when several thousand participants recorded the timing of the leafing and flowering of hundreds of plant species in 26 states.
The Chicago Botanic Garden and University of Montana are collaborators on Project BudBurst, which was funded with a grant from the U.S. Bureau of Land Management and the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation. The project is also supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and Windows to the Universe, a UCAR-based Web site that will host the project online as part of its citizen science efforts.
“As we track the effects of climate change, it’s important that we include information obtained by ‘citizen scientists,’” said Elizabeth Blood, program director in NSF’s Division of Biological Infrastructure. “Project BudBurst will further our understanding of how the biosphere is changing, by bringing local knowledge into our observations.”
“Climate change may be affecting our backyards and communities in ways that we don’t even notice,” says project coordinator Sandra Henderson of UCAR’s Office of Education and Outreach. “Project BudBurst is designed to help both adults and children understand the changing relationship among climate, seasons and plants, while giving the participants the tools to communicate their observations to others.”
“Project Budburst provides an exciting opportunity for the public, particularly children, to contribute to scientific research on the effects of global climate change on plants,” adds Kayri Havens, a scientist at the Chicago Botanic Garden.
Each participant in Project BudBurst selects one or more plants to observe. The project Web site suggests more than 60 widely distributed trees and flowers, with information on each. Users can add their own choices.
Participants begin checking their plants at least a week prior to the average date of budburst–the point when the buds have opened and leaves are visible. After budburst, participants continue to observe the tree or flower for later events, such as the first leaf, first flower and, eventually, seed dispersal.
When participants submit their records online, they can view maps of these phenological events across the United States.
The science of phenology, or tracking cyclic behavior among plants and animals, has a distinguished history. In Japan and China, for example, the blossoming of cherry and peach trees is associated with ancient festivals, some of which extend back more than a thousand years. Cherry trees in Japan now bloom four days earlier than in the 1950s, according to the nation’s meteorological agency.
Many species are being affected by climate change throughout the world. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change warns that 20 to 30 percent of all plant and animal species that researchers study will likely be at increased risk of extinction should global temperatures rise by 2.7 to 4.5 degrees Fahrenheit this century.
Some plants respond to warmer temperatures by extending their growing seasons. Others shift their ranges toward the poles or to higher elevations.
At the same time, many insects breed and disperse based on regular cycles of sunlight rather than temperature. This can cause a mismatch between the behavior of pollinating insects, such as bees, and flowers that bloom earlier than the insects expect. Such asynchronous behavior has already been noted across many parts of the world.
Along with the partners noted above, Project BudBurst collaborators include the Plant Conservation Alliance; USA-National Phenology Network; and the Universities of Arizona; California, Santa Barbara; Wisconsin-Milwaukee; and Wisconsin-Madison.
Image Caption: Cinquefoil wildflowers in Colorado will be monitored by participants of Project BudBurst.
Image Credit: Carlye Calvin, UCAR
Source: NSF
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February 7, 2008
Australian states should not ban commercial production of genetically modified (GM) plants and food as the risks are alarmist and exaggerated, according to a new study.
The UQ PhD study found the benefits of GM plants and food outweighed the risks, finding no compelling evidence of harm to humans from GM plants.
GM plants have been trailed in most states with South Australia, Tasmania and Western Australia the only states to ban GM plants. South Australia and Tasmania are reviewing their moratoriums.
The study author, ethicist Dr Lucy Carter, spent three-and-a-half years examining arguments and evidence for and against the development and use of GM plants and food in Australia and in the developing world.
Dr Carter said there was no evidence to justify continuing moratoriums on commercial GM planting so long as thorough risk assessments were done.
Opponents say GM products are unnatural, potentially harmful to humans and capable of environmental injury and creating ’superweeds’.
She said the risks of GM plants transferring allergenic proteins to novel foods or creating superweeds were very low.
"If you take a GM plant and a conventional plant, you can’t easily create a hybrid that is both strong enough to withstand natural environmental conditions as well as survive all eradication attempts unless you’re in the lab," Dr Carter said.
"It’s just too difficult."
Asked if it was too early to tell if GM plants were safe, Dr Carter said research that included risk assessments showed no reason for alarm.
Food products that contain more than one percent of a GM ingredient must be labeled and most people have already eaten GM food in some supermarket junk food.
"I think the risks and benefits are overstated by both sides of the debate," she said.
"Opponents tend to inflate the risks while proponents at times overstate the benefits.
"My research has shown that there are enormous benefits to investment in GM plants.
"To proceed with care is the most prudent decision regulatory authorities can make at this stage."
She said GM plants were often made drought, pest and virus resistant and could theoretically produce enough food to feed Third World countries although some infrastructure obstacles remained.
GM golden rice had enough beta-carotene to help prevent blindness caused by Vitamin A deficiency in the developing world.
GM plants are different to conventionally-propagated plants from nurseries in that they have had new genes added from an unrelated plant or animal.
Dr Carter, 33, from Brighton, studied under a joint scholarship between UQ’s School of History, Philosophy, Religion and Classics and UQ’s Center for Integrative Legume Research.
Dr Carter has previously studied the ethics of human gene therapy and stem cell research.
Image Caption: Dr Lucy Carter
Image Credit: University of Queensland
Source: University of Queensland
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February 1, 2008
Despite the vital role wetlands play in society, they remain among the most threatened ecosystems on Earth. To emphasize the direct and positive effects of healthy wetlands for humans, the theme of this year’s World Wetlands Day, held every year on 2 February, is ‘Healthy Wetlands, Healthy People’.
According to the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands, the poor management of wetlands claims the lives of more than 3 million people every year and brings suffering to many more. Because wetlands are often made up of difficult and inaccessible terrain, Earth Observation (EO) satellites can aid conservation efforts by inventorying, monitoring and assessing wetland ecosystems.
This year’s theme underlines the fact that well-managed wetlands provide humans with clean water, the provision of food and pharmaceutical products, while mismanaged wetlands result in the impairment of our health or death through the effects of water-related diseases, burning peatlands, floods and water pollution.
Saturday commemorates the date in 1971 that the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands, an intergovernmental treaty that provides the framework for national actions and international cooperation for the conservation and wise use of wetlands and their resources, was adopted in the Iranian city of Ramsar on the shores of the Caspian Sea. To date there are 157 signatories, which are obliged to report on the state of the wetlands they have designated.
This complex and challenging task requires national, local and international bodies involved in the implementation of the Ramsar Convention to rely on suitable geo-information to better understand wetland areas, complete national inventories, perform monitoring activities, carry out assessments and implement suitable management plans based on updated and reliable information.
To aid in these efforts, ESA, in collaboration with the Ramsar Secretariat, launched the GlobWetland project in 2003 to produce satellite-derived and geo-referenced products including inventory maps, digital elevation models of wetlands and the surrounding catchment areas, land use-land cover maps, change-detection maps, peatland fire scar maps, water cycle regimes and water quality maps.
Because the success of wetland conservation ultimately comes down to individual wetland managers, GlobWetland, which concludes later this year, has been carried out in collaboration with several regional, national and local conservation authorities and wetland managers, involving 50 different wetlands across 21 countries on four continents.
Building on the results of GlobWetland, ESA and the Ramsar Secretariat convened a GlobWetland Symposium in October 2006 that attracted over 100 wetland specialists and EO experts from around the world to review the latest development in EO technology for inventorying, assessing and monitoring wetlands. The conclusions of the workshop will be the foundation for the Secretariat to define and scope the priorities for the future EO activities that will support the implementation of the convention.
As of January 2008 more than 1709 wetlands have been designated as Wetlands of International Importance, for a total area of over 150 million hectares.
‘Healthy Wetlands, Healthy People’ will also be the theme for Ramsar’s 10th meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP 10) to be held from 28 October to 4 November 2008 in the Republic of Korea.
ESA will be present throughout the COP 10 with a dedicated booth and a side event highlighting the role of EO technology in supporting the implementation of the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands.
The Scientific and Technical Review Panel (STRP) of the Convention met in Gland, Switzerland, from 28 January to 1 February 2008. ESA attended the meeting and pledged to continue helping the Convention by exploring and defining the directions and priorities for future research, development and application of Space Technologies in wetland management.
GlobWetland is taking place as part of ESA’s EO Data User Element (DUE).
Image Caption: The Creston Valley is located on the floodplain of the Kootenay River, at the south end of Kootenay Lake in the Province of British Columbia, and is managed by the Creston Valley Wildlife Management Authority (CVWMA) and the Canadian Wildlife Service (CWS). The Canadian Wildlife Service has as its key mandate the responsibility to carry out a national wetland inventory. Because more than 25% of the world’s wetlands are located in Canada, Earth Observation can play a vital role in fulfiling this objective.
Image Credit: Vexcel Canada
Source: ESA
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