Transboundary pollution: This is any type of pollution which spreads across more than one country. Acid rain is a classic example of a transboundary pollution because it can be blown anywhere by the wind.
Acid Rain
Acid rain was first discovered in Manchester, UK in 1852, but it was not properly studied until the 1960's. Acid rain can take two forms, wet deposition and dry deposition. Wet deposition is when pollutants mix with rain water and fall to the ground as acidic precipitation. Dry deposition is when pollutants and particulates fall to the ground without mixing with rain water. Some acid rain has had pH levels as low as 2
Sulphur dioxide and nitrous oxides are the two main chemicals that react with water to make acid rain. The chemicals are commonly released from power stations, factories and transport. Traditionally sulphur dioxide has been the biggest contributing chemical, accounting for about two thirds and nitrous oxides the other third. However, in most areas of the world the importance of sulphur dioxide is decreasing and nitrous oxides increasing. Acid rain can cause many problems including:
Damage to buildings
Metals (iron, aluminum, etc.) dissolved by acid rain can be washed into water courses
Vegetation can be damaged and growth reduced
Lakes and rivers can become acidic harming the ecosystem and aquatic life
Soil acidity increases
Acid rain is known as a transboundary pollutant because it can be blown from one country to another - it does not obey national boundaries and in fact it is often non polluting countries that are most seriously impacted. Because it is a transboundary polluter acid rain tends to be worst in the direction of the prevailing (or dominant) wind from major industrial locations. The map below shows that the east coast of the US suffers badly from acid rain, its rain has an average pH of 4. Large parts of Europe and also the east coast of China are also badly affected.
Acid rain can be reduced by reducing the amount of fossil fuels burnt or at least burning coal with a lower sulphur content, by using a greater proportion of renewable energy, by using more public transport and cleaner forms of transport and by removing pollution at source with the use of scrubbers.
Dry Deposition: When acid falls directly back to earth without mixing with precipitation. This tends to happen close to source.
Wet Deposition: When acids are dissolved in precipitation and fall to the ground as acid rain
For a different case study of transboundary pollution read about the Chernobyl accident: Human-induced Hazard
Hungary Sludge (River Danube Pollution)
On the 4th October 2010 a reservoir at an alumina plant in Ajka, Hungary burst releasing an estimated 1 million cubic metres of sludge. The alkaline sludge was released into tributaries of the Danube (Europe's longest river). By Thursday the sludge reached the Danube despite emergency officials trying to neutralise the alkaline with clays and acids. pH levels in the river initially climbed to 9 but started to fall as it became diluted and neutralised. The spill has caused huge environmental damage over a large areas and claimed the lives of seven people, mostly from the 2 metre high flood when the reservoir broke. MAL Hungarian Aluminum the company behind the spill is owned by three of Hungary's richest men. The company released $150,000 to help with clean up costs.
Polluted waters from the Songhua River in China were expected to reach the Amur River on the 4th August 2010. The pollution in the Songhua River started after 3,000 barrels of explosive chemicals were washed into the river after a flood. The barrels contained methyl chloride. Chinese and Russian officials are worried that the chemicals may impact drinking water supplies. Drinking water for the Chinese city Jilin is taken from the river and the Russian city of Khabarovsk also use water from the river for drinking. China has a worsening record of river pollution. When ever rivers are polluted the chance of the pollution incident becoming regional or transboundary is increased.
Civil society: An organisation or movement that works in the area between the household, private sector and state to negotiate matters of public concern e.g. NGOs, community groups, academic institutions and trade unions.
NGO: Non-governmental organisations are organisations that operate independently from any government or government organisation.
NPO: Non-profit organisations do not aim to make a profit that is taken from the company. Instead any surpluses made a re reinvested in order to meet their stated goals.
Philanthropist: A person who donates time and/or money for the public good.
Charitable organisation: A NPO that focuses on philanthropic purposes or aims.
As suggested by the Kuznets curve, environmental awareness increases with economic development. Environmental awareness increases because:
Increased publicity and campaigning by NGOs and charitable organisations e.g. Greenpeace
Increased coverage of environmental problems by media organisations e.g. BBC and CNN
Environmental disasters like the BP Oil Spill have heightened awareness
Improved economic development allows people to consider other matters rather than just the economy and making money
Because people have more leisure time and greater disposable income they have more time to enjoy the environment so would like it protected
Government have created more protected areas e.g. National Parks as well as the UN e.g. World Heritage Sites which has increased the profile of the environment
Political parties like the Green party in the UK are growing in importance and stature and are increasing people awareness
Environmental campaigns can be spread easily via social media like Youtube, Twitter and blogs
Education about the environment e.g. the three R (reduce, reuse, recycle) has improved at school
The number of recycling centres and recycling bins have increased which has increased awareness
Environmental labelling e.g. FSC and Dolphin Friendly have made consumers more aware of the environment
The environment has been made one of the Millennium Development Goals - Goal 7 is Environmental Sustainability
UN conferences like the Rio Earth Summit have increased global awareness of the environment
Global issues like acid rain, the greenhouse effect and the hole in the ozone layer are better understood and better publicised and taught
Date of formation, country of origin, headquarters and members
Greenpeace was founded in 1971 in Vancouver, Canada. It now has offices in other 40 countries worldwide, but its coordinating body is in Amsterdam. Greenpeace now has nearly 3 million active members worldwide
Friends of the Earth was founded in 1969 in the US and became an international organisation two years later. It is now represented in 76 countries and has a small headquarters in Amsterdam. Friends of the Earth now has over 2 million active members
Mission statement
Greenpeace started as an anti-nuclear and anti-war movement. Greenpeace now states that its goal is to 'ensure the ability of the earth to nurture life in all its diversity'. Its main focuses now are:
Climate change
Forests
Oceans
Agriculture
Toxic pollution
Nuclear disarmament and peace
Friends of the Earth say that they "challenge the current model of economic and corporate globalization, and promote solutions that will help to create environmentally sustainable and socially just societies". Friends of the Earth's main priorities at the moment are:
Agrofuels
Climate justice and energy
Food sovereignty
Economic justice
Forests and biodiversity
Resisting the mining for oil and gas
Fundraising Campaigns
To remain independent (NGO), Greenpeace do not except contributions off governments or corporations, but instead rely on donations from individuals. In 2008 Greenpeace raised close to 200 million euros from its supporters.
Greenpeace's first campaign was sailing a small boat into a remote part of Alaska where the US government was testing nuclear weapons. Since this first campaign the use of ships by Greenpeace has been very important in observing, recording and reporting environmental incidents. Greenpeace currently has three large ships and many more inflatables. Greenpeace's most famous ship was the Rainbow Warrior which was actually sunk in Auckland harbour by French special forces who were unhappy about it recording its nuclear testing in the Southern Pacific Ocean..
Like Greenpeace, Friends of the Earth get their donations from private individuals. They collect in various ways including:
Street fundraising
Door to door fundraising
Internet
Like many charitable organisations it is possible to make regular monthly contributions to Friends of the Earth via direct debit.
Friends of the Earth and Greenpeace both score very well for how they spend the donations they receive.
Awareness and Publicity
Greenpeace like most current organisations use a growing variety of techniques to contact, inform, educate and communicate with people around the world. Techniques include:
Website
Twitter
Youtube
Leaflets
Student resources
Blogs
Facebook
News releases
Posters and billboards
Friends of the Earth like most current organisations use a growing variety of techniques to contact, inform, educate and communicate with people around the world. Techniques include:
Website
Twitter
Youtube
Leaflets
Student resources
Blogs
Facebook
News releases
Posters and billboards
Examples of charitable work
Greenpeace believes in non-violent protest and has tried numerous techniques to stop environmental damage including:
Petitions to governments to protect species like tuna
Boycotts of oil companies causing damage
Sit in protests against the building of environmentally damaging structures e.g. third runway at Heathrow
Petition the Brazilian government over its new forest code
Friends of the Earth have numerous ongoing campaigns including:
Supporting the rights of local communities to fight against damaging and exploitative mining.
Challenging the influence of big corporations
Improving water management
Educating people about problems of agrofuels e.g. palm oil
As well as large global NGOs, individuals can also make a huge difference in highlighting and promoting environmental awareness. Two of the most famous are Al Gore and Jane Goodall.
Al Gore
Jane Goodall
Nationality
Albert Gore was born in 1948 in Washington D.C, US. Al Gore was Bill Clinton's vice president and lost a controversial presidential race to George Bush in 2000. He has since become more famous for his environmental work.
Jane Goodall was born in London the UK in 1934. She went to the University of Cambridge. She now divides her time between the UK and Tanzania.
Causes
Al Gore is passionate about the environment, but is now most well known for his work on climate change.
Jane Goodall is passionate about primates and in particular chimpanzees. She began studying chimpanzees in Gombe Stream National Park in 1960.
Awareness
Campaigns
Publicity
Al Gore is probably most well known for his documentary "An Inconvenient Truth" which was also a book. However, his campaigning started much earlier than that in 1976. He has lobbied government, pushed for the government to sign up to the Kyoto Protocol, written two further environmental books, Earth in the Balance and Our Choice as well as performing countless speeches and interviews around the world.
Jane Goodall has actively tried to get young people involved in her work. She heavily involved in an organisation called "Roots and Shoots" which aims to get young people active in environmental campaigns. She has also written a book (Hope for animals and their world) and again performed countless speeches and interviews. http://www.rootsandshoots.org/
Transboundary pollution
Transboundary pollution: This is any type of pollution which spreads across more than one country. Acid rain is a classic example of a transboundary pollution because it can be blown anywhere by the wind.
Acid Rain
Acid rain was first discovered in Manchester, UK in 1852, but it was not properly studied until the 1960's. Acid rain can take two forms, wet deposition and dry deposition. Wet deposition is when pollutants mix with rain water and fall to the ground as acidic precipitation. Dry deposition is when pollutants and particulates fall to the ground without mixing with rain water. Some acid rain has had pH levels as low as 2
Sulphur dioxide and nitrous oxides are the two main chemicals that react with water to make acid rain. The chemicals are commonly released from power stations, factories and transport. Traditionally sulphur dioxide has been the biggest contributing chemical, accounting for about two thirds and nitrous oxides the other third. However, in most areas of the world the importance of sulphur dioxide is decreasing and nitrous oxides increasing. Acid rain can cause many problems including:
Acid rain is known as a transboundary pollutant because it can be blown from one country to another - it does not obey national boundaries and in fact it is often non polluting countries that are most seriously impacted. Because it is a transboundary polluter acid rain tends to be worst in the direction of the prevailing (or dominant) wind from major industrial locations. The map below shows that the east coast of the US suffers badly from acid rain, its rain has an average pH of 4. Large parts of Europe and also the east coast of China are also badly affected.
Acid rain can be reduced by reducing the amount of fossil fuels burnt or at least burning coal with a lower sulphur content, by using a greater proportion of renewable energy, by using more public transport and cleaner forms of transport and by removing pollution at source with the use of scrubbers.
Dry Deposition: When acid falls directly back to earth without mixing with precipitation. This tends to happen close to source.
Wet Deposition: When acids are dissolved in precipitation and fall to the ground as acid rain
Third of China 'hit by acid rain' - BBC article
Forests Fall Silent Because of acid rain - BBC article
UK sites in Acid Rain Recovery - BBC article
For a different case study of transboundary pollution read about the Chernobyl accident: Human-induced Hazard
Hungary Sludge (River Danube Pollution)
On the 4th October 2010 a reservoir at an alumina plant in Ajka, Hungary burst releasing an estimated 1 million cubic metres of sludge. The alkaline sludge was released into tributaries of the Danube (Europe's longest river). By Thursday the sludge reached the Danube despite emergency officials trying to neutralise the alkaline with clays and acids. pH levels in the river initially climbed to 9 but started to fall as it became diluted and neutralised. The spill has caused huge environmental damage over a large areas and claimed the lives of seven people, mostly from the 2 metre high flood when the reservoir broke. MAL Hungarian Aluminum the company behind the spill is owned by three of Hungary's richest men. The company released $150,000 to help with clean up costs.
Toxic Sludge Carpets Homes in Hungary - BBC article
Hungary Sludge Death Toll Rises After Two Bodies Found - BBC article
Hungary calms Danube sludge fears as death toll rises - BBC article
China (Songhua River)
Polluted waters from the Songhua River in China were expected to reach the Amur River on the 4th August 2010. The pollution in the Songhua River started after 3,000 barrels of explosive chemicals were washed into the river after a flood. The barrels contained methyl chloride. Chinese and Russian officials are worried that the chemicals may impact drinking water supplies. Drinking water for the Chinese city Jilin is taken from the river and the Russian city of Khabarovsk also use water from the river for drinking. China has a worsening record of river pollution. When ever rivers are polluted the chance of the pollution incident becoming regional or transboundary is increased.
Chemical waters of polluted Chinese river to reach Russia in four days - Moscow News
Earlier pollution in same river:
Toxic leak threat to Chinese city - BBC article
Environmental Awareness
Civil society: An organisation or movement that works in the area between the household, private sector and state to negotiate matters of public concern e.g. NGOs, community groups, academic institutions and trade unions.
NGO: Non-governmental organisations are organisations that operate independently from any government or government organisation.
NPO: Non-profit organisations do not aim to make a profit that is taken from the company. Instead any surpluses made a re reinvested in order to meet their stated goals.
Philanthropist: A person who donates time and/or money for the public good.
Charitable organisation: A NPO that focuses on philanthropic purposes or aims.
As suggested by the Kuznets curve, environmental awareness increases with economic development. Environmental awareness increases because:
http://www.greenpeace.org/international/en/
http://www.foei.org/
Greenpeace's first campaign was sailing a small boat into a remote part of Alaska where the US government was testing nuclear weapons. Since this first campaign the use of ships by Greenpeace has been very important in observing, recording and reporting environmental incidents. Greenpeace currently has three large ships and many more inflatables. Greenpeace's most famous ship was the Rainbow Warrior which was actually sunk in Auckland harbour by French special forces who were unhappy about it recording its nuclear testing in the Southern Pacific Ocean..
Like many charitable organisations it is possible to make regular monthly contributions to Friends of the Earth via direct debit.
Friends of the Earth and Greenpeace both score very well for how they spend the donations they receive.
Greenpeace activists close down BP stations in London - BBC article
Greenpeace Plan to build Fortress on HEathrow runway site - Guardian article
Friends of the Earth urges end to 'land grab' for biofuels - GUardian article
Campaigns
Publicity
http://www.rootsandshoots.org/
MPs warn UK pollution outsourcing - BBC article