Its Time To Consider The Future of Children on Planet Earth

Canada warming at twice the global rate, leaked report finds.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/canada-warming-at-twice-the-global-rate-leaked-report-finds-1.5079765

Canada is on average experiencing warming at twice the rate of the rest of the world, with Northern Canada heating up at almost three times the global average, according to a new government report.

The study — Canada's Changing Climate Report (CCCR) — was commissioned by Environment and Climate Change Canada. It says that since 1948, Canada's annual average temperature over land has warmed 1.7 C, with higher rates seen in the North, the Prairies and northern British Columbia.

In Northern Canada, the annual average temperature has increased by 2.3 C.

While the increased warming in the Arctic is not yet fully understood, snow and ice play a critical role in reflecting the sun’s radiation and heat. But scientists say the retreat of glaciers and disappearing sea ice both contribute to a feedback loop of warming, which is one of the factors contributing to Canada’s disproportionate temperature increase.

The report suggests the majority of warming felt in Canada and around the globe is the result of burning fossil fuels.

THE EARTH'S OCEANS AND THE CRUISE SHIP INDUSTRY

https://www.tocsinmag.com/post/the-earth-s-oceans-and-the-cruise-ship-industry

CANADA / GERMANY - Clean Energy

My wife and I recently drove from Vancouver to Saskatoon to visit friends. Neither of us had travelled through the prairies since the 1970's before we met; my wife by train from Toronto to Vancouver and me by car after crossing the border from North Dakota into Western Saskatchewan to drive back to Vancouver after an extended driving tour in the USA.

We were both amazed at the wide open spaces and the almost unlimited amount of uncluttered landscape which reminded us a great deal of northern Germany where we travelled extensively in 2017. The big difference between the prairies and northern Germany is the lack of renewable energy producing sources on the Canadian prairies. In Germany, we came across huge solar farms and wind farms, kilometer after kilometer. Farm houses, barns and most buildings had solar panels on the roofs. Towns had clusters of wind vanes on high ground near each town.

Saskatchewan grows many crop including canola and wheat that contribute a great deal to the Canadian economy, but much of the countryside we drove through lay fallow or was unused. While I understand the highest wind speeds in Saskatchewan are in the southwest, it seemed the unused land in the rest of this very flat land could be used to create massive solar farms. Given that Saskatchewan is the sunniest province in Canada, in all seasons, and boasting almost 3,000 hours of sunshine a year, building environmentally friendly, clean energy solar farms across the province would seem to be a no brainier.

Upon our return, I did a bit of research on Germany and came across the following information. Germany recently increased its renewable energy goal from 55 to 65 percent by 2030 to compensate for the decommissioning of aging nuclear and coal plants. Germany has been called "the world's first major renewable energy economy." Renewable energy in Germany is mainly based on wind, solar and biomass. Germany had the world's largest photovoltaic installed capacity until 2014, and as of 2016, it is third with 40 GW. It is also the world's third country by installed wind power capacity, at 50 GW, and second for offshore wind, with over 4 GW.

 In Germany, the share of renewable electricity rose from just 3.4% of gross electricity consumption in 1990 to exceed 10% by 2005, 20% by 2011 and 30% by 2015, reaching 36.2% of consumption by year end 2017. As with most countries, the transition to renewable energy in the transport and heating and cooling sectors has been considerably slower.

Now however, more than 23,000 wind turbines and 1.4 million solar PV systems are distributed all over the country. According to official figures, around 370,000 people were employed in the renewable energy sector in 2010, particularly in small and medium-sized companies. This is an increase of around 8% compared to 2009 (around 339,500 jobs), and well over twice the number of jobs in 2004 (160,500). About two-thirds of these jobs are attributed to the Renewable Energy Sources Act.

Germany's federal government is working to increase renewable energy commercialization, with a particular focus on offshore wind farms. A major challenge is the development of sufficient network capacities for transmitting the power generated in the North Sea to the large industrial consumers in southern parts of the country. Germany's energy transition, the Energiewende, designates a significant change in energy policy from 2011. The term encompasses a reorientation of policy from demand to supply and a shift from centralized to distributed generation (for example, producing heat and power in very small cogeneration units), which should replace overproduction and avoidable energy consumption with energy-saving measures and increased efficiency.

Compare these statistics to Canada's record. In the electricity sector, hydroelectricity is the largest renewable energy source in Canada, accounting for approximately 60 percent of Canada's electricity generation. Other non-hydro renewable energy sources, such as biomass, wind, tidal and solar, contribute 3 percent, compared to Germany's 36% at the end of 2017.

The big issue with hydroelectricity is its impact on the environment due to the enormous amounts of concrete required. A major component of concrete is cement; the cement industry is one of the primary producers of carbon dioxide, a potent greenhouse gas. Concrete causes damage to the most fertile layer of the earth, the topsoil.

Solar energy systems have some certain negative impacts on the environment just like any other energy system, but solar energy is a lot cleaner when compared with conventional energy sources. Solar energy systems have many advantages such as being cheaper and not producing any pollutants during operation and, being almost an infinite energy source when compared with fossil fuels.
On a closing note, a common myth is that solar panels do not work during winter, but on the contrary, cold temperature will typically improve solar panel output. The white snow can also reflect light and help improve PV performance. Winter will only hurt solar production if the panels are covered with snow, a problem easily solved.

Saskatchewan could be a leader in this field in Canada if not globally given its climate and geography.

DO MOST PEOPLE NOT WANT TO KNOW ABOUT GLOBAL WARMING?

Every day on this planet, there are people flying all over the world, visiting here, visiting there just because they can. They are called tourists. 

Every time one person flies from where they live to somewhere they want to go (not where they HAVE to go) that person generates more than 20% of the greenhouse gas in that one flight than their internal combustion car emits in one year. This number is based on a North American based average.  Keep in mind, even if you own an electric car, you are still generating greenhouse gases, this gas created through the manufacturing of your vehicle and from the generation of the electricity used to power the car, particularly if this electrical power is generated by coal or natural gas powered power-plants. Even hydro electric dams create greenhouse gases through their building process. Materials like concrete, earth moving machines, trucks, portable generators, burning, etc.

According to some estimates, there are roughly 20,000 planes in use around the world, serving three billion passengers annually. By 2040, more than 50,000 planes could be in service, and they are expected to fly more often. The total worldwide ocean cruise capacity at the end of 2018 was 537,000 passengers and 314 ships. Annualized total passengers carried worldwide was 26.0 million passengers (a 3.3% increase over 2017) and almost 6 times the population of New Zealand or equivalent to the population of Australia. 

However, I digress. My curiosity is aroused by what I perceive to be disinterest by what seems to be a majority of people in the dire warnings of impending climate doom by climatologists, environmentalists and scientists.

I think people who choose ignorance fall into 5 categories in regard to warnings of future global calamity for the last remaining homo race on this small planet:

• People who just choose to ignore these warnings as not having credibility. IE Climate change deniers.
• People not wanting to know or pretend that everything really is OK 
• People frightened of these warnings and choosing not to believe them? 
• People who believe an invisible man who lives in the sky is going to save the pure of heart and thought so why bother doing anything.
• People with plenty of money who just want to enjoy all the earth has to offer with little to no thought of their effect on the planet; IE cruise ships, constant overseas vacations, unlimited consumerism and so on.

Most people in the western world are very comfortable in their own little worlds. If retired and with money in the bank, they think very little of the environmental ramifications of the cruises they go on or the extended travel trips to exotic parts of the world they undertake.  

WHY ARE THERE NO ENGLISH SPEAKING COUNTRIES IN THE TOP TEN LIST OF GREEN COUNTRIES

In the top ten of greenest countries in the world today, there is not one English speaking country. The closest is New Zealand at number 11. The United States does not even appear in the top 20.  The Donald Trump /  Right-wing Evangelical Republican factor.

The top of the eco-chart is Finland. According to the 2016 EPI report, Finland’s ranking "stems from its societal commitment to achieve a carbon-neutral society". It adds: "Finland’s goal of consuming 38 per cent of their final energy from renewable sources by 2020 is legally binding, and they already produce nearly two-thirds of their electricity from renewable or nuclear power sources.

The 20 most environmentally-friendly countries
Finland - EPI rating: 90.68
Iceland - 90.51
Sweden - 90.43
Denmark - 89.21
Slovenia - 88.98
Spain - 88.91
Portugal - 88.63
Estonia - 88.59
Malta - 88.48
France - 88.2
New Zealand - 88
United Kingdom - 87.38
Australia - 87.22
Singapore - 87.04
Croatia - 86.98
Switzerland - 86.93
Norway - 86.9
Austria - 86.64
Ireland - 86.6

Luxembourg - 86.58

In the world or places of polluted countries, Delhi is in a league of its own. Half an hour of sightseeing is enough to leave you with a sore throat. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), the average concentration of PM 2.5 particles in the Indian city is 150 micrograms per cubic metre of air. PM 2.5 refers to fine particles (2.5 micrometres or smaller in diameter) produced by combustion, including motor vehicles, power plants, forest fires, and some industrial processes. By comparison, London's average is 16. 

But what of the most polluted countries? Pinpointing them is a little more problematic. The WHO tracks air quality at 1,622 locations in 92 countries - but all are urban areas. So while Pakistan, Egypt and Mongolia are among the most polluted countries according to the map below, this only refers to pollution in its cities. Air quality in the Karakoram mountain range or the Gobi Desert will, of course, be pristine. Similarly, Russia appears to be among the worst performing countries - but its ranking is based only on air quality in Moscow. 

Should We Be Worried About Global Warming?

Anthrax Outbreak In Russia Thought To Be Result Of Thawing Permafrost

Russia is fighting a mysterious anthrax outbreak in a remote corner of Siberia. Dozens of people have been hospitalized; one child has died. The government airlifted some families out because more than 2,000 reindeer have been infected.

Officials don't know exactly how the outbreak started, but the current hypothesis is almost unbelievable: A heat wave has thawed the frozen soil there and with it, a reindeer carcass infected with anthrax decades ago.

Some scientists think this incident could be an example of what climate change may increasingly surface in the tundra. The place where the outbreak is occurring is called the Yamal Peninsula. It lies high above the Arctic Circle at the top of the world. It's so cold there, the soil — called permafrost — is frozen solid, more than 1,000 feet deep in some places, or about the height of the Empire State Building.  

"The soil in the Yamal Pennisula is like a giant freezer," says Jean-Michel Claverie at the National Center for Scientific Research in France. "Those are very, very good conditions for bacteria to remain alive for a very long time."

In this case, the bacteria were anthrax, and more than 75 years ago, they killed a reindeer. The carcass got covered in a thin layer of permafrost, Russian officials think. For decades, it lay there frozen. Then this summer, a heat wave hit and a thicker layer of permafrost melted, and the reindeer's carcass rose to the surface, the theory goes. As it warmed up, so did the anthrax.

Russian officials say they're working hard to get the outbreak under control. They're vaccinating reindeer and burning the carcasses of dead animals.

There's likely to be more cases of anthrax resurfacing, says Birgitta Evengard, a microbiologist at Umea University in Sweden. That's because climate change is causing the temperature in the Arctic Circle to rise very quickly.

"It's rising about three times faster in the Arctic than in the rest of the world," she says. "And that means the ice is melting and the permafrost is thawing."

In the early 20th century, there were repeated anthrax outbreaks in Siberia. More than a million reindeer died. Now there are about 7,000 burial grounds with infected carcasses scattered across northern Russia.

"It's not that easy to dig in the permafrost to bury these animals," Evengard says. "So they are kind of very close to the surface."

That means anthrax outbreaks in Siberia could occur every summer, she says. And it's not just anthrax that could be a problem.

People and animals have been buried in permafrost for centuries. There could be bodies infected with all kinds of viruses and bacteria, frozen in time. She says scientists are just starting look for it.

"So we really don't know what's buried up there," she says. "This is Pandora's box."

For example, researchers have found pieces of the 1918 Spanish flu virus in corpses buried in mass graves in Alaska's tundra. There's also likely smallpox and the bubonic plague buried in Siberia.


So the question for researchers is: Could these pathogens — like anthrax — ever be reactivated?  READ ON......

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2019/04/14/thawing-siberian-permafrost-soil-risks-rise-anthrax-prehistoric/

School pupils call for radical climate action in UK-wide strike

If there are changes going  to be made in how the environment is caretakered, its going to be kids. A great many of the old farts making short term decisions today are not going to be around when the #$@% hits the fan 20 years from now. Unless we get greenhouse emissions under control with all inhabitants of this planet working for the greater good, the future for youngster and babies of today  being born will not be uncertain, it will be terminal.  

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/feb/15/uk-climate-change-strike-school-pupils-children-environment-protest

The Future of Planet Earth and Chidren

Are you a parent? Or a grandparent? Or an uncle or aunt? 

If none of the above, do you care about children and the future of children on this planet?  This planet has been through a great deal over the millenniums. Earthquakes, hurricanes, ice ages, droughts, rising and lowering oceans, tsunamis, meteor showers and more. The earth has survived through all manner of catastrophes and will continue to do so. The big questions is; will humans survive? 

Approximately 70,000 years ago, during the Toba catastrophe, scholars estimate the Homo sapiens population may have dropped to as low as between 1,000 and 10,000 individuals. Now there are over 7.0 billion of us. We are in some ways like a giant ant nest but unlike an ant nest we are not working together for the common good. And, the common good must include planning for the future and modifying our behaviour to ensure the survival of our species. The future for people is the children of today and the children yet to be born. The planet will probably be around for the next 5 billion years and will do just fine without humans. We humans cannot do without the planet. 

The planet earth is Plan A for us. There is no Plan B. Not yet and not in the near future. Some day maybe but we have to survive to reach that some day. 

Greanwold’s Green World for Families and Kids.

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Great News for the Future of the Oceans for our Children

Plastic-eating enzyme accidentally created by scientists could help solve pollution crisis

Scientists have created a substance capable of “eating” plastic that could help tackle the world’s pollution problem.

The substance is based on an enzyme – a “biological catalyst” – first produced by bacteria living in a Japanese recycling centre that researchers suggested had evolved it in order to eat plastic.

Dubbed PETase for its ability to break down the PET plastic used to make drinks bottles, the enzyme accelerated a degradation process that would normally take hundreds of years.

Decline in plastic bags on seabed shows tackling waste is working

Fine-tuning this naturally produced enzyme allowed a research team to produce something capable of digesting plastic more effectively than anything found in nature.

By breaking down plastic into manageable chunks, the scientists suggest their new substances could help recycle millions of tonnes of plastic bottles.

Plastic is notoriously resistant to natural degradation, and the discovery of the Japanese plastic-eating bacteria in 2016 was heralded by experts and commentators alike as a potential natural solution to plastic pollution.

While attempting to verify these claims, University of Portsmouth biologist Professor John McGeehan and his colleagues accidentally created a super-powered version of the plastic-eating enzyme.

TEACH YOUR CHILDREN WELL

Not looking forward to the 2018 statistics in regard to the planet's resources being used to sustain greedy industrialists, megalomaniac dictators and country leaders and ignorant and head-in-the-sand ignoramuses. 

This news is from 2017.

The day by which the human race has used up more natural resources than can be replenished in a year—known as Earth Overshoot Day —has been getting earlier for some time. But in 2017, it’s come earlier than ever before.

As of August 2, human beings have used up its allowance of resources such as water, clean air, and soil for 2017, according to environmental groups the Global Footprint Network and the World Wildlife Foundation (WWF). And there’s still five months to go in the year. Great job guys.

Current thoughts are we will be using 125% of the earth's resources in 2018. Even a child knows this is NOT sustainable.

Trudeau falls short on commitment to Grassy Narrows mercury problems, chief says

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/thunder-bay/prime-minister-grassy-narrows-1.3939095

And Trudeau's government is failing their children. 

The level of mercury found in the umbilical cords of babies in Grassy Narrows First Nation was high enough to affect their brain development, according to a new report obtained by the Star.

Between 1978 and 1994 Health Canada tested the umbilical cord blood of 139 infants in Grassy Narrows.

“At these cord blood concentrations, there is consensus from the scientific literature that there would be effects on children’s neurodevelopment,” the report, written by Dr. Donna Mergler, says.

In the report, the leading expert reviews decades of scientific research on mercury’s effects and highlights the hidden impact of contamination on a community.

Mergler said that what recent science tells us is that mercury poisoning occurs at low levels previously thought harmless. At these low levels, a fetus is vulnerable to cognitive damage even if the child’s mother does not show signs of poisoning.

The scientist, whose research specializes in the effects of environmental pollutants such as mercury, wrote it was “surprising” that although world-renowned Japanese researchers had identified many cases of mercury poisoning in Grassy Narrows, there has never been a “scientifically sound” community-wide examination of pre- and postnatal mercury contamination.

Advocates for Grassy Narrows have been trying to obtain the original cord blood data and other information collected by Health Canada over more than two decades so that their own experts can analyze it.

For six months, Health Canada said it would not release the data — even with identifying information removed — citing privacy concerns, according to email correspondence obtained by the Star.

On Thursday, one day after the Star asked Health Canada why the information could not be released, First Nation community advocates received an email from the regulator saying they could have the data.

The original contamination began when a Dryden, Ont., paper plant dumped 10 tonnes of mercury, a potent neurotoxin, into the English-Wabigoon River system between 1962 and 1970. The site of the plant, now under different ownership, is about 100 kilometres upstream from Grassy Narrows.

The locals, who’d built a livelihood as fishing and hunting guides, were told to stop eating the fish. The robust fishing tourism industry was decimated. The fishermen and guides went on welfare.

More than 300 residents (50 of them children) from Grassy Narrows and another community were diagnosed with “symptoms consistent with mercury poisoning” — including loss of muscle co-ordination, vision loss, slurred speech and tunnel vision — and awarded compensation from a Mercury Disability Board. A separate protocol was set up for children that also tests for cerebral palsy and some developmental delays.