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STILL FROZEN BIG ISSUES OF THE ARCTIC
STRATFOR INTELLIGENCE - Those who view the melting polar ice as a symbol
will doubtless see irony in the fact that the shrinking cap could make
it cheaper to get to hydrocarbon deposits that were previously
uneconomical to produce. A much-quoted study released in 2000 by the
U.S. Geological Survey estimated that the unexplored Arctic contains as
much as one-quarter of the world's remaining hydrocarbon reserves. In
November 2006, however, the consulting firms Wood Mackenzie and Fugro
released a report that argues the recoverable reserves are closer to 3
percent. Either way, the Arctic has lots of oil to exploit.
The Wood Mackenzie study asserts that three fields in the Arctic contain
more than 10 billion barrels of oil -- Russia's South Kara Yamal Basin,
East Barents Sea and the Kronprins Christian Basin off Greenland's
northeastern coast. Alaska's North Slope has an estimated 6 billion
barrels of oil equivalent in undiscovered reserves.
The rules defining which country has economic control over access to
mineral reserves fall under UNCLOS. The treaty gives countries exclusive
rights to resources within 200 nautical miles of their shorelines. In
addition, if the continental shelf extends beyond the 200 nm limit,
countries have exclusive rights to minerals either as far as the shelf
extends or until the furthest of two absolute limits iS met. . . The
Arctic Ocean is very shallow, and the region's continental shelves
extend far beyond 350 nm before an average sounding of 2,500 meters is
met.
Though not a party to the treaty, the United States respects these
definitions of mineral rights. By not being a party, however, Washington
lacks significant influence on an important aspect of drawing the
boundaries. . .
A second area of contention is an emerging debate over the Northwest
Passage. For centuries, a sea-lane from the Atlantic to Pacific across
Canada's far north was the sea trade's veritable El Dorado, a mythical
path to riches. The rapid melting of the ice north of Canada is
awakening both Canada and the United States to the possibility that the
Northwest Passage could soon come to be a feasible transit route, and
with it a dramatic reduction in transport time from the North Pacific to
the North Atlantic. Estimates are that easy passage along this route
would save 5,000 miles for most transoceanic passages from Europe to the
U.S. West Coast. And depending on its depth, it could allow for the
passage of post-Panamax cargo ships that cannot transit the Panama Canal
and currently must use the Suez Canal instead.
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
THE MOST POLLUTED CITY IN THE WORLD
JONATHAN WATTS, LINFEN CHINA, GUARDIAN - In the most polluted city on
earth, the smog is so thick that it seems to consume its source. Iron
foundries, smelting plants and cement factories loom out of the haze
then disappear once more as you drive along Linfen's roads. The outlines
of smoke stacks blur in the filthy mist. No sooner are the plumes of
carbon and sulphur belched out than the chimneys are swallowed up again.
. .
Linfen is the frontline of the battle against global warming. For the
past five years, the city of 3.5 million people has been the most
polluted place on the planet, bottom of the World Bank's air quality
rankings, and a symbol of the worst side-effects of China's breakneck
economic growth. . .
What Linfen symbolizes is the cost of development in China and the other
most populous country: India. Both economies are growing explosively,
leading to a rapid expansion of their middle classes. This in turn has
seen a growing appetite for power - one sated by the building of dirty,
inefficient coal-fired plants that are slowly cooking the world's
atmosphere.
The effects have been dramatic. By 2009 China is predicted to overtake
the United States as the world's biggest emitter of greenhouse gases.
India has recently become the fourth biggest polluter, but its steeply
rising emissions will see it in third place within a few years. . .
The new consumption culture has brought western-style affluence that
largely rural India can barely cope with. Car sales are growing at 20% a
year, but there are not enough roads for anyone to drive on. India -
unlike China, Europe and America - does not set any fuel economy
standards.
The result is that in the backstreets of a city such as Kanpur on the
banks of the Ganges sit lines of cars, their engines idling in the sun.
Kanpur, with 3 million people, is the world's seventh most polluted
place, according to the World Bank study. A thick brown haze of exhaust
fumes is visible at street level. . .
The environmental problems in India and China, which between them have
2.4 billion people, have become an excuse for inaction elsewhere. Many
Britons argue that whatever positive steps they take will be
insignificant compared with the negative impact of economic growth in
Asia. As Tony Blair puts it: "Close down all of Britain's emissions and
in less than two years just the growth in China's emissions would wipe
out the difference.". . .
http://environment.guardian.co.uk/waste/story/0,,2042999,00.html
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
MISSING THE POINT
TREE HUGGER - Santa Monica has just opened "the nation's first
sustainable solar-powered parking structure. The six-story, 882-space
structure at the Civic Center features photovoltaic roof panels, a storm
drain water treatment system, recycled construction materials and energy
efficient mechanical systems." Evidently the cars are well treated:
"From the Santa Monica Mountains to Catalina Island, these parking
spaces have the best view in town." . . . The City is spending $180
million plan to add 1,712 parking spaces over the next ten years- just
what every city needs right now when we are trying to discourage cars,
not give them ocean views. ::Lookout News
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2007/03/contradiction_i.php
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
STILL FROZEN BIG ISSUES OF THE ARCTIC
STRATFOR INTELLIGENCE - Those who view the melting polar ice as a symbol
will doubtless see irony in the fact that the shrinking cap could make
it cheaper to get to hydrocarbon deposits that were previously
uneconomical to produce. A much-quoted study released in 2000 by the
U.S. Geological Survey estimated that the unexplored Arctic contains as
much as one-quarter of the world's remaining hydrocarbon reserves. In
November 2006, however, the consulting firms Wood Mackenzie and Fugro
released a report that argues the recoverable reserves are closer to 3
percent. Either way, the Arctic has lots of oil to exploit.
The Wood Mackenzie study asserts that three fields in the Arctic contain
more than 10 billion barrels of oil -- Russia's South Kara Yamal Basin,
East Barents Sea and the Kronprins Christian Basin off Greenland's
northeastern coast. Alaska's North Slope has an estimated 6 billion
barrels of oil equivalent in undiscovered reserves.
The rules defining which country has economic control over access to
mineral reserves fall under UNCLOS. The treaty gives countries exclusive
rights to resources within 200 nautical miles of their shorelines. In
addition, if the continental shelf extends beyond the 200 nm limit,
countries have exclusive rights to minerals either as far as the shelf
extends or until the furthest of two absolute limits iS met. . . The
Arctic Ocean is very shallow, and the region's continental shelves
extend far beyond 350 nm before an average sounding of 2,500 meters is
met.
Though not a party to the treaty, the United States respects these
definitions of mineral rights. By not being a party, however, Washington
lacks significant influence on an important aspect of drawing the
boundaries. . .
A second area of contention is an emerging debate over the Northwest
Passage. For centuries, a sea-lane from the Atlantic to Pacific across
Canada's far north was the sea trade's veritable El Dorado, a mythical
path to riches. The rapid melting of the ice north of Canada is
awakening both Canada and the United States to the possibility that the
Northwest Passage could soon come to be a feasible transit route, and
with it a dramatic reduction in transport time from the North Pacific to
the North Atlantic. Estimates are that easy passage along this route
would save 5,000 miles for most transoceanic passages from Europe to the
U.S. West Coast. And depending on its depth, it could allow for the
passage of post-Panamax cargo ships that cannot transit the Panama Canal
and currently must use the Suez Canal instead.
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
THE MOST POLLUTED CITY IN THE WORLD
JONATHAN WATTS, LINFEN CHINA, GUARDIAN - In the most polluted city on
earth, the smog is so thick that it seems to consume its source. Iron
foundries, smelting plants and cement factories loom out of the haze
then disappear once more as you drive along Linfen's roads. The outlines
of smoke stacks blur in the filthy mist. No sooner are the plumes of
carbon and sulphur belched out than the chimneys are swallowed up again.
. .
Linfen is the frontline of the battle against global warming. For the
past five years, the city of 3.5 million people has been the most
polluted place on the planet, bottom of the World Bank's air quality
rankings, and a symbol of the worst side-effects of China's breakneck
economic growth. . .
What Linfen symbolizes is the cost of development in China and the other
most populous country: India. Both economies are growing explosively,
leading to a rapid expansion of their middle classes. This in turn has
seen a growing appetite for power - one sated by the building of dirty,
inefficient coal-fired plants that are slowly cooking the world's
atmosphere.
The effects have been dramatic. By 2009 China is predicted to overtake
the United States as the world's biggest emitter of greenhouse gases.
India has recently become the fourth biggest polluter, but its steeply
rising emissions will see it in third place within a few years. . .
The new consumption culture has brought western-style affluence that
largely rural India can barely cope with. Car sales are growing at 20% a
year, but there are not enough roads for anyone to drive on. India -
unlike China, Europe and America - does not set any fuel economy
standards.
The result is that in the backstreets of a city such as Kanpur on the
banks of the Ganges sit lines of cars, their engines idling in the sun.
Kanpur, with 3 million people, is the world's seventh most polluted
place, according to the World Bank study. A thick brown haze of exhaust
fumes is visible at street level. . .
The environmental problems in India and China, which between them have
2.4 billion people, have become an excuse for inaction elsewhere. Many
Britons argue that whatever positive steps they take will be
insignificant compared with the negative impact of economic growth in
Asia. As Tony Blair puts it: "Close down all of Britain's emissions and
in less than two years just the growth in China's emissions would wipe
out the difference.". . .
http://environment.guardian.co.uk/waste/story/0,,2042999,00.html
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
MISSING THE POINT
TREE HUGGER - Santa Monica has just opened "the nation's first
sustainable solar-powered parking structure. The six-story, 882-space
structure at the Civic Center features photovoltaic roof panels, a storm
drain water treatment system, recycled construction materials and energy
efficient mechanical systems." Evidently the cars are well treated:
"From the Santa Monica Mountains to Catalina Island, these parking
spaces have the best view in town." . . . The City is spending $180
million plan to add 1,712 parking spaces over the next ten years- just
what every city needs right now when we are trying to discourage cars,
not give them ocean views. ::Lookout News
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2007/03/contradiction_i.php
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