Article: Book on life

Tuesday September 1, 2009

THE Encyclopedia of Life, an online project launched in 2007 with the aim of creating a webpage on every known animal and plant species, has reached 150,000 entries in its second year. Close to two million people from more than 200 countries have contributed to the website (www.eol.org). Users can create a page that describes a plant or animal with text, images or both. The information is then submitted to experts, verified and made available for free.

The project's creators hope to accumulate a page for every 1.8 million animal and plant species known to scientists. They hope the encyclopedia will help researchers and policymakers better understand biodiversity and discerning patterns of plant and animal behaviour.

Under siege: An endangered lemur from Madagascar. Lemurs, found only in Madagascar, are being illegally hunted for food.

"By integrating and consolidating information on species, the encyclopedia has the potential to accelerate scientific discovery and serve as an infrastructure for life sciences research," said Arthur Sussman, vice president of the John and Catherine MacArthur Foundation, one of the project's co-sponsors. – AFP

Lights out

OLD-style 100-watt light bulbs will be banned in Europe's shops from this week in favour of new energy-saving models. Other bulbs with lower wattage will follow in ensuing years, under a system agreed by European Union experts last December.

A man changing a matt-finished common electric light bulb in Stuttgart, Germany. Starting today, the EU bans common electric light bulbs with a capacity of 100 watts and all matted electric bulbs.

New technology light bulbs, such as compact florescent lights (CFL) can save up to 80% of the energy used by the worst old-style lights in homes.

At the moment, around 85% of household lights are considered to use too much electricity. So the move will also cut carbon dioxide emissions.

The European Consumers' Association welcomed the phaseout, but raised concerns about the risks to health from the mercury content of the new bulbs. It also called for assurance that people who rely on incandescent light bulbs (for instance, for health-related reasons such as light sensitivity) would be able to buy them until suitable alternative lights were available.

Stephen Russell, secretary general of another consumer group, shared the fears over mercury levels.

"Although the current threshold is set at 5mg of mercury per bulb, the best available technology enables the bulb to work with only 1mg to 2mg," he said.

He added that it should be made as simple as possible to recycle the obsolete bulbs in future and consumers could also return used bulbs to the point of sale without charge. – Reuters

Exported emissions

THE United States is by far the biggest greenhouse gas emitter, ahead of China, if consumers in rich nations are given responsibility for energy used to make imported goods, a researcher said.

Greenhouse gases, including by factories making goods such as cars or televisions for export, usually count toward the total of the country where they are made. Such data indicate that China has overtaken the United States as top emitter.

But adjusting emissions according to the country where consumers of goods live swells emissions by developed nations, said Glen Peters, a researcher at the Centre for International Climate and Environment Research in Oslo.

China is boosting its use of renewable energy by setting up facilities such as the Da Bancheng Wind Farm, about 40km south of Urumqi city in Xinjiang.

In the ranking of 73 nations, Americans have the biggest annual carbon footprint at the equivalent of 29 tonnes of carbon dioxide per capita, ahead of Australians on 21 tonnes and Canadians on 20 tonnes.

Each Chinese citizen in the survey, based on 2001 data, accounts for just 3.1 tonnes. Adjusted for China's much bigger population, US emissions were 7.9 billion tonnes and China's 3.9 billion.

"A lot of China's emissions growth is production of exports," Peters said.

The rankings count emissions within each country, then add on imports and subtract exports. The study found that consumers in each country tended to have a bigger carbon footprint the richer they got.

"Once you've bought your food and paid for your house, what you do with your money is luxury consumption ... buying a second car, a CD player," Peters said. "The more money you earn the more emissions you have." – Reuters

Shortfall in carbon cuts

The world's 100 largest companies are failing to meet scientific recommendations on cutting carbon dioxide emissions to contain global warming, says a new study.

"To cut emissions in developed economies by the required 80% by 2050, we need to see a minimum annual global reduction rate of 3.9% per year," said the study by the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP), a London-based organisation.

"However, analysis of reduction targets from the Global 100 companies shows they are currently on track for an annual reduction of just 1.9% per year."

The CDP said 73% of Global 100 companies reported some form of reduction target, while a significant minority, 27%, did not.

It recommended that every company set CO2 reduction targets and target years, which should reflect scientific recommendations made by the United Nation's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. – AFP

This article was taken from: The Star Online: Lifestyle: Focus 1 September 2009