http://www.rttnews.com/2465008/environment-report-shows-eu-policies-delivering-benefits.aspx

Environment Report Shows EU Policies Delivering Benefits 

 A new report published in 3/3/2015 Tuesday that the policies of Europe regarding environments were very beneficial in making significant improvements.
Europeans enjoy cleaner air and water, send less waste to landfill and recycle more; while environmental policies drive jobs and growth. 

Europe has established their climate and energy EU2020 objectives. This has resulted into a variety of improvements. It includes greenhouse gas emissions falling by 19 percent since 1990 while the EU economy grew by 45 percent. Also, The Report says that between 2000 and 2011, green industries grew by more than 50 percent in the EU, making them one of the few sectors to have consistently flourished despite the crisis. 

 Despite all these improvements, there are some aspects that were not yet covered. These are marine diversities. Europe is not on track to halt biodiversity loss, as habitats for animals and plants continue to disappear. Marine biodiversity, in particular, remains under threat. In the course of 2015 (a year dedicated to Natural Capital), the Commission will complement the findings of the Report with an in-depth report on the "State of Nature".  

 Although there are some aspects to cover, direct policies are showing significant changes to our environment. If other countries also adopts these policies, there can be a big change to our environment.  

 

Reported by Ga Yeon Kathy Moon 

Coral Reefs are in danger

The coral reefs around the world are getting damaged by the warm water around them. 
Most coral reefs can only handle temperature as high as 29 degrees Celsius. Nevertheless, recent temperatures of sea water has been going over 29 degrees. If the temperatures goes higher than 29 degrees, the coral release the algae living in their tissue. The name of this process is called "bleaching" because it makes the coral turn white. But more importantly, this increases the chance they will get diseases and die. Corals and the algae that live in them need each other to remain healthy.

Coral reefs have been in danger for many years. Human actions such as polluting, overfishing, and construction damage them too, but climate change is the biggest threat to the corals. Scientists also blame the acidic water for the reason to cause the corals to die. Acidic water is caused by oceans absorbing the carbon dioxide in the atmosphere which comes from climate changes. The acidic water makes it hard for the corals to get calcium which they need for growing shells.

However, thankfully, it looks like the corals and algae will settle in with the temperature change quickly. 

"It's not all doom and gloom for the corals," marine biologist Andrew Baker says. He adds that they can respond to bleaching in several different ways and "very quickly, within a few years."

Reported by Cindy Kim

Earth Hour 2015

Earth Hour is getting closer - to you! 

Every year on the last Saturday of March, millions of people turn off their lights for one hour to celebrate our planet. Would you like to attend the world's biggest candle-lit dinner, or party in the darkness? Join by setting up your clock for 28 March, 8:30-9:30 pm.

Report by Alberta Yoo

"Our Beautiful Earth" : Children's cartoon by WWF-Korea

Released in Seoul Korea on March 18th 2015, WWF-Korea produced a children’s environmental educational cartoon called, ‘Our Beautiful Earth’. Through ‘family friendly’ messages and through the voices of a Panda, a Bear and a Crane, this unique cartoon, tells a story about the critical threats to our natural environment and the future of our Earth, if we do nothing to change our patterns, as humans.

This cartoon is designed to simplify the important summary of the 2014 Living Planet Report, for children and early childhood educators.

Korean Version:
http://issuu.com/wwf-korea/docs/cartoon_kr/1
English Version:
http://issuu.com/wwf-korea/docs/cartoon_en/1

Report by Alberta Yoo

KEYSTONE XL

Celebrities in the video:Daryl Hannah, Lance Bass, Frances Fisher, Francesca Eastwood, Malin Akerman, Emily VanCamp, Sara Gilbert, Rachelle Lefevre, Dawn Olivieri, Bryn Mooser, Ed Begley, Jr., and Darby Stanchfield

TransCanada is trying to build the Keystone XL (KXL), an 875-mile pipeline that would transport up to 830,000 barrels of dirty tar sands crude from Alberta, Canada. This pipeline is part of an effort by the oil industry to export millions of barrels per day of tar sands from Alberta through the United States to international markets. Extracting tar sands is one of the most destructive projects on earth. Reliance on tar sands oil hinders our ability to avoid climate disaster.

The US now faces a clear choice: promote the oil industry's interests by green-lighting the most carbon-intensive, destructive oil on the planet, or demonstrate a bold commitment to addressing climate disruption and promoting clean energy solutions by saying NO to Keystone XL.

Reported by Alberta Yoo

Antarctica Ice Meltdown

Now in 2015, ice in Antarctica is melting faster than ever. This shocked a lot of scientists because they didn't expect ice melting proceed so fast like this. Now melting all the ice doesn't just melt in a day. Scientists estimate that it will take 200 to 100 years for all the ice to melt. However, a small amount of ice melting can cause the melting rate to increase. So even a bit of ice loss can lead to further warming of the ocean surface, which can lead to even more ice loss.

Since 1975, the ice melting over the world especially Antarctica has been growing at an amazing rate. This can affect a lot of people in this world. Since there are many citizens living in coastal areas, there is a possibility that there can be more floods. Agricultural areas will also be harmed due to this ice meltdown. In addition, the sea creatures in Antarctica will affected very badly. Lastly, the biggest reason that this is such a huge problem is global warming and climate change. The thinning of the ice and the water getting warmer is transferring the temperature into the air. Antarctica is supposed to be a very cold place but with this meltdown, the climate going up every year. These animals such as penguins are adapted to the cold weather and ice but if that goes away, they will eventually perish.

posted by Justin Chung

Eiffel Tower's green make over

The Eiffel Tower’s iron-clad frame turned slightly greener last week, with the installation of two new wind turbines along its lower deck. Perched some 400 feet above the ground, atop a ritzy, second-level restaurant, the slender turbines are part of a broader effort to make Paris’ most iconic monument more eco-friendly — even if only slightly. 

When they go into operation next week, the 17-foot structures will provide enough electricity to power the tower's first-floor commercial areas — about 10,000kWh per year. Jan Gromadzki, an engineer who oversaw the project for New York-based Urban Green Energy (UGE), says that's enough to power an average American family’s home for one year. But for the Eiffel Tower — which consumes an estimated 6.7 GWh a year — “it's just a small drop in the ocean."

Paris has also embraced greener policies in recent months, ahead of hosting a global summit on climate change in December. The city recently called for all municipal buildings and public lighting to exclusively use electricity from renewable sources by the year 2016, and Mayor Anne Hidalgo wants to ban all diesel vehicles from Paris by 2020, in the hopes of easing its smog problems. The hope is that planting discrete wind turbines on the city’s most recognizable building will not only reaffirm Paris' eco-friendly agenda, but spur others to adopt similar technologies, as well.

"It really does represent this big leap forward for renewable energy as a whole, to have this technology to the point where it can be easily adopted by consumers like the Eiffel Tower," Gromadzki says. "And I think that was something that, five years ago, no one would've been ready for. It demonstrates that we’ve come this far to create renewable energy technologies that can be easily integrated into the daily lives of people around the world."

Original Report by the Verge.com

posted by Alberta Yoo