MuncangLegal News Update
Australia puts on hold a revamp of environment laws
A comprehensive review calling for a shakeup of environment laws in Australia has been put on the back burner for two years, prompting criticism from its author. The Hawke Review, led by Dr Allan Hawke, formerly secretary of the Defence Department, looked at the relationship between legislation, the environment and business. At the heart of the review was a proposed revamp of the structures in place for managing matters of national environmental significance, like conserving Australia’s biodiversity; having a streamlined assessment and approval process having a greater protection for important natural and cultural places; controlling the international movement of plants and animals or products made from wildlife; finally promoting ecologically sustained development through the conservation and ecologically sustainable use of natural resources
China raises rare metal quotas, Malaysia stalls on metal plant
China’s Xinhua News Agency announced April 25 increased quotas for the production and smelting of five rare metals in China: tungsten, tin, antimony, molybdenum and rare earth ores.
Report Calls For Improved Earthquake Resilience in USA
The continental USA sits on the North American Plate which shares near coastal boundaries with the Caribbean and Pacific Plates and two smaller tectonic plates. Earthquakes are a geological fact of life in America, but the nation has escaped a major earthquake for more than 100 years and this, according to a report by the National Research Council (NRC) has led to a false sense of security in Americans
Green Energy From Estuaries
An estuary is defined as being the mixing zone where fresh river water meets the salt water of the ocean. The penetration of salt water into the fresh river water can extend backwards from the coast for some distance
Mapping Subtle Changes in Gravity
Any schoolchild should know that gravity is the force that keeps us on the ground and that the force of gravity is 9.8 ms-2. However, the force of gravity is not exactly the same at all points on the planet. This is because the density of the earth is not uniform; the earth is not a perfect sphere and therefore the height of the surface above the core varies from ocean deeps to high mountains.
Urban Agriculture – the Way of the Future?
Dr Robert Biel is an author and academic, who works for University College London and has written about sustainable agriculture.
Fukushima: A Rush to Nuclear Energy Judgment?
At the start of this piece, let me nail my colours to the mast: I am a proponent of nuclear energy and I have worked on the periphery of the nuclear industry. What has slowly emerged since a devastating 9.0 magnitude earthquake and ensuing tsunami hit north east Japan on the 11th of March has served to show how ignorant the world is about radioactivity and risk
Greenpeace calls cloud dirty
Greenpeace published on April 20 a report on the energy choices of the largest IT companies involved in the emerging ‘cloud computing’ segment. According to the report, these companies are increasing society’s dependance on dirty energy even as the concept of the cloud itself promises a greener world by enabling smart grids, telecommuting and other services and new ways of doing so many things.
Toxic chemicals found in peregrine falcon eggs
Researchers studying peregrine falcon eggs in Spain and Canada have found that chemicals commonly added to fabrics and plastics as flame retardants have been transferred to the eggs of these majestic birds. Flame retardants generally contain highly toxic chemical compounds that are designed to stop plastics, materials and other products from easily burning by inhibiting or resisting the spread of fire. Ethel Eljarrat, a scientist based at the Institute of Environmental Assessment and Water Studies and co-author of the study says that ”the presence of ‘dechlorane plus’ and other related, chlorinated compounds used as flame retardants have been detected for the first time in the European biota”.
Rapid increase in ice loss from the Canadian Arctic
Image Credit: Angus Duncan, University of Alberta.
Democratic / Republican voter schism over global warming deepens
It can seem like a long time since the impending peril of global warming drew a consensus for action from across the US political spectrum. And now research from Michigan State University suggests that a difference in attitudes amongst US voters, about the reality of global warming, may have widened into a schism