Comprising five countries and seven territories, only one is totally outside the Arctic Circle and three quarters of the rest lie within.

It’s a land which is bleak and beautiful, fragile and harsh, and utterly magnificent.

This is why the recently published “Threats to Biodiversity in Nordic Countries”⁽¹⁾ is so relevant for environmentalists around the world.

Biodiversity is vital to all life.  The lessons uncovered in the unique Nordic countries need to be applied on a global scale.

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According to the study published in the October issue of Environmental Health Perspectives, the higher a mother’s BPA levels were during the first 16 weeks of pregnancy, the more likely kids were to exhibit the behavior changes. Girls were more aggressive and hyperactive than the norm while boys were more anxious and withdrawn.

The study also examined the effects of a mom’s exposure to lead and cigarettes, oddly enough neither one was linked to toddler behavior changes.

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Publishers Weekly describes The Body Toxic:

This is a chilling look at the questionable safety of nearly everything we store food in, drink from, wear, walk on, rest on and drive. Chemicals used to make everything from water-repellant jackets and flame retardants to unbreakable plastics used for food storage are building up in our bodies and the environment with possible far-reaching consequences, says journalist Baker. She focuses on endocrine disruptors that alter hormone levels, even in fetuses. Individual chapters consider the weed killer atrazine; phthalates found in many cosmetics; and perfluorooctanoic acid, used in nonstick and stain-repellant coatings. Lab studies have linked these chemicals to cancer, diabetes, obesity and attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder, among other problems. Baker blasts both Democrats and Republicans in Congress for the toothless Toxic Substances Control Act of 1976, which leaves testing and reporting results to the manufacturer. But the companies rely on skilled public relations firms to attack scientists who raise safety concerns. The current pro-business administration also takes some licks from Baker. Although she offers suggestions for reducing exposure to these chemicals, No place—and no one—is immune.

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I’ll come back to the Mycotoxin issue soon.  Instead, I’ll talk today about my serious worries about Climate Change.  

People involved in world agriculture have no patience with the supposed “debate” about climate change.  We are already seeing the effects, and the projections for the future are not encouraging.  The most troubling feature of this phenomenon (and one that occurs even if you don’t believe that it is human-driven) is that we are facing increasing variation in climatic events.  The yearly changes in average temperature or even annual rainfall may not be dramatic, but what we are anticipating is that there will be more extreme weather events.  Climate averages are not what matters for crop production - Variation is.  A few days of intense rain or heat at the wrong time can devastate a crop.  A few weeks of drought can do the same.  A single hail or frost event can make all the difference in what a farmer can harvest.  We have always had those risks for farming and only long term data will demonstrate whether there has been an increasing trend as is predicted.  For instance, It isn’t possible yet to say that the current, extended drought in Australia is caused by elevated greenhouse gasses, but some day we will know whether it was by looking back historically.  Of course that will be too late.  Our actions have to come now.  The other huge threat from climate change is that water supplies will be more limiting in many areas that are irrigated today.  Though that area is much smaller than rain-fed areas, it is very important to the food supply.

Some have predicted that “Global warming” and elevated CO2 will boost crop production in certain areas.  There might be some occasions where higher temperatures will enhance some yields in normally cold areas, but if the warmth comes with other extreme weather events, the benefits will be diminished.  It also turns out that plants can’t really take full advantage of high CO2 levels.  Basically,  there is no real “up-side” of climate change for farming.

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]]> http://sustainablog.org/2009/09/27/food-supply-worries-of-an-agricultural-scientist-part-3-climate-change/feed/ http://inspiredeconomist.com/2009/08/31/grading-green/ http://inspiredeconomist.com/2009/08/31/grading-green/#comments Mon, 31 Aug 2009 21:13:29 +0000 Lisa Wojnovich http://inspiredeconomist.com/2009/08/31/grading-green/ The last time you went to the grocery store or the local Walmart, did you count the number of cleaners, soaps, and detergents that labeled themselves “green.” At Target last week while attempting to find the laundry detergent that was supposed to be on sale, I was boggled by all the new green chemicals that I’d never heard of before my shopping trip. I wasn’t certain what most of them did — much less exactly how “green” they really were.

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]]> http://inspiredeconomist.com/2009/08/31/grading-green/feed/ http://ecoworldly.com/2009/08/13/pesticides-used-in-californias-central-valley-killing-frog-populations-in-nearby-sierras/ http://ecoworldly.com/2009/08/13/pesticides-used-in-californias-central-valley-killing-frog-populations-in-nearby-sierras/#comments Thu, 13 Aug 2009 16:40:34 +0000 Rhishja Larson http://ecoworldly.com/2009/08/13/pesticides-used-in-californias-central-valley-killing-frog-populations-in-nearby-sierras/

Scientists have determined the chemicals that make the Central Valley a rich agricultural region are responsible for frog deaths and tadpole abnormalities in the Sierra Nevada Mountains.

Just when it seems things can’t get much worse for our cold-blooded friends, researchers have added pesticides to the growing list of causes (such as habitat loss and chytrid fungus) for the massive worldwide decline in amphibian populations.

An article in today’s Central Valley Business Times says that zoologist Don Sparling and his team are continuing to build up a body of evidence that shows neurotoxin pesticides are making their way out of the valley’s farms and into the snow and streams where the frogs live and breed - with catastrophic consequences.

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]]> http://ecoworldly.com/2009/08/13/pesticides-used-in-californias-central-valley-killing-frog-populations-in-nearby-sierras/feed/ http://ecochildsplay.com/2009/07/29/household-products-to-get-ingredient-labeling/ http://ecochildsplay.com/2009/07/29/household-products-to-get-ingredient-labeling/#comments Wed, 29 Jul 2009 19:37:16 +0000 Cate Nelson http://ecochildsplay.com/2009/07/29/household-products-to-get-ingredient-labeling/ I spent the first weekend away from my sons ever at BlogHer ’09 in Chicago. And my favorite session—hands down—was the Green Bloggers session. (Why yes, it was nice to meet the writers I adore!)

There, while we discussed good resources for product ingredient lists and standards, an audience member dropped what sounded like a bomb to all of us in the natural parenting, green cleaning and organic living world:

On January 1, 2010, all household products will have full ingredient lists on their labeling.

How did this amazing change in chem-laden products come about? Blame Thank Canada.

Here are the deets on these requirements.

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]]> http://ecochildsplay.com/2009/07/29/household-products-to-get-ingredient-labeling/feed/ http://inspiredeconomist.com/2009/06/19/growing-plastic-2/ http://inspiredeconomist.com/2009/06/19/growing-plastic-2/#comments Fri, 19 Jun 2009 12:00:10 +0000 Lisa Wojnovich http://inspiredeconomist.com/2009/06/19/growing-plastic-2/ In the constant push for ever newer and greener technology and energy, we sometimes forget that it is often both simpler and cheaper to revisit old techniques in new ways. And that’s exactly what a group of researchers in California has done.

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Okay, war sound harsh but it’s a battle of sorts. Is BPA safe or isn’t it? Is it a myth that BPA is harmful and the media is fooling us because we don’t have the facts?  Well, according to Mom Style News or Mom Myth Busters (same author), yes. If you follow me on twitter you might know, Friday there was a big twitter debate going on over this. The Good Human, Safe Mama, To Think and Nature Mom , twittered their opinion.

Here is it is folks, BPA might not kill you if your child drinks out of a sippy cup or has some canned food lined with BPA. Sure, I conceded to this. BPA is a chemical and the FDA and EPA has limits of safety so companies use this and then hide behind it, because they can. Companies that have gone with BPA free products have done so because of consumer demands. Why are consumers demanding this? Duh, because there are risks. Who’s most at risk? The fetus, infants and children are most at risk. Even the reports sited by Mom Style News don’t discount that, she just says they are minimal. Well, my son has a minimal risk of getting hit on our road when he crosses it because of the traffic statistics or what I observe. So I should let him just take that “minimal” risk. It’s just a possibility and not a fact! That’s how ridiculous this debate is!  Here are the facts that have led ME to know that choosing BPA FREE is the right thing to do and since Mom Style News is all about the facts and going by what the facts are and not just reading mommy blogs (which I love, support, read and rely on) here it is…

FACT: The government sources are basing their decisions and statements on assessments with hundreds of flaws and errors. The FDA has based it’s decision on two studies, funded by the plastics industry.

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1. Land Use

Top of the paper’s list of threats to biodiversity is Man’s trampling across the land and sea as he sees fit.  Transportation, extractive industries, pollution, dams, agriculture, fisheries and forestry all feature highly.

Also included is the abandonment of areas of marginal productive value.  This makes the point very clearly that it is Man’s activities per se which are causing problems but their intensity, often motivated by economic gain.

The K-T extinction event which wiped out the dinosaurs has been estimated as removing 75% of all species worldwide.  The paper estimates that 75% of all species at risk are threatened by land use changes and goes on to note, rather dryly: “the combined impacts of several factors could be disastrous”.

2. Alien species

Second on the paper’s list of threats is that of alien species.  As Man has homogenised the landscape to meet his desires, he has also encouraged species to invade and disrupt different ecosystems.

This is easiest to see in fast spreading species which visibly choke the established wildlife: kudzu in the south-eastern US, for example, or mink and grey squirrels in the UK.

However all of these are essentially communities and bring with them parasites and microbiotic life forms which can cause even greater devastation than their hosts.

Interestingly, the paper talks of raising public awareness and engagement in the battle against invasive alien species.  This kind of community lead involvement in the environment could well be key in ensuring the planet’s ecology can support Man long into the future.

3. Climate Change

Planetary warming will directly cause the loss of only a few habitats: the greatest of these is the huge tundra which covers the polar regions.  This ground is permanently frozen: once it has thawed, that habitat is gone forever and with it the biodiversity it supports.

So climate change will disproportionately affect the biodiversity of the Nordic Countries as vast swathes of its ecosystems are destroyed.  Yet the paper puts climate change only third in its list of biodiversity threats.

Why?

The simple answer is that climate change has, for a number of reasons become the current environmental whipping boy around which environmentalists, business and government can unite.

However there are larger and more important challenges to be faced before we can be sure this planet will continue to support Man in the future: climate change may be the start of that process, but it will not be the end.

4. Exploitation of wild animals

Hunting and fishing are Man’s two oldest survival techniques.  Once again though, it is not Man’s actions per se which is the threat, but the intensity of those actions.

Fishing is an excellent example of how cock-eyed our approach is.  Many species are under severe pressure due to overfishing.  Once these species have collapsed they will lead to chaos within their ecosystems as a major player in the food chain is removed.

However rather than drastically curb the trawler fleets and suffer some localised economic pain, we prefer to keep the trawler fleets going so that a) we can continue with the food to which we’ve become accustomed for a short time longer and b) we don’t make those fishing communities deeply unhappy.

No one knows what will happen when ecosystems such as these lose a major predator either through over fishing or illegal hunting but it’s likely that like the introduction of a alien species it will lead to a dramatic loss in biodiversity.

5. Chemical Pollution

Perhaps surprisingly, there have been some major advances in stemming pollution over recent decades.

Successive clean air and clean water acts across the world have forced industry to tighten up their controls and ensure the proper disposal of toxic substances which were once simply dumped.

However less heed has been given to nutrients which can build up in the soil and water and effect ecosystems through a process of eutrophication, causing one part of the system to thrive to the utter devastation of others.

Classic cases of eutrophication are algal blooms in rivers and seas, such as those which turned the Potomac River green a few years ago.

Once again, Man’s actions cause an imbalance in the ecosystem which if left unchecked can reach a tipping point where biodiversity is not just harmed but wholly destroyed.

^{Photo Credit: Blue Spring River by JoelDeluxe on flickr under Creative Commons Attribution License.}

Make this Easter a Green one.  700 new chemicals are untested for toxicity.  Check out the new batch of Alternative Autos.

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Disney has just issued the company’s first ever comprehensive corporate responsibility (CR) report.  For a company that was founded in the 1920s and is the largest media and entertainment corporation in the world, this report is a long time overdue!

The long term environmental goals outlined in the report are:

Zero waste

Zero net direct greenhouse gas emissions from fuels

Reduce indirect greenhouse gas emissions from electricity consumption

Net positive impact on ecosystems

Minimize water use

Minimize product footprint

Inform, empower and activate positive action for the environment

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Vegetables today are larger, but contain more “dry matter” which dilutes the concentrations of minerals.  This results in 5% to 40% less magnesium, iron, calcium, and zinc.

Selective breeding to increase crop yields has let to genetic dilution, which has also in turn caused declines in protein and amino acid levels in produce.

Because of the increased use of pesticides and chemical fertilizers, crops are now harvested so quickly that the plant has less time to absorb nutrients either from synthesis or the soil.

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Vacationing with children – it just about killed me. Our sleeping schedule was wacky, the stuff we had to pack and organize, and my daughter got sick and the money. Oh, my goodness the money to go to Disney and Sea World and shucks rent a car and eat for two weeks – I know why we don’t vacation often. My son got to experience flying and he loved climbing the mountain in Arizona, seeing his grandma (the highlight of our trip), eating some great fondue from the Melting Pot, shaking Buzz Light Years hand and riding his first roller coaster. I just hope he remembers it all. My daughter, well she played and played and enjoyed swimming and being with mom and dad. She won’t remember anything but we gave her some experiences to help her development and best of all (besides seeing grandma) she loved Sea World.

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In shocking news, the Canadian government has announced that two chemicals used in cosmetics are carcinogens that are severely harmful to human health. A further two chemicals found in lipstick and other personal care products have also been found to be highly toxic to the environment.

The two cancer-causing chemicals, isoprene and epichlorohydrin, have been added to the Cosmetic Ingredient Hotlist to prevent their future use in cosmetics. Health Canada is also proposing that manufacturers use best-available technology to control releases of isoprene.

The cosmetics chemicals posing a danger to the environment are the siloxanes D4 and D5, which are used as emollients to soften the skin and are found in most personal care products on the market in Canada and the United States.

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Did you realize that while you’re trying to make your family’s clothes snuggly-soft and static-free you may be doing more harm than good?

It’s true:  many commercial dryer sheets are loaded with chemicals and fragrances that can be absorbed into the skin and have nasty side effects.

You won’t find a list of ‘ingredients’ on the package of most dryer sheets; but, according to SixWise.com, here are some chemicals that have been found in dryer sheets and mainstream fabric softeners:

• Benzyl Acetate:  Linked to pancreatic cancer
• Benzly Alcohol: Upper respiratory tract irritant
• Ethanol: Can cause central nervous system damage
• A-Terpineol: Can cause respiratory problems and central nervous system damage
• Ethyl Acetate: A narcotic on the EPA’s Hazardous Waste list
• Camphor: Causes central nervous system disorders
• Chloroform: Neurotoxic, anesthetic and carcinogenic
• Linalool: Narcotic that casues central nervous system disorders
• Pentane: A chemical known to be harmful if inhaled

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It is only recently that I began to wonder if Simple Green really is as ecologically friendly and safe as the name of this cleaning product implies.

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Pittsburgh, PA.  A place known for its peoples’ good ol’ blue collar fervor, our enthusiasm for everything from our football team (STEELERS!!) to our beer (Iron City) to our hoagies (Primanti’s, brother!).  We are thus naturally inclined to encourage bombastic public demonstrations of our affection–in this case, in celebrating ourselves!

I viewed the record-setting Pittsburgh 250 fireworks display from a wonderful vantage point on the North Shore, as I cheered my city on from the balcony of McFadden’s with a massive group of Couchsurfers visiting Pittsburgh for their regional meet-up weekend.  All the while I was marvelling at the bright splashes and the thundering bursts–thirty minutes in duration!–the thought kept flitting across my mind: “what exactly is IN that massive smoke cloud pooling across the river?”

The Composition of Fireworks, a page compiled by Reema Gondhia at Imperial College in London, gives you the factual rundown of the makeup of fireworks.  A firework’s chemical arrangement, however ingeniously designed to manifest our titillating visual delights, provides some unsettling names–chemicals with long rap sheets from research institutions indicating their threat to living systems.  Read on for some distrubing examples.

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