Russia has obtained all the permits necessary to build its 'South Stream' gas pipeline through Turkish territorial waters, discarding Bulgaria as one of the project's transit countries, the Russian press writes today (20 October). Taner Yildiz, Turkey's economy minister, has granted all the necessary authorisations for the South Stream project to run through Turkish territory, the Russian daily Kommersant writes. The event, which was hosted by Italian Economy Minister Claudio Scajola in Milan on Friday (19 October), eliminated Bulgaria as a transit country for the Gazprom-favoured pipeline, the daily writes. Bulgaria was also evicted from the Burgas-Alexandroupolis oil pipeline project, the newspaper adds.
Taner Yildiz, Turkey's economy minister, has granted all the necessary authorisations for the South Stream project to run through Turkish territory, the Russian daily Kommersant writes.
The event, which was hosted by Italian Economy Minister Claudio Scajola in Milan on Friday (19 October), eliminated Bulgaria as a transit country for the Gazprom-favoured pipeline, the daily writes. Bulgaria was also evicted from the Burgas-Alexandroupolis oil pipeline project, the newspaper adds.
The Fisheries Council meeting in Luxembourg on 19 and 20 October took a number of important decisions and made headway on a number of issues. The discussions were dominated by the Commission's proposals for a root-and-branch reform of the CFP control framework and for fishing possibilities in the Baltic Sea for 2010. The Control Regulation, proposed last November, has now been approved by Council and will enter into force on 1 January 2010. Delays have been agreed for a number of articles to enable Member States to be fully prepared to implement all measures in the Regulation. Ministers resolved the final outstanding issues, including a degree of harmonisation of sanctions, a new penalty points system, a payback system for overfished quotas and provisions to allow for the suspension of Community assistance in the event of non-compliance by Member States with the agreed control provisions. Furthermore, it was agreed that, for now, recreational catches will not be counted against national quotas. The new control system will provide Europe with the level playing field required to usher in a much-needed culture of compliance in the fisheries sector. Council also reached political agreement on the Commission proposal on fishing possibilities for fish stocks in the Baltic Sea for 2010. On the positive side, with scientific advice showing that cod stocks in the Baltic are starting to recover, Council was able to agree on total allowable catches (TAC) increases of 15% and 9% for the eastern and western cod stocks respectively. On the less positive side, the western herring stock continues to cause serious concern, prompting Council to agree on a 16.5% reduction.
The Control Regulation, proposed last November, has now been approved by Council and will enter into force on 1 January 2010. Delays have been agreed for a number of articles to enable Member States to be fully prepared to implement all measures in the Regulation. Ministers resolved the final outstanding issues, including a degree of harmonisation of sanctions, a new penalty points system, a payback system for overfished quotas and provisions to allow for the suspension of Community assistance in the event of non-compliance by Member States with the agreed control provisions. Furthermore, it was agreed that, for now, recreational catches will not be counted against national quotas. The new control system will provide Europe with the level playing field required to usher in a much-needed culture of compliance in the fisheries sector.
Council also reached political agreement on the Commission proposal on fishing possibilities for fish stocks in the Baltic Sea for 2010. On the positive side, with scientific advice showing that cod stocks in the Baltic are starting to recover, Council was able to agree on total allowable catches (TAC) increases of 15% and 9% for the eastern and western cod stocks respectively.
On the less positive side, the western herring stock continues to cause serious concern, prompting Council to agree on a 16.5% reduction.
EU fisheries ministers agreed on Tuesday to crack down on overfishing, saying their fishermen would get points on their fishing licences each time they broke rules or quotas and would be banned for excessive infractions. The points system, taking effect next year, is part of a drive to reduce excessive fishing which has severely depleted European stocks of cod, haddock and hake. Ministers agreed new quotas for Baltic cod and herring and put on hold a controversial proposal that national tallies include fish landed by recreational anglers. They also cut the amount of overfishing that will be tolerated to 10 percent from 20 -- drawing criticism from a Green Europarliamentarian that this was accepting "legalised cheating," though on a reduced scale.
The points system, taking effect next year, is part of a drive to reduce excessive fishing which has severely depleted European stocks of cod, haddock and hake.
Ministers agreed new quotas for Baltic cod and herring and put on hold a controversial proposal that national tallies include fish landed by recreational anglers.
They also cut the amount of overfishing that will be tolerated to 10 percent from 20 -- drawing criticism from a Green Europarliamentarian that this was accepting "legalised cheating," though on a reduced scale.
Amateur anglers are to be included in tougher controls on EU fishing which have been agreed as part of continuing efforts to revive dwindling stocks. A deal struck in Luxembourg means closer monitoring of licensed fishing boats, stiff penalties on the industry and national authorities for breaching strict annual catch quotas, and the first-ever inclusion of casual fishermen in the Common Fisheries Policy net. After howls of anguish from MEPs earlier this year, the new deal clarifies that those catching a bit of supper off the end of the local jetty with a rod and line will not be included. And even anglers putting to sea will not have to report every landed tiddler to the authorities - unless the fish on the line is subject to an EU stock recovery programme, such as cod in the North Sea.
A deal struck in Luxembourg means closer monitoring of licensed fishing boats, stiff penalties on the industry and national authorities for breaching strict annual catch quotas, and the first-ever inclusion of casual fishermen in the Common Fisheries Policy net.
After howls of anguish from MEPs earlier this year, the new deal clarifies that those catching a bit of supper off the end of the local jetty with a rod and line will not be included.
And even anglers putting to sea will not have to report every landed tiddler to the authorities - unless the fish on the line is subject to an EU stock recovery programme, such as cod in the North Sea.
European Union farm ministers refused to give their seal of approval on Monday to plans to allow the import of genetically-modified maize from US growers, diplomats said. During a meeting of European Union agriculture ministers in Luxembourg dominated by crisis in the dairy sector, nations were unable to agree on proposals to greenlight the latest batch of so-called 'Frankenstein foods.' Agriculture Commissioner Mariann Fischer Boel sought the go-ahead for two strains of corn produced by Monsanto and another by rivals Pioneer to be cleared for import by European firms. Several sources told AFP that the decision would ultimately be left up to the commission itself, because if no agreement can be reached by the ministers Brussels will have free rein to choose.
During a meeting of European Union agriculture ministers in Luxembourg dominated by crisis in the dairy sector, nations were unable to agree on proposals to greenlight the latest batch of so-called 'Frankenstein foods.'
Agriculture Commissioner Mariann Fischer Boel sought the go-ahead for two strains of corn produced by Monsanto and another by rivals Pioneer to be cleared for import by European firms.
Several sources told AFP that the decision would ultimately be left up to the commission itself, because if no agreement can be reached by the ministers Brussels will have free rein to choose.
BERLIN, Oct 20 (Tierramérica) - The capture and underground storage of greenhouse gases, especially carbon dioxide, is a dubious method of effectively reducing the pollution that causes global warming, experts warn.Scientists, environmentalists and local communities continue to object to the method, which consists of compressing and liquefying carbon dioxide before sending it to underground deposits, and which has been applied for some time to recover petroleum and gas from partially exhausted oil wells. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) looked at these techniques in 2007, and more closely in 2005, when its Working Group III published a 443-page report. Germany's federal government was forced last summer to halt the process for approving a law authorising the capture and deposit of carbon, after facing opposition from local communities in the regions preliminarily selected for experimenting with the technique. Rejection of the process has been fuelled by scientific reports and environmental groups. In 2006, geologist Gabriela von Goerne, of the German branch of Greenpeace, said such methods should only be used as a last option in the fight against global warming.
Cambridge, UK - New analytical techniques have revealed that the scale of bushmeat trade in Central Africa may be much larger than originally thought, according to a study published today by TRAFFIC, the wildlife trade monitoring network. The study, based on an analysis of food balance sheets provided by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization's statistical database FAOSTAT, strongly supports the view that the current situation surrounding bushmeat hunting in Central African rainforests is precarious. According to the analysis, bushmeat extraction rose considerably in the Congo Basin between 1990 and 2005, despite the overall decrease in forest cover in Central Africa. Cameroon appears to be exceeding--by more than 100%--an estimated sustainable offtake of 150 kg of game meat per square kilometre of forest, and Gabon and the Republic of Congo are both close to this limit. The greatest rise in bushmeat production was in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where the yield rose from 78,000 tonnes in 1990 to 90,000 tonnes in 2005. In the Republic of Congo, production almost doubled, from 11,000 to 20,000 tonnes per year in the same time period. "While the FAOSTAT bushmeat data are probably underestimates and should be regarded with caution, the data are the most readily available official sources of information on production of wild meat in the Congo Basin and are valuable indicators of bushmeat production and consumption trends," says Stefan Ziegler, Programme Officer with WWF Germany, and author of the report. Wildlife is a significant and direct source of protein for more than 34 million people living in the Congo Basin and bushmeat hunting is a key component of many peoples' livelihoods in Central Africa.
Reston VA (SPX) The arctic could potentially alter the Earth's climate by becoming a possible source of global atmospheric carbon dioxide. The arctic now traps or absorbs up to 25 percent of this gas but climate change could alter that amount, according to a study published in the November issue of Ecological Monographs. This figure shows the mean extent of permafrost in the Arctic, estimated for (a) the years 1990-2000 and (b) the years 2090-2100. Credit: A. David McGuire, USGS In their review paper, David McGuire of the U.S. Geological Survey and the University of Alaska at Fairbanks and his colleagues show that the Arctic has been a carbon sink since the end of the last Ice Age, which has recently accounted for between zero and 25 percent, or up to about 800 million metric tons, of the global carbon sink. On average, says McGuire, the Arctic accounts for 10-15 percent of the Earth's carbon sink. But the rapid rate of climate change in the Arctic - about twice that of lower latitudes - could eliminate the sink and instead, possibly make the Arctic a source of carbon dioxide. .... On the scale of a few decades, the thawing permafrost could also result in a more waterlogged Arctic, says McGuire, a situation that could encourage the activity of methane-producing organisms. Currently, the Arctic is a substantial source of methane to the atmosphere: as much as 50 million metric tons of methane are released per year, in comparison to the 400 million metric tons of carbon dioxide the Arctic stores yearly. But methane is a very potent greenhouse gas- about 23 times more effective at trapping heat than carbon dioxide on a 100-year time scale. If the release of Arctic methane accelerates, global warming could increase at much faster rates. "We don't understand methane very well, and its releases to the atmosphere are more episodic than the exchanges of carbon dioxide with the atmosphere," says McGuire. "It's important to pay attention to methane dynamics because of methane's substantial potential to accelerate global warming."
This figure shows the mean extent of permafrost in the Arctic, estimated for (a) the years 1990-2000 and (b) the years 2090-2100. Credit: A. David McGuire, USGS
In their review paper, David McGuire of the U.S. Geological Survey and the University of Alaska at Fairbanks and his colleagues show that the Arctic has been a carbon sink since the end of the last Ice Age, which has recently accounted for between zero and 25 percent, or up to about 800 million metric tons, of the global carbon sink.
On average, says McGuire, the Arctic accounts for 10-15 percent of the Earth's carbon sink. But the rapid rate of climate change in the Arctic - about twice that of lower latitudes - could eliminate the sink and instead, possibly make the Arctic a source of carbon dioxide.
....
On the scale of a few decades, the thawing permafrost could also result in a more waterlogged Arctic, says McGuire, a situation that could encourage the activity of methane-producing organisms. Currently, the Arctic is a substantial source of methane to the atmosphere: as much as 50 million metric tons of methane are released per year, in comparison to the 400 million metric tons of carbon dioxide the Arctic stores yearly. But methane is a very potent greenhouse gas- about 23 times more effective at trapping heat than carbon dioxide on a 100-year time scale. If the release of Arctic methane accelerates, global warming could increase at much faster rates.
"We don't understand methane very well, and its releases to the atmosphere are more episodic than the exchanges of carbon dioxide with the atmosphere," says McGuire. "It's important to pay attention to methane dynamics because of methane's substantial potential to accelerate global warming."
Photos from the Midway atoll which is rather isolated place in Mid-Pacific though unfortunately in the midst of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch — Wikipedia.
BBC — Nearly two million Laysan albatrosses live on the islands. Researchers have concluded that every single one contains some quantity of plastic. About one-third of all albatross chicks die on Midway, many as the result of being mistakenly fed plastic by their parents.
