It's EARTH DAY!!! YEA! So I found a bunch of earth related articles. In the top 5, are an article about a Denver School's efforts to reduce waste, and go green on energy consumption; an article about comics strips support of Earth Day; and an article about the "champions of the earth". There were also quite a few Earth Day articles that were published yesterday. I have included a couple of those in the Honorable Mention section. I hope you all enjoy them. :)
Today's Top 5:
1. Digging in for Earth Day (Denver Post)
2. New Polar Bear Cubs Make Zoo Debut (St Petersburg Times)
3. Hagar, Blondie, Beetle All Say Earth Day is No Laughing Matter (Bloomberg.com)
4. Baby Girl Abandoned by Her Mother to Die in the Mud is Rescued by Stray Dogs (Daily Mail UK)
5. Environmental Leaders Proclaimed Champions of the Earth
Honorable Mentions:
1. Making Environmentally Friendly Plastics (Science Daily)
2. Queen Elizabeth II Marks 82nd Birthday (CBS News)
3. Google-Backed Solar Startup Picks Up Steam, $130 Million (Wired.com)
4. Weapons-Grade Plutonium Reactor Shut Off (St. Petersburg Times)
Today's Top 5:
1. Digging in for Earth Day
The Denver school is 1 of 3 in the nation to earn "green makeover"
http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_9007692
By Jeremy P. Meyer
The Denver Post
Article Last Updated: 04/22/2008 06:04:55 AM MDT
Students at Ellis Elementary School have installed worm bins to turn waste into compost, started a recycling program and devised a way to reduce the amount of lunch food thrown away every day — hold recess before lunch.
These environmental efforts made the school one of three nationwide to earn a "green makeover" from the Earth Day Network, a nonprofit group founded by the organizers of the first Earth Day in 1970.
The group helped the school, at 1651 S. Dahlia St., obtain a grant of more than $10,000 to install solar panels that are expected to save the district $48,000 in energy costs over the next 30 years.
On Monday, fourth- and fifth-graders planted about 200 native plants. Organizers hope the plants will one day be put on the roof to make a "green roof," in which plants help cut the energy costs by 7 percent to 10 percent.
"This is an amazing opportunity for a Denver school to be put on the map," said Liz Henry of FrontRange Earth Force, a local group that works with schools.
On Monday, the school held an Earth Day fair where the classroom projects were displayed: fifth-graders' examination of water quality, a first-grade class wanting to help a nursing home build raised gardens and a survey of why there is so much food thrown out at lunch.
Fourth-grader Ashleigh Maus, 10, helped lead the food survey, which found kids throw out burritos, milk and fruit. Most said they did so because they wanted to go play or they didn't like the food.
Now, the group is recommending recess be moved before lunch.
Principal Khoa Nguyen is considering it.
2. New Polar Bear Cubs Make Zoo Debut
http://www.sptimes.ru/index.php?action_id=2&story_id=25767
Issue #1367 (31), Tuesday, April 22, 2008By Irina TitovaReuters
Polar bear cubs Krasin and Peter play with a fish at St. Petersburg’s zoo on Sunday. The cubs were born in late December. Two polar bear cubs born in December at St. Petersburg’s Leningrad Zoo made their public debut on Sunday.
The zoo also announced the names of the male cubs after holding a competition to name them. The winning names are Krasin and Peter.
“Krasin was named after the well-known Russian ice-breaker Krasin, and Peter got his name after the founder of St. Petersburg, Tsar Peter the Great,” said Tatyana Solomatina, spokeswoman for the Leningrad Zoo.
Solomatina said the cubs ventured outdoors without fear. Krasin showed that he is active and curious by trying to jump into the water in his enclosure, but his mother Uslada stopped him. The other cub, Peter, was more calm.
The name contest was run by the zoo and Metro newspaper.
A fan of St. Petersburg soccer club Zenit suggested naming one cub Zenit and the other Champion. Another soccer fan thought that Dick, after Zenit coach Dick Advocaat, and Gus, after Gus Hiddink, the coach of the Russian national soccer team, would be appropriate for the cubs, Solomatina said.
Solomatina said by chance the zoo announced about the birth of the cubs in December on the same day that President Vladimir Putin announced the name of his successor Dmitry Medvedev.
Some people accordingly suggested calling the cubs Vova and Dima, short versions of Vladimir and Dmitry.
The names eventually picked were suggested by the crew of the ice-breaker Krasin in honor of 90 years of Russian polar exploration, and a 9-year old girl called Alisa.
Solomatina said the cubs will leave their mother in July. Krasin is due to go to the Moscow Zoo, and Peter will go to live at a zoo in Japan. However, the cubs leave the zoo under the condition that if the zoo needs them back, they can return, she said.
The cubs are leaving their mother earlier than usual because Uslada, 21, is getting too old to care for them properly.
3. Hagar, Blondie, Beetle All Say Earth Day is No Laughing Matter
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601109&sid=awdfghRMQCNE&refer=home
By Tom Randall
April 22 (Bloomberg)
The artists behind Hagar the Horrible, Blondie, Beetle Bailey and 43 other comic strips aligned their characters today for Earth Day, the only time the most popular cartoons have coordinated a theme besides a Sept. 11 day of reflection.
In one strip, the family and pets of Hagar, the world's most famous Viking, approach the ankle of a giant. Hagar's tough- talking wife, Helga, who could fit beneath the giant's shoe, speaks for the group.
``We'd like to talk to you about your carbon footprint,'' she says.
Like Hagar's family, the cartoonists wanted to discuss the environment with a much larger audience, said Brendan Burford, comics editor for Hearst Corp.'s King Features unit, the biggest distributor of comic strips. Burford, 29, who recruited his syndicated artists for the idea, said the comic collaboration is more to raise environmental awareness than preach policy.
``We wanted to say, `Hey, we're all in this together,''' Burford said in a telephone interview from Hearst Tower, certified as one of Manhattan's most environmentally friendly office buildings. ``I'm passionate about these issues, and I work for a company that's passionate about these issues. It's really inspiring to me when we decide to come together as a unit, the sort of impact that we can have on people.''
The 65 comics that Hearst syndicates to more than 5,000 newspapers around the world are read by millions, including 113 million people in the U.S. on Sundays alone, according to the company's Web site. New York-based Hearst has 40 percent of the comic syndication market worldwide, Burford said.
`No-Brainer'
``When they approached me, it was a no-brainer,'' said Alex Hallatt, 38, creator of ``Arctic Circle'' who's based in Lyttelton, New Zealand. ``This has been something that's been important to me since I was like seven.''
Earth Day is celebrated by almost 1 billion people at concerts, rallies and neighborhood cleanups in 174 countries, according to Earth Day Network, a group founded by the organizers of the first celebration in 1970. Climate change is finally getting attention and the time was right for cartoonists to lend their support, Hallatt said.
``It's been an amazing year, if you think about how much has changed,'' Hallatt said. ``I don't think it's cool to drive a Hummer any more.''
`Beardy-Weirdy Hippies'
In the environmentally themed ``Arctic Circle,'' three penguins move from Antarctica to the Arctic and befriend animals they meet. In today's strip, a cynical polar bear named Frank watches the sun rise with Howard, the environmentally conscious snow rabbit. Frank tells Howard that it's Earth Day and fails to get a strong reaction.
Howard puts his arm around the bear and says, ``Frank, to me every day is Earth Day.''
Hallatt, a biochemist by training, left the pharmaceutical industry nine years ago to ``get a proper job'' as a full-time cartoonist. She said Earth Day should inspire people to think about the environment and to recognize how they can affect it.
``But it's also creating the mindset that `green' is normal, it's not just beardy-weirdy hippies,'' Hallatt said.
The comics may not have much impact, said Brian Costin, assistant director of government relations at the Heartland Institute, a Chicago research group that organizes yearly conferences to challenge global warming theories.
``It's hard to get the details into an editorial cartoon,'' Costin said. ``If they're on the hyper-alarming side, it might be kind of entertaining, but it doesn't give the kind of facts that are important to making policy.''
Sept. 11 Roots
The only other time so many cartoonists organized around a theme was after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, according to Jerry Scott, a 52-year-old comic-strip writer who helped organize what he calls a ``grim'' day in comics, on America's Thanksgiving Day in 2001.
``The whole country was just so bruised and confused and scared and ripped apart,'' said Scott, the co-creator of ``Zits'' and ``Baby Blues.'' ``Comics are more a mirror of society than they are a trend-setter, and there needed to be some sort of reaction.''
``Did it work?'' Scott said. ``I don't know. Did it help? I don't know. It helped us.''
Some comic strips celebrating Earth Day have been around for 50 years or more, including Beetle Bailey, Dennis the Menace, and Barney Google and Snuffy Smith.
``Cartoons are so important to so many people,'' said Scott, who lives in San Luis Obispo, California, and drives a Toyota Prius. ``It's like a little visit from friends. A friend sort of brings up a subject in his own way. I don't think ours come across as preachy or lecturing.''
Not everyone follows through on good intentions, though, as Dagwood shows in today's Blondie strip.
``I think we should start by conserving energy on the home front,'' he tells Blondie. Then he falls asleep on the couch.
To contact the reporter on this story: Tom Randall in New York at trandall6@bloomberg.net.
4. Baby Girl Abandoned by Her Mother to Die in the Mud is Rescued by Stray Dogs
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/worldnews.html?in_article_id=561244&in_page_id=1811&ito=1490Last updated at 11:46am on 22nd April 2008
A pack of stray dogs saved a baby girl whose mother abandoned her on a mound of mud.
Hundreds of people have flocked to a remote Indian village to see the girl.
Villagers in the eastern state of Bihar's Samastipur district took in the mud-plastered infant at the weekend after they were alerted to her presence by three dogs barking.
"The dogs removed the soil around and began to bark and the baby started crying, which drew attention of the local villagers," said government official Ram Narayan Sahani.
"The girl is crying but is safe in the lap of a childless couple who have adopted her."
Police said they were looking for the girl's mother, who they think had left the girl to die.
Female foetuses are often aborted in India simply because boys are preferred as breadwinners, while families have to pay huge dowries to marry off their daughters.
The United Nations says an estimated 2,000 unborn girls are illegally aborted every day in India.
5. Environmental Leaders Proclaimed Champions of the Earth http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/200546,environmental-leaders-proclaimed-champions-of-the-earth--summary.html
Posted : Tue, 22 Apr 2008 11:04:04 GMT
Author : DPA Category : Environment
Singapore - Seven leaders in the battle against global warming and a transition to a greener economy were proclaimed on Tuesday the 2008 Champions of the Earth. The winners were Prince Albert II of Monaco, Sudanese climate researcher Balgis Osman-Elasha, Dr Atiq Rahman, executive director of the Bangladesh Centre for Advanced Studies, Liz Thompson, former energy and environment minister of Barbados, New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark, Abdul-Qader Ba-Jammal, the former prime minister of Yemen and US Senator Timothy Wirth.
"The golden thread that links each one is climate change, the challenge for this generation and the disaster for the next unless it is urgently addressed," said Achim Steiner, UN undersecretary general and executive director of the UN Environment Programme, which co-hosted the awards with the annual Business for the Environment Global Summit.
Each was given a trophy at a gala dinner in Singapore made of recycled metal and designed by Kenyan sculptor Kioko.
Prince Albert pledged to "carry out missions to raise the alarm and heighten awareness in the field."
"The world is facing an unprecedented threat," he said. "We must assume our responsibilities without delay"
Abdul-Qader Ba-Jammal said it was vital to make the connection between improved management of nature and natural resources and the "upgrading of people's quality of life."
"I am impatient, climate change as a man-made disaster is coming at a rapid rate," he said, noting that a 1-metre sea level rise would put 20 per cent of Bangladesh under water.
"If we can't feed the people, there will be chaos," he said.
Osman-Elasha said he is trying to convey the message of climate change "to make it reach the people who are going to be impacted."
Clark and Wirth were unable to attend, but in a video Clark said her vision was to "sustain the biodiversity, the cultural diversity and environmental integrity that we have had in our world and which is very, very much under threat."
Earlier Tuesday, business leaders were urged to speed up practical and creative solutions to greener corporate practices that make sense environmentally and are a source of competitive advantage.
"Ways and means need to be found to mobilize and focus the trillions of dollars in the world's financial and capital markets on the greening of the global economy," Steiner said.
The two-day event was the first major international gathering to build on the momentum since the UN Climate Change Conference in Bali last year. A goal was set of realizing a decisive climate regime by the 2009 climate convention in Copenhagen.
"While a path has been laid out for emissions' reductions, we know that even our best efforts will still lead to some measure of climate impacts which will fall hardest on the most vulnerable economies and communities," Steiner told the 500 participants.
"The ultimate goal and prize is delivering green growth and green economies, ones that fundamentally shift the way we all produce and consume the Earth's natural resources from a wasteful path to one that is sustainable," he said.
The looming question is whether all the activity persists and becomes "embedded in the economic development paths of all countries over the coming few crucial years," Steiner said. "There is every chance that the transformations underway are possible in the short, medium to long-term but this is not guaranteed."
"If we had a breakthrough in Bali then we also need a breakthrough in Bonn, Germany, next month at the Convention of Biological Diversity meeting," he noted.
The conference focused on the global economic and financial impact of environmental concerns in the areas of efficient use of resources, renewable energy, new business models and climate strategies.
Honorable Mentions:
1. Making Environmentally Friendly Plastics
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080416211436.htm
ScienceDaily (Apr. 21, 2008)
Every year, more than 30 billion water bottles are added to America's landfills, creating a mountainous environmental problem. But if research at Missouri University of Science and Technology is successful, the plastic bottles of the future could literally disappear within four months of being discarded.
The Missouri S&T research team is constructing new breeds of biodegradable and bioavailable plastics in an effort to reduce the tons of plastic waste that ends up in the nation’s landfills each year. Bioavailable plastics contain substances that can be absorbed by living systems during their normal physiological functions.
By combining and modifying a variety of bio-based, oil-based and natural polymers, the team seeks to create optimal blends that can be used to make agricultural films, bottles, biomedical and drug delivery devices, and more.
The team is working under the direction of Dr. K.B. Lee, professor of chemical engineering at Missouri S&T, to improve the properties of the biodegradable plastics for real-life products. Although companies already sell biodegradable polymers, the products are often expensive, of poor quality or developed for specific applications. That’s why the team is investigating how bio-based fillers, such as starch and fibers, can be included to reduce the cost in a variety of commercial applications.
The group is also interested in incorporating glycerol – a major byproduct of the biodiesel process – in the new plastics.
Some of the group’s new polymers incorporate renewable resources, such as polylactic acid, which is created by fermenting starch. The group is very interested in renewable resources because their research and development efforts are also focused on developing efficient and cost-effective biodiesel and corn ethanol processes.
“Different chemical and biological mechanisms are responsible for the degradation of polymers,” says Mahin Shahlari, a chemical engineering Ph.D. student at Missouri S&T. “For example, it’s known that polylactic acid will degrade in 45 to 60 days if composted at temperatures between 122 to 140 degrees Fahrenheit.”
As polylactic acid degrades, the material reacts with water to decompose into small molecules, which are then mineralized into water and carbon dioxide.
“In general, the main end products of polymer degradation are water and carbon dioxide,” Shahlari explains. “Polylatic acid has the potential of replacing the regular water bottles, and we anticipate that our research could be incorporated into that field too.
“We are not just molding and extruding commercially available biodegrable resins. We also are incorporating nanotechnology, supercritical fluid technology and graft copolymer compatibilization, most of which are developed and patented by our group.”
Adapted from materials provided by Missouri University of Science and Technology.
2. Queen Elizabeth II Marks 82nd BirthdayBritish Monarch Gets 41-Gun Salute At Hyde Park In London
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/04/21/world/main4029970.shtml?source=RSSattr=World_4029970
LONDON, April 21, 2008 (CBS/AP)
Queen Elizabeth II marked her 82nd birthday at home in Windsor Castle.
The occasion has been celebrated with a 41-gun salute at Hyde Park in London on Monday.
On Dec. 20, the British queen became the oldest person ever to reign in Britain, beating the record set by Queen Victoria.
She is one of only five kings or queens since the 1066 Norman Conquest to reign for more than half a century.
Far away from the fanfare, it's believed her Majesty's planning to enjoy a quiet dinner at Windsor Castle, reports CBS News correspondent Charlie D'Agata.
But there is another family drama - this time, Prince William's taking flak for landing an Air Force helicopter in girlfriend Kate Middleton's backyard, D'Agata reports. He also piloted the chopper to give his brother Prince Harry a lift to a bachelor party on the very night William earned his wings.
The British military says both flights were approved, but critics are calling it a waste.
"The money spent on that sortie might perhaps be better spent on training a guy who's actually going to fly a Chinook," said Jon Lake, defense editor of Flight Daily News.
The current commander in chief may be getting a little weary of family woes. But at 82, the Queen shows no sign of slowing down, let alone stepping down.
"I don't think the queen will hand over for a very long time," says Katie Nicholl of the Daily Mail. "I think she's in fantastic health, she absolutely loves what she does, and what she does is her life, and she's absolutely fantastic, and the day she leaves her job, Britain will be a very different place."
3. Google-Backed Solar Startup Picks Up Steam, $130 Million
http://www.wired.com/science/planetearth/news/2008/04/solar_thermal
By Alexis Madrigal 04.21.08 6:45 PM
Rising oil prices lift all alt-energy boats.
For proof, look no further than the fat $130 million investment scooped up by eSolar, a company whose basic solar power strategy -- using sunlight-reflecting mirrors to generate steam -- was all but abandoned in the 1980s, and has recently recently caught investors' attention again.
The money, from Google's philanthropic arm, Google.org, and venture capital firms Idealab and Oak Investment Partners, will go towards the construction of eSolar's first functioning solar power plant.
"ESolar's long term is to become a viable replacement for all fossil fuel," said Robert Rogan, a Cal Tech Ph.D. and eSolar's executive vice president for corporate development. "The reason Google invested in us is that they saw the potential of this technology to beat the cost of using coal."
The company's core technology is an implementation of concentrating solar power, which uses mirrors to turn liquid into steam that drives standard electricity-generating turbines. CSP, also sometimes called solar thermal, is considered a promising replacement for fossil fuel power plants, particularly the coal plants that generate more than half of U.S. electricity. It's been around for decades, last seeing popularity in the early 1980s, when oil hit an inflation-adjusted price of $82 per barrel. Higher oil prices make fossil fuel plants more costly, making it easier for alternative technologies to compete. (Oil is currently trading for more than $115 a barrel, its highest level ever.)
Google's green-energy plan goes by the formula-like name RE
4. Weapons-Grade Plutonium Reactor Shut Off
http://www.sptimes.ru/index.php?action_id=2&story_id=25762
Issue #1367 (31), Tuesday, April 22, 2008Reuters
MOSCOW — Russia said on Monday it had closed a weapons-grade plutonium reactor as part of a deal with the United States to reduce the risk of proliferation from Cold War-era nuclear bomb plants.
The reactor, at a secret Siberian plant founded by Soviet leader Josef Stalin, was turned off on Sunday, 45 years after it was started up to create plutonium for the Soviet weapons program.
“The industrial reactor ADE-4 was finally stopped on Sunday at 11 in the morning. That is the final closure of the reactor,” said a spokesman for the Siberian Chemical Combine, in the closed city of Seversk, formerly known as Tomsk-7.
After the end of the Cold War, weapons-grade plutonium was no longer needed for Russia’s nuclear weapons program.
But the reactors at the plant were kept running to provide heat and electricity for the local community, and the U.S. Department of Energy has estimated the plant produced enough plutonium for several nuclear bombs a week.
The unwanted plutonium was stored at the plant, prompting environmental groups to raise questions about its security. Russia says its nuclear plants are properly guarded.
Aid from the United States was used to help refurbish a 1950s coal-fired power plant, reducing the community’s dependence on the reactors for power.
Another reactor at the plant, known as ADE-5 and started in 1965, will continue to produce heat and power until the summer. The United States and Russia agreed in March 2003 to shut down Russia’s three remaining plutonium-producing reactors.
The U.S is funding an electricity and heat plant to replace a plutonium plant near the closed city of Zheleznogorsk.
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