Tuesday, May 05, 2020
Thursday, November 13, 2014
Friday, March 30, 2012
4th International Congress on Arsenic in the Environment Understanding the Geological-Medical Interface of Arsenic
Previous arsenic congresses were successfully held in Mexico City (As-2006, Mexico), Valencia (As-2008, Spain) and Tainan (As-2010, Taiwan) attracting hundreds of participants each event. It is our pleasure to bring As-2012 to Cairns, a great city in the tropical region of North Queensland of Australia.
Tel: +61 7 3346 5919
Fax: +61 7 3365 5900
As2012@jktech.com.au
As Australia
2012
ICMGP - International Conference on Mercury as a Global Pollutant
From July 28th – August 2nd 2013 the 11th ICMGP International Conference on Mercury as a Global Pollutant will take place in Edinburgh, Scotland.
History of the conference
The mercury issue
Theme/goals of the 2013 meeting
"Science informing global policy".
- what form does the new UNEP Legally Binding Treaty take and what does it mean in practice?
- how do we curb current mercury supply and demand?
- how do we reduce emissions from human activities?
- what evaluation tools do we need and is our current “tool-kit” of monitoring and modeling techniques up to the job?
- what health and social effects has mercury had and how will this change in the future?
- how to we deal with remediation of contaminated sites and ecosystems?
- what is needed in terms of technologies and psychologies of social change?
- what synergies are there with existing, impending and potential global treaties, issues and scenarios?
- how do we raise our concern and action on mercury “from local to global”?
Source : http://www.mercury2013.com/
Thursday, February 09, 2012
Pollution
Even if you live in the country, you are probably breathing polluted air. From campfires to jet engine exhaust, the obvious polluter - automobile exhaust fumes - there are cigarette smoke and chemicals emitted by industry - as well as ozone.. (Ozone is a form of oxygen that is a bluish irritating gas of pungent odor and it is a major agent in the formation of smog.) Many pollutants can be airborne over long distances, and all can enter your system.
Smog contains a long lineup of chemical nasties, including ozone, nitrogen dioxide, sulfur dioxide and tiny particles of everything from asbestos to soot, that can settle deep in the lungs and cause general havoc.
You should be especially aware of this fact if you work outdoors in a large city. You may be exposing yourself to more than one ton of pollutants - including heavy metals, carbon monoxide, and ozone - every year.
A high concentration of or long exposure to any one of these chemicals can cause shortness of breath, wheezing, coughing, bronchitis, pneumonia, headaches, inability to concentrate, chest pain and, in some cases, lung cancer. Breathing polluted air changes the way that the lung cells do business.
Smog can make the lung cells vulnerable to attack by bacteria and viruses. Smog can kill cells, making the lungs less efficient at doing their job of gas exchange (absorbing oxygen and releasing carbon dioxide).
Many of the harmful interactions between the noxious substances in smog and lung cells happened during the chemical process known as oxidation. During oxidation, free radicals, which are unstable molecules of harmful chemicals, snatch electrons from the healthy molecules that compose the cells in order to balance themselves. This starts a chain reaction of electron stealing. The end result is serious damage to cells.
(See article Free Radicals and Antioxidants)
The hormone system is very sensitive to environmental chemicals. These contaminates can mimic hormones. The body gets confused and the artificial "hormone" connects to the cell receptors. When the cell receptors are full up with these false hormones, the real hormone cannot find a place to connect to the cell (sort of like trying to find a parking space in NYC). As time goes by, these receptor get full. The glands don't have a place to send their hormones to and the body can weaken. One of the main symptoms of this is accumulation of fat as the cells cannot burn it anymore. This is not only when you get older as younger people exposed to these environment toxicity develop the same problems Weight gain is a symptom of a physical problem. It is not the problem. Finding the correct problem can be found in these pollutants.
There are such things as Endocrine disruptors. The EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) is doing research on this. And endocrine disruptor is and environmental poison that mimics, blocks or otherwise disrupts the normal function of hormones. These disruptors are pesticides, herbicides, fungicides, plastics, solvents, heavy metals, The EPA found that 90-95% of all pesticide residues are found in meat and dairy products.
Source : http://www.mcvitamins.com
Tuesday, February 07, 2012
Management of air pollution in Jakarta and Surabaya
A report by the Stockholm Environment Institute [1], in cooperation with the Clean Air Initiative for Asian Cities (CAI-Asia) together with the Korea Environment Institute (KEI) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), says pollution levels in most Asian cities, including Indonesia's two largest metropolises Jakarta and Surabaya, are getting better but still cause 537,000 premature deaths each year across Asia.
The study examined twenty cities in Asia - Bangkok, Beijing, Busan, Colombo, Dhaka, Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Hong Kong, Jakarta, Kathmandu, Kolkata, Metro Manila, Mumbai, New Delhi, Seoul, Shanghai, Singapore, Surabaya, Taipei and Tokyo, and ranked them on their air quality management (AQM) score.
Dirty Surabaya.
Bangkok, Hong Kong, Seoul, Singapore, Shanghai, Taipei and Tokyo were classed as having excellent AQM capability. A total of six cities (Colombo, Ho Chi Minh City, Jakarta, Kolkata, Metro Manila and Mumbai) have moderate capability while Dhaka, Hanoi, Kathmandu and Surabaya have limited AQM capability.
Using a scale of Minimal - Limited - Moderate - Good - Excellent, the rankings for Jakarta:
- Measurement of Air Quality - Moderate
- Data Assessment & Availability - Moderate
- Emission Inventory - Good
- Air Quality Management - Moderate
- Overall Score - Moderate
Rankings for Surabaya:
- Measurement of Air Quality - Limited
- Data Assessment & Availability - Limited
- Emission Inventory - Limited
- Air Quality Management - Moderate
- Overall Score - Limited
Source : Indonesia Matters
The issues that most seriously threaten progress towards sustainable development in Indonesia are
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Perverse incentives that hinder the sustainable use of natural resources
Natural resources are an important contributor to Indonesia’s GDP and Government budget. Agriculture, forestry, and mining contribute about 25% of Indonesia’s GDP and about 30% of overall Government budget revenue (in 2005, income tax on oil & gas represented 7% of revenue, and “non tax receipts” on natural resource revenues represented 22% of state revenues). Yet, Indonesia’s macroeconomic policies (tax and non-tax revenue policies and fiscal balancing formulas) appear to favor resource depletion over sustainable use as they reward district governments on resource revenue and not performance or stewardship, under-tax forestry and fisheries (relative to other natural resources), and do not allow charitable contributions by individuals or corporation.
Gaps between policy and practice following decentralization could slow significant improvement in environmental quality
Under decentralization, the extent to which sub-national governments feel bound by national guidelines is being put to the test; the civil service is no longer part of a unified chain of command, regulatory bodies in many provinces and districts now fall directly under the command of the governor or district head, who is often also the proponent of the projects or activities that must be regulated. Despite the substantial investment in environmental policy and staff development, actual implementation of rules and procedures has been poor. These problems are unlikely to get better under decentralization unless a more effective approach to regulation can be developed.
Many provinces and districts are making new interpretations of existing rules, or else inventing entirely new regulatory procedures. While some of these innovations strengthen environmental controls, many relax them or bypass national standards entirely.
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Public awareness is an essential part of the effort to address Indonesia’s environmental problems, from disaster risks to biodiversity conservation. Informed and aware citizens can take action to address environmental issues, and can form constituencies for improved efforts at the political and local government level. At a broader level, however, environmental values are not deeply embedded in society, leading to undervaluation of natural resources and environmental services. Participation and voice in decision making is an essential element of good governance. Recent environmental disasters (floods, mud, fires, erosion) have stimulated greater environmental concern, but further analysis of knowledge, attitudes and practices would be needed to determine how far or deep this understanding goes outside of urban centers, and what tools can best be used to build on this basic awareness.
Social, environmental and economic benefits , risks and costs of alternative development paths
Energy policy, forest sector practices and climate change issues are intricately linked in Indonesia. Fossil fuels dominate energy consumption in Indonesia both in rural and urban areas and Indonesia is gradually increasing the proportion of energy produced from coal (approximately 40% in 2002). Indonesia is also a large greenhouse gas emitter, generating 80 %of greenhouse gases from changed land use following logging and forest/swamp fires.
National energy policies propose to increase reliance on renewable energy sources, including biomass, geothermal, and hydropower. At the same time, the Government plans a large scale up in the use of coal to reduce Indonesia’s dependence on oil imports. Increased coal use would lead to significant negative environmental impacts associated with high sulfur content and potential impacts on forests from land clearing. Alternative energy solutions are necessary for more remote areas that are appropriately priced and supported by the public sector.
Source : worldbank.org
Tuesday, December 09, 2008
Environmental Science
The role of Environmental Science
The work of Environmental Science describes the environment, interprets the impact of human actions (anthropogenic effects) on terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems, and develops strategies for restoring ecosystems. In addition, environmental scientists help planners develop and construct buildings, transportation corridors, and utilities that protect water resources and reflect efficient and beneficial land use.[2]. Due to the interdisciplinary nature of environmental science, teams of professionals commonly work together to conduct environmental research or to produce Environmental Impact Statements. Other professional organizations engender work in environmental science and aid in communication among the diverse sciences.
Since most environmental issues deal with human activities, study of economics, law and social sciences are often applied in conjunction with Environmental Science.
Environmental science encompasses issues such as climate change,
While the environment has been studied for at least as long as there has been science, the recent interest in putting the pieces of understanding together to study environmental systems has come alive as a substantive, active field of scientific investigation starting in the 1960s and 1970s. This has been driven by the need for a large multi-disciplined team to analyze complex environmental problems, the arrival of substantive environmental laws requiring specific environmental protocols of investigation, and growing public awareness of a need for action in addressing environmental problems.
Components of environmental science
- Atmospheric sciences examine the Earth's gaseous outer layer with emphasis upon interrelation to other systems. Atmospheric sciences comprises meteorological studies, greenhouse gas phenomena, atmospheric dispersion modeling of airborne contaminants,[3][4] sound propagation phenomena related to noise pollution, and even light pollution.
- Taking the example of the global warming phenomena, physicists create computer models of atmospheric circulation and infra-red radiation transmission, chemists examine the inventory of atmospheric chemicals and their reactions, biologists analyze the plant and animal contributions to carbon dioxide and other gaseous components such as methane, and specialists such as meteorologists and oceanographers add additional breadth in understanding the atmospheric dynamics.
- Ecology studies typically describe the relationships between living organisms and their specific biome. These studies could address endangered species, predator/prey interactions, habitat integrity, effects upon populations by environmental contaminants, or impact analysis of proposed land development upon species viability.
- An interdisciplinary analysis of an ecological system which is being impacted by one or more stressors might include several related environmental science fields. For example one might examine an estuarine setting where a proposed industrial development could impact certain species by water pollution and air pollution. For this study biologists would describe the flora and fauna, chemists would analyze the transport of water pollutants to the marsh, physicists would calculate air pollution emissions and geologists would assist in understanding the marsh soils and bay muds.
- Environmental chemistry is the study of chemical alterations in the environment. Principal areas of study include soil contamination and water pollution. The topics of analysis involve chemical degradation in the environment, multi-phase transport of chemicals (for example, evaporation of a solvent containing lake to yield solvent as an air pollutant), and chemical effects upon biota.
- As an example study, consider the case of a leaking solvent tank which has entered the soil upgradient of a habitat of an endangered species of amphibian. Physicists would develop a computer model to understand the extent of soil contamination and subsurface transport of solvent, chemists would analyze the molecular bonding of the solvent to the specific soil type and biologists would study the impacts upon soil arthropods, plants and ultimately pond dwelling copepods who are the food of the endangered amphibian.
- Geosciences include environmental geology, environmental soil science, hydrology, physical geography, climatology, and geomorphology. It may also embrace oceanography and other related fields.
- As an example study of soils erosion, calculations would be made of surface runoff by soil scientists. Hydrologists would assist in examining sediment transport in overland flow. Physicists would contribute by assessing the changes in light transmission in the receiving waters. Biologists would analyze subsequent impacts to aquatic flora and fauna from increases in water turbidity.
- Environmental assessment is the process of appraisal through which environmental protection and sustainable development may be considered. Environmental assessments typically involve collection of field data, this can be from stakeholders and the ambient environment, and serves to harmonize the linkages between the different branches of the environment and development.
- Environmental microbiology is the study of the composition and physiology of microbial communities in the environment. The environment in this case means the soil, water, air and sediments covering the planet and can also include the animals and plants that inhabit these areas. Environmental microbiology also includes the study of microorganisms that exist in artificial environments such as bioreactors.
- Environmental biology focuses specifically on the effects of environmental conditions on biological systems. Although it incorporates aspects of environmental science such as geochemistry and ecology, studies are focused on individual organisms, their biological processes, and their genetics. In addition, environmental biology incorporates the ideas of global change and conservation biology to encourage the conservation of biodiversity. Tulane University of New Orleans offers a B.S. in Environmental Biology distinct from the B.S. in Environmental Science.
- Environmental pollution deals with the various types of pollution and their impacts. Environmental pollution deals with the sources of pollution, impact on humans and other organisms including flora and fauna and opportunities for elimination or mitigation and proper management in the future.
Regulations driving the studies
United states of America
In the U.S. the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969 set forth requirements for analysis of major projects in terms of specific environmental criteria including environmental impact statements. Numerous state laws have echoed these mandates, applying the principles to local scale actions. The upshot has been an explosion of documentation and study of environmental consequences before the fact of development actions.
Europe
The European Union had formulated a number of directives which require environmental assessments as part of their overall brief. These include the Urban Waste-waters Directive, the Habitats Directive and the Water framework directive.
UK
In England and Wales there are two principal agencies responsible for providing an integrated view of the environment and with a mandate to improve and protect specific environments and communities. These are the Environment Agency (EA) and Natural England. In Scotland similar functions are carries out the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) [1]. The EA and SEPA between them enforce the regulations listed on the communities and local government site[2] (formerly the office of the deputy prime minister) which help drive the application of environmental science to UK environmental issues.
Universities in the UK are also greatly involved in the application of environmental science across the world with large number of studies and contracts in every continent.
Terminology
"Environmental science" and "ecology" are different fields of study, although there is some overlap due to the multidisciplinary nature of environmental science. Ecology is the study of the interrelations of living organisms, whether at the population, community, or ecosystem level, and of the relationships between organisms and their environment. In contrast, environmental science is a broad area of study encompassing both biological and physical concepts including diverse areas such as geology, agronomy, meteorology, atmospheric chemistry, soil chemistry, water chemistry, systems modeling, and biological responses of systems to anthropogenic influence. In environmental science these areas of study are integrated and applied to address issues such as water quality, air quality, and soil quality).
Career outlook
The magnitude and complexity of environmental problems are creating a growing need for scientists with rigorous, interdisciplinary training in environmental science. [5] In the Unites States, the majority of Environmental Scientists are employed in governmental positions.
Monday, December 08, 2008
Freeport and a Nation without Sovereignt
Title : Freeport, How Have Giant Gold and Copper Mines “Colonized” Indonesia?
Writer : Torry Kuswardono, Siti Maimunah, et al.
Publisher: WALHI – East Java, Jakarta, 2006
Thickness: x + 90 pages
A series of pointless humanitarian tragedies. This is the portrait of Indonesia, a country lacking sovereignty, and that worships ‘objects’ rather than ‘collective dignity and prestige as citizens’. A history that tells of suffering, poverty, stupidity and shallowness. However, not a bar of this has brought the wisdom of learning and improvement. This story begins with the drama of PT Freeport Indonesia.
Since 1967 and the signing of the Generation I Mining Work Contract between the Government of Indonesia and PT Freeport Indonesia, the lives of the Amungme, Kamoro, Dani, Nduga, Damal, Moni and Mee (Ekari) ethnic groups have withered. Environmental damage as the destructive output of PT Freeport Indonesia’s mining activities has been the major factor in the wreckage of the future for these seven ‘children of the earth’. They no longer joke. The laughter of children is no longer heard. The same goes for the community kinship which once joyously and cooperatively wove the threads of the future. Conflict now emerges with regular and unceasing frequency.
Various crimes committed by PT Freeport Indonesia have eroded the quality of life of the seven ethnic groups located at the PT Freeport Indonesia mine – both humanitarian crimes and also environmental crimes. According to The New York Times (27 December 2005), the volume of PT Freeport Indonesia’s mining waste is twice the size of the Panama Canal (viii). It is no exaggeration that the Papuan land faces ruin on a massive scale.
The Republic of Indonesia Ministry for the Environment (KLH RI) is aware of the environmental destruction caused by PT Freeport Indonesia’s mining activities (23 March 2006). Unfortunately, environmental transgressions are not taken seriously at the green table, even though PT Freeport Indonesia is proven to have broken Environmental Law No. 23/1997. In contrast to KLH RI’s attitude, the Government of Norway has retracted US$ 240 million (around Rp 2.16 trillion) of pension funds that had previously been invested in Freeport McMoran Copper and Gold Inc, after observing the destructive impacts of mining carried out by PT Freeport Indonesia (ix). To borrow the phrasing of Amien Rais, what sort of nation and government do we have?
Freeport’s Crimes
Freeport McMoran Copper and Gold Inc was once a small company in the United States, the result of a merger between Freeport Sulphur and McMoran Oil and Gas Company. However, since discovering the third-largest gold and copper deposits in the world, in West Papua to be specific, Freeport has transformed into a world-scale gold mining company (p. 5).
The history of natural resources conglomerate Freeport McMoran Copper and Gold Inc involves many stakeholders, mergers, and shifts in ownership. In its operation, Freeport McMoran plays a duet of businesspeople with officials and politicians in the United States. This acts as a lubricant in its corporate expansion and capital accumulation in all corners of the globe, not excepting in West Papua, Indonesia. For example, Henry Kissinger, the former United States Minister for Foreign Affairs, became the company director. In this dance, Freeport McMoran provided some $730,000 to members of the US Congress, including President Clinton and the Democratic Party (p. 7).
PT Freeport Indonesia is a subsidiary company established by Freeport McMoran Copper and Gold Inc, who own the majority of its shares. PT Freeport Indonesia has conducted exploration at two sites in the Tembaga Pura region, Mimika Regency, Papua Province, namely the Erstberg mine (from 1967) and the Grasberg mine (since 1988).
Since exploration conducted by PT Freeport Indonesia, a number of serious crimes have been committed. First, systematic, ongoing and deliberate destruction of the environment. Second, taxation crimes. Third, humanitarian crimes, where the basic rights of seven ethnic groups in the location of the PT Freeport Indonesia mine have been violated. Moreover, PT Freeport Indonesia in 2003 acknowledged that it had paid the Indonesian military (TNI) to evict the local population from their area. According to a report by The New York Times (December 2005), total payments during 1998-2004 reached almost US$ 20 million.
Chris Ballard, an Australian anthropologist who previously worked for Freeport, and Abigail Abrash, a human rights activist from the United States, estimate that 160 people were murdered by the military between 1975-1997 in and around the mining area.
Marginalization of the Nation of Papua
The people used to believe in mythology related to the first man, who originated from a mother. After death he became the earth that extends throughout the Amungsal (Amungme land), an area regarded as sacred by the local people such that it is forbidden by tradition to enter it. The metaphor of ‘mother’ became symbolic of how the seven ethnic groups in Amungme Land lived in and interacted with the environment. However PT Freeport Indonesia entered this sacred area in 1971 and opened the Erstberg mine. Since 1971, the Amungme ethnic groups have been moved away from their land to the mountain foothills. Since then the environmental condition of Amungme has slowly but surely been destroyed. The lives of the Amungme, Kamoro, Dani, Nduga, Damal, Moni and Mee (Ekari) ethnic groups have become increasingly oppressed by boundless poverty and suffering.
Just look and see. When Papuan people scraped for some gain, mining the tailings in the Kabur Wanomen River, they were roughly expelled by the PT Freepart security and Indonesian defense personnel, and even shot and killed. It seems inconceivable that the people they are chasing away are our own people, scraping waste for a scrap of profit from a mountain of abundance that we actually own. Must Indonesian people lose their lives just to get a piece of gold the size of a grain of sand from the industrial waste of PT Freeport?
The sadness is even more overwhelming when we realize that there is a modern city, Kuala Kencana, near Timika, where the senior staffs of PT Freeport reside. Meanwhile, just 6-7 kilometers away, there is a Papuan orphanage where the standard of living is the same as if the children had never been “found”. Within this radius, our people can still be found wearing penis gourds.
The government seems two-faced in dealing with Papua. We grind down an abundant mountain in the name of national prosperity, but let our people live as if in the Stone Age when it comes to caring for cultural values. Papua is the pride of the United Nations of the Republic of Indonesia. Manifest that pride in the chests of Papuans. Don’t let them be forced to seek their own dignity. Isn’t Indonesia a collection of nations who historically developed unity to confront colonizers?
The clash with Freeport is indicative of Indonesia-US relations, wherein the public psyche sees a “weak country” facing a superpower. The US as a superpower with all manner of foreign policy instruments can dictate its desires, and erode our nation’s bargaining position. This perception of RI-US bilateral relations is the product of collaboration that is unequal and that is not mutually beneficial.
In view of the complexity of the Freeport problem, the authors of this book make major recommendations: first, to carry out a thorough evaluation of all aspects of PT Freeport Indonesia’s mining; second, to facilitate a full consultation with the Papuan indigenous peoples, especially peoples located around PT Freeport Indonesia’s mines; third, to follow-up on findings of legal violations through the relevant authorities; and fourth, to map and study a number of scenarios for the future of PT Freeport Indonesia, including the possibility of closure, production capacity and processing of waste (p. 69).
With a prologue narrating the identity of Freeport, their work contract, PT Freeport Indonesia’s crimes in Papua, violations of human rights and military business, plus a good epilogue touching on the attitude that the government must take in order to salvage the dignity of all citizens, especially the peoples of Papua, this 90-page book is well worth the read for anyone who still cares.