中国与世界，环境危机大家谈 WHERE CHINA AND THE WORLD DISCUSS THE ENVIRONMENT
2010年3月19日
最新中国环境资讯
BBC报道，国际矿业巨头力拓集团表示与中国签署了一项协议，拟合作大规模开发西非几内亚的铁矿资源。但在该协议签订几天后，4名拓力员工却面临在中国进行间谍活动的指控。
科学发展网引援中国科学技术信息研究所专家的话表示，由于中国研究所注重的是论文的数量而不是质量，因此即使中国已经大幅增加科学投资，但其国际科学影响力仍然较弱。
中国“绿色和平”组织称已经发现湖南省两家超级市场出售转基因大米。中国农业部官员再次声明，商业种植或进口转基因大米均未得到销售许可的，《财经》报道。
《中国日报》引述《北京消息》报道，397名住在湖南省嘉禾县冶炼厂附近的儿童中，有250名被检测出血液中的含铅量超标，4名出现铅中毒症状。
法新社引述地方当局的发言称，25人在河南省郑州附近的煤矿火灾中丧生。
法新社引述《北京消息》报道，疑饿死13只东北虎的沈阳动物园已被查封。当局正调查动物园是否将老虎身体各部分制作成中药。根据园内可靠消息称，自2005年以来，动物园利用虎骨制作老虎酒已经是公开的秘密了。
路透社引述当地媒体称，连续5个月的大面积西南干旱已经影响5千多万人。天气预报称，迹象表明干旱还将持续一段时间。
法新社称， 台湾长期帮助非洲和亚太地区盟国发展清洁能源项目，但却让自身陷入外交孤立的尴尬境地。但即便如此，台湾仍致力于参与国际碳交易等项目。
路透社的消息，山西省四名儿童接种疫苗后死亡，数十人不适的事件遭《中国经济时报》曝光之后，中国卫生部立即着手展开调查。
据法新社报道，中国十分之一的食用油来自非法加工的回收油，即俗称的“地沟油”。这种地下加工油严重威胁消费者健康，可能引发癌症在内的多种疾病。据悉，国家食品安全监督机构已下令，将在全国范围内检查食用油质量。
March 19, 2010
A Chinese environmental update
The international mining giant Rio Tinto says it has signed a deal with China to develop a massive iron-ore mine in Guinea, in west Africa, according to the BBC. The Simandou project agreement comes days before four Rio employees are to face trial in China, accused of spying.
China’s international science influence is still weak, even though its investment in science has increased rapidly, a report by the Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China found. According to an ISTIC official, China’s institutions place more importance on the number of papers published than on their quality, scidev.net said.
Greenpeace China says it has found genetically modified rice on sale in two supermarkets in Hunan province, Caijing reported. Chinese agriculture officials say neither commercial cultivation nor importation of GM grain have been approved.
In three villages surrounding smelting factories in Jiahe county, Hunan province, 250 of the 397 children younger than 14 were found to have excessive levels of lead in their blood – and four have lead poisoning – China Daily said, citing the Beijing News.
Twenty-five people have been killed in a coal mine fire near Zhengzhou, Henan province, Agence France-Presse quoted local authorities as saying.
A zoo in Liaoning province has been shut after the deaths of 13 endangered Siberian tigers in the last three months. Authorities are investigating whether the Shenyang Forest Wildlife Zoo was harvesting tiger parts to produce ingredients for the traditional Chinese medicine market, Agence France-Presse quoted the Beijing News as reporting. The paper also cited a zoo source as saying production of tiger-bone liquor at the zoo has been an open secret since 2005.
A five-month drought across a large area of south-west China is now affecting more than 50 million people, and weather forecasters see no signs of it abating soon, Reuters quoted state media as saying.
Taiwan aims to engage in international carbon trading despite its diplomatic isolation by helping its allies in Africa and the Asia-Pacific region to develop clean-energy projects, Agence France-Presse reported.
China's health ministry is investigating a report in the China Economic Times that faulty vaccines in Shanxi province were responsible for killing four children and making dozens of others sick, Reuters said.
The country’s food safety watchdog has ordered inspections of cooking oil nationwide as reports said up to one-tenth of China’s supplies were illegally made from discarded kitchen waste and contained cancer-causing agents, according to Agence France-Presse.
2010年3月17日
世界最新环境资讯
法新社报道，印度在新德里中心启动了首个公共空气净化实验项目，支持者表示该项目能够帮助其他新兴城市解决空气浑浊的困扰。法新社还引述专家的话表示，长期深受严重污染的墨西哥城已取得治理的初步成果，空气质量有所改善。
路透社援引俄媒体表示，近日，约有2000人在俄罗斯靠近朝鲜边境的斯拉维杨卡地举行了一系列大型示威活动，抗议石油储存公司释放有毒烟雾。
路透社的消息，欧盟各国环境部长认为尽管政府间气候变化专门委员会犯了一些小的科学错误，但仍然发挥着“强大的作用”。他们深信该联合国机构提供了有关气候变化最权威的评估数据。
由美国宇航局资助的一份研究报告指出，与政府间气候变化专门委员会之前所预测的不同，2005年所谓的百年一遇干旱并没有对亚马逊热带雨林造成明显的影响。
澳大利亚顶尖科学家说，过去100多年对世界上最干燥人类居住地的监测和研究清楚证明——气候变化是真实存在的。路透社援引一位科学家的话称，高温纪录每十年就被打破一次。
法新社的消息，对欧洲自然栖息地的破坏导致蝴蝶、甲虫、蜻蜓“跻身”最新的欧洲濒危物种“红名单”。此外，法新社还引述美国一项研究表示，气候变化正推动北美濒危鸟类走向灭绝。
法新社援引区域专家的研究称，非法捕鱼和气候变化导致中美洲小虾和龙虾储量下降。与此同时，美联社报道，美国宇航局的一支科研队在南极冰盖深处意外发现一只海蜇虾，及一只虾状的奇特生物。
路透社引用某家信用卡公司的调查表示，超过六成的亚太地区消费者购买“公平贸易”或绿色产品。
布莱恩布朗尼在《纽约时报》发表文章称，世界第一高楼迪拜“哈里发大厦”在全球金融危机中竣工，这不得不让我们意识到古老的建筑文化已然消失。 对建筑的高度，以及混泥土等新型材料和结构的追求，逐渐成了这个时代的主旋律。
March 17, 2010
A global environmental update
India has switched on its first public air-purifier in the heart of New Delhi as part of an experiment that backers say could help other smog-choked cities in emerging countries, Agence France-Presse reported. And Mexico City -- long known as one of the most polluted megalopolises -- is beginning to see the fruits of years of clean-up efforts and breathing somewhat cleaner air, AFP quoted experts as saying.
In the latest of a series of unusually large protests in Russia, about 2,000 people demonstrated against what they said were toxic fumes released by an oil-storage company. Citing Russian news media, Reuters said the protest took place in Slavyanka, near the North Korean border.
European Union environment ministers consider the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s science to be “solid and robust” despite recent errors, Reuters reported, and were convinced that the UN body offered the most authoritative assessment of climate change.
A study funded by the US space agency NASA has concluded that Amazon rain forests were remarkably unaffected in the face of once-in-a-century drought in 2005, neither dying nor thriving, contrary to a previously published report and assertions by the IPCC.
Australia’s top scientists said 100 years of monitoring and research in the world’s driest inhabited continent “clearly demonstrate that climate change is real”. Temperature records are being broken with each passing decade, Reuters quoted a scientist as saying.
The destruction of natural habitats in Europe is wiping out butterfly, beetle and dragonfly species, the updated European “Red List” of endangered species showed, according to Agence France-Presse. And, AFP said, a US study found that climate change is further pushing some North American bird species towards extinction.
Illegal fishing and climate change are decimating shrimp and lobster populations in Central America, said regional experts quoted by Agence France-Presse. Deep beneath an Antarctic ice sheet, meanwhile, a NASA team was surprised to discover a shrimp-like creature and a jellyfish, according to the Associated Press.
Over six in 10 shoppers in the Asia-Pacific region are buying items that are either "fair trade" or environmentally friendly, Reuters cited a credit-card company’s survey as showing.
Because Dubai’s Burj Khalifa skyscraper has been completed as the global economy lies in ruins, it’s tempting to view it as the product of a culture that’s already disappeared, Blaine Brownell wrote in The New York Times. But new highs in architecture and great innovations in materials and structures – in this case, concrete -- have the power to endure.
2010年3月12日
最新中国环境资讯
据路透社报道，中、印两国正式签署了在哥本哈根达成的气候协议。由于该协议不具法律约束力，且没有列明降低温室气体排放的时间表，因而普遍认为这份协议对美国十分有利。
美国研究人员调查显示，富裕国家 “进口”的碳排量约占自身排放量的三分之一。BBC称，科学家运用全球贸易数据库来追踪货物和服务，此方法确定了中国近四分之一的碳排量源于出口西方国家的货物。
新华社报道，中国和国际科学家正准备在青藏高原以及毗邻地区开展关于“第三极”环境联合研究。该项工作会将重点研究水、冰、气、生态系统和人类活动之间的相互影响。
根据新华社的消息，蕴藏大量“可燃冰”和甲烷水合物的青海省将会加大勘探新清洁能源的力度。
环境保护部副部长张力军表示，随着燃煤数量创新高，同时节能目标迟迟无法实现，中国总体的环境状况仍在恶化。法新社则称，城市污水和农业径流严重污染中国的水资源供应。
《中国日报》报道，西安和咸阳两市因污染黄河主要支流渭河，受到陕西省当局40万的罚款处罚。
“资源殆尽”的辽宁阜新市在政府的帮助下，逐渐恢复起生机。路透社称，由于过去矿业和电力的过度开发，阜新市的土壤一度因污染而失去肥力且危机四伏。
新华社报道，虽然甘肃省一些少数民族地区仍然相对落后，但常年贫困的境况已有逐渐缓和的迹象。对此，曾在甘肃工作数年的温家宝总理表示，当地经济发展的同时还必须重视保护环境及增强教育。
新华社称，中国计划在本科教育中增加重点战略学科的人才培养，包括低碳领域、信息技术和生物工程。
据搜狐网报道，恶劣天气、水污染及其他因素导致2009年共22只中华白海豚死于珠江。
BBC消息，两名新疆牧民因牧羊被攻击而杀死一只罕见雪豹，分别被处以8年和10年的有期徒刑。而据新华社报道，据称由于进食过少，沈阳森林野生动物园11只东北虎在3个月时间内相继饿死。
来自中外对话及环球中国环境专家协会
March 12, 2010
A Chinese environmental update
China and India signed up to the non-binding climate accord struck in Copenhagen, boosting a deal strongly favoured by the United States, Reuters reported. The agreement does not include a timetable for cuts in greenhouse-gas emissions.
Rich countries are “importing” about a third of their carbon emissions, according to a study by US-based researchers. Using a global-trade database to track goods and services, the BBC said, the scientists determined that nearly a quarter of China’s emissions come from goods exported to the west.
Chinese and international scientists are preparing to launch a joint study of the environment of the “third pole”, centred on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and neighbouring areas, Xinhua reported. The work will focus on the competing influences of water, ice, air, ecosystem and human activities.
Qinghai province, containing major deposits of China’s “combustible ice”, or methane gas hydrate, will see increased exploration for the new, cleaner energy source, according to Xinhua.
China's environment is “still deteriorating” overall, vice minister of environmental protection Zhang Lijun said, as the country burned record amounts of coal and lagged behind in meeting its energy-saving goals. Agence France-Presse said city waste and agricultural run-off also severely fouls the nation’s water supply.
Shaanxi provincial authorities fined the cities of Xi’an and Xianyang for polluting the Weihe, a major tributary of the Yellow River, China Daily reported.
The “resource-depleted” city of Fuxin in Liaoning province – left a legacy of pollution, inefficiency and perilous land subsidence by mining and power sectors – is recovering with government help, Reuters said.
Premier Wen Jiabao said the environment must be protected and education improved as the poverty-stricken province of Gansu is developed, according to Xinhua.
China intends to create new disciplines in undergraduate schools to nurture more talent for emerging industries of strategic importance, such as the low-carbon sector, information technology and biotechnology, Xinhua reported.
Stormy weather and water pollution were among the main causes of the deaths of 22 Chinese white dolphins in the Pearl River estuary in 2009, according to sohu.com.
Two herdsmen whose sheep were attacked were sentenced to eight and 10 years in prison for killing a rare snow leopard in north-west China’s Xinjiang region, the BBC said. And in Liaoning province, 11 Siberian tigers have died from malnutrition in a privately owned zoo over the past three months, Xinhua reported.
Prepared in cooperation with PACE
2010年3月10日
世界最新环境资讯
根据美国研究人员调查显示，富裕国家所“进口”的二氧化碳排放量约占自身排放量的1/3。BBC称，科学家认为出于道德责任感，这些富裕国家应该率先降低温室气体排放量。
联合国气候变化财政小组新近成立，19名成员中没有一位女性。伊丽莎白勒斯和苏珊白尔在Grist 网回应中提到，在发展中国家，女性往往是受气候变化影响最大的群体，同时也是应对气候变化的轴心群体。
法新社消息，日益恶化的干旱严重影响菲律宾北部的高山水稻梯田，巴拿威地区宣布进入灾难状态。该地区很多稻田由古代石墙围成，也由此闻名世界。
路透社报道，保育专家表示从西非海水提取食盐的行为实际上是在糟蹋沿海的红树林沼泽，并且还会引发水土流失及破坏鱼类资源。
《金融时报》表示，美国电影《海豚屠场》的获奖再次让日本面临危机公关的难题，使该国海上资源开发的压力进一步升级。一方面，呼吁停止在太地町海湾的捕猎海豚的电影斩获奥斯卡大奖，另一方面，该镇镇长却为每年定期的捕猎行动辩护，强调这是日本悠久传统的一部分。
《纽约时报》引述美国地震学家的话称，地球在不断扩张，房屋成城市化人口面临的“不可知大规模杀伤性武器”。由于缺乏新型建筑的实践经验，海地或许是有史以来受地震影响最严重的贫穷国。
BBC消息，土耳其库尔德东部地区发生地震造成至少50人死亡，总理埃尔多安认为这主要源于该地区脆弱的泥砖建筑，并下令重建工作需改变这里的建筑结构。
《纽约时报》表示，刺激新兴的太阳能产业并创造可持续的“绿色”的工作需要周密的政策，而西班牙普尔托努市的教训则可以起到警示作用。
据《纽约时报》报道，两年前承诺恢复佛罗里达州沼泽地的计划发生变数，如今政府却而辅佐并拯救大型糖业公司。
法新社援引保育人士的话警告称，马来西亚人食用海龟蛋的喜好或导致这种生物在该国灭绝。世界自然基金会马来西亚分部表示，海归蛋在当地被奉为佳肴，每年有成千上万的海归蛋被端上餐桌。
March 10, 2010
A global environmental update
Rich countries are “importing” about a third of their CO2 emissions, according to US-based researchers. The scientists say their findings provide an ethical reason why such countries should lead attempts to reduce emissions, the BBC said.
No women were among the 19 people named to a new UN climate-change financing group. Responding in a Grist commentary, Elizabeth Becker and Suzanne Ehlers noted that women in developing countries are the most affected by climate change as well as a pivotal force for building responses to climate impacts.
A worsening drought is severely affecting the world-famous mountain rice terraces of the northern Philippines, Agence France-Presse reported. A state of calamity was declared for the Banaue area, site of many of the ancient stone-walled paddies.
Conservation experts say efforts to extract salt from seawater in west Africa are laying waste to coastal mangrove swamps, causing erosion and ravaging fish stocks, according to Reuters.
Presentation of a US film prize to The Cove has dealt Japan a public relations blow just as the country faces growing pressure on other aspects of its exploitation of maritime resources, The Financial Times said. While the Academy Award focuses attention on the documentary-makers’ call for an end to the dolphin slaughter in Taiji, the town’s mayor defended the annual hunt as part of a long tradition.
The planet’s growing, urbanising population faces “an unrecognised weapon of mass destruction: houses”, The New York Times quoted an American seismologist as saying. Without new construction practices, Haiti’s tragedy may be surpassed in any one of a long list of poor cities facing inevitable major earthquakes.
Turkey’s prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, ordered architectural changes in the Kurdish eastern region where more than 50 people died in a recent quake, the BBC reported. He attributed the number of casualties to the area’s vulnerable mud-brick buildings.
Delicate policy calculations are needed to stimulate nascent solar industries and create sustainable “green” jobs, The New York Times said. The Spanish city of Puertollano’s experience may serve as a cautionary tale.
Nearly two years after pledging to restore Florida’s unique Everglades, the American state’s ambitious rescue plan is on track to save the fortunes of a giant sugar company, The New York Times reported.
Malaysians’ appetite for sea-turtle eggs could drive the creatures to extinction on the country’s shores, Agence France-Presse quoted conservationists as warning. WWF-Malaysia says hundreds of thousands of the eggs are eaten annually as a delicacy.
2010年3月5日
最新中国环境资讯
美联社报道，斯德哥尔摩国际和平研究所的研究结果表明，中国正着手准备迎接由全球升温而导致北极冰盖融化所带来的商业和战略机遇。同时研究还称，虽然中国不在北极地区，但中国非常希望获得北极地区资源开发的权利，并加强相关区域研究活动。
路透社的消息，中国为了表明其严格遏制碳排量的立场，将在下一个五年计划中阐明温室气体减排量的目标与相关地区行业的检测制度。另据中国网报道，温家宝总理在全国人大工作报告会议上做出指示，中国将致力发展低碳技术，加强研发新能源和可再生资源以积极应对气候变化。
《中国日报》报道，中国首座以甘蔗叶和其他农业废料为原料的发电厂已经在广西投入运作。同时搜狐网称，中国颁布空调能源效率新标准，提高市场准入的门槛。
台湾发生6.4级地震，造成停电、高速铁路中断及至少60人受伤。《基督教科学箴言报》表示，虽然这次地震紧接海地和智利的大地震，但由于震源在台北南部，所以从地质学角度来说，此次地震与近期地震活动无关。
中国新闻网报道，黄河水利委员会今年被授予了李耀光水资源奖。 该奖项对黄河水利委员会积极治理河道、制定相关政策、确保了中国第二大河在过去10年不断流的努力表示肯定。
《人民日报》称，自湖北省和安徽省检测出海南种植的豇豆含有毒物质后，更多的省份加入禁止销售海南产豇豆的行列，同时全国范围内均开始对豇豆进行抽查检验。
虎年伊始，黑龙江省传来好消息。在当地俄罗斯边境附近，人们发现了一只罕见的西伯利亚虎。然而没过几天，这只瘦弱的幼崽却死于营养不良。美联社消息称，目前野生西伯利亚虎只有300只左右。
据《中国日报》报道，平时只吃竹子的大熊猫，却在四川省一家猪圈中觅食。这只饥饿的大熊猫被发现在啃食原本给猪吃的骨头，但却将骨头上的肉剥离下来。
来自中外对话及环球中国环境专家协会
March 05, 2010
A Chinese environmental update
China is starting to prepare for the commercial and strategic opportunities arising as global warming melts polar ice cover in the Arctic, the Associated Press reported, citing a study by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI). While it is not an Arctic state, China is keen to have the right to access natural resources, the study said, and is increasing its regional research activity.
In its next five-year plan, China will spell out its greenhouse-gas emissions goals and monitoring rules for regions and sectors, Reuters said, with monitoring to show the country is serious about curbing emissions. In a report to China’s parliament, according to china.org, premier Wen Jiabao said the country would work to develop low-carbon technologies as well as new and renewable energy resources to actively respond to climate change.
China’s first power plant using sugar-cane leaves and other agricultural waste to generate electricity has begun operation in the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, China Daily reported. And the country is raising energy-efficiency standards for air conditioners, sohu.com said, ending sales of the poorest performers.
A 6.4-magnitude earthquake struck Taiwan, injuring more than 60 people, triggering power outages and halting high-speed rail service. Despite occurring soon after massive tremors in Haiti and Chile, the quake -- centred south of Taipei -- was not geologically connected to other recent seismic activity, The Christian Science Monitor reported.
The Yellow River Conservancy Commission (YRCC) has been awarded this year’s Lee Kuan Yew Water Prize, chinanews.com reported. Named for Singapore’s first prime minister, the award recognised the YRCC for river-management initiatives and policies that have enabled China’s second-longest river to flow unabatedly over the last 10 years.
More Chinese provinces have banned the sale of cowpeas grown in Hainan province as concern about use of a toxic pesticide spreads, according to People’s Daily. Nationwide, cowpeas were tested after contamination was detected in Hainan-grown legumes on sale in Hubei and Anhui provinces.
A rare Siberian tiger discovered near the Russian border in Heilongjiang province seemed an auspicious beginning to the Year of the Tiger, but within days the emaciated cub had died of malnutrition, the Associated Press said. Just 300 Siberian tigers are believed to remain in the wild.
And a hungry giant panda was filmed chewing on bones and spitting out meat left for pigs in a farmer’s pen in Sichuan province, according to China Daily. The animal’s diet normally would consist mainly of bamboo.
Prepared in cooperation with PACE
2010年3月3日
世界最新环境资讯
CNN表示，智利8.8级地震的死亡人数已接近800人。随着搜索救援行动继续，这个数字有可能还将上升。同时，美国宇航局称这次地震已使地球的“坐标轴心”移动了8厘米，地球日的长度由此缩短了1.26微秒。
法新社报道，湄公河北部水位目前正处于历史最低水平，严重威胁数百万名居民饮水、航运和灌溉的问题。泰国、老挝北部与中国南部均受到影响。
路透社的消息，阿拉斯加西部纽托克的居民已做好在2012年冻土层融化之前逃离家园的准备，这将使他们成为美国历史上首批气候难民。在美国军方人员的帮助下，居民们正在更高纬度的纳尔逊岛附近，建造一座新的村庄。
就指责气候学家缺乏诚信，怀有偏见和故意欺骗等问题，环境科学家艾伦·索普在《新科学家》杂志上撰文做出回应，表示这种说法对于大多数气候学家而言十分不公。他认为，科学家可能确实犯了错误，但是科学的意义在于知识的积累而非口舌之争。
美国环保人士戈尔在《纽约时报》撰文指出，揭露22年来联合国气候工作小组犯的小过错并不能改变气候变化的事实。
据路透社分析，欧洲引导世界绿色技术的美梦或因未来4年的财务漏洞而落空。中国、日本、美国及其他市场的迅速崛起为欧盟敲了警钟，其技术的先期优势在这场较量中正被逐渐缩小。
法新社引述瑞典能源部长莫德·奥洛夫松的话称，为了大举提升该国可再生能源的生产力，瑞典将在未来十年内新建2000座风力涡轮机。
法新社透露，尽管南非试图打造一届“绿色”世界杯，但由于大量的国际飞行和往来承办城市的国内客运，本次赛事仍将留下一个巨大的碳足迹。预计本届世界杯的碳排量将是2008年北京奥运会的两倍。
路透社消息，印尼总统苏西洛签署了一项法令，允许在森林保护区开发某些被视为具有重要战略意义的项目，包括矿业、发电和交通运输。
BBC报道称，科学家在北大西洋发现了一个塑料碎片堆积区，其面积与“太平洋大垃圾补丁”相当。
March 03, 2010
A global environmental update
The death toll from the 8.8-magnitude earthquake in Chile has reached nearly 800 – a figure likely to rise as search-and-rescue operations continue, CNN said. Meanwhile, a NASA scientist said the quake had shifted the earth’s “figure axis” by about eight centimetres and shortened the length of an earth-day by 1.26 microseconds.
Water levels in the northern Mekong River are at record-low levels, posing a threat to water supply, navigation and irrigation in a region that is home to millions of people, Agence France-Presse reported. Northern Thailand, northern Laos and southern China all have all been affected.
Residents of Newtok, a tiny settlement in western Alaska, are preparing to become the United States’ first climate refugees and flee their homes by 2012 as thawing permafrost washes away, Reuters said. With help from US military personnel, they are building a new, higher village on nearby Nelson Island.
To most climate scientists, accusations about lack of integrity, deceit and bias seem deeply unfair, environmental scientist Alan Thorpe wrote for New Scientist. Mistakes may have been made, he said, but science is about the accumulation of knowledge, not fighting causes.
Writing in The New York Times, US environmentalist Al Gore noted that the reality of climate change has not been altered by the discovery of a few mistakes in 22 years of work by the UN climate panel.
Europe’s plan to lead the green-technology race has a gaping financial hole for the next four years, according to a Reuters analysis. The European Union is seeing its early advantage challenged by strong growth in other markets, notably China, Japan and the United States.
Sweden will build 2,000 new wind turbines over the next decade as part of a bid to dramatically increase its production of renewable energy, Agence France-Presse said, citing energy minister Maud Olofsson.
Although South Africa is trying to “green” the upcoming football World Cup, the tournament is expected to create a massive carbon footprint, due mostly to air travel to the country and internally among host cities. Emissions are estimated to be double those of the 2008 Beijing Olympics, according to Agence France-Presse.
Indonesia’s president, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, has signed a decree allowing projects deemed strategically important -- including mining, power generation and transport -- to take place in protected forests, Reuters reported.
Scientists have discovered an area of the North Atlantic Ocean where plastic debris accumulates, comparable to the “great Pacific garbage patch”, the BBC said.
2010年2月26日
最新中国环境资讯
Mongabay网表示，虽然4年前，由英国带领的保育生物学研究警告白鳍豚濒临灭绝，但时至今日，人们逐渐将此淡忘。由塞谬·尔特维领导的伦敦动物学会研究人员发现了“转移基线”，该基线有力证明了人类跟不上环境变化的进程。
法新社报道，横跨香港和深圳的世界主要候鸟迁徙栖息地被政府和建筑公司相中，若作为可发展用地进行规划，或将破坏该栖息地的生态环境。
路透社称，中国气候变化大使于庆泰警告说，全球升温谈判陷入困境一年，要解决贫富国家在之间的分歧希望渺茫，而这源于主要国家在哥本哈根气候峰会讨论的核心问题上都不肯让步。
《中国日报》引述在哥本哈根气候峰会的国家首席谈判代表苏伟的话表示，中国“不会也不应该”在这个时候设置温室气体排放上限。同时路透社报道，国家主席胡锦涛表示中国将致力于应对气候变化，但却没有公布新的举措。
美联社的消息，在巴厘岛环境会议上，中国外交部官员指责发达国家违背过去的气候承诺。美联社引述将在7月离职的联合国气候秘书长德博埃尔的话表示，全球条约的正式谈判将在4月于波恩拉开帷幕。
据法新社报道，中国的环境问题已经阻断了腾中收购美国通用汽车旗下悍马品牌的梦想。
《德国之声》引述一份联合国报告警告称，在包括中国在内的很多发展中国家，人民的健康正处于越来越多生态破坏和电子废物的威胁之中。
《人民日报》引用气象部门的发言称，云南省正遭受60年最严重的干旱，当地部门近日发射了1555枚人工增雨火箭弹，以降低发生森林火灾的风险。
美联社消息表示，研究人员发现，至少十名曾食用污染牛奶的儿童在六个月后出现肾脏损伤的迹象。
根据Wired.com报道，中国和谷歌的争纷可能对中国科研人员产生消极的影响。该技术网站援引《自然新闻》的调查称，84％接受调查的中国科学家认为，如果谷歌退出市场，将有碍他们的工作进程。
来自中外对话及环球中国环境专家协会
February 26, 2010
A Chinese environmental update
Four years after scientists declared the Yangtze River dolphin likely to be extinct, the baiji is in danger of being forgotten, according to a British-led study in Conservation Biology, mongabay.com said. Researchers led by Samuel Turvey of the Zoological Society of London found clear evidence of “shifting baselines”, where humans lose track of even large changes to their environment.
Lying between Hong Kong and Shenzhen, a haven for birds on one of the world’s main migratory flyways is in danger of fragmentation, Agence France-Presse reported, as government and construction companies eye land for development.
Warning of a year of troubled negotiations, China’s climate-change ambassador, Yu Qingtai, said rich and developing countries have little hope of overcoming key disagreements over how to address global warming, Reuters reported. Major players are unlikely to budge on the issues that stymied talks in Copenhagen, he said.
China “could not and should not” set an upper limit on greenhouse-gas emissions at this time, China Daily quoted Su Wei, the country’s chief negotiator in Copenhagen, as saying. President Hu Jintao stated that China was committed to fighting climate change, but offered no new policies, according to Reuters.
At an environmental meeting in Bali, Chinese foreign ministry official Guo Zaofeng accused developed countries of reneging on past climate commitments, the Associated Press reported. Formal negotiations on a global treaty are to resume in Bonn in April, the news agency said, quoting UN climate chief Yvo de Boer, who is leaving his post in July.
China's environmental concerns have dashed Tengzhong’s dream of buying the iconic Hummer brand of sports utility vehicles from the American car-maker General Motors, Agence-France Presse said.
A UN report warned that developing countries, including China, face increasing ecological and health hazards from electronic waste, reported Deutsche Welle.
Yunnan province launched 1,555 weather rockets to curb the risk of forest fire amid the worst drought in 60 years, said meteorological authorities cited by People’s Daily.
More than one in 10 Chinese children sickened by contaminated milk showed signs of kidney damage six months afterward, researchers have found, according to the Associated Press.
The dispute between China and Google could have unintended negative consequences for scientific researchers in the country, according to Wired.com. The technology website quoted a Nature News survey in which 84% of Chinese scientists polled thought that losing Google would hurt their work process.
Prepared in cooperation with PACE
2010年2月24日
世界最新环境资讯
巴格瓦提教授在《金融时报》撰文，哥本哈根气候峰会的失败在于没有找到拉近贫富国家差距的良方。他认为像世界贸易组织这样的国际机构应扮演关键角色，新的协议必须以此类国际机构的办事原则为基础。
路透社表示，瑞典在世界银行“绿色”证券的投资总额已超过10亿美元。
路透社报道，也门大部分含水土层的造水能力跟不上其消耗速度，而未来20年该国的人口还预计将比现有的2300万增加一倍。水资源专家因此担忧萨那可能成为世界上首个干涸的国家首都。
法新社称，葡萄牙马德拉群岛因洪水施虐遭受巨大的伤亡损失，而环保人士和建筑专家则认为，过去30年的超速发展和粗糙的城市规划要对这场灾难负责。
《卫报》报道，由于受到厄尔尼诺气候现象的影响，委内瑞拉正经历近几十年最严重的干旱。该国宣布进入“电力紧急状态”并派遣古巴飞行员施行人工降雨。
Dawn网报道，在巴基斯坦的北部偏远地区，示威者不满狄阿莫·巴沙大坝工程而游行抗议，当局向人群开火，造成2人死亡。
据《纽约时报》报道，大力保护河流和鲑鱼是值得载入美国史册的重要进步。据悉，各方已协议一致，将拆除俄勒冈州和加里福利亚州克拉马斯河流域上的四座水电大坝。
路透社称，美国环境保护局宣布了一项大湖区生态环境的计划，将减少湖区内包括亚洲鲤鱼在内的入侵物种的数量，同时清理污染物并修复该地区的湿地环境。
法新社援引一项新的研究表示，严格的捕鱼禁令有效改善了澳大利亚大堡礁的生态环境，近三分之一的野生动物和珊瑚得以恢复。法新社表示，欧洲委员会同时提出了对蓝鳍金枪鱼的商业捕捞禁令，预计将于2011年夏天开始执行。
路透社消息，美国总统奥巴马宣布贷款83亿美元，以兴建国家近30年来的首座核电站。此举被认为是提前为国会推动气候立法造势。
法新社报道，孟加拉国拟立法改善拆船业的环保标准，3万名工人担心由此失业而罢工抗议，拆船厂作业陷于瘫痪。
February 24, 2010
A global environmental update
The failure of the Copenhagen climate summit lay in the absence of the creativity required to bridge differences between rich and poor countries, Jagdish Bhagwati wrote in the Financial Times. A new protocol needs to be built, he said, on principles in existing international institutions, such as the World Trade Organisation.
Swedish investments in the World Bank’s “green” bonds have taken the total of such financing to over US$1 billion, Reuters said.
Water experts say Sana’a could become the world’s first capital city to run dry, Reuters reported. More water is consumed than produced from most aquifers in Yemen, a country whose population of 23 million is expected to double in 20 years.
Three decades of rapid development and rogue urban planning are to blame for the heavy toll from flash floods on the Portuguese island of Madeira, Agence France-Presse quoted environmentalists and construction experts as saying.
Experiencing one of its most severe droughts in recent decades – a situation attributed to the El Niño weather phenomenon – Venezuela declared an “electricity emergency” and dispatched Cuban pilots to seed clouds in the hope of provoking rain, according to The Guardian.
In far-northern Pakistan, two people were killed when the authorities opened fire on protesters concerned that their demands regarding the Diamer-Bhasha dam project on the Indus River were not being addressed, Dawn reported.
What supporters are calling the largest river and salmon restoration effort in US history has taken a critical step forward, The New York Times said, as agreements were signed to remove four hydroelectric dams in the Klamath River basin of Oregon and California.
The US Environmental Protection Agency announced a plan to improve the ecology of the Great Lakes by eliminating invasive species such as the Asian carp, cleaning up pollutants and repairing the area’s wetlands, Reuters reported.
Strict fishing bans have helped to regenerate wildlife and coral on one-third of Australia’s Great Barrier Reef, Agence France-Presse cited a new study as showing. And, the agency said, the European Commission proposed a ban on commercial fishing for bluefin tuna, beginning in summer 2011.
US president Barack Obama announced US$8.3 billion in loan guarantees to build the country’s first nuclear power plant in nearly three decades, a move designed to help advance climate legislation in congress, Reuters reported.
Bangladesh’s ship-breaking yards ground to a halt as some 30,000 workers fearing job losses protested a government decree aimed at improving environmental standards in the industry, Agence France-Presse said.
2010年2月19日
最新中国环境资讯
据《金融时报》报道，中国经济增长所需的能源一直以来高度依赖印度洋航运。而近日印度海军表示，将在印度洋为中国提供航运保护，以帮助其船只顺利通过该运输枢纽。
同时合众国际社的消息称，中国在斯里兰卡建设港口及在北京设立亚丁湾海军基地的计划引起中东地区的恐慌，他们担心此举将引发中、印两国的冲突，而势必对重要的能源出口路线造成影响。
据《纽约时报》报道，一艘从德国出发的丹麦集装箱船航行超过一个月方才抵达广州，这比两年前的航行时间多出了一个星期。马士基航运集团将船泊的最高航速减半，主要航线的燃料消耗从而减少了30%，碳排放也同时得到同程度的削减。
中国网表示，陕西省通过造林工程效果显著，黄土高原腹地成功抵御沙漠侵蚀。
亚洲发展银行批准了1.35亿美元贷款，以帮助建立中国首个整体煤气化联合循环煤电厂。煤电厂选址于天津，将采用最新技术实现显著的减排，而成为发展中国家同类型煤电厂的领先者。
一家总部设在美国的环境市场调研公司McIlvaine称, 2010年水泥行业在中国的带领下，有望将在空气污染控制领域投资超过35亿美元。
内蒙古康巴什是由政府牵头打造的国家一流城市，而其建设资金主要来自煤炭行业。但《外交政策》杂志的一份报告则指出，这既是一座新兴城市，同时也是一座空城。
《纽约时报》的消息，中国电动自行车行业的发展正在带动整个世界，无论在印度、欧洲还是美国，该行业的盈利和销售额都在快速的提升。
绿色和平组织指出，水污染问题是中国“最大的悲剧之一”。有鉴于此，该组织认为政府必须下决心将广东省20家工厂列入污染户的黑名单。
BBC引述一项研究表示，老虎于320万年前开始进化，而同样濒临灭绝的雪豹则是他们的近亲。
世界自然基金会表彰中国淡水生态学家陈宜瑜，肯定其在长江白鳍豚和洪湖生态保护工作中取得的成绩。同时，任职亚洲通讯社并为中外对话撰文的乔伊迪普•格普塔，其关于喜马拉雅地区的气候变化问题的文章也获得了山地综合开发国际中心的嘉奖。
来自中外对话及环球中国环境专家协会
February 19, 2010
A Chinese environmental update
China has been offered Indian navy protection to help it secure shipping lanes in the Indian Ocean that are critical to the Chinese economy’s energy needs, the Financial Times reported.
United Press International, meanwhile, said China’s construction of a port in Sri Lanka and a Chinese admiral’s suggestion that Beijing build a naval base in the Gulf of Aden have raised fears in the Middle East that a confrontation between China and India is looming along vital energy-export routes.
A Danish container ship took more than a month to reach Guangdong from Germany -- a week longer than it did two years ago, The New York Times reported. By halving its ships’ top cruising speed, Maersk cut fuel consumption on major routes by up to 30% and carbon emissions by a similar amount.
Shaanxi province has fended off desert encroachment in the heartland of the Loess Plateau through afforestation projects, China.com said.
The Asian Development Bank approved a US$135-million loan to help build China’s first integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC) coal-power plant. Using technology that significantly lowers carbon emissions, the plant in Tianjin would be the first of its kind in the developing world.
With China leading the way, the cement industry will invest more than US$3.5 billion for air pollution-control systems in 2010, said the McIlvaine Company, a US-based environmental market research firm.
Kangbashi, in Inner Mongolia, is a state-of-the-art city built by the government and funded with coal money. But according to a report in Foreign Policy, it is both a boom town and a ghost town.
The Chinese electric-bicycle industry is spurring worldwide interest and impressive sales in India, Europe and the United States, said The New York Times.
Noting that water pollution in China is “one of the country’s biggest tragedies”, Greenpeace saw “great significance” in a government decision to blacklist 20 factories in Guangdong province.
According to a study cited by the BBC, the tiger began evolving 3.2 million years ago, and its closest living relative is the equally endangered snow leopard.
WWF honoured Chinese freshwater ecologist Chen Yiyu, who has led groundbreaking studies on the Yangtze River dolphin and championed research on Lake Hong’s ecosystems. And the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) honoured chinadialogue author Joydeep Gupta for an article on climate change in the Himalayas, written for the Indo-Asian News Service.
Prepared in cooperation with PACE
2010年2月17日
世界最新环境资讯
据Grist网站报道，近日在美国发生的一系列暴风雪天气以及加拿大冬奥“缺雪”的状况均被视为全球变暖的后果。气候学家杰夫·马斯特斯解释道，天气变得极端化、难以预测和更具破坏性，再加上今年频发的厄尔尼诺现象，这些都属于气候变化理论的一部分。
法新社的消息，美国气候变化问题特使托德·斯特恩指责某些利益集团夸大科学错误，认为他们揪住个别人的过错甚至错字，企图击垮气候变化研究的基础。
《卫报》表示，波罗的海流域的国家首脑在赫尔辛基举行会谈，就拯救被污染的波罗的海达成一致意见，各国将在未来公书“后哥本哈根”跨国界的环保蓝图。 同时法新社称，14个多瑙河流域国家的部长们也聚首维也纳，通过了一项清理和保护“欧洲亚马逊”的决议。
法新社报道，联合国秘书长潘基文近日成立了一个高级别的咨询委员会，以帮助发展中国家筹集气候变化资金。该委员会将由英国和埃塞俄比亚两国一同领导。
中外对话编辑伊莎贝尔·希尔顿在《卫报》撰文称，在美国及全球范围内激荡的气候辩论逐渐陷入政治疲软和内讧的泥潭之中。
《每日太空》援引美国研究人员的说法称，空气中的黑碳气溶胶是大部分喜马拉雅地区冰雪和冰川融化的罪魁祸首。此外，《新科学家》表示，75%已流失的格陵兰冰川是源于底层海冰的融化。
《卫报》报道，加州一项法律在事实上对加拿大油砂下达了禁令，而包括BP石油和壳牌公司在内的一个行业小组近日则对该法律提出质疑。与此同时，该报称加拿大正将目光转向来自中国和其他亚洲国家的投资。
路透社表示，以英国研究员为主的一个科学小组近日公布了他们的发现，他们所掌握的有力证据表明，印尼天然气勘探井的开采促发了当地泥火山的喷发。
《新科学家》的消息，环保主义者反对英国拟在印度洋查戈斯群岛周边建立海洋保护区的计划，该地区拥有目前世界上保护最完整的珊瑚礁体系之一。
据法新社报道，原本习惯了佛罗里达群岛温暖水温的珊瑚礁近日因美国南部海水的巨幅降温而大面积的死亡。
February 17, 2010
A global environmental update
Weather events such as the serial blizzards in the United States and rain rather than snow at the winter Olympics in Canada are to be expected as the earth’s climate warms, Grist reported. Climate-change theory holds that less predictable, more extreme and more damaging weather will increase. The El Niño phenomenon is also playing a role this year, wrote climatologist Jeff Masters.
Vested interests are exploiting scientific errors, said US climate envoy Todd Stern, who noted that “any individual mistakes, typos, whatever they might be” should not be used to undermine a “very fundamental record” on climate change, according to Agence France-Presse.
In agreeing joint action to rescue the polluted Baltic Sea, summit participants in Helsinki saw a post-Copenhagen paradigm for future cross-border environmental action, according to The Guardian. In Vienna, meanwhile, ministers from the 14 Danube river basin countries adopted a plan to clean up and protect the “Amazon of Europe”, Agence France-Presse said.
UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon set up a high-level advisory panel – led by Britain and Ethiopia – to mobilise funding to help developing nations address climate change, Agence-France-Presse reported.
The climate debate in the United States – and so the world -- is mired in political weakness and infighting, chinadialogue editor Isabel Hilton wrote in The Guardian.
Most of the snow and ice melt on Himalayan glaciers is due to airborne black carbon aerosols, SpaceDaily reported, quoting US researchers. And, said New Scientist, ocean warmth, causing melting from below, accounts for 75% of ice lost by Greenland’s glaciers.
An industry group including BP and Shell launched a legal challenge against California legislation that in effect rules out the use of oil from Canadian tar sands, The Guardian reported. Meanwhile, Canada is courting tar-sands investment from China and other Asian countries, the newspaper said.
British-led researchers say they have found the strongest evidence yet that links a devastating mud volcano in Indonesia to drilling at a gas-exploration well, Reuters reported.
Conservationists are at odds over a British plan to create a marine protection zone around a large portion of the Chagos archipelago in the Indian Ocean, according to New Scientist. The area is home to one of the world’s most unspoiled coral reef systems.
Plummeting sea temperatures in the southern United States have been killing coral reefs in the normally warm waters off the Florida Keys, Agence France-Presse reported.
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