"As long as any adult thinks that he, like the parents and teachers of old, can become introspective, invoking his own youth to understand the youth before him, he is lost."Margaret Mead
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A Simple Way To Offset the Environmental Effects of Driving Your Car
We all love our cars. They give us the freedom to come and go as we please, to get to work, to visit family and friends, to go shopping...on our own schedule. But automobiles also effect the environment by polluting the air we breathe and, in the larger ...
Computer e-waste recycling now fueled by lack of Australian legislation.
Motivated by the lack of Australian government legislation and limited options available concerning the disposal of computer e-waste, IT Recyclers has initiated a much needed computer recycling service aimed primarily at Sydney business who wish to play ...
Floribunda Roses - All You Need To Know
Floribunda roses are some of the most amazing out there because of the large, dense amounts of buds that are produced. These roses will have simultaneously occurring blooms in each truss. They are less perfect looking roses but are so dense in their ...
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The International Maritime Organization (IMO) has adopted a legally binding Convention banning the application of organotin anti-fouling paints on ships' hulls by 2003 and its presence by 2008. This requires not less than 25 States, the combined merchant fleets of which constitute not less than 25% of the gross tonnage of the world's merchant shipping, it's not likely that the Convention will enter into force by 2002. So WWF is seeking commitments from industry and government to show active support for the IMO Convention. This will be achieved through eliminating the use of organotin paints, with action taken to bring about such elimination of the use organotins before 2003, the date proposed by the IMO.
The main qualification for membership in the 2003 Group (organotin-free group) will be that the industry player concerned is fully organotin-free by January 1st 2003. Membership will not be granted to the shipping companies unless their entire fleet is organotin free by 2003.
Organotin compounds, such as TBT, are considered to be amongst the most toxic chemicals ever released into the marine environment. Even at very low concentrations, they have been shown to produce serious negative impacts upon marine life. These cause the disruption of the hormone systems in marine invertebrates, such as dogwhelks, causing fremales to acquire the sexual characteristics of males. Studies show that organotins are present in
marine species at all levels of the ecosystem: fish, birds and mammals. Possible human endocrine disrupting properties of organotins have been seen.
Anti-fouling paints on ships' hulls is a major source of organotins. Organotin paint has been partially banned for use on smaller vessels. This has been shown to reduce levels of organotin, but their continued use on larger ships, and the fact that the compounds can persist in sediments for a lengthy time period, means that the marine environment is still saturated with these chemicals at unacceptably high levels.
To support conservation of marine biodiversity and reduce destructive human impacts it is imperative that the use of these organotin compounds be phased out. This chemical is considered to be the most toxic chemical ever deliberately released into the marine environment.
Contacts:
Patricia Cameron
Pollution Prevention Officer
WWF Germany - Marine and Coastal Division
Am Güthpol 11
D - 28757 Bremen
Germany
Tel. +49 421 65846 16
Fax +49 421 65846 26
email: _ HYPERLINK mailto:Cameron@wwf.de __Cameron@wwf.de_mailto:svowles@wwf.org.uk __svowles@wwf.org.uk_
Dr Simon Vowles
Marine Policy Officer [Pollution]
WWF
Panda House
Weyside Park
Godalming GU7 1XR
UK
Tel ++44 1483 426 444
About the Author
Margot B, Writer & Web Developer
http://www.writers.Org-HQ.com
mailto:margotb@wonderport.com
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 Winter weather forecast looks as unstable as markets, says Environment Canada (The Canadian Press via Yahoo! Canada News)
TORONTO - The instability plaguing financial markets seems to have spilled over into the environment, making the winter forecast from Environment Canada a crapshoot of sorts, one of this country's top weather gurus said Monday.
Sportsmen and the Environment (KBTV Beaumont)
Sportsmen have a unique relationship with the environment. It's estimated a third of all Americans hunt, fish, or watch wildlife. They realize conservation efforts are in their own best interest.
Environment issues rank high in Mizoram poll (Calcutta News)
Unlike in most other Indian states, environment and global warming rank very high as issues in the assembly elections in green Mizoram.
Statement of Angela Anderson, Pew Environment Group, on the Opening of the Poznan Climate Talks (PR Newswire via Yahoo! News)
Today, Angela Anderson, Director of the Pew Environment Group's International Global Warming Campaign, issued the following statement on the opening of the Poznan climate talks. At this meeting, more than 190 nations are negotiating a new global treaty to curb global warming pollution that will replace the Kyoto Protocol. The meeting runs from December 1 to December 12.
Barclays Wealth issues study that highlights improvement on Middle Eastern & North African environment for entrepreneurs (AME Info)
A new report published today by Barclays Wealth and the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), entitled 'The Entrepreneur in Adversity', reveals that the MENA region has seen the largest improvement in the environment for entrepreneurship over the past decade.
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