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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A new study led by Marine Biological Laboratory (MBL) senior scientist Jerry Melillo says no, they aren’t green (when it comes to climate change). However, there are still many important factors to keep in mind before claiming this is the end of a long and complicated discussion.

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The 31st Symposium on Biotechnology for Fuels and Chemicals

One of the world’s most prestigious and established biofuels meetings, the 31st Symposium on Biotechnology for Fuels and Chemicals, is currently underway May 3-6 in San Francisco, with more than 800 scientists expected to attend sessions on topics ranging from commercialization of biofuels and their long-term sustainability to emerging technologies and turning algae into fuel.

We’re liveblogging (on Twitter) from today’s press meeting for the event.

You can also follow the author here, or just search for hashtag #biofuelsymposium.

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.}

Perhaps these conditions will encourage innovation. Here are some tactics for solar companies to weather the storm in the short-term:

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There are two well known and highly charged sayings about land:

—–agriculture is the foundation of economic growth
—–all land use is inherently political

The fast approaching world of a carbon market could see how we use land becoming the most important issue in stopping climate change becoming a disaster for mankind.

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Here’s a few sobering statistics: For the past twenty years, the number of miles driven in California has increased at a 50% faster rate than the rate of population growth. In the Bay Area alone, residents drive enough miles to get to the moon and back every day. Passenger vehicles are thought to be responsible for about 30% of all the state’s heat-trapping gasses.

>>More on California environmental policy at RG&B

Last Monday, the California State Assembly passed a bill, that if approved by the Senate, will become the nation’s most far-reaching attempt to curb urban and suburban sprawl. Interestingly enough, the main goal of the bill is to reduce the amount of time Californians spend commuting in their cars, and in turn reducing carbon emissions. The bill aims to accomplish this goal by promoting housing development near already existing industry and job sites. State Senator Darrell Steinberg, a Democrat sponsoring the bill, said that he expected the Senate to approve the measure soon, however Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, a Republican, has not made public whether or not he will offer his support.

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“The HDVG system grows plants in closely spaced pockets on clear, vertical panels that are moving on an overhead conveyor system. The system is designed to provide maximum sunlight and precisely correct nutrients to each plant. Ultraviolet light and filter systems exclude the need for herbicides and pesticides. Sophisticated control systems gain optimum growth performance through the correct misting of nutrients, the accurate balancing of PH and the delivery of the correct amount of heat, light and water“.

If you haven’t seen one of the many news stories on TV about Glenn’s system, you can visit the Valcent site and watch a video with Glenn on the High Density Vertical Growth System.

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.}

Portland has been recognized for decades as a leader in urban planning. Today its progressive philosophies are being applied to environmental policy-making. Tackling sustainability on an urban scale, the Portland Development Commission has conceived a model neighborhood known as the Lloyd Crossing Sustainable Urban Design Plan. A massive undertaking, the Plan sets goals and objectives that are intended to guide development over the next 45 years.

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