May 21, 2009 by Voice of South
In the searing heat of a July morning, 13-year-old Sultan Nasiruddin Molla set off for his first day of work on the seemingly endless stretch of muddy coastline in Chittagong, Bangladesh, where young men armed with wrenches and blow torches swarm like ants over rusting skeletons of beached ships.
Sultan, excited at the prospect of joining the world of grown-ups and earning his first working wage, never made it back home. Hours after signing up to join the rag-tag brigade of workers dismantling a 5,000-ton vessel with a scrap value of more than 4 million US Continue Reading »
Posted in Climate Change, South Asia | Tagged Bangladesh, breaking, Chittagong, Maritime, Ship recycling | Leave a Comment »
May 21, 2009 by Voice of South
Buriganga
It was once the lifeline of the Bangladeshi capital. But the once mighty Buriganga river, which flows by Dhaka, is now one of the most polluted rivers in Bangladesh because of rampant dumping of industrial and human waste.
“Much of the Buriganga is now gone, having fallen to ever insatiable land grabbers and industries dumping untreated effluents into the river,” said Ainun Nishat, a leading environmental expert.
“The water of the Buriganga is now so polluted that all fish have died, and increasing filth and human waste have turned it like a black gel. Even rowing Continue Reading »
Posted in Climate Change | Tagged Bangladeshi capital, Buriganga, Dhaka, pollution, river | 1 Comment »
May 15, 2009 by Voice of South
The same satellite technology that allows over 500 million users to view the Grand Canyon or their neighbors’ backyard is helping them glide through the depths of the ocean.
Google Ocean _ built using visual satellite images, sonar waves bounced off of ships and data pooled from scientists and individuals _ says it could help highlight the effects of climate change on the seas.
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Posted in Climate Change | Tagged Climate Change, Google Oceans | Leave a Comment »
May 14, 2009 by Voice of South
Ministers and officials from more than 70 nations called Thursday for oceans to be included on the agenda of global climate change talks aimed at finding a successor to the Kyoto Protocol.
Delegates at the World Ocean Conference in Indonesia urged joint action to reverse the impact of climate change on the oceans and for the issue to be included in crucial climate talks in Copenhagen in December.
The Manado Ocean Declaration calls for cuts to ocean pollution, funding for sustainable development in poor countries, greater research into how climate change affects the ocean and Continue Reading »
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May 13, 2009 by Voice of South
Children stand where their homes were abandoned due to rising sea levels.
Rising sea levels that could wipe whole nations off the map and displace scores of millions of people are being overlooked in global climate change talks, island countries said Tuesday.
Major emitters are pushing for greenhouse gas emissions cuts that are too low to prevent devastating sea rises, representatives said at the World Ocean Conference in Indonesia’s Manado city.
“Dealing with environmental refugees will have a much more serious impact on the global economy and global security in fact than what wars have ever done to this planet,” said Rolph Payet, a presidential adviser from the African island nation of the Seychelles.
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Posted in Climate Change | Tagged Bangladesh, Climate Change, Indonesia, rising sea levels | Leave a Comment »
