JESSE ROGERSON:  Vancouver issued its first air quality warning of the year on Wednesday August 5th as smoke from forest fires swept through the city. The quality of the air reached a ranking of 6 out of 10, or ‘moderate’ on the Air Quality Health Index, where it remained until it rained.

The soot from the fires is especially hazardous to infants and elderly individuals with pre-existing lung conditions. During times of poor air quality, Vancouver recommends that at risk groups remain in well ventilated areas or air conditioned buildings with shut windows. Those experiencing discomfort in breathing are encouraged to see their doctor.

The 2010 fiscal year has been particularly destructive in terms of gross area burned by the province’s fires. Compared to last year, 2010 has seen an increase in almost 10 times more hectares burned by man-made and natural forest fires. The carbon emission from forest fires in Canada are known to reach levels equal to those emitted by the industrial sector. [ index ]

DARYN CAISTER:  An ad released by Corporate Ethics International is having a major impact on Alberta’s tourism potential according to a new poll. The ad claims to show the reality of the tar sands in Alberta and encourages potential tourists to stay away. The effect of viewing the ad reduces the likelihood someone will visit Alberta as a tourist by a devastating 50% according to the poll. The Angus Reid poll of 4000 Canadian, American and British citizens showed that American and British interest in visiting Alberta dropped from approximately 50% to 25% after viewing the ad. The video has been edited since its creation after claims of factual inaccuracies however. The original video claimed that the extend of the tar sands ecological footprint was the size of Britain, while the globe and mail newspaper reports that it is only 600 square kilometres, less that 1% of Britain. Nonstandard definitions for ecological footprint from various sources have complicated a standard measurement for the extent of the tar sands which continues to be a point of debate. Alberta tourism has played down the poll, and continues to promote its $5.8 billion dollar a year tourism industry.  [ index ]

JESSE ROGERSON:  A study commissioned by Environment Canada has found that assessing the environmental impact of biofuels — such as ethanol and biodiesel — is more difficult than previously thought. The report blames this difficulty on the varying ways in which different biofuel generating facilities measure and report their carbon footprints.

To gather data, the study issued a survey to biofuel companies. Unfortunately, many provided incomplete data when reporting water usage and quantity of greenhouse gas emissions.

Because of this incomplete dataset, the report recommends more research and analysis to take place before Environment Canada starts assessing the polluting side effects of biofuels. With little federal baseline from which to measure, the report recommends an industry-wide annual report along with a more rigorous smoke stack testing program is implemented at all biofuel plants.

As of this year, the Federal government has required gasoline to contain at minimum five percent ethanol, a plan designed to lower fuel costs and decrease green house gas emissions. With the usage of these energy sources on the rise, Environment Canada will look towards increasing the availability of the required information, and attempt to mitigate the environmental impact of these facilities.
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DARYN CAISTER:  Commercial sockeye salmon fisheries are open for business once again on the Fraser River. This is the first time in four years that commercial fishing has been permitted and only one year after the worst salmon survival season on record. Last year was expected to bring about 11 million fish, and tensions were high over the future of the industry when less than 1.5 million fish returned. The catastrophic turn out last year prompted a federal investigation called the Cohen Commission which is due to begin holding public forums at the end of August. Estimates for this year’s population are expected to exceed earlier estimations according to the Department of Fisheries and Oceans in BC, with anywhere from seven to 11 million fish expected to return mostly in late August and September. Some conservationists and First Nations groups however, are worried that the government may be acting too soon in allowing full commercial access, at least until the reasons for last year’s catastrophic collapse can be more fully understood.
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JESSE ROGERSON:  The Hamilton Spectator is reporting that Siemens Canada will begin construction on a new wind turbine factory in southern Ontario. This project will supply turbines to Samsung C&T and Pattern Energy, two of the world’s largest renewable energy developers.

All three companies have recently struck a deal to provide Ontario with upwards of 2000 megawatts of renewable power over the next six years. This is enough electricity to power over 240 000 homes yearly. Under Ontario’s Green Energy and Economy Act, the deal will take advantage of the Feed-in-Tariff program, designed to encourage the development of a green energy economy.

While Siemens Canada operates a plant in Burlington, the location of the new factory is yet to be determined, but its construction and general operations will provide countless green jobs.

Minister of Energy and Infrastructure Brad Duguid heralds the new factory as a major milestone in the province’s plan to create jobs and become a North American leader in renewable energy.

This deal will more than double Siemen’s current wind operations in southern Ontario. [ index ]

DARYN CAISTER:  Scientific tests have confirmed that the Asian Carp has evaded barriers and is in Great Lakes waters. A bighead carp was caught in June near Lake Michigan, and from the results of tests that analyze chemical absorption in the inner ear of the fish, was able to confirm that it had spent most of its life in the Great Lakes. Electric barriers have been in places since the invasive species had been tracked moving up the Mississippi, where it was accidentally released in the 90’s. The danger of the Bighead and Silver Asian carp is that they are voracious eaters and breed in great numbers. The concern is that they would likely out-compete native species and wipe out the Great Lakes ecosystems as well as the $7 billion dollar fishing industry on both sides of the border that depends on it. The detection does not mean that a breeding population is already present in the Great Lakes, and at this point only time will tell what the ultimate repercussions of the invasive species in the Great Lakes will be. [ index ]

BRYANT BOULIANNE:  Wildfires continue to burn across Western Russia, as firefighting efforts have managed to reduce the total area of the fires by half from last week to around 920 square kilometers. Over 500 fires continue to burn across the country, with a number in proximity to Moscow, which has been besieged by sweltering heat and deadly smog.
Thick smoke and carbon monoxide from the fires has choked the capital. This smog, combined with an unprecedented heat wave, is believed to be responsible for a dramatic number of deaths in recent weeks, with one estimate as high as 700 people a day.
Of new concern is the fact that fires are now burning in and around the city of Bryansk, an area that absorbed radioactive fallout from the 1986 Chernobyl disaster. The worry is that the fires may release radioactive isotopes that have accumulated there into the air, allowing them to be spread across the region with the smoke.
Though it is not yet certain what danger this poses to the surrounding regions, it is of concern to firefighters who risk breathing in radioactive particles. [ index ]

BRYANT BOULIANNE:  With the top of its leaking well plugged, and the relief well designed to permanently seal the leak days from completion, British Petroleum is now turning its attention to paying compensation and liabilities from the disaster.
BP says it has already spent $6.1 billion to clean up and contain the leak. What remains now is the punitive costs for the disaster as well as compensation to be paid for lost revenue in the tourism, fishing, and offshore support industries that were adversely affected.
There also remains the cost of the continuing cleanup of oil which has soaked in to beaches and wetlands along the gulf coast.
This week, BP made its first deposit of $3 billion into a compensation fund which will eventually reach $20 billion. The establishment of the fund was a concession to the US government to ensure that BP could settle all liabilities and compensate all victims of the disaster.
All in all, the incident released approximately 4.9 billion barrels of oil into the ocean, according to government estimates, making it the worst maritime oil spill in US history.
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BRYANT BOULIANNE:  A large piece of the Petermann Glacier in Greenland broke off into the Arctic Ocean last week. The fragment measures 250 square kilometers and is the largest fragment to break off from Greenland since 1962.
Ice loss from Arctic glaciers is monitored closely by climate scientists as a readout of climate change, though scientists caution that is too early to determine the exact cause of this ice fracture.
A video of the fracture, taken by the Envisat satellite, can be seen at the European Space Agency website at www.esa.int. [ index ]