14 million tonnes of plastic on ocean floor ! – CSIRO study
Every drink bottle we buy, face scrub we use and chip packet we finish results in tiny plastics entering the ocean.But where are these tiny micro-plastics, exactly?
Are they floating around on the ocean’s surface, waiting to be scooped up by a surfer?
Or are they stuck in the tummies of turtles or seabirds?
A new study by the CSIRO, Australia’s national science agency, has estimated up to 14 million tonnes of micro-plastics have sunk to the bottom of the ocean floor.
The peer-reviewed research, published on Tuesday, is the first global estimate for micro-plastics on the seafloor. Dr Britta Denise Hardesty, team leader with CSIRO’s Oceans and Atmosphere, said 14 million tonnes of micro-plastics was a “huge amount, especially when you think about how tiny all those bits are”.Dr Britta Denise Hardesty, team leader with CSIRO’s Oceans and Atmosphere, said 14 million tonnes of micro-plastics was a “huge amount, especially when you think about how tiny all those bits are”.
But where are these tiny micro-plastics, exactly?
Are they floating around on the ocean’s surface, waiting to be scooped up by a surfer?
Or are they stuck in the tummies of turtles or seabirds?
A new study by the CSIRO, Australia’s national science agency, has estimated up to 14 million tonnes of micro-plastics have sunk to the bottom of the ocean floor.
The peer-reviewed research, published on Tuesday, is the first global estimate for micro-plastics on the seafloor.
Dr Britta Denise Hardesty, team leader with CSIRO’s Oceans and Atmosphere, said 14 million tonnes of micro-plastics was a “huge amount, especially when you think about how tiny all those bits are”.
To put it into perspective: Imagine five carrier bags stuffed with plastic dotted along every single metre of coastline around the world, excluding Antarctica
The piles of bags would sit on every Australian beach, along Italy’s Amalfi Coast, around Vietnam’s Ha Long Bay, and all around Canada’s coastlines and beyond.
Now imagine someone pushing those bags into the ocean, and letting them sink into the darkness.
“It’s a confronting amount, and hopefully it provides a reasonable wake-up call,” Dr Hardesty told The New Daily.
“We’re finding them hundreds of kilometres offshore and thousands of metres deep – more micro-plastics than has been found by lots of other studies.”
“Micro-plastics come from the same place as plastics,” Dr Hardesty said, adding “micro just means they’re smaller than 5mm”.
“It’s really just small plastic from single-use items, consumer goods, industry or fishing-related goods, cosmetics, micro-beads, agriculture, aquaculture, household waste, everything.”Many of these tiny plastics end up in our oceans via stormwater drains, sewage systems, sea-based activities, littering, things falling off the backs of trucks, and improper waste management where people intentionally dump rubbish straight into the sea or rivers.
They often end up in the stomachs of marine animals like dolphins or fish, while bigger pieces of plastic can be just as dangerous.
“Masks that have those little straps can tangle the feet and legs of sea birds and things like that,” Dr Hardesty said.
“Rubber gloves might be more likely to look like a jellyfish that could be mistakenly eaten by turtles if they end up in the ocean.”
The World Economic Forum estimates one garbage truck of plastic alone is dumped into the ocean every minute of every day.
It estimates there could be more plastic in the ocean than fish by 2050.
The missing piece
Although the CSIRO’s findings are troubling, perhaps what’s more concerning is the answer to the following question: Where is the rest of the missing plastic?
Compared to the tonnes of plastic entering the ocean every day, Dr Hardesty said 14 million tonnes on the ocean floor was “just a drop in the ocean”.
“Where is all the missing plastic? Is it in the stomachs of animals? Is it floating on the surface?” she said.
“I’d say most of it is on our coastlines.”
Pretty despicable -tax breaks for company exporting weapons to Saudi Arabia, UAE.
Tax break for weapons exports to Mid-East countries accused of war crimes, Michael West Media, by Michelle Fahy | Oct 6, 2020 Australian weapons manufacturer Electro Optic Systems, with financial support from the federal and ACT governments, is capitalising on the ‘growth market’ of the Middle East, one of the world’s most volatile regions. Michelle Fahy reports.
As has been reported repeatedly, remote weapons systems manufactured by EOS are being exported to the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia despite both countries being accused of war crimes. Numerous UN reports have detailed shocking human rights violations over the six years of the Yemen war.
After a shutdown due to Covid-19, EOS announced last month that it is exporting again.
EOS and the federal government have been asked repeatedly for proof that its weapons are not being used in Yemen. “Trust us,” is the standard response.
Assurances from a company chasing millions in profit and a government intent on catapulting Australia into the global top 10 of weapons exporters seem to be the best the public can expect in terms of accountability.
There is zero transparency when it comes to Australian weapons exports………..
Government support for EOS
EOS has received extensive government support, including an exemption from paying state payroll tax. Under questioning last November by the ACT Greens, Chief Minister Andrew Barr said the ACT Government provided support to EOS (PDF p44), “principally for its space industry related activity”. While EOS separates its space industry work from its weapons side, both companies operate in the same group under the same board……..
EOS has so far supplied the UAE and Saudi with its remote weapons systems. The systems are mounted on armoured vehicles and can incorporate a light cannon, machine gun, grenade launcher or anti-tank missile, which EOS does not manufacture. The system enables the weapon to be operated from inside the vehicle, which makes the soldier safer. It can identify targets and automatically aim the weapon, making the firing of the weapon faster and more accurate. In military parlance, the system enhances lethality. See it in action here.
The claim that it was not a weapons manufacturer may have been technically correct when asserted by EOS and Barr, but that is no longer the case.
Last month EOS announced it had moved into production with a new range of directed energy (laser) weapons. The weapons are being marketed by EOS as ‘drone kill’ technology (counter unmanned aircraft system or CUAS). EOS says “CUAS are entirely defensive systems”. The potential market is large. EOS has named its new range of weapons Mopoke, after the small native Australian owl.
EOS has not disclosed its list of interested customers for Mopoke, but industry insiders – such as AuManufacturing – have noted that its first customers are likely to come from the Middle East, given drone attacks on infrastructure there……….
EOS is now unequivocally a weapons manufacturer, and likely to soon start exporting its weapons to the Middle East.
Supplying weapons to war crimes accused
Melissa Parke, a lawyer, former federal Labor MP, and human rights expert, is one of three UN-appointed Eminent Experts on Yemen. Parke told SBS Dateline last year:
“No country can claim not to be aware of the violations being perpetrated in Yemen. To continue to provide weapons in the knowledge of such violations is both morally and legally hazardous.”
A former secretary of the Defence Department, Paul Barratt, has also stated his position on these weapon sales:
“Regardless of whether Australian-made weapons [are] crossing the border into Yemen, Australia now has a national policy which seeks and facilitates weapons sales with countries that stand accused of gross violations of human rights and likely war crimes. When did this particular trade in arms become official Australian policy? As a country that routinely asks other countries to abide by the rules-based international order, it would seem hypocritical, at best, that Australia is now willing to … make a profit from weapons sales to nations that are openly flouting this international order.”……….
In addition to ministerial lobbying, EOS Defence Systems has received federal financial support, including:
- $3.7 million from Defence between 2013 and 2016
- $41.5 million performance bond from Export Finance Australia (EFIC) (PDF p66)
The company has also gained from influential appointments to its board. Former Chief of Army, Peter Leahy, joined the EOS board in May 2009, just 10 months after retiring as army chief. In April 2016 Leahy was joined by former Chief of Air Force, Geoff Brown, less than 10 months after he had retired from the air force…… https://www.michaelwest.com.au/eos-weapons-export-transparen
SCIENTISTS: NUCLEAR ENERGY IS A WASTE OF TIME
Status Quo
It turns out that nuclear energy, which advocates say is a more feasible means of transitioning away from fossil fuels than solar or wind, might not actually be up to the task.
That’s according to research published Monday in the journal Nature Energy, which shows that countries that adopted nuclear energy didn’t actually reduce their carbon emissions a significant amount — but that countries with renewable energy investments did. It’s a compelling case that clean energy initiatives ought to focus on solar and wind, and perhaps skip nuclear as a stepping stone on the road to decarbonization.
Town Ain’t Big Enough
Looking at global data from the years 1990-2014, the University of Sussex science policy researchers also found that nuclear and renewable energy programs don’t play well together, in part since large, centralized nuclear plants require different infrastructure from more distributed solar fields, for example. Since one had a much bigger impact on emissions than the other, the team recommends being strategic.
“This paper exposes the irrationality of arguing for nuclear investment based on a ‘do everything’ argument,” study coauthor Andy Stirling said in a press release.
Least Resistance
With only so much time and money available, study coauthor Benjamin Sovacool argues that spending money on a new nuclear program might effectively block subsequent renewables programs from working and, as a result, continue to emit too much carbon into the air.
“Countries planning large-scale investments in new nuclear power are risking suppression of greater climate benefits from alternative renewable energy investments,” Sovacool said in the release.
Countries that backed renewables over nuclear power have cut more CO2
Countries that backed renewables over nuclear power have cut more CO2, New Scientist . By Adam Vaughan 5 Oct 20 Nations that embraced renewable energy have significantly cut their carbon emissions, but those pursuing nuclear power failed to do so, researchers have found.
Nuclear and renewables are seen as two key ways for governments to decarbonise, but the question of whether one is more effective for tackling climate change hasn’t been fully addressed. With several countries on the brink of deciding whether to back new nuclear plants to meet carbon targets, the answer matters.
To find out, Benjamin Sovacool at the University of Sussex, UK, and his colleagues looked ….. (subscribers only) https://www.newscientist.com/article/2256123-countries-that-backed-renewables-over-nuclear-power-have-cut-more-co2/
Investors are high on clean energy and decarbonisation stocks — RenewEconomy
Investors in clean energy and decarbonisation stocks have done very well over the last 12 months. The post Investors are high on clean energy and decarbonisation stocks appeared first on RenewEconomy.
Investors are high on clean energy and decarbonisation stocks — RenewEconomy
New Zealand installs its biggest solar farm, floating on a wastewater pond — RenewEconomy
A 1MW solar plant installed on a wastewater plant in Auckland marks New Zealand’s first ever floating solar array and first megawatt-scale solar project. The post New Zealand installs its biggest solar farm, floating on a wastewater pond appeared first on RenewEconomy.
New Zealand installs its biggest solar farm, floating on a wastewater pond — RenewEconomy
Former world leaders urge those now in power to support the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons — limitless life
Former world leaders urge those now in power to support the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons “Sleepwalking into a Crisis”, Beyond Nuclear International, October 5, 2020 https://beyondnuclearinternational.org/2020/10/05/sleepwalking-into-a-crisis/ The following is an open letter signed by 56 former world leaders and government ministers from 20 NATO countries, plus Japan and South Korea, urging the world’s current leaders […]
Former world leaders urge those now in power to support the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons — limitless life
October 5 Energy News — geoharvey
Preview in new tab Opinion: ¶ “A $100 Billion Big Oil Divestiture Plan Is Coming” • The largest oil & gas companies, including ExxonMobil, Royal Dutch Shell, Chevron, and BP, are projected to sell a combined $100 billion in assets worldwide as they focus on top-performing regions, particularly the US shale, according to a new […]
October 5 Energy News — geoharvey
The past week in nuclear/climate news – Australia
As happens all too often, news media is fixated on you know who. Conflicting stories – Donald Trump ‘incapacitated’ by COVID-19 drug side effects, law professor claims. The White House’s medical team said Donald Trump “has continued to improve” since Saturday and could be released as early as Monday. Darned if I know what to think, and how this might affect the U.S. election.
Fierce fighting continues in the Armenia, Azerbaijan conflict . (The media doesn’t mention the Azerbaijan threat to bomb Armenia’s nuclear power plant. But perhaps it’s Azerbaiji fear of radioactive pollution that prevents this)
A bit of good news – Good living standards for the world can be attained with reduced energy use
AUSTRALIA
Morrison government refuses to sign leaders’ pledge on biodiversity. Australian State laws have weak environmental standards.
CLIMATE. China’s zero emissions target is contrasted with Australia’s inaction on global heating.
NUCLEAR. Pine Gap could play role in accidental US-China nuclear fight . Legacy of Maralinga bomb tests -a reminder of need for safety in matters nuclear.
INTERNATIONAL
‘We have a chance’: David Attenborough says $500 billion needed to save earth. A Positive Narrative for the Anthropocene . Extinction crisis: ′The window of opportunity is closing′. Debunking myths about saving the natural world.
The climate crisis is heating up nights faster than days in many parts of the world. Climate change responsible for record sea temperature levels, says study Coastal flooding will disproportionately impact 31 million people globally https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9pCqeC5J3Ls
The safety of the world requires a nuclear-free planet.
Julian Assange could face life in America’s most dreaded ‘Supermax’ prison.
From 38 million English-language articles, study shows Trump as world’s biggest driver of coronavirus misinformation. Nuclear power and the mainstream media – a convenient advertising platform?
Lunar base woud have to be underground, due to the danger of high radiation on the moon. On the moon ”normal” humans (i.e males) will get 200 Times the Radiation Experienced on Earth, (what about females?).
‘Reverse course’ towards full nuclear disarmament – UN chief.
Nuclear power is now the most expensive form of generation, except for gas peaking plants’. Nano diamond batteries from nuclear waste? Impractical and not likely to ever happen.
Exposed! Extinction Rebellion fact checks pro-nuclear front. Refuting the nuclear lobby‘s nonsense on risks of ionising radiation. It’s important to bust the pro-nuclear spin.
Ionising radiation – the tragedy of the ”radium girls”
The safety of the world requires a nuclear-free planet
Nuclear power: A gargantuan threat, Independent Australia By Karl Grossman | 4 October 2020, At the start of 2020, Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists moved its Doomsday Clock to 100 seconds to midnight — the closest to midnight, doomsday, since the clock started in 1947.
There are two gargantuan threats — the climate crisis and nuclear weapons/nuclear power.
The only realistic way to secure a future for the world without nuclear war is for the entire planet to become a nuclear-free zone — no nuclear weapons, no nuclear power. A nuclear-free Earth.
How did India get an atomic bomb in 1974? Canada supplied a reactor and the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission provided heavy water for it under the U.S. so-called “Atoms for Peace” program. From the reactor, India got the plutonium for its first nuclear weapon.
Any nation with a nuclear facility can use plutonium produced in it to construct nuclear arms.
Nuclear technology continues to spread around the world — a recent headline: ‘Trump Administration Spearheads International Push for Nuclear Power.’ Russia, despite Chernobyl, is pushing hard at selling nuclear plants.
Can the atomic genie be put back in the bottle? Anything people have done other people can undo. And the prospect of massive loss of life from nuclear destruction is the best of reasons.
There is a precedent: the outlawing of poison gas after World War I when its terrible impacts were tragically demonstrated, killing 90,000. The Geneva Protocol of 1925 and the Chemicals Weapons Convention of 1933 outlawed chemical warfare and to a large degree the prohibition has held.
There are major regions of the Earth – all of Africa and South America, the South Pacific and others – that are Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zones based on the United Nations provision for such zones.
But if we are truly to have a world free of the horrific threat of nuclear arms, the goal needs to be more. A world free of the other side of the nuclear coin – nuclear power –is also necessary.
Radical? Yes, but consider the even more radical alternative: a world where many nations will be able to have nuclear weapons because they have nuclear technology. And the world continuing to try using carrots and sticks to try to stop nuclear proliferation — juggling on the road to nuclear catastrophe…………
It took decades of struggle to make the place where I live – Long Island, New York – nuclear-free. The Shoreham Nuclear Power Plant was stopped and the six to ten more the Long Island Lighting Company wanted to build, prevented. The two reactors at Brookhaven National Laboratory leaking radioactive tritium into its underground water table have been shut down.
On this 50th anniversary of Earth Day, let us strive for the goals of defeating global warming and having all the Earth nuclear-free. These are existential threats that must be overcome.
A version of this article was given as a presentation at the Long Island Earth Day 2020 Program on 21 September.
Karl Grossman is a full professor of journalism at the State University of New York. He is also an award-winning investigative reporter. Click here to go to Karl’s website. https://independentaustralia.net/environment/environment-display/nuclear-power-a-gargantuan-threat,14372
Severe floods in Italy and France
A storm which moved overnight across southeastern France, and then northern Italy caused major flooding on both sides of the border, damaging homes, destroying bridges, blocking roads and isolating communities………
Unrelenting rainfall overnight hit levels not seen since 1958 in northern Italy’s Piedmont region, where 630mm (24.8 inches) of rain fell in 24 hours, according to the Italian civil protection agency.
Two brothers were swept away by floodwaters while they were tending animals near the French border. One brother managed to grab onto a tree and was saved, while authorities were searching on the French side for the other brother.
Flooding in France
On the other side of the border, in southeastern France, almost a year’s average rainfall fell in less than 12 hours in the mountainous area surrounding the city of Nice.
Local firefighters said at least eight people were missing, including two firefighters whose vehicle was swept away by water when the road collapsed during a rescue operation. Several dozen people were evacuated from their homes overnight, firefighters said.
The storm, dubbed Alex, ravaged several villages around the city of Nice on the French Riviera. Nice Mayor Christian Estrosi called it the most severe flooding disaster in the area for more than a century after flying over the worst-hit area by helicopter.
“The roads and about 100 houses were swept away or partially destroyed,” he told French news channel BFM……. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/10/3/one-killed-25-missing-in-severe-floods-in-italy-and-france
Coastal flooding will disproportionately impact 31 million people globally
Coastal flooding will disproportionately impact 31 million people globally
Indiana University researchers analyzed these geographic regions, which include cities like New Orleans, Bangkok, and Shanghai, using a new global dataset to determine how many people live on river deltas, how many are vulnerable to a 100-year storm surge event, and the ability of the deltas to naturally mitigate impacts of climate change.
Climate change responsible for record sea temperature levels, says study
Climate change responsible for record sea temperature levels, says study
Global warming is driving an unprecedented rise in sea temperatures including in the Mediterranean, according to a major new report published by the peer-reviewed Journal of Operational Oceanography
Australian State laws have weak environmental standards
Major gaps’: no state meets national environment standards, The Age, Mike Foley, October 4, 2020 — State and territory governments should make major reforms to their environmental laws and increase compliance regimes to meet the national standards, new research has found.
The findings are revealed in a report from the “Places You Love” alliance of conservation groups, released on Monday, which found “not only does no state or territory law meet national standards, but in some jurisdictions, the environmental protections in state and territory laws have actually been weakened”.
This week the Senate is set to debate the federal government’s bill to hand approval powers for major projects to state governments, in a bid to remove bureaucratic duplication and speed-up project development to boost the economy.
Environment Minister Sussan Ley has pledged that any changes to The Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act will not reduce current level of environmental regulation…….
Ms Ley has been criticised by environment groups for rushing her bill through Parliament. It passed the lower house in August and could be enacted as soon as next week – ahead of a major review of the laws by former competition watchdog boss Professor Graeme Samuel, which is due by the end of October.
Professor Samuel said Australia’s “current environmental trajectory is unsustainable”. National laws were “not fit to address current or future environmental challenges”, he said, while for industry they are “ineffective and inefficient”…….
The EPBC Act was enacted in 1999 and created a list of “matters of national environmental significance”, including World Heritage areas, internationally listed wetlands and threatened species. While state laws do include some protections for these matters, federal government has wielded the most powerful protections for the past two decades.
The report found no state or territory legislation met the necessary suite of “national environmental standards required to protect matters of national environmental significance”.
New breed of solar cells set for Australian manufacture with ARENA backing — RenewEconomy
SunDrive Solar’s high efficiency solar cell technology moves a step closer to being manufactured in Australia at scale after winning $3m ARENA grant.
New breed of solar cells set for Australian manufacture with ARENA backing — RenewEconomy
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PETITION – To: Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and the Australian Labor Government
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